ZZZ: Dawn of The Black Sun

The Cunning Hares settled in inside the private train cabin. Anby stood beside the door, leaning on to a wall. Nicole already sat on the chair, making herself comfortable. Billy stood in front of her, gazing out the window all cool like. Eous meanwhile sat in the corner, lazing around.

"So..." Nicole began. "Apparently Vision did not in fact use their own people, they hired Hollow Raiders, lots of them," she sighed a little. "Just when I thought everything would be straight forward..." she turned to Eous. "What do you think Belle,"

Instead of Belle, Fairy's voice came from Eous. "Master is currently unavailable; she is currently having her second intake of daily caffeine in a nearby coffee shop. She will be back in an hour,"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Alright then, Fairy, give me some hypothesis on what's going on,"

"This AI suggest that a self-introspection of your rights and identity is required, before commanding and or asking for help from this AI,"1 Fairy replied simply.

"Fuck you too," Nicole retorted, flipping Eous off.

The train began to move slowly. The Hollow is still a little way away, so they still have some time to talk normally before linguistic becomes obsolete.

"We can use this," Anby spoke suddenly. "Vision hired criminals to work on the Old Metro instead of qualified personnel,"

"Anby that's genius!" Nicole grinned. "Gosh, that'll hit the news for sure, Koleda would be thrilled when she heard this," she took out her phone, but stopped. "Wait, wait, let's just shelf this one, something doesn't add up," she narrowed her eyes. "The man outside said something about deep pocket for 'hiring' us... Wouldn't hiring this many Hollow Raider costs more?"

Anby nodded. "That's true, it appears that a deeper conspiracy is happening here," she took a deep breath and relaxed ever so slightly. "I'm glad Vision did this..."

"Hmm? Hiring Hollow Raiders, you mean?" Nicole asked. "I suppose it makes this easier for us in the long run, no need to a citizenship survey and all that jazz,"

Anby nodded. "That's true, but it's also because it means that Vision is not being entirely ethical in their methods," she leaned back on the wall. "I hope they're actually doing something terrible..."

"Honey, I really can't tell if you're being pessimistic or optimistic," Nicole said.

"It feels better on my conscience when we're fighting bad people instead of a good one," Anby replied calmly. "If Vision was an honest company doing their best, you would still dig up their dirt to find faults, right? You don't really care if Belobog or Vision is correct, you simply want to get paid."

Nicole narrowed her eyes. "Anby, are we seriously having this talk right now?" she folded her arms. "We've been over this,"

Anby tensed up. "I'm just saying..."

"The answer is yes, this is business," Nicole replied with finality. "Even if Belobog is the one who's wrong, even if Vision has found some genius way to lower the cost, I will dig up a dirt on this company, hell, I'll fabricate one if I have to. Does that answer your question?"

Anby closed her eyes and sighed in resignation. "That answers my question, thank you,"

As an awkward silence swept through the carriage, Eous's display flickered open. "Hey guys," Belle's voice came from the bangboo. "Sorry, I was out for lunch a bit there, did I miss anything?" the Bangboo hopped on to the nearby seat next to Billy.

"Nothing of importance hun," Nicole replied. "Also, Vision's hiring a whole bunch of Hollow Raiders and have them pretend to be Public Security, what do you think's up with that?"

"Hmmm..." the bangboo's ears waved around as the girl hummed in deep thought. "Hollow Raiders can be pretty darn cheap, but the pretending to be Public Security part... That's the weird one. Because, fun fact, if they just want to have Pubsec's help, they can ask for free, since they have official permits and all,"

Nicole clicked her tongue. "You don't mean... that Starlight Knights episode???"

"Yeah... there's a chance..." Belle replied. "Maybe they're going to actually blow up the people. That way, they don't have to worry about 'accommodating' them," she looked at Anby, Nicole, and Billy as if considering something. "Say, if that's the case, this mission would be more problematic,"

Anby and Nicole nodded. "Yes," the former said. "I have a feeling that Vision is planning something terrible," 

Eous turned to Billy, the robot averted his gaze. 

"We're not here to save people," Belle said.

"Yes, that's way above our paygrade," Nicole said.

"I trust you Nicole, but Billy, Anby... Look at me,"

Anby and Billy turned to Eous, the Bangboo has never looked so cold and robotic before. It doesn't sound like a person in the other side, or even Fairy. The tone, the voice, the ruthlessness of it all. It's not something that either of them could or even want to get used to.

"See," Eous continues. "I have a plan to stop vision and safe the hostages, I will let you know in a minute, but before that..."

The eye-display on Eous's face vanished, leaving behind only a black screen.

"If any of you die, I will pick up what Vision started,"

A cold sensation spread on Anby's chest the moment she heard that. Eous's blank screen and how matter-of-fact ly Belle threaten to kill countless lives. She wondered just how far she has fallen and how far she'll go without them holding her back.

"Understood," Anby replied. "Our own safety is priority,"

Eous turned to Billy before standing still, motionless, still showing that blank screen.

The robot was uncharacteristically silent for a moment. But then, he nodded and took out his gun. "This world still needs a hero like me, a Starlight Knight who shall protect the innocent from a looming darkness," he began. "If we're not around, who will protect the innocent from the monsters?"

Anby gazed at Billy, finding... resolution, determination. It took her a moment, but then she realized what he's trying to say. 

They're not protecting the innocent from Vision nor Ethereals...

They're protecting the innocent from the Phaethon...

"Glad we're on the same page team!" Belle exclaimed, Eous's cute eyes appeared again on the display. "Now then, here's the plan to save everyone! Don't worry, according to fairy, this has 90% chance of success!"

[LINE BREAK]

Carl tried to call in sick, emergency, vacation, whatever he really tried, but apparently Perlman wants all employee on hand for this operation or he's fired. Even the janitors got mixed up in this. The construction of the Old Metro is the single most important thing they have to work on, regardless of the cost.

Now here he is, sitting on a train carriage, surrounded by the rough looking Hollow Raiders. He wondered if these people know what they're signing up for. He hoped they didn't, it disgusts him to think that anyone would gladly sign up for something like this out of their free will.

"Now then..." he took out his phone, checking for the order.

'Relocate the Old Town Resident Into The Hollow'

If he thinks that's just the same as mass murder, that'd be wrong. See, the point isn't mass murder, the point is to kill them and getting away with it. If they can lure all those poor shmucks into a high corruption zone, they'll turn into Ethereals or get killed by ethereals.

And the reason for doing all this??? Cutting cost!

"Bonkers, absolute bonkers," he pocketed his phone with a huff. Who is he to say anyway? Not like he got some moral high grounds. He's one of Perlman's crooks just like these Hollow Raiders. Even if he's not involved in all the 'relocating', he's as much as a monster for letting it happen.

The train soon slowed down, ether resistant plating and perfectly designed tracks made it possible for them to go through the Hollow without all the madness that comes with it. He stood up and went to the front of the cabin as the train came to a halt.

"Attention everyone," Carl began. "I will now brief you on your job," he looked outside of the train. "Your job right now is to relocate the town resident to a designated spot as written in your carrot data," he explained. "Any..." he narrowed his eyes when he noticed a girl sitting down on a seat, not wearing a uniform.

"You there, why are you not in your uniform?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, don't mind me hot stuff, I'm not here for your relocation thing, I'm here for... damage control if you get my drift," the girl winked and Carl felt a sudden weight in his chest. "Give us a holler if you see anything scary and we'll deal with it,"

Carl was about to say something when he realized that... every other Hollow Raider is shaking their head. Some mouthing at him to just shut up. Others looked at him like he's a deadman walking. Now, Carl didn't go this far without knowing how to read the air so he decided to be smart.

"Understood, pleasure working with you," he turned to everyone else. "The rest of you in uniforms will handle relocation, any questions?"

The girl raised her hand. "Just one... Say, a group of ethereals decided to attack, should we bother protecting these town residents? Or just you hard working bunch?" she asked with a sweetest smile. "Just checking if you're here for temporary relocation or permanent one, because I know exactly where you're sending these people..."

Carl gulped, realizing now why everyone is giving him a warning look. "Just... us... the resident isn't the main priority..."

"Ahaha, well, doesn't that make things easier," the girl's gaze intensifies, almost predatory, despite leaning back lazily on the chair. "Then... why don't you tell these... hardworking gentlemen what they're really here for? Hmm?"

"I'm afraid that's,"

The girl stood up and walked up towards him. "Did they tell you to keep it a secret?"

"I... I assume that..."

"Oh, you think they would chicken out if they know that we're here for a massacre?" the pink haired tilted her head and glanced at the rest of the Hollow Raiders. "Darling, it's better if we trim off these weaklings than to trust them with this... little endeavor~".

"A-are you saying..."

"Oh, I'm just saying that transparency is key in building trust," the girl continued. "So go on then, be transparent~"

Carl took a deep breath, heart pounding on his chest. "Our plan is to bring all town residence into a high corruption zone, the idea is that we're going to make it seem like they've all died due to the Hollow so we don't have to handle the cost of properly relocating them," he explained.

Silence swept over the train, some Hollow Raider shifted uneasily, glancing at one another.

"Oh look, it seems like some of them actually gets a cold-feet..." Nicole smirked. "Go home little raiders, while you still can, just don't expect to be paid~" she turned back to Carl. "Oh, don't worry sweetheart, losing a few men now wouldn't compromise your little business venture, we're just making sure that no one would do something stupid in the midst of it all,"

"Wh-what are you saying? I don't understand,"

"Let me make it easier for you..." the girl leaned closer to him, bringing her mouth to his ear. "If you want this operation to succeed, you should only employ people who are ready to kill... Not weaklings who pretends to be some bigshot..."

Carl gulped and nodded. "O-okay..." he said breathlessly. "Th-thank you..."

"You're welcome darling," the girl leaned back and put a hand on her hips. "It's Nicole, by the way, the Cunning Hares,"

"Nicole, Cunning Hares," he said the word like saying the name of the devil herself. "Yes, thank you, Nicole..." he gulped. "Is, is there anything else?"

"No," Nicole turned around with a wave of her hand. "I'll be waiting here on the train, like I said, give us a holler if anything big and scary showed up,"

Carl turned to everyone else, who understandably, looked as afraid as he is. He opened his mouth, trying to continue his speech, but no words came out. The sight of that girl, no, that monster, brought untold horror in his chest. He wondered which Hollow did she crawled out of and if Vision paid her with the poor souls that is the old town residence.

"In... any case..." Carl finally found his voice. "Please... get ready, we'll head to the old town residence now..."