Kmapfer unsurprised by the Ranger's actions, Kampfer just looked at him with a smile on his face and as CL fired down, Kampfer raised his charged claw and projected a antimatter force field that gave out a slight blue glow and protected all four of them from his hell storm of bullets. He would generally throw them back at him but he flew off into the jungle, so no opportunity aroused to do it. He turned off the field and the bullets dropped harmlessly to the ground. "Vhat an interesting fellow" he said as he looked at Nirix and Ketin, still smiling.
Up in orbit Earth IV's space was started to get crowded with all of Kampfer's ships and now the introduction of these mysterious "ships", all of Kampfer's ships started to close to each other, ready to fire at the UFOs, covering there blind spots for each other. Kampfer made sure to order them to hold there fire and don't fire unless they fire first, let them do what they wish, let them scan. Kampfer would generally have them opened fire upon but since they are from unknown origin, it was best to let them do there own thing.
Kmapfer looked at the three and said "I have a bad feeling" as he looked up at the sky, even though he couldn't see the drones yet. He looked down at Ketin and Nirix and said "Come on you two, grab hold of me, lets take our business someplace a little bit safer and ve'll talk about getting you two off world" he looked at them with concern and hoped they complied to his wish. Arthur garbbed onto Kampfer's coat, ready to go.
Up in orbit Earth IV's space was started to get crowded with all of Kampfer's ships and now the introduction of these mysterious "ships", all of Kampfer's ships started to close to each other, ready to fire at the UFOs, covering there blind spots for each other. Kampfer made sure to order them to hold there fire and don't fire unless they fire first, let them do what they wish, let them scan. Kampfer would generally have them opened fire upon but since they are from unknown origin, it was best to let them do there own thing.
Kmapfer looked at the three and said "I have a bad feeling" as he looked up at the sky, even though he couldn't see the drones yet. He looked down at Ketin and Nirix and said "Come on you two, grab hold of me, lets take our business someplace a little bit safer and ve'll talk about getting you two off world" he looked at them with concern and hoped they complied to his wish. Arthur garbbed onto Kampfer's coat, ready to go.
Slowly, the German would get up on his feet and move towards Kallenger. He was unsure what she wanted to tell or show him. At the moment he was slightly convinced that there was indeed something wrong with him. He'd look up at her, looking rather down still.
As they moved up to the sink he thought for a moment that maybe he was just dirty and that must have been it.
He was wrong, so wrong. It was more than just dirt. There was something wrong with him. Badly wrong.
His ears would spring up becuase of the surprice that the mirror brought up, but immediately after the ears had moved and the boy had noted them the ears would be glued to the back of his head. What was he? What was that thing in the mirror? Christofer was confused and scared, he started to shake. His fur would stand up like that of an animal that tried to make themselves look bigger and more threatening, only that his did so because he was scared, he didn't think about it at all, it just happened.
His breathing became heavier but quicker. Christofer was somewhat startled because of the fingers he suddenly felt up the back of his neck. The boy would flinch because of it and indeed panic afterwards. He started screaming, hit Kallenger with his tail unintentionally and then pushed her away like she was a stranger to him - which she was to his brain as it couldn't reason with his thoughts in the state it was in. Then he'd start backing away from her, making some strange sounds as he did.
But he wouldn't get far before starting to feel dizzy. All the sudden movement did nothing but harm to him. His back started to sting, head started to hurt and his legs started feeling numb after all the spinning until they eventually lost the ability to carry him and he'd collapse on the floor, holding over his head while twitching. His mouth was getting dry and exhaustion was slightly kicking in, but he'd still try fighting it in order to stay awake. The boy started to taste blood in his mouth because of the pain in his head and the dryness.
Laying on the floor, the boy was hyperventilating.
As they moved up to the sink he thought for a moment that maybe he was just dirty and that must have been it.
He was wrong, so wrong. It was more than just dirt. There was something wrong with him. Badly wrong.
His ears would spring up becuase of the surprice that the mirror brought up, but immediately after the ears had moved and the boy had noted them the ears would be glued to the back of his head. What was he? What was that thing in the mirror? Christofer was confused and scared, he started to shake. His fur would stand up like that of an animal that tried to make themselves look bigger and more threatening, only that his did so because he was scared, he didn't think about it at all, it just happened.
His breathing became heavier but quicker. Christofer was somewhat startled because of the fingers he suddenly felt up the back of his neck. The boy would flinch because of it and indeed panic afterwards. He started screaming, hit Kallenger with his tail unintentionally and then pushed her away like she was a stranger to him - which she was to his brain as it couldn't reason with his thoughts in the state it was in. Then he'd start backing away from her, making some strange sounds as he did.
But he wouldn't get far before starting to feel dizzy. All the sudden movement did nothing but harm to him. His back started to sting, head started to hurt and his legs started feeling numb after all the spinning until they eventually lost the ability to carry him and he'd collapse on the floor, holding over his head while twitching. His mouth was getting dry and exhaustion was slightly kicking in, but he'd still try fighting it in order to stay awake. The boy started to taste blood in his mouth because of the pain in his head and the dryness.
Laying on the floor, the boy was hyperventilating.
And this,, Royanna scolded herself harshly in her mind, is why we don't try to comfort people with affection. It doesn't work and you're not good at it, dammit.
She...probably should have expected a reaction like this. She felt stupid.
But this was no time for feeling stupid - even though her official training had never included what to do in the case of a panic attack in combat, she had studied up on it nonetheless in her ever-expanding need to be better than all the previous Captains, to prove a woman could do the job just as well. Or, rather, to prove that she wasn't a woman. Either way.
The plan from the start had been for her to recieve only the most well trained soldiers - soldiers who would be effectively immune to the afflictions that ground infantry might face. But Royanna Kallenger had never allowed her studies to cease at the limitations of her mentor. She was convinced that even the most well trained soldiers were susceptible to these sorts of issues - and while she had never needed to use the knowledge before today, she was still glad she had taken the time to learn.
That was not to say she was capable of going about handling the situation with any reasonable measure of tact, however. Royanna's bedside manner was terrible.
But she reacted efficiently and immediately, at least. The tail didn't hurt, though the push was rather uncomfortable and, naturally, it hurt like a mother****er given that shoulder wound - but she would not hold it against him, nor would she allow herself a reaction to it - that would not help matters at all, she knew.
First instinct was to make a lunge at him, but again - that would really, really not help. So she waited a moment, stood stoic and gave merely something of a...disappointed expression. That much she couldn't help - but at least she wasn't freaking out herself. The best thing she could do was stay calm.
Then he started to fall - that's when she moved. Royanna practically dove at him, doing whatever she could to keep him from striking his head on a wall or the floor, managing to pull this off just barely. Aware that she was about the last thing he wanted diving at him, Royanna made sure to back off once she had seen to it that he was eased to the floor to the best of her ability.
Next was to stop the hyperventilating, which - because it was the future - would not require a paper bag. Instead, Roya moved hastily toward the cabinet, scanned quickly over the labels until she found the particular drawer she was looking for. She pulled on it and - it was locked.
There was no time to figure out how to unlock it. Having never removed her gun, she drew it, put the barrel to the lock, and fired - something which, to an extent, she immediately regretted. It forced her to take an extra action - running to grab the chair she had slept in to prop it against the door - which was, despite being the future, not a sliding door - keeping anyone from barging in who might have heard the gunshot.
Back to the drawer, she dug through until she found the little inhaler-looking-thing and was back at Christofer's side in a moment. Whether he liked it or not, she crouched down beside and behind him, holding his head non-invasively with one hand to keep him from flailing too badly, and applying the thing with the other by holding it in front of his face and pressing the button.
It emitted a puff of gas that was not visible, but could be felt. It was initially oppressive - being a potent mixture of carbon dioxide (which was known to stop hyperventilation in it's tracks by realigning the blood levels) and fast-acting anti-anxiety medications which would (harsh as it sounded,) inhibit brain activity to the effect of slowing down his thought processes, allowing him more 'timesense' to work through them and not get overwhelmed. It would not dull him, only make it drastically easier to calm himself down. Folks had long since figured out that there was no talking someone out of this sort of thing - they had to get themselves out, and others could only augment the process.
That did not stop Royanna from talking to the kid though. Her voice was measured, intentionally softened, firmly confident, a similarly effective tone that she had used with him when he began to lose it in the jungle on Earth IV.
"Okay kid, you're okay. Everything is going to be fine." she said, petting- against her better judgement - his hair in as soothing a manner as she could, trying to do so in a manner that would not further startle him. Even if she had just told herself not to do that again, it felt like the only thing she could do now. "You're safe, Toffi. I promise." it was the first time she had used his nickname - either he had mentioned it when they met and she had simply neglected to use it until now, or it just seemed to fit and she hoped a pet name might help that little bit extra.
The important thing now was to remind him he was in no danger - then could come the part about convincing him that this was an issue of memory loss and he had always been this way - after all, that seemed like the only viable explanation to Kallenger, who was pretty convinced herself by this point that he had, in fact, been this way the whole time, and she had simply misremembered.
(Other part(s) later~)
She...probably should have expected a reaction like this. She felt stupid.
But this was no time for feeling stupid - even though her official training had never included what to do in the case of a panic attack in combat, she had studied up on it nonetheless in her ever-expanding need to be better than all the previous Captains, to prove a woman could do the job just as well. Or, rather, to prove that she wasn't a woman. Either way.
The plan from the start had been for her to recieve only the most well trained soldiers - soldiers who would be effectively immune to the afflictions that ground infantry might face. But Royanna Kallenger had never allowed her studies to cease at the limitations of her mentor. She was convinced that even the most well trained soldiers were susceptible to these sorts of issues - and while she had never needed to use the knowledge before today, she was still glad she had taken the time to learn.
That was not to say she was capable of going about handling the situation with any reasonable measure of tact, however. Royanna's bedside manner was terrible.
But she reacted efficiently and immediately, at least. The tail didn't hurt, though the push was rather uncomfortable and, naturally, it hurt like a mother****er given that shoulder wound - but she would not hold it against him, nor would she allow herself a reaction to it - that would not help matters at all, she knew.
First instinct was to make a lunge at him, but again - that would really, really not help. So she waited a moment, stood stoic and gave merely something of a...disappointed expression. That much she couldn't help - but at least she wasn't freaking out herself. The best thing she could do was stay calm.
Then he started to fall - that's when she moved. Royanna practically dove at him, doing whatever she could to keep him from striking his head on a wall or the floor, managing to pull this off just barely. Aware that she was about the last thing he wanted diving at him, Royanna made sure to back off once she had seen to it that he was eased to the floor to the best of her ability.
Next was to stop the hyperventilating, which - because it was the future - would not require a paper bag. Instead, Roya moved hastily toward the cabinet, scanned quickly over the labels until she found the particular drawer she was looking for. She pulled on it and - it was locked.
There was no time to figure out how to unlock it. Having never removed her gun, she drew it, put the barrel to the lock, and fired - something which, to an extent, she immediately regretted. It forced her to take an extra action - running to grab the chair she had slept in to prop it against the door - which was, despite being the future, not a sliding door - keeping anyone from barging in who might have heard the gunshot.
Back to the drawer, she dug through until she found the little inhaler-looking-thing and was back at Christofer's side in a moment. Whether he liked it or not, she crouched down beside and behind him, holding his head non-invasively with one hand to keep him from flailing too badly, and applying the thing with the other by holding it in front of his face and pressing the button.
It emitted a puff of gas that was not visible, but could be felt. It was initially oppressive - being a potent mixture of carbon dioxide (which was known to stop hyperventilation in it's tracks by realigning the blood levels) and fast-acting anti-anxiety medications which would (harsh as it sounded,) inhibit brain activity to the effect of slowing down his thought processes, allowing him more 'timesense' to work through them and not get overwhelmed. It would not dull him, only make it drastically easier to calm himself down. Folks had long since figured out that there was no talking someone out of this sort of thing - they had to get themselves out, and others could only augment the process.
That did not stop Royanna from talking to the kid though. Her voice was measured, intentionally softened, firmly confident, a similarly effective tone that she had used with him when he began to lose it in the jungle on Earth IV.
"Okay kid, you're okay. Everything is going to be fine." she said, petting- against her better judgement - his hair in as soothing a manner as she could, trying to do so in a manner that would not further startle him. Even if she had just told herself not to do that again, it felt like the only thing she could do now. "You're safe, Toffi. I promise." it was the first time she had used his nickname - either he had mentioned it when they met and she had simply neglected to use it until now, or it just seemed to fit and she hoped a pet name might help that little bit extra.
The important thing now was to remind him he was in no danger - then could come the part about convincing him that this was an issue of memory loss and he had always been this way - after all, that seemed like the only viable explanation to Kallenger, who was pretty convinced herself by this point that he had, in fact, been this way the whole time, and she had simply misremembered.
(Other part(s) later~)
Being hyper-aware to start with, Nirix would have no trouble at all noticing the immediate, drastic change in Ketin's entire demeanor. It was entirely uncharacteristic, even if she had only known him for a short while. It had been obvious that the gun pointed at his face scared him ghost-pale only moments before, but this was different. It was Kampfer again.
It was a strange emotion, a strange reaction. He was impacted by the appearance of the man so deeply that even when the Ranger blasted off like an ICBM and started raining bullets down on them he hardly reacted at all. This time, it wasn't even because he had predicted how the moment would turn out - he had not been looking at Kampfer's intentions to protect them with a static shield, nor had he been planning on preemptively lunging himself and Nirix again into cover.
He was stuck, frozen, staring up at the white-haired man with a very strange look. Bewildered, nervous, almost bashful, and unutterably frightened...yet, it was not fear in the conventional sense. Somehow it was obvious that he had no anxieties of being harmed by the man. It was as if he were looking at something that brought back memories - very bad memories - and yet, simultaneously, he was attracted to them, lured to them by...by what?
Either way, it would be obvious to the observent that he did not want to be within a million astronomical units of this man. He bit his lip, resisted the urge to back up a step, eyes locked - his hands even poked at each other. He did not return the man's smile, nor did he reply to the comment that yes, indeed, CL was an interesting fellow. He just stared and squirmed, blinked a few times in rapid succession, then stared again.
"I, uh..." He hesitated, for all the 'verse as if he were stricken by stage fright. Anyone who knew Ketin Clarke for more than a few hours would know that he was simply not the type to suffer from such an affliction - yet here it was, almost disturbing in it's juxtaposition of his usual self.
It was unconscious habit to glance through the immediate mind for images of things described to him if he was being asked questions about them. Without even realizing it, he back-traced the name to an image in his head - it was blurry, as though seen through multiple foggy windows, layered one atop another. The eye was quick at sorting these things out, and it took mere seconds to further trace the image back to the memory of someone else, a vague copy of which had been made and stored in Kete's head. He did not always remember the memories of others unless he tried very hard, but there were some people who's memories had been etched there, even if they were vague and difficult to place.
The last thing in the Multiverse that Ketin wanted was to find himself thinking back to a memory he had gotten straight from the mind of Duros Aller. He didn't want to think about Duros Aller at all, yet this man before him seemed almost to force the memories to invade his consciousness. Obviously this was not intentional on the Lord's part, though it would still be a powerful tool if he was using it.
The thought of Aller, the resemblance - not in physicial attribute, but in general additude, in idea - and now being diverted unwillingly, but habitually to the memories of that very man, three centuries deceased and still etched into the farthest, deepest reaches of his brain? It was too much.
"Uh, n-no, I don't think so." he replied finally, again, half-lying. The name did ring bells, but not his bells. It rang someone else's bells in his head - though even then, only vaguely. The usual Kete would have asked 'why' he wanted to know, yet this Kete seemed positively subdued.
Practically submissive, in fact.
Then the offer - or, assumption of compliance - was made in regards to their accompanying Kampfer. The man extended a hand and finally Kete did move back, ever so slightly, leaning into Nirix just a tad. Again, sputtering he said timidly "Uh, n-no thanks, I'mma...uh, I'mma jus' stay here with, uh, with Nirix." and he glanced to the woman for - for what, reassurance?
The reason for his earlier subduedness when she had run into him the second time was suddenly very, very clear. This man, this Kampfer had something to do with it. He had been the reason for the strange way Kete had been acting before, and he was clearly the reason for it now.
Of course, he did want to ditch this gloomy planet, and he knew Kampfer would provide easy and safe departure - but was that really what he wanted? At the moment Kete honestly wasn't sure what he wanted - past the fact that he wanted to not be near Kampfer, wanted to not be thinking about things that he had so strongly, so intensely purged from his mind, denied until they became untruth. Things that one half of his brain was insisting were real, and the other was lying about their unreality to make him feel better - classic denial.
But int he end, it seemed that this issue would conclude with Nirix's decision - that single, nervous glance he gave her sealed that fact wordlessly.
"We-...I...I mean, uh..." he tried to further explain, but ended up only glancing up at Nirix a second time - it was the first instance in a very, very long while that he desperately wanted someone to bail him out of a situation. He wouldn't admit it, or even give much indication past those two little glances, but he wanted her to solve this little problem for him - even if it seemed unfair.
It was a strange emotion, a strange reaction. He was impacted by the appearance of the man so deeply that even when the Ranger blasted off like an ICBM and started raining bullets down on them he hardly reacted at all. This time, it wasn't even because he had predicted how the moment would turn out - he had not been looking at Kampfer's intentions to protect them with a static shield, nor had he been planning on preemptively lunging himself and Nirix again into cover.
He was stuck, frozen, staring up at the white-haired man with a very strange look. Bewildered, nervous, almost bashful, and unutterably frightened...yet, it was not fear in the conventional sense. Somehow it was obvious that he had no anxieties of being harmed by the man. It was as if he were looking at something that brought back memories - very bad memories - and yet, simultaneously, he was attracted to them, lured to them by...by what?
Either way, it would be obvious to the observent that he did not want to be within a million astronomical units of this man. He bit his lip, resisted the urge to back up a step, eyes locked - his hands even poked at each other. He did not return the man's smile, nor did he reply to the comment that yes, indeed, CL was an interesting fellow. He just stared and squirmed, blinked a few times in rapid succession, then stared again.
"I, uh..." He hesitated, for all the 'verse as if he were stricken by stage fright. Anyone who knew Ketin Clarke for more than a few hours would know that he was simply not the type to suffer from such an affliction - yet here it was, almost disturbing in it's juxtaposition of his usual self.
It was unconscious habit to glance through the immediate mind for images of things described to him if he was being asked questions about them. Without even realizing it, he back-traced the name to an image in his head - it was blurry, as though seen through multiple foggy windows, layered one atop another. The eye was quick at sorting these things out, and it took mere seconds to further trace the image back to the memory of someone else, a vague copy of which had been made and stored in Kete's head. He did not always remember the memories of others unless he tried very hard, but there were some people who's memories had been etched there, even if they were vague and difficult to place.
The last thing in the Multiverse that Ketin wanted was to find himself thinking back to a memory he had gotten straight from the mind of Duros Aller. He didn't want to think about Duros Aller at all, yet this man before him seemed almost to force the memories to invade his consciousness. Obviously this was not intentional on the Lord's part, though it would still be a powerful tool if he was using it.
The thought of Aller, the resemblance - not in physicial attribute, but in general additude, in idea - and now being diverted unwillingly, but habitually to the memories of that very man, three centuries deceased and still etched into the farthest, deepest reaches of his brain? It was too much.
"Uh, n-no, I don't think so." he replied finally, again, half-lying. The name did ring bells, but not his bells. It rang someone else's bells in his head - though even then, only vaguely. The usual Kete would have asked 'why' he wanted to know, yet this Kete seemed positively subdued.
Practically submissive, in fact.
Then the offer - or, assumption of compliance - was made in regards to their accompanying Kampfer. The man extended a hand and finally Kete did move back, ever so slightly, leaning into Nirix just a tad. Again, sputtering he said timidly "Uh, n-no thanks, I'mma...uh, I'mma jus' stay here with, uh, with Nirix." and he glanced to the woman for - for what, reassurance?
The reason for his earlier subduedness when she had run into him the second time was suddenly very, very clear. This man, this Kampfer had something to do with it. He had been the reason for the strange way Kete had been acting before, and he was clearly the reason for it now.
Of course, he did want to ditch this gloomy planet, and he knew Kampfer would provide easy and safe departure - but was that really what he wanted? At the moment Kete honestly wasn't sure what he wanted - past the fact that he wanted to not be near Kampfer, wanted to not be thinking about things that he had so strongly, so intensely purged from his mind, denied until they became untruth. Things that one half of his brain was insisting were real, and the other was lying about their unreality to make him feel better - classic denial.
But int he end, it seemed that this issue would conclude with Nirix's decision - that single, nervous glance he gave her sealed that fact wordlessly.
"We-...I...I mean, uh..." he tried to further explain, but ended up only glancing up at Nirix a second time - it was the first instance in a very, very long while that he desperately wanted someone to bail him out of a situation. He wouldn't admit it, or even give much indication past those two little glances, but he wanted her to solve this little problem for him - even if it seemed unfair.
Kmapfer examined Ketin's body language and to him, it was puzzling, he was not afraid but something is troubling him. "Ketin..." was all he could say as he retracted his hand back to his side. "I see ze decision is up to your friend zen" he added as both of his hands went behind his back. "Anyway Ketin, apparently Doctor Glades knows you and I don't know vhy and how...Oh! forgot to mention if you do come vith me, your friend comes too" he added as he learned the hard way in seperating two people apart.
Arthur stepped forward and looked at Nirix and said "Please come with us" with hands grasp together almost begging. Arthur only did it since, one Kampfer didn't leave a good impression on her when he first took Ketin, but two, he himself must have made a good first impression on her since he did just save her life from meeting her end from the barrel of a powerful wonder weapon.
Arthur stepped forward and looked at Nirix and said "Please come with us" with hands grasp together almost begging. Arthur only did it since, one Kampfer didn't leave a good impression on her when he first took Ketin, but two, he himself must have made a good first impression on her since he did just save her life from meeting her end from the barrel of a powerful wonder weapon.
It was hard to breathe, suffocating even. She could hear it, Ketin's almost frantic heart, beating like a startled doe caught by a hungry predator. He was scared but that didn’t mean too much to Nirix right now. No, it was who he was so terrified of that caught the ever perceptive Eoclu’s eye.
Kampfer; a tall man with short white hair, and an odd giant mechanical claw for his right hand. He didn’t look potential scary in appearance but the assassin could tell he was not someone to mess with. He had caused the destruction of the city, had caused the death of Sul'sashi, had even taken her Kete away. He had done something to him, changed him completely. Even now, Ketin stood frozen, staring up at the man with a very strange look caught between bewilderment and fear. Nirix had seen that look before, could even remember how many times she had too. That was the look of impending doom, the one some would get when Nirix was sent after them, right before she ended their life.
And now, Kampfer, the Kampfer, wanted them to go with him.
Nirix nearly snarled in response. There was no way in all seven hells would Nirix ever agree to go with him, especially now that she had Ketin back with her. As is fearful that she might agree, Ketin pressed closer to her and glanced up to her. He wanted her to make the decision, wanted her to get him out of this terrible situation and far far away from Kampfer. It almost broke her heart seeing the da’len like this. Nirix wanted to make all his fears go away, to see him happy and energetic once again.
Taking a breath, she glanced at the thing that had saved her before looking at white haired man.
“Why should we come with you anywhere? You stole Kete away from me, but for what reason? “She hissed, lavender eyes turning into purple blazing fires.
“Do you honestly think I would go anywhere with you after what you did!?”
Kampfer; a tall man with short white hair, and an odd giant mechanical claw for his right hand. He didn’t look potential scary in appearance but the assassin could tell he was not someone to mess with. He had caused the destruction of the city, had caused the death of Sul'sashi, had even taken her Kete away. He had done something to him, changed him completely. Even now, Ketin stood frozen, staring up at the man with a very strange look caught between bewilderment and fear. Nirix had seen that look before, could even remember how many times she had too. That was the look of impending doom, the one some would get when Nirix was sent after them, right before she ended their life.
And now, Kampfer, the Kampfer, wanted them to go with him.
Nirix nearly snarled in response. There was no way in all seven hells would Nirix ever agree to go with him, especially now that she had Ketin back with her. As is fearful that she might agree, Ketin pressed closer to her and glanced up to her. He wanted her to make the decision, wanted her to get him out of this terrible situation and far far away from Kampfer. It almost broke her heart seeing the da’len like this. Nirix wanted to make all his fears go away, to see him happy and energetic once again.
Taking a breath, she glanced at the thing that had saved her before looking at white haired man.
“Why should we come with you anywhere? You stole Kete away from me, but for what reason? “She hissed, lavender eyes turning into purple blazing fires.
“Do you honestly think I would go anywhere with you after what you did!?”
Then there was The Mad Ranger on his own again. Outnumbered and without supplies, armor-broken and wounded, but this time, there weren't any Aelyn to miraculously fall from the sky and hire him on the spot and repair supply him with top-notch arms and cybernetics. This time the Ranger were alone by himself, with the risk of bumping into any of Kampfer's forces at anywhere, certain encounter with them would be fatal, CL were far from equipped to deal with any machine using antimatter based weaponry. He was still thinking which technology Kampfer must use to stable antimatter into usable arsenal without destroying the very fabric of space-time.
The Ranger would keep a steady pace through the jungle towards Earth City. Save for the constant risk of ambush, the march through the thick greens would prove to be a lot more peaceful than any moment he had spent in Earth VI, even on it's orbit. Volo's unstoppable chatter were a special kind of hellish torment, after all. With his Lucian Defender raised up all the times, The Ranger could just hope he wouldn't fall into an ambush until he worked his way to civilization, once there, it was only one objective: Steal a civilian space transport or a military jet.
Maybe, it would be better if Kampfer's fleet had shot the drones the moment they had spawned from the worm-holes, which now had disappeared. While a big portion of the drones had scattered away from the range of Kampfer's main fleet, some would carefully begin to flank it. There was no biological readings, those things were machines. Simple machines with high-velocity thruster drives, they would just keep their crimson glare unto the ships, it's 'pupils' dilating and retracting every once in a while as it now started to scan Kampfer's fleet itself. Then, the worst happened...
The threat didn't came from any sudden weaponry spurting out from the drones neither from one of them suddenly bursting into a deadly nuclear blast. Instead, it came into the form of radio transmissions. No declarations of war from a forgotten alien race nor from a robotic hivemind of sorts. It was only in the form of encrypted data. Pictures, diagrams, biological readings, all pertaining to the fleet itself and the defenses unto Earth IV. Much for Kampfer dismay of not ordering to destroy the drones, these were nothing more than military spy drones, all of them sending a signal towards the far ends of the solar system.
Shortly after, a stray, decrypted radio message would follow: "Quite a big fleet you got there, eh, Aelyn? Heh, heh. Ranger can't keep his head out of trouble, right?"
The Ranger would keep a steady pace through the jungle towards Earth City. Save for the constant risk of ambush, the march through the thick greens would prove to be a lot more peaceful than any moment he had spent in Earth VI, even on it's orbit. Volo's unstoppable chatter were a special kind of hellish torment, after all. With his Lucian Defender raised up all the times, The Ranger could just hope he wouldn't fall into an ambush until he worked his way to civilization, once there, it was only one objective: Steal a civilian space transport or a military jet.
Maybe, it would be better if Kampfer's fleet had shot the drones the moment they had spawned from the worm-holes, which now had disappeared. While a big portion of the drones had scattered away from the range of Kampfer's main fleet, some would carefully begin to flank it. There was no biological readings, those things were machines. Simple machines with high-velocity thruster drives, they would just keep their crimson glare unto the ships, it's 'pupils' dilating and retracting every once in a while as it now started to scan Kampfer's fleet itself. Then, the worst happened...
The threat didn't came from any sudden weaponry spurting out from the drones neither from one of them suddenly bursting into a deadly nuclear blast. Instead, it came into the form of radio transmissions. No declarations of war from a forgotten alien race nor from a robotic hivemind of sorts. It was only in the form of encrypted data. Pictures, diagrams, biological readings, all pertaining to the fleet itself and the defenses unto Earth IV. Much for Kampfer dismay of not ordering to destroy the drones, these were nothing more than military spy drones, all of them sending a signal towards the far ends of the solar system.
Shortly after, a stray, decrypted radio message would follow: "Quite a big fleet you got there, eh, Aelyn? Heh, heh. Ranger can't keep his head out of trouble, right?"
The lumbering mechanical beast disembarked and landed on his back, he lifted his head up and saw Bravo who was standing patiently "Ah Bravo, I'm glad to see you've made it, the key to finding Earth rests on your shoulders apparently." He had a slight pause "Well our shoulders now, quick help me with my legs" Bravo quickly began lifting each leg with ease and dropping them in place underneath the mechanical mans chassis.
Bravo spoke "I am glad to see you survived the crash but what happened to your legs?" He questioned as he began scanning the metal man for further damage
"One of the Graviton Matrixes blew a capacitor I will repair it but I need you to go find supplies to make a new one"
"Yes sir I will be back" And Bravo took off for the supplies in hopes of finding what he could use
"My name is Arsinova, I am the one who created Bravo and flew the ship here to this very moon to hide" Arsinova then began tinkering with his Matrix again "I will help you find Earth, but I must first warn you of the nightmare that is to come from finding it again"
Bravo spoke "I am glad to see you survived the crash but what happened to your legs?" He questioned as he began scanning the metal man for further damage
"One of the Graviton Matrixes blew a capacitor I will repair it but I need you to go find supplies to make a new one"
"Yes sir I will be back" And Bravo took off for the supplies in hopes of finding what he could use
"My name is Arsinova, I am the one who created Bravo and flew the ship here to this very moon to hide" Arsinova then began tinkering with his Matrix again "I will help you find Earth, but I must first warn you of the nightmare that is to come from finding it again"
Kampfer looked at Nirix with an unemotional look and said "If you must know vhy I took Ketin, zen I vill tell you" he took a deep breath and then explained "I took Ketin because I vas curious on vhy ze Galactic Empire has such a high price on his head, and vhy zey have dedicated an entire force to take him down. I vas able to get ze information off from ze Empire and see vhat those charges are, but vhen I see it and zen I see Ketin, somethings didn't add up and I needed to see vhy. So I taken Ketin to investigate...zen I learned zat his eye is no ordinary eye, but a very powerful eye zough, ability to read people's memories, and mess up electronics, but zat still doesn't explain vhy ze Empire is after him. So vhat I decided to do is some how help Ketin in anyway I can, I gave him political protection from ze Empire, I kicked out ze commander zat beat him into a pulp(Kellenger), and I offered to end his misery by taking out his cybernetic eye and replace it vith one of my highly advance prosthetic eyes. But I guess in some kind of attachment to it, he decline the prosthetic eye" he then took a breather and straighten up. He glanced at Arthur and smiled and said "Encountering Ketin was ze last piece of ze puzzle I needed to create Arthur, his personality" hinting at the fact that Ketin's personality was influenced in creating Arthur's personality complex.
He then looked at the two as the 3 ATT's arrive behind them, and said "Now I am once more giving my services to you both, in giving you a personal ship so you can travel all zough out ze galaxy vith...and quiet possibly won't see me again" he added the last part seeing that maybe they will go since they won't have to see him again. He reached out his hand once more and said "Come on my friends, won't you hold a poor sinner's hand" after that phrase "a poor sinner's hand" Kampfer immediately regretted since as he was explaining to them his mind was enjoying sweet memories of his daughter when she was younger and they were watching a Disney movie and a character said to another one "Come on boys, won't you shake a poor sinner's hand" (Princess and the Frog if you were wondering)
Up in space, the fleet were able to track this drones with there highly advance scanners and seeing the little red dots everywhere, but after picking up there transmission on that they were scanning there forces, the ships decided to take responsibility and started opening fire upon the drones, some of the ships following will the rest stay behind and open fire from a distance if they were able to. The ones that followed open up with anti-space-craft laser guns, basically AA for star fighters and bombers and the ones from a distance open fire with there main laser and plasma based weapons intent in destroying the ones in groups.
He then looked at the two as the 3 ATT's arrive behind them, and said "Now I am once more giving my services to you both, in giving you a personal ship so you can travel all zough out ze galaxy vith...and quiet possibly won't see me again" he added the last part seeing that maybe they will go since they won't have to see him again. He reached out his hand once more and said "Come on my friends, won't you hold a poor sinner's hand" after that phrase "a poor sinner's hand" Kampfer immediately regretted since as he was explaining to them his mind was enjoying sweet memories of his daughter when she was younger and they were watching a Disney movie and a character said to another one "Come on boys, won't you shake a poor sinner's hand" (Princess and the Frog if you were wondering)
Up in space, the fleet were able to track this drones with there highly advance scanners and seeing the little red dots everywhere, but after picking up there transmission on that they were scanning there forces, the ships decided to take responsibility and started opening fire upon the drones, some of the ships following will the rest stay behind and open fire from a distance if they were able to. The ones that followed open up with anti-space-craft laser guns, basically AA for star fighters and bombers and the ones from a distance open fire with there main laser and plasma based weapons intent in destroying the ones in groups.
At the heart of it all, the problem was that Kete was looking into the face of a man who was three centuries dead by his own hand. There was no physical resemblance, but everything else was the same. A man of science, a complex, almost fatherly air about him. He was ambitious and driven. A man who was not afraid of slaughtering those in his path, but who's intentions were good. A similar moral structure. He had even pet him between the ears like Father used to.
Just thinking about it made him doubt what he thought he knew about Father and started the vicious cycle all over again. He doubted everything. He wanted to sort it all out at once and just get it over with, to figure out once and for all what his real opinions were, and how it really was.
But that would never happen, because the key to all of it was long dead. He had lost the opportunity long ago - and to some extent, illogically, on some subconscious level Kete couldn't help but think that going with Kampfer was like a second chance.
But did he even want a second chance? It was that question which continued the cycle, adding doubt of himself into the mix and further complicating everything.
The things he had done for Father - meeting Kampfer made him wonder if, contrary to what he told himself every day for the past three centuries - did he really regret those things? If Thirteen was just who he was, if that was his real self, if it meant that Father would approve...?
Thirteen was a killer - Thirteen was heartless, obedient, he had committed atrocities and smiled at the workmanship. Thirteen was someone's son.
Ketin Clarke was...none of that. He was such a contrast, like night and day - not some melodramatic case of bi-polar by any means - but a reflection of how the love of one person could so drastically change someone.
But was Ketin Clarke just some persona that he created for himself to hide the guilt of what he had done to Father? If that one, fatal second had gone differently, would he have happily continued on the path Father had guided him to? If faced with the possibility of returning to that life, returning to Father, would he ditch Ketin Clarke's moral codes and revert to Thirteen?
If Kampfer knew just what Ketin was capable of, if he knew that Ketin could be just about the most powerful weapon he could have in his arsenal? Kete had been a planet. He had essentially built the beginnings of an empire, controlled an entire world of people - micro-managed thousands of lives, manipulated people to bend them to his and the Empire's will. He had been in a hundred places at once - the Eye was capable of so much more than what Kete used it for, if given the right equipment - and Kampfer's technology was so much more advanced than what the Eye had been built to be compatible with. All he would need to do was give Kete access to his systems and the kid would be able to work with entire starclusters with the same omnipotence as he had on Ardella.
But it would require, above all else, willing cooperation. He was useless if he refused to cooperate, and the Eye was not something that could be removed and implanted into someone else. The only reason that it had been Thirteen who led the Imperial Army had been because, for whatever reason, his brain had taken so well to the implant, integrated so thoroughly, so perfectly, that it had become him.
If Kampfer knew what the Eye was truly capable of, and if Kampfer was smart, he would want Kete on his side considerably. It was as the captain of The Stella Viventium had told The Ranger - "I might not need you at all. Your presence might serve no purpose and the resources I provide you with might be completely wasted - but you don't get to owning that without thoroughly understanding the importance of people."
He spoke suddenly, reaching out with some haste to touch the Eoclu's arm. "W-wait, Nir', he-...Kampfer's okay." he tried to explain, his voice dry, but earnest . He didn't sound frightened any more - though whether that was intentional or not? Mystery. There was a difference between fright and panic however, and the latter seemed more likely. His breaths were laboured and shallow - yet Kampfer did not seem to be the source of it - not exactly. Ketin obviously was not afraid that Kampfer would hurt him.
"He didn't - he didn't hurt me or nothin'. He's okay, he helped, It's just, I dunno'. M-maybe we should go with 'im,- @#$% I dunno'!" It was the first time he had actually cussed - though also the first time he used his own, shortened version of Nirix's name. His voice cracked a little with the words. He was at a loss. A mental impasse.
He ran his fingers through his hair, folding ears back as he did so. They sprung back up when hands lowered again and fingers steepled at the bridge of his nose, but not too much. They were still ever-expressive and clearly mirrored his growing anxiety.
When Kampfer began his explanation directed at Nirix, the kid looked to the ground and kept his eyes locked there for the duration.
But the second before Kampfer mentioned what his eye really was, his expression changed suddenly as if someone had just dropped an ice cube down the back of his shirt. He appeared to be about to protest, or to say something, but no words came out, he bit his lip, and hung his head again, allowing Kampfer to continue, if his reaction had even warranted a pause.
So, now Nirix knew what he was.
But that was okay. People had found out before, and it was never that alone which did them in. Imperial intervention was what did them in. As long as nobody knew about Adrusade. Nobody could ever know about Adrusade - because then he might have to accept that it was real.
Adrusade was a nameless, abandoned husk of a city, off in some desolate, rocky plain in the southern hemisphere of Ardella. Nobody knew what happened there - the Empire claimed that there had been a nuclear meltdown and that the place was too radioactive to set foot in, and nobody had any reason to doubt it.
So Nirix knew about the eye now, but he could deal with that. As long as nobody - nobody - learned about Adrusade. Kampfer was curious as to why the Empire wanted him so badly - he knew that possessing the eye alone did not warrant such a response. Was there a faint chance that he might learn about it? Kete had used all his expertise and technological mastery to destroy every piece of related information he could find, but it was always possible that there was some tiny, vague little reference buried somewhere in the aethernet which could lead a most persistent researcher to the truth. Unlikely, but possible. Hard copies were stored in the utmost security in an Ardella vault, but only two people in the Galaxy had access to that and it was simply not possible to steal them. It did not seem likely that Harry Malbec or Royanna Kallenger would go revealing the videos to the Galaxy, especially since they would be traitors for it.
As Kampfer finished his speech, Kete took sluggishly from the inner breast pocket of his jacket a silver flask. It looked old, tarnished with time, but pretty. It was engraved with designs of clustered stars. In the center was a little circular glass window to view the contents, and it served as the body of a ringed planet. In fine lettering along the top were the words "Billions and billions". (On the other side, it said "We are all made of star stuff")
With all the practiced deftness of a long-time user, Kete one-handedly popped the cap with a thumb and drank deeply. The scent was very telling as to what the drink was - it smelled like chili peppers and lime juice, and very, very strong alcohol. It was enough to burn the nostrils just thinking about it.
One, two, three generous swallows before he disconnected himself from the flask, gasping quietly as someone might do after taking in such a sum of alcohol. Then, again one-handedly, he re-capped it and stowed it away whence it had come.
"Well," he said, steepling his fingers at the bridge of his nose again and rubbing at his eyes some, "It's Mr. Kampfer or getting lost in the jungle and I say the former sounds more fun."
It was a drastic change, and it had not been the drink which induced it. Perhaps it helped - but if there was one thing that Kete was good at it was forgetting his problems and pretending as if nothing were wrong. It was harder in this case - it was still obvious that something was bothering him deeply, especially to the hyper-aware - but it was also obvious that he was pretty talented in the procedure of covering it up, putting it aside for later.
Indeed he was still stressed, his heart still beat rapidly and his breath was shallow, but he was in control of himself, at least - back to some point of normality - if the point which he kept a stiff upper lip and went happy-go-lucky despite all the trouble in the 'Verse.
So, with some hesitance, and a meaningful, uncertain look to Nirix, he held out his hand to her - not taking Kampfer's until she had taken his.
But despite everything, that look he gave her at the last second was telling. It went deeper than the cheerful glaze. It was like he was giving her one more chance to override his decision if she wanted to. Saying wordlessly 'you can stop me if you want to'. Not imploring her to do so, but in silence leaving the option on the table, and subtly admitting his continued anxiety over his decision, even though he had willingly admitted to go.
(Aelyn's part will come later~)
Just thinking about it made him doubt what he thought he knew about Father and started the vicious cycle all over again. He doubted everything. He wanted to sort it all out at once and just get it over with, to figure out once and for all what his real opinions were, and how it really was.
But that would never happen, because the key to all of it was long dead. He had lost the opportunity long ago - and to some extent, illogically, on some subconscious level Kete couldn't help but think that going with Kampfer was like a second chance.
But did he even want a second chance? It was that question which continued the cycle, adding doubt of himself into the mix and further complicating everything.
The things he had done for Father - meeting Kampfer made him wonder if, contrary to what he told himself every day for the past three centuries - did he really regret those things? If Thirteen was just who he was, if that was his real self, if it meant that Father would approve...?
Thirteen was a killer - Thirteen was heartless, obedient, he had committed atrocities and smiled at the workmanship. Thirteen was someone's son.
Ketin Clarke was...none of that. He was such a contrast, like night and day - not some melodramatic case of bi-polar by any means - but a reflection of how the love of one person could so drastically change someone.
But was Ketin Clarke just some persona that he created for himself to hide the guilt of what he had done to Father? If that one, fatal second had gone differently, would he have happily continued on the path Father had guided him to? If faced with the possibility of returning to that life, returning to Father, would he ditch Ketin Clarke's moral codes and revert to Thirteen?
If Kampfer knew just what Ketin was capable of, if he knew that Ketin could be just about the most powerful weapon he could have in his arsenal? Kete had been a planet. He had essentially built the beginnings of an empire, controlled an entire world of people - micro-managed thousands of lives, manipulated people to bend them to his and the Empire's will. He had been in a hundred places at once - the Eye was capable of so much more than what Kete used it for, if given the right equipment - and Kampfer's technology was so much more advanced than what the Eye had been built to be compatible with. All he would need to do was give Kete access to his systems and the kid would be able to work with entire starclusters with the same omnipotence as he had on Ardella.
But it would require, above all else, willing cooperation. He was useless if he refused to cooperate, and the Eye was not something that could be removed and implanted into someone else. The only reason that it had been Thirteen who led the Imperial Army had been because, for whatever reason, his brain had taken so well to the implant, integrated so thoroughly, so perfectly, that it had become him.
If Kampfer knew what the Eye was truly capable of, and if Kampfer was smart, he would want Kete on his side considerably. It was as the captain of The Stella Viventium had told The Ranger - "I might not need you at all. Your presence might serve no purpose and the resources I provide you with might be completely wasted - but you don't get to owning that without thoroughly understanding the importance of people."
He spoke suddenly, reaching out with some haste to touch the Eoclu's arm. "W-wait, Nir', he-...Kampfer's okay." he tried to explain, his voice dry, but earnest . He didn't sound frightened any more - though whether that was intentional or not? Mystery. There was a difference between fright and panic however, and the latter seemed more likely. His breaths were laboured and shallow - yet Kampfer did not seem to be the source of it - not exactly. Ketin obviously was not afraid that Kampfer would hurt him.
"He didn't - he didn't hurt me or nothin'. He's okay, he helped, It's just, I dunno'. M-maybe we should go with 'im,- @#$% I dunno'!" It was the first time he had actually cussed - though also the first time he used his own, shortened version of Nirix's name. His voice cracked a little with the words. He was at a loss. A mental impasse.
He ran his fingers through his hair, folding ears back as he did so. They sprung back up when hands lowered again and fingers steepled at the bridge of his nose, but not too much. They were still ever-expressive and clearly mirrored his growing anxiety.
When Kampfer began his explanation directed at Nirix, the kid looked to the ground and kept his eyes locked there for the duration.
But the second before Kampfer mentioned what his eye really was, his expression changed suddenly as if someone had just dropped an ice cube down the back of his shirt. He appeared to be about to protest, or to say something, but no words came out, he bit his lip, and hung his head again, allowing Kampfer to continue, if his reaction had even warranted a pause.
So, now Nirix knew what he was.
But that was okay. People had found out before, and it was never that alone which did them in. Imperial intervention was what did them in. As long as nobody knew about Adrusade. Nobody could ever know about Adrusade - because then he might have to accept that it was real.
Adrusade was a nameless, abandoned husk of a city, off in some desolate, rocky plain in the southern hemisphere of Ardella. Nobody knew what happened there - the Empire claimed that there had been a nuclear meltdown and that the place was too radioactive to set foot in, and nobody had any reason to doubt it.
So Nirix knew about the eye now, but he could deal with that. As long as nobody - nobody - learned about Adrusade. Kampfer was curious as to why the Empire wanted him so badly - he knew that possessing the eye alone did not warrant such a response. Was there a faint chance that he might learn about it? Kete had used all his expertise and technological mastery to destroy every piece of related information he could find, but it was always possible that there was some tiny, vague little reference buried somewhere in the aethernet which could lead a most persistent researcher to the truth. Unlikely, but possible. Hard copies were stored in the utmost security in an Ardella vault, but only two people in the Galaxy had access to that and it was simply not possible to steal them. It did not seem likely that Harry Malbec or Royanna Kallenger would go revealing the videos to the Galaxy, especially since they would be traitors for it.
As Kampfer finished his speech, Kete took sluggishly from the inner breast pocket of his jacket a silver flask. It looked old, tarnished with time, but pretty. It was engraved with designs of clustered stars. In the center was a little circular glass window to view the contents, and it served as the body of a ringed planet. In fine lettering along the top were the words "Billions and billions". (On the other side, it said "We are all made of star stuff")
With all the practiced deftness of a long-time user, Kete one-handedly popped the cap with a thumb and drank deeply. The scent was very telling as to what the drink was - it smelled like chili peppers and lime juice, and very, very strong alcohol. It was enough to burn the nostrils just thinking about it.
One, two, three generous swallows before he disconnected himself from the flask, gasping quietly as someone might do after taking in such a sum of alcohol. Then, again one-handedly, he re-capped it and stowed it away whence it had come.
"Well," he said, steepling his fingers at the bridge of his nose again and rubbing at his eyes some, "It's Mr. Kampfer or getting lost in the jungle and I say the former sounds more fun."
It was a drastic change, and it had not been the drink which induced it. Perhaps it helped - but if there was one thing that Kete was good at it was forgetting his problems and pretending as if nothing were wrong. It was harder in this case - it was still obvious that something was bothering him deeply, especially to the hyper-aware - but it was also obvious that he was pretty talented in the procedure of covering it up, putting it aside for later.
Indeed he was still stressed, his heart still beat rapidly and his breath was shallow, but he was in control of himself, at least - back to some point of normality - if the point which he kept a stiff upper lip and went happy-go-lucky despite all the trouble in the 'Verse.
So, with some hesitance, and a meaningful, uncertain look to Nirix, he held out his hand to her - not taking Kampfer's until she had taken his.
But despite everything, that look he gave her at the last second was telling. It went deeper than the cheerful glaze. It was like he was giving her one more chance to override his decision if she wanted to. Saying wordlessly 'you can stop me if you want to'. Not imploring her to do so, but in silence leaving the option on the table, and subtly admitting his continued anxiety over his decision, even though he had willingly admitted to go.
(Aelyn's part will come later~)
Christofer would attempt on kicking Royanna off when she tried operating the weird looking thing she had just taken from the drawer. The device scared him and he'd partly start choking because of it.
The situation would ease out slightly, the German wasn't struggling like crazy anymore although he was still scared. He was breathing heavily, slowly calming down but at least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. After a short while the boy would start sobbing and crying, being confused and scared still of the situation and the fact he didn't know what was going on.
Christofer flinched slightly when touched, not having expected it. He'd turn slowly towards Kallenger, sobbing and slowly grabbing her hand, taking a tight hold around it.
"What happened to me?" He'd ask, sniffing and shaking lightly. "What am I?"
He'd proceed to cry for a while until reaching for his things, taking up the card that still had his human face in it. The boy would look at it and continue sobbing
"... What am I..?"
The situation would ease out slightly, the German wasn't struggling like crazy anymore although he was still scared. He was breathing heavily, slowly calming down but at least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. After a short while the boy would start sobbing and crying, being confused and scared still of the situation and the fact he didn't know what was going on.
Christofer flinched slightly when touched, not having expected it. He'd turn slowly towards Kallenger, sobbing and slowly grabbing her hand, taking a tight hold around it.
"What happened to me?" He'd ask, sniffing and shaking lightly. "What am I?"
He'd proceed to cry for a while until reaching for his things, taking up the card that still had his human face in it. The boy would look at it and continue sobbing
"... What am I..?"
A.P. was uninterested in the drones that had suddenly emerged from spoopy wormholes and begun to swarm all about the planet. As far as he was concerned, he was done with Earth IV. He had the robots, he had all he needed from that rock and it could go to Hell for all he cared.
Volo and Harkahn were pretty good help in rummaging through the salvage - even if this technology was out of their range of expertise they were still deft in the trade and were excellent at finding what the droids were looking for.
Unable to interact, Aelyn himself stood and watched with Alexia ever close beside.
BrainPal(tm) was more than capable of picking up radio signals, and the subconscious which guided many of the functions was able to pick out those that mattered - besides, radio signals were extremely uncommon these days. Inefficient and dreadfully slow. Nevertheless, upon receiving the message, the Captain put a finger to his ear and said frankly "One big boat does not constitute a fleet. What do you want." It would be sent as audio, just like that which had played in his head.
Then the new machine - Arsinova - spoke and instantly had the whole of Aelyn's attention. Inky eyes were locked intensely on the mech. "Yes, yes by all means I want to know everything. Everything that happened, everything you know." he said, feverishly, then added as an after thought "And...if you know anything on what became of Mars, I'd like to know that too."
Royanna was not to be thrown off easily - restraining techniques had been part of her training so she was more than well equipped to keep him down and keep herself on him. He finally calmed and she could release her grip, she tried to be as soothing a she could - which wasn't much given her general demeanor - but she was sure trying.
But her face turned a little red when she noticed that the face on Christofer's ID card was, in fact, human. So she had not remembered incorrectly. He really had been changing - and she was at an absolute loss as to what could have happened. It didn't make the slightest bit of sense - but then, she was no biologist...or whatever 'transformation' constituted as in the realm of science.
Royanna tried to keep him close. She moved slowly and deliberately, trying hard not to startle him again. Not uncomfortably close, but enough to get the point across. She hoped. One hand went to his back, rubbing idly at a shoulder. The other hand was in his tight grip.
"Honestly kid, I don't know." she replied regretfully, but keeping as much harshness out of the words as she could. "Anthropomorph is the most common term as far as I know, but...well I guess you weren't one yesterday morning. I thought I was just remembering wrong." she went quiet a moment, thinking, holding him, if he'd let her.
Then, after a moment she continued "I know some people who may know something about what...how...about this." it was hard for someone with little social etiquette to try and word things gently like that. "If you want, I can get them to take a look at you. Can't make any promises - I mean, I can promise nobody's going to hurt you. I just don't know if anyone knows anything about...this..." she was messing this up pretty badly and becoming increasingly aware of the fact.
She wanted to fix it now. Wanted to talk to Ritters and be told that he just had some weird condition and fix it with a shot. Not likely, but she wanted to get started on the process of figuring things out and...and getting him to feel better.
It was actually somewhat startling to Royanna, realizing on some absent level that what she wanted more than just about anything at the moment was for Christofer to not be upset. It was certainly not the kind of driving force she would allow herself to be affected by under normal circumstances, but these were...definitely not normal circumstances.
Eager as she was to get started, it was more than obvious that the kid was going to need some time to come to terms with it before he'd be able to think straight enough for any progress to be made. He'd have to be in his right mind if he was going to be any help to the scientists.
She was still trying to figure out if she should try to get the two of them off the floor when there was a sudden, sharp rapping on the door. Someone was shouting, demanding in muffled words to know what was going on, if everyone was okay. It startled her, she jumped a bit, then barked, perhaps a tad too harshly "Everything's fine! I dropped my gun and it scared the kid, he needs to be left alone."
And because it was DEU Captain Royanna S. Kallenger speaking, the would-be intruder just mumbled something and retreated. Still easier than she had expected.
She returned her attention to Christofer, just continuing to try and calm him down, and probably working at undoing the further stress she had put on him by shouting at the door. Stupid.
Volo and Harkahn were pretty good help in rummaging through the salvage - even if this technology was out of their range of expertise they were still deft in the trade and were excellent at finding what the droids were looking for.
Unable to interact, Aelyn himself stood and watched with Alexia ever close beside.
BrainPal(tm) was more than capable of picking up radio signals, and the subconscious which guided many of the functions was able to pick out those that mattered - besides, radio signals were extremely uncommon these days. Inefficient and dreadfully slow. Nevertheless, upon receiving the message, the Captain put a finger to his ear and said frankly "One big boat does not constitute a fleet. What do you want." It would be sent as audio, just like that which had played in his head.
Then the new machine - Arsinova - spoke and instantly had the whole of Aelyn's attention. Inky eyes were locked intensely on the mech. "Yes, yes by all means I want to know everything. Everything that happened, everything you know." he said, feverishly, then added as an after thought "And...if you know anything on what became of Mars, I'd like to know that too."
Royanna was not to be thrown off easily - restraining techniques had been part of her training so she was more than well equipped to keep him down and keep herself on him. He finally calmed and she could release her grip, she tried to be as soothing a she could - which wasn't much given her general demeanor - but she was sure trying.
But her face turned a little red when she noticed that the face on Christofer's ID card was, in fact, human. So she had not remembered incorrectly. He really had been changing - and she was at an absolute loss as to what could have happened. It didn't make the slightest bit of sense - but then, she was no biologist...or whatever 'transformation' constituted as in the realm of science.
Royanna tried to keep him close. She moved slowly and deliberately, trying hard not to startle him again. Not uncomfortably close, but enough to get the point across. She hoped. One hand went to his back, rubbing idly at a shoulder. The other hand was in his tight grip.
"Honestly kid, I don't know." she replied regretfully, but keeping as much harshness out of the words as she could. "Anthropomorph is the most common term as far as I know, but...well I guess you weren't one yesterday morning. I thought I was just remembering wrong." she went quiet a moment, thinking, holding him, if he'd let her.
Then, after a moment she continued "I know some people who may know something about what...how...about this." it was hard for someone with little social etiquette to try and word things gently like that. "If you want, I can get them to take a look at you. Can't make any promises - I mean, I can promise nobody's going to hurt you. I just don't know if anyone knows anything about...this..." she was messing this up pretty badly and becoming increasingly aware of the fact.
She wanted to fix it now. Wanted to talk to Ritters and be told that he just had some weird condition and fix it with a shot. Not likely, but she wanted to get started on the process of figuring things out and...and getting him to feel better.
It was actually somewhat startling to Royanna, realizing on some absent level that what she wanted more than just about anything at the moment was for Christofer to not be upset. It was certainly not the kind of driving force she would allow herself to be affected by under normal circumstances, but these were...definitely not normal circumstances.
Eager as she was to get started, it was more than obvious that the kid was going to need some time to come to terms with it before he'd be able to think straight enough for any progress to be made. He'd have to be in his right mind if he was going to be any help to the scientists.
She was still trying to figure out if she should try to get the two of them off the floor when there was a sudden, sharp rapping on the door. Someone was shouting, demanding in muffled words to know what was going on, if everyone was okay. It startled her, she jumped a bit, then barked, perhaps a tad too harshly "Everything's fine! I dropped my gun and it scared the kid, he needs to be left alone."
And because it was DEU Captain Royanna S. Kallenger speaking, the would-be intruder just mumbled something and retreated. Still easier than she had expected.
She returned her attention to Christofer, just continuing to try and calm him down, and probably working at undoing the further stress she had put on him by shouting at the door. Stupid.
The albino would return shortly with the showel, joining the taller man at a spot that had been marked very faintly. Not many words would be exchanged as Dmitri would dig up the soil from the spot, not really minding doing all the work - not that the other man wouldn't have been capable of it, but it was mostly just the albino himself wanting to do the job for them.
Eventually the two would have managed to dig deep enough on the spot, a hole that would have a blanket at the bottom of it. Few more shovelfuls of dirt later the two would be good on digging for a while. Dmitri would move the blanket away from over the corpse hidden under it and the taller man would pick the corpse up while the albino put the showel away. He'd let the other man look at the corpse first, letting them take their time upon finally asking. "How is it?" in a curious tone while tilting their head slightly, trying to get a better look himself.
"Like I left him." The human would conclutde in a simple manner. "Not the slightest mark sign of decaying marks that it has not been replaced, it is him." He'd say as he'd point them out to the albino, showing that the skin was real and everything else on it was too.
Dmitri would get a bit closer, he did not like the faint smell of the corpse - or rather the soil and layers it had been hid under - but he'd fight the cringing feeling.
"Yea, that shot wound was not on the one I saw. But I swear. He looked and sounded identical t-" The two could hear some rustling coming from the forest in front of them, Dmitri only slightly before the human, they'd both lift their heads from inspecting the dead body of _____________ and looked towards the sounds.
The albino would snarl as a way to try keeping anyone approaching from advancng further before at least concidering. The sounds differed from those that the personel of the cantonment usually caused, so it raised suspicions on the two. It could have been an outsider.
"Bury the body, I'll see who it is." Having said that, the albino took a hold of his knife, preparing to leave in pursuit of the stranger.
"Hold it, do not go killing them just yet." The man would order as they laid the body back in the 'grave'. "If they are not from the camp, bring them here, alone."
"... I'll advance with caution." The albino would nod like a good obedient dog, heading in the forest to look for the possible intruder...
Eventually the two would have managed to dig deep enough on the spot, a hole that would have a blanket at the bottom of it. Few more shovelfuls of dirt later the two would be good on digging for a while. Dmitri would move the blanket away from over the corpse hidden under it and the taller man would pick the corpse up while the albino put the showel away. He'd let the other man look at the corpse first, letting them take their time upon finally asking. "How is it?" in a curious tone while tilting their head slightly, trying to get a better look himself.
"Like I left him." The human would conclutde in a simple manner. "Not the slightest mark sign of decaying marks that it has not been replaced, it is him." He'd say as he'd point them out to the albino, showing that the skin was real and everything else on it was too.
Dmitri would get a bit closer, he did not like the faint smell of the corpse - or rather the soil and layers it had been hid under - but he'd fight the cringing feeling.
"Yea, that shot wound was not on the one I saw. But I swear. He looked and sounded identical t-" The two could hear some rustling coming from the forest in front of them, Dmitri only slightly before the human, they'd both lift their heads from inspecting the dead body of _____________ and looked towards the sounds.
The albino would snarl as a way to try keeping anyone approaching from advancng further before at least concidering. The sounds differed from those that the personel of the cantonment usually caused, so it raised suspicions on the two. It could have been an outsider.
"Bury the body, I'll see who it is." Having said that, the albino took a hold of his knife, preparing to leave in pursuit of the stranger.
"Hold it, do not go killing them just yet." The man would order as they laid the body back in the 'grave'. "If they are not from the camp, bring them here, alone."
"... I'll advance with caution." The albino would nod like a good obedient dog, heading in the forest to look for the possible intruder...
Arsinova kept tinkering with his matrix and pointed to the little broken sparking piece on it "This is a capacitor, this is what you should look for otherwise I cannot repair my legs" and then Arsinova focused on his information of Earth "Well humans were becoming more needing of knowledge and well, too many excavations of ancient sites built by my people with already uncovered, we had to stop you from gaining our secrets somehow." The mech stated "In the wrong hands my peoples technology could be used for the wrong reason and I wish not for it to be abused." Then he turned his attention to Aelyn "Mars is well... Mars is still Mars, not much to it, no reason to harm it in anyway. We have no structures there to worry about maybe a beacon or two but otherwise nothing too important, Mars remains untouched"
The roar of distant jet engines taking off from Earth City, 'merely' miles away, could be easily deafened by the jungle laid over it's surroundings. Now that the dust had been set, life that inhabit the dense forest slowly returned from their hideouts unto the trees or holes into the ground. Even though this was a familiar environment for The Ranger from his past jobs, many were the creatures that he actually didn't recall. A good portion of the wildlife that CL managed to take a glimpse, including the fauna and flora itself, were originally from Old Earth. A hint of an extensive and very efficient terraforming process on this new "Earth". Not only the head behind it all did an excellent job of migrating the life from the Sol System here, but such also lived in perfect harmony with this new, alien environment.
Still, the sudden spike of the jungle chants only meant that the trek would take a lot longer than usual for the Masked Man, but now he could at least holster his Revolver back unto his belt. He had lowered his guard, a fatal mistake. More comfortable with the natural cover, CL wasn't really trying to stealthily move through the forest anymore. Right after letting a long sight of relief from a deserved moment of peace, The Ranger caught a glimpse of a pale figure ripping through the dark green atmosphere. Even though it barely resembled any of Kampfer's men - specially due to the absence of camouflage - CL's weapon were right back into his hand again, ready to discharge the remaining twenty micro-pellets left in it's drum. He would stand there, arms pointed forward where the pale being have possibly crept to.
"Don't come playing dumb with me again, Captain." -- Something was wrong. -- "... Then what are those ************* DOING WITH MY DRONES?" -- Whoever were on the other side of Aelyn's BrainPal 'line', were clearly mistaken about the allegiance of the fleet orbiting Earth VI, Kampfer's fleet. Angry ramblings were heard on the background as, one-by-one, the drones were overwhelmed by the fleet's weaponry. While, obviously, lasers barely did any damage on them, the spies' multi-directional thrusters only made them last for a minute or two, until all of them from the thirty were finally destroyed. Some simply deactivated from the sheer damage take into their light armor. Others were completely shredded to pieces. It didn't matter anymore, their purpose were fulfilled... With the wrong fleet, however. Was it the wrong fleet, however? There was no visual confirmation of a safe, billionaire bounty hunter, so the mere suspicion of having The Mad Ranger under captivity were enough reason for trouble.
Needless to say, Kampfer's fleet could easily pick up the chatter, even though it sounded a lot distorted due to the distance the signal were travelling from. It was impressive how this radio waves could come from the edge of the solar system still retaining legible sound quality.
Still, the sudden spike of the jungle chants only meant that the trek would take a lot longer than usual for the Masked Man, but now he could at least holster his Revolver back unto his belt. He had lowered his guard, a fatal mistake. More comfortable with the natural cover, CL wasn't really trying to stealthily move through the forest anymore. Right after letting a long sight of relief from a deserved moment of peace, The Ranger caught a glimpse of a pale figure ripping through the dark green atmosphere. Even though it barely resembled any of Kampfer's men - specially due to the absence of camouflage - CL's weapon were right back into his hand again, ready to discharge the remaining twenty micro-pellets left in it's drum. He would stand there, arms pointed forward where the pale being have possibly crept to.
"Don't come playing dumb with me again, Captain." -- Something was wrong. -- "... Then what are those ************* DOING WITH MY DRONES?" -- Whoever were on the other side of Aelyn's BrainPal 'line', were clearly mistaken about the allegiance of the fleet orbiting Earth VI, Kampfer's fleet. Angry ramblings were heard on the background as, one-by-one, the drones were overwhelmed by the fleet's weaponry. While, obviously, lasers barely did any damage on them, the spies' multi-directional thrusters only made them last for a minute or two, until all of them from the thirty were finally destroyed. Some simply deactivated from the sheer damage take into their light armor. Others were completely shredded to pieces. It didn't matter anymore, their purpose were fulfilled... With the wrong fleet, however. Was it the wrong fleet, however? There was no visual confirmation of a safe, billionaire bounty hunter, so the mere suspicion of having The Mad Ranger under captivity were enough reason for trouble.
Needless to say, Kampfer's fleet could easily pick up the chatter, even though it sounded a lot distorted due to the distance the signal were travelling from. It was impressive how this radio waves could come from the edge of the solar system still retaining legible sound quality.
In his confused state, Christofer wasn't capable of doing much on his own. He was acting according to his instincts, but mostly he'd need to be guided.
The boy didn't really mind Kallenger's rough way of wording or spelling things, he just wanted someone who would be at least slightly knowing iof what was happening at the moment. The woman was becoming somewhat hard to trust though... She knew what to possibly call this... This new monstrosity, but that was almost the line of where it ended. She was unsure, struggling with her words. Normally Christofer would not be minding it, but at the moment when he was lost, it scared him.
The banging at the door scared him too, but it wouldn't stop there as Royanna started shouting at the sounds from the other side of the door. Please stop... the boy would think to himself, holding over his ears and curling because of all the sounds - his ears were more sensitive now... He couldn't silence the voiced, but he did try thinking of something else, eventually just ending up with a bunch of questions. Why did she lie? Why didn't she want to allow the other people in? Why was she so possessive over him? The thoughts started to scare him...
He'd whimper, trying to hide from the sounds and people under the bed...
The boy didn't really mind Kallenger's rough way of wording or spelling things, he just wanted someone who would be at least slightly knowing iof what was happening at the moment. The woman was becoming somewhat hard to trust though... She knew what to possibly call this... This new monstrosity, but that was almost the line of where it ended. She was unsure, struggling with her words. Normally Christofer would not be minding it, but at the moment when he was lost, it scared him.
The banging at the door scared him too, but it wouldn't stop there as Royanna started shouting at the sounds from the other side of the door. Please stop... the boy would think to himself, holding over his ears and curling because of all the sounds - his ears were more sensitive now... He couldn't silence the voiced, but he did try thinking of something else, eventually just ending up with a bunch of questions. Why did she lie? Why didn't she want to allow the other people in? Why was she so possessive over him? The thoughts started to scare him...
He'd whimper, trying to hide from the sounds and people under the bed...
While in search of the possible stranger, the albino did indeed spot a silhouette at a distance. He squinted his eyes at it, although he couldn't get much of a good look due to one of his eyes being blind and overall this causing his vision to not be of the best. But even with that he could tell that the person he saw was definitely not one of them.
The albino would approach at a decent speed, trying to get a better look at the supposed intruder. He'd halt upon catching a sight of the man moving, noticing the weapon they had in their hands. Quickly, he'd switch on the transparency setting or what else little he still had going for him and then he'd stay still to avoid the rustling of fallen leaves, branches or other such things crunching beneath his feet.
He'd observe the man, try to see what he was planning and how they'd act. This person was a stranger though and to be honest, there was a good possibility that the albino had never seen anyone armored or dressed like that before. Could be a new unit of the government, who knows, but concidering they were alone and not enmasse, Dmitri would feel that it was safe to assume that the person didn't have their extermination as their main objective...
But one could never be too sure, so after a short inspecting of the target, the albino would move slightly, taking a few steps towards his right before turning sharply to the left side of the stranger, lashing out at the man slightly from behind to increase his odds at making the other person more vulnerable and open for hits. The transparency effect would slowly start running out, possibly revealing the pale canid eventually. It would take a very good reflexed and extreme prediction knowing person to have spotted the albino while the transparency was still in effect.
"State your business or you'll lose a limb!" Dmitri would treaten, mostly because he hardly knew any nicer ways to greet someone. He would look carefully on the factor of cutting limbs though; the armory of the targetted person was new to him and Volkov would most likely prefer them fully in one part for now...
The albino would approach at a decent speed, trying to get a better look at the supposed intruder. He'd halt upon catching a sight of the man moving, noticing the weapon they had in their hands. Quickly, he'd switch on the transparency setting or what else little he still had going for him and then he'd stay still to avoid the rustling of fallen leaves, branches or other such things crunching beneath his feet.
He'd observe the man, try to see what he was planning and how they'd act. This person was a stranger though and to be honest, there was a good possibility that the albino had never seen anyone armored or dressed like that before. Could be a new unit of the government, who knows, but concidering they were alone and not enmasse, Dmitri would feel that it was safe to assume that the person didn't have their extermination as their main objective...
But one could never be too sure, so after a short inspecting of the target, the albino would move slightly, taking a few steps towards his right before turning sharply to the left side of the stranger, lashing out at the man slightly from behind to increase his odds at making the other person more vulnerable and open for hits. The transparency effect would slowly start running out, possibly revealing the pale canid eventually. It would take a very good reflexed and extreme prediction knowing person to have spotted the albino while the transparency was still in effect.
"State your business or you'll lose a limb!" Dmitri would treaten, mostly because he hardly knew any nicer ways to greet someone. He would look carefully on the factor of cutting limbs though; the armory of the targetted person was new to him and Volkov would most likely prefer them fully in one part for now...
Nirix frowned. It was increasingly hard to think under these circumstances. From her viewpoint, Kampfer had stole Kete away for what he possessed, that strange cybernetic red and gold eye. It was apparently valuable enough for an entire Empire to deem him a criminal and send that crazed women and an entire squadron of men after him. To say that Nirix was relieved when she learned about Kallenger’s departure was an understatement, she would be one less person the Eoclu had to worry about seeing again. However, despite all this given information, Nirix still many questions that she wanted answered.
Why did Kamper want to help them so badly? Had the da’len ever peered into her memories? Those were very private things, something Nirix hoped no one would ever touch. Stealing a glance at Ketin she studied him carefully. How could he possess such a gift? Why did he possess it? Looking into another’s memories, knowing their every thought and life choices, it was a powerful tool. What had Ketin learned from her? Could Nirix continue trusting him?
Yet the Eoclu could answer a few of those questions on her own. She had been trusting Kete for awhile, all without any general information or knowledge. Nirix had trusted him through lies and her own feelings, through his random adductions and dangerous encounters. He had saved her, when Nirix had sought to save him instead. Ketin had, despite all odds, nuzzled his way into the deadly Eoclu’s heart and Nirix would have it no other way.
Nir’, he had called her, a simple shortening of her name that meant more to Nirix than she could understand. It only made want to protect him even more so. She would trust him.
“Da’len,” She breathed out, more to herself than to anyone else. Kampfer’s speech had messed with him; Nirix noticed Kete had resorted to drinking rather strong liquor that reminded her of her people’s festival brew. (He definitely was past the age for her to be referring to him as Da’len but Nirix knew that habit would be hard to break.) Regardless, drinking it had changed his demeanor, as most strong alcohol tended to do. There was still something there, something deep that was bothering him but it appeared that Kete was covering it up.
“In my culture, it is unruly to shake a sinner’s hand, unless he repents” Nirix responded quickly, eyes closed as she collected her thoughts. If Kete trusted Kampfer…She supposed she would do the same. At least for now. “However, the Da’len has faith in you, where I see none whatsoever. I will only go for his sake,” She stated, on the verge on hissing out a threat. If he did anything else to Ketin, Nirix would make sure to obliterate him and anyone else who followed in his path.
So ignoring all sense of reason and her obvious instincts to not do this, Nirix grabbed Kete’s and waited patiently for Kampfer to take them away. Hopefully she would learn something from wherever they were going. Collecting Intel on all kinds of people and planets had been one of Nirix’s favorite and busy jobs. Hopefully she hadn’t lost the skill.
Why did Kamper want to help them so badly? Had the da’len ever peered into her memories? Those were very private things, something Nirix hoped no one would ever touch. Stealing a glance at Ketin she studied him carefully. How could he possess such a gift? Why did he possess it? Looking into another’s memories, knowing their every thought and life choices, it was a powerful tool. What had Ketin learned from her? Could Nirix continue trusting him?
Yet the Eoclu could answer a few of those questions on her own. She had been trusting Kete for awhile, all without any general information or knowledge. Nirix had trusted him through lies and her own feelings, through his random adductions and dangerous encounters. He had saved her, when Nirix had sought to save him instead. Ketin had, despite all odds, nuzzled his way into the deadly Eoclu’s heart and Nirix would have it no other way.
Nir’, he had called her, a simple shortening of her name that meant more to Nirix than she could understand. It only made want to protect him even more so. She would trust him.
“Da’len,” She breathed out, more to herself than to anyone else. Kampfer’s speech had messed with him; Nirix noticed Kete had resorted to drinking rather strong liquor that reminded her of her people’s festival brew. (He definitely was past the age for her to be referring to him as Da’len but Nirix knew that habit would be hard to break.) Regardless, drinking it had changed his demeanor, as most strong alcohol tended to do. There was still something there, something deep that was bothering him but it appeared that Kete was covering it up.
“In my culture, it is unruly to shake a sinner’s hand, unless he repents” Nirix responded quickly, eyes closed as she collected her thoughts. If Kete trusted Kampfer…She supposed she would do the same. At least for now. “However, the Da’len has faith in you, where I see none whatsoever. I will only go for his sake,” She stated, on the verge on hissing out a threat. If he did anything else to Ketin, Nirix would make sure to obliterate him and anyone else who followed in his path.
So ignoring all sense of reason and her obvious instincts to not do this, Nirix grabbed Kete’s and waited patiently for Kampfer to take them away. Hopefully she would learn something from wherever they were going. Collecting Intel on all kinds of people and planets had been one of Nirix’s favorite and busy jobs. Hopefully she hadn’t lost the skill.
Kampfer made a soft smile and took Nirix gently by the hand, glade to see that Ketin finally trusts him to some degree. "Let's say zat me and my collegeues are all sinners in ze eyes of ze Gods, ve are unable to repent...but any vho lets get zis over vith" he said as he held onto Nirix and Arthur holding onto Kampfer. Soon all four of them disappeared.
They all reappeared on a wide almost chrome like corridor, with metal floors, walls and ceilings all lighted with either large LED lights. They teleported in front of a door guarded by two large men, significantly much taller than Maria at a whooping 8ft tall, wearing a full set of Titanium steel alloy armor and a metal masculine face plate and carried rather large super laser weapons, these hulking individuals were as Kampfer called them the Supersoldaten, this armored soldiers are NOT Kampfer's but they are are of a certain Doctor, a Doctor who's name is placed on the door: Doctor Sarah Glades, Chief Bio-genetic engineer and scientist.
As soon as all three teleported, Kampfer immediately let go of Nirix and stumbled upon the wall of the corridor, coughing up blood. Kampfer's instant teleportation allows him to teleport in great distances without harmful affects, but since he made an incredible large jump with 3 other beings in tow, that caused a lot of stress on his body. "Gah-price I pay for being a living corpse" he said as he coughed up more blood. He looked at the two individuals and said "Welcome to station 12, located on ze furthermost band of ze galaxy, light years away from Earth IV" He straighten himself up as he finished coughing up blood and looked at Ketin and said "Sorry Ketin, but I just can't hand you a ship for free, it has its cost, but for you its a relative easy cost...all you have to do is just be here. If you remember vhen I told you about Doctor Glades, vell I said zat because you are going to meet her once more" he looked at him and then at the door and before Ketin could respond he called out "Hey, Doctor Chimney! I have something for you!" and then a reply "Hey Windows! I don't want your damn update, so go away!" in a female authoritarian voice but it was also sounded a little sweat though. "Just come out here, a flash of ze past is here to see you" Kampfer responded looking at the door with a grin.
Soon the door opened and a woman in a white lab coat, wearing black pants, network combat boots and and button up white shirt that wasn't fully button showing her cleavage at the visitor's at the door . She almost looked like Kampfer, same hair but different style which covered up one of her eyes barely and wore same librarian type of glasses, with a cigarette in her mouth. She looked 35 even though her age is much older. This women looked at Kampfer and then looked at his guests that he brought and as her eye's brought upon Ketin, her eyes got big and the cigarette dropped from her mouth and said "Number 13 is that you?... My god it is you!" she then collapsed upon her knees in front of Ketin and started to caress his face. "It's been so long...how are you?" she asked him as she looks him over thinking like she's dreaming.
They all reappeared on a wide almost chrome like corridor, with metal floors, walls and ceilings all lighted with either large LED lights. They teleported in front of a door guarded by two large men, significantly much taller than Maria at a whooping 8ft tall, wearing a full set of Titanium steel alloy armor and a metal masculine face plate and carried rather large super laser weapons, these hulking individuals were as Kampfer called them the Supersoldaten, this armored soldiers are NOT Kampfer's but they are are of a certain Doctor, a Doctor who's name is placed on the door: Doctor Sarah Glades, Chief Bio-genetic engineer and scientist.
As soon as all three teleported, Kampfer immediately let go of Nirix and stumbled upon the wall of the corridor, coughing up blood. Kampfer's instant teleportation allows him to teleport in great distances without harmful affects, but since he made an incredible large jump with 3 other beings in tow, that caused a lot of stress on his body. "Gah-price I pay for being a living corpse" he said as he coughed up more blood. He looked at the two individuals and said "Welcome to station 12, located on ze furthermost band of ze galaxy, light years away from Earth IV" He straighten himself up as he finished coughing up blood and looked at Ketin and said "Sorry Ketin, but I just can't hand you a ship for free, it has its cost, but for you its a relative easy cost...all you have to do is just be here. If you remember vhen I told you about Doctor Glades, vell I said zat because you are going to meet her once more" he looked at him and then at the door and before Ketin could respond he called out "Hey, Doctor Chimney! I have something for you!" and then a reply "Hey Windows! I don't want your damn update, so go away!" in a female authoritarian voice but it was also sounded a little sweat though. "Just come out here, a flash of ze past is here to see you" Kampfer responded looking at the door with a grin.
Soon the door opened and a woman in a white lab coat, wearing black pants, network combat boots and and button up white shirt that wasn't fully button showing her cleavage at the visitor's at the door . She almost looked like Kampfer, same hair but different style which covered up one of her eyes barely and wore same librarian type of glasses, with a cigarette in her mouth. She looked 35 even though her age is much older. This women looked at Kampfer and then looked at his guests that he brought and as her eye's brought upon Ketin, her eyes got big and the cigarette dropped from her mouth and said "Number 13 is that you?... My god it is you!" she then collapsed upon her knees in front of Ketin and started to caress his face. "It's been so long...how are you?" she asked him as she looks him over thinking like she's dreaming.
Aelyn was uninterested in assisting with Arsinova’s repairs, but he was enthralled by his story. Enthralled and yet – something was wrong, things weren’t adding up. Fingers moved to his chin and massaged it dubiously, brows furrowed in thought. Initially a wave of relief had come over him when he learned that Mars had gone unharmed – it was, after all, his home world – but the relief was immediately squashed and replaced with a wave of irritated confusion.
“That doesn’t make sense.” he said at last, inky eyes returning from where they had been vacantly staring at the floor and facing the robot once again. “I was involved enough in my brother’s work that I’d have known of your existence if it factored into it at all. Excavations of ancient sites like that would have been all over System news…Wait.”
There was a sudden, figurative spark to his otherwise level expression. He focused doubly on Arsinova. “You said you left Mars untouched – but if you meant so adamantly to destroy all of mankind to keep them from learning your secrets, why would you leave Ares? Anything that Men had learned on Earth they would have sent immediately to the Foundation database in Ares.”
Suddenly he seemed frustrated, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and gritting his teeth before speaking again. “It’s not enough, I need more.” he said, with a twinge of fervency. “The story is too fragmented, I need the whole thing – you’re implying that Mars was uninhabited, but there’s no way you could have overlooked the largest city ever to be built in the Solar System. Hell, Ares was the capitol of the Sol Republic for the last two centuries before the Incident.”
It seemed that perhaps timelines were conflicting – most peculiar.
He continued, after a moment - “What about the other inhabited worlds; Europa, Io, Ganymede, Callisto? The assembly plants on Luna, the refineries on Mercury, the floating cities on Jupiter? You wouldn’t have spared any of that if you intended for mankind to be destroyed – and at very least you wouldn’t have left the city of Ares untouched if you really intended to keep your secrets hidden. I need more.”
Admittedly, A.P. was getting frustrated. Luckily, either he was not so frustrated as to invoke the unusual phenomenon he had displayed earlier, or such a phenomenon existed differently within Notspace – both seemed equally probable, and equally irrelevant.
”What I wanna’ know is why we’ got schematics for Bravo’s model way back in the old archives.” Volo piped in from a distance away, tinkering with some piece of tech, trying to untangle it from other bits and pieces in order to determine what it actually was. “Everything the Foundation knew was downloaded into the Stella’s mainframe, that includes all the basic **** on CD-407s. Lot of it don’t make much sense but it’s still all there and accurate to a T if I ain’t mistaken. Which I usually aint’.”
”Not to mention,” Harkahn added, also fiddling with something which, as it happened, turned out to be the capacitor that Arsinova had been looking for. He had even made some repairs to the thing, using spare parts to get it back into mostly working order. Holding it loosely in a hand, he walked over to deliver it to the huge mech. “That besides this tech actually falling to some minor extent within our range of knowledge – which doesn’t make sense – if something had come along and burned the planet Earth to a crisp the whole System would have known. There would definitely be records of it in the mainframe – but there’s nothing. Don’t take this the wrong way but – uh, well, are you sure?”
Aelyn stood with a distant air of impatience, awaiting a more thorough explanation from the great metal being.
He was devoting only the slightest sliver of his conscious thought process to whatever annoyance was yabbering on at him via BrainPal™. Frankly he could not have cared less how angry the person on the other end was, and he did not plan on becoming too interested in any of it. He didn’t even bother actually speaking the words when he did absentmindedly, offhandedly reply, instead forging the message in silence, transmitting it as his own voice to the receiver.
“Stop bothering me. I don’t care about you or your drones. Take it up with the Lord of Tech Support if you have to but for God’s sake leave me out of it. You do understand that I have zero influence over that planet, right? I lost that fight. Got what I needed and got out. That planet means nothing to me now and the last thing I’m going to do is waste more resources trying to defend it from whatever stupidity you’re throwing at it. Now if you’re going to keep bothering me with your trivial **** then at least kindly tell me who the **** you are, so I can add you to my ‘blocked users’.
Royanna gave a tight, restricted sigh, chest shaking slightly with the effort of keeping herself from absolutely losing her ****. She had included the basics of keeping newer soldiers fighting in her training, but this was simply more than she could handle and she did not have the patience. His attempt at crawling under the bed was the last straw.
”Enough of this ****.Alright soldier, get your ass up here, come on.” she growled, grabbing the kid perhaps slightly harder than necessary but with all practiced hold she had used on him moments prior when applying the medication. It didn’t matter how – somehow she was going to get him back onto that bed and sitting on the edge, even if she had to wrestle the kid tooth and nail. This had gone far enough, she thought.
One way or another, easy way or hard way, Christofer would find himself sitting on the edge of that bed with Royanna Kallenger gripping both his shoulders and looking him sternly in the eye. She did not yell, but her words were hard and loud enough to demand all of his attention – without being overwhelming. The idea was that even though she was not exhibiting the peace and quiet that Toffi probably needed right now, at least she was condensing all the chaos around him into one source, making it that much easier to intake.
Listen to me kid, you need to calm down and think, y’understand? You’re no use to anyone like this. Get your **** together and focus. I need you coherent, Christofer. I need you to calm the **** down and listen to me. I’ll keep you safe and I’ll help you figure out what happened but I can’t do anything if you’re curled up and whimpering like an idiot. Listen to me Christofer, cut the **** and get it together or we’re going to have a serious ****ing problem.”
So, not so tender any more, much closer to the usual Royanna – and in a way it was a relief to her, somewhere deep in that miniature recess of the mind saved for insignificant thoughts during times of mental necessity. Whether or not it would work, Roya wasn’t letting that kid go anywhere – just about the only thing on his side that she would not be anticipating was an outright attack, and that certainly did not seem likely, even from this ‘cornered animal’. Naturally there was little to alert her to Christofer’s sudden change in disposition toward her. In Roya’s mind the idea was practically inconceivable – certainly not relevant.
Granted, atop all of this she was about one failed attempt away from just hauling off and smacking the kid – but that point had yet to be reached…For now.
He regretted it all the second it was too late.
It had been a stupid plan, really – try to get one more indication out of Nirix before setting off a whole host of dormant explosives within the crashed Jaggernaut, yanking her by the arm to a point of safety and using the chaos to run away from it all. From there he could take it by ear, lose the Eoclu in the jungle, escape into the city, maybe find a still-operational starport and get off the planet.
But he hesitated for the briefest second and it ruined everything. His heart sank severely, almost physically.
Sudden distrust was, in Kete’s mind, one of the strongest potential readings he could receive. It was along the same lines as immediate intent, the signals that indicated when or how he should move in order to avoid an imminent attack or similar occurrence. Distrust, however, had the added factor of being something he so desperately dreaded that the second it cropped up it would be all he could see.
For that reason, the moment Nirix questioned whether or not she should continue to trust him, it was the only thing Kete could get from her and it stung like a bolt through the chest. For that reason he had intended to try and get away from her again, even after all the progress they had made in becoming something of an impromptu duo. Kete had actually liked the term Nirix used for him – ’Da’len’, even despite the implications which he had figured out early on. Usually implications that he was young or childlike or kiddish in any way irked him, but from Nirix it was nice.
But now that she knew about him, knew what he was capable of – now that she distrusted him – that name would become inapplicable. He was sure of it – that he had ruined another perfectly good interpersonal relationship, destroyed another budding friendship simply by being who he was…Or, rather, what he was. The monster Devil Eye.
But none of that mattered now, because now Ketin Clarke found himself in just the kind of place that made him sick to his stomach.
He liked galactostationary stations despite the typically cramped quarters, but only when they constituted the sort of under-city atmosphere that he felt so comfortably lost within. The marketplaces of Rino Station, the expansive nightlife aboard Sin Station, the distinctly portlike air of Mariner Station, and so on. So often the places were hives of life, bustling with people going about living – but this was not one of those kinds of stations. This was a facility, designed for the purposes of Kampfer, be they military, scientific, political – whatever, it couldn’t matter less.
It was the sterility of the halls, the shiny surfaces, the cleanliness of it. That air of intellectualism that made the place feel like one huge laboratory complex. The halls were not white like they had been in the Ardella Facility, but then – Kampfer did not physically resemble the individual so deeply haunting Kete’s mind. It was not the physical appearance of this place, but the feel of it.
He was positively terrified. There could be no mistaking the sharp increase in heartrate, the sweaty palms, even the slight tremor in his hands – and certainly not his expression. His face retained color for the moment, but his eyes spelled deep, practically primal terror. He failed to brush a stray lock of hair from his eyes, swallowed hard, tensed every muscle. He was trapped here, he had walked right into it.
But things were only going to get worse.
There was nothing else in the universe to Kete at the moment. He was unaware of Kampfer, unaware of that sudden, perceived distrust in Nirix, unaware of everything but his immediate surroundings, of the idea of where he had allowed himself to be confined. And yet…
It was as if no time at all had passed between his initial dread arriving at this place and now – being faced with a woman who looked at him as if he were a figment of her imagination. Looked at him with passionate wonder. He was in a daze, eyes wide and glazed with anxiety – but that was before he actually registered and comprehending who was looking at him. The woman’s words took a long moment to click, and it might have appeared as though it were the gentle touch of her fingertips to his face that triggered the sudden reaction – but in reality it was the sudden realization of what was happening – of who he was looking at – of who was looking at him.
Out of nowhere, Kete let out a pitiful, frightened half-cry, half-yelp the likes of which he had never cried out before. It resembled something that a kitten might utter being cornered by a bear.
Nyyyaah~!! Nuh uh, y-you got th’wrong guy I ain’t, I’m Kete I ain’t, I don’t e-even know who…I, I’m K-Kete~!”
Accompanying the initial sound he put his hands up halfway – they were shaking visibly – and with the words he stumbled backwards until his back was pressed into the door from which they had entered the room. He pressed himself into it as though trying to will himself through the very metal, feet sliding uselessly on the floor in the endeavor of it. He shook his head slightly, consistently.
He had gone ghost-white in the face.
”It ain’t me, nah, ain’t Thir…Ain’t Thirteen, nuh, n-nuh I’m…I’m…Y’got the wrong guy~!” He continued to whimper under his breath, almost inaudibly.
Ketin did not remember this woman directly. He had never met her in his time in the Ardella Facility – but then, there had been a myriad of people that had worked directly with – or on – Prototype Number Thirteen that the boy himself never saw even once. It had been an expansive project, led by Duros Aller but webbing out to encompass the entire scientific division of what at that time was the very beginning of the New Galactic Empire.
But even though he did not recognize this woman from his own memories, he did know enough about her through what he remembered of Aller’s mind. Those memories, locked away in some forbidden corner of his mind, were agony to his consciousness – yet they did not lie. He knew her face as Duros Aller knew it. There was little else to work off, but what a pittance there was still gave him more than he could have needed. She had been important to Aller – very important. She had worked on the Devil’s Eye alongside Aller, perhaps even his main colleague in the project. Aller had felt strongly for her – beyond that it was mystery, but he knew enough to be afraid.
If this woman knew him as Thirteen, that meant she knew everything. Unless by some chance she became completely uninvolved between the time that Thirteen was first implanted with the eye and the time that he began his training, which was possible.
But Kete could only assume that this woman had been involved in everything, in it until the end. She had to know about the war, about the constant struggle the Empire had been facing against the citizens of Ardella who had at that time established an impressive defense and monopolization of spatial technology, the resources required for the interplanetary capabilities which could get them off of their exile world.
Unless she left the operation before Thirteen was deployed to the city of Adrusade, she knew everything.
It was a night terror that he could not wake from. It was as if everything he had been fleeing from for over three centuries had caught up to him in one fatal blow.
He was left there, back pressed against the door, ghost white, trembling in abject terror, paralyzed with fear and black dread, breaths sharp, rapid, shallow.
And he whimpered again, almost inaudible, as if trying to convince himself among others; “I’m n-not Thirteen, y-y’g-got the wrong guy, n-not…not Th…not….”
“That doesn’t make sense.” he said at last, inky eyes returning from where they had been vacantly staring at the floor and facing the robot once again. “I was involved enough in my brother’s work that I’d have known of your existence if it factored into it at all. Excavations of ancient sites like that would have been all over System news…Wait.”
There was a sudden, figurative spark to his otherwise level expression. He focused doubly on Arsinova. “You said you left Mars untouched – but if you meant so adamantly to destroy all of mankind to keep them from learning your secrets, why would you leave Ares? Anything that Men had learned on Earth they would have sent immediately to the Foundation database in Ares.”
Suddenly he seemed frustrated, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and gritting his teeth before speaking again. “It’s not enough, I need more.” he said, with a twinge of fervency. “The story is too fragmented, I need the whole thing – you’re implying that Mars was uninhabited, but there’s no way you could have overlooked the largest city ever to be built in the Solar System. Hell, Ares was the capitol of the Sol Republic for the last two centuries before the Incident.”
It seemed that perhaps timelines were conflicting – most peculiar.
He continued, after a moment - “What about the other inhabited worlds; Europa, Io, Ganymede, Callisto? The assembly plants on Luna, the refineries on Mercury, the floating cities on Jupiter? You wouldn’t have spared any of that if you intended for mankind to be destroyed – and at very least you wouldn’t have left the city of Ares untouched if you really intended to keep your secrets hidden. I need more.”
Admittedly, A.P. was getting frustrated. Luckily, either he was not so frustrated as to invoke the unusual phenomenon he had displayed earlier, or such a phenomenon existed differently within Notspace – both seemed equally probable, and equally irrelevant.
”What I wanna’ know is why we’ got schematics for Bravo’s model way back in the old archives.” Volo piped in from a distance away, tinkering with some piece of tech, trying to untangle it from other bits and pieces in order to determine what it actually was. “Everything the Foundation knew was downloaded into the Stella’s mainframe, that includes all the basic **** on CD-407s. Lot of it don’t make much sense but it’s still all there and accurate to a T if I ain’t mistaken. Which I usually aint’.”
”Not to mention,” Harkahn added, also fiddling with something which, as it happened, turned out to be the capacitor that Arsinova had been looking for. He had even made some repairs to the thing, using spare parts to get it back into mostly working order. Holding it loosely in a hand, he walked over to deliver it to the huge mech. “That besides this tech actually falling to some minor extent within our range of knowledge – which doesn’t make sense – if something had come along and burned the planet Earth to a crisp the whole System would have known. There would definitely be records of it in the mainframe – but there’s nothing. Don’t take this the wrong way but – uh, well, are you sure?”
Aelyn stood with a distant air of impatience, awaiting a more thorough explanation from the great metal being.
He was devoting only the slightest sliver of his conscious thought process to whatever annoyance was yabbering on at him via BrainPal™. Frankly he could not have cared less how angry the person on the other end was, and he did not plan on becoming too interested in any of it. He didn’t even bother actually speaking the words when he did absentmindedly, offhandedly reply, instead forging the message in silence, transmitting it as his own voice to the receiver.
“Stop bothering me. I don’t care about you or your drones. Take it up with the Lord of Tech Support if you have to but for God’s sake leave me out of it. You do understand that I have zero influence over that planet, right? I lost that fight. Got what I needed and got out. That planet means nothing to me now and the last thing I’m going to do is waste more resources trying to defend it from whatever stupidity you’re throwing at it. Now if you’re going to keep bothering me with your trivial **** then at least kindly tell me who the **** you are, so I can add you to my ‘blocked users’.
Royanna gave a tight, restricted sigh, chest shaking slightly with the effort of keeping herself from absolutely losing her ****. She had included the basics of keeping newer soldiers fighting in her training, but this was simply more than she could handle and she did not have the patience. His attempt at crawling under the bed was the last straw.
”Enough of this ****.Alright soldier, get your ass up here, come on.” she growled, grabbing the kid perhaps slightly harder than necessary but with all practiced hold she had used on him moments prior when applying the medication. It didn’t matter how – somehow she was going to get him back onto that bed and sitting on the edge, even if she had to wrestle the kid tooth and nail. This had gone far enough, she thought.
One way or another, easy way or hard way, Christofer would find himself sitting on the edge of that bed with Royanna Kallenger gripping both his shoulders and looking him sternly in the eye. She did not yell, but her words were hard and loud enough to demand all of his attention – without being overwhelming. The idea was that even though she was not exhibiting the peace and quiet that Toffi probably needed right now, at least she was condensing all the chaos around him into one source, making it that much easier to intake.
Listen to me kid, you need to calm down and think, y’understand? You’re no use to anyone like this. Get your **** together and focus. I need you coherent, Christofer. I need you to calm the **** down and listen to me. I’ll keep you safe and I’ll help you figure out what happened but I can’t do anything if you’re curled up and whimpering like an idiot. Listen to me Christofer, cut the **** and get it together or we’re going to have a serious ****ing problem.”
So, not so tender any more, much closer to the usual Royanna – and in a way it was a relief to her, somewhere deep in that miniature recess of the mind saved for insignificant thoughts during times of mental necessity. Whether or not it would work, Roya wasn’t letting that kid go anywhere – just about the only thing on his side that she would not be anticipating was an outright attack, and that certainly did not seem likely, even from this ‘cornered animal’. Naturally there was little to alert her to Christofer’s sudden change in disposition toward her. In Roya’s mind the idea was practically inconceivable – certainly not relevant.
Granted, atop all of this she was about one failed attempt away from just hauling off and smacking the kid – but that point had yet to be reached…For now.
He regretted it all the second it was too late.
It had been a stupid plan, really – try to get one more indication out of Nirix before setting off a whole host of dormant explosives within the crashed Jaggernaut, yanking her by the arm to a point of safety and using the chaos to run away from it all. From there he could take it by ear, lose the Eoclu in the jungle, escape into the city, maybe find a still-operational starport and get off the planet.
But he hesitated for the briefest second and it ruined everything. His heart sank severely, almost physically.
Sudden distrust was, in Kete’s mind, one of the strongest potential readings he could receive. It was along the same lines as immediate intent, the signals that indicated when or how he should move in order to avoid an imminent attack or similar occurrence. Distrust, however, had the added factor of being something he so desperately dreaded that the second it cropped up it would be all he could see.
For that reason, the moment Nirix questioned whether or not she should continue to trust him, it was the only thing Kete could get from her and it stung like a bolt through the chest. For that reason he had intended to try and get away from her again, even after all the progress they had made in becoming something of an impromptu duo. Kete had actually liked the term Nirix used for him – ’Da’len’, even despite the implications which he had figured out early on. Usually implications that he was young or childlike or kiddish in any way irked him, but from Nirix it was nice.
But now that she knew about him, knew what he was capable of – now that she distrusted him – that name would become inapplicable. He was sure of it – that he had ruined another perfectly good interpersonal relationship, destroyed another budding friendship simply by being who he was…Or, rather, what he was. The monster Devil Eye.
But none of that mattered now, because now Ketin Clarke found himself in just the kind of place that made him sick to his stomach.
He liked galactostationary stations despite the typically cramped quarters, but only when they constituted the sort of under-city atmosphere that he felt so comfortably lost within. The marketplaces of Rino Station, the expansive nightlife aboard Sin Station, the distinctly portlike air of Mariner Station, and so on. So often the places were hives of life, bustling with people going about living – but this was not one of those kinds of stations. This was a facility, designed for the purposes of Kampfer, be they military, scientific, political – whatever, it couldn’t matter less.
It was the sterility of the halls, the shiny surfaces, the cleanliness of it. That air of intellectualism that made the place feel like one huge laboratory complex. The halls were not white like they had been in the Ardella Facility, but then – Kampfer did not physically resemble the individual so deeply haunting Kete’s mind. It was not the physical appearance of this place, but the feel of it.
He was positively terrified. There could be no mistaking the sharp increase in heartrate, the sweaty palms, even the slight tremor in his hands – and certainly not his expression. His face retained color for the moment, but his eyes spelled deep, practically primal terror. He failed to brush a stray lock of hair from his eyes, swallowed hard, tensed every muscle. He was trapped here, he had walked right into it.
But things were only going to get worse.
There was nothing else in the universe to Kete at the moment. He was unaware of Kampfer, unaware of that sudden, perceived distrust in Nirix, unaware of everything but his immediate surroundings, of the idea of where he had allowed himself to be confined. And yet…
It was as if no time at all had passed between his initial dread arriving at this place and now – being faced with a woman who looked at him as if he were a figment of her imagination. Looked at him with passionate wonder. He was in a daze, eyes wide and glazed with anxiety – but that was before he actually registered and comprehending who was looking at him. The woman’s words took a long moment to click, and it might have appeared as though it were the gentle touch of her fingertips to his face that triggered the sudden reaction – but in reality it was the sudden realization of what was happening – of who he was looking at – of who was looking at him.
Out of nowhere, Kete let out a pitiful, frightened half-cry, half-yelp the likes of which he had never cried out before. It resembled something that a kitten might utter being cornered by a bear.
Nyyyaah~!! Nuh uh, y-you got th’wrong guy I ain’t, I’m Kete I ain’t, I don’t e-even know who…I, I’m K-Kete~!”
Accompanying the initial sound he put his hands up halfway – they were shaking visibly – and with the words he stumbled backwards until his back was pressed into the door from which they had entered the room. He pressed himself into it as though trying to will himself through the very metal, feet sliding uselessly on the floor in the endeavor of it. He shook his head slightly, consistently.
He had gone ghost-white in the face.
”It ain’t me, nah, ain’t Thir…Ain’t Thirteen, nuh, n-nuh I’m…I’m…Y’got the wrong guy~!” He continued to whimper under his breath, almost inaudibly.
Ketin did not remember this woman directly. He had never met her in his time in the Ardella Facility – but then, there had been a myriad of people that had worked directly with – or on – Prototype Number Thirteen that the boy himself never saw even once. It had been an expansive project, led by Duros Aller but webbing out to encompass the entire scientific division of what at that time was the very beginning of the New Galactic Empire.
But even though he did not recognize this woman from his own memories, he did know enough about her through what he remembered of Aller’s mind. Those memories, locked away in some forbidden corner of his mind, were agony to his consciousness – yet they did not lie. He knew her face as Duros Aller knew it. There was little else to work off, but what a pittance there was still gave him more than he could have needed. She had been important to Aller – very important. She had worked on the Devil’s Eye alongside Aller, perhaps even his main colleague in the project. Aller had felt strongly for her – beyond that it was mystery, but he knew enough to be afraid.
If this woman knew him as Thirteen, that meant she knew everything. Unless by some chance she became completely uninvolved between the time that Thirteen was first implanted with the eye and the time that he began his training, which was possible.
But Kete could only assume that this woman had been involved in everything, in it until the end. She had to know about the war, about the constant struggle the Empire had been facing against the citizens of Ardella who had at that time established an impressive defense and monopolization of spatial technology, the resources required for the interplanetary capabilities which could get them off of their exile world.
Unless she left the operation before Thirteen was deployed to the city of Adrusade, she knew everything.
It was a night terror that he could not wake from. It was as if everything he had been fleeing from for over three centuries had caught up to him in one fatal blow.
He was left there, back pressed against the door, ghost white, trembling in abject terror, paralyzed with fear and black dread, breaths sharp, rapid, shallow.
And he whimpered again, almost inaudible, as if trying to convince himself among others; “I’m n-not Thirteen, y-y’g-got the wrong guy, n-not…not Th…not….”
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