It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects.
Nikola Tesla
Read more at: topics/evolution
Zero covered his eyes as the brightness of the incoming energy beam began to hurt his vision. He could hear the screams of OTs-14 and RFB from downstairs, they were desperately calling his name as they rushed up the stairs. Another pair of footsteps echoed through the room as Agent came closer and closer, attempting to be quicker than the incoming danger.
"Damn it! Move faster!" cried out Agent as she began cracking the floor below her with her feet, attempting to gain as much momentum as she possible could.
The house began to shake as the beam touched the ground, digging a massive line in its path to its target.
Multiple beads of sweat began to form on Zero's forehead as the heat of the incoming laser swept over the room. Zero closed his eyes and dropped to his knees.
"So, this is it."
"Don't give up!" Agent cried out as she began getting closer, her footsteps a lot more audible now over the deafening roar of the laser beam.
"I'm sorry. Marina."
[System temperature critical, mobility module damage inevitable.]
"Override!" shouted Agent inside her head.
[Understood, safety locks disengaged.]
"Only one more second, that's all I need. Please don't lock up on me!" Agent yelled as she came a step away from her partner's side.
Agent pressed her foot down on the wooden floor as hard as she could to propel herself to shield Zero's body. RFB and OT-s 14 had just managed to get to the top floor with them, horror and panic on their faces.
And then, time stopped.
The deafening roaring of the incoming energy beam fell silent in a split second. The room's heat dissipated without warning, everything still like winter ice. Her companion's expressions were frozen transitioning between expressions.
"I see you are doing your best to protect him. Thank you. Companions such as you are the best thing for him." A female voice spoke from behind Agent, who was frozen solid mid-stride. "I believe this is our first meeting."
Agent ground her teeth, doing her best to turn and face the possibly enemy, with little success. "Who are you? What did you do?"
Soft footsteps crept closer up from behind, and she wondered if the enemy was barefoot. In this terrain? "I had to borrow some of your core's energy, don't worry, I left you with sufficient energy to recover in a short time."
Agent gasped, her chest tightening with every imagined breath. "When…did you hack me?"
The unknown woman giggled and placed a finger on Agent's back. "I can give you this for now, to help you protect him, but it will have grave consequences for your body. Do you want this power?"
"Yes." Agent responded almost immediately, without any hesitation.
The unknown woman remained silent for a several seconds, moving closer to Agent, and placing both of her hands on the back of Agent's head. "Looks like you have my approval after all."
Agent squinted and making one more attempt to look back at the voice. "Approval?"
"You'll understand someday. Please take care of him. This is the last I can do with my remaining energy. I leave him in your hands." Replied the voice; Agent couldn't help but notice the small delay in-between her words. The other person was crying.
New system weaponry activated.
access to AEGIS permitted, system green.
access to APOLLO granted, system green.
temporary access to ALPHA protocol, granted.
"Who are you…" Agent whispered to the voice as multiple prompts filled her vision.
"It's best no-one finds out. Goodbye. take care of yourselves." Whispered the voice before fading into the unknown.
Agent found herself midair as time resumed its natural flow, the heat reminded her of the incoming doom. However, Agent realized she was moving faster than everything else around her.
OTs-14 and RFB seemed to run in slow motion towards Zero's body, the splinters of broken wood began to float in midair like snowflakes in the winter sky. Thousands of pieces of shattered glass began to form into clusters. Agent ignored the pain of her synthetic skin being torn apart as her body darted past the literal wall of floating glass.
"System core override! Limiter deactivation code green!" Agent shouted as she wrapped Zero's limp body around her lift arm, while lifting her right-hand directory in front of her.
"Huh? Wait, I'm not moving my body!" Agent's panicked exclamation coming inside her head, instead of from her lips.
Agent watched as her right hand began to open wide, expanding her fingers into a 'grabbing position' by themselves.
"Aegis. come to me." Another voice came from Agent's mouth.
234 meters away from the combat zone/ Unit 48 'Hell Jumpers'
"Make sure those ammo packs are full! I don't need accidents on the zone!" Shouted a soldier clad in an IOP uniform with multiple medals and ribbons decorating the green uniform's left breast.
Another soldier close by, this one wearing a red uniform with CADPAT pattern, barked at a group pf soldiers reloading their magazines. "Yes, sir! You heard the zombie people! Move your asses!"
The surrounding soldiers broke into a laughing fit before returning to their work.
"What the hell did you just call me?" The angered IOP operative hissed to the soldier in red camo.
"Zombie, undead, the living dead, plenty of names for it old man." Snickered the CADPAT soldier.
"Don't think you can disrespect your superiors just because you're mercenaries! You all would be nothing if not for the business that we give ARTEMIS!" The IOP operative proceeded to grab the other soldier by the collar of his uniform, bringing his face close to his. "Say something funny again and I'll end you, you understand me Kris? Your position as leader of this damned unit won't save you from a battlefield 'accident', my escort's aim sometimes likes to mess up and aim for the back of assholes' heads."
"Ok, ok." Kris sighed. "Look old man, I'll give it to you straight." Shaking his head, Kris slid a hand towards his pockets. "The 48th doesn't follow orders from anyone other than Bianco himself. You being here is completely pointless."
"Why you!" The IOP operative raised his hand in the air, ready to bring down on Kris's face. His hand was stopped by a tall, blonde soldier. Extremely muscular, his uniform had been torn in some places to be able to accommodate his body, mainly his sleeves. The blonde soldier's dark brown eyes began to dig into the IOP representative, holding him in place.
"Hitting one of the Hounds is a death sentence, you know?" Whispered the blonde soldier into the IOP operative's ear, causing him to shudder.
"H-h-he's one of the Hounds!?" The IOP operative fell to the ground, cowering, seemingly unaware that dirt and mud dulled the golden shine of his medals.
The dulled retort of two silenced gunshots came from behind Kris's right ear. The IOP operative and his escort slumped, dead, a steady stream of crimson flowing from small holes in the center of their foreheads, brain matter leaking out to mix with the soil.
"You know Seven, you could definitely work on your socializing skills." Kris laughed to himself before turning around to face the source of the gunfire.
A woman stood firm, she was medium sized, breaking into 5 feet tall. a silenced HK45 handgun in her right hand, aimed at the ground, a decorated scarf wrapped around her neck it's pattern giving the impression that she swore a devilish smile. Long silver hair flowed in the wind behind her.
"Annoying." Seven whispered before returning her silenced handgun to the holster on her hip, her expression conveying both disgust and anger.
"Hey Four, remind me why Seven is like this again?" Kris asked as he began to slap the dirt off his uniform.
"Her body rejected the transplant at first, they had to operate on her brain to make her nerves come into sync with the targeting module." The blonde soldier responded before flexing his muscles as hard as he could, ripping his uniform even further. "Too bad she'll never have the emotional capability to understand MY STRENGTH."
Kris tilted his head, a comical drop of sweat began to form behind his head. "Please don't do that anymore, that's your thirty-second replacement, you'll go broke just from buying replacement uniforms."
"NONSENSE!" The blonde soldier bellowed as he flexed even harder, his muscles continuing to expand, veins now appearing all over his skin. "A man does not need CLOTHES! Only his strength and a loving pet back at home! Women get in the way of my practice HOURS!"
"What does that even have to do with what I just said…" The bead of sweat behind Kris's head growing even larger.
"Seven! You must eat all your rations! You'll never become a worthy woman with that excuse of a body!" Four said as he pointed his extremely muscular index finger at the growling woman.
"Freak." Seven muttered loudly before turning and disappearing into a nearby tent. Four followed suit and headed out to help a nearby soldier lift crates of explosives and other supplies.
"Sheesh, if only Six was here." Kris sighed before looking towards the forest ahead.
Gunfire and the loud roar of a rail gun stopping his thoughts dead. Then silence, a fly that had been flying in front of his face had somehow now seemingly 'teleported' to his arm, he didn't see it move, one second it was there and the next it wasn't.
"The hell…" Kris whispered to himself before a black beam of light shot up into the sky. The clouds parted and what seemed to be a tear in the sky began to form, a gigantic machine unlike anything he'd ever seen began to appear from seemingly nowhere. Almost alien in build, the machine became more visible as the railgun shot began to fade unable to pierce it.
Shortly after, the ground began to shake as a giant wall of what seemed to be cannons began to form near the old abandoned houses not too far from Kris's location.
"What the hell is that!" Screamed an ARTEMIS soldier in horror as the shaking ground prevented him from rising to his feet.
"Is that some sort of SF secret weapon!? There's no way we can make it out of here before that thing blows us into nothingness!" Exclaimed another as he took cover behind a bundle of empty supply boxes.
"We got trouble!" Four called out as loud as he could to be heard over the panic around him, multiple soldiers began to crawl and stumble to his location in search of orders.
"….Pretty." Seven spoke softly as she gazed at the tower of black light in front of her.