Thanks goes to those who reviewed! I really appreciate it. Anyway... ah screw it you know the drill by now.
Disclaimer: Yea, yea, I don't own Star Ocean, Xenosaga, nor Kingdom Hearts. And I don't own Halo... which Alex makes yet another reference about.
Chapter 10: The Vessels of Anima
That night, I had yet another one of those strange dreams where various events from the past day or so played back while doing that weird rewinding thing. But oddly enough, there were no memories of T-elos. It seemed strange that she wouldn't pop up somewhere in there.
I woke up and looked over at the desk where I had been placing letters that I was going to send to the King. I had tried to send them earlier yesterday but it wouldn't go through. I checked the sending device and there was no damage... so why wasn't it working? Maybe it has something to do with being stuck in the past? I shrugged and sat down to write another letter.
BACK AT ANSEM'S COMPUTER ROOM...
As a process was running, Luther decided to take a break. Sora and the others were eating lunch in Ansem's Study. So Luther left the Computer Room to join them. As he walked in, Sora waved a box in the air lightly.
"About time you took a break! You'd be lucky if your lunch is still hot," he said as he put it down on the table surface next to the empty chair. Luther walked over and sat down onto the chair.
"Thanks," said Luther as he opened the box and started eating.
"Hey, Luther," started Riku. Luther stopped eating and looked over at Riku.
"Yes? What is it?"
"I've heard that the Horizons are unique Keyblades... but what is the Last Requirement? Your Keyblade mentioned that earlier." Luther took a deep breath and started to explain.
"The Last Requirement is the final barrier that stands between a Keyblade Wielder and the full power of a Horizon Blade. Should you break that barrier down... you will gain power that far exceeds that of any Keyblade." Sora almost chocked on his food.
"You serious?" He exclaimed. Donald squawked.
"Sora, you should get one of them Horizon Blades!" Stated Donald.
"Unfortunately it's not that simple," said King Mickey. Donald looked over at his King slightly confused.
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Asked Goofy.
"Right, there are only four Horizon Blades in existence. It is believed they have existed since the dawn of time, but that is more likely a myth than a fact. And they are infamous for being extremely picky. You already have to possess the qualities that a regular Keyblade will look for in people. But then there are even more requirements," added Luther.
"More requirements?" Exclaimed Sora.
"That's pretty strict, not to mention it must be really hard to find something so rare," said Leon.
"The Horizons are both easy and hard to find. I believe that somehow, a Horizon Blade will choose it's wielder at birth. Somehow it enters the mind of the wielder and at a certain age, the Horizon will draw the wielder into their own mind." Sora tilted his head in confusion.
"Into their own... mind?" He asked.
"How does that work?" Asked Goofy.
"Inside your mind is a world made up entirely of your memories. It can change shape and size, depending on your experiences. Were you to enter your own mind you could explore the corridors of your past. Deep within those corridors, in the case of a Horizon Wielder, will be a room created not from your memories, but the consciousness sleeping with the Horizon blade inside your mind. Inside this room will be a Keyblade made of stone. Should you pull out the blade, your ability to wield the Horizon Blade will be awakened." Sora let out a groan.
"Ugh... I'm really lost," he complained.
"Did you and Alex go through that?" Asked Kairi. Luther nodded.
"Yes. I experienced it after my projected form within the Eternal Sphere was destroyed. I was rendered unconscious and I found the Twilight Horizon. While my experience was normal... Alex's was very much abnormal," continued Luther.
"What do you mean?" Asked King Mickey.
"From what I have gathered, the Dark Horizon did not pull Alex into his mind yet. He was forcefully pulled into that state by another acting force. My theory is that he might have come into contact with something when he ventured into that other Universe."
"I wonder what that other acting force was..." Said King Mickey. He looked back at Luther. "So how do you achieve the Last Requirement?"
"The Last Requirement is this: The Wielder must have a very special connection with another person. If that connection is strong enough, the Wielder can draw strength from the emotions they feel towards that person. But that other person cannot be a fellow Horizon Wielder."
"What kind of connection?" Asked Kairi.
"It can be almost anything. The bond between lovers, the bond between extremely close friends, parent and child, or strong hatred for an arch-enemy. There are probably other examples but I can't think of any at the moment."
"How did you achieve the Last Requirement?"
"I fell in love with my Commanding Officer in the Aquarian Military, Clair Lasbard. As a matter of fact, we'll be getting married soon." Kairi clapped her hands together.
"Aww... congratulations!" She exclaimed with a smile.
"That has been a major source of your power. The desire to keep the Universes safe so that she will be there for you come your wedding day," said the Twilight Horizon in Luther's head.
"But why hasn't Alex achieved it yet?" Asked Sora. "The Dark Horizon was always giving him grief about how he was barely using any of it's power."
"That I don't know. But if what I sensed from Alex is true... then he may be well on his way to achieving it. It's only a matter of time now."
BACK ON THE ELSA...
I had finished writing the next letter. I included all the most recent events... excluding anything regarding T-elos. If Shion and the others found out I was hanging out with the enemy I'd be in some deep shit. If King Mickey found out I was hanging out with the enemy I'd be in even deeper shit. Of course, I was probably already in trouble for not letting everyone get involved in my quest to save the Universe. The last thing I needed to do was make it worse. I sealed the envelope and looked at my clock. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as I checked the time. It was already 12:45... I had only 15 minutes to get to the middle of the forest.
"SHIT! I overslept!" I exclaimed. I began to panic, I thought of that clearing when all of a sudden a portal of Darkness appeared below my feet. I fell through it with some colorful language and landed on grass. I looked around and I was now at the clearing where I was supposed to be. I looked at my hand. "Did I just... use a portal of darkness?"
"It would appear so. But I don't remember you having the ability to just fall into a portal and land at your destination like that," said the Dark Horizon. I immediately checked my arms.
"Wait a minute, the seals... they're gone!" That was when I remembered when KOS-MOS escorted me up to my room my arms started glowing slightly. "How could this have happened?" That was also when I remembered Axel's death. I felt a pang of sorrow again. I knew I would have to find some way to make a memorial for him... at least a temporary one. I let out a sigh and lowered my head as I sat down on the fallen tree trunk. I looked up as I picked up T-elos' scent. It was good to have my powers back, cause now I could sense things a lot better. A minute later, she landed on the ground in the middle of the clearing. She saw me sitting there and smiled, I smiled back as she walked towards me and sat down on the same trunk.
"Good afternoon," she said.
"Good morning is more like it," I said with a smirk. "I woke up about half an hour ago." T-elos looked shocked.
"You slept for that long? I guess the battle with Voyager really wore you out." I nodded and lowered my head.
"Yea... I was almost killed in that battle." T-elos glared at me and sighed.
"Didn't I tell you to be careful? Even if you know about that weakness they are still tough. You are lucky that you are not dead!"
"You are right, I am lucky. Which is more than I can say for him..."
"What are you talking about?"
"During that battle, one of my friends died. He was impaled by Voyager."
"Who got killed?"
"Axel..." T-elos seemed surprised at hearing his name.
"Axel? Didn't he die last year?"
"Yea, but somehow he..." I paused for a moment and looked at T-elos. "Wait how did you know about that?"
"I was given all sorts of information about you. Where you were born, your current biological age, height, weight, combat tactics, where you went, who you were friends with, who your enemies were, etc." I didn't understand why the Testaments had given T-elos so much information about me, but that wasn't important right now. I was too overwhelmed by my grief.
"Ah," I said simply. I lowered my head again.
"That is the unfortunate side to the kind of life people like us lead. We can lose the ones closest to us at any given moment." I looked over at T-elos with an expression of curiosity.
"Have you lost someone close to you before?" I asked. T-elos shook her head.
"No... I've never had anyone I called a friend, nor a family member. Being an Anti-Gnosis humanoid fighting system doesn't give me any time to talk to really talk to anyone." She looked over at me and smirked. "You were actually the first person who I talked to that wasn't a Testament, Wilhelm, or an enemy that was lying dead on the ground in front of me ten seconds after I met them."
"T-elos..." I said. I looked down at the ground. "That's kind of why I enjoy the job I have now... I get to do what Ido best while getting to meet people. But I'm always afraid that one day I will revisit one of those worlds and find out that a friend of mine I knew there was killed by the Heartless. I'm also afraid that if I get too close to someone, I'll lose them. Just like I lost my Mom... like I almost lost Luther..." I shook my head and sighed again. I looked back up at T-elos and smiled to try and change the rather depressing mood brought from said subject.
"So, shall we change subjects?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yea. What do you want to talk about?" I looked up at the sky for a moment. It's color reminded me of something. After a moment of thinking about it, I finally knew what it was. The sky reminded me of a Sea-Salt Ice Cream bar, how the bottom part is Azure blue but as it goes up, it becomes lighter until it is white at the top. Thinking about this made me hungry. I looked over at her.
"I'm going to go to the city to see if they have something to eat. Want me to get you anything?" T-elos shrugged.
"Do whatever, I can last for awhile without food." I got up and opened a new portal of darkness. Just like last time I fell through the forest floor and landed on the ground outside the city entrance. I walked in and looked around. The city was quiet in the way that it wasn't as lively as you would expect a city to be. There were U-TIC soldiers walking around with the occasional Civilians. I guess this rather hushed up mood of the city was because of the fact that the city was right in the middle of a war between the Federation and U-TIC. I almost felt as if I shouldn't be here, probably because of all the stares from guards. On the far left was an ice cream store. I walked over there and checked what flavors they had, and to my surprise they had Sea-Salt Ice Cream. I ordered two bars and I left the city. From there I used a portal of darkness to go back to the clearing. There T-elos sat looking around. She noticed me walking towards her.
"Back already?" I nodded.
"Yeah, and not empty handed," I said as I handed her the other bar of Sea-Salt Ice Cream. She looked at it with an expression of interest. Upon examining the bar she started eating it. After taking her first bite she jumped back in shock.
"What the? It's salty... yet sweet!" She exclaimed in surprise. I chuckled.
"That was my reaction when I tried one of those things for the first time." I started eating my bar as well. "You know, at Twilight Town they have an Ice Cream shop which specializes in making this flavor. And it's really popular too."
"I can see why, this is pretty good," said T-elos as she paused from eating her Ice Cream bar to speak up.
"Hey, we should go there someday. What do you think?" I asked. She smiled and nodded.
"Yea, I'd like that." She seemed concerned for a moment. "But what about your buddies? They won't be happy if they find out that your hanging out with, whom they believe to be, the enemy." I shrugged.
"Don't worry about that. I'm probably already in trouble for not letting them come along with me on this quest to save the Universe. So I don't really care about how much trouble I'll get into anymore. All that really matters is stopping the Gnosis." I paused for a moment. "What about you? Aren't the Testaments going to be pissed that you are hanging out with me. Especially with several of them wanting me dead?"
"It's no big deal, they know that I'm spending time with you. And they don't care. They don't think it's a detail they need to fuss over."
"Is that so?" I asked.
"Yea, their leader is very lose. So long as you do what he wants you to do, when he wants you to do it, there's a lot of freedom."
"What about your determination to destroy KOS-MOS?" I asked. T-elos leaned forward and tapped my nose.
"I'll focus on that when the time is right. But for now, I'll let that scrap doll waltz around." I felt uneasy thinking that I may have to face off against T-elos again in the near future. I hoped that would never happen but I knew it was inevitable. After we had both finished our ice cream bars T-elos looked over at me. "Say Alex..."
"Yes?" I asked. Suddenly T-elos' Vibro blade on her left wrist guard shot out and she lunged at me. I rolled to the side to avoid the attack and then I summoned the Dark Horizon. "H-hey! What's the big idea?" I exclaimed.
"I just decided we should have a little sparring match," said T-elos.
"Damn! I knew it was a trap!" Exclaimed the Dark Horizon.
"It's not a trap at all!" Said T-elos as she rushed towards me. She slashed at me with her Vibro blade several times. I blocked the attacks with the Dark Horizon and I slashed at her. She blocked the attack and with her free hand pulled out her infamous Magdalene 16 Pistol. She shot it several times, aiming for my arms and legs. I dodged to the side to avoid the bullets. And I hid behind a nearby tree. I got out of cover to fire several magic spells at T-elos. As she blocked the attacks, I rushed in and summoned the Immaculate Amalgam into my other hand. I unleashed a fury of attacks upon her, trying to land at least one. But she managed to either dodge or block every single one of them. As my final strike came down she dodged to the side and kicked me in the back. I stumbled backwards and lost my footing.
T-elos ran towards me, grabbed me from behind and jumped into the air while holding me. I recognized this attack, this is what she used in an attempt to disable KOS-MOS. I knew what came next so I prepared to counter. I felt my her letting go of the left side of my body, from there she would wrap her legs around me while sitting on my back, use me to break the fall, and then, if she planned to go as far as last time, break my right arm. Already I had dropped one of my Keyblades, all she would have to do is disarm me and she would win. As she began the to turn my body I aimed my now freed hand right at her.
"Fire bolt!" I shouted as I shot a symbology spell at her. She was stunned about my sudden counter, but then quickly recovered and proceeded to spin up into the air while we were falling and landed on my back. The impact of her hitting my back caused me to drop the Dark Horizon. As it fell to the ground I reached out for it. Suddenly it came flying to me. I grabbed it and I spun it around with my free hand. "FIRAGA!" As fire began to appear and circle around me, T-elos jumped off of me and landed on a tree branch. I used a portal of Darkness to land safely onto the ground without getting hurt. I quickly recovered and ran towards the tree T-elos was standing on. As I came close to the tree. I held my Keyblade back and flew by. The Dark Horizon slashed through the tree and it started to fall. T-elos' visor lowered and she jumped into the air. She held her right hand up and touched her head piece. The tree just suddenly exploded into thousands of tiny splinters, followed by a delayed explosion sound. The shockwave sent me flying back. Amongst the dust I couldn't see anything. To avoid getting a piece of wood in my eyes I closed them and now I had to rely only on the power of darkness. I began to run up a tree as I sensed T-elos coming closer. As I was in mid-air I suddenly sensed T-elos coming right at me. She slammed right into me, sending me flying down through several branches and onto the ground. I swiftly got up, opened my eyes and saw T-elos standing there in a familiar position. She held her hands out as her chest piece suddenly opened up. And a red sphere appeared and started to grow.
I ran towards her to try and stop the attack, only to have her flip right over me as I slashed at her. I had put a lot of force into that attack so I stumbled near the end. As I did I realized the error I had just made. "Shit..." I whispered. The next thing I knew was the feeling of that red sphere hitting me. It felt as if all the nerves in my body had been cut off from my brain and I couldn't move my arms or legs. T-elos kicked the sphere and I was sent flying against a tree. Suddenly she held out a strange piece of equipment I hadn't seen before.
"Bind!" She shouted. Suddenly energy chains were speeding towards me. They wrapped around me and the tree and soon I was stuck there... not that it mattered since I was stuck in that sphere. Her visor rose up and she held out her right hand. The red sphere vanished but I was still stuck to the tree. She smirked. "I won."
"Note to self... watch out for that next time," I said. T-elos held out that device again and removed the chains on me.
"I believe the score is 3 to 0 now. But at least your are getting stronger," said T-elos.
"She really likes to rub in that first fact, doesn't she?" Commented the Dark Horizon.
"I swear that someday, I'll at least get 1 point." I responded.
"Good luck with that. You might want to consider figuring out how to fulfil the Last Requirement before you say things like that. Cause that's probably your best bet." T-elos looked up at the sky as if she heard something. She looked back at me after a few seconds.
"Well, I have to head out now. See you later at some point," she said as she waved a quick goodbye and jumped above the tree line. I opened a portal of darkness to the Elsa. As I sat in my cabin I thought about what I should do next. I decided it would be best to go and see how things stand with the Mark I suit. I headed to the Professors Lab. He and Scott were sitting at a table, drinking something that was probably booze. As I approached them Professor looked over at me and took a sip of his drink.
"Ah there you are. I was wondering when you would come here," he said. I nodded.
"Yea, I kinda overslept. Anyway, so how's the suit coming along?" I asked. Professor pointed to a door.
"It's in there," he said.
"This suit is far superior to anything U-TIC would have had in this time period. We're pretty impressed at how much we were able to with this armor that you brought," added Scott.
"Alright, I'll try it on." I said. I walked towards the room and the door slid open. I walked inside to see that this was a spare storage room of some sort. As the door closed I looked in front of me to see the Mark I suit. The part of the suit that had once been purple was now various shades of black and was in camouflage style. On both of the shoulders was the Initials RA, which was the initials for Robot Academy. The black vest hadn't changed at all excluding the back of the outfit which, according to the diagram, now had a Nobody Symbol on the back. The helmet had undergone a lot of change. It was now black as well and the visor was all one piece, not two separate parts.
"Is it just me or does that suit look a lot like..." Started the Dark Horizon.
"Yeah... that's essentially ODST Armor. Only it's nowhere near as bulky." I finished.
"Talk about coincidence." I put the armor on except for the helmet. Which I then proceeded to put on. As it covered my face, various displays popped up. This thing indicated my current health status, body temperature, equipment, current time and date, even a thing to show external temperature. There was also things like Heat Detector Vision, Night Vision, etc. Of course most of these weren't on screen, but they could be accessed, I quickly discovered, by pressing buttons on the side of the helmet. I took a step outside to show off my new suit.
"So, what do you think?" Asked Professor.
"This suit is awesome. I believe it will help in combat," I said. I deactivated and removed my helmet. "But it would be a good idea to field test this suit in the near future."
"Well that'll have to wait. Shion's up and about and she's called everyone to a meeting in the gun room," said Scott.
"Indeed, we should probably get going," said the Professor. We headed to the Gun Room and went inside. Within the next minute or so, everyone had gathered around. Shion mentioned that there were Vessels of Anima inside of the U-TIC central tower, Labyrinthos. She then asked the Professor if their power could help return us to the present. Professor thought for a moment in silence, then he spoke. "Yes, that could work. If we had Vessels of Anima, we might be able to use that energy to return to our original time."
"We could come under attack at any time. Just being able to use the E.S. would benefit us," added Ziggy.
"Not to mention this would be a good time for me to find a new Mobile Weapon," I said.
"At least that trash can of yours getting destroyed gave you motivation to get something better," said Shion teasingly.
"Hey, hey, that thing wasn't trash. It was just not built for the conditions we came across!" I exclaimed.
"But the Vessels are stored inside Labyrinthos. I don't think they'll let us inside that easily," said chaos.
"We have forged IDs. If we use them well, getting inside will be easy," replied Shion.
"At any rate, our presence here is causing an expanding distortion throughout the entire universe. It could lead to not only us disappearing, but the destruction of the universe itself," stated Professor. Jr looked around at all of us.
"Gotcha. Get yourselves ready to infiltrate the place. The third descent operation, the Miltian Conflict, is going to take place in a few days. We have to hurry," he said. Jr looked over at me as if my new suit caught his eye. "What's with the new outfit, Alex?"
"That is our latest product," said Professor. He grinned. "Battle Armor Mark I! It is a fine piece of work if I do say so myself."
"You sure you want to be wearing that? Who knows what they've done to it," said Jr.
"I think it will be fine," I said. Jr gave me an unsure look, but then turned around and walked off a few seconds later. After an hour of preparation or so, we left the Elsa and headed out to the city. From there, Shion and Allen guided us to the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility (ANT Facility for short), which connects to Labyrinthos. The outside of the ANT Facility was a small garden with a circular object in the center with a holo ring spinning around in the air above it. We walked past the soldiers who were patrolling the outside and entered the facility through the large double doors.
The facility looked very much like a hospital. There were information desks on both the left and right. Ahead of us was a gate guarded by two U-TIC soldiers. Behind the gate was a large metal door. The U-TIC logo was displayed on the wall above the opening.
"There. We can get into Labyrinthos from that gate," said Shion.
"There are guards," stated Ziggy.
"We have IDs, so no problem, right?" Asked Jr.
"Uh, actually we can't go any further with these IDs," said Allen.
"Well that complicates things," I said.
"If there's no other route, then we have no choice but to go in by force," said Ziggy as he spun his metal fist around a couple of times.
"Yeah. We're going to have to fight sooner or later. Let's get it over with!" Said Jr as he pulled out his guns. We charged towards the guards. Within a matter of seconds they had both been taken down. As we were about to enter Labyrinthos, I stopped and looked at the desks on the left and right. People who probably worked here just starred at us, completely stopping what they were doing as if they had been frozen in time. I stepped forward and addressed them.
"You didn't see anything," I stated. Everyone nodded and quickly resumed doing whatever they were... well... doing. We proceeded into Labyrinthos. After a series of narrow passage ways we came up to a gate that blocked off the path leading to the elevator platform.
"We're not going to be able to pass this thing," said MOMO.
"Then we'll have to find another route," stated Jin. I looked around and saw a narrow catwalk and both sides of the gate. The one on the left lead to a wall, the one on the right went up to something on the right side of the wall. Judging by it's appearance it was most likely a door. I pointed towards it.
"How about there?" I asked.
"Well it's worth a shot," commented Jr with a shrug. KOS-MOS pulled out a hand gun and fired several shots at the door. It crumbled and fell off it's hinges and onto the ground. We went through the newly opened passage way and started walking down the hallway. After awhile we came to a room that head two ways to go. One was a door that lead to another area. The other one was a platform going up to a red section of the wall. The number 13 was displayed above the door on the platform. Shion stopped walking as she saw the elevator platform.
"That number..." she commented. KOS-MOS stopped and looked over at Shion.
"What is it, Shion?" Asked KOS-MOS.
"KOS-MOS, do you know where this door leads?" KOS-MOS looked at the door as if she was scanning it. A second later she spoke up.
"If it is the same as fifteen years ago, the special equipment transport elevator, which connects to the Acute Neurosis Treatment Facility lies ahead."
"I knew it. It connects to Mom's room." We kept moving forward, leaving the transport elevator behind since it wasn't our destination. As we continued walking through the narrow corridors, we heard voices. We stopped walking and looked around the corner to see two people talking. Both were wearing some sort of research uniform. The nearest man's outfit was green, he was an old man with short grey hair. I couldn't make out his eye color cause he was a bit too far away for that. The other man was probably a bit younger. He had purple wavy hair and his eyes were covered by strange glasses. His uniform consisted of purple shades.
"I don't care about you obsessing over that doll of your daughter, but I can't have you forgetting the real objective. The operation has already begun," said the younger man.
"You and Winnicot formulated it. I don't see why you need me," said the older man.
"I'm going to take over the management of this experiment, if you've lost your nerves." The older man closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Do as you wish. It's no longer my concern." The younger man left the scene and the older man walked into the room behind him.
"Is that Joachim Mizrahi?" Asked Jr.
"Daddy..." Whispered MOMO as she ran through the open door.
"MOMO!" Exclaimed Jr. But it was too late, MOMO had gone inside the room. I looked over at Jr.
"That guy was THE Joachim Mizrahi? The guy who was blamed for summoning the Gnosis?" I asked.
"Yup, that's him."
"Mizrahi... then that means that he's..."
"Yea. He's MOMO's father... and her creator." We waited a few minutes to see if MOMO would come back out. But she didn't so we decided to go in there. Dr. Mizrahi had already left using a small elevator in the corner of the room. In this room was a large pillar shaped machine in the middle of a glass circle on the floor. On each side of the pillar was six Zohar shaped green holograms, twelve in all. And at the back of the room was a drawing of the original Zohar. MOMO stood there looking at the elevator. Jr approached her. "MOMO, are you okay?"
"I talked with Daddy. He called me his second daughter. He said he's going to protect the world for us," she said. MOMO looked both sad and happy. "I... I..." She and Jr embraced each other.
"Yeah. I'm happy for you, MOMO," said Jr. We left that room and continued onward towards the Vessels of Anima. Almost no time had passed until Ziggy placed his right hand out to block us from continuing.
"Wait," he said calmly. Just above us was a passage way connected to a flight of stairs the lead up to it. There were two doors on both sides of the 'bridge'. One was blocked by a red screen of some sort, the other door opened. Out came a man with short black hair in a researcher outfit. He had a stern look to his face from what I could see. He was followed by a young teenager with short blue hair and blue eyes. He too wore some sort of researcher outfit.
"That's Kevin and Dad?" Exclaimed Shion. They were talking as they approached the other door. The first man (Who judging by his age was most likely Shion's Father) raised up a device and the red screen that blocked the door disappeared. Suddenly another person walked out of the room that Kevin and Shion's father had just been in. I gasped as I saw them. It was my Father in Organization XIII attire.
"My old man?" I whispered.
"That's your father?" Asked Shion. I nodded.
"Yeah... that's him." He joined up with Shion's Father and Kevin. They talked quietly and walked through the just recently unlocked door. "I don't understand. Why is he here?" I asked. I would be sure to write another report and send it to King Mickey... when I get back into the present. It didn't make any sense, I never once heard anything about my Father coming here in the distant past. What was he trying to accomplish by coming here and now?
We went up the stairs and inside the room that they walked out of. It was a small room with two computer terminals. Scott went into the corner and started typing on that terminal. The rest of us went over to the other terminal and looked around.
"What's this?" Asked Shion.
"Looks like his private room," stated chaos. MOMO approached the terminal.
"Shion! It's a list of the test subjects," said MOMO.
"So, he really was involved with U-TIC..." Said Shion as she looked at the ground.
"Shion! This name!" I looked over at the screen and saw in green letters: "AOI UZUKI".
"Yes, it's my mother's name. She was one of the victims of the experiments performed here. She was put here by the hands of the one she trusted," said Shion as she clenched her fist.
"No, below that!" Insisted MOMO.
"Below?" Asked Shion. I looked down at the next name and I jumped back in shock.
"Whoa! Eh... Shion... you might want to look at this..." Shion seemed even more curious after my reaction. She stepped forward and looked at the screen. In big green letters was the name: "SHION UZUKI". Shion gasped in shock.
"Shion Uzuki? What? Why is my name here?" She exclaimed. She looked over at Jin suspiciously. "Jin! What does this mean?! You know something, don't you?!" She exclaimed.
"Ahh..." Grunted Jin as he looked away.
"No. You're the same as Dad. You knew everything, and still you let them do that to Mom." She exclaimed.
"No! Shion, it's not like that!" Cried Jin.
"Then what is it?! If you haven't done anything wrong, then explain it to me!"
"Shion..." Started Jin. There was a beep sound and part of the wall behind the terminal opened up, revealing a lab in the next room... however you get there. Inside was a series of 8 glass tubes filled with a liquid substance and strange creatures. They stood about four feet tall and had a lethal looking sword/claw extending from both arms. Their faces were vacant and empty. They consisted mostly of shades of grey. On both of their shoulders was the number: "27". Shion gasped at the sight of them.
"What?! That's…it can't be." Exclaimed Shion in disbelief.
"Hmm. Are those combat Realians?" Asked Professor as he looked at the strange creatures.
"No doubt about it. Those are the prototype combat Realians the U-TIC Organization used during the Miltian Conflict," explained Jr. I pressed a button on the back of my helmet and I scanned one of these "Combat Realians". I let out a whistle as I looked the results.
"Man, these things rank an unusually high threat level for so called 'combat realians'." I said.
"Those are the Realians that killed Mom. Why are they here?" Asked Shion.
"Why? I'd imagine they were developed here," said Professor. Shion let out a gasp... again.
"No, it can't be. Kevin killed Mom? There is no way that can be true!" Exclaimed Shion. She suddenly bolted towards the door. Jin got in the way and blocked her.
"Shion!" Exclaimed Jr.
"Are you all right? We could cancel this operation," said Jin calmly. Shion shook her head.
"I'm fine. I just got a little worked up. When the Conflict starts, this place will be a part of the battlefield. It'll be too late then. If we miss this chance, it'll be impossible to get the Vessels of Anima," said Shion. We left the room and walked through the door that Shion's Dad, Kevin, and my Father had gone through. From there we arrived at the elevator we had seen through the gate previously, but couldn't access. As we tried to turn it on it made a buzz sound.
"You do not have the right access permission to..." Started the computer in a female voice.
"Oh shut up," I said as I summoned the Dark Horizon. A narrow beam of light shot from the Dark Horizon and hit the terminal.
"Access approved," said the machine as I dismissed the Dark Horizon. Jr went ahead and pressed the button to make the elevator head down to the lower floor.
"That Keyblade surely is something else," said Professor as the elevator started moving. As we reached the next floor, Jin guided us to a maintenance elevator that would lead us towards our destination. How he even knew about that route I have no idea, but the details aren't always important. After awhile we walked across a catwalk that was many feet above a bridge that connected a room below us to a room in the center of the chasm. Judging by the sign near that door, the Zohar was most likely in the next room.
"Why does everything always have to be so high?" I asked in my thoughts as we walked slowly across the narrow catwalk. After the catwalk was a small hallway with an air lock door. We opened the door and walked onto the catwalk of the next room. This room was huge, simply huge. And oddly enough a model that looked exactly like Omega Res Novae floated there in the middle of the room. Inside it was the Original Zohar in all it's golden glory.
"Hey, there's someone there," said Jr.
"Quiet Jr, If they find us it's all over," grunted chaos.
"Oh, sorry." On the ground floor of this room was that Margulis guy, Shion's Father, Kevin, and my dad.
"Dad..." Whispered Shion in slight shock.
"Colonel Margulis..." Whispered Jin in a similar state of shock as his sister.
"My father..." I said as I looked at my old man. Margulis looked over at Shion's Father.
"How is it progressing? Lord Heinlein is concerned," he said.
" Lord Heinlein? I thought this project was under Lord Sergius's jurisdiction," said Shion's Father.
"Lord Sergius is only interested in Proto Omega. It's too powerful a toy for that fool."
"So, while the Federation is easy to deceive, Ormus leaders are less likely to be fooled."
"The Federation's operation will soon begin. The system must be activated at the same time."
"The project has already entered the final phase. Dr. Sellers is in charge of the system. I'm calibrating the Vessels of Anima," explained Kevin.
"The artifacts of God scattered throughout space with the disappearance of Lost Jerusalem. Our objective is to return them to their proper form so we may return to our holy land. That is the reason the Zohar and the Vessels of Anima were created," stated Margulis as if he was giving a speech. Shion's Father and Kevin looked up at 'Proto Omega'.
"So, that's the Zohar..." Commented Shion's Father with no noticeable tone in his voice. No awe, nor shock, not even fear or amazement.
"Yes. The Zohar and the Vessels of Anima were once one whole. No, it would be better to say that they were intended to be one whole. I understand that the link experiment has been delayed. Perhaps this project is beyond Mizrahi's capability, Supervisor Uzuki," continued Margulis.
"Professor Mizrahi isn't the reason. We have to be careful since Febronia is the only usable transgenic type unit we have," explained Shion's Father.
"She's still disposable. We can always make another," stated Kevin with a tone of voice that made it clear that he probably had a nasty sneer on his face.
"Why do you insist on using Realians? You could use those patients for the experiment," suggested Margulis.
"Use Hospital Patients? That's horrible!" Exclaimed the Dark Horizon in my thoughts.
"Because of fear," explained Kevin. Margulis seemed curious as to what Kevin meant by that.
"Fear?"
"Unlike humans, Realians feel no fear. That's why we can use them." Margulis chuckled slightly.
"I've heard that Realians feel fear as well."
"All things fear their own death. But Realians are strongly connected to each other by their subconscious. They never reject each other. Even if their body disappears, they are still connected at the subconscious level. That's what makes them different from people," added Kevin.
"In order to control the Zohar, we must use Lemegeton and convey human will from the Vessels of Anime via the U.M.N. But that results in direct contact with U-DO and U-DO invokes primal fear in human beings. Humans reject others. Those who are rejected are overcome with fear of isolation. That fear is even stronger than that of death since humans are weak. If we had the original source of the Lemegeton, then things might be different, but we are limited in what we can do with this emulation that's based on incomplete data. And because of that deficiency, we've already wasted one transgenic type unit," continued Shion's Father.
"Is all that worth the end result?" Asked my Father.
"But of course, the end result is the accomplishment of our objectives," said Margulis.
"What the hell is Lemegeton?" I whispered.
"A Zohar control program created back in the days of Lost Jerusalem," explained Shion.
"The Realian consciousness unavoidably suffers stress since it acts as a wall to suppress the human fear of U-DO." Stated Kevin.
"At any rate, we'll take care of the problems. There's nothing to worry about. A certain company has agreed to support us as well. Of course, it's all unofficial," said Shion's Father. Margulis looked over at him.
"Vector, I presume. Is it safe?"
"All that matters are results. That's the only thing any business cares about. But if that Lord Sergius learns of Vector's involvement, he's not going to be happy."
"Then he won't know. And we will have a new master soon enough," said Margulis as he began to walk away.
"I'd be careful saying things like that, commander. The walls have ears, you know." Said Shion's Father as he and Kevin followed Margulis. My Father stayed behind and opened up a Connection Gear and started typing something. He put it away quickly afterwards.
"This is the first step. I've got all the data I need to create it," said my Father. He opened a portal of darkness and left. What did he need data for, and why was he tagging along with people like them? The more I saw this, the less sense it made. Shion let out a sigh.
"Dad, I can't believe you. You betrayed Mom and me and everyone." She said. We moved onward. After a few more corridors and an elevator we finally arrived at the hangar where the Vessels of Anima were kept. It was a room big enough to fit many AWMS in here. It was very dark and cold in here, I have no idea why though. On the lower level was 12 red cages. Six on each side of the platform.
"Hoo-whee! This is a nice setup! I'm getting excited just looking at it! Ha, ha, ha!" Exclaimed Professor.
"This is it, huh?" Asked Jr.
"Those cages should contain the Vessels of Anima," explained Shion. The Professor started typing something on a console.
"A little bit of this, and that, and Enter!" He said. We went to the lower level as the doors to each cage opened up. All of them were loaded with smoke/steam and inside some of them were ES Crafts.
"Amazing!" Exclaimed MOMO. Jr approached one of the cages.
"Look at that! This is... Simeon!" He said.
"Zebulum, and Dinah's names are here, too," added Shion.
"There are 11 cages containing the Vessels of Anima: Simeon, Dinah, Zebulum, Reuben, Levi, Issachar, Gad, Joseph, Dan, Naphtali, and finally, Judah. Of those, there are three capable of being operated as E.S. craft. And as you can see, Asher's cage is empty." Explained KOS-MOS.
"Wait a minute! What's going on? The E.S.s were developed at Vector. What are they doing here?" Asked Shion.
"It's just like what Margulis said, Heinlein from Hyams and Wilhelm of Vector oversee the weapons at this facility. The two of them may have…made some sort of exchange…which just might have involved the Vessels of Anima. Backdoor weapons deals are so common these days, even the tabloids wouldn't bother printing anything about it," stated Jin.
"Wilhelm? As in THE Wilhelm? The guy who's supposedly the leader of the Testaments?" I asked in my thoughts.
"Basically these are so valuable, that they're even more important than reputation or profit concerns," added Jr.
"Knock it off!" Shouted the Professor as he smacked Jr with a wrench. Jr bent forward from the impact and rubbed the back of head while glaring at Professor. "What are you babbling about? Prepare each of your E.S.s! Transport them to their respective cargo holds, now!" Exclaimed Professor. Shion and the others Transported their E.S.'s and put them next to the Vessel of Anima that went with each individual mobile weapon. "Scott! Retrieve the Vessels of Anima."
"Yes, Professor!" Said Scott as he typed things into the console. Three Vessels of Anima rose up out of the cages and into E.S.'s that they went with. Jr, chaos, and I walked over to Professor.
"What about Asher? The cage is empty!" Questioned Jr.
"I know that! I thought we'd be able to use a different Vessel, but it seems that won't work," explained Professor as he looked up at the Vessel-less Asher.
"Don't tell me we can't use Asher!" Whined Jr.
"Oh, stop whining." Scott looked over at Jr.
"We've got another reactor for Asher," he added.
"We originally developed it for Erde, so its capabilities are top-class!" Exclaimed Professor with a look of pride on his face.
"Are you sure it's going to be okay to use some weird thing like that?!" Asked Jr a little worried. He looked over at his co-pilot with a look that was probably a plea for help. "chaos, say something!"
"Well, we'll just have to trust the Professor. And it's not like we have any other choice," commented chaos. Scott and Professor started laughing.
"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Said Jr with a tone of worry. After awhile, the reactor was installed into Asher. I was a bit worried that we would be discovered during this process of assembling the ES crafts. But it seems like we managed to make it through without any incidents.
"Okay, this should stop your complaining. It's ready to fight any time!" Stated the Professor as he held up his hand and pointed at Asher.
"Wow, not bad. Not bad at all," said Jr.
"Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do for a Mobile Weapon," I said.
"I told you that you should have taken that AWMS you used back at the CAT Facility," insisted Jr.
"In retrospect... you're right." I said. Suddenly an alarm went off.
"What the hell? Have we been caught?" Asked Jr.
"Well yes, of course! After all, we're using their mainframe to get these things assembled. So, of course they noticed us!" Exclaimed Professor as if it was really obvious.
"It's like sending a message: 'We're using your stuff without permission.'" Added Scott.
"chaos..." Whined Jr as he looked over at chaos, again looking for advice or help. With a simple shrug, chaos spoke.
"Oh well, I guess we better hurry up and get going," he said casually. Jr and chaos got into Asher and joined up with Shion and the others. Scott and Professor split up, Scott was onboard the Reuben. Professor was in the Dinah, I guess it helps that the Dinah can hold up to three people. But this left me with one problem. I turned on a COM channel to speak to Shion and the others while they were inside their E.S.s
"What about me?" I asked.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any more seats for you. And it's too risky to have you on the shoulders of one of our ES crafts. You'll have to find another route to get out of here," said Jin.
"Are you kidding me? The way we took is probably already loaded with a bunch of soldiers chasing after us! And there is no guarantee that there is another way out of here!"
"Alex, you have a much higher chance of survival by finding another route. Without a mobile weapon you are extremely vulnerable," added KOS-MOS.
"Good luck, Alex," said Shion. The four E.S.s turned around and headed towards a large door. Suddenly they stopped as they started glowing again.
"What's going on?! They're not going to shut down again, are they?" Asked Jr.
"No. This is the Vessels of Anima resonating with our wills," said chaos.
"What? With our wills?"
"Our consciousnesses and the Vessels of Anima have begun to synchronize," added Jin.
"So this is what Virgil meant when he said we're being "compelled" to ride them?" Asked Jr. He looked over and saw me still standing there. "The hell you waiting for, Alex? Get going!" I nodded.
"Right, I'm going now!" I said as I ran towards a set of stairs that lead up to a small elevator.
"We're screwed," said the Dark Horizon.
"Tell me about it!" I shouted. I went up the elevator and I walked through a series of narrow corridors. Eventually I found myself going down several flights of stairs. After awhile I reached a door. I went through it and found myself inside a large hangar with multiple AWMS in rows through out the room. I noticed there were guards walking around as well. As one started nearing my location I hid behind a row of crates. As he left I got up and ran to another hiding spot. I saw a row of AWMS beyond the walkway I was on. It was a very standard Ormus issued AWMS. A simple green awms with a smooth and round body. It was equipped with a laser rifle and that was it. As I was about to make a break for the AWMS it I saw several guards coming in different directions. It didn't matter if I tried to hide, because at some point one of them would see me because of where I was positioned. I looked to my right and saw a mobile weapon of some sort covered in a large cloth. Without thinking I scrambled onto the mobile weapon and under the cloth. I slipped and landed inside the dual-cockpit. To remain hidden I got into the Main Pilot position and waited. If I waited for it to become night there would be less guards. That seemed like my only choice.
Suddenly the cockpit door closed. And to make things go from bad to worse the mobile weapon started moving along some track. I felt the AWMS being picked up by hooks and raised onto a launch platform. After what seemed like a few minutes of preparation, there was a voice.
"Omega Universitas, clear for Launch!" The power turned on and the walls of the cockpit vanished like they always do.
"Omega Universitas? Why is this AWMS here?" I asked in my thoughts.
"Talk about coincidence," said the Dark Horizon.
"Yea, really." The wall ahead of Omega Universitas opened up. I could see daylight... which was a relief.
"Capture those AWMS at any cost!" Shouted a voice over the COM Channel. A very familiar voice too. Where have I heard that voice before? Suddenly Omega Universitas shot down the launching ramp and started flying off in the air above the city.
"Where are you going?" I asked. Universitas didn't reply, it just kept on flying towards it's destination. Suddenly I heard a transmission going through the channel.
"…intruder…Zohar…test subject……provide……curity…there's no time…no……postpone the connection experiment. Number…1…6…5, Aoi Uzuki is being prepped…in…hospital ward…" Said one voice.
"Aoi... Uzuki?" Asked Shion's voice.
"Transport the test subject!"
"MOTHER!" Shouted Shion on the other line. There were various sounds coming from the line, like the sound of a cockpit opening.
"Shion. Tell me where you are going. Acting alone under the current circumstances would be extremely..." Said KOS-MOS.
" I'm sorry! I have to save my mom!" Exclaimed Shion.
"Are you kidding me? We have almost an entire military pursuing us and she's going back?" I exclaimed.
"We have to stop her!" Said the Dark Horizon.
"You're right, let's go!" I paused and let out a sigh. "First we have to figure out how to get control over this thing." The Dark Horizon let out a sigh.
"This can't be happening..." He said with a groan. I started typing things and pressing buttons trying to get this thing under control like last time. But it was harder for some reason. It was as if Omega Universitas was fighting to keep control. It arrived at platform, when I saw who was on this platform I let out gasp as I realized what this thing had been sent to attack. The four E.S.'s! Dinah was facing a small elevator on the side, and I could sense Shion's scent moving away from our location. Asher, Reuben, and Zebulum were all looking in the same direction. Suddenly a laser beam shot out of Omega Universitas' hand toward Asher. Asher got out of the way in time and now all four E.S.'s were looking at me. I started slamming panels and kicking anything I could kick.
"HEY! If they attack us, your as good as destroyed and I'm as good as dead!" There was no response. "Dammit, how do I open a channel?" I pressed a button and there was a beep.
"An enemy mobile weapon craft," said Jin.
"Get the hell out of our way!" Exclaimed Jr.
"I am not the enemy! This is Alex Rothrock! Repeat! This is Alex Rothrock!" I shouted. Apparently that switch only allowed me to hear them but not let me speak to them. Suddenly Omega Universitas fell out of fighting stance and floated in the air limply. "What's going on?" My comrades seem to notice something was up as well.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Asked Jr. Suddenly I saw a red light appear at my ankles and slowly rise up my body. Almost as if I was being scanned. Suddenly a new screen appeared. It said the words: ALEX ROTHROCK, THE CROSSER/REUEL THE WIELDER... DEACTIVATING AI PILOT... WELCOME... I AM... OMEGA UNIVERSITAS.
I looked at the controls and quickly figured out what did what due to my experience with this machine before. I pressed a button and opened up a channel.
"This is Alex Rothrock. I found a way to turn that crazy AI off. I now have control over Omega Universitas," I said.
"So you were able to make it out okay after all," said Jr with a tone of amusement in his voice.
"But why is that weapon craft here?" Asked Ziggy.
"Beats me, I just took this as a chance to get a Mobile Weapon," I said.
"Actually you didn't plan any of this. It was entirely an accident." Said the Dark Horizon.
"Ah details, who needs 'em?" Reuben looked over at Dinah.
"KOS-MOS, what's Shion's position?" Asked Jin.
"She's moving through the 13th Administration wing," said KOS-MOS.
"We'll get her back!" Exclaimed Jr. Right then my motion detector picked up several enemies. The doors the lead down towards Labyrinthos opened up and multiple Ormus AWMS came pouring out. "More of them?" We started fighting units as they came towards us. As I smashed the head off of an AWMS unit, I heard the enemy chatter over the COM Channel.
"Approach with caution! Omega Universitas has gone rampant! I repeat! Omega Universitas has gone rampant!" Exclaimed the person. They must still think that this craft is under AI control. We continued fighting but as it progressed it slowly became a bit overwhelming.
"Dammit! They just keep on coming!" Exclaimed Jr. As he destroyed another Mobile Weapon.
"Jr., we should retreat for now," suggested Jin.
"Retreat? But then Shion will..."
"It's all right. Shion's not a child. She'll manage something on her own. If we stay here, we'll be in trouble."
"He's right Jr. They're numbers are multiplying! The threat meter is going up like no tomorrow!" I exclaimed as I threw an AWMS at another two like a projectile weapon.
"What now? Jr., we won't last much longer!" Exclaimed Ziggy.
"We've got to escape, now!" Insisted Jin.
"Dammit. Okay then, let's head back to the Elsa!" Ordered Jr. We fought off any AWMS that was right on our tail as we flew upwards and escaped. We flew away from Labyrinthos as quickly as possible. But as we returned to the limestone cave, the location of the Elsa, I couldn't shake this feeling that Shion was in trouble. After awhile I put the thought aside, she can take care of herself. It's only a matter of time before she walks into the Elsa's doors as if nothing ever happened... right?
So is Alex's prediction right? The group if running out of time, The Miltian Conflict is in a mere matter of days. At any rate, please review!