Chapter 3 - Neighbors and Reploids
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~2010, Residential District, 6:42 PM~
Something's wrong here. I don't know what yet, but I'll figure it out.
I frowned as I dodged an ice attack from the 'blue one'. Careful examination revealed that there was no energy port on the subject.
I've seen electric attacks just jump off of a reploid's body before, but fire and ice attacks?
I frowned again as I dodged a 'Crescent Beam Smash' by leaping to the street below.
This is not maverick style.
Powerful mavericks did not work together. Their arrogance made such an endeavor impossible, as they would argue and scheme until they destroyed each other. Each also had large compliments of weaker reploids to do their bidding and act as cannon fodder for their army. Most high level mavericks also were opposed to shapes anywhere near this human looking, they considered the animals they took their shapes from to be far superior to the human species.
Unless these are the weaker ones…
My eyes narrowed as they dodged my X-buster. Some of them had moved into a good defensive position, the others had not. The extreme logic that mass produced reploids instinctively had was what made some humans still think of them as common robots. These, despite their similar uniforms, moved in no set attack pattern that he could detect. They simply reacted at random, with absolutely no organization. The last time I had seen that on the battle field was when a bunch of humans…
I couldn't be… scan enemy forces!
Scanning. . . . . .
Scan Complete.
Results:
Biological Organism
Energy Type: Unknown
Great. I've been firing on some weird type of human that this dimension possesses. Peachy. Okay. Think fast X, think fast.
I rolled out from behind the car I was kneeling behind just as it was incinerated by a 'Mars Firebird Strike', and made a vain attempt to repair my tarnished reputation.
"Stop firing!"
It did not appear to work as the one in the tuxedo threw a rose at me.
"Hey watch it!"
I then had to duck a large leaf accompanied by the phrase…
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"That could have really hurt!"
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Cease Freaking Fire!!!!!!"
"Venus Crescent Beam Shower!"
"Do the words STOP FIRING AT ME mean anything to you people!"
"Mercury Ice Bubble Blast!"
Guess not, I'm getting out of here.
I turned and, while dodging the ice shards being sent my way, ran for an alley.
"Venus Love Me Chain!"
Suddenly there was, surprise, a chain around my ankles, and I dropped to the ground. I quickly rolled to the side, dodging another rose thrown in my direction, and fired a few wild shots to scatter the others momentarily. Then I fired another quick few rounds into the chain, causing it to break. Once freed, I jumped to my feet only to find myself surrounded.
Oh, right. This is just what I needed tonight. To be taken out by a bunch of really weird humans.
Then, I grinned as something came to me. A thought later, the land chaser was at my side and ready for action. I hopped on and rushed them. I smiled at my get away.
Then I heard something behind me. I turned to look. I said it again.
"Crap."
The only male among them. The guy who would have looked significantly less out of place at a dinner party. The one who had kept throwing roses at me, was tailing me on a bike of his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Streets, 6:49 PM~
I raced down the highway on my motorcycle after the blue robot that I had been fighting before. I though back to the battle. It was decidedly odd. A hundred questions flooded through my mind.
It's not acting at all like the ones we've fought before. Where are its minions? Hell, why is it our size? The others were the size of large trucks!
And why the hell did it try to reason with us?
I shook myself out of my thoughts and took a look around. I had lost him. With a large sigh I rode back to near where I had left Serena. I changed back to my normal clothes and continued on to Amy's place. I noticed the girls still on one of the adjacent rooftops, leaping away when they saw me in my normal clothes. I waited patiently for my fiancé, and a few minutes later she walked out of the shadows across the road and over to me.
"What happened?"
"I'm not too sure, but I lost him. One minute he was there, the next he wasn't."
There is no way I'm telling her I lost him because I spaced out. After all the times I've teased her, I'd never hear the end of it.
She sighed.
"At least no one was killed this time."
"Yes, at least there's that."
We rode the rest of the way home in silence, and I once more turned my mind to the robot's strange behavior.
We got home to the apartment building about fifteen minutes later. As we pulled in we parked next to our new neighbor, Rock Light, who was getting some small groceries out of his bike's storage compartment.
"Hi Rock!"
How Serena could be that full of pep after the day she'd had was beyond me. Her resiliency was simply astounding. I busied myself with making sure that my bike was fine from my little excursion into downtown Tokyo. I hadn't put too serious a strain on it, but you could never be too careful either. Serena occupied herself talking to Rock as I checked everything carefully. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, I stood and wiped my hands off on my pants. Serena gave me a disapproving glare.
"You shouldn't wipe your hands on your pants like that Darien."
I was slightly amused at her admonition, I responded somewhat sarcastically.
"Yes mother."
She cuffed me lightly on the arm with a smile on her lips.
"Come on, I invited Rock up for coffee. He said he'd be there as soon as he put some things away."
I sighed a little.
"Not too long, right? I'm not much company after everything that's happened today."
"No, not too long, but welcoming him in is the neighborly thing to do."
I nodded, and we proceeded to the elevators, my arm around her waist.
I suppose it will be a nice change of pace from fighting robots all over the city.
This evening's battle had been short, but intense, and I could tell that the little blue robot was far superior to the others we had fought in terms of strength and skill. I wasn't exactly having the best night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments, Serena and Darien's Apartment, 7:32 PM~
I laughed at Serena's joke. I didn't quite understand everything involved, but that was fine, the joke was still funny.
I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Not since then, anyways…
A flood of gruesome images threatened to overwhelm my mind, and I clamped the lid down.
None of that tonight.
The phone rang then, and Serena went to answer it. Then, my internal sensors set off inside my head.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
Energy Signature Match!
In presence of life forms encountered today at approximately 0640 hours!
95% Probability
PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION!
Well, at least I'm sure that they're human now. No maverick would even pretend to live as a human. That's one weight of my mind Now if only…
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
Maverick Signature Detected!
Maverick Signature Detected!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
And tonight was going so well too. Why me?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence, 7:34 PM~
I smiled. With the data that my computer had picked up on this last robot, I was fairly sure that my computer could pick up on the robots wherever they were. They all emitted a certain frequency.
And now that I know what exactly what it is, I can set my computer to find them and Triangulate their position. Soon we'll know where they are!
I went over to my computer and ran the new program. A map displayed itself and two dots appeared almost immediately. One was at 36th and Jewel, and the other was headed there. Fast.
36th and Jewel. Why does that sound so familiar… Serena and Darien!
I rushed for the phone and hit Serena's number on speed dial.
Come on… come on… pick up already!!
"Hel…"
I cut Serena off.
"GET OUT NOW!! One of those machines is already in your building and there's another on its way…!"
Then I heard a crash, and the phone went dead. Fighting off feelings of dread, I dialed the temple, and hoped that Serena and Darien would live long enough for us to get there.
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~2010, Halo Apartments, Serena and Darien's Apartment, 7:35 PM~
"Hel…"
That was about all I got out before I heard Amy's panicked voice scream.
"GET OUT NOW!!"
Amy then said some other things I didn't quite catch, but that didn't matter as I dropped the phone and hurried into the living room as I heard a loud crash, and some muffled cursing from Darien. I got there just in time to see Darien getting up from where the explosion had tossed him, and Rock grappling with a large blue humanoid bird. The bird then picked Rock up and threw him through a wall. Oddly enough, it was the wall into his own apartment.
I hope Rock doesn't see this…
I changed into Sailor Moon, and was about ready to start my speech when a bright, blinking, purple light flashed behind it, and there were noticeable crunching sounds. It howled in pain, and stumbled forward. I wheeled about and looked out the hole it had created coming in. As I saw the burn marks on its back I decided that bellowing was its normal tone of voice.
"WHO DARES!!"
Then it charged out the window, breaking my living room wall some more as it spread its wings for flight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Adjacent Rooftop, 7:36 PM~
I had shifted to X as soon as I had hit the wall, and hoped to whatever looked after the theoretical reploidal soul that Serena and Darien hadn't seen me do it. I teleported in mid air to a nearby rooftop, then fired off a few rounds of plasma energy at the back of the reploid I now recognized as Storm Eagle.
They're scraping the bottom of the barrel aren't they?
The blue 'big bird' stumbled from my shots, and turned around, bellowing.
"WHO DARES!!"
Then he spotted me, and I unloaded a few more plasma rounds at him. He flew straight at me, and I leapt nimbly out of the way as Serena and Darien in their alternate forms landed on the rooftop behind me.
I launched a few more salvos at him, and decided to enjoy myself a little.
"Surprise!!"
He wheeled again, and this time actually took my appearance in. He gaped for a moment. The spluttered.
"Impossible! There is no possible way for you stupid hunters to be here!"
"I didn't think it was possible for you to be reconstructed after the number I pulled on you last time we tangled, Stormy old pal, but look at you now!"
I dodged a tornado sent out by Storm Eagle and winced at the ripping sound behind me. I turned and looked, not really wanting to see what had happened. The tornado had ripped a three or four foot round hole clean through the building. I gulped.
This is not the same old Storm Eagle I could beat twice before breakfast on a bad day. This is Storm Eagle on steroids!
Then he started his diving/ramming trick. I was frankly a little surprised he hadn't broken the sound barrier yet. I had enough trouble just trying to dodge his moves. I got off a few rounds, but I didn't have the time to charge a stronger blast, and my normal attack wasn't doing much but ruin his paint job.
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"
Storm Eagle suddenly stopped in mid air and started twitching violently. I grinned. I quickly converted my buster to its piercing mode. I watched the rather stubby cannon type blaster elongate itself to what more closely resembled a rifle barrel. I charged, took aim, and fired. Storm Eagle managed to snap out of it just in time to watch the bolt hit him between the eyes.
I looked around. There were all of the people from earlier. The silence was rather pregnant.
Never thought I'd be happy to see humans run onto a battlefield…
I gave them a mock salute, and teleported away, back into my apartment. I looked at the rubble and tried to figure out where I would have landed. I half buried myself underneath the rubble, and took a nap.
System Reboot T-15 Minutes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments, Rock's Apartment, 7:45 PM~
I frowned, examining the body before me. I had used the fact that I was a doctor worried about my friends to get in, and the police had directed me to this guy. By everything Serena had said, this 'Rock' character should be dead, but despite to collapsed rubble about him, he seemed to barely have more than a few superficial cuts and bruises on him. With police presence, I couldn't use my computer, but there was something about this guy that inexplicably strange. Then he seemed to blink slowly, and I found my staring into the most innocent looking green eyes I had ever seen…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Residential District, 6:42 PM~
Something's wrong here. I don't know what yet, but I'll figure it out.
I frowned as I dodged an ice attack from the 'blue one'. Careful examination revealed that there was no energy port on the subject.
I've seen electric attacks just jump off of a reploid's body before, but fire and ice attacks?
I frowned again as I dodged a 'Crescent Beam Smash' by leaping to the street below.
This is not maverick style.
Powerful mavericks did not work together. Their arrogance made such an endeavor impossible, as they would argue and scheme until they destroyed each other. Each also had large compliments of weaker reploids to do their bidding and act as cannon fodder for their army. Most high level mavericks also were opposed to shapes anywhere near this human looking, they considered the animals they took their shapes from to be far superior to the human species.
Unless these are the weaker ones…
My eyes narrowed as they dodged my X-buster. Some of them had moved into a good defensive position, the others had not. The extreme logic that mass produced reploids instinctively had was what made some humans still think of them as common robots. These, despite their similar uniforms, moved in no set attack pattern that he could detect. They simply reacted at random, with absolutely no organization. The last time I had seen that on the battle field was when a bunch of humans…
I couldn't be… scan enemy forces!
Scanning. . . . . .
Scan Complete.
Results:
Biological Organism
Energy Type: Unknown
Great. I've been firing on some weird type of human that this dimension possesses. Peachy. Okay. Think fast X, think fast.
I rolled out from behind the car I was kneeling behind just as it was incinerated by a 'Mars Firebird Strike', and made a vain attempt to repair my tarnished reputation.
"Stop firing!"
It did not appear to work as the one in the tuxedo threw a rose at me.
"Hey watch it!"
I then had to duck a large leaf accompanied by the phrase…
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"That could have really hurt!"
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Cease Freaking Fire!!!!!!"
"Venus Crescent Beam Shower!"
"Do the words STOP FIRING AT ME mean anything to you people!"
"Mercury Ice Bubble Blast!"
Guess not, I'm getting out of here.
I turned and, while dodging the ice shards being sent my way, ran for an alley.
"Venus Love Me Chain!"
Suddenly there was, surprise, a chain around my ankles, and I dropped to the ground. I quickly rolled to the side, dodging another rose thrown in my direction, and fired a few wild shots to scatter the others momentarily. Then I fired another quick few rounds into the chain, causing it to break. Once freed, I jumped to my feet only to find myself surrounded.
Oh, right. This is just what I needed tonight. To be taken out by a bunch of really weird humans.
Then, I grinned as something came to me. A thought later, the land chaser was at my side and ready for action. I hopped on and rushed them. I smiled at my get away.
Then I heard something behind me. I turned to look. I said it again.
"Crap."
The only male among them. The guy who would have looked significantly less out of place at a dinner party. The one who had kept throwing roses at me, was tailing me on a bike of his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Streets, 6:49 PM~
I raced down the highway on my motorcycle after the blue robot that I had been fighting before. I though back to the battle. It was decidedly odd. A hundred questions flooded through my mind.
It's not acting at all like the ones we've fought before. Where are its minions? Hell, why is it our size? The others were the size of large trucks!
And why the hell did it try to reason with us?
I shook myself out of my thoughts and took a look around. I had lost him. With a large sigh I rode back to near where I had left Serena. I changed back to my normal clothes and continued on to Amy's place. I noticed the girls still on one of the adjacent rooftops, leaping away when they saw me in my normal clothes. I waited patiently for my fiancé, and a few minutes later she walked out of the shadows across the road and over to me.
"What happened?"
"I'm not too sure, but I lost him. One minute he was there, the next he wasn't."
There is no way I'm telling her I lost him because I spaced out. After all the times I've teased her, I'd never hear the end of it.
She sighed.
"At least no one was killed this time."
"Yes, at least there's that."
We rode the rest of the way home in silence, and I once more turned my mind to the robot's strange behavior.
We got home to the apartment building about fifteen minutes later. As we pulled in we parked next to our new neighbor, Rock Light, who was getting some small groceries out of his bike's storage compartment.
"Hi Rock!"
How Serena could be that full of pep after the day she'd had was beyond me. Her resiliency was simply astounding. I busied myself with making sure that my bike was fine from my little excursion into downtown Tokyo. I hadn't put too serious a strain on it, but you could never be too careful either. Serena occupied herself talking to Rock as I checked everything carefully. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, I stood and wiped my hands off on my pants. Serena gave me a disapproving glare.
"You shouldn't wipe your hands on your pants like that Darien."
I was slightly amused at her admonition, I responded somewhat sarcastically.
"Yes mother."
She cuffed me lightly on the arm with a smile on her lips.
"Come on, I invited Rock up for coffee. He said he'd be there as soon as he put some things away."
I sighed a little.
"Not too long, right? I'm not much company after everything that's happened today."
"No, not too long, but welcoming him in is the neighborly thing to do."
I nodded, and we proceeded to the elevators, my arm around her waist.
I suppose it will be a nice change of pace from fighting robots all over the city.
This evening's battle had been short, but intense, and I could tell that the little blue robot was far superior to the others we had fought in terms of strength and skill. I wasn't exactly having the best night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments, Serena and Darien's Apartment, 7:32 PM~
I laughed at Serena's joke. I didn't quite understand everything involved, but that was fine, the joke was still funny.
I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Not since then, anyways…
A flood of gruesome images threatened to overwhelm my mind, and I clamped the lid down.
None of that tonight.
The phone rang then, and Serena went to answer it. Then, my internal sensors set off inside my head.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
Energy Signature Match!
In presence of life forms encountered today at approximately 0640 hours!
95% Probability
PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION!
Well, at least I'm sure that they're human now. No maverick would even pretend to live as a human. That's one weight of my mind Now if only…
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
Maverick Signature Detected!
Maverick Signature Detected!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
And tonight was going so well too. Why me?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Mizuno Residence, 7:34 PM~
I smiled. With the data that my computer had picked up on this last robot, I was fairly sure that my computer could pick up on the robots wherever they were. They all emitted a certain frequency.
And now that I know what exactly what it is, I can set my computer to find them and Triangulate their position. Soon we'll know where they are!
I went over to my computer and ran the new program. A map displayed itself and two dots appeared almost immediately. One was at 36th and Jewel, and the other was headed there. Fast.
36th and Jewel. Why does that sound so familiar… Serena and Darien!
I rushed for the phone and hit Serena's number on speed dial.
Come on… come on… pick up already!!
"Hel…"
I cut Serena off.
"GET OUT NOW!! One of those machines is already in your building and there's another on its way…!"
Then I heard a crash, and the phone went dead. Fighting off feelings of dread, I dialed the temple, and hoped that Serena and Darien would live long enough for us to get there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments, Serena and Darien's Apartment, 7:35 PM~
"Hel…"
That was about all I got out before I heard Amy's panicked voice scream.
"GET OUT NOW!!"
Amy then said some other things I didn't quite catch, but that didn't matter as I dropped the phone and hurried into the living room as I heard a loud crash, and some muffled cursing from Darien. I got there just in time to see Darien getting up from where the explosion had tossed him, and Rock grappling with a large blue humanoid bird. The bird then picked Rock up and threw him through a wall. Oddly enough, it was the wall into his own apartment.
I hope Rock doesn't see this…
I changed into Sailor Moon, and was about ready to start my speech when a bright, blinking, purple light flashed behind it, and there were noticeable crunching sounds. It howled in pain, and stumbled forward. I wheeled about and looked out the hole it had created coming in. As I saw the burn marks on its back I decided that bellowing was its normal tone of voice.
"WHO DARES!!"
Then it charged out the window, breaking my living room wall some more as it spread its wings for flight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Adjacent Rooftop, 7:36 PM~
I had shifted to X as soon as I had hit the wall, and hoped to whatever looked after the theoretical reploidal soul that Serena and Darien hadn't seen me do it. I teleported in mid air to a nearby rooftop, then fired off a few rounds of plasma energy at the back of the reploid I now recognized as Storm Eagle.
They're scraping the bottom of the barrel aren't they?
The blue 'big bird' stumbled from my shots, and turned around, bellowing.
"WHO DARES!!"
Then he spotted me, and I unloaded a few more plasma rounds at him. He flew straight at me, and I leapt nimbly out of the way as Serena and Darien in their alternate forms landed on the rooftop behind me.
I launched a few more salvos at him, and decided to enjoy myself a little.
"Surprise!!"
He wheeled again, and this time actually took my appearance in. He gaped for a moment. The spluttered.
"Impossible! There is no possible way for you stupid hunters to be here!"
"I didn't think it was possible for you to be reconstructed after the number I pulled on you last time we tangled, Stormy old pal, but look at you now!"
I dodged a tornado sent out by Storm Eagle and winced at the ripping sound behind me. I turned and looked, not really wanting to see what had happened. The tornado had ripped a three or four foot round hole clean through the building. I gulped.
This is not the same old Storm Eagle I could beat twice before breakfast on a bad day. This is Storm Eagle on steroids!
Then he started his diving/ramming trick. I was frankly a little surprised he hadn't broken the sound barrier yet. I had enough trouble just trying to dodge his moves. I got off a few rounds, but I didn't have the time to charge a stronger blast, and my normal attack wasn't doing much but ruin his paint job.
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"
Storm Eagle suddenly stopped in mid air and started twitching violently. I grinned. I quickly converted my buster to its piercing mode. I watched the rather stubby cannon type blaster elongate itself to what more closely resembled a rifle barrel. I charged, took aim, and fired. Storm Eagle managed to snap out of it just in time to watch the bolt hit him between the eyes.
I looked around. There were all of the people from earlier. The silence was rather pregnant.
Never thought I'd be happy to see humans run onto a battlefield…
I gave them a mock salute, and teleported away, back into my apartment. I looked at the rubble and tried to figure out where I would have landed. I half buried myself underneath the rubble, and took a nap.
System Reboot T-15 Minutes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~2010, Halo Apartments, Rock's Apartment, 7:45 PM~
I frowned, examining the body before me. I had used the fact that I was a doctor worried about my friends to get in, and the police had directed me to this guy. By everything Serena had said, this 'Rock' character should be dead, but despite to collapsed rubble about him, he seemed to barely have more than a few superficial cuts and bruises on him. With police presence, I couldn't use my computer, but there was something about this guy that inexplicably strange. Then he seemed to blink slowly, and I found my staring into the most innocent looking green eyes I had ever seen…