Expedition: Omicron
By Zoram Selrof
Prologue: Stranger in a strange world
09:19 AM (Japan Time), Thursday August the 5th, 2205…
"… Another day has begun… Oi! Ka! Are ya there?"
"Yeah. What did you want, Ku?"
"Have you seen the pet?"
"The pet…? Dunno. It's gotta be spawning another pool."
"Have you made progress in cracking those codes in the computers so that we can unlock those sealed cargo routes?"
"Yeah. I think I'm close to cracking them and we'll finally figure out if "Ground Zero" is what we think it is."
"Good. I'm off to seeing the sunrise. Wanna tag?"
"No. I want to do some research."
"Fine. Do as ya like."
"Hmpf. I knew that."
Two unidentified figures slightly over a meter and fifty tall were talking inside of a small garage-like room which had ten hover engine open-cockpit Jeep vehicles: the garage was illuminated by fluorescent lights set on the ceiling and the whole room was built using steel: the right side of the room had a shutter plus a service door built on it and two large doors were set on the left side of the room as well.
"Alright, alright…" The male figure, "Ku", replied.
"Do ya want me to ring if I find the pet?" The female, "Ka", asked.
"Don't bother! It's not the first time it goes off elsewhere."
"Hmpf. Whatever."
"Ku" opened the service door and came out into a large and wide tunnel which spanned south and north: the south end was blocked by a large hatch door which looked very thick and heavy: it had marks of having been hit with guns on the past but they hadn't affected its structural integrity: rows of fluorescent lights were built on the sides of it and providing light to it.
"I still find it amazing that this planet has such a huge network of cargo transport tunnels… There has to be something they mined here and they needed to transport to then process in the labs… But unless we find a way around that huge lockdown or how the pet escaped from inside of the locked down area… Then we won't get anywhere." "Ku" muttered with a hint of surprise.
He spotted a rung ladder and climbed it up before emerging into the bottom of a small valley-like formation: he closed the metallic hatch and then climbed up the slope in front of him to stand at its upper edge and look out: a panorama of different mountain peaks and rivers was extending around where he was at: a bluish fog lingered around there and the skies' light was also pale bluish: a filtered sun could be seen starting to rise over the horizon.
"No matter how many times I see it, this panorama captivates me… It must because of the knowledge that there are only two persons in this world capable of fully understanding what the sunrise brings with it and the glory of this world…" "Ku" made a monologue.
"Guess so." "Ka" suddenly joined him.
"I thought ya wanted to do some research?"
"It could wait."
"Ah. Fine."
"I guess ya won't mind playing that game again…"
"Of course not. It's fun."
"What an irony! We're becoming blander with every passing day."
"It was inevitable. We've had several months to get used to this age's customs, language, and such. I now don't feel like rushing. We have a score to settle with those guys, but… The longer the wait, the more unprepared we'll catch them. They can't expect us, anyway."
"Sure thing… By the way… One of the cameras spotted the pet in Region 033."
"Region 033… Where was that again?"
"The settlement's ruins…"
"Oh. True. There's another entrance over there to another garage and one service tunnel which can be transited to reach our region, Region 011. "Ground zero" is Region 001, ironically enough."
"Sure thing… But we were lucky to find a world where humans had been at some point and they left such a legacy behind hidden beneath its surface… These oceans are filled with strange life-forms which are intriguing… It looks like they underwent a sudden mutation on the scope of a few years instead of countless generations… That blue stuff must be the cause: it's gotta have spread over 80% of the planet and contaminated it forever… Luckily enough, it can't affect us given our nature as "Denpa Bodies"…" "Ka" exposed.
"Ya sound like a PR man." "Ku" joked.
"Hmpf. Very funny."
"Whatever… It won't be long before we find out how to turn this stuff into a weapon to power us up and be able to hit those guys hard… Their ace-in-the-holes are useless by now given how we've altered our body structure to be immune… I'll be lovely… Their faces of despair and fear knowing they are gonna die… But that wouldn't be enough… We'd made them go through the Naraku before slowly and painfully killing them off… I feel a thirst of blood…" "Ku" sounded eager.
"Hah. That's why we women can use better arts than men do: they always want to do everything quickly and in a rush but we've had patience and can be deadlier at this stuff…"
"Sure thing… And we can also pick up wandering signals from Earth using a curvature in Time-Space: this way we can remain entertained and up-to-date about what goes on there… I'm rather surprised at what happened over two months ago…"
"Yeah… The "Zenay III Incident", WAXA named it… It'd seem that the culprit behind it was a man with the title of daimaou… As expected of men: they always use manly titles… But… I'm amused at the info we've found about that woman… The "Ice Queen"… To think she was able to rule the whole Japan underground through fear, terror, murder, blackmail, extortion and menaces… It's inspired me."
"No wonder. I won't question that."
"Good… Hmmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"I feel something… Which isn't the pet… Or a life-form… Let's go back inside: I need to use the camouflaged antenna!"
"O-oi! Wait for me!"
"Ka" suddenly slid down the ramp towards the hatch while "Ku" followed her back inside: they ran into the garage and then into an adjacent room filled with empty metallic crates and one workstation plus another two doors leading into other rooms: "Ka" quickly sat down in front of the workstation and began to madly type into it.
"Pick up any incoming or outgoing signals… Or any signature in orbit which wasn't there before…" She muttered.
"A satellite…?" "Ku" asked.
"Yeah… It was scanning the terrain but since it was using IR imagery then it didn't pick us up because we don't emit heat… I'm trying to find out a way to study it without triggering alarms on it… It's transmitting in live using our very same technology, which indicates a common base: I dunno if the owner got a hold of it or what." "Ka" exposed.
"Satellite… Similar tech… Hmmm…"
"Got a suspect in mind?" "Ka" asked him.
"Maybe… Those guys… The so-called "Subspace" organization…" "Ku" admitted.
"Subspace…? Ah. That trio of high-power Denpa Bodies… I remember them all-too-well… And if the rumors that their leader used to work for the "Ice Queen" are true, then… It's not a crazy idea. He could've inherited the tech…"
"And something tells me they'll be coming here sooner or later to check it out on person."
"Heh, heh, heh. We'll save ourselves the trouble of having to go after them: they'll come to us! And we'll have a welcome committee ready for them! Wait! The satellite is broadcasting something… A pre-recorded SHF message…"
"It's gotta be a greeting."
The computer hissed before a clean signal came in and someone could be heard breathing.
"Welcome to my infinitely evil, twisted and thick-headed Universe! I'm Mars Warrior and I'm gonna tell you guys that the Zombie Club's Curse has been engaged: expect trolling to come in the next 48 hours and let's start with a simply rhyme… Oh! Wandering wanderer of ways who reaches the reaching reach… Your path shall be filled with peril and danger yet you may be lucky and find a guy holding a secret weapon… Was that enough of a teaser?" A guy's voice began to chant in an amused tone of voice.
"Mars Warrior…? I thought his name was Omega…" "Ka" frowned and sounded puzzled.
"Maybe it's a nickname he made up…" "Ku" shrugged.
"Could be, yeah…"
"What else is he gonna say?"
"Dunno."
"Ahem, ahem and ahem! Patent Ahem Man!"
"No way…" "Ku" groaned.
"And I told the Doc to prescribe Clark Kent – sama~ with the elixir of eternal life~ but he insisted it didn't exist…"
"Of course it doesn't…" "Ka" drily muttered.
"Oho! Mr. Shoes came. Yo! Brad Shad! What's up?"
"Blood Shadow, sir!"
"This ain't recorded: it's live!" "Ku" realized.
"Did ya find a good secret weapon?"
"I'm afraid I don't follow you, sir."
"I mean…"
There was the sound of whisper over the line: laughter rang out while the other person sounded baffled.
"That was lame, sir!"
"It was brilliant, Brad Shad."
"Blood Shadow, sir!"
"Brad Shad."
"OMEGA~!" A third voice roared.
"Ops. Mr. Yell came."
"Stop pestering Blood! How many times do I need to repeat it? A trillionth or what?"
"Ask Mr. Yells."
"Answer me!"
"Dunno."
"You're gonna regret this."
"Yeah? Why?"
"Cause I'll lock you in the capsule again."
"Oho. And when I come out Brad Shad will have found a guy holding a cool secret weapon and fallen for him?"
"No."
"Ice Man showed up!"
"Ice Man was a "Darkloid" whom Sigma and Akatsuki beat on that sand-filled planet!"
"Then… Ice Voice Man."
"Wait! What's that?"
"What?"
"That mike you're carrying!"
"A prop."
"Hand it over!"
"Catch me firstly."
They heard quick footsteps running away along with a clear growl of frustration and anger.
"Boss! Boss! Cool it down!" A fourth voice yelled.
"Why does this happen to me!"
"Cool it down! You're getting hysterical. You need to rest or drink a tea: you can't work like that, Boss."
"I'm about to…!"
"I'll handle that."
"Got a plan?"
"Somewhat…"
"Eh… What should I do, Boss?" The one named Blood Shadow asked.
"Do as you like…" There was a sigh of defeat.
"Roger, sir."
"Bloody Shadowy~! Come at me~!"
"OMEGA~!"
"Boss!"
"All hands: abandon ship! Catastrophe Man came!"
"This…!"
"Heh, heh, heh! Thanks for listening, our beloved public on Planet X! That is: if ya understood anything! Heh, heh, heh!"
The signal went dead and both of them remained quiet without moving for some seconds: a low chirping sound could be heard nearby and both turned around: there was nothing there.
"The pet's come back and is hiding by switching to IR spectrum… I dunno how it can do that, but it sure can come in handy to hide from untrained and unaided eyes…" "Ku" muttered.
"That Omega man is crazier than a lunatic. No wonder those men over there lose all patience when it comes to tackling that guy's lame and cheap jokes… And was that of the "secret weapon" what I think it is or something else altogether?" "Ka" wondered.
"No. Ya got it right."
"Whatever."
"Oi! You, pet! Go do something else: we're discussing."
The chirping sound rang out again and "Ku" sighed in defeat while "Ka" grumbled something in clear annoyance.
"Conclusion: that thing's deaf. Didn't we say time ago, Ku?"
"Crap. I forgot…!"
"I'm sure it has some level of intelligence but doesn't seem to higher than, say, a gorilla's. It's been proven than it can interact with simple systems and devices and dive into water but it doesn't seem to need any food given the lack of mouth: it just seems to be a moving source of energy on its own." "Ka" reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah… At least when we show our weapons it does understand that we don't want it butting in."
"Ku" drew a pump shotgun which he aimed at the air: something emitted a bluish glow and quickly "flew" outta the room at a mad speed as if it was afraid of it.
"Really… Mere instinct, I know, but the thing should know by now that our weapons can't harm it any further: all attacks bounce off its body and do nothing."
"Nature's mysterious ways…" "Ka" shrugged.
"Ya sound like a poet." "Ku" joked.
"… Fine. Then I'll deepen my research."
"Oi, oi! It's not like I was being discriminating!"
"No. But I don't feel humored."
"Crap."
"Not like I plan on going too far, so…"
"Alright. It's our deal and I'm gonna abide by it."
"Do as you like."
"I'm gonna continue where ya left off in the code-cracking: the humans who set this up wanted to make sure nothing could come in and out of the locked down area sans permit but there's a limit to how good an encryption protocol can be, after all." "Ku" told her.
"Sure…"
"Later."
"Ku" came out and locked the door before heading towards the large lock doors and sighing upon stopping in front of them and looking at their imposing size.
"Denpa – Henkan. Cyber In." He muttered.
He suddenly disappeared from the real world to enter the "Cybernetics" of the doors which had just one control panel set on the middle of it: "Ku" walked up to it and began to type into it to form a "Real Wave" screen: rows of raw data scrolled down it and "Ku" stopped the flow at point where the stream became pure gibberish.
"Let's try a new combination of pass-codes… 4567891230… Looks like it worked… 95% decoded… Good. If we keep it like this, then it shouldn't take much longer to figure out the rest of it… I'm eager to find out what's hidden in the "Ground zero"…"
"Ahem Man's Round 2: Start! Who was the president of X Nation 10 years ago?" A voice suddenly asked.
"No way… That guy's back at it?" "Ku" cursed.
"Correct answer: no – one! There isn't and there wasn't any X Nation in the world! There used to be a Z – Nation but 'cause they were the last letter of the Alphabet they were at the last spot in the rank! Nyah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"
"Omega. Hand me that. Playtime's over!"
"Huh? Hey! Doc! Wait a min! I haven't…!"
The transmission was suddenly cut and "Ku" sighed in relief as he focused again on his job.
"Hmpf. Come anytime, Subspace and Satella Police… We'll be waiting for you lowlifes… Especially for you lowlife, Rock Man…! I've got a score to settle with you lowlife… And I'll see to it! You lowlife are walking straight into the territory of the shinigami… Into MY territory! Mwah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h!"
He laughed aloud in a triumphal tone of voice…