The Science of Spying (Erityian Tribes, #4)

Chapter 40 : Before the Chaos

"This way," Nigel ordered and we quietly followed him.

We were still in disbelief. All of us thought he had really turned into a Navis—into an enemy. Yet just a few minutes ago, he displayed how an S-class agent fights. I doubted his loyalty to our tribe and his resentment toward the Nox.

"We must hurry," he added. "They are leaving in a few minutes."

While we were running toward the building where the zuersts planned to rendezvous, Nigel told us what happened to him.

The day we detained Ansel Choi in Area 008, he asked Dr. Liev to find the source of his altered personality. We were sent to assist the Senshins during their war against Shinigamis so we didn't have any information about their studies. According to them, a chip had been implanted into their C2 segment of the spinal cord to amplify their motor movements into all their spinal nerves; adjusted their cerebellum to its limits so they wouldn't feel fear or any kind of hesitation; and modified their cerebral cortex to only recognize and follow certain orders from certain people.

"That's sickening," Jett commented.

Napatingin naman ako kay Naia dahil sa nangyari kanina. Her expression was a mixture of pain and pity. I'm sure that she was thinking about Mom, especially since she saw what she had went through after touching her most treasured weapon.

"After discovering that, we tried to extract the chip from Ansel but it had been embedded in his spine for so long that it already became a part of it. One wrong move and his central nervous system would suffer, or worse, he'd die," Nigel explained. "That's why we opted to create an counterchip to offset the effects of the Nox chip."

"Is that the same chip you crushed a while ago?" tanong ni Cliff.

"No. That was the chip they implanted to me."

He said that when the Blacks attacked Area 008 to retrieve Ansel, he and Liev was already in the final stage of programming the counterchip. However, they didn't have enough time to run any assessments regarding its side effects upon insertion to the spinal column. They knew they'd be made into Navis, too, so they had no choice but to use the counterchip without knowing its risks.

Liev immediately performed the operation as the agents in the Area 008 tried to defend the place against Onyx's team. And right after the procedure, Onyx found him.

"I had to knock out Liev, or else, she'd be brought, too. Luckily, there was an empty capsule inside the lab, so I hid her there while I faced those Blacks," dagdag naman niya.

"But how about your cerebellum and cerebral cortex? How come you can still remember everything and make your own decisions?" tanong ko.

Bigla naman siyang ngumiti. "Ulysses was the one who monitored the operation," he responded, and I almost forgot that that guy was a specialist in that field. "Onyx is a fighter. He doesn't know the mechanism of the creation of the Navis. Ulysses, on the other hand, has been trusted to oversee that process as his proof of loyalty. When we saw each other, we immediately knew our respective plans. Even without any form of communication, we knew we had to work together for the sake of missions and lives."

No wonder those two didn't even doubt each other even if everyone already started to. Their devotion to their respective captains and tribe were second to none. I suddenly felt ashamed for being so emotional that I didn't even think about the consequences of my actions. I almost jeopardized their plans.

"No," Nigel suddenly said. "You actually gave us more time."

Hindi naman ako nakapagsalita. Damn it. They could all read my mind. I must be too preoccupied, allowing my thoughts to let them slip like that.