Alternate Past Chapter 4: People around me
Seeing the red mobile suit that just bumped into me, I decided to transmit a message to the Ahead, hoping to see who it was. Opening my monitor on my GN-X, I called out to the Ahead, expecting a reply.
"Sorry about that. I guess I didn't know where I was exactly going." The pilot replied apologetically. She then stabilized her mobile suit and moved closer to our group.
"Uh, Captain Ginin? Who is this person?" I asked.
Captain Ginin, who was looking around the current surroundings, started to continue flying back to our base. Frustrated that Ginin didn't answer my question, I reluctantly followed him; the rest of our group trailed behind us, along with the Ahead that recently crashed onto me. After a few minutes of travelling, I was finally able to see our base from a distance; it would only take a few minutes before we arrived. Suddenly, Ginin sent me a transmission.
"So, you're wondering who the pilot in the Ahead was?" Ginin questioned.
"I guess so, although it doesn't really matter now." I answered back.
"I'll explain once we're back." Ginin added calmly. He then slowed down, causing the rest of our group to slow down as well.
After arriving to our headquarters, Ginin suddenly gave a hand signature through his Ahead. Seeing the hand signature that our captain suddenly made, our group immediately followed Ginin's lead, with the latter already on descent back to the hanger located in our base. Looking below, I noticed a couple of mechanics and other soldiers that were waiting to greet us. I then landed on our hangar shortly after.
"Land all your mobile suits here!" One of the mechanics that was at the hangar called out while waving a glowing red rod.
Seeing the mechanic's signal, our group landed the GN-Xs on where the mechanic was pointing to. The members of our group carefully adjusted their position to fit their mobile suits into the hangar, and when they did, the mobile suit hangar would make a clicking sound, which indicated that the GN-Xs were attached correctly onto their individual hangars. The individual GN-Xs then lifted their arms up, and long black cables would slowly creep up to the arms of the red mobile suit, and the cables locked and held them in place. The GN-Xs then slowly lowered and finally landed on their individual places.
After I landed my mobile suit on my hangar, I started to remove my helmet and slowly crawled out of my cockpit. As soon as I got out of my cockpit, I noticed that Ginin was waiting for me, with his arms crossed and tucked in his chest.
"Captain Ginin, what brings you here?" I asked after removing my helmet.
"Well, I was just waiting for you." Ginin answered while holding onto his own helmet. "Now that you're done, follow me."
"Okay sir." I obliged and quickly trailed along my fellow captain.
I looked towards the GN-X that I received, one last time, and then quickly walked away from the hangar. I just hoped that I could get my original mobile suit, the Gread back. Hopefully the engineers were generous enough to give my Gread a nice paintjob.
After a few moments of walking, I soon arrived to a solid metal door that was located at the end of the mobile suit hangar. Before I could step any further, Captain Ginin stopped me. Captain Ginin, while staring at the door, forcefully reached his lengthy arm and pulled out something peculiar. When I looked at what Captain Ginin pulled out, I noticed that it was a card that was similar to the card that I received from Katagiri, except that the color was red instead blue.
"What's that card?" I asked Captain Ginin.
Without a moments waste, Captain Ginin swiped the red card on the card slot that was beside the door that was in front of me. Suddenly, the metal door opened without warning. Captain Ginin then quickly walked through the door. I decided to follow my captain to see where he was going. Maybe he was just going to the commander's office, or another mobile suit hangar; I wasn't really sure yet.
"So, I believe that Commander Katagiri has called us back to his office." Captain Ginin told me as he walked by. "You did a pretty good job on your first mission." Captain Ginin added.
Feeling curious, I continued walking beside Captain Ginin. After a moment of walking along the straight corridor, the captain then turned to the left, and then continued to walk again through the corridor. Soon, the Captain and I arrived to the front of Commander Katagiri's main office. It was then my captain and I encountered another person that was walking perpendicular to us.
"Welcome back, Captain Ginin." The woman greeted.
"Well well, look who it is. I have a new member here with me in my squad." Captain Ginin greeted back, with a smile on his face.
"So, who's the guy with the long hair?" The woman asked curiously.
Looking at the mysterious woman, her body suit was the same color as ours, except that her body suit seemed to match her slender, curvy body. The texture of the woman's hair seemed to flow like the deep ocean; staring at her hair long enough could have made anyone feel like drowning in the sea. Unlike Colonel Kati's hair, this woman did not tie up or shortened her hair; in fact, her hair down all the way to her shoulders. Before I could stare at her any further, the woman interrupted me.
"I imagine that you are Earl Grieves? I heard a few things about you from the commander himself." The blue-haired woman said as she stared deep into my face.
"Well, I guess so." I replied back.
Hearing my reply, the woman then introduced herself. "My name is Captain Nicole Hillings. You might as well call me Captain Hillings, just to make things easier." The blue-haired woman added.
Before I could say another word, Captain Hillings quickly moved in front of me. She then reached into her pocket, and took out the same card that Captain Ginin used to open the door at the end of the hangar. Hillings then swiped the card on the card slot that was in located right below the steel door handle. The card slot immediately recognized the red card that was swiped, and opened the door that was in front of the woman. Captain Hillings then immediately entered the commander's room. I followed the azure-haired woman into the commander's room as well, along with Captain Ginin. Once arriving at the commander's room, I noticed the commander still on his desk, slumping down a bit while placing his hands together while leaning his head on his fists. Commander Katagiri rose up, and looked at the three of us; Captain Ginin, Hilling, and me, Earl Grieves. The commander then stood up and crossed his hands behind his waist.
"So, I assume that you have completed your mission?" Commander Katagiri questioned.
"Yes sir." The three of us answered back in unison.
Commander Katagiri, seemingly satisfied with the answers that we gave us, turned around and grabbed a small rectangular object that was on the right of his desk; a remote. He then pointed the remote on a monitor on the left side of this room, and clicked a button on the remote. Suddenly, the monitor brightened, and there seemed to be another man on the screen. Looking at the man, I immediately noticed that his hair was grey, but he did not seem to be that old at all compared to Commander Katagiri. The man in the screen then started to speak.
"Commander Katagiri. I hear that you have recruited a new member here in A-Laws today?" The man in the screen questioned.
"Yes, I did, now Warrant Officer Grieves, introduce yourself." Commander Katagiri answered back.
"Yes sir. I am Warrant Officer Grieves." I obliged to the commander's orders.
"Well, I have heard……things about you. My name is Major Arab Lindt. I hope that you prove yourself to be good as Commander Katagiri says." The white-haired man introduced himself.
"Well well, Major Arab Lindt, have you finished the mission that I assigned to you yet?" Commander Katagiri questioned the white-haired man through the monitor.
"Well, not yet sir. There are still….how do I say this, "complications" going on. I will be finished shortly however". Major Lindt hesitantly answered back.
Annoyed, Commander Katagiri grunted before slumping himself back down to his chair. "Well, I'm quite disappointed to hear that. Finish your mission as soon as you can." Commander Katagiri ordered again through the monitor. He then pointed his remote to the monitor and turned the monitor off.
"So, now that's over with. I have a few things to discuss with all of you." Commander Katagiri calmly spoke as he leaned over to his desk. Before Katagiri began to start speaking, the monitor flashed again, revealing a soldier with a white cap.
"Sir, we just found out that there the anti-government forces are planning to one of our bases!" The soldier in the monitor applied.
"Really? I'm surprised that those anti-government bastards decided to invade that place anyways. What a bunch of cockroaches." Commander Katagiri grunted.
Commander Katagiri then grabbed his remote again, and pointed it to the monitor. Clicking one of the button that was on the remote, the monitor's screen changed to what it looked like a map of the world. The monitor then started to zoom into the map of the world, and eventually stopped zooming until it reached a certain place. The Commander opened a shelf that was to the left of his desk, and took out a lengthy, metal pointer. He then slowly walked up to the monitor pointed his pointer at a certain place on the map.
"It looks like the anti-government forces are at it again." Commander Katagiri sighed in disdain. "Well, looks like the Earth Sphere Federation forces might need some help."
"I firmly accept the Earth Sphere Federation's request." Captain Ginin affirmed.
"Commander, I request the location of the base that is planning to be invaded." Captain Hillings requested.
Commander Katagiri, seeing that the two captains have accepted the Earth Sphere Federation's plea for help, let out a small grin as he walked back to his personal desk. The commander then turned the monitor off with the remote in hand, and sat back down on his large, black chair. The two captains that were beside me stood completely still, without moving an inch.
"Well then, the Earth Sphere Federation's request seems to be coming from, let's see……well, it seems that the anti-government forces are currently heading towards Dublin." Commander Katagiri recounted.
Hearing Commander Katagiri's comment, I immediately knew that Dublin was in Ireland, where I spent my early childhood life with father, mother, my younger brother, and Amy. Although I have not been to Ireland back in approximately ten years, I still remember the burning flames that took away my family in an instant; that flame has left me a scar in my heart that can never be healed. Surprisingly, I cannot seem to remember my name after I woke up from the coma that I had three years ago. Maybe this might be just a dream, or this might just be my imagination, but no, the situation that I was in was completely real.
Commander Katagiri pointed the remote to the monitor again as he finshed his sentence, and turned the monitor off. He then firmly stood up from the chair that he was sitting on, and walked in front of his desk. The three of us looked at the commander emotionlessly, as we saluted again immediately as the commander stopped moving.
"You two captains may go now. Earl Grieves, you may not partake on this mission." Commander Katagiri ordered.
Normally, the "regular" soldier would have objected to the commander's order if he or she did not know why they were not allowed to go, especially if the mission is going to be in the place that they were born in. However, a voice in my head informed me that I should just have kept my mouth shut. The two captains that were beside me had already left the commander's office.
"So, grab a chair beside you and take a seat." Commander Katagiri calmly stated.
Hearing what the commander said, I quickly grabbed a chair that was beside me and sat down in front of the commander's desk.
"Warrant Officer Earl Grieves, I have some important things to tell you about. Hopefully these will give you a bit more on what is going on as of now." Commander Katagiri stated.
"Well, I've always wondered what happened to me as well sir." I requested back.
"Very Well." Commander Katagiri accepted.
Commander Katagiri then started to explain what happened after hearing my request. Looking forward to what the commander had to say, I calmly stared at the commander, getting ready to accept whatever the commander has to say.
"How should I start this, according to the data from the Earth Sphere General Hospital, it says that you woke up at 06:43 AM yesterday. Speaking of which, you didn't manage to get any sleep at all after seeing what happened now did you?" Commander Katagiri asked.
"Well, at least I know that much sir, except for the Earth Sphere General Hospital" I replied back.
"It was the hospital that was attacked by the anti-government forces just recently. Speaking of which, I believe it was also the place that Dr. Porter worked as well." Commander Katagiri added.
It came as a bit of surprise to me that Commander Katagiri knew Dr. Porter at all. I decided to ask the commander more questions about the things that happened to me; hopefully the commander can answer those as well. Before I can ask another question, the commander interrupted.
"Believe it or not, you ended up in the Earth Sphere Hospital with serious injuries to boot. If the United Nations hadn't retrieved your body, you would have certainly died." Commander Katagiri added further.
"I guess that explains why I was in a coma for the longest time. How long was I in a coma again?" I asked the commander.
"It seems that you were immediately retrieved by one of the United Nations battle cruisers that were on standby. If I remember correctly, I did read about a report that the United Nations encountered body was almost ripped apart inside an asteroid field. Whatever it was that ripped your body to pieces, it must have been a miracle that you survived that ordeal. As for the time, I believe this happened approximately about four years ago." Commander Katagiri let out a satisfied sigh as he leaned back on his chair.
Realizing that I survived an ordeal that would likely have killed me, I let out a small sigh as well. Before I could say another word, the commander interrupted me again. Seeing that the commander might say something important, I decided to listen to what he would say.
"And now for the bad news." Commander Katagiri said.
"So I was supposed to believe that everything I heard before was supposed to be good news? Give me a break!" I thought to myself. Saying this in front of my commander would definitely get my ass kicked, one way or another.
"You will not be getting your Gread back for a long time. It seems that the Gread is not finished, and our engineers have decided that they would use the Gread as a base for planning future mobile suits. Of course, if you prove yourself to be a worthy soldier in my eyes, I'm sure you'll get to pilot the Gread again." The commander assured.
Well that didn't seem all that bad, to be perfectly honest. I was expecting something like how my intestines had to be mended together with the rest of my body due to my entire body being ripped into pieces. At least my injuries didn't seem to be that serious compared to what the commander is saying, or so at least I thought. Before I could say another world, the commander interrupted me for the third time. As a matter of fact, I was starting to get annoyed by the commander's constant habit of interrupting every time before I start to say anything.
"By the way, I'll provide you with a new set of uniforms. It's the least I could do instead of letting you wear that filthy uniform over and over again." Commander Katagiri assured.
Looking at the uniform that I was wearing, I had to admit that my uniform was starting to get dirty. Unlike the uniforms that the other members of A-LAWS were wearing, mine seemed to have stains and tears on some parts, especially on the chest area. Normally I would just wear my uniform, but since I am currently in a military base, hygiene and uniform conduct was an absolute must here. I decided to accept the commander's offer as he took out a completely new pair of the uniform that I was wearing.
"Thank you sir. I appreciate your generosity." I thanked the commander as I received the fresh, green pair of the uniform that was given to me.
"Well, that's all what I have to say. It's already late at night, so how about getting a good night's sleep?" Commander Katagiri said.
"Yes sir." I responded. I then left the commander's office as soon as I answered the commander's question.
I immediately started walking away from the commander's office right after I left the room behind me, still thinking about the times that I might have missed while I was in a coma. Waking up from the hospital, the death of Dr. Porter, the discovery of the Gread, as well as the recruitment to A-LAWS, everything happened just too fast, at least too fast for me to comprehend. Just two days ago, I had just woken up from a coma, and now I was in this military group called A-LAWS, dealing with the anti-government forces that desperately try to rip apart the world that we currently live in. Maybe the questions that are still in my head might be answered someday……
As I continued to walk through the corridor, I noticed that at the end of the corridor, there were two paths, left and right. Reading the sign that was plastered on the end of the corridor, the left path leads to the mobile suit factory, and the right path would lead to the dorm rooms that all the soldiers would live and sleep in; especially my room. While visiting the mobile suit factory would have been interesting, I felt way too tired to even walk to the mobile suit factory; in fact I seem to be having a hard time trying to even walk around the corridors on this base. I turned to the right, and started walking in that direction. I hoped that I could find my dorm room before I end up falling asleep on the floor.
After a few minutes of slowly walking, I came across a room with a metal door, along with an intercom and a set of buttons beside the door. I let out a long, drawn-out yawn as soon as I arrived to my destination; my body felt incredibly tired since I haven't had a good sleep in two whole days. Rubbing my eyes, everything that I could see seemed to be an unreadable blur for a couple of seconds. After the blur in my eyes dissipated, I zoomed in on the sign that was on the door that was in front of me.
"Let's see, this must be…..room C204." I moaned weakly.
Realizing that I found my dorm room, I reached inside my pocket and took the blue card that Commander Katagiri gave me. Swiping the card through the card slot that was beside the door, the solid metal door immediately recognized my card, and quickly opened. Too lazy to notice my surroundings, I slowly walked over to my bed and jumped on the mattress. Ignoring the blankets and a pair of pyjamas that were beside my bed, I drifted myself to sleep.
9 hours later…….
"RRRING!" A deafening sound blurted out.
I slowly opened my eyes, wondering what the hell was going on. Turning my head to the left, I saw an alarm clock that was attached to the wall. Annoyed by the constant ringing that is grazing through my head, I wasted no time reaching my arm over to the alarm clock at the wall beside me. I then pressed one of the buttons that was on the alarm clock, and the ringing finally stopped. I immediately flung out of bed, and slowly walked over to the bathroom. Once arriving at the bathroom door, I slowly grabbed the handle that was in front of me, and pushed it over to the side. Grabbing the new pair of uniform from my desk, I headed inside my bathroom to change; I walked back out as soon as I finished.
After a few minutes of lazing around in my room, I decided to get out of my room and take a stroll around the hallways. I walked over to the entrance of my dorm room, and I pulled out the blue card that was inside my uniform. Swiping the blue card on the card slot that beside the entrance, the grey, metallic door that was in front of me quickly opened. It was just before I was about to walk out of my room until I encountered a rather, familiar person. With her short, blonde hair with those clear aquamarine eyes, I knew that it was no other than Louise Halevy herself.
"Well, look who it is." I greeted.
The blonde girl, who was walking through the hallway, immediately looked at me as I greeted her. She then started to laugh as she pointed her fingers to my face.
"Is there something on my face or something?" I asked.
Louise continued laughing even after I asked my question. Eventually, she steadily calmed down, and instantly pointed her fingers towards my hair.
"Nice hairdo! What in the world did you do to your hair anyways?" Louise asked with a big grin on her face.
Ignoring the blonde-haired girl's ridiculous question, I turned to my left and started walk through the hallway. It would be a good idea for me to check out the mobile suit hangars, since I couldn't manage to check the mobile suit hangar yesterday. I continued to walk through the hallway, looking out at the windows at the right. Looking up, I could see that there were a couple of GN-Xs soaring through the clear, blue sky. It was then Louise decided to start following me. Personally, I didn't mind Louise that much at all, even though she was a bit childish as a soldier.
"So, I assume that you're heading towards the mobile suit hangars?" Louise asked.
"I guess so. I'm curious to see some of the mobile suits that are being built around here." I answered back.
"Well, let's get going then. I hear they're announcing the construction of new mobile suits today. I can't wait!" Louise cheerfully exclaimed as she walked beside me.
After a few minutes of walking through the hallway, I could see another metal door in front of me. Curious to see what the door lead to, I quickened my pace, with Louise quickening her pace to keep up with me as well. Eventually, we arrived to where the metal door was.
"Well, I guess this is the place. Is it the right pla" I said.
Louise took out a blue card from her pocket, and swiped it at the card slot that was located to the right of the door. Immediately, the card slot recognized Louise's blue card. The door in front of us slid open, and with no time to waste, we walked inside. We were immediately greeted by someone as we walked through the metal door that was now behind us. Judging by the tall figure, as well as that short brown ponytail, we immediately recognized who this person was.
"Well you two are just in time. Some of the engineers here are going to introduce the newest machines that are being currently built." Commander Katagiri greeted.
"It is a pleasure to see you sir!" Louise and I saluted in unison.
"I see that you're wearing the uniforms that I handed you last night I see." Commander Katagiri remarked.
"Thank you sir. I appreciate your generosity." I answered back.
"You two better hurry over here. The ceremony is starting right now!" Commander Katagiri ordered.
Without a moment's hesitation, Louise and I quickly followed the commander to see what was going on. As soon as we arrived to where the commander was, I instantly noticed a large crowd gathering in the middle of this particular mobile suit hangar, mostly filled with other soldiers. The higher-ups were easily distinguishable from the common soldiers because they were standing on podiums. I could easily distinguish Commander Katagiri from the crowd since the commander stood at the very middle of the podium; even if he wasn't on the podium, I still would have noticed him due to his immense height compared to the other soldiers. I looked around the mobile suit hangar to observe the surroundings of this place. Unlike the other mobile suit hangar where I docked my GN-X in, this place was completely different. The walls were painted with metallic grey, and it seemed to be more spacious compared to the other hangar; forget that! This hangar completely dwarfed the other one in sheer size alone. Not to mention there were mobile suits that I have never even seen or heard of before. Just before I was about to lose myself in awe, someone grabbed my arm. Looking down to see who did this, I noticed that it was no one other than the blonde-haired, blue eyed girl herself.
"Let's get ourselves over to the front." Louise called as she pulled my sleeves. 'Maybe we'll get a better view of the new models.'
"I don't see why not? Let's get going." I complied, as I followed Louise to where she was going.
Due to the size of the crowd, it took me and Louise a minute or two to squirm through the people that were in front of us. While I was trying to find a way not to disturb anyone while crawling through, Louise was just shoving through the people that were in front of her; sometimes I wondered what the soldiers here think of Louise and her behaviour. Seeing that my way of getting through wasn't working very well, I trailed behind Louise as she pushed and shoved the people that were in her way. Eventually, after a couple minutes of finding our way through, we managed to get to the very front of the crowd. As soon as Louise and I arrived to the front the presentation started immediately. Looking over to the right, I could see a couple of people in bleach-white lab coats coming over to front of the crowd. The people in the white lab coats eventually arrived to the front of the crowd, and then walked up to a large, white podium that was directly in front of us. Looking at the scientists, there was one person that caught my attention. Unlike the ordinary scientists, the man's stature was quite diminutive, but his confident expression as well as his proud stance made his presence larger than the other scientists that were beside him.
"We are here, to announce the latest news in the newest mobile technology that we have uncovered. I hope that our discoveries will benefit a worthy group such amongst you." One of the scientists announced. 'Glemis, open the hatch that is behind us.'
"Yes sir! I will do that that right away!" The other scientist responded. He then reached inside his pants and took out a strange remote and then pressed one of the buttons. All of a sudden, the hatch that was in front of us started to open, revealing a long, blue machine with two pincers at the side. I could also see a long tail stretching at the right end of the machine.
The scientist that ordered Glemis let out a small chuckle, which led me to think that the man must have been proud of what he had invented. The scientist stood firmly, looking down towards the hundreds of soldiers that were currently looking in awe.
"So, my name is Jason Howard. I'm sure most of you people have heard of me by now. If you haven't, you just need to know that I'm a brilliant scientist." The scientist introduced himself to the crowd with a sly expression on his face.
I stared at the scientist, wondering what the sly expression on his face was about. The scientist ignored my glance, and began to introduce the giant, blue machine that was in front of our gaze.
"This is the Trilobite, the very first mobile armor that is used solely for underwater missions." Jason Howard proudly stated. 'Any comments I might add?'
Looking at the Trilobite, this enormous, blue machine with pincers was unlike anything that I have seen before in my life. Judging by the appearance, as well as four large, bladed pincers, most people would think that this machine might probably be a mobile suit pilot's worse nightmare personified. I was soon interrupted when a fellow soldier beside me decided to ask a question.
"When is the Trilobite going to be deployed?" The soldier asked with curiosity.
Howard, catching onto the soldier's question, formed a smirk on his face.
"Since this mobile armor is currently in the development stages, the Trilobite still needs more adjustments in order for it to be mass-produced." Howard answered. 'Now moving on to the next topic,'
After answering the question that the soldier beside me asked, Howard walked down from the podium and continued to move towards the left. The scientists that were beside him followed to where Howard was going. A few seconds later, everyone in the crowd started to move in the direction that Howard was going as well, causing Louise and I to fall behind the crowd. I immediately ran towards the crowd, along with Louise trailing behind me. After a moment of walking, Howard eventually stopped, along with the other scientists that were following him earlier. Eventually, the majority of the crowd slowed down and halted as well after Howard had stopped walking. Luckily for me and Louise, we managed to get ourselves to the front of the crowd again, even after we got ourselves fallen behind once. Looking up, I could see a wide, red mobile suit that was in front of me; it struck me that this mobile suit looked exactly like the mobile suit that Captain Ginin was piloting during my first mission.
"So, we have arrived to the second part our announcement. As you can see, the mobile suit behind me is something that most of you have not seen before. I'll introduce this mobile suit right now." Howard added as he pointed his fingers to the mobile suit behind his diminutive stature.
Sometimes, I wondered if I was ever going to pilot the suit that was in front of me. Compared to the GN-X III that I was piloting, the suit in front of me looked like it had a complete overhaul. Howard immediately continued his announcement from earlier, with everyone in the crowd focusing themselves on Howard to hear what the short man has to say. Louise and I looked towards Howard as well, just like the other people in the crowd.
"This, is the GN-X 704T Ahead. We scientists and engineers first started developing this suit a couple months ago, and we just finished the construction of this mobile suit a couple days prior as of now. As you can see, compared to the standard GN-X IIIs that most of you soldiers are using, this mobile suit boasts superior manoeuvrability, strength as well as a longer operational time." Howard explained in front of the crowd below.
"Mr. Howard, is there any chance that this mobile suit is going to be deployed for our personal use?" Louise asked as I continued to look towards Howard.
"Well, unfortunately this mobile suit is not ready to be deployed yet as of now." Howard answered.
"Thank you." Louise replied back with a slightly dejected look on her face; I guessed she must have wanted to pilot the Ahead for quite some time.
The presentation eventually dragged on for a couple more minutes, mainly comprised of other soldiers asking and the scientists trying their best to answering other people's questions. Eventually, Howard decided that it was better to continue the presentation rather than just answering questions that were being asked.
"Everyone follow me over to where the Trilobite was. I have something…..special in mind to present." Howard announced as he started walking back in the other direction.
Without a moment's hesitation, the crowd quickly followed Howard to where the Trilobite was. After a few moments of walking, Howard suddenly stopped. The undersized man with a white lab coat then grabbed a remote from his lab coat, and pressed one of the buttons on it. Without warning, the solid, grey steel floor below the Trilobite slowly started to creak open. A powerful wave of sound came across the crowd immediately when the floor began to split, causing the crowd to cover their ears as they exclaimed in pain. Howard however didn't seem to mind the boisterous noise at all, as he just stood still without a single change to his expression.
"KYAAAHHH!" Louise screamed in agony as the floor beneath the Trilobite continued to open.
Eventually, the enormously powerful wave of sound stopped as the floor beneath the Trilobite steadily slowed down, finally stopping after a few more seconds. I managed to survive through the noise, although looking back; I noticed that some people were knocked out of their minds due to the sheer loudness that happened a couple minutes ago. Surprisingly, all of the scientists that were beside Howard was hardly fazed by the tremendous noise that occurred. I then looked over to Louise, who was still covering her ears at the moment.
"Hey Louise, the noise is gone now. You can uncover your ears." I reminded the blond-haired girl as I gently shook her.
Louise, responding to my shaking, finally uncovered her ears. She then slowly stood up from where she was and faced me.
"Finally! I thought that my ears were going to burn out!" Louise complained, looking frustrated.
"Well, you're lucky that you're still awake. Some of the people in the crowd have already been knocked out." I responded to Louise with a quirky smile on my face.
"Well well, what do we have here? Oh my…" Howard wondered as he scratched his short, black hair. 'Anyways, let's get to the next topic shall we?"
"Hey you, what in god's name was that earbreaking noise?" I yelled out.
"Sorry, the floor here requires a lot of energy for it to start open. It's bound to make noises like this every time it opens." Howard apologetically replied back.
"Geez…" I grumbled. "Look how many people you knocked out!"
"Let's continue the presentation!" Howard announced while ignoring my comment.
Wondering what was below the metal floor, I glimpsed over to where the floor was a couple minutes ago. What was once a giant metallic floor, it was now revealed to be an enormous, rectangular shaped water container that looked more of less like a swimming pool, except that it was too large for people to swim in. I was completely baffled to see a facility like this in a base like this.
"Just to let people know, we need a few volunteers here. I am going to let a few people from the crowd there to test out the Trilobite!" Howard called out.
Just as I was about to see what Louise was doing, Howard pointed his finger at me and Louise.
"Hey you two! I'm giving you special permission to come and test the Trilobite!" Howard called out. 'Now I just need a third person.'
"Wow! I can't believe a girl like me got selected for testing a mobile armor like that!" Louise cheerfully said.
"Huh????" I uttered in pure surprise. For a few seconds, I really thought that Howard was just joking around. Unfortunately this wasn't the case.
"Hey you! At the back of the crowd over there! I'm picking you to test out the Trilobite!" Howard called a soldier that was all the way at the end of the crowd.
"Awesome! Just as I was starting to get sick of piloting the GN-Xs," The soldier at very end cheered out. He then ran over to where Louise and I were standing.
I'm not sure what my expression should be at this moment, I knew that something was going to be very, very wrong. Louise's cheerful expression contrasted my shocked-looking face; in fact, it only made my situation worse than it was before.