Mika: :standing on a stage, holding the microphone with two fingers: HELLO, EVERYONE!
The reviewers: HI, MIKA!
Mika: ARE YA READY?
The reviewers: AYE AYE, MIKA!
Mika: I CAN'T FREAKING HEAR YOU!
The reviewers: AYE AYE, MIKA!
009, Haru, Bakura: :drag Mika away:
Mika: I have Cyborg 009 at the top of my Christmas wish list. Really, I do. And to pronounce my full name correctly, it's Me-cage Roo-ree Sheer-ee-zah-wah! And pronounce my nickname Me-ka! Not like -some- people who call me "My-cah"!
002: :looking around nervously: what?
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The Cyborg Children
Chapter Eight: The World on a String
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"Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Mage groaned.
"We should get back now," Kiara said. Mage stood up to relieve herself of her duty.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Celeste demanded, then turning herself into a machine going ninety miles an hour with French curses.
"You're right. You should get back now," Florence said. "Or else they'll start thinking you rebelled and go and blow you up."
The Megas dropped everything they were doing and accelerated out of the Dolphin at amazing speeds.
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"Ummm…" Celeste said. She poked her high pile of dirty clothes, growing by the day.
"I agree." Julia said, looking at her pile that was just as large. "We need to wash our clothes, or I think we'll kill a few people with their mere stench."
After the Megas had left, everything had grown much less exciting. Emma and Ivan were now off in the living room, holding a staring contest. The outing in England had resulted in only bringing the Megas back successfully. Issac had been pretty weirded out by all the new people, but adjusted. Now that they were gone, all the suspense was gone. There was no one new to meet for the girls.
So Issac sat in with Emma and Ivan as they carried a mental conversation, wishing he could help them.
"Doctor Gilmore, we can use your help," Emma said. "Why didn't you ask? We could always use people who know how to do this kind of work."
"In that case," Issac said, easing himself into the conversation. "How can I help?"
"You seem to know your way around cyborgs," Emma stated. "Now tell me this: were the Megas acting happy or were they happy?"
Issac thought. The boy--what was his name? 003, that was his name. He had been fiddling with a small device the entire time. He had never spoken a single word. All the interesting females that had boarded for the short time seemed happy enough, yet two of them were drinking themselves dead.
"None of them wanted to be here, or at least that's what we think," Ivan noted.
"You're right. They wanted you all to think that they were your friends." Issac added.
"They must have…no…" Emma said, freezing in the middle of her sentence.
"What?" The two men asked at the same time.
"Do you remember when 007 said that she was going to hack the international data base?" Emma asked. The men nodded. "I think she didn't hack only that system. For someone like her, she probably hacked the information on all of us, then went and searched our computer records. Yai, we've got a problem!"
"ANGELINA!" Ivan shouted. There was no need, since she was standing in the doorway, as pale as she could ever be.
"Someone corrupted my entire computer," She said.
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"Ah, 009. It is about time you arrived," A cloaked figure said. 009 tried to hide the twinkling pleasure in her ruby eyes.
The rest of the Megas came out of the shadows behind her, their faces showing grins of haunted enjoyment. 004 and 005, shockingly, didn't stand out.
"You have executed our plan well, 009." The figure said. "I trust 0020 was disposed in the process?"
"Yes, sir," 009 answered.
"Very good. And Miss Zero, how is she?" The figure asked.
"She stayed behind," 009 said.
"Well, is it time that we gave her a little surprise?" The figure said with a hint of death in his cold voice.
"No, sir!" 001 exclaimed. She received hard stares all around. "I mean, not yet. Bring them here, then destroy their precious little girl!"
"Good thinking, 001. Destroy her when they need her most." The figure played with the though for a minute. "Go ahead, run along. I'm sure you can get some practice in on the failed experiments in time for the arrival of our children, no?"
The Megas all exited the room to go find the practice room. The 'practice room' was more of a nicer term for it, since it contained all the failed projects. Countless numbers of them, there were. Often, the completed experiments were sent off to rough up the failures, and usually ended up killing the weaker, less developed cyborg.
"003, did you stick that…" 004 began to ask.
"Of course, silly. 007, did you finish the data drain?" 003 asked in return.
"You bet that Sam-chan did!" 007 replied.
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"Maybe I can curl up in a corner and it will all go away…" Emma said. "Yai…Yai…YAI!"
"Why don't you open the windows and say it through a megaphone, Emma?" Sophia asked sarcastically. "I don't think Russia heard you."
"That sounds just like something Julia would say," Celeste mentioned with a giggle. "I think we're starting to rub off on one another."
Julia was trying to divert her anger into the pancakes that she and Liana had made, and turned them into a mush-like substance. Emma watched them through a single hazel eye; the other eye was closed.
"Well then, what do we do?" Rene asked. "We can't exactly determine where they're coming from now that they deleted all the information."
"No, but we can find them." Angelina said with a naughty smile on her face. "Someone was just begging to be traced when they left this under the table."
With that, she pulled the same device that 003 had been toying with out from under the table. Emma fell backwards off her stool as she laughed. "So the tech girl finds the flaw in their plan!" Emma picked herself back up only to fall back on her rear again. "Good God, that's hilarious!"
And soon enough, Florence was laughing too. Sophia was soon to follow; leaving everyone of the other girls left staring.
After a session of infectious laughter and tears from laughing so much, everyone hauled themselves back onto their stools and ate the remainder of the cold food. Once it was done, a few giggle fits took place between Julia and Liana as they cleaned up. Angelina, Issac, Ivan and Emma vanished into the control room with the others doing various activities.
Angelina picked up the data scanner with feelings of regret. "I shouldn't have trusted her…I knew it was a bad idea…"
"But it's in the past now," Ivan said. "There's nothing you can do to change it."
Angelina quickly brightened. "You're right."
She slid the data scanner over her eyes, then clicked open the remnants of Internet Explorer. Her fingers deftly danced over the keys, looking for the site she'd found before on Google. It was easy to find, but when she got there…
"No page to display," Emma vented. "Move over."
So Angelina stood and handed Emma the scanner. Emma shifted to 0021, then placed it over her own eyes. Then, it was pretty shocking for everyone. 0021 plunged her hand into the computer and pulled out a tiny bug. She looked at it for a moment, then crushed it between her fingers. The page took a few seconds, then loaded again.
"Thanks!" 0021 said. "Now, find you way back to the place you hacked last. I think I can do a lot of damage to the computer."
"Don't you worry about that," Issac said. "I think we can send them a pretty nasty virus when the time is ripe."
Angelina took the data scanner back and on it went. The mouse clicked like rapid fire, and the keys seemed to catch fire with the speed of typing. The object that had been found under the table was placed on a tiny pad, green light glowing softly around it. After what seemed like an hour, but was really only about forty-five minutes, Angelina leaned back and smiled with her entire body.
"I'm back on someone's desktop." She announced. She took the scanner off and rubbed her eyes, then stood up. No sooner had she done so, Issac seized the seat and sat down. He browsed right over the information on the Megas Project and went straight to the Cyborg Project.
"I'm leaving now," Angelina said to deaf ears. She opened the door and left. Ivan, Issac and 0021 were totally absorbed in the hacked computer.
"They have everything," Issac said. "It's like they've followed you…"
"Wait. Scroll down to the very bottom." 0021 commanded. She stole the mouse away and did it herself instead of waiting.
"No…" They all chorused.
For what they saw was not just up to 0023, but far beyond. Up to 0030 was displayed on the screen, and every scrap of known information on them. But no, these cyborgs had not yet been created. They were still yet to be taken in. They were already scheduled.
Their names were…
0024 – Julia Minorca Link
0025 – Florence Anne Heinrich
0026 – Angelina Rose Junior
0027 – Li Hua Changku ((A/N: her name means 'Pear Blossom' in Chinese))
0028 – Sophia Christina Britain
0029 – Rene Josephine Meraga
0030 – Celeste Maria Shimamura
Issac closed the file immediately. He clicked open, in his rush, the absolute location of current headquarters.
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The girls had their capes on, but were acting like the lazy bums they'd be when they got back home. Pretty much the only conflict was what channel to watch on TV or if they should watch a movie.
"LET'S JUST WATCH CHICAGO AND GET IT OVER WITH!" Julia cried in frustration.
"Fine then," Sophia said. "Put it on so we can end this pointless dispute." She plunked down on the couch, right on top of the magenta cloth. Julia was inclined to just break the DVD in two pieces, but popped it in instead. Just as the tray slid in, 0021 burst from the control room, singing and dancing and leaping over Ivan and Issac.
"You act like you won the lottery," Rene remarked.
"We did! We did!" 0021 cheered. "We found where they're hiding!"
All was forgotten about Chicago. Sophia and Julia screamed like teenagers winning some weird prize and danced around with one another until they collapsed. Florence lost all her composure and started singing something in German.
"Hey everyone! PILLOW FIGHT!" Celeste declared, hurtling pillows at unsuspecting people. Issac didn't care this time. It was too happy an atmosphere to not join the wild teenagers in their fun.
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By ten o'clock that night, everyone was tired from dancing, singing, throwing pillows and laughing at one another. Rene and Sophia were lying across one another on the couch, laughing themselves to sleep. Florence and Celeste were attacking one another with various math questions, half-awake and taking two-minute intervals to laugh at the other's answer. 0021 and Ivan sat back to back, seeing who could go the longest without laughing. Ivan held the record at one whole minute.
That's good, Issac thought. They'll need all the sleep they can get for these next few days.
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"I fell asleep with my lenses in again," Julia proclaimed upon waking up in the armchair the next morning. She checked the clock that hung across the room "It's eleven in the morning? Jesus, did I sleep in!"
She briskly changed to her glasses and brushed her fiery hair. Since there was a pleasant smell, Julia meandered toward the kitchen.
"I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow…" Celeste was singing as Julia entered. "And good morning to you, Julia!"
"Hark, Julia hath entered!" Emma squeaked. She was caught somewhere in-between herself and 0021.
To Julia's surprise, Florence and Sophia exited the main part of the kitchen. They had little bits of batter on their clothes, but seemed pleased.
"We have something to tell you all," Ivan said. All eyes fell upon him. "Last night, we found where the headquarters for Black Ghost was hiding out, but you all already knew that. What we want to know is when you want to get there."
"We get there first," Sophia retaliated. "Then we take steps from there."
"Then question number two, Sophie. Do you mind if I become two separate people for a while?" Emma asked.
"Can you do that even?" Florence asked, dusting the batter off her clothes. "I remember you and 0021 did that in the freakish circus thing. But how?"
(Emma, don't you dare tell them,) Ivan warned her.
(Come on, you big baby.) She snapped, hitting a definite soft spot.
(HEY!)
(I can reach them from here.)
(Then do it.)
(Come with me,)
(Why?)
(I have a voice.)
(Fine,) Ivan said. Emma crossed her arms in her victory, and nodded her head. 0021 appeared and took her place.
(Are you done showing off?) Ivan demanded.
(I don't know,) She taunted. (Maybe I want to take off the red string around my ankle.)
(Now you're just being annoying.)
(You're so sweet.)
The two bickering cyborgs found their way through to their captive teammates' heads, even though it took a lot of time. Emma and Ivan had an arsenal of witty comebacks for the other, and each outdid the last. Finally, 0021 tried speaking through her mind.
(Is anyone hoooooome?) She trilled.
(Who are you?) Jet grumped.
(Maybe if you gave me a chance, Mister Jet, I could explain.) 0021 lashed right back at him. (Ask us again politely and we'll tell you.)
(Emma, shut up.) Ivan snapped.
(YA WANNA START THAT AGAIN, DO YA?) 0021 crooned.
(Ah, so it's you,) Jet said.
(IT DAMN SURE IS!) 0021 shrieked.
(What do you have to tell us?) Francoise asked eagerly.
(We're headed your way.) Ivan said.
(Anything else?) Albert asked the two younger cyborgs.
(Iie, no. I wish there was,) 0021 said, calming down from her rampage.
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"AND KICK, SPIN, SPIN, KICK, KICK, PUNCH, KICK, PUNCH, PUNCH, SPIN, KICK!" Julia shouted over the roar of her own music. She meant well by trying to get everyone to fight with the beat of the music and shouting commands, but…well, it wasn't really working very well. Only Julia could follow Julia's shouting.
"I love you for free and I'm not your mother," The song roared. Julia jumped upward, then kicked mid-air. "But you don't even bother! Objection I'm tired of this triangle,"
"Tell me about it," Rene moaned. The song was on its fifth repeat, with no sign of Julia wearing down. So Rene simply cut the power on it and Julia froze in the middle of her circle of kicking.
"We should do that more often!" Julia cheered. The poor ponytail that had tried to hold her red hair back was hardly there anymore, the fiery strands flying about like poison daggers.
"Now that we've found where they've been camping, what are we going to wear when we fight them? Ivan, you should know, shouldn't you?" Sophia asked.
"I don't know. I suppose for all of you not to wear short skirts, because there are a lot of strange people there…" Ivan answered.
"Let's go change!" Julia proclaimed.
"You said that because…?" Emma asked. She morphed to 0021 and crossed her arms.
"I don't know why! As you have probably already observed, I'm a guy. I don't wear skirts." Ivan barked back at her. There was a long pause before anything really happened aside from a grand staring contest.
"AHAHA!" Sophia laughed, jumping Ivan. He turned around in shock to look at Sophia, and was definitely stunned by her. Sophia's magenta cape contrasted her dark eyes, and set them out. Her dress had changed drastically. She now wore a short-sleeved black collared shirt, khaki pants rolled to her kneecaps, short white gym socks, and Converse Re-issued black shoes with pink stars. The just-past shoulder length blond hair had a small portion tied into a forty's bon-bon on the left side of her head, and the rest hung down.
Julia came racing out, gel in hand. She wore a green army fatigue jacket that had been rolled up to her elbows and had an official patch that bore the name LINK on it. Under it was a camouflage shirt, and her baggy pants were the same as her upper half. Like her father, she wore knee-high shiny black boots. But these were a pair of her own boots, and the possessed steel bottoms, heels, and toes. She held the gel between her teeth as she fiddled with the green cape and worked more gel into her hair.
Florence had also lost her mind. As she walked in, she finished tying her French braid up and wrapped a holder around the end of the silver-blue locks. The azure cape swept behind her neatly and stopped as she stopped. She wore a black short sleeved shirt that asked in white print, 'got music?', a blue belt that had a black music note buckle, incredibly flared light blue jeans that had holes torn in them and safety pins dangling from the holes, and the finish it off, a pair of blue sneakers with music notes smeared on in ink.
Celeste kicked butt and took names with her attire. Her hair was held away from her face by two yellow star barrettes, identical to the color of her cape. The brown locks tumbled down to her chest, then curled up like Emma's did. A periwinkle blouse that was unbuttoned hid an indigo tank top. The dark jeans she wore were flared gently and had star patches in various colors and places decorated them wonderfully. Lastly was her pair of black elevated tennis shoes, laced in reverse.
Liana looked like Julia, except a red version wearing a black pair of capri pants and just a t-shirt. Her hair was tied in a bun that sat on the top of her head, and a white pear blossom lodged itself behind her right ear. ((sorry, I couldn't resist!)) The chestnut eyes glowed in readiness and shone with pride. Her red cape came close to brushing the floor, but didn't.
Angelina wasn't going to go out to the main front, but would stay behind on the Dolphin with Issac just in case. She was technical support, and had the keypad codes hacked and voice keys at the ready. It was the plain-old every day dress for her: black t-shirt, blue jeans, bike gloves, dirty white tennis shoes and her hair tied back in a ponytail. If anything were to happen, she would fly right in with Issac and take her place in the battle. Her orange cape was staying on, datte. ((datte means but still, but in this case, still.))
Rene was the last human to be leaving the Dolphin on the mission. Her hair was tied into pigtails behind her ears, and the purple cape flowed regally. A blue shirt matched the stellar blue eyes, and had a darker blue star on it. Dark denim jeans flared to cover her white shoes.
"We're ready to go," Julia said. "Or at least once I…done! Let's kick can!"
"Hold on," Ivan said. "You're going in unarmed?"
Julia pulled le baton rouge ((the red baton, I can't resist using the French name, gomen!)) our of her pants and laughed. Ivan arched an eyebrow and Julia replaced her baton. He stepped aside to reveal the old pistols that they had used fifteen years ago. They had remained silver and still shone wonderfully, so each girl received one with two to spare.
"Let's go," 0021 said. "This is mine. I'm sure you all know we need to communicate?"
"Already solved," Angelina said. "The earpieces from three weeks ago. Here, each of you needs to wear one. Then I can tell you the codes and get the voice patterns into all those locks."
Each person, including Issac, Emma, Ivan and Angelina hooked the devices on.
"Should we use code names?" Celeste asked.
"Nah, I doubt they are smart enough to pick up the transmission signals," 0021 replied with a dismissive wave of the hand.
"We're there," Angelina said, running off toward the control room to safely land. Julia was curled into a ball, prepping herself for the responsibility ahead of her. Celeste was meditating, and Florence was telling herself that everything would be fine.
A small jolt ran through the vessel as they landed on a rocky island. Angelina re-emerged from the control room and admired her cousins.
"The best of luck to you all," She said. They all hugged her closely.
"I hope we're all safe to say that we used it well," 0021 grumped.
"Now, I have a plan," Issac said. "Break into teams of two, all but Sophia and Julia. Sophia, you're going to get them all out. Julia, you'll be head of defense. You're first on the line when Sophia exits the room, so hang on the ceiling. Ivan and 0021, be close to the entrance to the cave. Celeste, pair with Florence, and Rene with Liana. Place yourselves where no one can see you, and make sure that if you are seen, you look like a guard."
And with that, the girls and Ivan took off down into the base. Angelina entered the access code and they were in, and the great door lowered again.
Please keep them safe, Issac and Angelina thought. None of us can stand to loose a single on of them.
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IT'S HERE! THE CLIMAX IS NEXT CHAPTER! THERE IS NO MORE RISING ACTION!
And what's this? The Megas have been faking the friendship? No way! Errrr…yes way!
I've been dreaming about this since the start. I can't wait to show you the finished work on the climax. It will be slow to come out. I've (thank goodness) already written the first page of it, which is only the intro! Oh dear! The format is already set up, and I just need to write it out. Special thanks to Kacie-san for giving me the lyrics to Holding Out for a Hero. It plays a big part!
Can you stand the suspense? START POPPING YOUR POPCORN NOW, FOOLS!
Just added: don't confuse this story with Demon Darkchild ((Dark-chan))'s The Cyborg Children. It is a very good story, and I highly recommend it to all you fans of this. They are two different stories and in no way related.