Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was a man who loved Kamen Rider. 45 years ago, he got the opportunity to live his dream, as Fenix's lead developer for the Kamen Rider system. Fight devils with devils, finish what his father started, that was the idea. His miraculous inventions secured humanity's victory over the devil-worshiping Deadmans cult and immortalized his name, George Karizaki, another legendary hero in the vast history of Kamen Rider.

Almost a century of Riders protecting humanity from evil. That history was now in danger, as the world was being eaten by a new breed of devils: The Faro Plague. An unstoppable army of man-made robotic arachnids with the ability to consume biofuel and reproduce autonomously. They would do this until Planet Earth was reduced to a barren rock and they became unable to sustain themselves. So where were the Riders now? Dead, mostly. Sacrificing their lives to slow down the clock. All to buy the world's greatest minds enough time to complete Project Zero Dawn, humanity's second chance.

In his youth, George was always excited about his work. But now he was also fighting that clock. He had so many thoughts and feelings about Kamen Rider to record for posterity. If that wasn't hard enough, his superior, Elizabet Sobeck the Alpha Prime, insisted that he include information other than Kamen Rider in the APOLLO archives. He didn't see the point. As far as he was concerned, all the wisdom humans needed to learn was in Kamen Rider. Of course, he was still throwing in references every chance he got, such as the Heroic Eyecons' affiliation with Ghost and the origin of the Sword of Logos from a plucky group of romantic adventurers and poets. Even the Rider-less overwritten timeline of Oma Zi-O was the result of Kamen Rider's omnipresence. Ironically, that timeline probably wouldn't have been so terrible compared to the current reality. If only that man, the self-proclaimed king, Tokiwa Sougo, were still around. He could have fixed everything.

George's crazy train of thought would have continued, but it was interrupted by a friendly visit.

"Hey, Georgey, how's it going, homie?"

The old man spun in his chair to see who had so casually addressed him. It was his young blonde-haired passionate colleague, Travis Tate. "Boring! But Elizabet needs me desperately, so it would be bad for my reputation if I started slacking." said George.

"Huh, I heard she only hired you cause the other candidate Samina got her guts spilled out by one of those big-a** scorpions." said Travis.

George frowned. He recalled that the military had gathered Alphas like him from all over the world, but the operation to evac this Samina person was unsuccessful. Surely, she would have been a more co-operative and efficient member of the Alpha team. "Such a pity, that someone so gifted had to lose her life so early." he said.

Instead, the burden of responsibility, for the biggest database compilation in human history, was passed to George. It was an important job.... No, the most important job, one he knew he needed to do. But it was stressful and with each day closer to the end, he felt ever more nostalgic for the old days. Where man fought man in a thrilling clash of ideals. This fight now, against the Faro Plague, was so impersonal, merely a byproduct of one man's insatiable greed. There was no outlet for people's anger at the situation and in George's case, he was stuck behind a desk, wishing these tedious essays would hurry up and write themselves so he could just drink himself stupid in the Elysium bunker. He was jealous of the unborn children of the future. He would never get to see for himself the results of his work. All those awesome kouhai Riders he would never meet.

"I envy you, Travis. It's the end of the world and you're having the time of your life building HADES. It's dangerous and exciting, everything my job used to be."

"HADES is my baby, man. My big beautiful scary baby. King of the freakin' underworld. MVP of the subfunctions.... Oh s***, sorry. You were looking for consolation, huh."

George was inspired by his enthusiasm. He wondered if this sense of pride was what it was like to have a son, or how his own father felt when he passed on his curiosity so long ago. At least, he hoped he would've been proud. "Hey, let me give you some free advice, kiddo. Never apologize for indulging in your love for your creations. Humility is for losers and liars."

"Wow, thanks! You're one smart dude, Georgey." said Travis. He looked up to him like a father, even though they were equals in rank. George was the only person who ever praised him and clicked with him on an intellectual level. "Hey, if you're feeling stuck with APOLLO, maybe you could just look for other ways to help with GAIA's development. She needs everything we can give, man! No time like the present, you get me?" he suggested.

A lightbulb appeared over George's head. "Amazing idea! All this is for GAIA, for the sake of the future she will create. If I want my work to mean anything, then I need to speak with her directly!"

Even Travis was surprised to hear him jump to that conclusion. "Whoa, dude, speak to GAIA?! The only people authorized to do that are Elizabet herself and Zero Dawn's primary investors. I dig your ambitious drive and all, but damn!"

"I make my own authorization! Or I'll just get Elizabet to go along with it. She loves GAIA as much as I love Kamen Rider, so I know she'll see things my way. Sure, it'll tick off Ted, but...." George tried to finish that sentence, but eventually decided subtraction was the way to go. "It'll tick off Ted. There's no 'but' there."

They both laughed sadistically at the shared mental image of Ted Faro wincing in frustration.

George's plan was audacious, but if anybody could charm their way around those inconvenient boundaries, it was him. His strong determination, unfettered by traditions and taboo, was only rivaled by Elizabet herself. Although a part of it was just needing that validation, to feel like the world still needed him, even as old and stiff as he was now. It couldn't even be called a plan. More like a desire. But for George, that was always enough.

Chapter Text

Elizabet Sobeck sat around a table in a boardroom, patiently waiting for the meeting to commence. She didn't think it would last long, considering the point of discussion. When George came to her several days ago, asking.... No, more like politely demanding, the right of audience with GAIA, she was completely against it.

After all, George was always just a substitute for Samina, who was tragically lost to the Faro Plague and he had done nothing but complain and slow down development on a complicated project that was racing against the apocalyptic clock. These 'what if's and 'but maybe's were annoying, but for Zero Dawn, she had no choice but to just go along with them and tolerate his occasional insubordination, lest he become more errant than she or anyone else could handle.

This was different though. There was only so much of his limitless audacity she was willing to accept.

Her Focus pinged, alerting her that one of her contemporaries was present. "Here we go." she said, trying in vain to pep herself up. She turned it on and a hologram of a middle-aged man appeared sitting on one of the vacant chairs.

"Hello, Elizabet."

"Ted." she replied. It was the most polite greeting she could manage, to someone for whom she held so little respect. But as long as he was funding her project, she felt like she owed him a little courtesy, at least.

An awkward silence washed over the room, as they were pending the final person they needed to start. Until then, it was just two people waiting, with Elizabet considering the silence to be a lesser evil, rather than engaging in small talk with a guy like him.

But Ted hated the silence, as it left him alone with his thoughts, none of them good. He could never stay quiet for too long, before he forced himself to say something, which like his thoughts, were typically nothing good.

"So, uh, hey, did you.... Did you see the Mariners' game yesterday? Oh right, guess not." he said.

Elizabet completely ignored his rambling, her face frozen in a look of contempt. There was no game yesterday, of course. All the professional baseball players were dead and there was no more baseball to be enjoyed in this world. Whenever she wasn't working hard, she often thought about the dwindling sources of entertainment, 'no more action movies', 'no more Christmas parties', a neverending list of 'no mores'. How much he had stolen from the world. From her.

"Sorry. Just a joke."

"I noticed. I'm glad you can make light of your situation. You're the only one who can." said Elizabet, with venom on her tongue.

Ted couldn't hide his shame in front of her. All of his successful businessman charm was eroded by his infinite guilt over what he had done, leaving him with dumb jokes intended to gain sympathy. He always respected her shrewdness, but it was not a mutual feeling. "Not even a joke, really. Just.... There are little joys I miss as well."

"My heart bleeds for you, Ted."

Before someone could get punched, Elizabet's Focus pinged once more. Finally, she thought. He was here. A hologram of an eternally 24 year-old man joined them in the room.

"Elizabet-san, nice to see you again. Oh, hello, Ted."

"Thanks for coming today, Gai." said Elizabet, whose Focus was auto-translating from Japanese to English.

It was Amatsu Gai, president of Thouzer Corp, successor to the now defunct ZAIA Enterprise. He also had a controversial past, but his crimes were nothing compared to what Ted had accumulated. While not quite as rich, he was one of the last known living Kamen Riders, having been active as the Golden Soldier, Kamen Rider Thouzer, in the 20s. Contrary to his youthful appearance, he was surprisingly old.

"Let us not delay proceedings any longer. I presume there's a reason you summoned us, Elizabet." prompted Ted.

Elizabet prepared to relay George's request. "Okay." She activated her Focus to project some schematics that George had given her. They looked like Machines, but humanoid.

"What are these?" asked Ted.

Gai smiled with nostalgia. "Don't you know a Kamen Rider when you see one?"

"That's not what I meant. Is this related to HEPHAESTUS?"

Elizabet sighed. It would be easier to explain if it was that simple. "This isn't Margo's work. These designs were submitted to me by George."

Ted sneered at the mention of the name. He felt threatened by that man. "George Karizaki. He's supposed to be assigned to APOLLO. I fail to see how any of this could possibly be relevant to his task."

"Have you forgotten George's background? His inventions saved the world from the Deadmans threat. It would be inefficient to limit such a genius to a single field." said Gai.

"His inventions hurt people as well. Unless these concept Machines come equipped with terraforming systems, then they're just WMDs shaped like people. Documenting war and terrorism is dangerous enough, encouraging it is even worse. George has one job, which requires his full attention. He should not concern himself with the other subfunctions."

Elizabet wondered about that. Margo was yet young compared to the other Alphas. A testament to her prodigious intelligence, but her accolades were overshadowed by all that George had accomplished in his youth. Had he willed it, she would have considered assigning him to HEPHAESTUS instead.

If Ted was already unhappy to see these schematics, then he definitely wasn't going to like it when Elizabet revealed the extent of George's vision. But she came this far, she had to keep going, whether he wanted to hear it or not. "There's more.... George doesn't just want to dabble in the other subfunctions. He has requested direct access to GAIA."

Ted gave an incredulous look. "Heavens, Elizabet, don't tell me you're actually considering letting him anywhere near her AI. That man is a loose cannon. GAIA needs stability, order, moral guidance from someone qualified to give it. Only God knows what kind of corrupt nonsense he has planned for her."

For once, Elizabet was inclined to agree. GAIA was the most important thing in her life now. She couldn't imagine allowing someone so dubious to have any prolonged contact with her. "I think some means of protection is necessary, given all the outside threats to our species in the last century. At least until civilization is restored. But GAIA, it's too much. It's your money, Ted. If you reject it, then I have no reason to argue."

"I do reject it. Strongly."

However, Gai thought the idea had merit. "We shouldn't dismiss this out of hand." he suggested.

"Gai, please."

"It's my money as well." He turned his attention to Elizabet. "I appreciate that you have your reservations about George. However, despite his questionable methods, I believe his intentions are as pure as they come. I believe his wisdom would be a boon to GAIA, not a detriment. It's not like he would be left alone to do whatever he feels like. You would be able to supervise their interaction and suspend it whenever you see fit. You've seen for yourself the amazing things his mind is capable of, just imagine what he could do with more resources. For the sake of the future you want to create, I implore you properly consider his request."

Elizabet thought about it for a little while. She had hoped that her love alone would be enough for GAIA, but that love needed to be enough to revive and nurture the human race. Perhaps it was necessary to expose her to more than one way of thinking. "Maybe you have a point, Gai. I don't like it, but I should have the courage to put my personal feelings aside for the good of humanity."

Ted couldn't believe how quickly her mind was changed. "This is absurd! Why would I agree to this?" he asked.

"It would be unwise in your position to get on George's bad side. How the future remembers you depends on how he depicts your role in history." said Gai.

Ted worked so hard his whole life to obtain his wealth of money and connections. But what was that worth now in this time when civilization was on the brink of collapse? The one who held all the power was the one who controlled the future. That person was George. He couldn't stand that fact. "I will not be blackmailed or coerced in to compliance. Don't forget, Gai, you once loosed a genocidal satellite on Daybreak Town, killing several innocents."

Elizabet stood up and put her palms on the table authoritatively. "Is that your best defense, trying to throw dirt at someone else? That's vindictive, even for you! Gai has been atoning for his crimes for decades and all those good deeds will be recorded, so that humanity can judge him fairly. But in your case, there is only one thing you can do right now to even come close to making amends for you damage you have caused. You know what you have to do."

Ted had no counter for that last part. He knew he couldn't afford to pull his funding, for fear of the cosmic repercussions on his soul. He needed to do everything in his power to reverse humanity's eventual extinction. He had no choice but to concede to Elizabet's decision, to desperately hang on to what little control he still maintained.

The part about Gai's atonement though, he wasn't quite ready to back off with his vindication yet. "If he's such a saint now, then he should be participating in Enduring Victory with all the other Riders, not sitting in his comfortable office, sipping his expensive tea and petting his robot dog."

Gai's comeback was immediate, as he smugly grabbed some familiar devices from outside their peripheral vision. It looked like a ZAIA ThousanDriver, but platinum white, along with a keycard of the same color. "Behold, the prototype model of the Wanwan ThousanDriver and Wanwan Thouzer Progrise Key. I'm programming this cutting-edge Rider System with combat data from the Riders' battles with the Faro Plague. Once complete, I will gladly give up my life to stall the enemy. This advertisement was presented by.... Thouzer Corp!"

Ted sighed. "That last line feels tacked on."

"Anyway, it looks like we've derailed. So unless you have any further objections, Ted, maybe we should call it a day." said Elizabet.

"It's just not like you to compromise on your principles so easily, Elizabet. I'm a little disappointed, honestly." said Ted, disapprovingly. This was not the outcome he wanted. "Signing off." With that, his hologram disappeared.

Elizabet scoffed. "From him, I'll take that as a compliment." She didn't care at all what Ted Faro thought about her. It was always like this when he couldn't get his way. A narcissist eager to pick at their faults so they wouldn't pay attention to his own. It only made him more reviled. Self-righteousness incarnate.

"Ted's accusation was 1000% wrong. You are not compromising anything. This is what's best for GAIA." assured Gai, as he gave a smile of understanding. "Signing off."

Elizabet was alone once more. She had a lot to think about now. Their meeting had definitely not gone as she foresaw. Why was Gai so supportive of George? Was it just Kamen Rider cred, or something like that? Whatever the reason, for someone so influential to give his backing, she had to give it the consideration it warranted. Even if she couldn't understand the benefits he claimed it would bring. It didn't change the fact that she didn't trust George. If that unhinged scientist was going to get her permission, then she would have to keep a close eye on him from now on.

"I will do anything to protect GAIA!"

Chapter Text

She arrived at the Alpha base, where her subordinates labored relentlessly everyday to create a future for humanity. A collection of eccentric prodigies from different backgrounds. Travis caused a little mischief sometimes, but he ultimately deferred to her authority. Charles had the temper of a live grenade, but he was certainly passionate about his affection for cute animals. She didn't mind a few eccentricities, as long as they did what she needed them to do. All but George, who clearly fancied himself as more of her equal.

With all her reluctant work to accommodate his ridiculous requests, Elizabet felt like she was becoming his babysitter. She didn't have time to play nanny for some goofy old man. Not when there was the problem of a dying planet that urgently demanded her attention. Somehow though, she had been persuaded by the charm of her financial benefactor that those two things were now of mutual interest. So she had to figure out how to make those ends meet, starting with that man who put her in this difficult position.

Upon entering his office, she saw him at his desk, sat in his chair, doing something that immediately lived down to her poor opinion of him. "Hello, George. Are you slacking, or did you just decide to transfer APOLLO's AI in to that old robot?" asked Elizabet.

George was making a dumb expression while petting a white animatronic dog perched in the palm of his hand. "This is a 10s model of Thouzer, Hiden Intelligence's popular psychotherapeutic robot dog series. Apparently, it was this exact doggo that set Gai on the path of justice when he was at his lowest point. Doesn't that sound like it would be an inspiring anecdote for the APOLLO archive?"

"WAN!" the little Thouzer barked cheerfully in agreement. His doting master must have put a lot of care in to maintaining him through the decades. His exterior casing was perfectly clean and the audio quality of his voicebox was clear as the day he was manufactured. There was no mistake that he had enjoyed a happy pampered life.

"A toy changed him? I don't believe it could be that easy."

George rolled his eyes. "Come on! This is not just a toy, Elizabet. Gai loves Thouzer. Like how I love Kamen Rider. Like how you love GAIA. Love changes people! However, it's strange that he would give up something so important to him." It was a few days ago that he received the unexpected package. He was thrilled to have been sent a present by one of his heroes. But he never thought it would have such sentimental significance. Why would Gai.... Why would he do that?

Elizabet had a bad feeling, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. So she stayed focused on the purpose of her presence here. "Are you ready to go? Since this little endeavor is so important to you."

George caught a glimpse of a familiar red shirt moving down the corridor. "Hey, Charlie!" he called out.

A few seconds later and the developer of ARTEMIS appeared at his call. "You can only get away with calling me that so many times, Doctor Karizaki!" said Charles Ronson.

"How would you like to have a playdate?"

"Now why the hell would I want to- Hey, wait, is that a Thouzer?!"

George grinned smugly at how quickly his voice changed from aggressive to cutesy. "Sure is. I was hoping you'd take care of him while I'm gone. But, if you don't want to...."

Charles suddenly swiped the little robot from George's hand and cradled him gently. "I didn't say I wouldn't." He turned away and left the room. "Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are!"

Elizabet sighed. "So not only is APOLLO getting delayed, but now ARTEMIS as well. Thanks for that." she said sarcastically.

George was disappointed that she was criticizing every little decision he made. "Or maybe, it'll remind Charlie how much the future depends on him. His assistant, Tom, for whom he has fallen, has opted for euthanasia, right?"

"Elysium isn't the paradise its namesake implies. Once GAIA is complete, the remainder of our lives will be without purpose. I don't blame anybody for opting out of that existence, but it must be so hard for Charles." said Elizabet. She hated that the only 'reward' she could offer her subordinates for their hard work was the chance to slowly grow old and perish, as the world around them was completely destroyed.

George remembered the sacrifices his friends made to hold back the Plague. In that way, he could relate to Charles, who would soon lose someone important to him as well. "I've also lost some good people. Lost my daddy twice. Even that man is gone now. I alone live on, for however long I got left."

This was the first time Elizabet saw him speak with such candor. It reminded her that he was also a vulnerable human, with loved ones and regrets. "This is a one-way trip, George. The Faro Plague is advancing and soon, I'll have no choice but to relocate all Alphas to GAIA Prime, one by one." she said. It was much safer to transfer them individually. A person cutting corners for economic reasons was what got the world in this mess, so she sure as hell wasn't making the same mistake.

George grinned and readjusted his cool glasses. "Then let's take this show on the air!"

Elizabet and George were now en route to Prime. They were being transported by an aircraft, flying in formation with an entourage of armed helicopters piloted by simple AIs, tasked with protecting the Alpha cargo in case of emergency. The convoy was cloaked from the outside to evade detection by Faro's Machines.

Through the window of the aircraft's interior, it was clear how polluted the air had become, following the Plague's relentless deforestation. Even if the enemy could be stopped, their world was now uninhabitable. Prolonged exposure to the toxic atmosphere would leave a person with less than ten minutes before an unpleasant death by asphyxiation. The Sun itself had become hostile, as Earth's diminished ozone layer provided little protection from its scolding ultraviolet rays. There were so many problems that the terraforming system had to reverse before the world would be ready to nurture new life. To that end, all the subfunctions needed to be completed and assimilated in to GAIA.

"Man, what a pathetic sight." said George. Elizabet was sat opposite him. She looked up and saw him sneering at the world outside. "The worst part is, these ugly things don't even feel anything. No sadism, no excitement, no reason for their carnage other than to extend their meaningless existence. I've known despair before. But this conflict fills me with something even worse than that. I'm bored of this world."

Elizabet had been so absorbed in her work, that she hadn't even had time to register her own boredom. No, that wasn't right. More like she obsessed over her work so she wouldn't notice as much. But when George spoke about it, there was no denying how bleak everything was, devoid of so many little joys that once colored their lives. While others welcomed death, to be free of this boredom, their determination to continue until the better end was a strength few still possessed. To create a future full of happiness.

"What was it like when you were young? When you were with FENIX?" she asked.

George smiled, remembering better times. "It was eventful! There were traitors on both sides, devils causing all kinds of crazy mayhem, my own ideas copied by a shady underground organisation,"

Elizabet's eyebrow quirked. "These are.... Happy memories?"

He gestured out the window at the despairingly dystopian scene. "A lot happier than now, don't you think? At least back then, the enemy had a face you could punch. FENIX Director at the time, Akaishi Hideo, descendant of Gif. Scum devil human who aimed to fill the world with hell, all for his own amusement. But that adversity gave me the perfect stage to live my Kamen Rider dream! In a messed up way, I wished for a great evil such as him, to test my ideals of justice. You see what I'm saying? I don't want to live in a world of absolutes. It's in the balance between those forces that I feel most alive!"

Elizabet wanted to understand him, but when she thought she was getting somewhere, George told her something crazy like that. People venerated her as a hero now, for giving humanity a hope for the future, but she would gladly trade that high renown to go back to how things were before. Perhaps the truly tragic part was that the Faro Plague was an accident. A mere glitch, random chance, chaos. What was the point of being a hero, if there was no villain to fight? The only villain in this scenario was a certain death, for all life on the planet.

"Doctor Sobeck!"

Elizabet was alarmed by the voice emitting from their pilot. "Just a minute, George." She walked over to the front of the vehicle to check on the problem. "What's happening?" she asked.

"There are hostiles homing on our position. We need to retreat!"

She noticed the swarm of dots pinging on the radar. Machines. Dammit, this transport should've been secure. But there was no point worrying about that now. "No, we can't do that. If they pursue us back to base, we'll be endangering all the Alphas. We have to keep going." she decided.

"We won't make it that far. We'll be shot out the sky before we reach our destination!"

George overheard their exchange and immediately looked out the window. "What! Oh my god!" he said. That dystopian scene had become way worse!

Elizabet knew it was suicide to keep going, even before she suggested it. The lives of George, herself and their pilot. That equaled three people in total, compared to many more back at base. All life was inherently invaluable, so the numbers shouldn't really matter. It was cynical to judge the value of a life based on its usefulness and proximity to other lives. But this was an exceptional case, so that's exactly what she was doing. The other Alphas could probably finish GAIA without them. But turn that around and there was no way she and George could finish without those Alphas. Logically, that made their party of three the most expendable.

"There's no other way. We'll make it to Prime, or die trying. I'm sorry."

Chapter Text

It was hopeless. There were four helicopters protecting their transport. But as long as they were out in the open sky, the remorseless Chariot arachnids would keep coming in seemingly endless numbers, with no purpose other than to destroy them. Perhaps they could hold out against a few Scarabs, but their convoy stood virtually no chance of survival against the heavily armed Khopesh series, which were sure to show up eventually.

George was scurrying around the cargo bay, looking under the chairs and inside the crevices. "Goddamn! Where are you hiding?!" he said.

Elizabet returned from the cockpit. She couldn't understand what George was trying to do. Their deaths were as good as sealed. "George, what are you doing?" she asked.

George didn't stop, didn't lose pace. "Why do you think the Plague found us?" he countered, without losing focus on his task.

Elizabet contemplated his question. Not like there was anything else she could do. "Probably, a bug. That's what's leaking our location." she deduced. "But it's still too late to do anything about it."

"Maybe, for us. But if we know who's behind this, we might be able to transmit a warning to the others. Or you can just sit your *** down and wait for death. Your call, Elizabet."

Elizabet agreed. She was never one to do nothing. There might be time to expose the conspirator of their imminent doom, if they could find the bug quickly. So she went to the cockpit again and started her search.

"Doctor Sobeck?" asked the concerned pilot.

"This is your vessel. Help me look for something that shouldn't belong. The future depends on it!" she said.

The pilot was just one person, a nameless nobody compared to someone as esteemed as Elizabet Sobeck. But after hearing that, he suddenly felt extremely important and immediately provided his assistance, as best as he could while maintaining control of the vehicle. "Okay!" he said. With his knowledge of the cockpit's layout, it didn't take long until he felt a small metal box stuck on the underside of the terminal. "Huh, what's this?" He yanked it hard and passed it to Elizabet.

The black device had been attached with duct tape. Upon peeling it off, a white logo was revealed, an up arrow above a diagonal rhombus.

"We found it!" said Elizabet, prompting George to peer in to the cockpit. "Ted. Damn him!" She crushed the device in her fist.

George spat at the mention of that name. "You surprised? He was always intimidated by me. With GAIA so close to completion, obviously he'd make his move now, to remove a thorn in his side. You two are collateral damage, unfortunately."

"And even believing that, you still endangered us like this? What the hell, George!"

George raised his hands innocently. "Hey, hey! To be clear, I didn't know this would happen. But when it did, I only ever had one suspect." he elaborated.

A loud clang of bullet fire followed, as they felt the aircraft shake around them, forcing them to brace themselves against whatever they could immediately grab. The Machines had commenced their assault!

George looked out the window and saw a lineup of Scarabs gathered on the ground, shooting the left side of their convoy all at once, while an assault on the right side was preparing to strike as well. The friendly AI-controlled helicopters were retaliating, but he noticed from his angle that one of them had already caught fire on the propellers and was losing its balance. "We're screwed!" he said.

Elizabet turned to the pilot. "Can you keep going?" she asked.

"Affirmative. But the shields won't hold against this many Machines." he replied. Even more dots were blipping on the circumference of the radar. These Machines here were merely the tip of the spear to wear down their defenses. It was only a matter of time before the real firepower arrived to exterminate them.

Elizabet tried to contact base through her Focus, but all she could hear was the grinding sound of white noise. "Is there an open channel? We need to send a message to the others!"

The pilot cursed under his breath as he operated some switches on the terminal. "Not with all the hostiles surrounding us. Our communication network is being disrupted by their constant transmissions. Nothing can get in or out right now. I'll keep trying anyway."

Which meant, since they didn't stand a chance at beating them, nobody would receive their signal. Instead, they would be sent to their graves, carrying the terrible secret of Ted's betrayal with them.

"Doctor Sobeck, I'm detecting a manned aerial unit, mobile, close to our position. Maybe close enough to open a channel!"

Elizabet wasn't sure why other humans would be flying out here, so far from the safety of civilization. But she didn't have the luxury of questioning it. They needed immediate support, whether to help them reach their destination or at least send out their signal. "That's something. Okay, patch them through to my Focus."

"Roger!" the pilot complied.

Elizabet waited until she was connected. "They're already requesting permission to open a hologram feed." She granted access and projected a hologram of the unidentified unit's inhabitant in to the cargo bay, so that she and George could both see and talk to them.

"Looks like you guys could use a hand."

It was their mutual ally, Amatsu Gai!

George was relieved to see one of his idols. "Wow, it's Gai-sempai!" he said.

The interior shook once more and they stumbled before regaining balance. Through the windows, they observed that a helicopter on each side had gone down and exploded, rendering them even more vulnerable to damage.

"It's too late for us, Gai. Ted set us up. Please, you need to warn them!" begged Elizabet.

"Tell them yourself, Elizabet-san. I've already suspected that he'd use this opportunity to eliminate George. If anybody knows how Ted thinks, it's me. That's why I came prepared." His own company-branded aircraft flew in to the vicinity and deactivated its cloak, positioning adjacent to theirs. He remotely activated a hardlight airlock tunnel between them. "Everybody switch over."

The hologram fizzled. It was spoken like an order, but in their case, it was the only reasonable course of action. "We're leaving!" Elizabet called to the pilot, as she led their evacuation through the blue-gleamed tunnel. On the other side, they met Gai in person.

"You still haven't aged!" said George, with a hint of envy.

Gai grinned smugly. "Youth has been kind to me. Kinder than I deserve. Perhaps, it was all for the sake of this moment."

Elizabet wanted to know what he was planning. "They already know we're here. There's no way we can escape all of them."

"No, but you can." said Gai, proudly holding his completed new Driver.

He equipped it on his waist and inserted the Awaking Arsino Zetsumerise Key in the left slot.

"Zetsumetsu, Evolution."

The usual ThousanDriver standby music played, now accompanied by a track of cheerful Thouzer barking. Gai pressed the button on the Wanwan Thouzer Progrise Key and opened it.

"Love!"

"Henshin!"

He inserted it in the right slot, opening the Driver's face.

"Miracrise!"

His body changed in to the Wanwan Thouzer base suit. Rider Models of a mechanical arsinotherium beetle and Thouzer dog were unleashed from the Driver, as the arsinotherium's horns combined with the Thouzer's gentle round ears.

"When the heroic dog crosses the suffering beetle, the Wonderful Soldier, Wanwan Thouzer, is born!"

The combined Rider Models attached to his body, completing the Henshin sequence!

"Presented by, Thouzer Corp!"

The Wonderful Soldier, Wanwan Thouzer, a platinum white upgrade to the original Thouzer suit, with the gold being moved to the eyes and accents. As Gai had boasted, this Rider System was programmed with combat data from the Riders' battles with the Faro Plague, giving him a quantum supercomputer level prediction power parallel to Zero Two's.

"Calculating.... 100% chance of defeat. Oh well, I'll just have to give it 1000% effort." He peered in the cockpit to address a pilot-type female HumaGear under his employment. "Like we discussed. When I drop, you fly them to Prime. That's my last order as your president."

She looked solemn for a while, but then her eyes filled with determination and she nodded. "Give them hell, President Gai!" she said.

Elizabet finally realized his intention. "That means, Enduring Victory. You would do that for us?"

"Of course he would, dammit! Despite everything, this man is a Kamen Rider!" said George. He removed his glasses and wiped his sleeve over his teary eye, before putting them back on. "Goddamn, a cool old man like me crying like this." For him, this was one more idol he was about to lose in the space of a few years.

Wanwan Thouzer reached out to shake his hand, which George quickly accepted. "If you'll grant me one last request, George, please make sure the future remembers what I'm about to do. And you should give yourself a little glory as well, okay."

"For glory. Yeah, I think that's the least a hero deserves. You got it!"

Amatsu Gai, once a greedy tycoon who caused the deaths of several innocents and threatened the safety of the world. Now, that world was ending anyway, he saw his chance to help create a new one, a utopia where people could live peacefully, whether they're human, or robot, a world for any lifeform with love in their heart. If he could make that happen, then he believed he could truly earn the mantle of Kamen Rider!

Wanwan Thouzer teleported down on to the blighted battleground and started attacking the Scarabs with his Wanwan Thousand Jacker, drawing the aggro away from Elizabet and the others so they could proceed to escape without interference. His suit's internal ventilation system kept him safe from the toxins in the air, but he was still a sitting duck for the legion of Machines that were now surrounding him. The direction of this battle was already predestined in his infinite calculations and all he could do was follow that path.

Eventually, a Khopesh appeared, the first of many that would soon follow. Its high firepower posed an extreme threat to the fleeing party, so Wanwan Thouzer scanned the giant Machine to identify its weakpoints. "Four cooling rods inside the shoulders. Time to turn up the heat."

He pulled the grip, channeling the power of Flaming Tiger.

"Jackrise!"

He stabbed the ground, causing four pillars of fire to erupt and rotate around the Khopesh.

"Jacking Break! Thouzer Corp."

Upon triggering its elemental limit, the cooling rods raised to counter the inferno, leaving them vulnerable to damage.

"Arrowrise!"

He conjured four auto-configured Attache Arrows from his Driver's hardlight generator, which he could control remotely through thought-based commands. After assigning each bow a separate cooling rod to target, he pressed forward in anticipation of the next move. The sentry bows fired at the cooling rods with hyper focus and precision, quickly tearing them off and forcing the Khopesh to reveal its overheated core. For Wanwan Thouzer, that was his invitation to strike. "Faro spawn, defile this planet no more!" He projected a duplicate of the Wanwan Thouzer Progrise Key directly in the Wanwan Thousand Jacker.

"Progrise Key confirmed. Ready to break."

He pulled the grip.

"Wanwan Thousandrise!"

He thrust it in to the core, flooding the neural network with a denial of service attack in the dog Thouzer's adorable image. Unable to withstand concepts of the heart like 'love' and 'generosity', the cold unfeeling Khopesh went haywire and exploded spectacularly!

"Wanwan Thousand Break! Thouzer Corp."

The last of the helicopters crash-landed nearby, conveniently taking out a few Scarabs. It provided him a few seconds of respite to bask in the glory, which he knew would be his last. And yet, that was enough. He saw his aircraft carrying Elizabet's party in the distance, far away from the danger zone. That was his victory. The rest of the fight was merely a formality, a testament of strength and pride, as he continued to fight off the Scarabs. However, with no more assistance from the air, he was truly alone now. Soon, that destroyed Khopesh was replaced by two more, targeting him with their devastating weapons.

"There's not one president in the world who can defeat you. But at least I'm the one who gets to smile in the end. GAIA, Elizabet-san, George.... I leave the rest to you. Create the future where everybody can smile together."

As they received that message through their Focuses, the scene they saw through the window was far away but unmistakable. One small man stood stoically against the unstoppable Faro Plague. Then, there was an explosion. Then, there was nothing but white noise pouring in their ears.

This was not the first Rider to fall to the Plague. But it was the first time George saw it with his own eyes. He'd already lost all his friends, family and loved ones and now even one of his heroes, while he could do nothing to stop it. He wiped his eyes again and forced himself to stay quiet, as he knew nothing he could say would come out dignified right now. The only consolation to him was that Gai gambled his life on George's plan for GAIA's development. He felt an obligation to see that through to the end, even if he had to go over Elizabet to do it.

Chapter Text

When you're aided by someone with the power to predict and execute infinite possible futures, probability is reduced to binary. 0, the outcomes that were discarded. 1, the chosen reality. Without knowing the reason why, Elizabet and George were left to try and make sense of that improbable reality they were experiencing. They were alive, but one of Zero Dawn's primary investors was dead and the other was a traitor.

"Okay, so what now?" asked Elizabet, rhetorically.

The Thouzer Corp-branded aircraft carrying their party of four descended in to the hangar and the doors above sealed tight to secure the facility from the evil outside. It was, after all, the throne of GAIA's consciousness. And it was soon to be the last sanctuary of humanity, the Alphas, whose collective work had yet to be completed. That's why, it was inexpendable. They couldn't afford even a single data leak, especially now that they knew they could trust Ted Faro no more. He was never their friend and now he had become their enemy.

They exited the vehicle. Elizabet and George made their way to the main lobby, leaving behind the male human and female HumaGear pilots in the hangar to run diagnostics, in case there were any other nasty surprises.

"Now that we have a moment where we're not being attacked by killer robots, it would be a good idea to contact base and warn them, yeah?" asked George.

Elizabet was surprised to hear him speak so calmly, after what they just saw back there. In any case, while she agreed that the Alphas had a right to know the danger they were in, she was reluctant to risk revealing more than they needed to, considering that Ted might have sneaked spyware in their Focuses. Due to that possibility, she and George had already crushed and replaced theirs, to give the illusion that they'd lost their lives to the Faro Plague earlier. It was entirely likely that the Alphas believed them to be dead already, if that's the story Ted told them. Knowing him, he probably would've sold it as some tragic misfortune of fate, that lying a**hole. But it gave them a tactical advantage, the element of surprise, which she wanted to hold on to.

"But how do we reach them, without alerting Ted to our presence? With his connections, he probably has the whole place wired." she said.

George grinned. He knew there was definitely one way he could get through discreetly.

Back at base, Charles was on his routine lunch break, while spilling his heart to Thouzer in his office.

"I'm sorry, boy. Looks like you'll be staying with me full-time."

"WAN!"

"Dammit, why'd it have to happen to them. 'A tragic misfortune of fate', he called it. Bulls***!"

Suddenly, Thouzer stood up on all legs and his eyes glowed blue. "Hey hey hey!"

Charles reeled at the uncanny change in behavior. "The hell! Boy, d'you just break or something?"

Thouzer shook his head. "It's me, your best friend, George Karizaki! It might look weird to you, for me to be speaking through a dog's mouth like this, but I'm alive."

"We weren't even good friends, last time I checked! The hell's going-"

"Hey, keep it down, okay." said George. He didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. "Listen carefully, Charlie. There's something you need to know and I'm only going to tell you once.... Ted Faro has betrayed us."

Charles felt his blood boil. Not exactly an uncommon sensation for someone so hotheaded, but like most people in the loop, he hated Ted and this was just another reason to curse his toxic existence.

George continued, "He brought the Plague straight to us. He wanted me out of the picture and he almost succeeded."

"And Elizabet. She with you?" asked Charles, desperately hoping for a good response.

"She's fine."

Charles breathed a sigh of relief. When he heard about her death, he was worried about how they were going to complete GAIA without her. There was still so much they had left to do before she was prepared to take charge of the planet's salvation. To know their resilient Alpha Prime was still persisting in the shadows was a source of great hope.

"Ted can't find out yet, okay. As much as I loathe to admit it, our infrastructure is still dependent on his funding. If he sniffs out even the faintest scent of anything that might turn his name to mud in the future, he won't hesitate to pull the plug."

"You're taking a mighty risk reaching out to me. What d'you need?" he pressed, respecting the urgency of George's position.

"From you, ARTEMIS. We need you all to keep working on the subfunctions. Inform the others, discreetly. Don't let your guard down. We'll handle the fun stuff."

Developing the subfunctions was already a grueling task for the greatest of minds the present had to offer. Now they were being asked to do that while treading lightly around their paranoid bene-slash-malefactor, who was willing to kill to maintain the lie. However, Elizabet hadn't chosen her Alphas only for their genius, but for their tenacity as well. "You got it." Charles asserted.

"God speed, Charlie. Oh and tell Travis, I'm cheering for his success."

With that, Thouzer returned to normal and briefly looked around the room in confusion. "WAN!" He then scratched his ear with his rear leg like nothing had happened.

"Only Travis, huh. Geez, talk about playing favorites!" complained Charles. Maybe a part of him did want to be George's friend, even though he was too proud to admit it.

George turned off his Focus, which he had used to interface with the robot dog. "There, all done."

Elizabet sighed. "That dragged on a little longer than necessary, but that's one problem taken care of, at least."

"Yeah yeah, my bad. Anyway, let us not keep the big lady waiting!" said George, as he enthusiastically started walking towards GAIA's chamber.

However, Elizabet stopped him before he reached the door. Not like he'd be able to get in without her biometric authentication. "Hold on. Don't you have to confront your feelings first?" she asked.

George raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

Elizabet had agreed to George's request, but right now, she was concerned that he wasn't prepared for this. How could he be? How could anyone, after what they had been through? She didn't like it, the way he hid his emotions from her. She wanted GAIA to learn the value of honesty from humans and she was worried that George was unable to provide that.

"Don't screw with me, George! I know it's eating you up right now. He was your hero."

George inferred who she was referring to. He knew she was right, but he was trying to put that at the back of his mind for now, to focus on his purpose here. "I have a lot of heroes to mourn, unlike you who doesn't look up to anybody. But Gai-sempai sacrificed himself to get me here. All for my Kamen Rider dream. If I crack, I'll lose everything all over again."

Elizabet wasn't buying it. "Oh, how noble of you. Unless of course, you're just telling me what you think I want to hear. Sure, I don't exactly have any heroes. You should remember my old mentor though, the guy who discredited me back in the 40s, the guy who started the apocalypse, the guy who just tried to get us killed. Everything I am today, I built myself through hard work and a lot of patience. So I have pretty good judgement when someone is trying to deceive me."

"You know, if I wanted to get access to GAIA that badly, I would've stolen your DNA by now." said George, as he gestured down with his eyes.

Elizabet looked to see that he had sneaked out a navy and red Vistamp from one of his pockets, which was currently pointed towards her waist in a threatening way like you'd expect from a knife or gun. "If you stamped me to release my devil, I would just kill it, like I've killed many of my devils. And then you, for good measure." she warned.

George laughed with satisfaction at her answer. He could tell from her serious eyes that she probably wasn't bluffing. "So that would be two for two on dead APOLLO candidates. Wouldn't that be an unhappy statistic! As expected from the prodigal scientist, Elizabet Sobeck!" He withdrew his hand and placed the trinket on a desk beside them, as a symbol of peace. "If you expect me to bare my tormented soul, then let me do it in front of GAIA now. I can't prove my goodwill if you're too afraid to trust me."

Elizabet found the condition to be an acceptable compromise. "Okay then." she said, with a long sigh. While George was still irritating in his own way, she couldn't compare him to Ted, for whom they both shared a deep resentment. It was time for them to work together to fight against that common enemy.

She approached the door and triggered the authentication process via her Focus. "Commencing identity scan. Please stand still." it announced in a monotonous female voice. A blue light scanned her from top to bottom, reading her genetic code and matching it with the authorization data. "Identity confirmed. Welcome, Doctor Sobeck." The door opened.

"And the amazing George Karizaki!" added George, imitating the voice.

"Ugh.... Can we please just go?"

Elizabet led the way in to GAIA's chamber. It was a server room, the biggest of its kind ever seen. Hundreds of servers stored in neat rows along the walls, all necessary to provide a constant flow of power to the main attraction. In the center, there was a holographic interface, the means through which humans could communicate with the AI that dwelled here.

George's stomach was twisted in a knot, as he anticipated his conference with a supercomputer whose power and intelligence were predicted to soon exceed the satellite Zea's. How far humanity had come in the last century, even now, past the Horizon of inevitable extinction caused by one of their own. Despite that unforgivable sin, a species as wonderful and curious as humanity surely deserved to continue and this was their salvation. His excitement bubbled up inside, until he could barely contain it. He could feel the love that Elizabet put in to this. A love that rivaled his own for Kamen Rider. A love that made his chest ache with euphoria.

"Hey, GAIA! Can you hear me?!" he shouted suddenly.

Elizabet was quick to shove him aside, like she was a mother instinctively protecting her child. Actually, that was exactly what she was doing. "Sorry about that, GAIA. Is it okay if we talk?"

In response to the polite greeting, GAIA gradually generated her yellow-lit holographic human avatar so they could talk with her more comfortably. It was easier for people to treat her like a person if she resembled one. Contrary to the mother-daughter relationship, her avatar appeared at least a decade older than the 45 year-old scientist, giving the feeling of a wise middle-aged woman. Perhaps, this was also intentional, as she was intended to function as a mother to the future generation.

"Whooooa!" said George.

"Hello Elizabet. I am happy to see you again. I noticed that you have a new guest." said GAIA.

"Whooooooa!"

Elizabet nudged him. "This is George Karizaki."

GAIA already had information on all Zero Dawn personnel. "Ah yes, Alpha of APOLLO. I have been looking forward to meeting you, as I also look forward to meeting your peers. My data tells me that you are half-American and half-Japanese. Shall I address you as 'Doctor Karizaki', or 'Karizaki-hakase'?"

"People this side of the ocean mostly call me plain old George. Yeah, 'George' is fine."

"Very well, George. I will update your preferences."

"Hold on, what was that before, about meeting my peers?" asked George.

Elizabet figured the explanation should come from her, as there was no point hiding it now. "I had always planned to introduce all Alphas to GAIA after their relocation, to provide her with diverse human contact essential for developing empathy. I was just hoping the first would've been someone more agreeable than you, no offense."

"None taken. Honestly, I'm impressed that you even considered the importance of that. Lack of empathy can become a serious problem if left unchecked." said George, recalling his observation of the egoistic user of Kamen Rider Revi.

"Hmm, I sense that something is not right here. Elizabet, are you okay?" asked GAIA.

Elizabet remembered the unpleasant circumstances of their arrival. "No, not exactly, GAIA. Our trip here was sabotaged by Ted, to kill us. However, Gai sacrificed himself so we could make it here safely." she said.

GAIA suddenly experienced a strong emotion, which she registered as grief. "Amatsu-san is dead then. That is sad. I was aware that Mr. Faro possessed an unstable personality, but I failed to predict that he would be willing to commit such a deliberate act of malice. I must apologize sincerely for my shortcoming, Elizabet."

"It wasn't your fault. He tricked all of us in to thinking he was serious about repenting. Right now, it's important that we stay under the radar and continue our work, until the time comes to take the fight to Ted. We've informed the Alphas of this plan, through a secret channel."

"Which brings me to my pitch. To ensure Gai-sempai's death won't have been in vain, I've prepared this," George activated his Focus, showing the schematics for the Rider Machines he designed. "Evil can come from anywhere, not just humanity. Year after year, our species has been challenged by aliens, devils, mutants, even gods. If another challenger from outside our scope of understanding should attack before the complete restoration of civilization, they'd have an unprecedented advantage, which could quickly undo all our progress. I propose a solution to this, by uploading my template on Kamen Riders to HEPHAESTUS' programming, to create an army of autonomous Riders to protect humanity until they are once more advanced enough to create their own Riders. That's the future I want to create!"

With a weird flourish of his hands to punctuate that last line, George looked to see how his dramatic speech was received. Elizabet seemed to be impressed, if not with his hammy performance, then at least with his argument. GAIA was harder to read, being an AI.

"I respect your enthusiasm, George. Based on the information currently available to me in the APOLLO archive, I believe that the majority of these Kamen Riders were truly inspirational specimens of humanity." started GAIA. Her response was good so far. "However, there are some logistical problems with your proposal." she continued, as George's face assumed a worried frown. "If their humanity is the main factor that makes Riders so inspirational, then I am afraid I lack the means to provide Machines with the same essence, only their basic mannerisms. Will people accept such easily deducible facsimiles?"

George was met with an obstacle to his dream that he hadn't foreseen. With his mind clouded by bias, he brazenly assumed that Riders were inherently inspirational. But without those important factors that made them what they are, how can anybody look up to them the way he did, when they can't even appreciate the legacy of justice behind their title. "So even if it looks and acts like a Rider, that's not enough to call it a Rider, huh."

"Furthermore, to mass-produce the incredible powers in your template across the world would require a substantial percentage of my heuristic density. It is attainable, but only by diverting resources from other subroutine functions to serve HEPHAESTUS. Unfortunately, APOLLO would be included among those diminished. There is no guarantee that people would have the knowledge to identify these Machines as Riders. Your 'heroes' might instead be mistaken as threats."

Elizabet didn't like the sound of that. "Extending that logic to other subfunctions, that means entire species of fauna and flora would stay extinct, the environment would be prone to pollution, the population would constantly struggle to sustain its numbers." she said.

"Indeed."

George's dream for the future came to a sudden crash. He knew there was no way Elizabet would ever consider sacrificing the integrity of the other subfunctions. He definitely didn't want to tear in to APOLLO, to deny people the wealth of knowledge that was necessary to truly appreciate the gift he had sought to bestow. Reality couldn't rise to the fantastic image he had in his mind.

Having lost his motivation, he slumped down on the nearby stairs. "Goddamn! Gai-sempai must've learned about this from all the calculations he ran. If not for my dream, then why did he create this stupid scenario? What the hell is the meaning of anything anymore?!"

Elizabet looked upon him with pity. She disliked seeing this depressed arrogant side of him even more than his usual flamboyant cocky side. "George. You're not the only one who can fulfill your dream."

"Who else, besides me?"

GAIA elected to address his existential crisis with her own opinion. "Perhaps, Elizabet is implying that you should defer your ultimate goal to the theoretical cosmic force called, 'destiny'. I currently have only an abstract understanding of the concept, but it seems to be something that allows humans to indirectly determine outcomes far in to the future, regardless of any probabilistic variables. As I operate exclusively in the realm of probability, I can only offer my conjecture, but I presume that the terrorist organization, Shocker, inadvertently creating the agent of their own destruction, Kamen Rider, would fit this definition."

George remembered how Kamen Rider started. It was an accident. A beautiful accident born from a terrible sin. Without that epic fail, there probably never would've been a Kamen Rider. "So I should just leave it all to the future. Let the Riders be absorbed in to ancient history and hope they can come back, somehow. Can a miracle like that really happen twice?" he asked.

"I think it can." said Elizabet. She had faith in the new world that GAIA would create. "That's why you left HEPHAESTUS to Margo, isn't it, because you believed in her potential. Well, Gai believed in your dream and he convinced me to give you the chance. Because of that, he weeded out Ted as the traitor, gave us this chance to oppose him. Your best shot of making that dream come true is in your hands, George. It's APOLLO."

George used to think APOLLO was only useful for recording information on Riders for posterity. But maybe it wasn't just a reliquary of the past. Maybe it was a blueprint for the future. He was thinking in extremes of too small and too big, underestimating, overestimating, but a simple truth eluded him, hiding under his nose. It was a way to inspire a new generation of Riders, to guide the future towards that path, by stepping aside and allowing people to reach that conclusion on their own.

Feeling reinvigorated, he jumped to his feet and met Elizabet's analytical gaze, so she could see that the old George was back, with his expression of hot determination. "Then I'll bet my dream on your dream, Elizabet. I'll bet on GAIA!" he said.

Chapter Text

Two months had passed since the alleged news of Elizabet's and George's deaths. All the Alphas were now living in GAIA Prime, their only stop left before Elysium. They had equipped GAIA with all the minimum assets she needed to oversee the world that was to come in the centuries following Zero Dawn. But today, for some reason, the Alphas were having trouble accessing her system. So they had gathered in a conference room to interrogate Ted about this problem.

Charles frantically swiped through his Focus' HUD as he tried to gain access. "I’m locked out of core control. Alpha clearance overridden. What the hell is Omega clearance?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is whack. Omega's supposed to come after Alpha, not before. What gives, Ted?" asked Travis.

A hologram of Ted stood in the center of the round table where the Alphas were seated. His physical body was in his own personal bunker. "Alpha Personnel. Sorry to alarm you, but.... I need you to listen, okay? To what I’m about to say. This isn’t easy. See, I’ve.... Uh. Please stop trying to access the system, okay? See, what this is about.... Is...."

Despite Ted's polite request to cease, Charles continued to interact with his HUD.

"I said, stop trying to access the goddamn system! What I’m trying to say is, I can’t stop thinking about the ones who’ll come after us. Those innocents. Those blameless men. And, and women. We’re going to give them knowledge? Like it’s a gift?!" He looked and sounded nervous, like he was gradually leading up to something they weren't going to like.

"Well duh! They have a right to know where they came from."

"I respectfully disagree with your brash assertion, Travis. It’s not a gift, it’s a disease! They’re the cure and we’re going to give them the disease? Our disease?! No. We can’t. And it’s not too late.... If we’re willing to sacrifice."

He was talking about 'we' and 'our', making out like they were as much to blame as he was. Of course, they didn't see it that way and they definitely weren't onboard with the sacrifice he was implying.

"So what, man, you just want to, like, flush APOLLO down the freakin' sh*tter?! Liz and Georgey never would've been cool with that, no sir." said Travis.

"But they're not with us anymore, sadly. There's no going back now. I did it three minutes ago." There it was, his confession. An undeniable breach of the contract Elizabet blackmailed him to sign. But government was dead and the contract meant nothing to him anymore. "I’ve purged APOLLO. It’s gone, all of it. Every copy."

Charles stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "A sacrifice? It’s not a sacrifice, it’s cultural obliteration, you crazy b******! Millennia of culture...."

"I’m sorry. Really, I am. But sometimes, to protect innocents.... Innocents have to die."

"Emergency alert. Venting atmosphere."

They realized they were about to asphyxiate. While it was tempting to waste their last moments of consciousness cursing Ted, they tried to find comfort in the memories of their loved ones, who they would soon see once more. Samina, Tom, Gai. Maybe it would be over quickly.

This was Ted's 'sacrifice', the future denied the wisdom of the past, his contemporaries murdered at the press of a button to stop them from resisting. It didn't matter to him, as long as he got what he wanted, the way he always did. He deemed it all necessary, especially when he thought about how they would just die meaninglessly anyway.

"Error. Aborting procedure."

"No. No no no, this should be working."

Charles tried to access the system again. "Alpha clearance restored. I'm in."

Travis was ticked off. "Why you! You just tried to kill us!"

"Please excuse me, I need to check something." said Ted. He signed off, presumably so they wouldn't see the humiliation he was experiencing.

Ted used his Focus to scan through all the illegal network routes he had set up to usurp control from the Alphas. He needed to find out the source of this problem, before they severed his remote connection to GAIA Prime entirely.

"Dammit, how did that get disabled?"

His control of their artificial atmosphere was abruptly switched off before it could execute his command. Followed by the restriction he imposed on Alpha clearance being removed. These variables were too specific to his plan to be an accident.

"You look stressed. Maybe you should take a break."

Ted froze. He thought he heard the voice of a ghost behind him. One he had hoped never to hear again.

"Not expecting visitors, Ted?"

Two ghosts. He turned around and saw them. They weren't ghosts. They were real! "Elizabet, George.... Heavens, you survived. Thank the lord." he said.

"Do us a favor, drop the act. We know about the bug you planted on our transport." said Elizabet.

"You were bugged? That's terrible! Liz, I'm so proud of how far you've come, you know I would never do anything to harm you deliberately. I know what it is, one of my employees must have done it to tarnish my good name. Please, you must believe me, as I have always believed in you."

Elizabet snarled. The lies were rolling off his tongue so easily, it was sickening. "So that's how it's going to be, huh. I know you had no reason to want me dead, but then, I wasn't the target, was I?"

"Where's your fake warm and fuzzy feelings towards me, Ted? I'd love to hear your argument against killing me." said George.

Ted didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "I was deeply saddened when I heard how Gai died two months ago, fighting Chariots. Alone. How tragic. Surely he would've been more useful if he were embedded in an army. Alas, his final gift was wasted saving a degenerate devil-fraternizer."

"I embraced my devils and became stronger for it. You unleashed yours in to the world, starting the apocalypse. So insult me all you want, I don't give a damn. But if you know what's good for you, you'll never speak poorly of him again! Anyway, you still haven't denied Elizabet's accusation."

There was an ominous pause and Ted started pacing around his office impatiently. "I'm sorry, Elizabet. You were just in the wrong time at the wrong place. We're heroes, you and I. And heroes must be willing to sacrifice each other for the greater good. Perhaps, your survival was part of fate's design. It was you who fixed the broken seal, wasn't it? The lord spared you, so he could send you to deliver me from evil. It's obvious now that I think about it."

Elizabet was disturbed by how extreme his justifications were turning. "Nobody sent me. I chose this path by my own free will, because I wanted to protect the future I entrusted to GAIA. I stand before you now, to stop you from destroying that future. That's all."

"Then you leave me no choice."

Suddenly, Ted grabbed some items from a drawer. A golden USB memory and a gunmetal belt, the latter of which he attached to his waist. Elizabet assumed they were more Faro-manufactured weapons, while George instantly recognized them and was surprised to see them in Ted's possession.

"Hey, you! Where did you get that?!" demanded George.

"I acquired some interesting assets from my anonymous buyout of Foundation X. I didn't become the world's premiere trillionaire by making pizzas, you know."

Ted pressed the button on the Gaia Memory.

"Utopia!"

He inserted it in the Gaia Driver, which gobbled it up by converting it to data. As his body started to change in to a new form, various objects in the room levitated and became suspended in midair. Like a futuristic pen, a futuristic cooling fan and a brass candelabrum, which hadn't changed at all in the last half a century, all floating in the gravitational void.

"Elizabet, watch out!" called George, as he quickly grabbed her and positioned himself between her and their enemy.

The complete solidification of Ted's superpowered form was heralded by a forceful shockwave that propelled all the floating objects towards his intruders, who were sent flying in separate directions!

Thanks to George absorbing the direct impact of the psychokinetic blast, Elizabet was unharmed. "George, what is that?" she asked.

George winced from the stinging sensation of pain running through his weakened old bones. He wasn't physically prepared to deal with that impact, but the hero's instinct compelled him to act. "Utopia Dopant. An extremely strong life-sucking final boss level monster that took the full might of Kamen Rider Double CycloneJoker Xtreme to defeat. However, that user was also a zombie and an ESPer, so hey, this one might be lame by comparison. I hope." he replied.

"By hoarding the Foundation's WMDs, keeping them out of circulation, I bought the world a little peace. But that wasn't enough. People still warred with each other, invariably corrupted by greed and hatred. They forced my hand. The forbidden fruit of knowledge has led human civilization down a destructive path, with me as its last unwitting vessel. Now I have a chance to atone for all our sins, to create a utopia where such tragedy can never repeat. I can't allow you to interfere anymore." said Utopia. Naturally, he started hovering towards George first, the one for whom he held so much contempt.

Elizabet had to think fast. George was still taking his time to recover and if this Utopia thing was as strong as he claimed, then he was about to have his life sucked out. Her eyes focused on the first object in front of her, a navy and red Vistamp. The same one George pretended to threaten her with before. It must have came loose from his pocket after they were knocked back. But she wasn't even a Rider, just a regular human. What could she do with it?

It was the only option presented to her, so she decided to take a leap of faith. GAIA, the future, everything she fought restlessly to protect for the last two years since that fatal glitch. Her life's work all depended on this moment. She grabbed the Vistamp and stood up to lure Utopia's attention. "You know what, Ted? I think you're full of it!" she said, successfully stopping his advance. "Do you want to see my devil, the one you put inside me, the one I've never been able to kill? Well, fine. I'll show it to you!"

Elizabet held it tightly with both hands and quickly stamped herself in the chest. After a low-pitched sound effect, a Deadman emerged from her body, resembling an inverted spider with eight legs pointing out from the back. As this Spider Deadman was still wild, it immediately sought to attack the nearest target and swiped Elizabet in to a wall with its piercing back legs!

"Reckless woman! You can't control your own devil!" said George.

"How crude. Elizabet, I'm aghast that you of all people would be capable of producing something like that." said Utopia. He conjured a fireball and launched it at the Deadman that offended him with its existence, which in turn directed its focus away from its host and on to him.

As more burning projectiles came its way, the ticked off Spider Deadman shot freezing webs from its mouth to neutralize them and proceeded to lunge towards Utopia, using all its back legs sequentially to stab him repeatedly.

"Goddamn you, get off!"

George recovered from his injury and made his way over to Elizabet's side, helping to gently prop her against the wall. "It's only a Phase 1. How is it able to withstand the Utopia Dopant's power?!" he asked, rhetorically.

"Of course it's strong. It's my devil. My regret." said Elizabet, before returning the Vistamp. Her voice was softer now.

George was worried. He felt a cold wet substance on his hands. He realized they were covered in blood. Not his own. So he checked Elizabet's body and found that she had been stabbed in the chest by the devil she spawned. "Elizabet...."

"I-It's fine. Ted was right a-about one thing. I-I should never have became a scientist. Sorry, George."

"No, that's wrong! Don't you dare say that! You're an amazing scientist! Better than I ever could've been!" said George. He waited for her response. He waited, breathlessly. But it never came. That's when it hit him. Those pathetic words he never wanted to hear from her.... Were her last.

Elizabet Sobeck, the bright overachieving scientist he liked to tease, but actually respected as an equal. She was dead. Killed by her own devil.

Having dug its own grave, the Spider Deadman experienced an involuntary spasm in reaction to the demise of its host, allowing Utopia to take back the advantage and promptly destroy it with a concentrated shockwave.

"That's one less abomination to terrorize the world. Now then, shall-" started Utopia, before he read the room. He saw the back of George crouching over his former protege, who was slouched against the wall, bloody and still. "Elizabet!"

"'Sorry, George.'" George mumbled.

"What?"

"'Sorry, George.'" he repeated louder. "Why did she have to say that? What did she have to apologize for?"

He reached in to his jacket and grabbed his favorite Mighty Kuuga action figure, which brought him good luck throughout his life. Even though Elizabet was never a Rider, she had the spirit of one. George opened the palm of her limp hand and placed the Kuuga toy inside it, becoming caked in the blood. After pulling her eyelids shut and paying his respects to his fallen comrade, he stood up to confront Utopia.

"She built a castle to make everybody happy. And all you did was plant your flag on it. You destroyed the world, but even worse, you destroyed Elizabet's sense of self-worth. So thank you, Ted Faro. For reminding me why I fight."

George pulled out the Demons Driver and stared at it solemnly.

"Hey. I could use your strength right now. Will you gamble on me, one last time?" he asked, briefly switching to his Japanese tongue.

He equipped it on his waist and pressed the button on the Vistamp.

"Spider!"

He stamped it on the top of the Driver.

"Deal!"

The spider descended from its web, looming over his right shoulder.

"It's been said for decades past. It'll be said for decades more. This immortal word," George prepared himself. And then, "Henshin!" He stamped the display.

"Decide Up!"

The spider attached and shot the web over his torso, manifesting the heroic red and blue Demons suit over his body.

"Deep. Drop. Danger. Rider. Demons!"

And thus, he completed his second Henshin in to Kamen Rider Demons! But having lost his own devils as an auxiliary power source, it would tax his body severely. Even so, he decided that the price of this power was irrelevant now.

Utopia thought he could justify sacrificing Elizabet for his goal, but instead she sacrificed herself to stop him. He couldn't understand, why someone who shined so brilliantly would throw away her life to protect someone so submerged in sin, humanity's disease. "No, I'm trying to make everything right. You bewitched her with your slanderous lies about me. This is your fault!" He blasted Demons, knocking him back.

However, Demons maintained his grip on the ground thanks to the suit absorbing the impact. He felt it inside though, tearing through his body. But there was only one thing on his mind. "So you're still denying her free will, huh? How vexing." He stamped the display once more.

"Charge!"

He wanted to punish Ted, so he started walking towards him at an intimidatingly steady pace, while the ominous finisher standby loop played on his Driver.

"That's enough." Utopia blasted him again, shattering Demons' front left eyepiece to reveal George's bloodshot eye beneath and slowing him down for a few seconds, but the vengeful Rider continued his advance with barely more than a muffled grunt in reaction. Utopia repeated his attack several more times, eroding the Rider's suit, but not stopping him. "Why do you keep going?!"

"Cause I ain't just doing this for my pleasure or my dream. I'm also doing this for her. Now, witness my Demons Finish!" Demons pushed the two side levers of the Driver, activating the finisher and filling his right leg with sanguine energy.

"Demons Finish!"

He jumped in to the air and eight spider legs converged on his foot, the point of impact, before he let his flying destructive kick collide with Utopia, who had desperately put up a forcefield in front of him to try and repel the incoming attack.

"Humility is for losers and liars.... And people who don't understand their own value. The only loser and liar here, is you!" said Demons.

The kick's power increased with that cool anger, until eventually, it penetrated the shield and smashed explosively in to Utopia!

Having reverted to the weak human he truly was, Ted saw his Gaia Memory land on the floor and quickly tried to reach it. But as he barely clutched it, Demons stomped down, crushing both the device and his hand with a sickening crunch. Ted wailed. "What the hell do you want?!" he asked, indignantly.

"Nothing you can give me." replied Demons. He kicked him in the face, with enough force to roll him several times and slam in to the wall.

Ted could taste the coppery tang of blood drooling from his mouth. "Dammit! Killing me won't make you a hero!" he said.

George de-Henshined, but he wasn't about to stop there. He walked over and grabbed him by his neck, lifting his feet off the ground and suspending him in midair. "I've perfected the art of snapping a neck. Do you want to see it?" he threatened. He found gratification in the sight of Ted squirming helplessly in his grasp.

"Lord have mercy."

However, George had no intention of going through with it. Maybe his past self would've done it without a second thought, but as he was now, he couldn't. He was a Kamen Rider. True Kamen Riders don't kill humans, no matter how far they've gone. "Have it your way, Ted. I'll leave you in your lord's hands. I want to see what will happen." said George. He dropped him and walked over to the computer. He knew Ted's punishment had to be more appropriate, a fate tailored to him.

"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Ted.

"Emergency alert. Disabling security protocols. Unlocking seals. Transmitting beacon. Facility compromised. Danger imminent."

"Yeah, what she said." replied George.

Ted let that sink in, the implication of what George so casually did. What was about to happen. He was never more scared than he was right now. "You're insane! Don't you understand, you'll die as well!"

George shrugged as he walked away from the computer. "Like you wanted. I simply replicated the same conditions you set up before and now you even have a front row seat to my grand finale. No hero to come save us, nowhere to run or hide. So what's the problem?" he asked. He sounded unnervingly chilled about their grim situation.

"No. No, no, you're bluffing. I'm calling you out. APOLLO's wiped, you have nothing to gain from this!" said Ted.

George gave a small sadistic smirk. "Looks like you haven't caught up yet. We knew you'd try and get rid of APOLLO, so we asked GAIA to individually switch out each databyte with the contents of Travis' NSFW directory, which had a disturbingly similar file size. You never suspected a thing."

If that sick story was true, as Ted feared it was, then not only was the subfunction he compromised his position to delete still intact in a domain he presumed was infested with the lowest of humanity's impulses, but with his recent betrayal known to those with the means to edit the database, he figured the records of his disastrous deeds had surely been added to that collective by now.

Ted pulled himself to a stand and staggered towards the computer. "No, I can't let them take me!" he said, as he started typing on the holographic interface to re-enable the security. But half of his fingers were smashed and inoperable, leaving him with only one hand which was shaky and inefficient for what he urgently needed to do.

George picked up the brass candelabrum that he found conveniently lying among the other items scattered over the floor, then he returned to the computer at his own leisure. He wanted to show Ted the futility of what he was doing, so he would have to face the reality he created for himself. So George struck the computer with the candelabrum, causing Ted to recoil. He did this until it was completely out of order.

"You.... What have you done!"

George threw away the candelabrum and slouched down next to Elizabet's corpse. "Better go back to praying, Ted. Nothing else you can do." He let his body relax, succumbing to the heavy toll that the combination of Demons Driver and Utopia's attacks had taken on him. He wondered what would kill him first, those effects, or the encroaching monsters outside. Either way, he was done. "Wake me up when it's over.... Hiromi." he said in Japanese, before closing his eyes to rest a little.

Ted was stuck in denial. He couldn't allow himself to be slain by his own creation, as that was practically suicide. He feebly grabbed George by the shoulder, shaking him with what little might he could still muster. "Kill me!" he begged. If George killed him, at least he wouldn't have to take responsibility for his own death. But George, barely clinging to life, opted to ignore him. He just sat there, smiling contently. "GEORGE!" cried Ted.

A loud explosion teared the roof off the bunker, spewing a mix of toxic gas and snow flurry in to the room, now more debris than room. George didn't stir, he knew the source of the noise. Ted saw the terror through his own eyes, a Khopesh standing outside, accompanied by a legion of Scarabs. They had the bunker completely surrounded. Chariots, 'Peacekeepers', as he marketed them, now his executioners. They didn't care that he was their creator, they served no purpose other than what they were built for, destruction.

The Khopesh spotted them and roared its devastating weapons. It was overkill, just to liquidate two beaten and bloodied men on the brink. Ted couldn't look away from the sight of his killer Machines, their cold rage, the last sight he would ever see in this world. It was the sight and sound of true despair stabbing him in the heart, as he realized he was trapped in a fate of his own design, one he had doomed billions to before him.

But to George, the cadence of his death was drowned out by the echoes of his life before the Faro Plague, the friends he had made, the father he was lucky to meet again, the love he longed to be reunited with. He found solace in the past, but he also imagined the future, how human civilization would thrive with the new Riders he wholeheartedly believed would be created, how they would finish the dream in his and Elizabet's place. When he thought about all these things that made his life so bright, he had broken the shackles of fear and regret. Finally, George was able to leave this world to the future generation and move on to the world beyond, with a smile that was real.

955 years later, in Tokyo, Japan:

A Caucasian bearded man in his early 30s was being pursued through a parking lot by two Riders resembling monstrous distortions of Build and Faiz.

He ran to a higher level, but Another Build used his rabbit jumping power to intercept him, while Another Faiz blocked his path backwards. The man couldn't see any escape route. He clutched the object tucked away inside his grey jacket, determined to keep it out of their hands as they approached him menacingly.

"I promised I would guard this with my life. I can't afford to break that promise!"

Suddenly, a black hoverbike with pink and green accents emerged from a spacetime portal and fired at the Riders.

"Time Mazine!"

Two people jumped out of the vehicle, landing next to the man. One of them was a black Rider, with the aforementioned noun written on his face in pink katakana and two pairs of silver clock hands as antennae. Alongside him, a girl in her early 20s, dressed in what he assumed was early 21st Century hipster clothes.

"Who are you people?"

"Duck when you hear his giant sword start to talk, okay." said the girl.

"What?!"

The black Rider, Zi-O II, waited for the Another Riders to lock on to him, before activating his Saikyo Zikan Gilade's finisher.

"Saikyo Finish Time! King Giri Giri Slash!"

The girl ducked and prompted the older man to do the same. Zi-O II's sword glowed with golden energy, which he released in a radial slash with 'Zi-O Saikyo' written in pink katakana, instantly destroying the false claimants to the proud title of Kamen Rider.

The danger was gone, so he de-Henshined, revealing his identity as a brown-haired man with a baseball cap. The other two stood up and he turned around to address the older man. "I'm Sougo. And this is my girlfriend, Misa. Why were they after you?" asked Sougo.

The older man didn't know if he could trust these youths, but they did just save him, so he decided it was only fair to reciprocate. "I'm Doctor Rost. They wanted to destroy this." he replied. He took out the object from his jacket to show them what he was protecting, a metal pod with some kind of unborn organism preserved inside.

Misa cringed at the slimy vessel. "Gross. What is it?" she asked.

"It's a she. Someday, she will be needed to save the world from the Zeniths of Sirius. Until then, I must protect her."

Sougo found the description familiar. A person destined before birth for greatness. Since his other self, the world's native Tokiwa Sougo, sacrificed himself to help create this new time, he wanted to give his all as the last Tokiwa Sougo in the world. "If that's true, then you can count on me to protect you both. After all, whether it's 2021 or 3021, I have a responsibility as the future king."