Soul Drive: Ignition

Hiro clenched his teeth as the gut-wrenching screams of his loved ones echoed through the barren interrogation room. His heart thudded in his chest, but he forced himself to push through the fear. They couldn't possibly be real, this was just a simulation meant to break him.

The door creaked open, and Daiki re-entered the room, his cold eyes scanning Hiro's battered form. "Impressive," he said, a twisted smile playing on his lips. "Not many can endure that kind of mental torture for four hours straight."

"Tell me who gave you the Mach, and if there are others like you," Daiki demanded, his voice low and menacing. Beads of sweat trickled down Hiro's face, but he remained silent, defiant.

"Come on, Hiro," Daiki said, feigning sympathy. "We know you're not working for the Japanese. Did Masato hire you to show off what a Mach can do, or has someone else developed the technology?"

Daiki leaned closer, his breath hot against Hiro's ear. "Or maybe," he whispered, "you found your missing parents, and you're plotting to destroy their creations together."

Hiro's hands curled into fists. "My parents died in an accident at their lab," he growled, the pain in his voice unmistakable.

Daiki straightened up, his face a mask of surprise. "Who told you that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"The government," Hiro spat, lying to the man. "They told my uncle when they gave me to him as a baby. He told me later."

Daiki fell silent, processing the information. In his mind, it made sense that Mary and her husband would be dead rather than on the run – but why had the Japanese lied about their deaths? The only logical explanation was that they had orchestrated the accident themselves, but Daiki kept this thought to himself.

"My intel says you weren't sure if they were dead, so why are you so certain now? What changed?" he demanded, his voice hard.

Hiro's eyes flashed, he had found something he could use to bargain. "I'm not telling you anything until you prove to me that Kimiko is okay."

"Who do you think you are, making demands?" Daiki snapped, his anger flaring. But Hiro stood his ground, his jaw set.

"Then we're done talking," he said simply, his voice firm.

As the silence settled over the room, a game of power played out between captor and captive.

-----

Osamu stood in the dimly lit Embassy hallway, his nerves on edge as he waited for news from Daiki about Hiro's interrogation. The tension weighed heavy on him, making it difficult to remain still. He glanced around, noting the sterile walls and faint hum of the air conditioning system.

"Any progress?" Patrick Ward, the diplomat running the Canadian Embassy, approached Osamu with a mixture of curiosity and impatience.

"Nothing concrete yet, sir," Osamu replied hesitantly. "We still don't know where these two Machs came from."

Ward raised an eyebrow, disappointment etched across his face. "Well, at least Canada will have two more Machs in the fight to build a better army," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Osamu's eyes widened at the comment. "I thought we were going to destroy them..."

Kenneth laughed, a cold, harsh sound that echoed down the hallway. "We can't seem to reverse engineer them, so we might as well make use of them. As for the kids, Kimiko and Hiro...we'll have to get rid of them. They know too much. But don't worry, people go missing every day."

The casual cruelty in Ward's words sent a shiver down Osamu's spine. He watched as the diplomat walked away, each step echoing like a ticking clock. It was at this moment that Osamu realized he couldn't allow the blood of two innocent teenagers to stain his conscience.

Osamu began formulating a plan to free Hiro and Kimiko. He knew he needed a distraction, something that would pull the Embassy officials' attention away long enough for him to get the teens out. His mind raced through possibilities, but one idea stood out above the rest: stealing the Machs from holding.

As Osamu made his way through the halls, he considered the logistics of his plan. The theft would surely draw the attention of personnel inside the building, allowing him to slip back and release Hiro and Kimiko while everyone was distracted.

His heart pounding in his chest, Osamu headed towards the tech holding area, ready to put his plan into action. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the difficult task ahead, knowing that he couldn't fail – not if he wanted to save those two young lives.

-----

Hiro's ragged breaths filled the small interrogation room, each inhale a painful struggle. He could feel the bruises beginning to form on his body. Daiki, continuing his assault, roughly grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hoisted him up into a sitting position.

Daiki adjusted his suit sleeves, trying to maintain a semblance of professionalism. He took a towel from the table and wiped Hiro's fresh blood from his knuckles, not bothering to hide his disgust. "You know, this could have gone differently," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. "We could have worked together to stop the Japanese, you could have been one of us."

Hiro laughed despite the pain it caused him, his voice hoarse and weak. "You're the worst Mach pilot I've ever seen," he spat, defiance gleaming in his eyes. "You think you're so special because you were chosen for this mission? You aren't special, you just look Japanese, your talents had nothing to do with your government's decision. They just want to use you to gain more power and the moment you stop being useful they will drop you."

Daiki's jaw clenched, anger flaring in his eyes. He didn't like Hiro's answer, and without a second thought, he punched Hiro in the gut. Hiro doubled over, coughing and gasping for air as pain radiated through his abdomen. As Hiro looked up at Daiki, his gaze seemed to pierce through the man, making him feel utterly insignificant.

Daiki hesitated, his fist raised for another strike, when Patrick Ward stepped into the room. "It'll be hard to get anything from him if you kill him, Daiki," he warned.

"We still have the girl," Daiki retorted, frustrated.

"Ah, but I was just informed that Hiro here is Mary's son, which makes him one of us and far more valuable than the girl," Kenneth said, a sinister smile playing on his lips. "We can use his connection to our advantage, get him to claim the Japanese murdered his parents on a live broadcast so the world turns on them." Ward greedily eyed Hiro.

Daiki's eyes widened as Hiro's words echoed in his mind. The government had already decided who truly mattered in this equation – and his opinion no longer mattered to them. Swallowing hard, Daiki left the room to calm down, trying to figure out how he could get Hiro to talk.

As the door slammed shut behind Daiki and Ward, Hiro slumped back against the cold metal chair, his thoughts racing. He knew that time was running out for him and Kimiko, and that their only hope of survival lay in a miracle.

-----

Setting sunlight glinted off Atsuko's brow Mach armor as she kept a safe distance from the Canadian Embassy sensors, her determination unwavering. With a flick of her wrist, she released small nanite explosives that burrowed into various points on the building. Their size allowed them to avoid detection by the embassy's scanners.

"Attention, Canadian Embassy," she announced over her speaker, she did her best to sound authoritative and powerful. "You have illegally acquired Japanese technology. You have one hour to return it, or we will be forced to take them from you."

As she spoke, her fingers danced over the controls of her Mach, priming the explosives she had planted. "I've placed bombs in your building. If you refuse to comply, they will detonate," she warned, her tone cold and unyielding. She didn't actually intend to destroy the embassy, she didn't want to kill any innocent people trapped inside.

But she did need to show she was serious, using information from her scans she found one of her explosives was embedded in a wall next to an empty room, she set it off, causing the building to shudder from the small explosion. Panic rippled through the embassy like an uncontrollable wave, the sound of terror filling the air as citizens raced to escape the building.

"Remember, you can stop this if you just return what you stole from us," Atsuko reminded them, her voice echoing through the chaos.

Inside the embassy, the sound of the explosion reached Daiki just as he was trying to calm himself down after his encounter with Hiro. The sudden commotion caused him to tense up, his thoughts shifting from Hiro to the new threat at hand.

As people screamed and scrambled for the exits, embassy staff began their emergency procedures, funneling the panicked citizens out of the building while directing top officials to safe rooms deeper within the structure. Patrick Ward, sensing the urgency of the situation, left the interrogation area to head to the safe room.

"Daiki, handle this situation," he ordered, his eyes betraying a hint of fear despite his authoritative tone.

"Understood," Daiki replied, gritting his teeth as he fought against the current of terrified people, making his way towards the roof. The adrenaline pumping through his veins momentarily pushed aside his conflicted feelings about Hiro, focusing him on the task at hand.

As he ascended, Daiki couldn't help but think about Hiro's words, and how they had shaken him to his core. Is it true that I am just here because of the way I look? Am I just a pawn for my government? He shook off the doubt and tried to focus on the present threat, knowing that he couldn't afford to be distracted when facing an unknown enemy.

"Canada may not be innocent, but neither is Japan," he whispered to himself, steeling his resolve as he prepared for the confrontation that awaited him above.

-----

Osamu's heart hammered in his chest as he skidded to a halt outside the holding area where the Machs were kept. The tempered glass doors shimmered, reflecting the chaos ensuing throughout the embassy. Two armed guards stood alert at the entrance, their eyes scanning for any threat.

"Help me!" Osamu cried out, feigning panic. "A robotic nightmare is attacking the building!"

The guards exchanged a glance before stepping forward, ready to assist him. They moved to guide him away from the room, but Osamu steeled himself, knowing what he had to do next.

"Forgive me," he whispered under his breath and activated his Mach. In a swift motion, he knocked both guards unconscious, their limp bodies crumpling to the floor.

As he approached the glass enclosure, Osamu noticed a faint shimmer indicating the presence of a laser shield. It was one more obstacle to overcome, but he couldn't afford to hesitate now. He commanded his AI to shut down the system, and it complied without question. Wires extended from his Mach, fusing with the security system and gradually disabling it.

With the laser shield disengaged, Osamu powered down his Mach and retrieved the cell phone and Tamagotchi from the case. As he walked casually out of the room, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for knocking out the guards as he stepped over their unconscious forms. But I have no choice, he thought. I can't let Hiro die until I know the truth.

At the same time, he recognized that this new Mach's arrival had been an unexpected blessing; the attack provided the perfect distraction, allowing him to focus on rescuing the teens. Clutching the devices tightly, Osamu hurried through the embassy's chaotic halls, his mind racing with plans to reach the interrogation rooms before the enemy Mach struck again.

Just hold on, Hiro and Kimiko, Osamu pleaded silently.