Phantasy Star: Mechanical Error
Chapter 10
Written by Sarah Schoenlaub
Laurie and Demi were dismantling Wren. Laurie no longer had tears to shed, and she simply focused on disconnecting old weapons units and discarding parts that had been destroyed. Feria and Erick watched them as they worked.
"You wouldn't think that someone like Wren could possibly die. Yet that Black Energy Wave even did him in," Erick said.
Feria nodded quietly. She was sitting on a ledge with Erick at the side of the room. "I know. I always kind of revered Wren, like those espers revere Lutz or something. I always saw him as this unstoppable force, and now he's nothing but spare parts and sheets of Laconia."
"Laurie seems to be recovering from the loss. But even Demi seems sad."
"We don't understand the friendships and how deep they ran. Demi probably viewed Wren as a big brother figure. They probably had some sort of deep bond, even as androids."
"Yeah." Erick was quiet for a long time, watching Laurie disconnect Wren's Positron Bolt unit and pack it into a box. "Fern?"
Usually Feria got irritated being called that, but the solemn atmosphere in Zelan kept her calm. "What?"
"I'm sorry I've been such an asshole. And I'm sorry I quit being a hunter. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should try to be more like my ancestors."
Feria shook her head. "I pushed you too hard. I should have let you be."
"I still could have tried harder to work with you. We make a good team… Like Chaz and Alys were."
Feria nodded, tears in her eyes. "You know, I'm actually afraid."
"Why?"
"Well, look what happened to Alys from that Black Energy Wave. And now it's killed Wren. I wonder if any of us will live through this." Feria watched Laurie and Demi pack up Wren's Flare and Burst Rocket units. "Mune says we have to go to Rykros for help, but then what? I'm scared of having to go into the Edge to stop whatever this is."
"I understand. I'm scared, too. But I know that if we won't do it, Algo will be in trouble."
"That's true."
Demi walked over to Feria and Erick. "We're almost finished dismantling Wren," she reported in a low voice. "I'm sure you're both tired. Shiren 283 will give you food and a place to rest." As she said that, the Shiren model walked in to see Feria and Erick.
"Thanks, Demi. I know this isn't easy for you," Feria said.
"He was my creator, my mentor, and my friend. He will be greatly missed, but I still have a mission to keep with," Demi said in a slightly more cheerful voice.
"Well, if you need anything from us, feel free to let us know," Erick said. Feria smiled. He was being so polite and professional. Her brother wasn't a bad kid.
"Sure." The Shiren led Feria and Erick away to rooms.
* * *
Laurie couldn't sleep, and she refused sleep aids from Demi. Laurie, Demi, Mune, Trisha, Kory, Kera, and Kyle were sitting at a table in the main dining area. Feria and Erick went to sleep like sensible people, and the other androids were wandering the satellite, making sure everything was okay.
Laurie sipped some tea. "So I guess our next stop is Rykros."
Mune nodded. "The rings need to be taken there and the power returned to them. The guardians there will be of great help to us."
"We have to be quick," Demi said. "I've gotten reports of illness from all of the hot spots Wren and I found. The people of Meese are in bad shape. I'm afraid one of those Dark Forces will directly attack the town."
Trisha groaned. "That would be an absolute disaster. Not even all the espers could combat that. It's worse than a disease outbreak."
"One of us should go down there and help," Kera said.
"If we did, we'd have to be in safety suits the entire time. There'd be a lot of risk," Trisha reminded her. "But maybe we could go lend a hand."
Demi nodded. "Just make sure you have safety suits and good weapons around. You never know what could happen. And it's important to burn the bodies of the dead there. I know it seems harsh, but they could spread the poison to anywhere they are transported."
"Do you still have the coordinates of Rykros, Demi?" Mune asked.
She nodded. "Wren transferred them to me when he got them I can take a few of us to Rykros."
"We need to take Laurie, Feria, and Erick. The hunters are essential to our mission," Mune said.
"Kyle could be put in charge of the Zelanian systems. He, Kory, and the other androids could watch things here. I still have a feeling something is going to happen with Kuran. I'm surprised Wren didn't disable it awhile ago," Laurie said.
"We used to need it for command bounces to Dezolis, but with better technology it became somewhat obsolete. There's still scientists there."
Laurie's eyes widened. "Have they reported poisoning?"
"Nope. No reports have come from Kuran," Demi answered. "Now I'm quite concerned. We should go there before going to Rykros. Leaving Zelan vulnerable could be a big mistake."
Mune nodded. "Understandable. We need to get going early tomorrow."
Laurie stood. "Well Demi, you can give me those sleep aids now. I'll need my strength."
* * *
Laurie flew to Kuran. She had flown before, and was quite good. Demi was with her, helping guide her since she had never flown to Kuran before. As they approached the satellite, Demi sent a message to the main terminal at Kuran. "Kuran, this is Demi in Landale 586. We are docking. Do you read?"
Laurie's hands tensed as minutes went by with no response. "Repeat, this is Demi in Landale 586 requesting permission to dock. Kuran, do you read?"
There was a crackle, then a response. "Permission granted," a deep voice said. But nothing came up on the video screen in the cockpit.
"Can we see visual of you, sir?" Demi asked politely.
"Sorry, but our video transmitters aren't working too well," the voice replied.
After turning off the transmitter, Laurie turned to Demi. "That guy's full of it. Kuran's video transmitters have to be in working order."
"I know. I'll check them while you dock."
Demi found herself unable to access Kuran's system. "They changed the security codes," she told Laurie.
"Tell the people in back not to exit the ship yet," Laurie said as she pulled into the dock.
Feria and Erick stood by the airlock, ready with weapons in hand. Laurie and Demi went to the airlock. "They have a layer system airlock, so I'm just going to let Demi go ahead. Once she's just inside with Kuran's air she'll analyze it for us."
Demi went ahead, her sonic gun ready in her hands. She got inside the second airlock and looked around. It was eerily quiet, but the lights of Kuran were on and everything seemed to be running. "The air is okay in here," she reported. "We must proceed with caution. It's much too quiet."
Demi took the lead as they entered Kuran. As they exited the first elevator a group of Warrens jumped out and began firing.
Demi took a good hit from a flare cannon and fired a shot from her sonic gun at the Warren. Laurie used Tandle, knowing the electricity would do more damage on the androids. Feria flipped out her slashers and sent them cutting across the three Warrens. Erick dug his sword into one, sending it crashing. A second Tandle from Mune finished the other two.
"Seems like their androids are functioning," Laurie said with a scowl.
Demi quickly recovered her damage and led the group onward.
A few more Warrens and some Whistlers attacked the group as they made their way through the confusing halls of Kuran. When they reached the main room, Demi stopped the group at the door. "Heal up and get weapons ready. There is something wrong."
They met a man at the main control terminal. "Welcome! Glad you could come. Sorry about the robots. They've been malfunctioning a bit. We only have a few scientists working here on Kuran, and we're all pretty bad with machines."
Demi nodded. "Your video transmitter is in good working order," she reported.
"Oh? I'm sorry, I just didn't want to admit I didn't know how to operate it. I am strictly a botanist, and I don't work well with machines of any sort. It was difficult enough finding out how to answer your communication."
Demi didn't buy his excuses. "Where is the communications officer? Usually they know how to answer."
"He took a vacation in Dezolis. I'll give you his comm number."
Demi accepted it and went to a corner to contact it. Laurie followed, leaving Mune, Feria, and Erick to talk to the man. "So it must be weird being cooped in here," Feria said.
"It's not bad when you get used to things. I just wish Joe would come back. He's the officer, and he knows how to run all these machines. I look like such an idiot trying."
Erick nodded. "It's not easy dealing with machines when you don't know how."
Demi came back with Laurie. "He checks out. We talked to the officer," she whispered to the group. "Thanks for your time, sir," she said to the man. "Sorry we disturbed you, there have just been a few odd things going on lately."
"No problem. Hopefully our communication officer will return soon and it'll all be well."
They started walking out of the room. "Looks like we were wrong," Demi said. "Better safe than sorry, I guess."
Just as Demi was opening the door back to the rest of Kuran, Feria whipped around. Before anyone could ask her what she was doing or try to stop her, she launched a slasher at the man. He opened his mouth to scream as the slasher found its mark, embedding itself deep in his chest. The man fell to the floor.
"What the hell are you doing, Feria?" Erick screamed at her. "What's wrong with you?"
They ran over to see the man's body. As Demi bent over to examine him, she gasped.
Feria nodded. "I had this awful feeling that guy was full of bullshit. He just made me feel weird. I'm surprised Mune and Laurie didn't notice."
The slasher cut revealed wiring and a Laconia casing. Demi tore away clothing and synthetic skin, then removed the rest of the ruined casing. "Appears to be similar to a Wren-type processor," she said. She took the slasher and made some more deep cuts on the CPU board before standing. "Thank goodness Feria noticed something wrong."
"But the communication officer story checked out," Laurie said, looking confused.
"He said he was gone for a few months already, remember?" Demi said. "I'll bet the officer didn't notice anything wrong here."
Then the lights flickered out.
"What is this?" Feria asked.
Demi heard a rumble. She looked up at the main terminal screens. "Uh-oh…"
The screens began to crack, splitting down the middle. One shattered, followed by others.
Laurie ran back, pulling the others down and shielding herself from the glass. She held her gun tightly in her hand. "What's going on? Anyone have any ideas?"
A tentacle pushed through one of the holes where the screen had been. "It's a Dark Force," Erick said, "and I bet it's really mad now."
Demi jumped up and set up a magic barrier. "Attack in full! Stay away from any signs of the Black Energy Wave!"
They fought hard. Feria and Erick whirled slashers and swords, making deep cuts in the creature. Laurie and Mune started a relentless volley of strong magic attacks. Demi used her phonon, flare, and medic power units till they were exhausted. She then fired over and over with her sonic gun.
Finally the creature died. Looking through the broken screens, Laurie could see how badly mangled it was. "It looks like it was here for awhile, just hiding in the system. It probably has been producing androids for awhile undetected."
"Thank the Light we killed it before it could use the Black Energy Wave," Feria said with a sigh.
Mune nodded in agreement. "We need to shut down Kuran and lock it before we leave, Demi. This opening in the Edge is going to be very dangerous."
Demi nodded. "We also need to make sure none of us is contaminated by the Black Energy Wave in any way before we get too far into Zelan. I'll tell Trisha and Kera to stand by."
* * *
In the main port of Zelan, Trisha and Kera worked to heal wounds and feed the hungry people. Though no one was contaminated, they all had cuts and bruises to deal with. Some cuts were deep from the attacks of the Dark Force and the flying glass from the screens. But everyone was okay besides those.
"I'm just afraid that something like this will happen in Meese," Laurie said. "The people there would never be able to stop such an attack."
"That's why we have to get to Rykros." Mune sat next to Laurie. "We need to go into the Edge and stop this at its source."
"We need to go to Rykros tomorrow. If Trisha and Kera go to Dezolis, they need to have good weapons on hand." Laurie stood to tell the two doctors.
"Tell Kyle to be on guard, too," Mune called after her. "Last thing we need is Zelan taken over."
"Right."
Laurie returned after speaking to them. "They say that Demi ordered them to do a full quarantine of both Reshel and Meese. Meese is in the worst shape now. Demi has also contacted doctors in Motavia and ordered full quarantines of a list of towns near openings in the Edge."
"Good idea. That will at least slow things, since the poison is communicable. The espers in Meese won't be too thrilled, though."
"They'll deal with it until we can stop the cause."
They were quiet for a little while, until Mune said, "You know, you're very brave."
"No I'm not. I'm scared out of my wits. I remember back home at the esper mansion, thanking the Light that the protectors had killed the Profound Darkness, thinking all was well and we were safe… but now…"
Mune put an arm around her, holding her close. "You work well under this pressure. Especially with all that has happened. I know good will come of this."
"I hope so."
* * *
It took Kyle awhile to lock Wren's old coordinates in the spaceship's autopilot system, but soon the ship was flying quickly to the outskirts of Algo. Laurie sat in the co-pilot seat, talking to Demi, who was watching over Zelan. "How's life?" Laurie asked casually.
Demi smiled. "Everything is in working order here, Laurie. We're watching things in Meese, Kadary, Kuran, and all other locations in case something else comes up. Things are very quiet today."
Laurie nodded. "Don't let your guard down, though. We'll be in touch."
Kyle watched the main window. "According to calculations we will be out of transmitter range within the next ten minutes. We should be seeing Rykros soon."
Laurie was silent, watching the endless blackness of space. Then, out of nowhere, a green planet appeared in front of them. "Where did that come from?"
Mune looked at it. "That is Rykros."
Kyle descended into the atmosphere as Laurie gazed in awe. "Look at all the crystals,: she said. "This place is beautiful."
"Mostly frozen particles," Kyle remarked. "This is a chilly planet, but I'd imagine any buildings are heated."
"There," Mune said, pointing to a yellow crystal building. "You can land there."
Kyle gently landed the craft at the loading dock and they all exited the ship, wondering what lay ahead of them.