Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword or any of its characters
Chapter 2
She gives a cruel smack on the side of the alleged worthless device, mind you her own creation. When the square contraption finally thrums with energy and lights up, she takes a step back.
"Okay, entry number 341 – sponsored project by one Edward Granore, also known as Add. Focus subject deemed non-living material until otherwise proven by procedure."
She puts the recorder down the table near her computer and clears her throat.
The second bag Add gave her contains blue fragments of what she thinks would form a fist-sized sphere. She takes all the fragments and puts it on en empty glass ball. She smiles upon seeing the container accommodate the fragments perfectly. The ball having been sealed, she places it on top a flat machine where the ball floats and begins to rotate in all sorts of directions.
"Now for the best part." She tells herself excitedly.
She walks over the stasis vessel and pushes some sections on the side. Buttons that weren't there initially appeared on the spot where she pressed, and a large wave of cold steam escapes from an opening. As the steam clears the top of the vessel opens to reveal a young boy.
"Most advanced NASOD specimen I've seen. Appearance of subject designed to be around 13-14 years of age. Yellow-green hair, pale skin, his body heavily damaged but onset assessment shows… degree is… um… degree is… repairable."
The face of the young boy is so serene and beautiful it distracted her from her entry. She removes her gloves and places a palm on his stout cheeks. He's cold as ice, but whatever tech made this next-gen NASOD used such a fine material his skin was as soft as a human's.
"Subject has sublime properties." She says softly, "Elegant, life-like design."
Her palms goes to his neck where the smooth finish made her caress it some more.
"Hey, that tickles."
She quickly pulls her hand and backs away from the body, surprised at the sudden voice, and at how her actions were bordering to pervasive. The body in the vessel hasn't moved an inch, nor does it show any signs of life. Tentatively she reaches out and pokes its neck.
She almost fell on the floor when she heard a giggle this time. The table keeps her upright, but the panic and suspense makes her legs wobbly.
"H-hello?" she asks carefully
"Hi!" comes the excited reply.
At lost for words as how it was happening, she abruptly begins shaking the shoulders of the enigma inside the vessel.
"Oh, hey, what's happening?" the voice asks.
"I can't believe it."
"You can't believe what?"
"Subject… subject is somehow making coherent communication." She swallows down the edge and takes a deep breath before continuing, "Will try to investigate means of communication further, but subject is already showing impressive outputs."
"Really? Cool! Who's this subject of yours?"
That's when she realized where the voice is coming from. She walks over the glass ball. The fragments have been combined. The computer has been analyzing the fragments to determine proper placement and the ball now has them in one complete sphere. She takes the glass ball in her hand.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Yuno. What's your name?"
The NASOD is clearly speaking through the combined fragments.
"E-cho. My name is Echo."
"Echo – that's a nice name." he says, "Echo. Echo. Echo." He repeats her name several more times, giggling in between like it's the most pleasurable thing to say.
Echo scratches her head, confused and embarrassed.
"Can you tell me where I am, Echo? I'm a bit lost, in a lot of ways."
"You're in my lab. In the town of Elder." She answers blankly, her mind still working out the part where she's talking to a glass ball.
"Hm, Elder. I wonder how I got here."
"Add brought you're here. Do you know him?"
"Yes I do! He's a friend! A friend!"
Echo cringes at the volume of his voice.
"Well, I'd give you a handshake, Echo, but I'm afraid I can't move. I don't even know where I am or who was poking me a while ago."
"Do you see anything?" she asks, looking at the body in the vessel while connecting all the variables of the situation.
"Nope. Just black." Yuno answers, "Though it does seem less black when I started hearing your voice. Hey, maybe if we keep talking I'll be able to see." He says excitedly.
Echo considers the proposal and forms a theory from it. Carefully she places the glass ball on the flat machine and walks to the vessel. She inputs a few commands on the interface and the vessel starts to make a subtle humming sound. After a while one of the sides begins to rise until the boy inside takes more of a vertical position, almost standing upright.
She puts her gloves again and gently pushes his eyelids up, revealing two large, shiny blue orbs.
"Can you see me?"
"Echo? Is that you?" the voice from the glass ball asks.
"Yes, it's me." Echo answers, almost smiling.
"I see you! I see you!" a short pause follows before his toned down voice continued, "Ah, you're pretty."
Echo quickly pulls her hand, abruptly closing Yuno's eyes and leaving the stasis side.
"Um, hey, are you still there?" asks the perplexed Yuno.
She jumps over to her recorder, face flustered and a foreign wave of emotion making her dizzy for a brief moment. After a few breathing seconds she calms down a bit.
"Are you okay, Echo?" comes Yuno's worried voice.
Echo purposely ignores him and speaks on the recorder. "Subject seems to be receptive of multiple stimuli but only when assisted, case in point manually opening the eyelids. Able to process said reception into subjective descriptions."
She blushes at the last bit of that entry. It'd be the first time someone openly called her that. Most adventurers would take a pass at her, sure, but she's never had such an honest compliment.
"Excuse me, Echo? Is there someone else with us? I feel you've been talking to someone, and it's not me."
"I'm recording." She says, finally able to calm herself.
"Oh, really? For what?"
"For reference." She says, taking a seat in in front one of her computers and typing some instructions in. The bottom part of her lab has its own docking protocols, and soon enough, several cords begin attaching themselves on the base of the vessel. A minute later her screen becomes busy with all sorts of information from the body inside.
"That's cool! Hello there! My name is Yuno." He says, a bit chipper. "I'm a NASOD created by my father, Adrian. Together with my best friend Nono, I used to be the Administrator of Atlas Station. Now… now I'm not sure what I am."
The later part of his words softens a bit. Echo stops her data-entry and looks at the body in the vessel. She already has an idea on how to go about fixing him, but she never thought she'd be interacting with his consciousness through core fragments.
For a while, Yuno doesn't speak. Judging by how lively he talks and engages, Echo can tell that's uncharacteristic.
"I often record stuff to get things off my mind. Scientific or not, saying things will help you through one of two things: make you think about them, or make you stop thinking about them – whichever will benefit you more." Echo tells him.
"Oh." He responds, sounding genuinely interested.
"Why don't you give your own entry? Record, give your account of things."
"Um, o-okay. Well, let's see. Uh, hi? My, my name is, Yuno?"
Echo can't help but laugh a bit at how nervous he just sounded. She takes on multitasking and starts picking through the damages on Yuno's body while keeping him talking.
"You already introduced yourself, silly."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Can we just erase that part?"
"Nope, it's staying there." She says in a somewhat teasing way. She hears a disgruntled puff, and imagines the young body in the vessel with a pout, which isn't difficult to picture.
"You said something about being an Administrator? In Atlas Station? Why don't you say something about that?"
"Oh, oh, Atlas Station is an awesome place!" he chirps, getting excited again, "It's kept afloat by the latest anti-gravity tech, and the temperature is kept stable in a spring-like feel. It's main function is to transport Diceon ores, but it can also accommodate travelers who wants a bit of nature combined with a futuristic feel…"
Her skills with NASOD keep her work at perfect accuracy, but at the same time she manages to listen to everything he says. She's never had anyone stay in the lab like this. She always thought it'll be a distraction.
Yuno takes her back to so many stories about Atlas Station – about the world outside of her lab, about his encounter with the El Search Party, and about his supposed death. His child-like voice and way of speaking make the account genuine, and almost pleasantly surreal. At some point she started filling in the blanks of his memory, as he clearly lost consciousness when his core was shattered.
While she concludes that she and Yuno will be spending a lot of time together, she considers the notion not so displeasing. Especially since he doesn't seem to be running out of things to say.
End of Chapter 2