Chapter 22: Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega
When he woke up, he recognized the ceiling as that of the Klauses' former guest room (now Prima's). When he woke up, he remembered everything.
Everything. The eerie green glow of unmade life capsules, the half-completed circuits meant for the mechavehicle support systems, the empty metal halls that housed the people that Aeon Industries had isolated from the world. Other children, with white hair like him, who had died in those halls while he survived. His mother, too, taken away when he was but three years old. The countless experiments and the endless training, all because he possessed the accursed Aeon Shard. And all throughout, Ruecian was there—always in the background, but always there nevertheless, watching over him like some surreal self-appointed guardian.
Groaning, he sat up, his head still woozy from the events of the previous night, but except for that he was uninjured. Off-hand he wondered where Mint was. Either at her dormitory or in Elena's room, probably. He sincerely hoped she wasn't hurt. His palm over his eyes, he shook his head in a vain effort to clear it. Everything seemed covered in a gray fog.
His cap and bandanna were on the nightstand beside his bed, and he carefully put them both on. Prima's room had an extra bed, and he noticed that it was unmade—the entire Klaus family must be awake downstairs by now. Of course they would—the wall-clock read 2 o'clock. It was already afternoon.
He stood and walked out of the room, knowing that the professor was probably in the basement. What he saw when he exited the door almost made his heart stop. The living room was in entire disarray. The furniture were thrown about and most of the ceiling lights were smashed. Papers and shattered glass from the windows were littered all over the floor.
Almost running, he went straight to the professor's basement, and saw that it was in the same ransacked state as the living room. Most of the relics that he and Klaus had collected over the years were broken, probably beyond repair. Some of the boxes were missing. Rue hurried past the cluttered items, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Klaus unhurriedly beginning his efforts at reorganizing everything.
"Professor," he said softly, not wishing to startle the other, and Klaus turned towards him. Worriedly, he asked, "Is everyone alright?"
Klaus replied, "They're fine. No one was here when this place was attacked. The family spent the night with Fancy Mel, and the only things missing are Elroy's box, and my notes and laptop." Klaus hesitated a little. "We found you in the underground tunnels by the lake last night, Rue. What happened?"
Rue bit his lip anxiously, uncertain how to begin. He opened his mouth, twice as if to speak, only to clamp it shut both times. He closed his eyes and sat down on some debris, burying his face in his hands. "A man named Ruecian confronted us last night. He… he opened up my memories."
He felt a consoling hand on his shoulder, but he didn't look up. "I understand now, why I have these strange abilities. I've had them since birth. Ruecian and… there were others… they trained me as a child to use my powers. They took my mother away… and my father whom I never knew… or maybe they weren't my real parents. I… I'm not human, Klaus!"
But it wasn't Klaus who spoke next. "It wasn't a joke last night, Rue. I said you were human." Mint was standing by the door.
Rue lifted his head from his hands, his expression pained, and he watched her slowly walk down the stairs. "And just because you said it makes it true? How do you even know—"
"I don't know!" she snapped angrily. "I just… know."
She just… knows. Just like the underground tunnels when she thought that something or someone was going to meet them outside. Just like the first time he dreamed again in two years. Just like the fake Claire. Mint just knows… And Rue knew that he trusted her. His face softened, just a little. For some reason, her reassurance was enough for him. At least for now.
Mint raised her hand towards the professor, palm up. "Mint, wha…" Rue began, but one look from her made him stop short.
"This charade has gone far enough, professor."
Klaus raised one eyebrow quizzically at her. "What are you talking about…?"
She answered by sending a charged bolt his way. "MINT!!" Rue shouted, abruptly getting up on his feet. Klaus didn't even move, the bolt fizzing past his ear to dissipate when it hit the wall behind him. Rue made towards the girl, but suddenly found his way blocked by an invisible wall. "MINT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Mira and Elena aren't here because they spent the night at Fancy Mel's," she stated. "And they're at Mel's because Prima was kidnapped last night."
"WHAT?!!"
"I'd say he was kidnapped at about the same time you were all at the fair. Someone went for him right after we were attacked in the tunnels. That's where you found us, right? You went looking for us after Prima was taken. Ruecian took him, didn't he?"
"Mint, how did you—" Rue asked, and Mint, without moving her palm away from the professor, held up something in her other hand.
"I found this under the sofa in the living room. And this isn't yours, or Mira's, or Elena's, or even Mel's handwriting—and certainly not Prima's."
Rue walked towards her and took it. It was a note, but not from any paper that he knew Klaus to use. Unsigned, it said simply: The third generation child is now with me. These mind games are over, Augustus. Mint spoke again, "I have a feeling it's not Ruecian's handwriting either."
"What would you have me say?" Klaus spoke gravely, the first time since Mint attacked him. "That I once knew the man responsible for mutilating Rue's mind and implanting on him the Aeon Shard?" He sighed. "Alright, consider it said."
Mint said, "What do you want from us, professor? You owe us an explanation—"
"Actually, I think he owes you more than that." Mint turned sharply to see Belle at the top of the basement stairs. "Besides, I'd like to know the whole story myself."
"You—!" Mint shouted angrily and raised her hand towards the older woman, but Rue was faster. He grabbed her from the side, pinning her arms down. Mint struggled. "Let me go, Rue!!" He didn't even speak, but the look he gave her was enough. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was him. Mint exhaled, more felt than heard, and her body relaxed. Rue let her go.
"It's better if you all sit down," Klaus told them. "This will be a long tale."
"Terry Prometheus Valen used to be an old friend. We were neighbors before I moved to Carona—we've known each other since I was a boy of six. Although he's over thirty years older than I am, I looked up to him as a brother, and you could say that we became best friends. He was always a recluse, and even that young I was already a class-A nerd, and it was our love of machines that brought us together. He had graduated from college at the age of nineteen, the youngest and up 'til now, still the best mechatronic student in the history of Ephelsia University. Terry wasn't normal—he was born with a strange condition that was rare at the time and not documented by medical science until much later. He was a chroma child, as he liked to call it, just like you, Rue.
"About twenty years ago, when I was in high school, Terry was already a board member of Aeon Industries, and that was when he became obsessed with psyche-amplifiers. Chroma children were supposed to be psyche-strong, but their particular condition caused them to go mad if they ever try to use their magick. Terry thought that psyche-amps were the key for chroma children to be able to tap into their psychic potential, but previous researches suggested that even psyche-amps wouldn't help. Terry realized that the reason chroma children couldn't use their powers was because their abilities were the result of a mutation—unlike the East Heaven scions' magick for example, which had been in their bloodline for countless generations—and the mind of a chroma child was too weak to adapt to the pressure caused by using the magick. He developed the Aeon Shard System as a special psyche-amp, to be imbedded into the chroma child's cranium, so that it will siphon unto itself the mind's pressure build-up when casting spells. It's an irreversible operation, since it involves the A. S. System's sampling tendrils to literally bore into the chroma child's brain tissue. To keep it small enough physically, he limited its abilities to controlling electronic devices. All of Aeon Industries' circuits from that point on were fitted with a fail-safe system loop that prevents a chroma child with a locked Aeon Shard from manipulating it."
Mint was deep in thought. "That explains why Rue wasn't able to recognize the creatures as mechanical. His Shard was unlocked only last night."
Klaus nodded an affirmative. "Cosmos Corp circuits don't have the fail-safe, and that's why Rue was able to control them with a locked Aeon Shard.
"I didn't know that Terry was already working on the Aeon Shard System, then. I even helped with his psyche-amp research when I became a student at Ephlesia U. There were five of us in the group—Terry, Eugene Wylaf, and Benjamin Atenacius from the older generation, and me and Fancy Mel. Mel was my classmate for only a short time, but we both wound up working for Cosmos Corp after we graduated. But even as a junior researcher for a rival company, I still kept in touch with Terry and his psyche-amps.
"The Aeon Shard will only work on chroma children, and when I discovered that Terry was using his position in Aeon Industries to conduct experiments illegally, I was already too late to stop him. He had already tested the prototype psyche-amps on a …batch… a generation of chroma children rather, and all but one of them died. They were too old for their brains to handle the operation. That's when he decided to implant the Shard on newborns."
"…and I was one of those." Rue spoke softly. "All along you knew. How come you never told me before?"
"I didn't think you needed to know it yet," Klaus replied somberly. "And it's not over. Valen hopes to achieve immortality with his Aeon Shard System—I don't know how or why, all I know is that he will keep up his experiments until he achieves that goal. I confronted Valen once I found out…" he winced, remembering how he got his limp.
"Mind games," Mint interrupted. "The note mentioned mind games."
"For the sake of our old friendship, Valen made me a deal. He told me that he will stop the experiments if ever I break his code before he builds the third tower of Carona."
Belle spoke next. "In that case, you are already too late. By the way, your highness," she turned to the red-haired girl, "I think you too will be extremely interested in this." She took out a copy of the day's paper and threw it towards Mint.
"Why would I be interested in the boring old news…" she trailed off. Her eyes quickly scanned the page, and her knuckles turned white as her grip on the paper tightened.
Rue leaned closer towards her to see. Tower of Maya Construction Completes Today, the headline read. The small photo featured Doll Master and a red-haired girl who had Mint's burgundy eyes. "Maya East Heaven?"
"My little sister," Mint whispered through clenched teeth.
"From what I hear, she had been a more responsible crown princess than you ever were," Belle remarked snidely. "A pity—she seemed more sensible than you are. Then again, Ruecian can be a very slick talker when he tries."
"Why you—" Mint raised her fist, but Rue's grip on her arm stopped her and she reluctantly calmed down. There was no point in fighting amongst themselves.
Belle continued, "Basically, it says that the new Tower will house extra offices for Aeon Industries, plus a few research labs with the latest equipment focusing on psyche-amp technology development. They're actually trying to keep it quiet, but this article got through somehow." She placed her index finger on the news photo, on a small figure that could easily be missed. The little boy had white hair and was being held by the hand by one of Maya's guards. "If you plan to rescue him, tonight would be the best time, before they get the kinks ironed out of their security system. I already know the rest of this story—I'll meet you two at the outskirts of town at 1800." And then she left.
"Where do Elroy and Prima fit in? And why did they take Claire?"
Klaus frowned thoughtfully, absently scratching his chin. "Prima is the third generation child, that much we know. As far as I can tell, Elroy and Claire both somehow just stumbled into Aeon Industries' research. Perhaps they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but Terry can't afford any loose ends."
"Did you ever figure out the code?" Rue asked.
Klaus shook his head. "I sent you on the relic hunts with that in mind—and all we came up with were uncertainties. I tried my best to narrow it down, but still I failed. It could be a pattern found in a completed map of underground tunnels, or maybe the circuits of Elroy's box, or even Prima's genetic code…" he sighed. "I even thought that it could be the aura pattern of an East Heaven scion. When Belle told me about you, Mint, three years ago, I had hoped that with you I solved the code already."
"You mean…" Mint said, "Belle was the reason you found me?!"
"Yes," Klaus replied. "Is there anything the matter, Mint?"
"No, it's just that…" she frowned. "Nevermind."
There was still one thing that Rue wanted to know, though. He turned towards the redhead, "Mint, can I ask? What did Belle mean, when she said that you used to be a crown princess…?"
To his surprise, Mint's face flushed. "Idrathernottalkaboutit."
"Huh?"
"None of your business!!" She stood up in a huff. As she stomped off, he thought he heard her mutter, "When I conquer the world, she is gonna be sooo dead! Both of them!!"
An hour and a half later, when Rue and Klaus finished tidying up the living room somewhat (Mint was skulking upstairs in Elena's room), Belle called with further news. It was Rue who answered the phone, and Belle told him. All the vehicles in town were out of commission. "They're sending out a jamming signal from somewhere in the city, and all circuits manufactured by Aeon Industries have completely shut down." Aeon Industries had close to a monopoly on mechatronic circuits in Carona Town.
"We know," Rue said. "The power's on, but only the low-tech stuff work properly. Any ideas on why they'd do this?"
He could almost see the other shake her head. "Valen is that afraid of you, Rue." A disconnecting beep, and she hung up.
Rue mentioned the news to Klaus, adding, "I guess Mint and I are walking to the outskirts, then. We'd better leave now, or we won't make it in time."
"No good," Klaus shook his head. "It's a long hike. Don't bother to deny it, Rue—both of you are still tired from last night's encounter. If you walk all that way, you won't be able to stand against whatever enemy you might come across in the Tower of Maya."
"But if we have no choice…"
"Maybe we do," Mint called from upstairs. She leaned against the railing, her chin cupped in her palm. She had heard enough of their conversation to know what was going on. "Rod's got a car, and from what he told me, his girlfriend made the circuits herself, and not from any Aeon Inc. parts either. I'd better give him a call."
Later when it was time to go, the two kids had rested and felt much better. Klaus handed Rue a modified disc card in the hope that it might help them, and Rue slid it into his shirt's breast pocket. The two kids made their way towards Rod's arcade. Rod greeted them and led the way to his garage at the back.
"Hey, it's not so bad, Rue! Let's beat the stuffing out of them and get Prima back, alright?" Mint nudged her companion gently, only to find that Rue had lapsed into silence again. After some time the boy sighed, wistfully and unconsciously whispering an all too familiar name. Mint frowned at him, but it passed quickly. "Idiot."
Rue heard that last, finally realizing that she had spoken to him, and he turned. "Mint, what did—" but he didn't get to continue, as Rod opened the garage door right then. He proudly grinned at them as Mint and Rue gazed at his vehicle. Mint was the only other person who had seen it before.
"I haven't told you her name, have I? She's the Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega."
Mint raised her eyebrows skeptically at him. "You're absolutely sure this Pinto can take us to the Tower of Maya?"
"Watch your tongue!" Rod said, getting irritated. "It's the Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega!"
"Pulsar Infer-whatsis or whatever, a car's a car! (And Pinto is a much better name anyway…)"
"It's Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega!"
"PINTO!"
Rue didn't speak, feeling left out of the discussion for some reason. Mint stomped her foot impatiently and cracked her knuckles. "Let's just get on with it! Oh, I want to beat my little sissie up so bad…"
"Wait, wait!" Rod exclaimed. "The PULSAR INFERNO TYPHOON OMEGA seats only two, which means that someone has to sit on someone else's lap, and there's no way Rue and I are sitting together."
Mint's face flushed suddenly. "[Expletive], Rue would never agree to sit with me—"
"Actually," Rue spoke, scuffing the floor with his boot. "I wouldn't mind it."
"Well, I would." Rue looked up, startled at Mint's suddenly altered tone. "I'm sitting with Rod."
Rod absently combed his fingers through his hair, "Well, sure if that's what…"
"Rod's going to let me drive!!" She laughed, and then broke at a run towards the Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega. With a surprised shout of "No Way!" Rod chased after her.
Rue frowned. "Ow!" he exclaimed—he had bit his lip without realizing it. He shook his head once before walking towards the redheaded pair, and wondered uselessly at what the big deal was all about, anyway.
Author's Notes
02 March 2003. I apologize for the long update. The series has come to the point where it diverges significantly from the game, and my biggest problem is in telling the backstory (I don't like flashbacks, and I don't like my characters talking too much, but sometimes there's no way around it, grumblegrumblegrumble….)
To The People Who Complained Recently about Rue's Lack of Morphing Abilities: I have been pondering about this issue since the Skull Beast battle in chapter four (sixth chapter). Frankly, I seriously doubt that medical science will have found a way for people to physically morph into another being by 2026, so I decided to settle on a form of technomancy (extra special thanks to Nagia for the term). Rue hasn't actually used his powers yet in a considerable manner, and since there was no space left to fit it here (or the chapter will become too cluttered), I promise that it will be included next chapter (that had been the plan all along, but some of you are getting impatient… I'm sorry. :( ).
Yes, Ryan, it has been proven time and again that you *are* psychic. I will no longer argue.
On hindsight, I think there's actually something wrong with this chapter… hmm… plotholes. I am sensing plotholes somewhere. No, they're not… just not yet explained. (Some more stuff for Ryan to think about. ^_~. Like, why was Belle at Klaus's house in the first place? And I suppose that most of you must've figured out who Belle's sister is by now.)
Special thanks for this update goes to the following people: GoddessOfTheBlueRose, Twisting Demon, Tenshi Kanashimi, Tenshi Kanashimi, The Crew of Light &Mew, TRUEHAWK, James Birdsong, The Shadow Trio, Physico, Liol, Little Wolf of the Far Moon (twice too), Hyper Yuffie, and WithoutMorals. ^_^.