Chapter 1
I couldn't get her out of my mind. She was a new addition to the El Search party, like me, and I saw her as she walked to the mission station. I was instantly captivated by her flowing, shining black hair. As she walked on by to the station, I couldn't help but watch. I was only drawn away by one of my friends who took the same mission as me who literally dragged me away.
Our mission was to watch for any signs of life out of Lord – well, former lord – Wally's secret underground lab. It had fallen into a state of abandonment since some elite party members took it down. They used to be around all the time, but a while ago, seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. Lou, the official party head, had posted a mission to watch over it. There were three spots available on the mission, but because it was so prized they did a lottery to see who got to do it.
I was one of the three winners, and one of my friends the other. Apparently the third was a female, but no one knew who. I sort of assumed she wouldn't show to be honest. Because the job was only a few hours, and neither of us expected anything to happen we both left our weapons behind.
About 2 hours into the mission, I drifted off to sleep. I kept dreaming of the girl with black hair. I never had a chance to see her face, and was too fixated on her hair to even care what she was wearing. In my sleep, I felt a few nudges, and what seemed to be my friend's voice trying to wake me up, but I brushed him off and groaned out a weak "Just a few more minutes…"
I could feel a new presence near me though. I think it might have been the third member, but I didn't much care at the moment to wake up and greet whoever it was. I liked the dream I was having. Eventually it seems like I drifted off to sleep entirely, as the next thing that struck me that wasn't a part of my dream was a boot in my side.
"Wake up Vamp! You are the last one here now."
I woke up to see my friend standing over me.
"What…?" I was still groggy from my nap, so I wasn't sure what he was talking about.
"The third member showed up, and the mission is over now. She has already gone ahead and went back to base. Im packed up and heading out now. Get your ass up and pack up."
I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes. I was still a little off balance from my nap, but I would be fine. I hope.
"So, Spike."
"Yes Vamp?"
"Did our third member have any info on why this mission was suddenly posted?"
"Yeah. She did. And it's freaking everyone higher up out. Seems like all the work of our predecessors, the elites, is somehow being undone. Like they never existed. She wasn't told this directly, but happened to over hear some higher ups talking behind the mission station. Seems like in a few days' time, the elites' work up to Hamel from Ruben will have been undone."
Huh. More reason to get new recruits I guess. As Spike headed back to base, I began to gather the few things I brought for entertainment into my bag before heading back myself. I pondered a few questions on my way back. 'Who was our third member?' 'What is undoing the work of the elites?' 'What am I going to have for dinner?' I didn't know what to think.
As soon as I walked into the base, I signed out for the day and headed home. My left arm was making noises again, so I was going to have to oil and perform maintenance on it. I got this metal arm because I thought it would improve my performance in fights, but I still suck like before. But it also seems like the arm is incomplete, so maybe that's why.
The metal arm itself seemed to be trying to put itself into my mind, but the pull wasn't very strong. It was made out of Nasod parts, so the crackerjack who invented it must not have known about any side effects it might have had.
After the elite known as Raven disappeared, a lot of people tossed either their left or right arms aside and got a metal one as well. Now, it's not uncommon to see someone with a metal arm, but it's not common either.
As soon as I was finished oiling and fixing my arm, I gave it a few stretches. No noises, so that means it worked. Shortly after doing that, I took the arm off and got into bed waiting for dreams of the girl with the black hair to come.