Chapter Two: Awakening
Italics= character thoughts
Warning: This chapter contains spoilers of chapter 8 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Got that? Good, on with the story.
Morag continued to stare at the shocked General before stepping forward.
"As Herald said, I believe we all require a few answers before either side can make an informed decision. Well General Ironwood? It appears that we are missing crucial details." Morag said walking up to him.
"What…? Oh, umm, sorry. Just, that woman knowing about my...body, that's a well kept secret." Ironwood whispered.
"Well, I have no reason to tell anyone, none of us do. How about in exchange for not revealing that information should we find a reason to, we can ask you a few questions. This won't be a one-sided exchange though, you may ask as few as well. After all, if this a secure base, then us being here is not really allowed." Morag stated as Perun walked up beside her.
"Yeah, I want to know why this place looked a bit like the inside of the world tree?"
Morag looked around when Perun asked that. It was true, the walls of the large room were made from a study looking metal. It didn't look as organic as the interior of the tree, but it certainly looked more advanced than anything on Mor Ardian.
"Of course, I wish to know what the hell is going on too." Ironwood turned and walked over to the ladder "Winter! Could you contact the hazardous waste department! I don't think this dust is toxic, but it's better to be safe than sorry!" Ironwood ordered to a white haired woman up in what looked like a control center.
"Of course General!" Winter replied taking out a small device that opened to a small screen.
Morag followed Ironwood down the ladder with Poppi, Herald and Perun jumping down and over to what looked like a metal sliding door. Ironwood typed in a code on a keypad before frowning.
"Great, that explosion damaged the door." He muttered.
Herald floated over to the door and grabbed the seam between the frame and door.
"Do you mind if damage comes to this?" she asked.
Ironwood shook his head as Herald effortlessly ripped the door free, rending it's frame in the process.
"Good work Herald, now, shall we?"
Ironwood stood stupefied by the feat of strength for another second before fixing his tie.
"Y-Yes, of course." "(Now I need to ask how she ripped a reinforced bulkhead out of it's frame so easily, a Paladin would have trouble doing that)" he breathed as he walked out, so quietly that Poppi barely caught it.
Winter walked down from the control room hanging up her Scroll after talking to the hazmat team, Professor Nightingale following.
"Well then, now we need to wait for them to arrive."
"Why do I have to wait?" he asked.
"Because the General hasn't reprimanded you yet. You could have turned this base into a 4G, time distorted creator. You're lucky only four random people were brought here from who knows where." Winter said sternly staring the short man down.
Lyon flinched under her stern glare and walked over to a chair, sitting down. Winter sighed and walked over to a stained metal sharp. She took out a small vial and scooped some of the dust into it and sealed it.
I'll have this analysed later
As she turned back to the Professor, Winter spotted a familiar ginger haired girl walking into the room.
"Salutations Specialist Schnee!" she greeted with a smile and a solute.
"Hello Penny, might I ask why you're here?" Winter asked walking over "As you can see, there was an accident and I would like to keep this area clear."
"Well, myself and my father arrived ten minutes ago and the whole place shook, so I rushed to see if the base was under attack. My father is probably going to meet with General Ironwood." Penny explained.
"I would have thought he'd keep a better eye on you after the last time you wandered off. But, while you are here, could you move the largest of metal scrap over to the side of the room, I need to contact the hazmat team again, they should be here already." Winter trailed off at the end, taking out her Scroll.
Penny nodded and walked over a large piece of the former vat and leaned forward, a hatch in her back opening. The hilts of four sword shot out of her back, the blades unfurling from the handles. They came to a stop above her head, held up by carbon fiber razor wire. She assumed an almost puppeteer-esk stance and gestured forward, the swords embedding themselves in the metal. She pulled back, the metal effortlessly being lifted into the air before being thrown to the side of the room. As Penny was about to do it to another piece, a glimmer caught her eye. Looking over at it, it appeared to be an octahedronal crystal of dust, but as she walked over to it, she saw odd line patterns in it. It was also opaque, a rarity among dust types. Penny picked it up and turned to Winter.
"Specialist Schnee! What type of dust is this?!" Penny yelled, waving the crystal in the air.
Winter looked over to her and cocked her head at the question.
There shouldn't be any crystal state dust here. She thought as the crystal began to glow.
"Hmm, what's happening?" Penny asked as it began to glow brighter, waves of energy beginning to flow out of it.
"Penny! Get rid of that now!" Winter ordered.
"I-I can't let go of it!" Penny yelled, terror spreading across her face as the light grew blinding.
She then felt the crystal leave her hand, shooting into her before just as quickly leaving, the light fading. Penny turned to see an orb of light touch the ground, it expanding and changing shape into what looked like a stasis pod from from a sci-fi show. The word 'Vector' was printed on it's side. Winter ran over to Penny as several bolts shot up and the hatch opened, a single hand grabbing the side of the pod.
Meanwhile
Ironwood lead the group down several narrow corridor, soldiers in blue and white body armour running around them. They didn't seem to mind Morag, but many men stopped at the sight of Poppi and Perun, and most backed away at the sight of Herald at the back. He stopped at a large double door and pushed them open, leading them into a plain looking room with a white table and chairs with only a single window and an odd screen against a wall. Poppi noticed a machine hanging from the roof. A thud made Morag turn to the sight of Herald struggling to enter the room.
"I may be a little too...big." she sighed as she tried to force her mech's shoulders in.
"Poppi have solution."
Grabbing her scarf, Poppi changed into her qt form and walked over to the frame. Several lockpicking tools extending from fingers as she dismantled the door frame, the frameless hole just big enough for her to squeeze in. As she reassembled the door, Morag turned to a shocked Ironwood.
"Are you going to stop surprising me or should I just resign myself?" he asked sarcastically.
"Well, just add it to the number of questions you wish to ask." Morag stated taking a seat, Perun joining her.
"Well, first things first, let's all introduce ourselves without tempers flaring." Ironwood said sitting down.
"Yes, I wish to apologise for earlier, I let my emotions rule my thoughts. I am Special Inquisitor Morag of the Ardainian Empire, servant of his Majesty, Emperor Niall."
"I am Perun, a Blade of Morag's."
"Poppi is called Poppi, world's first artificial Blade, created by Masterpon Tora!" Poppi announced turning into her alpha form and standing with her chest puffed out, smiling.
"My name is Herald, the formally sealed Blade of Tantal, and bound to Morag."
"Okay, I don't know what half that means, but as I said before, I am General James Ironwood, of the Altus Military." Ironwood leaned forward "Okay, I'll start the questions, with the first being what the hell is a blade? Three of you said that you are one, and I don't think you mean a sword or knife blade."
"Well, you are not quite that far off. Blade are being born from Core Crystals, gem like objects that are extracted from titans. When a Core Crystal is touched by the would be driver, the being to whom the blade will be bound to, they will resonate. If successful, the Core Crystal will glow and give form to a Blade." Morag pointed to Perun's chest "All Blade's will have a crystal visible on their body, most having it in the area between the neck and breast. Some may have it elsewhere, like the forehead, but that is rare." Morag explained.
"I see, so Blades are people given life be another, but what do you mean by, 'successful' when making them?" he asked.
"If you lack the aptitude to awaken a Blade, the crystal will reject you. A companion of mine, Tora, the Nopon that built Poppi, is just shy of having enough. So his rejection resulted in a heavy nosebleed. But there are stories of organ failure, coma, or even every blood vessel in your body exploding at once from rejection."
Ironwood looked horrified.
"Why would anyone risk that?"
"Simple, on Mor Ardian, the titan's soil had been stagnating. Say a farmhand is let off due to that. If he joins the military as a soldier, he'd need to go through training, most of which he may be ill suited for. It may not give him enough money to survive. There is no work, salvaging is too expensive to try, but if he can become a driver, suddenly he's four ranks high in the army, the training is less strenuous, he earns three times more money, he'd be suddenly financially sound. All he needs to do is touch that blue gem. How hard can it be?" Morag stated, Ironwood shaking his head.
"He could die though."
"Yes, he could die from rejection, or he could starve. This person would not have much of a choice. And it is something His Majesty as been trying to find a solution to. So the only choices don't both have a chance to lead to death."
"Hmm, I like the sound of your Emperor."
"Yes, he is kind...now, another question?" Morag asked.
Meanwhile
Winter drew her sword as a blue haired woman climbed out of the pod. She walked towards them, opening her eyes and scanning them with her almost robotic looking purple eyes
"Kosmos Obey Stategical Multiple Operation Systems, all systems online." she stated robotically, a sphere of energy surrounding her as purple hardlight armour appeared on her hips, shoulders and head.
She summoned two large, golden cannons to her hands and looked at Penny.
"Are you my new master?" the woman asked, her hardlight armour fading.
Winter pointed her sword at the woman.
"Who are you!?" she questioned.
"I am KOS-MOS, as previously stated." KOS-MOS answered.
"What does she mean by master?" Penny wondered out loud.
"Did you awaken me from my Core Crystal?" she asked.
"Umm, I touched the odd dust crystal." Penny replied.
"Then you are my Driver and master." KOS-MOS said, her weapons disappearing.
"Wait, so you came out of that that gem?" Lyon asked.
"Indeed, master awakened me from that Core Crystal. I am her Blade to command.
"So a person came from that dust? Amazing!"
"Correction, Core Crystal, not 'dust'." KOS-MOS corrected, staring at Lyon.
"Well then, I believe we should report this to General Ironwood...as soon as the hazmat team arrive." Winter said taking out her Scroll again.
"Well, I'll continue moving the vat parts." as Penny walked over, KOS-MOS stepped in front of her.
"Allow me master."
With easy, KOS-MOS picked up the warped metal, and threw it over to the other one. As Penny ran up to, mystified by her strength, Lyon spotted another gem. He walked over and picked it up as Winter glanced over.
"Professor! Put that down! We don't need another random person!" she ordered as yellow energy began to flow out of it.
"W-Wha...what's happening?!" he cried, pain spreading through his body.
"Rejection." KOS-MOS whispered.
Lyon felt his body suddenly begin to burn before the light faded and his eyes rolled back in his head, a blue liquid erupting from his mouth. Winter ran over and felt for a pulse...and found none. She stood up as several people in yellow suits walked into the room.
"Specialist Schnee! What happened?" one asked.
"I don't know, but first, hand me a waste bag." she ordered.
One of the hazmat team handed her a yellow bag with a biohazard symbol on it. She kicked the Core Crystal into it.
"Penny, KOS-MOS, lift up all of this metal, I am not leaving any of these things here."
Penny nodded and began lifting the metal pieces, KOS-MOS following. They found only one more.
"Okay, contact the bases physician to remove Professor Nightingale and clean up this mess. Penny, we are reporting to the General about your new...'friend'." Winter ordered, leaving the room, Penny and KOS-MOS running after.
Ironwood looked over at Poppi.
"Okay, so Blades come from so called Core Crystals, what does Poppi mean though by 'artificial blade'? And why can she go from an adult in despite need for clothes to a child to a...maid."
"Poppi mean what it sound like. Masterpon cannot be driver, neither could Dadapon or Grampypon, so Tatizo and Soosoo design artificial blade instead. After Grampypon's murder and Muimui stealing sister Lila, Masterpon improve sister's blueprint and build Poppi. Qt form unlocked after Lila powered up ether furnace and qtπ form work of Dadapon and Masterpon." Poppi explained.
"So you're an android that copies a Blade's abilities...I see. But why the maid?"
"I believe Zeke said something along the lines of 'it's probably a hereditary perversion'." Perun whispered.
"And I told him that that isn't a real thing." Morag added.
"Poppi wish to ask question!" Poppi announced.
"Okay, fire away."
Before she could talk though, someone knocked on the door.
"Yes?"
The door opened and Winter stuck her head in.
"General, we have an issue."
"Oh great, what now."
"Well, as I was waiting for the hazmat team, Miss Polendia arrived, wishing to of some help. And as she moved some metal, she found an odd gem and...well…" Morag stood up.
"What kind of gem?"
Winter held out a yellow biohazard bag, which Morag took.
"Core Crystals...wait…" Morag began feeling round her belt "Damn it! Those three crystals are gone! Where is the third one?!"
Winter opened the other door and exposed a ginger teenager in a grey blouse. Behind her was a tall woman in a metal bodysuit, but Morag's eyes settled on the blue crystal in her chest.
"Well then, we may have an issue."
AN: Well then, chapter two, hope people like it. I had fun writing this part, especially the blade part. Also, am I the only one who thinks Herald would get stuck everywhere, I'm pretty sure she phases through a lot of doors in Xenoblade 2.
Another thing, pretty sure people may be mad about Penny getting lucky, but...well, KOS-MOS was not my last rare blade, like, by a long shot...that was Newt. Screw Newt.
Also, fixed a few things in the first chapter, like an an instead of am...or me repeating hat.
So yeah, review, PM or whatever you wish, bye.
Anyway, enjoy.