Phantasy Star: Mechanical Error
Chapter 7
Written by Sarah Schoenlaub
Laurie entered the Esper Mansion slowly, feeling the familiar tranquillity envelope her. Wren was with her. He opted to go, leaving Demi and the others to analyze the Dark Forces. Normally he would have sent Demi with Laurie, but since she had looked to him he felt fairly obligated. He instructed Demi to be ready in case Laurie needed more support. Wren was not good with emotional situations.
Kyle greeted his sister grimly. "It's not looking good."
Kyle led her to a small room where Sheryl was being kept. She was asleep, but not peacefully. She looked as if she were full of pain. "It's uncertain that she will wake up."
Laurie knelt beside her mother, holding her hand. Tears dripped from her eyes onto the bed. All she could think of was the last thing she had said to her mother.
Goodbye, mother. It's a shame that you want to be so controlling. You're almost like Mother Brain was.
And what she had said to Kyle: I don't ever want to see her again.
Watch what you say, Laurie, Kyle had warned. It might happen.
I wouldn't care if it did, Laurie had replied.
Laurie began to sob, laying her cheek on her mother's hand. Kyle ran to his sister, holding her. "I'm so sorry, mom, I love you so much, I'm so sorry…"
Sheryl stopped writhing in pain. Her body seemed to become calm, her breathing steady. Laurie smiled. "There, just relax."
Laurie spent a little while with her mother, then went and meditated in the main hall. Wren stayed to watch over Sheryl.
Another esper was with Laurie, also in silent meditation. He was very focused, murmuring as he concentrated on relaxing his body, mind, and spirit. Laurie did the same. She finally calmed herself, just trying to relax. It felt so good to meditate and get in touch with her spirit. She nearly shrieked when Wren shook her out of her meditation. "Laurie, I need to tell you… Sheryl just stopped breathing."
Laurie's calmness was shattered instantly. Her world seemed to crumble. She still felt as if her mother didn't know how much she really cared. "No… There must be something we can do!" Laurie tried to run to her mother's room, but Wren held her back. "Let me go!"
"She's gone, Laurie. There is nothing left we can do for her. She is at peace."
Laurie began to sob again. She let Wren lead her to her mother's body, still warm. Laurie cried for nearly an hour, laying her head on her mother's stomach. She finally allowed herself to be led to her room, where Wren offered her a tranquilizer to help her sleep. She refused, laying down and trying to sleep on her own.
* * *
Wren walked slowly down the hall toward Laurie's room to check on her. He peeked in the doorway and saw the bed was empty. "Now where did she go?" he asked himself.
He hunted around the Esper Mansion, asking any people awake where she was. One esper said she had gone outside. Wren shook his head and opened the door. He saw her footprints in the fresh snow and followed them. They seemed to go in circles for awhile. He walked for a little way before he heard her crying.
"Laurie?" Wren walked over to her. She was sitting under a tree, a bottle in her hand and an empty one beside her. "What are you doing?"
Laurie smiled grimly. "What does it look like? I'm saluting my liver." She gulped the remains of the bottle in her hand and tossed it to him.
Wren glanced at the label. "How much of this have you drunk?"
"I don't know… a couple bottles." Laurie shrugged. "What does it matter?"
Wren sighed, which was very unlike him. "I think you're drunk."
"Brilliant observation." Laurie pulled another bottle out of her bag and opened it.
"No you don't!" Wren grabbed hold of the bottle, trying to wrestle it out of her hand without hurting her. She struggled, standing up. Wren came behind her, holding her and trying to wrestle the bottle away.
"Let me go!"
"Drop the bottle, Laurie. It's not worth it."
"Let me go, you stupid machine!" Laurie tried to elbow him hard in the chest, but her elbow just clanged against the Laconia. "Ouch…" Laurie dropped the bottle, holding her elbow.
Laurie broke free of Wren, crying. She ran over to the tree and threw up. The alcohol had caught up to her. She coughed and spat.
"Was that worth it?" Wren asked.
"Shut up! You don't care. You're just an… android!" Laurie spat out the word android with more hatred then she had ever said it with. "You don't have any feelings, you don't even care!"
"I do care, Laurie. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Don't talk to me! All it is for you is another loss of life. You don't care. You don't understand. All you are is a big chunk of stupid metal."
Laurie stopped, looking at Wren's face in the dim light. It was blank and expressionless, but Laurie could feel that he was hurt. She began sobbing all over again, knowing how much Wren really did care. She began to fall, and Wren caught her. He held her in his arms, just letting her cry.
"I'm so sorry, Wren. I didn't mean that. You're a brilliant, wonderful android."
"It's alright, Laurie. I don't understand your loss. I can't understand your pain because I don't feel it like you do. All I can do is try to protect you. My main focus is your well being. I know I am without emotion, and all I can do is hold you right now and attempt to help."
"I'm just a stupid human."
"No, you're not. You are a brilliant woman."
"I hurt my mother so much. She and I always fought. Now it's too late to tell her."
Wren paused. "You know, your mother may have been able to hear you when you were speaking to her. It may have given her comfort before her death. Kyle said she was very proud of you."
Laurie sniffled. "Really?"
Wren nodded.
"Well, I guess I should go back."
"I'll sedate you and let you sleep this off," Wren said. As they walked back to the Esper Mansion, Wren sent a transmission to Demi, telling her to come to Dezolis immediately. He just wasn't doing well with this emotional thing.
* * *
Laurie was quietly reading in her room when Demi arrived at the Esper Mansion. Demi slowly opened the door and Laurie looked up. "What did you find out about that thing?"
"The 'thing' seems to be a mechanical replication of a Dark Force, with a large amount of synthetic biological tissue surrounding it. The genetic coding has been tweaked to perfection. I think it was programmed to destroy Zelan."
Laurie nodded. "Any survivors?"
Demi nodded. "We found a doctor, nearly dead in the medlab, but it doesn't look good. Black Energy Wave poisoning, I believe. His tissue is slowly being dissolved. All we can do is relieve his pain. Also, a few deactivated androids were found in storage. Two Alpharens and one Shiren model have been activated now."
Laurie frowned. "Who would program a Dark Force? That's so weird."
"I don't know." Demi peered at Laurie's book. "What are you reading?"
"An ancient tome from the library. I've been trying to find books that may explain this. Maybe predictions. It's hard to read this one, though. It's in ancient Dezorian, and the text is so worn I can barely see the words." Laurie turned the page, scanning the book with quick reading.
"We do need to find more information, if possible. Perhaps the bishop will be able to help us at Gumbious Temple. He is very wise," Demi noted.
"Yes, that's true. Where's Wren at?"
"He's out and about. He's looking around the Esper Mansion, talking to people. He called me because he said he couldn't deal with your emotional outbursts," Demi explained.
"He dealt with it very well," Laurie said with a grim smile. "I wanted to die. I couldn't even think straight. For a logic based android, he deals with human emotion better than he may believe."
"I think being around people so much has helped him." Demi paused. "Are you okay now?"
Laurie nodded. "I'm taking an antidepressant so I can continue to work, but I feel more at peace otherwise, too. Shall we go to Gumbious?"
"We shall," Demi replied.
* * *
Wren was way ahead of Laurie and Demi. After Demi arrived on Dezolis Wren decided to go to Gumbious to speak with the bishop. But he met an esper who helped him even more.
Mune was an esper scholar who seemed amazingly knowledgeable about Algo's rich history. He detailed some events as if he was there. Wren talked with him awhile, trying to get as much information as he could gather.
"The Profound Darkness was defeated, I know. You do know why I know all this, don't you, Wren?"
For the first time, Wren could only answer with a blank stare.
Mune smiled. "I thought you'd figure it out. I remember all those events." Mune tapped his head, just as Rune had when he revealed his big secret.
"So you are the current generation," Wren replied.
"Yes, and I'm quite concerned about all this. Looks like there is still trouble on The Edge."
"I thought the seal would be unnecessary after the Profound Darkness was defeated."
Mune nodded. "I thought the same. But it is obvious that even the Profound Darkness had a backup plan, and I believe it may have started back when Mother Brain was in existence."
"What do you mean?" Wren asked.
"Well, how in Algo did you think that thing could have been programmed so well?"
"Are you assuming that there is a mechanical Profound Darkness on the other side of The Edge?"
Mune frowned. "I'm not sure, exactly. But there must be something on the other side that is causing problems."
Wren nodded and saw Demi and Laurie enter the room out of the corner of his eye. "Demi and Laurie are here."
"Master Wren! I didn't expect to see you here."
"Well Demi, I've been doing some research here." In a quick, silent transmission, Wren sent all of the information he had gathered to Demi. She made a quick nod as it entered her database. Laurie and Mune didn't even notice.
"You must be Laurie Johnson," Mune said with a smile. "My name is Mune. Wren was telling me about you."
"Oh? Well, I hope it was only good things…" Laurie replied shyly.
Mune chuckled. "Of course!"
Wren suddenly grabbed Laurie's arm in a steely grip. "I've received a message from Zelan. They say the comm is buzzing at the main terminal. Seems important."
"Can you reroute it to your system?" Laurie asked.
"The range may be too far, but I will attempt to reroute the message." Wren held up an arm and a small screen slipped out, showing Feria.
"What's going on, Feria?" Wren asked.
"You all have got to get down here. All the people in that new town by the Vahal Fort are sick. They are complaining of a lot of pain. Even some people in Kadary are complaining."
Laurie looked puzzled. "Kadary is no where near the Vahal Fort."
"I have no idea what's going on, but you better get down here."
Demi nodded. "I'll notify an Alpharen at Dezolis spaceport. Maybe something about The Edge is causing the trouble in Kadary, but I'm puzzled about the Vahal Fort. Didn't you destroy it, Wren?"
"I exploded it when we were near Zema in the hydrofoil. I even checked for any remaining systems running within it. There was nothing."
"I'm going to try to scan Nurvus's power reserves from here. Laurie or Mune, perhaps you could use your Ryuka technique to get us to Tyler?" Demi looked at both of them.
"I've got it," Mune said. He cast quickly, and soon the whole party was in front of the town of Tyler.
Demi took a full minute to send a good signal to Nurvus. "The power is completely normal. Nothing seems to be effecting Nurvus."
"That's strange," Wren said. "We should proceed to Motavia immediately. Mune, thank you for your assistance to us."
Mune shook his head. "Don't say goodbye to me. I think I should go along. This sounds interesting."
Wren nodded. "Very well then." The group went to the spaceport.
* * *
Feria and Erick met them in Motavia's spaceport. Laurie seemed very frustrated with Wren about something, Feria noticed. Maybe there was something he knew that he wouldn't say.
"We've got our hydrofoil parked outside the spaceport," Feria said. "Maybe we should evacuate these areas."
"That may be wise, but I want to investigate first," Wren said. He led the group outside and climbed into the driver's seat of the hydrofoil. He was soon at the wreckage of the Vahal Fort. The group left the hydrofoil and started to enter the wreckage, but Wren held up a metal hand. "Wait. Let me and Demi look around first."
Laurie started to protest, but she stopped and just nodded.
Wren and Demi carefully picked through the debris, trying to find anything. We have to tell Laurie about all this eventually, Demi said in a transfer to Wren.
Yes, but not yet. I'm trusting Mune to tell her when the time is right.
He is the current Lutz?
Wren pushed aside a piece of metal to look under it. Yes, he is. Come look at this.
Demi walked over and stood by Wren, peering at a puddle of black goo. "It is. It's the black energy wave," she said aloud. Wren nodded.
Alright, now let's go over hot spots. If this is from the Edge, we will have problems in Mile, Kadary, and now here. Perhaps Keri brought this portion out.
Demi nodded. That was my assumption. Don't forget Reshel and Meese back on Dezolis. We could have another case of Black Energy Wave poisoning in an entire town.
And there's another hot spot in Kuran. I'll keep a watch on its power reserves and command output. Wren and Demi made their way back toward the group.
"We may have a problem with Black Energy Wave poisoning," Wren said simply, boarding the hydrofoil.
"What the hell is that?" Erick asked. Feria gave him a sharp look for addressing Wren like that.
"It's a black, oil-like substance that causes tissue breakdown and painful death in most life forms. It is a byproduct of a creature called Dark Force. It can be found in liquid form mostly, but is also dissipated in the air," Demi explained. Erick shook his head.
"Sorry, that makes no sense."
Laurie looked at Wren, who was oddly silent. "Why do I think you know something about this?"
"Laurie…"
Mune looked at Wren. "May as well tell her."
Wren nodded. "At the spaceport I will."