I'm pushin' it. Another chapter for all.
This time around, I got to read some interesting reviews. (Although there was this one that was kinda... -_-;)
Well, yes. There will be hot and steamy. But that's not for later, because for any of you who actually read the Author's Notes at the end would notice that this... is the beginning of the beginning of a new arc.
You thought the the little gore here and there in the Recollection Arc was bad?
Wait till you witness the full atrocity of the Infection Arc. Yes. Just as the name implies, there will be an infection.
But what is the context of this infection? Does it mean that hordes of people get infected? Animals? What gets infected?
For all you know, it could be you! My readers, infected with the addiction to fanfiction that you will forever become my slaves! Mwahahahahahah... *cough cough*.
Um and yeah... the reviewer I was talking about, that's um... uh... some weird fetishes you have there.
"Because, I'm Kurosaki Shin!"
"..."
Everyone simply stared.
His soldiers stared in confusion. His former friends stood in shock.
"What?" Kazuhiko finally broke the silence.
"I-I..." Kira didn't really know how to explain.
"Y-you're supposed to be dead," Masao uttered. "H-how..."
Kin and Harumi stood, clinging to their two male counterparts. Hiraoki wondered what his "big brother" was doing here, as he didn't know the full story.
They all wondered how it was possible.
"Prove it," Kazu pushed the silver-haired teen to substantiate his claim. "Prove that you're who you say you are."
Kira grit his teeth, and bore his fangs. He was rather annoyed that they simply wouldn't trust him. Why couldn't they trust him like Sakura had? Then again, Sakura and he had a kind of "connection". Even if he couldn't remember it all. So how would he show them?
"If you have lied, then you've just pulled the biggest mistake of your life..." Kazu's eyes narrowed.
The super-soldier was in a bit of a pinch. They were a little jumpy from the sight of his slightly elongated canine teeth, but were still on the offensive, pressuring him to provide something he did not know how to give.
Then a light bulb went off.
"Oh..." He realized that he had proof with him all along. Shin turned to Sakura and smiled, despite the worried look on her face. Then he gave the orders to his men. "Alright, 156 and 159, come over here and help me..."
"Boss?" 156 stood there, staring dumbly at his leader.
"Just help me take off the torso armor."
"Oh!" He and 159 ran over to assist their lieutenant. Carefully, they pressed on the ejection hatches of the armor, making pressurized air blow out of certain parts of the coverings. In that process, the metal plating fell off and revealed a black, nylon-like jumpsuit.
And there it was. His proof.
Around Kira's neck was a silver chain, and hanging from it was a golden ring.
Of course, Kira didn't know what it was, but considering it was from someone important, that important someone being Sakura, he guessed that all his friends would know about it.
So indeed they did! The looks on their face were priceless. He laughed, thankful that his luck paid off. What would have happened if they didn't know?
Turning to Sakura, he found that she was crying, tears of joy or sadness, he couldn't really tell so well. Shin hugged her, feeling her arms wrap tightly around him.
In the silence, he heard sniffles and sobbing as his friends came in to join in the hug, overjoyed that they had found their long lost friend.
But within his mind, Kira wanted to discover the meaning behind the ring, and hoped the Doctor would give his password soon.
"Subject is strapped down, sedated, and ready."
"Alright..." Dr. Archibald was fully suited up for laboratory surgery. "Proceeding..."
Prior to this experiment, he made sure that the guards in the room had been properly briefed on Kurosaki Shin's incident and were fully armored up for this. They weren't pushovers either. These were top commandos hand-selected by the USCA military for this kind of operation. They observed, trained, and worked alongside the ABS units.
Sweat fell down his brow and hit the inside of his fiberglass visor as he began to drill the syringe into his brain. Of course, the Doctor was trying to recreate the events from Shin's transformation, but on a more... controlled level. If this succeeded, they would have another soldier with the same skill and abilities as the First. This would be the Second. Then the Doctor would proceed to the Third, and Fourth, and etcetera. But only if he succeeded in this.
"Injecting AMVS Formula..." The Adaptive Mutational Virus Serum. This was crucial to the "reanimation". If the brain failed to convert before the rest of the body, then the patient would simply just die. On the other hand, the subject would live, and then all they had to do was remove the organ and replace it with a Quantum Generator.
That was, if they subject didn't break free. And that was happening now.
"Restrain her!"
Immediately, the soldiers broke formation and rushed into hold down the subject.
However, an unexpected thing occurred.
Both doctors, one from the other side of the glass, operating the machines, and the other within the room, watched in horror as a long, whip-like tongue whipped out of the girl's mouth and stabbed a soldier's neck.
Kira and his friends, including his fellow ABS units sat down on the clearing of grass and were exchanging tales of their experiences. Of course, by this point, they knew that he couldn't remember anything even if he wanted to. He was USCA property.
Being the "rough one", Kazu decided he had to go to the bathroom.
"Um, I'm going to take a piss guys."
"Ew! Don't say that out loud!" Kin avoided the boy like the plague and clung to the young Hiraoki, who was still very confused and trying to "catch up".
Masao simply brought a palm to his face and Harumi blushed, looking away.
"I'm gonna go over there!" Kazu was halfway across the clearing, pointing to the other section of the forest.
"Sedatives!" "Fire! Fire!"
By now, Dr. Archibald and Dr. Borvinski had realized the folly of their ways. It was time to quarantine the section and run.
Leaving their posts and the other men behind, the scientists locked the security and rushed to the USS Abraham's Docking Bay. By now, the other ABS units would have arrived.
Little did they know the mutated beings began to dent the door from within.
"Hmmhmmhmmmmmhmhmhmm..." Kazu hummed to himself a merry tune, relieving himself of bodily wastes, wetting the grass beneath him.
"Lalalalaaalalala..." he broke out into full jazzy melody, zipping up his pants and turning around to return.
Then he saw something and froze midstep.
Shin's cracked and damaged helmet. However, it was still functioning. The brown-haired boy walked over, the sounds of radio signals for 'KIRA' to respond.
"Um... guys!?"
"Security Breach. Quarantine Outbreak." The Abraham's self-operated automated AI, EVA, spoke with a English accent over the ship-wide intercom.
Many looked up the high ceiling in wonder.
"Security Breach. Quarantine Outbreak. Ventilation Sectors A through B have been compromised. Calling in all Military Personnel to Sectors C through D."
"My god..." Borvinski gasped. "They've escaped through the air vents..."
"Security Breach. Quarantine Outbreak. Sectors A through D have been overrun with Non-Registered Bio-Signatures. Activating AAC Security System."
"H-how is this possible..." Dr. Rousseau looked at his partner, who was equally perplexed. How were they spreading so fast? "If they pass the Automated Accelerated Cannons..."
"Security Breach. Quarantine Outbreak. Sectors A through E have been overrun with Non-Registered Bio-Signatures. AAC Security System One damaged. Please notify a Repair Technician."
The two paled.
"Security Breach. Sealing off Laboratory Chamber... Laboratory Chamber Quarantined. Non-Registered Bio-Signatures have infiltrated the Subject Growth Chamber."
"Oh... no... no..." Dr. Archibald suddenly whipped around, staring at the speakers. "This is going to ugly up really fast..."
"Well I can see that..." Rousseau stared with dullness.
"No, fool!" The man began to panic. "That's where we kept the other ABS units! The failed ones!"
"The ones in the... embryonic pods? I thought those were destroyed since KIRA..." The man frowned.
"No! The process... the process was delayed!" The man rushed back and forth, not knowing what to do. "They were scheduled to be destroyed with the creation of the Second, but now..."
The doctors knew that each ABS unit that had failed were to be destroyed. However, to further their project's production, they kept the failed subjects for research. ABS units 001 through 130 were kept constantly sedated and alive within their artificially created embryonic sacs. If the infected ABS units were to infect those...
"May God have mercy on our souls."
"Security Breach. Quarantine Failure. Locking All Ports and Docks. Please enter escape pods now. Blast pods are Stand-By."
"What mercy, Rousseau..." the man spit on the ground. "We were condemned to hell the moment we began this accursed program..."
"This is an encrypted message from the Abraham..." KIRA tried to fix his helmet COM, but could not access the system. Therefore, he would not be able to play the video through the hologram projector on his right shoulder.
"Um, sir, if you can somehow transfer over the message to my suit..." 158 meekly suggested. Kira nodded, for it was the best solution.
He opened up his visual HUD options, selected the Computer Modification tab, then chose Wireless Link.
With that, he was reconnected to the Helmet. Next, the chose to Link with ABS 158's armor system. Having done the necessary requirements for this to work, he began the transfer, using himself as the "link" between 158 and his helmet.
"Ooookay." 158 confirmed the video download with a nod of his head. "Playing now."
Everyone's attention turned to 158 as a hologram, 2D video projected itself in midair before them.
The video itself was chaos. It was slightly deterred from static, but that was not the pandemonium. It was what was in the video being recorded that was.
"As of now..." Dr. Archibald spoke into the "camera". "... the USS Abraham, HQ 02, is being overrun by... the Failed ABS units."
Kira frowned.
"The Failed are pretty much every creature and monster being we've every created before you..." The Doctor pointed at the camera, supposedly pointing at Shin. "You, 131, were our greatest success. But... the Failures... the ABS units 001 through 130 were mishaps and misfortunes. Hah..." the man sighed deeply.
Just then, the view switched over to another camera recording a hallway. Dozens of unidentifiable creatures swarmed the corridor, knocking down people and slaughtering them with what seemed to be tiger-like teeth and elongated finger-claws.
Then the camera changed again, this time, to a view of the docking bay. The doors were closed off, sealed shut. Men and women of the staff screamed for help as beasts of all sizes came and attacked them.
Then the camera switched back to the Doctor.
"I believe that EVA, this ship's AI, has deemed us... not able to be saved. Right now, your fellow brothers and sisters are fighting to regain control of the Bridge and override her commands, so that survivors may safely escape. Not even the life or blast pods work..." the man sighed again. "Although the doors do seal shut... I'm safe for now. But I need you... Kira, to come back to the USS Abraham."
ABS 131's frown remained.
"You are... our only hope. I don't believe that anyone has survived, other than myself or Rousseau... and maybe a few other ABS soldiers will probably live. But they aren't equipped to fight other ABS... no, the Failed ABS monstrosities.
… You need to come back here and activate the self-destruct sequence for the Colony. I would do it myself, but unfortunately I've locked myself in, of course, a Blast Pod. We cannot let this Quarantine Outbreak to Spread, so this is my last mission to you...
...I'm sorry that it turned out this way, and the USCA bastards probably won't let you in on the suicide mission. But as a motivator, I will give you access to a prototype suit that we've been working on for you and the... well, the Second.
..Along with it, I've left the password. All that's left is for you to come and get it...
...Archibald out."
Kira simply stared at the hologram as it blinked itself out of existence. The others looked at him, wondering if he was going to involve himself in this nightmare. Sakura herself was excessively worried. She was arguing with herself, between begging him to stay and be safe or to go and get his memories back.
The leader lowered his head, eyes closed and hands relaxed.
Then he raised his gaze and clenched his fists. He had a meeting with death to attend.
"ABS units, I, the First, have acknowledge and accepted that order. Proceed with Mission as Class One Priority!"
A/N: Wow. That was short. But then again, all beginnings are short. And you know that I'll make it up to you in the upcoming chapters. So review, post questions, ideas, observations, whatever.
So what do I do now? I will take a break for a few days, considering I'm cramming school work. I have off from work this weekend, so hopefully I can get a chapter in then. If I really push myself, I might even get one in tomorrow.
But as for now, I'm burned out, and need to type an english paper. Dang it.