Read or Dare

Chapter 25

Nenene Symerigawa was on a roll, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She knew to seize such times, because inspiration could be fleeting. Some days (especially after Yomiko had vanished on her) she had barely written at all.

"GO AWAY," Nenene called as someone knocked.

Maggie ignored that, the taller woman entering with a plate and glass. "You need to eat, Sensei," she said as she put them down by Nenene.

Nenene looked at the sandwiches, then her stomach rumbled loudly.

Maggie smiled, "I'll come back later and get the dishes."

"Thanks," Nenene sighed.

Nenene ate a sandwich one handed, typing with the other. Luckily Maggie hadn't stayed or she'd scold her...

Nenene kept writing a few hours, even as the sun set outside the window.

"Sensei!" Michelle called as she looked into the room.

"Augh," Nenene groaned as she sat back, realizing that she was crouched WAY over, peering at the screen.

"Time for dinner," Michelle said disapprovingly.

Nenene took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, "Just let me finish this bit..."

"No, dinner will get cold," Michelle said firmly. "Maggie!"

"Sorry, Sensei," Maggie walked up and bodilly lifted Nenene out of her chair.

"Hey!" Nenene yelped.

"We'll have dinner, then you can write a little more," Michelle said as they went to the suite's dining room.

"Yeah yeah," Nenene pouted.

Anita was dishing up their food as she added, "And turn the lights on in there too. Keep it up and you'll get eye strain."

Nenene sighed as she began to eat. Having the three fuss over her could be annoying at times... but it was kind of nice too.

"No reading at the table," Anita added as Michelle was covertly reading and eating at the same time.

"Don't be cruel, Anita," Michelle pouted.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"All right, start her up!"

The squat, vaguely humanoid mecha walked a bit jerkily, but still crossed the testing grounds.

"Wisner! Straighten it out!"

Dan grunted as he worked the controls. "This is harder than it looks!" he answered.

Kelly Miles was monitoring the systems via a synched tablet. "Everything reads green so far," she reported.

Adam Smith noted. "My turn driving it, next!"

"You'll get your chance," Koyomi said.

Dan maneuvered around the open area, then parked it safely beside where they stood. The back of the mecha opened up, and Dan clambered out, stretching.

"Argh, that hurts the back," Dan muttered.

"You're just too tall," Kelly said, amused.

"I'm VERY suspicious that they're actually only designed for short women," Dan noted, shaking his head.

"Heh," Kiyomi looked amused. "Issues?" she asked him.

"The controls really need a lot of muscle," Dan admitted. "I know it's sort of deliberate, but it'll make things hard in an emergency."

Adam noted, "Like we'd have that happen."

Dan, Kelly and Kiyomi exchanged a glance. All three had been getting a certain vibe from their teacher that SOMETHING was coming. What, was hard to say.

"All right, you're up," Dan nodded to Adam. "Don't crash it."

"I won't," Adam climbed in.

"Who wants to tell him the arms are designed to hold weapons?" Kelly asked once he started the mech walking.

"Not it," Dan sighed.

"Chicken," Kiyomi noted mildly.

"Damn right," Dan agreed mildly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Taichi Hiraga-Keaton was leading another trip into the tunnels under the island.

"Do we HAVE to use the cliff enterance?" Revy bitched as they used ropes to get to the opening. Her, Hicks, Shane and Keaton were making the trip.

"I want to see this route," Keaton noted calmly.

All four of them entered the (apparently) natural opening, then followed the stream up the tunnel. "You think this was always like this...?" Shane wondered.

"Hard to say. The section near the cliffs looks natural, but the deeper we go the more constructed the tunnel looks," Keaton said.

They reached the intersection, then headed towards where the Lab was. As they walked, the sea smell was gradually replaced by the scent of chemicals.

"Me and Hicks should go in first," Revy noted as they neared the lab, "just in case."

"Fair enough," Keaton noted.

They entered the lab, Shane taking in the machines and huge tanks that contained floating... things. It was the same as last time, though something bugged him. He passed a counter, with a few tools sitting there, and frowned.

"What?" Hicks asked.

"Balalaika's having troops patrol down here, right?" Shane asked. When Hicks nodded he asked, "Are you guys cleaning up after yourselves?"

Hicks frowned, "No."

Shane touched a took on a bench, "So why is there NO dust on anything?"

"Shit," Revy blinked, looking around.

"All surfaces are pretty much spotless," Keaton confirmed as they looked around. "Very odd."

Hicks looked at Keaton, "Is this normal?"

"Very much no. Usually the only time you'd find a site this clean would be a sealed tomb," Keaton replied calmly.

"Fuuuuck," Hicks sighed.

Keaton moved over to the huge tanks, "So, something was alive in one of these?"

"Yeah. We disturbed it, it busted out then we beat it to death," Revy noted.

"What happened to the damaged tank?" Keaton wondered.

"Balalaika had it taken out, to be studied," Hicks noted.

"Learn anything?" Shane asked curiously.

"Nope," Revy shook her head. "Whatever was in those tubes is pretty damn funky."

Shane suspected they had found something, but didn't press.

Keaton peered at one of the tanks, the thing within it hanging there. It was hard to tell what it was, but it looked... vaguely inhuman.

"Don't tap on them," Revy added. "I do NOT want to kill another one of those things."

Keaton nodded, then walked around the chamber thoughtfully. "Have anyone brought in ground penetrating radar and such?" he asked.

"Something about the ground doesn't like it," Hicks shrugged.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Keaton muttered.

"Let's see," Shane took out a compass. Unlike last time, it worked perfectly fine...

"So why did it fuck up last time, but not now?" Revy asked, scowling.

"Hell if I know," Shane shrugged.

"Radios are working too," Hicks noted.

"Da fuq?" Revy shook her head. "Keaton?"

"No idea," Keaton admitted. "Maybe the other section of tunnels really is a entirely seperate thing." he mused.

"Fuck. That's all we need," Revy sighed.

No one there really wanted to argue with that.

"There's another lab like this up the tunnel," Hicks said after a moment.

"Let's take a look," Keaton agreed.

"Oh joy," Shane sighed.

To be continued...