Kamen Rider Zero Hour Ep. 11

Kamen Rider: Zero Hour

Episode 11: Times Unforgotten.

By: Ziginz

--------------------------------------------

<Three years before Wave event>

A man and woman walked down a long hallway arguing back and forth over their differing avenues of research. One was a man named Goro Gosuke, a fifty year old professor of cybernetics and a leading expert on the application of nanotechnology within living beings. The other was Fumiko Oji, the inventor of the most advanced kinetic energy generator currently in existence and the foremost authority on atomic plasma projection. The twenty-five year old hoped to combine her two areas of expertise in what she hoped would be her greatest invention; a barrier that would defend major cities from long range missile assaults. The notion of being the person responsible for finally ending the threat of nuclear weapons not just for Japan, but for the world, was enough to make her giddy with excitement.

The problem was a certain old man who refused to give his vote for her to go ahead with the creation of a prototype.

“The answer is still no Mrs. Oji.”

“Professor Oji, and I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn! You are the only hold out on the board! You’ve seen my research, you know the numbers are good, so why are you-“

“It’s because of the numbers. The amount of precision required on the output calculations would have to be beyond perfect or you could end up creating a weapon more devastating than the ones you’re trying to defend against. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea or that it will never work, but it is just too soon.”

“You say that now, but our enemies might not wait another ten years, maybe not even another month! We need a way to protect ourselves and this is it!”

Goro paused and rubbed his eyes, his colleague’s words not falling on deaf ears. The world was in a rather turbulent state at the moment, no one knew that better than the elderly scientist, but he also knew how normal that was. The fact was that things were bad but they had been far worse in the past. The worst thing they as scientists could do was get ahead of themselves out of fear or the illusion of desperation. It was just one more reason he never watched the news. He turned to the ebon haired woman and looked her in the eyes, speaking to her not as a veteran to a novice but as a colleague and friend.

“Keep working on it, find another power source to run it, and then I’ll consider changing my vote.”

“You very well know that equates to me starting from scratch…”

“If that’s what it takes to get it right than you have an obligation as a scientist to do so.”

With that Goro continued back on his way leaving Fumiko to mull over the conversation. She knew her design would work, but without Goro’s vote the board would never permit her to go beyond paper. Instead they would just keep pouring funds into her older brother’s pointless cyborg program and the “golden child’s” foolish toys. If she was going to get anywhere she would have to go over the board’s head, but doing so could very well ruin her career if she didn’t do things just right. While it would likely get her kicked out of the most prestigious think tank in all of Japan, the military was looking like a more promising backer by the day.

-----------------------------------------

Goro walked into the observation room where his protégé’s team was monitoring the condition of their four primary volunteers. Two men and two women were lying inside separate, sensor lined chambers that were just as much for gathering data as they were for controlling the current project. After the success of the prototype, the very man who had perfected the nanotech conversion process, it had been decided that four new volunteers would under go the procedure. Everything was going well for three of the subjects, but one seemed to be reacting poorly. Goro looked over the man’s read out and shook his head, instantly recognizing the signs of cellular rejection.

“Blast it…we should have caught this in the preliminary tests Jubei.”

The head of the project stood near his mentor with a grim look about him, both feeling responsible as a scientist but also because he knew the man in peril personally. The volunteer was a former soldier that had lost the use of his legs in a training exercise and hoped his old friend’s cyberization process could mend his wounds. Unfortunately things had gone awry and the man called Jubei was left with a difficult decision to make.

“We’re too far into the procedure to stop now without causing massive cellular damage in the process.”

“But if you keep going Jubei there’s a good chance he’ll loose his life.”

“He’d be willing to risk it.”

“Are you?”

“…No. We’ll figure out some other way to get his legs back. Cease operation.”

The technicians weren’t thrilled by the news but they began the process all the same even though the consequences would be heart wrenching for everyone involved. Jubei excused himself from the room and left Goro to handle things, the latter knowing well what his young friend must be going through. Suddenly a loud crash shook several of the surrounding rooms provoking staff members to peek out into the hallway to find the cause. What they saw was Jubei walking away from a now crumbling segment of concrete that had once been a wall, but there was no question that he was the one who had caused the damage. If that was what a cutting edge cyborg could do just by punching a wall out of frustration, than what exactly was he capable of when he was really mad?

--------------------------------------

In a small lab near the heart of the Hokkaido Institute of Advanced Science sat a young girl whose genius was matched by few. She was making the final touches of her latest creation; a device that could use caloric energy as a power source and convert it into a type of “hard plasma”. While the latter concept was still considered by some to be decades ahead of its time with too few practical applications, the former was being heralded as another source of clean renewable energy. Kiyoko was less worried about that though and more concerned about how a super hero could use it to fight against villains and monsters.

The twelve year old might have technical skills that surpassed even some of her most experienced peers but she was still very much a child. Because of this she was closely monitored by her fellows in the H.I.A.S. think tank, but monitor was all they would do. They didn’t want to risk the child’s creativity being stiffened by those who “knew better” or that couldn’t keep up with her thought processes. On one hand this allowed her the freedom to create pretty much anything she could imagine, but on the other it often meant she created things with few applicable uses as a whole.

The bright eyed brunette didn’t care at the moment. Right now she needed to find an easily manageable substance that was rich in calories and other useful amino acids and could fit in a belt sized apparatus. Maybe some kind of fruit extract or concentrate would get the job done. Before she could think any further on the matter the door to her lab opened and she was tickled pink to see who was walking in. Jubei still had a sour look on his face but the moment he saw Kiyoko smile his way he felt a bit of the weight lift off his shoulders. Something about her innocence relaxed him and he enjoyed coming by and checking on her for that reason. Well that and to make sure she wasn’t trying to sneak out of the lab and play super hero…again.

“Working hard squirt?”

“Yep! I’ve almost got my new armor system up and running! So what are the chances you and the old guy are going to let me try it out myself this time?”

“Like you need to ask.”

“Oh come on! You got to be the test subject for your project! It’s hardly fair…”

“It’s hardly the same you mean. You might have the brain of a super genius but you’ve still got the mind of a kid.”

The girl puffed out her cheeks and gave an agitated look to her senior, but this only caused him to chuckle. She did the same before long but then noticed how sad his eyes looked, turning to give him her full attention. This caught him by surprise, though he knew it shouldn’t have since the youth seemed to be able to read people with relative ease. Perhaps it was just how honest she was with herself and others that she could tell when someone was trying to hide their feelings.

“What happened Juju?”

“Don’t call me that. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Jubei, maybe I can help. I mean you said yourself once that my mind works…differently than most.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“I know you meant it as a compliment but you’re right, so at least let me try to help yeah?”

Jubei finally relented, more to his conscience than to Kiyoko, and filled the girl in on what had happened. She clearly seemed upset by the news that someone might loose the use of their body even after being told he might get everything back. Though she wasn’t as knowledgeable in the field of cybernetics as her friend, she still understood the basics enough to understand what had gone wrong. She took a moment to think it over and than had a light bulb go off in her mind. She practically leapt over to a pile of prototypes she had been working on and dug through them like a child might dig through her toys. Eventually she pulled out a small memory drive like device and rushed to her computer, waving over Jubei as she did.

“Okay so what if you could have a complete record of a single subject on a device the size of a flash drive?”

“Ummm…can’t we already do that?”

“No, think bigger! I don’t mean just information, but a record of the very concept of a word or idea! Like water, imagine if you had everything about water, not just info but the way it looks, feels, tastes, everything that water IS on one, tiny device!”

“That would be…interesting, but how does that help-“

“It’s the interface! The way the device delivers this data is through a direct connection to the user’s body via cellular infusion! We might be able to use this to teach your volunteer’s cells how to accept the cybernetic conversion process!”

Jubei looked over the device and thought for a moment. He would need to see a lot more data and run a few tests but if everything did check out than this little gizmo could solve the biggest potential flaw with his process! He ruffled Kiyoko’s hair as he often did as a way of thanking her, and the two immediately started exchanging notes and brain storming. Before long they had a good idea of what it would take to combine their technologies into a single functional form and what wider uses it could have in other fields of research. It would take a few weeks and authorization from the board of directors but they didn’t see any reason why they should object to at least preliminary testing and the creation of a prototype.

“So what should we call it Juju?”

“I told you not to-“

“Fine, fine, what should we call it Professor Narumi.”

“You don’t have to be that formal. Just call me Daisuke.”

“Your given name? What about Jubei?”

“Truth be told I’m thinking you should be the one with that title, especially after this.”

“No way. Oh, oh! But you can call me Kiki if you want! I’ve always wanted someone to call me that!”

“I’ll keep it in mind. As for what we should call this how about…Gaia Memory, since you can have data about anything on earth stored in one.”

“Ooooo I like it! Gaia memory it is!”

The two scientists laughed and continued with their work never knowing just what kind of impact their creations would have. They weren’t alone though as others like them were working round the clock across the world on all manner of experiments. Some wanted to create a brighter future, while others were only concerned with cementing existing powers. Soon both sides would clash against each other and eventually amongst themselves in what would be a conflict for the ages. This was where it all began: the war of men and monsters that started in the shadows but would be inevitably dragged into the light by a single Earth shattering event.

The War was coming, the Wave would reveal it, and then…

Zero Hour.