Legacy of the Ancients
Chapter Five: Enter The Dragon
By: Sci-Fi-Raptor
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, but I sure wish I did!
For those who are confused, Haru (Harukichi Matsumi) is the one formerly known as Z. Hiro (Hirokazu Hyunee) is the Liger 0.
I apologize if these names turn out obscene, I'm relatively fresh with Japanese and Korean names.
Anything in "…" is said with sound (via mouth or speaker of sorts)
Anything in ~…~ is said telepathically
Anything in -…- is said virtually (inside a computer or a digital world)
"YOU'LL WHAT!" they group heard Bit shriek suddenly. Hiro quieted Bit down and spoke to him some more.
Bit and Hiro came back a few moments later, looking like they were old friends or something of that nature. Something was up. "Hiro and Haru are going join us in our activities. Hiro and I are old…partners, and I want to get to know him better." said an obviously agitated Bit.
"Oh, well, lets go to the circus. I hear that they have some really good acrobats." suggested Jamie.
"Sure, lets go." said Naomi.
~What did you tell him~ telepathed Haru
~That if he didn't acquire us in his group, I'd give away a secret he's keeping from Leena~ he relied
~So mean…~ replied Haru with a scoldful look.
~Its just Bit~ replied Hiro with an innocent look.
~Some friend you are~ Haru said, and then giggled at the thought
What makes something alive? Scientists define it as something that can reproduce, repair itself grow and seek food. But these are all material things. It is more like a group of nonliving things "magically" working together to become something alive. What force compels these things to work together? That puts us into the gray area of life…the mystery that people have been fighting over for centuries. Is it some God or spirit, or is it all just chance? It all depends on faith. One thing that makes us humans stand out among the "living" things in this world is our remarkable ability of thought. We can think about an action and determine its consequences before it actually happens. We can manipulate matter to do things for us, and not make us work for this material world. We are, at the moment, masters of our universe, no matter how much of it we actually control.
So how would do scientists classify something that thinks but is not "alive"? They could just say that "It's just AI, it's a bunch mathematical equations and coding that react to specific problems." But how do you differentiate between a machine, a machine that can think and a "living" thing that doesn't think? Does it have to be able to reproduce, repair itself grow and seek food, but in a unconventional way? Does it have to think b be truly "alive"? And if it can think and is "alive" does it have a soul? And if it has a soul, what happens when you extinguish its life? Does it go to heaven and hell like we do? Or does it just cease to exist? What is the meaning of life… So many questions, so little time.
The Fujakashi mountain range is one of the most desolate and untouched mountain ranges in Zi. It stretches deep from the republican mainland, and becomes the border for the Empire and Republic for almost half of the entire border. The only known inhabitants of the mountains are some small villages that surround the mountains, where the melted ice caps form streams and lakes. Guards and soldiers used to be heavily post there, but recent peace has worn it to nothing. But something has happened to the mountains over the last two days. And like all desolate places, things can happen without anyone's notice. The Fujakashi mountain range holds a secret so old, no one knew about it for the last half century. But a certain archeologist stumbled onto its location on a dig, and is now reactivating it.
Dr, Jani has somehow managed to take over the old and abandoned Imperial Secret Weapons lab. This lab was where an previously unknown, and till now, forgotten Zoid was created and stored. Its name was Fist of Mercury. It was a dragon type Zoid/dinosaur hybrid that held powers never previously harnessed. But it was basically a failed copy of the Geno Saurer with flight capabilities, that was abandoned, due to the violent nature of the Zoid. It was left there to rot and die (by having its core waste away). Now it is but a mere shell of its former self. Cold and lifeless, it has lost the fire that burned inside of it, the fire which made it destroy half of its creators.
-Where am I?- asked the remaining part of Haru. Jani had cultivated the liquefied part of Haru, and contained it in a robotics workshop. He was about to delete Haur, and replace it with his own AI, CABAL.
"Why my pet, you're in a secret lab, and I'm going to destroy you!" replied Jani, talking like he was going mad.
-No way, I'm gonna escape!- snapped back Haru
"My dear, escape is impossible, I am now taking you over and reprogramming you" said Jani, menacingly
-You…you couldn't! its impossible-
"Don't think you can stall. There I've already virused you. There is no escape now. My virus will take over you in a few moments" he replied coldly.
-I'm gonna…make you…pay for…ahhh!...- Haru couldn't finish her threat, she was being eaten away by Dr Jani's evil virus.
"See, I told you there was no escape. CABAL, are you done reprogramming it?" said a thoroughly pleased ani.
~Yes master. I am ready to acquire the Fist of Mercury.~ its replied, so coldly that it chilled even Jani. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own.
I'll have to fix his voice…I don't like its tone "Excellent. Begin acquiration immediately" he said. Soon…Jani thought to himself. Soon my destiny will be realized!
"I liked the clowns" Leena said happily as the clowns took a bow to end their performance.
"What! How can all you people think that. Clowns are some of the most sick and scary things in the world" said Bit cowering behind Leena.
"And this is the one who won the Royal Cup…" mumbled Brad with his sweat dropped.
"Ladies and gentlemen." said the ring master. "Raynos and Brothers is proud to present, for the first time this year, the Amazing Bandoleers!"
The crowd clapped and then the clapping died down.
"Our performers and Ted Swazy, Alexander Kerensky, Jack Smalls, Anne Cloud, Macy Windo, and Tracy Summers." said the ringmaster as the performers came in respectively. "This group of talented individuals have been doing this for 5 years, and are doing their first performance without a net."
The spotlight went over the performers one more time. Wait…(thought Leena) Isn't that the _ that was trying to steal my Bit! Leena's anger spiked all of a sudden, and she accidentally punched Bit in the Face while he was resting his head on her shoulder. The anger dissipated as quickly as it had come and she was kissing his "boo-boo". All Bit did was say "You could've just told me to get off!" Leena apologized and let him rest his head on her shoulder again. She did feel like he was nervous though, like he was hiding something.
The acrobats had all gone to their positions and the music started. They started a simple routine of just going on the suspended bars and holding it with their legs and flinging and catching their partners to the other side. Then the guys held the girls and waited for the bars to be positioned at points of equal distances from the other two (think of where the angles of an equilateral triangle are). Then the guys threw the girls at one another. They passed them with two hands, then one hand, and finally by the legs. Then they went back to their initial routine and passed the acrobats to one another, until all but two were on a platform. The guys holding the a woman (the one Leena suspected Bit had an affair with) threw her towards the platform. The music stopped, signaling the end of the show. But instead of ending, the woman missed the platform! It seemed that the guy had misjudged the angle he shot her at. She was falling and was mere feet from the ground when all of a sudden, and blur caught her; the music started again, but this time it played a short fanfare, and finally ended the performance. The crowd sighed in relief (after seeing that she was caught), and then exploded with happiness and clapped. For some time afterwards. It seemed that while everyone was focused on the blonde, one of the acrobats secretly mounted a bar and swung to her at a calculated time.
"And that was the Amazing Bandoleers!" exclaimed the ringmaster, almost as excited as the crowd. "Give them another round of applause!" and everyone obeyed. The lights went on, signaling the end of this performance; parents and kids rushed to get autographs. Leena was about to express her joy to Bit, but he was nowhere to be found. She spotted him next to that _, and it seemed that they were exchanging autographs. They gave them to each other, and then that woman gave something to him. It looked shiny and expensive. He briefly examined it and gave it back to her. Then he said some things and went to Leena.
"And who was that?" inquired Leena, trying to keep her anger in check.
"A…friend, ya, a friend" replied Bit nervously
"And what did she show you? Her necklace?" said Leena, struggling to keep herself from slugging Bit right and there. His excuse, an obvious lie, just made her angrier.
"Not hers…I mean it was a medal she got. It caught my eye and I asked her to see it. OK, lets go, they're leaving us behind!" said Bit in his conniving fashion.
Leena was about to say something, but Bit pulled her off her feet; she had to run to keep up. With every step she took, her anger faded away…
Back at the lab…
"CABAL, have you located all the on-board data in the Fist of Mercury?" said an impatient Jani. E wanted to make sure that the original programming for the Zoid did not interfere with CABAL.
-Yes, master. What shall I do with them?- he replied in his chilling voice.
"Go through all of them and keep only the programs that let the machine move. Upload everything else to my computer."
-Yes, master-
"Oh, and CABAL, update yourself with this patch before you do anything"
-Why master? Is there a inefficiency that I have not processed yet?-
"No, just something I want to change. Its nothing serious. It won't effect your programming." Said Jani reassuringly. Not that he needed to. CABAL would do anything for him without question.
-Thank you master. I am updating now.- He was working. -Done- he said in his new voice. It sounded like Jani's parents…
Like all orbital planets, Zi revolves around its sun(s), because of their gravitational attraction, a force that mankind just recently defined. But it can't be explained in words, since it was derived mathematically, while someone was trying to find out the rules for the tenth dimension (to my knowledge, this plane is composed of nine dimensions, but I may be wrong). Because of its many suns, Z has an elliptical orbit that put it two times as far as it is from its closest proximity then it is in its farthest (meaning the points that are farthest from the center have a distance twice as large as the points that are closest from the center. So if the farthest points are two away from the center, the closest are one away from the center. I said all this because I don't think I explained it all too well.). This makes Zi's summers very hot, and winters very cold. But the planet has an unusual direction of spin, sometimes setting it up for summer when it is farthest from the sun(s), and sometimes setting it up for winter when it is closest to the sun(s). Presently, it is a distance in between the two extremes, and setup on the transition between winter and summer (which can be though of as spring, but it is really an abrupt change, lasting one week at most). Summer will commence in two days.
If one was at the Hot Springs Resort, at the present moment, he or she would see he sun(s) setting to the northeast. It is a dazzling event. The color of the sky changes from blue to darker blue (with a black backdrop during the rest of the transition). to yellow then orange, then violet and finally black. This particular night had a near cloudless sky, letting all the celestial heavens show off their prettiness. If that person were at the Hotel at this particular moment, he or she would see a sky plastered with an endless volume of stars, galaxies, pulsars, nebulas, and if they knew where to look, the sun known as Sol, the sun for the planet known as Terra (or Earth). If one had a fairly large telescope, one could see the mother of all mankind. But no one would know where to look, since Terra had been long forgotten, and has been dead fro some time since the sun went Red Giant. It is supposed to go Nova, White Dwarf, or Black hole in the next few centuries, making it impossible for mankind to traces back his heritage…
Later that night
Bit and Leena were taking a stroll through the open roofed food court. They had stopped walking when Leena gazed into the sky.
"Doesn't it perplex you sometimes?" asked Leena.
"Ya, sure…" replied Bit. He was transfixed into watching Leena. She looked beautiful right now. No she was always beautiful thought Bit. She looked stunning right now. Her eyes twinkled with the stars. Her dress was giving off an unnatural glow. Dammit, she was giving off an unnatural glow. Bit was consumed by this. He longed for her more than he had ever longed for her his whole life. He decided to do it today and not wait till the end of their vacation. While Leena kept on blabbing about space and the stars, he called Anne and told her to meet him at a particular restaurant. Though the call had distracted him, the second he looked at Leena, he felt an uncontrollable urge to be with her. He slowly went up to Leena. Went up to her face. He was staring right at her, his eyes level with hers. She finally noticed.
"Is there something wrong Bit?" Leena asked worried something had happened to him in the last few minutes. But those thoughts disappeared when she saw Bit's eyes.
"Nothing" their lips drew closer. "Nothing at all"
Back at the garage…
~Well, so we agree that I stay as Liger 0, and you will join the Blitz Team as Harukichi Matsumi.~ said Hiro, back to his spot in the Liger 0.
"Yes, that's how we'll do it. Now the question is, how?" she said.
~Well, I can force Bit to get you into our team. That shouldn't be too hard.~ he replied.
"Oh. Well, according to what you're telling me, you guys wont leave for at least three days. What should we do?" Haru said.
~Lets just keep on going in as ourselves. I don't see any problem with that.~ said Hiro.
"Yes. But I don't have anywhere to stay…" pouted Haru.
~Then stay with me, there's room for one more…~
"It's the moment you've been waiting for, isn't it?" she rhetorically asked. She walked up to the beast,
~That, and when you get in here~ Hiro replied. He opened a hole for her to get into. She just giggled. She went up to the hole, and melted into it. It closed behind her. When she finally reached Hiro, they mixed with each other, a soup of nono-bots and minds…
At an undisclosed restaurant…
Where is she? Thought Bit.
"So Bit, why'd you bring us here? This place looks too rich for our blood." said Leena sarcastically.
"Uh…I wanted to show you something…wait. I have to go to the bathroom first!" said Bit, as he ran for the bathroom.
"What are you up to, Bit Cloud?" said Leena to herself.
Outside the bathrooms, Bit called Anne again. "Anne, what's taking you so long?" said a nervous Bit.
"There was traffic, but I'm almost there; I just parked." she replied.
"Good, meet me in front of the bathrooms. And watch out for Leena, I don't want her to suspect a thing." Said Bit, a little more calm now.
"Alright, I'll be there in a flash!" she ended the conversation.
"Funny little kid" said Bit to himself.
Back at the lab…
"CABAL, what is your conversion status?" asked Jani, anxious to see his greatest work yet.
-99.5% complete. Estimate total conversion in 10 seconds. Estimate reinitialization in 2 minutes after wards.- it realied.
"Very well."
-Conversion complete. Set reinitialization on manual or auto?-
"Auto" he ordered.
-Auto reinitialization initialed.-
Jani's screen showed the status.
Initializing system…please wait…System Online…
Powering nano-bots…please wait…Power up successful…
Initializing servos…please wait…Servo initialization successful…
Initializing tertiary circuitry…please wait…Tertiary circuitry initialization successful…
Installing tertiary circuitry…please wait…Installation successful…
Initializing secondary circuitry…please wait…Initialization successful…
Installing secondary circuitry…please wait…Installation successful…
Warning! Warning! Unknown entity has blocked all invasive attempts!
"No! Not again!" cried Jani as de ja vu hit home.
Back at the restaurant…
Leena had been waiting a whole ten minute for Bit now. They already got their food, and when the waiter saw to servings, but one person, she gave her a disgusted look. "He's in the bathroom" she angrily replied. Then she saw the unthinkable. That _ went into the restaurant, and headed straight to the bathroom. She was about to go there to and give them a piece of her mind, but then she decided to figure out how to kill them first. After a few minutes of delegation, she finally made up her mind on the slowest and most painful way to kill both of then with her bare hands.
She headed towards the bathrooms. When she finally reached it, she saw something that broke her heart. Bit was hugging that_!
What happened to Jani's experiment?
And what is Bit doing, hugging that other woman, when he's so deeply in love with Leena?
Find out in the next chapter "The Clashing Destinies".