Xamusel: Well, this was promised, and I intend to fulfill my promises.
If anyone wants to know what brought this on, Takeshi Yamato and I are both writing a story called "A Wizard in Iwatodai", a Kamen Rider Wizard crossover with Persona 3 (though the Persona series in general is being used to help set the stage for a lot of differences in the setting). I recommend you read the story and give it some much needed reviews, as it only has two reviews, as of this writing (8/2/2014).
Anyway, now that this is being written, I'd like to say the following as a disclaimer: Takeshi Yamato and I do not own the franchises used in the overall project. They are copyrights of ATLUS (who was bought out by SEGA somehow) and Namco-Bandai (for both the main part of this story and for Kamen Rider in general). This will be the only time I write the disclaimer for this story.
Oh, the title of the story is essentially, in the style of proper title conjunctions, "A Wizard in Iwatodai: Xenosaga Episode I - The Will to Power of Man's Personality". Thought of it myself.
Now… on with the story!
A Wizard in Iwatodai: Foreign Saga Episode I - Der Wille zur Macht der Persönlichkeit des Menschen
Story created and written by Takeshi Yamato and Xamusel
Prologue: Departure from Normalcy
20xx A.D.
Lake Turkana
Kenya
The scenery was that of a tranquil lake in the middle of the African continent, with jungles on almost all sides of the body of water. The one side that wasn't jungle was a beach, one that was currently the site of an archeological dig. In the site of the dig, many people from the area were working, primarily to help the scientist in the area out.
"…Thanks. Concentrate on the northern cliff tomorrow," the scientist, an asian man that looked to be in his thirties and wearing clothing suited to the area, said to a local as they both left the tent they were in, the local giving a report. "The ground there is hard, so be careful when you dig."
"Yes, sir," the local said with a bow.
"Doctor! Dr. Masuda!" another local called out from the area of the shore, getting the two's attention as he ran over to them, nearly out of breath.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Dr. Masuda asked.
"Yeah. We followed the corridor on the lake side. It matches the location described in the research paper…" the local said.
Dr. Masuda turned to face the first local, who could be said to be an aide, and said, "That must be it." Turning to face the other local, he said, "Good. Show us where it is!"
"Right away," the second local said, turning to lead Dr. Masuda and his aide to the location. While walking to the area, the local said, "It's different from the others."
"I knew it!" Masuda declared, as he continued to follow the one leading him.
Upon arriving at the location, the local pointed at a spot on the ground, saying, "It's over there." With that, he got out of Masuda's way, letting the scientist kneel down and take a closer look at the spot.
It was a circular engraving of what looked like advanced circuitry, an indent shaped like a quasi-cross in the middle of it, next to an image of what looked like a butterfly. Masuda brushed some of the dirt away from the inside of the circle, revealing some ancient text about what was supposed to be there, before he said, "This must be…!"
Taking a small object out of his pocket, he placed it inside the indent, revealing it to be a perfect fit to the quasi-cross. For a few seconds, nothing happened, before light started to appear on the engraving in lines… and the area around them started to shake as a platform shot out of the lake itself!
When everything settled down, the excavators all looked to see a quasi-cross appear in the air above the middle of the lake, a flock of glowing blue butterflies showing up around it. A light started to reach up to the sky itself, prompting Masuda to say, "That light…!"
Shortly after, it started to rain…
4000 years later
The setting is outer space, a frontier the people of Earth had longed to see, but had never gotten to fully realize by this point. Deep in a separate part of the Galaxy at large, a fleet of ships was going at sub-light speed, looking for something that would be of great importance. The object in question would be easy to find, having a flock of glowing blue butterflies around it, despite being in outer space. The object? The quasi-cross called a Zohar.
Inside the Vector Industries-made ship Woglinde
A group of scientists and programmers were working away on computers, trying to get an Android called KOS-MOS up to proper protocol, making sure that everything was ready for what was called an Interconnection.
Back in outer space
The Zohar was floating up in space, having nothing to catch it, at least not yet.
Back with the scientists and programmers
A red mechanical chair was about to be sat in, especially since it was what would be used in the Interconnection between KOS-MOS and 'her' creator, a woman named Shion Uzuki. As soon as she sat down, a pair of typing armrests, one on each side of her, and a computer visor that went over her eyes extended forward and around her head (in the case of the visor).
One of the scientists, a young woman named Yukari Takeba, was looking over Shion's Heart Rate, Thermography, Blood Pressure, MRI, EEG, and Psychoanalysis, to make sure an Interconnection was a good thing.
Back with the Zohar
The Zohar was wandering aimlessly about, all until a fleet of ships came by, having found their target.
With the scientists and programmers again
Shion's field of vision was near promptly filled with computer-related technobabble, before she said, "Commencing startup experiment. Open up an Interconnection."
One of her aides, a slightly older man named Allen, said, "Roger. Opening Interconnection. Connecting with dummy protocol."
Another aide, a young man by the name of Minato Arisato, said, "A-LINE protocol zone secured."
A third man said, "Opening cage partition. 60 seconds to release. Beginning countdown. 57, 56, 55…"
Back with the Zohar (again)
A group of space-faring craft moved to grab the Zohar and secure it, minding the butterflies. As they did so, a man in a spacesuit began to approach the artifact. When he made to touch the Zohar, a bright light shone from it, absorbing him.
Back on the ship
Minato looked over the programming data he was in charge of, saying, "All monitors clear."
The third man from earlier said, "…3, 2, 1. Partition open. Proceeding with KOS-MOS body formation."
As the formation was proceeding, Yukari looked around a short bit, taking a bit of time to see what was going on around her. A thought then hit her. 'Wait… I remember things now!'
At the same time, Minato had the same thought, but also thinking, 'I hope we get to learn what's going on here, unless we somehow get stuck here.'
"Body formation complete. Commencing Penfield mapping," Yukari's voice was heard, making Minato look in her direction. In effect, she looked like she did when she was in her original body, only without her original clothing. She was now wearing a Vector Industries outfit, which looked similar to what he was wearing, only the stripes on hers were pink while his were black.
Shaking his head, he looked back at his monitor, saying at the right time, "Proceeding with Encephalon construction."
Another woman's voice said, "Mapping percentage at 76,77…"
Eventually, Minato said, "Encephalon construction complete."
Allen took that time to speak up, alerting everyone else with beeping at his computer, "There's noise appearing inside the temporal lobe."
Shion, who wasn't able to look, asked, "What's the problem?"
"It's on the left side of the temporal lobe," Allen said, showing some concern. "I'm showing slight stimulation of the synapses in section 818. It's within permissible bounds, though…" Turning to face Shion, he asked, "Do you want to abort?"
"No, let's keep going," Shion answered. "Just stick to the menu. I'll try for a direct approach. Back me up."
"Roger," Allen replied. "Launching NATARAJA connection system."
With the Zohar (yet again)
The space-faring craft returned, this time carrying laser holders that would keep something in place, meant for transporting dangerous artifacts like the Zohar. With a burst of laser light, three rings appeared around the Zohar, keeping it from doing anything wrong… even as the butterflies stayed around it. When the Zohar made it into the Woglinde, the ships finally moved out of the sector, using their FTL drives to move out.
Back with our heroes
Shion typed her password after typing in her name, the password being, "Ye shall be as gods."
"Password accepted. Commencing NATARAJA boot up sequence," the computerized voice of the system said, before Shion was put in the Interconnection of the Encephalon. When Shion's voice came through, it was via a headset, this one being Allen's. "Allen, there seems to be a problem with the visual field connection."
Minato and Yukari looked in curiosity, seeing how Allen would respond. "Hmm…" he said, bringing his hand to the screens, before making a new one show up. "Ah… I see a small break in the MT field, route K12." Bringing up another screen, he said, "It looks like… the bi-directional link in the V4 field is lagged, too." When the extra screens lowered themselves, he said, "Hold on a minute… I'll fix it now." With a few keystrokes, he asked, "How's it now, Chief?"
"Okay, looks good," Shion's voice could be heard. "Let's keep going."
"Roger," Allen said. "Proceeding with KOS-MOS host separation."
As soon as Allen finished saying that, an image appeared on the techies computer screens, showing a young woman-looking being with really low hanging blue hair and metallic clothing appearing on the screen. 'Her' limbs were covered with mechanical parts, even 'her' head, which had a large visor on and over 'her' eyes. On the top of the visor was 'her' name… KOS-MOS.
'So, this is 'KOS-MOS',' Yukari thought. 'She definitely looks unique… though from what my other memories are telling me, she's an android, not human.'
'Almost feels like we're in an uber sci-fi setting,' Minato thought. 'Though, judging from the memories I got, that's likely not too far from the truth…'
Their thoughts were cut off as Shion could be seen walking up to KOS-MOS, saying, "Morning, KOS-MOS. How do you feel?"
KOS-MOS turned to face 'her' maker, saying, "Good morning, Shion. All systems are normal."
Shion then asked, "Well, how about introducing yourself?"
'Introducing herself?' Yukari thought. 'Well, it'll be interesting to see KOS-MOS' reaction…'
'Thing's supposed to be a weapon, and she's treating it like a person,' Minato thought. 'Well, everyone has their quirks… and I guess it's good that she doesn't think of it as a weapon.'
KOS-MOS turned away from Shion and looked forward, saying, "I am an Anti-Gnosis Humanoid Fighting System, serial number 00-00-00-00-1. Development name KP-X. Abbreviated name KOS-MOS. As I am currently configured for simulated battle, my output is limited to 22% of its normal capacity. My estimated weapons specifications are…"
Shion, who had walked forward during this time, turned around and raised her hands up a short bit, saying, "Alright, that's good enough. Thanks."
KOS-MOS simply said, "You are welcome."
'Looks like it doesn't have emotions,' Minato thought. 'Well, still a good thing Shion doesn't treat it as a weapon, but I think she might have issues...'
Yukari had similar thoughts, sans the issues remark.
Shion turned away from KOS-MOS and said, "All I have for you today are the usual startup tests. Sorry to wake you up just for that. You'll have to go back to sleep once everything's checked out."
KOS-MOS merely nodded, as 'she' said, "I see."
Shion then turned to face KOS-MOS and asked, "Do you feel sad… or anything?"
KOS-MOS then answered, "A pre-determined set of emotions has been hardcoded into my emotion module to better facilitate interactions with humans. In order to better facilitate a relationship with you - Chief Engineer Shion Uzuki of the KOS-MOS Project, Vector Industries First R&D Division - I will emit an expression such as sadness only when that response is deemed necessary. However, the emotion module of my program has determined that this is not necessary at this time."
Shion took a bit to laugh as she heard the last of KOS-MOS's response, eventually saying, "I guess you're right. I of all people should know that."
'So, it has emotions, but doesn't really use them,' Minato thought. 'That seems a bit of a waste, even for an android designed as a weapon.'
'Shion's definitely an interesting woman,' Yukari thought. 'Hopefully I'll get to know her a bit more - something tells me she might be able to help Minato and I on our journey.'
KOS-MOS said, "Your understanding is appreciated."
Shion looked down before shaking her head a bit, saying, But you know, KOS-MOS… I've got… mixed feelings about all this. Of course, I'm happy that you're awake… but the fact that you'll go back to sleep makes me a bit… sad. On the other hand, the next time you wake up… it may be a time of much bloodshed."
'True,' Minato thought. 'Then again, I wonder just what she's been through - I can tell there's some kind of deeper connection to KOS-MOS than just being the chief developer.'
'…might be we're here to help Shion more than she's here to help us,' Yukari thought. 'Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see.'
Shion continued to say, "So deep down, I hope that day never comes… Understand?"
KOS-MOS, who was looking at Shion until that point, turned to face in front of 'her' and said, "The algorithms I have been programmed with do not support the comprehension of illogical human thought."
Shion turned away from KOS-MOS, pushed up her glasses, and said, "Well… I hope you'll be able to… understand someday."
KOS-MOS said, "I will do my best."
Minato thought, 'Well, KOS-MOS certainly has us humans pegged - we do tend to think illogically.'
'I certainly hope KOS-MOS is able to understand, too,' Yukari thought. 'Hopefully I'll be able to help Shion with that.'
Shion then turned to face her creation and asked, "All right, KOS-MOS, shall we get started?" Without waiting for a reply, she said, "Allen, let's pick up from process 277 where we last left off."
Allen said over the computer channels, "Roger. Placing target drones in the Encephalon. The drones are set to "random movement" and "enemy ambush". How about a test run before the mission, Chief?"
Shion said to Allen, "Mmm, sure, let's do that." Turning to face KOS-MOS, she asked, "Did you get that, KOS-MOS?"
KOS-MOS nodded, saying, "Affirmative."
'Well, let's see what KOS-MOS can do,' Yukari and Minato thought in unison.
After the test run is three-fourths of the way done
The test run was about to be finished, and for good measure, too. Allen had checked that they were ready for a real-time battle, which was what they were about to do, even considering that it would be likely they'd be injured by this.
A large circular wall was seen around Shion and KOS-MOS, followed by the appearance of more drones, two of them regular Drones and the third an Attack Drone.
It took a bit of elbow-grease (figuratively speaking), but the first Drone, the one on the right, went down with two hits. Then the second Drone targeted Shion, firing its machine gun, while the Attack Drone rammed into her.
As KOS-MOS proved 'her' superiority over the Attack Drone, dealing a lot of critical damage to fully disable it, Shion finally got revenge on the Drone that shot her, finally ending the battle with a blast of lightning.
After the final test
'Well, KOS-MOS sure is powerful,' Minato thought. 'And Shion's no slouch, either.'
'Amazing,' Yukari thought. 'That was nothing like fighting Shadows… hopefully Minato and I can fight that well in this universe.'
Soon enough, Minato looked at his station's main data collection section and said to Allen, "All processes to 300 cleared."
Allen nodded in his direction and said to Shion, "Chief, the data transfer is going smoothly. The A-LINE protocol's looking good."
Shion responded, saying, "It sure is. The response levels are really good."
Allen, who was looking at some of the data that was gathered, said, "If we can maintain these levels, we'll have some great results soon."
Shion lowered her head in a bit of sadness and said, "Yeah…" Looking at KOS-MOS for a bit, she was a bit sidetracked by her creation's presence, until…
"Chief?" Allen asked, trying to get her out of that state of mind.
Turning away from KOS-MOS, Shion said, "Hey, Allen… Let's skip all 300 level processes and start from 400."
Yukari and Minato's eyes both widened. 'Skipping a whole hundred levels of testing?' they thought simultaneously. 'Is she nuts?'
Allen apparently had the same idea, voicing his confusion, "Huh… 400? Chief, but that's…"
"I feel pretty confident this time," Shion said.
"But, Chief! Remember what happened last time…?" Allen asked, hoping to remind Shion of what happened.
'Last time?' the two thought. 'What happened last time?'
Allen provided the answer to their thoughts, saying, "Had we waited ten more seconds to intervene, we wouldn't have been able to get you back at all."
'Ouch,' they thought simultaneously.
'Seems Shion likes to take risks,' Minato added in his thoughts.
"Can't we at least test it out in Objective Mode?" Allen pleaded with his boss.
Unfortunately for Allen, Shion replied, "You know we can't get precise data that way! I'll be fine. If something happens, I'll get myself out. Besides, you want to test it out as well, don't you? We spent all night building the native A-LINE protocol…"
'Workaholic, too, it seems,' Minato thought again.
Yukari, meanwhile was simply worried for Shion, given all they'd heard already.
Allen, despite wanting to keep his boss safe, couldn't help but say in partial agreement, "Well, yeah, but…"
Shion, as if taking it as a full agreement, declared, "That settles it! Let's get started."
Allen sighed in defeat, slumping all the while, before straightening himself up and saying, "All right, then. But if anything happens, I'm going to shut it down from here, so don't press your luck!"
'Something tells me that won't work,' Minato thought.
'Be careful, Shion…' Yukari thought.
Shion nodded at Allen's declaration, saying, "All right, all right…"
"And don't deviate from the program…!" Allen added at the end.
Shion, in a teasing manner, said, "Alright… mom!"
Minato and Yukari both giggled a bit at that - and apparently, so did a few other techies.
Allen, due to knowing Shion for a good while, simply put a hand to his forehead and said, "…Jeez. This is so typical of her." Removing his hand from his forehead, he shook his head and asked himself, "Will she ever stop to think about the hell I go through for her?"
A female techie that had been behind Minato for a bit, with both she and Minato looking at Allen, spoke up to say, "You know, sir, the way you worry about Chief Uzuki all the time, I'm surprised you haven't keeled over already."
"Yeah," Yukari piped up. "I'd almost think you have feelings for her, sir."
Minato didn't say anything, but he did nod his head in agreement with Yukari's statement.
Turning to face Minato's direction as well as Yukari, Allen raised his voice to say, "H… hey! That's enough! Is the 400 level program ready to go?"
Minato nodded again, saying, "We're ready to go, anytime."
Allen then ordered the techies, "Then start up the program! I want detailed reports from every monitoring station. Any abnormalities, and I'm shutting down immediately."
'He totally has feelings for her,' Yukari thought. 'If he doesn't, I'll eat my pink sweater.'
Inside the Encephalon, viewed from outside
Shion spoke to KOS-MOS and said, "KOS-MOS, I'll explain a bit about this place. This place is an imaginary space constructed within the network. It's modeled off of some ruins from early 2000 A.D. Your mission is to fight the main target within the dilapidated building. The target is marked with the red Vector box. There are objects in here that can be detonated. Some are effective if you set them off near the enemy. Use them to your advantage. Now then, let's start the mission."
KOS-MOS said, "Please explain destroyable objects."
Shion answered, "There are many destroyable objects on the map. When you're in range, a blue target cursor will appear. Shoot at them using the Square Button. If there are several destroyable objects grouped together, use the L1/R1 buttons to highlight in blue the one to destroy, then shoot it."
'What is this, a Video Game Tutorial?' Minato thought.
KOS-MOS nodded, saying, "Yes, understood."
Shion exclaimed at that, "All right then, let's start the mission!"
First going to her left, because there was an Attack Drone that had managed to get almost too close to her, Shion found herself next to a ladder. Going up the ladder, she found a doorway and an explodable canister of flammable materials, before she said, "Oh, also, if there are two or more objects you can select from, use the L1 and R1 Buttons to choose and shoot."
'This really seems like a Video Game Tutorial,' Minato thought.
Taking the time to target the explosive, Shion fired at it, the resulting explosion helping her deal some damage to the Drones in the same room. She then targeted the door, shooting it down, before she rushed to the Drones. Shooting the one on her left with a Firecracker and a Cherry Bomb, she destroyed it, while KOS-MOS shot the one on the right with two shots of her Blaster. The one in the middle then targeted Shion with its Machine Gun, not quite doing enough damage to seriously hurt her, but enough to make her shoot a Firecracker at it in retaliation… the explosion from it being enough to destroy it.
In the collective materials found with the Drones, there were three Med Kits, both of which could recover health at a low rate. When she looked around the room, Shion found a treasure chest. Opening it, she found two of the Med Kit S items.
'Interesting,' Minato thought. 'I guess items from this 'Encephalon' can be used outside of it, too…'
Shion then went back down the ladder and tried to avoid the Attack Drone again, only for it to notice her… and have with it two Drone buddies, the one on Shion's right being female and the one to the left being male. Shion quickly shot the female one with a Firecracker and a Cherry Bomb, while KOS-MOS shot the Attack Drone with her Blaster twice. It was then that KOS-MOS was shot by the male Drone, only for a quick defending motion to prevent excessive damage to be dealt, giving Shion enough time to give the soldier-looking drone a knuckle sandwich and a shock that would normally be set to stun mode… destroying it.
'She's doing well,' Yukari thought. 'Still, please be careful, Shion…'
Taking the path she would've taken to get away from the Attack Drone, Shion found herself running towards a broken down truck, which she shot with her 'destroyable objects' destroyer. Proving it was indeed destroyable, she moved up the stairs that were blocked by the truck, and found her way to a door that was able to be destroyed. Destroying it, she found another Med Kit, before she grabbed it and got out of the derelict building.
Following the path back to the main building, Shion found herself fighting another Attack Drone with Drone buddies, destroying the one on her right with a Firecracker and Cherry Bomb combo. KOS-MOS took the opportunity to shoot the other one with her Blaster twice, while the Attack Drone moved forward and punched 'her', dealing more damage than was appropriate. Shion avenged KOS-MOS by shooting her Firecracker and Cherry Bomb combo again, dealing two critical hits in the same location, causing it to overload.
Unlike the previous times Shion and KOS-MOS fought, they didn't receive items, but instead…
"We leveled up!" Shion called out.
Yukari and Minato both mentally groaned. 'Did we get transported into a Video Game?' they wondered.
"Chief? What are you talking about?" Allen asked out loud.
"W-what? What happened?" Shion asked, seemingly confused by what happened. "KOS-MOS and I fought two Drones and an Attack Drone, destroyed them, and… a bit of a blank showed up."
'Poor Shion,' Yukari thought. 'Though, if this were a video game, that might have been a 'level up' moment.'
Allen scrunched his eyebrows in irritation, before saying, "This isn't good. Perhaps you should visit the Infirmary for that bit of amnesia, Chief?"
"Not right now, Allen," Shion answered. "I'm doing alright as it is."
"If you say so…" Allen replied.
'Well, let's just see what happens next,' Minato thought, as Shion continued through the exercise.
As soon as Shion got her wits together, she went inside the dilapidated building, leading KOS-MOS to where there might be new battles to be had. The first fight they had was against another of the Drones and Attack Drone combo, where Shion used her ranged attacks to destroy the Drone on the left, while KOS-MOS targeted the one on the right. The Attack Drone shot an Energy Bullet at Shion, who promptly destroyed it with a Firecracker and Cherry Bomb, which was her ranged set of options. After the battle ended, they received a Med Kit.
Going straight to the door, in front of her, she noticed it was locked, and not destroyable. "Looks like I need a Mission Key to open this door," she mused out loud. Going up the stairs, she found another door that wasn't destroyable, only…
"It won't open from this side. I think it's locked," she said.
"Perhaps there's another path on the outside, or maybe some destroyable object on the lower level that opens a new path?" Minato asked.
"Oh, thanks, Minato-san," Shion answered. "I'll go check that right—"
"Who goes there?!" a Drone called out.
"—now."
With that, another battle took place, between three Drones and Shion and KOS-MOS. Shion shot the middle Drone with her ranged skills, destroying it, while KOS-MOS attacked the one on the right with a right hook and a somersault kick. The remaining Drone shot KOS-MOS with its machine gun, while Shion went melee on the enemy, destroying it.
After a brief expedition to find any destroyable objects that opened a new path on the lower level near the entrance, Shion remembered, "Oh, right, there's a platform in the air that had something on it. I could check that."
Minato shrugged. He'd played a lot of video games in his life, and it seemed a lot of that experience was paying off here.
As soon as Shion made it up to the platform with the box, she destroyed it, revealing an item. Walking up to it, she realized…
"It's a Revive!" Shion exclaimed.
'I assume that's something to revive incapacitated allies, but I won't say it out loud,' Minato thought.
"Not only does it revive people, it can restore some health to the revived," KOS-MOS supplied.
'Useful,' Yukari thought.
After a bit to get back inside the building, she soon got to a doorway, opening it and stepping inside. When she got to the end of the platform and up the stairs at the end that led up to a column with a floor on it, an AGWS appeared through the wall, targeting Shion and KOS-MOS.
Shion took the opportunity to get inside her AGWS, which was all the time she had to do anything while KOS-MOS punched and somersault-kicked the Drone SPX, which then targeted Shion's unit. That was when KOS-MOS opened fire with 'her' Blaster, before Shion made her move, With a fluid motion, she sliced the giant Drone with the unit's sword, taking a huge chunk out of the machine. That was when KOS-MOS punched the dying Drone and destroyed it. They got a Med Kit S for their troubles.
'And we even have giant mecha,' Minato thought. 'This is one crazy Sci-Fi world…'
At that moment, Allen turned to face Minato and said, "Status check."
Minato replied, "I don't see anything unusual." Turning to face Allen and to allow him to look at the monitor, he said, "All systems are stable. It's looking good. This ought to make up for last month."
"…I sure hope so," Allen said hesitantly.
Another techie said to Allen, "KOS-MOS has reached the determined checkpoint. Entering process 431."
A third techie reported to Allen, "Replacing targets with Type-G Drones. Commencing display."
'Type-G Drones?' Yukari and Minato thought at the same time, before the display of the Encephalon saw the drones changing shape.
Allen turned to face Minato and Yukari at that moment, saying, "I know you two haven't been with us long enough to know what a Type-G Drone is, so this is your chance to see what it is, based off of the appearances of a couple kinds of Gnosis."
Their eyes widened at that, having heard a bit about Gnosis, and knowing that KOS-MOS was an Anti-Gnosis weapon. "So… those things are meant to simulate Gnosis?" Yukari asked.
"Yes, that's right," Allen answered. He then activated his headset and said to Shion, "Chief, I've changed the settings on the target drones. The next target is keyed to sound so it will only respond if you make a loud noise. You can move quietly if you hold down the R2 button while moving. Also, that thing behind you is a save point. If you press the Circle Button there, you can save your progress. Make good use of it… wait, what did I just say?"
The two mentally sighed. 'What's with the Video Game Tutorial References?' they thought.
Shion looked at the object that was said to be a save point, seeing a slow spinning golden slab, so she moved over to it and saw… that it seemed to record her memories. After it recorded her memories, she walked away from it, going down the stairs next to the side with the save point. On her right, there was a ladder, which she proceeded to go down. Once down the ladder, she headed over to an open area, which proved to be an area full of junk.
Upon going to her left, she destroyed a box, seeing an item in the remains. Walking over to it, she saw it was an Ether Pack, so she took it. The next box was destroyed after the item in front of it was taken, revealing two Med Kit S's. Seeing a strange doorway being blocked by a broken forklift, she destroyed the forklift, moving over to the door… only to see it was something called a Segment Address, numbered 10 of the total.
Moving back to the other side of the area, she destroyed a box, only to reveal a pair of Drone G1s. Taking the opportunity to attack the one on the right, Shion fired a Firecracker and a Cherry Bomb at the Drone, only for it to take less damage than a regular Drone. That was when both of the new Drones fired energy beams, one at KOS-MOS, the other at Shion… both hit.
Then KOS-MOS fired 'her' blaster at the one on the right twice, knocking it down a few pegs in health, before Shion and KOS-MOS finished it off with a pair of physical attacks… one each. Then the remaining Drone shot another beam at Shion, who proceeded to beat it to an inch of its life with a Firecracker, a Cherry Bomb, and her Spell Ray ability. KOS-MOS merely supplied the coup de grace with overkill ranged attacks. They got two Ether Packs for it.
"Chief, items aren't the only things inside containers," Allen reminded her.
Upon getting everything she could from the junk area, Shion moved back the way she came, this time going to the doorway and opening it. When she found herself in the room she couldn't enter before, she first destroyed what was blocking the doorway on the side she was on, and almost immediately after grabbed what turned out to be the Mission Key. "Now I can unlock the door!" Shion exclaimed.
Upon going to the door nearest her, she unlocked it, before silently walking out to the other door. When she got to the door on the lower level that couldn't be opened before, she slid in the Mission Key at the key panel, unlocking and opening the door.
Takeshi Yamato: Ah, Xenosaga. I will admit it's one of my favorite game franchises - part of why one of my first big stories was Mobile Suit Gundam Xenosaga.
To fans of MSGX, sorry to say my muse has run dry on that one, so it's on indefinite hiatus - might resume that one sometime, maybe even with 117 Jorn or Xam helping me, but for right now, I have others to focus on, like this one and A Wizard in Iwatodai.
Enjoy, and make sure to review, both this and the main story! :D