Chapter Two, Mysteries Revealed October 27/03
The alarm chirped again, as it had the last five times, as annoying as always, before Tygre's closed fist slammed onto it's top, pushing down the ?SNOOZE? button. The young man rolled over under the drab grey sheets of his bed in the Raven's Barracks, muttering about getting a new place once he made a few Credits. He sat up, his naturally light grey hair flying in all directions as he shook his head, clearing the fog of sleep that lingers just after one wakes up for the fifth time.
"Oh man, what a freaky test last night," Tygre yawned, "They said that that'd never happened before, but I'm not so sure."
Tygre swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, stumbling in the dark towards the showers, not daring to flick on the lights lest he bother the elder Ravens. He stepped onto the warmed tile floor and closed the door, flicking on a light and squinting as he swung open the linen closet and grabbed a towel. The Raven stepped from his plaid, pseudo-cotton pajama pants, kicking them onto a bench and tossing his towel on top of them as he stepped under the shower and waited for the computer to turn the water on.
{GOOD MORNING TYGRE,} the monotone of his AC computer chiming through, some corporate big-wig thought it was a good idea for the Raven's AC's to greet them in the morning, the fool'd obviously never piloted one. {BEGINNING CLENLINESS PROCEDURES, WATER WILL BE SET AT THE USER SPECIFIED TEMPERATURE}
Hot water rushed forth from the showerhead, splashing down across Tygre as he started to shower, thinking of the goings on last night, wondering who was piloting that mysterious AC and whether or not Appleboy had survived the encounter with the insectoid MT. The water cut off abruptly, ending Tygre's shower, another idea the big-wig's had come up with, the thirty second shower, they wanted to 'conserve planetary resources', but all of the Ravens knew that they were lining their own pockets. Tygre grabbed his towel and dried off, nabbing a comb and combing his unruly hair into a semblance of order, then tugging open the drawer under the counter, his combat outfit and underclothes cleaned and folded neatly. Tygre marvelled at the efficiency of the Raven's Barracks as he tugged the dark blue tactical outfit on, slipping the com-link into his ear and the dark glasses that let one see from the cockpit of an AC found their way onto his face.
"Right, computer, start Hoshiname's systems and keep 'em running for me, I'll be right there, oh, and run a search for Appleboy's hospital room, I'll need the tele-com number." Tygre walked from the Barracks, the door sliding open automatically, leading into the AC Hangar, his com-link chirping as he neared Hoshiname. Tygre tapped the ear piece and hopped onto Hoshiname's hand, climbing up to it's chest plate and popping open the hatch into the cockpit. He slid into the seat, which was moulded to fit his form, keeping him from being jostled as much from a heavy blow, and the seatbelts, along with the harness, slid over his shoulders, locking him in place. Immediately his sunglasses turned opaque and the dark blue panels flew into his vision, one with a flashing orange tele-com number.
"Alright Hoshiname, patch me into Appleboy's room, code 455-9645-89-0, and proceed with launch procedure Raven two."
Numbers flew across the windows, and eventually cleared, patching Tygre into the AC's field of vision, in non-combat mode. Tygre took hold of the controls and moved Hoshiname forward as the bay doors opened, leading into the city streets, he had to be careful to use only the AC roads, as the others held the tiny vehicles that carted civilians around in their daily lives.
["Tygre, hey buddy"] Appleboy?s voice came through on his radio, sounding subdued and less energetic than he usually sounded. The man had taken the Raven test eagerly, having prepared for it through years of military MT training, hoping one day to get the call from his superiors that the Nest wanted him. When the call had come, he immediately put in his resignation from the Layered Military Hub, which was approved by the Controller.
["Hey! How're you doing bud? I saw what happened with the MT last night, where the hell did it come from?"]
["I dunno, I'd just finished off another MT, I got your call of two, I was just heading for my third one, when a bunch of metal tentacles burst from the ground under me. They wrapped around my AC and squeezed it, then my sensors kicked out and the next thing I knew, I was thrown from my AC with half of my stomach ripped out?"]
["We're lucky that black AC came and took care of it, she really saved our hides?"]
[What black AC? Are you sure you weren't seeing things bud? By all accounts?they say you destroyed that MT, then returned to the Nest?]
'Huh? That's weird,' Tygre thought, thinking back. Last night, he'd run away when the female pilot told him to.didn't he?
["Er, thanks Appleboy, hopefully you get back on your feet soon! I'll check on you later on then, eheh."] Tygre spoke uncertainly into the radio, moving his AC off to the left, towards the Raven's Nest.
["Okay, have fun, don't forget about the Arena!"]
Hoshiname moved steadily towards the Raven's Nest, running on the autopilot program that would lock it into the Nest's hangar and give Tygre 'Garage' options. A pleasant female voice sounded over the radio, the Nest's main computer, which, coincidentally, was the ONLY computer with a direct link to the Controller's mainframe.
{WELCOME TO THE NEST, RAVEN TYGRE, PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY. YOU HAVE THREE NEW MESSAGES}
The alarm chirped again, as it had the last five times, as annoying as always, before Tygre's closed fist slammed onto it's top, pushing down the ?SNOOZE? button. The young man rolled over under the drab grey sheets of his bed in the Raven's Barracks, muttering about getting a new place once he made a few Credits. He sat up, his naturally light grey hair flying in all directions as he shook his head, clearing the fog of sleep that lingers just after one wakes up for the fifth time.
"Oh man, what a freaky test last night," Tygre yawned, "They said that that'd never happened before, but I'm not so sure."
Tygre swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, stumbling in the dark towards the showers, not daring to flick on the lights lest he bother the elder Ravens. He stepped onto the warmed tile floor and closed the door, flicking on a light and squinting as he swung open the linen closet and grabbed a towel. The Raven stepped from his plaid, pseudo-cotton pajama pants, kicking them onto a bench and tossing his towel on top of them as he stepped under the shower and waited for the computer to turn the water on.
{GOOD MORNING TYGRE,} the monotone of his AC computer chiming through, some corporate big-wig thought it was a good idea for the Raven's AC's to greet them in the morning, the fool'd obviously never piloted one. {BEGINNING CLENLINESS PROCEDURES, WATER WILL BE SET AT THE USER SPECIFIED TEMPERATURE}
Hot water rushed forth from the showerhead, splashing down across Tygre as he started to shower, thinking of the goings on last night, wondering who was piloting that mysterious AC and whether or not Appleboy had survived the encounter with the insectoid MT. The water cut off abruptly, ending Tygre's shower, another idea the big-wig's had come up with, the thirty second shower, they wanted to 'conserve planetary resources', but all of the Ravens knew that they were lining their own pockets. Tygre grabbed his towel and dried off, nabbing a comb and combing his unruly hair into a semblance of order, then tugging open the drawer under the counter, his combat outfit and underclothes cleaned and folded neatly. Tygre marvelled at the efficiency of the Raven's Barracks as he tugged the dark blue tactical outfit on, slipping the com-link into his ear and the dark glasses that let one see from the cockpit of an AC found their way onto his face.
"Right, computer, start Hoshiname's systems and keep 'em running for me, I'll be right there, oh, and run a search for Appleboy's hospital room, I'll need the tele-com number." Tygre walked from the Barracks, the door sliding open automatically, leading into the AC Hangar, his com-link chirping as he neared Hoshiname. Tygre tapped the ear piece and hopped onto Hoshiname's hand, climbing up to it's chest plate and popping open the hatch into the cockpit. He slid into the seat, which was moulded to fit his form, keeping him from being jostled as much from a heavy blow, and the seatbelts, along with the harness, slid over his shoulders, locking him in place. Immediately his sunglasses turned opaque and the dark blue panels flew into his vision, one with a flashing orange tele-com number.
"Alright Hoshiname, patch me into Appleboy's room, code 455-9645-89-0, and proceed with launch procedure Raven two."
Numbers flew across the windows, and eventually cleared, patching Tygre into the AC's field of vision, in non-combat mode. Tygre took hold of the controls and moved Hoshiname forward as the bay doors opened, leading into the city streets, he had to be careful to use only the AC roads, as the others held the tiny vehicles that carted civilians around in their daily lives.
["Tygre, hey buddy"] Appleboy?s voice came through on his radio, sounding subdued and less energetic than he usually sounded. The man had taken the Raven test eagerly, having prepared for it through years of military MT training, hoping one day to get the call from his superiors that the Nest wanted him. When the call had come, he immediately put in his resignation from the Layered Military Hub, which was approved by the Controller.
["Hey! How're you doing bud? I saw what happened with the MT last night, where the hell did it come from?"]
["I dunno, I'd just finished off another MT, I got your call of two, I was just heading for my third one, when a bunch of metal tentacles burst from the ground under me. They wrapped around my AC and squeezed it, then my sensors kicked out and the next thing I knew, I was thrown from my AC with half of my stomach ripped out?"]
["We're lucky that black AC came and took care of it, she really saved our hides?"]
[What black AC? Are you sure you weren't seeing things bud? By all accounts?they say you destroyed that MT, then returned to the Nest?]
'Huh? That's weird,' Tygre thought, thinking back. Last night, he'd run away when the female pilot told him to.didn't he?
["Er, thanks Appleboy, hopefully you get back on your feet soon! I'll check on you later on then, eheh."] Tygre spoke uncertainly into the radio, moving his AC off to the left, towards the Raven's Nest.
["Okay, have fun, don't forget about the Arena!"]
Hoshiname moved steadily towards the Raven's Nest, running on the autopilot program that would lock it into the Nest's hangar and give Tygre 'Garage' options. A pleasant female voice sounded over the radio, the Nest's main computer, which, coincidentally, was the ONLY computer with a direct link to the Controller's mainframe.
{WELCOME TO THE NEST, RAVEN TYGRE, PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY. YOU HAVE THREE NEW MESSAGES}