A/N: Thanks so much for favoriting/reviewing everyone! (And also for your patience. This update is completely beyond overdue...) I honestly didn't think the first chapter would be good...at all XD Makes me so happy to know otherwise.

Real quick, the last chapter is more of an introduction than anything. You'll see what I mean later on...heh heh.

On another note, I wrote the last while half-asleep practically, so I have to go back and fix up some typos. Also, two things I completely forgot to mention:

1 - The disclaimer: I don't own any Vocaloid characters. They are being used here without permission and I am making no profit out of this. Seriously, if I was making any money, I'd be ordering Vocaloid itself and making Len sing all kinds of Ali Project songs.

2 - This fic will be using OCs. But I never take the point of the fic or the focus off of the Vocaloid characters. Hopefully the OCs won't be annoying, though if they are, I can stretch out their rolls to be less, I suppose.

With all that commentary said...

"There is great force hidden in a gentle command." - George Herbert

V.O.C.A.L.

Rhythm ~ II

The Song of Obedience

[Month: January. Year of: 3086]

Hatsune Miku stood patiently out front of her "father's" office door. The hallway was long and quiet, though she was never one to complain about silence. Most things were usually quiet around her.

She was waiting for her next order, of course. That's really all she ever did. For as far back as Miku could remember, her existence came down to this:

Listen to the command that was given, follow it through efficiently, await further orders. Rince and repeat. A request could be anything varying from repairing a broken computer to investigating suspicious places for the company that was supposed to be protecting her.

The ones commanding her? That would be the very company she owed her "life" to.

A company called Data.

Muffled voices could be heard from behind the locked door. Miku leaned against the wall behind her, with folded arms, staring at the barrier between her and the man discussing a situation she wasn't supposed to be aware of with the higher ups in the company.
That man was her "father". The one who had created her. Who had to this day helped her move. Mark Pace was his name.

This girl was no human. She wasn't alive, and her breaths weren't real. Every movement or thought she ever had was all programmed. Though not so much a robot as she was a doll, since she needed somebody to move her. Robots act on their own based off of how the creator designed it. Dolls -- once already made and designed -- would still require somebody to move them.

Miku understood that. It's why she never left the company -- the prison -- that she worked for. Because she required being told to do something. Besides, why bother escaping when your master would just catch up and drag you back anyway?

The murmurs behind the door became shouts for a brief moment. Miku made it a point not to listen in, even though she was still right outside.
Eventually, that door opened.

"Father..." Miku ventured to speak almost as soon as the man was back in the hallway, "Is something wrong? I heard shouting--"

She was cut off with an abrupt reply. "None of which is your concern." The middle-aged-brunette began walking away, waving slightly with his hand as a gesture for Miku to follow. He went on as they walked, "I have a request..."

Miku remained silent, waiting for Pace to continue.

"...Understood." Miku replied expressionessly, once her newest order was announced.

Upon locating her desired location, Miku couldn't help but wonder why Pace had asked of her such and odd request.

An old, run-down building stood before the teal-haired doll. She wasn't entirely sure of what she should be on the look-out for, but whatever it was, it would show itself at some point.

Coming closer to the front door, Miku noticed with bland interest that it had been borded up. Long pieces of wood nailed to the outside walls prevented the door from opening.

What would make somebody want to board the place up like this? Miku thought idly as the thick wind blew her hair in various directions. Of course, the wind was such a little problem to her that she barely even noticed it.

Hatsune took one step back, then swiftly (with the right appliance of pressure), slammed her left leg to the door, bypassing the wood. The noise of the door falling off its hinges was drowned out by a sudden gust of wind.

As if anyone would ever hear something like that all the way out here anyway...

Miku bent under the wood, walking right inside without any problems. What she found was basically what she expected.

It was pitch black. She couldn't even see her hand infront of her face, not six inches away. Dead silent, too. It was a cliché, but right now the phrase, "You could hear a pin drop..." wasn't far off mark.

Miku blinked three times in succession, which booted up a program within her.
She was now able to see through the darkness of the lonely building.
Like night vision, only so much better.
Everything was so clear. To someone who didn't know what this particular function was, they'd think it to be bright as day in the darkest night.

The doll began performing her duties, checking off in her mind exactly what her orders had been.

"Four simple things. That's all I ask." Pace had spoken back in the Data hallway. "First, the front door should be bolted up... That shouldn't be a problem for you."

Already done. Miku doubted that door would need to be repaired now, seeing as how this place was abandoned anyway. She lifted some cardboard boxes up from the floor. Dust clouds filled the air as she did so, and in reaction (mostly surprise), Hatsune dropped the box. More dust clouds appeared.

"Second, report any sign of life. Technological life, breathing life; doesn't matter which. Leave no stone unturned, as they say."

"Well... At least we know this shack doesn't have rats." Miku glared (more like stared with half-closed eyes) at the little brown box. She turned the other way, moving on. She walked through every room she could find, in turn finding nothing in each room besides the usual cob webs and dust.

There was one thing in particular though which stood out to Miku more than anything. There were various hardrives lying around. On the ground, on the desks... Even cracked monitors were hanging from the walls. Whatever used to be here, it obviously involved computers.

"So... What made whoever was here...leave all these behind?" The doll asked aloud, oddly enough not bothered by the fact that she was picking up a habit of talking with herself.

"Third, locate the generator, if there is one. Though power to that area had to be from somewhere, no?"

Miku never found any generator. She assumed that meant there simply wasn't one, based off of the way her "father" had worded it.

The doll was just about finished with the musty old building, when something sounded in her ears.

Hatsune spun around, trying to pinpoint where the unknown sound was coming from. It sounded...almost like a heart beat. No, different from a heart beat but... No other comparison really came to mind.

A few moments later, the unfamiliar pulsations were gone. Guess it was nothing to--

Suddenly, they were back. Heart beats that didn't come from hearts. A rhythm that Miku had never heard before, and yet knew very well.

"That's certainly worth looking into..." She muttered to herself.

Another wave of pulsations seemingly vibrated right through the walls from back out in the lonely hallways. Miku instantly -- without thinking twice about it -- ran after the sounds as if her life depended on it. Depended on hearing those vibrations...
That had only led her to a dead end.

Facing yet another room with the same smashed monitors and ripped up wires everywhere, Miku sighed, "When did I enter the hall of mirrors?"

But she spoke thoughtlessly. That same chilling beat was calling her... Begging her to come closer.

The teal-haired doll's gaze wandered directly upwards. She'd just gained the weirdest feeling that the rhythm was coming from above her.

Possible, yes. Probable? Not likely.

Yet another wave of warm emotion. "Alright... Definately upstairs somewhere." Miku decided, and began glancing around at the ceiling for any signs of entry. The young doll had to know where those unknown, familiar pulsations were coming from.

And alas, her eyes spotted a fault in the ceiling pattern after searching through various rooms.

It appeared to be an air duct. The tile in the ceiling was damaged in that particular area. Miku grabbed a chair in the same room which had been turned over, and stood on top of it, hoping she was tall enough to reach the duct.

"Just a little further..."

Her arms barely missed the ceiling. When that didn't work, Miku jumped towards it, pulling off the tile frame without much effort needed. The frame landed on the floor, echoing loudly through the otherwise mostly silent building.

Up in the new pathway was a faintly glowing light. There were actually working lights in here? After making one more leap to the shaft (for she had to step back once again on the chair.) Miku crawlled through the small space. Amazingly, it was just big enough for her to squirm through.

Miku popped her head out through the first opening she saw, and was instantly blinded after doing so. The lights were on full blast up here. Miku didn't get a chance to shut down her "midnight sight" program right away.

When she was able to see again, the doll pulled herself out of the duct, feeling that heart beat stronger than ever.

No...
She realized it wasn't a heart beat. It was a song. A very intricate song... The emotion within it didn't have words to compare to.

Commands momentarily forgotten, Miku's goal now was to find the source behind this.

"Who..."

Hatsune blinked then spun around, seeing a nearby door which was open beside her.

"You're not..." A frail girl's voice spoke out to Miku.

--Report any sign of life--

But the pig-tailed doll found she couldn't speak. At last she'd found the source; a blonde-haired girl standing before her now in black-and-white clothes and a strange expression. Somewhere between confusion and concern.

"So... Who are you...?"

Staring into the young girl's empty eyes, Hatsune for a moment thought that she'd seen the girl's eyes actually glowing.

She didn't stare at her eyes for very long, though. A few seconds later, Miku's senses went back to that mysterious hum. It didn't take long to figure something out about it.

There was not one song.
There were two songs. Two rhythms following identical beats.

...Why?

There was no warning. No subtle movements.

Miku heard a loud crash from somewhere behind her. Before she got the chance to take a look at what that could have been, something big hit her directly in the back of the head, and she collapsed, completely blanking out.

--"Fourth... Get out undetected."--

A/N 2: That's all for now. Sorry if it seemed rushed... It all makes sense in my head but writing it down is hard. (Guess I'm a better drawer than writer haha.)
Mark Pace is a shortened borrowed name from a good friend of mine. Next chapter to come when I can write it. Which should be loosely within the next month... Hope ya'll enjoyed it, even though it's not well written orz.