Darling in the Franxx: Cold Blood

Chapter Ten: What Friends are for

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure about this?" A woman asked as she and her partner stood in front of a large control board. The control room was silent and empty. It was something to be expected from their late-night activity. Most of the room's machinery had been shut off or left in low power mode leaving the room in a near pitch-black state. The only exception being two of the room's wall-mounted monitors. The light that it gave was weak and barely illuminated the two figures standing in front of it. On a separate monitor, a small blue flame burned and shifted as if it was being affected by the wind.

"I assure you, ma'am, there is nothing to worry about." The flame assured in a way that sounded partially annoyed at the woman's question and partially smug about his own ability. With each word spoken, the flame's color would glow brighter and grow larger. "My coding has already spread to most of the Plantation's systems. Even if someone were to suspect something is awry. There is no way anyone, much less one of these imbeciles who works here, would be able to notice or recover any of the missing material. So now all you two have to do is what I can not."

The woman then looks over at her partner. She is unable to make out any of the man's details through the darkness. Not that it mattered much anyway. "What do you think? Should we actually go through with this?" The man doesn't respond. Instead, he simply stared at the screen in front of him as if he was contemplating something. "I mean if APE finds out about what's happening here. It would mean the end of the doctor's test. But if they find out what we're about to do, that would mean the death sentence for both of us."

"It'll be fine," the man states without turning to his partner. "I have trust in both the doctor and his companion's abilities. So more likely than not, no one will ever realize that any of this ever happened." His words eased the woman's stress over the situation. But her mind couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if it didn't work out that way. Turning her body to face the man. "But what if APE does find out, then what do we do?"

"We disappear. We are the doctor's most trusted allies. I'm sure he already has a plan in place for us getting found out." "And what if APE sends them after us. I know you've heard what they've done to deserters." The man once again goes silent. Even the talking flame has nothing to say about what she had just proposed. Before any of them could answer the girl's question, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the other side of the control room's door.

The man and woman both swiftly turn to the door. It had completely crossed their mind that the Plantation's guards would be patrolling at this time. Making sure nothing was amiss. They wondered if they had enough time to duck behind the table in the center of the room before they opened the door. Their fears were realized when the muffled sound of the door controls being activated could be heard. The two turned to each other, accepting what was about to happen. That was until three quick beeps emitted from the door's control panel.

"The door's locked," a muffled voice said to someone else. "What do you think's going on?"

"I don't know. Maybe one of the techie's locked it when they left. It should be fine either way."

"Yeah, let's get going. We're already behind schedule." the sounds of the guard's footsteps exit earshot as their conversation dies down. "So, have you seen the new BT-16's yet?"

"Yeah, some of the other guys were telling me about it. They say it's quite a thing to..."

Once the voice of the men was no longer audible. Both the man and the woman turn back to the screen behind them. The blue flame crackles and twists as it begins to speak. "See, nothing to worry about." The woman however, disregards the machine's statement and returns her gaze to her partner. Her emotions shift from the worry she'd just expressed into that of seriousness. "You never answered my question."