"C'mon Mom. If you sign here, I might win the Zoid that I want." I said, holding out the form and a pen.

"Fine, Ruska. Just know that I'm not going to do this again." My mom said, signing the slip. As soon as she was finished, I put the form in the envelope, and put it in the mailbox. The next two weeks passed without an incedent. Whenever I could, I played the Zoid simulator. When I got home that night, my little sister came running up to me with an envelope in her hand.

"Ruska, you won!" She yelled, thrusting the envelope into my hands. On the envelope, it said congratulations. I ripped it open, and read the letter. I had to compete against five other people, and if I won, I got my own Zoid. I needed to be at my town hall tomorrow at noon, and bring my Zoid designs.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. I ran into the house, grabbed a CD and inserted it into my computer.

"What is it, Ruska? Did we win?" A voice said, coming from my computer speakers.

"We finally won Riina. Download our Zoid plans onto the disc." I told my computer. A teenage holographic girl on my computer screen nodded, and set about the download.

"There, it's done." Riina told me. I pulled the CD out, and inserted another.

"I know you don't like being saved to a CD, but it's the only way to bring you with me." I said.

"Alright." Riina mumbled as she downloaded herself onto the CD. When she was done, my computer seemed lifeless. I'd grown used to Riina being on my computer. I pulled the CD out, and turned my computer off. I grabbed my notebooks, and put them in my back pack. I put the CDs in a case, and put them in my back pack also. After that, I fell asleep thinking about my Zoid designs.

"Ruska! Get up!" My mother yelled down the stairs. I jumped out of bed, and got dressed. I grabbed my back pack, and ran up the stairs. "Ruska, I'm surprised that you weren't up and ready. You normally are." My mom remarked as I ate a pop-tart. Most of the time, Riina woke me up.

"My alarm didn't go off." I said. My mother took this as an answer, and I left for the town hall to wait for the gustav. I didn't have long to wait, and, as it turned out, I was the last person to get on. I sat by my friend, William. He was playing checkers on his laptop. I hadn't expected him to be here, but at least I knew someone.

"Hey, want to play checkers?" He asked, "The computer's too easy."

"Sure." I said. He started a new game, and I made the first move. In the end, he won. "Do you want a real challenge?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said. I pulled out Riina's CD and inserted it in the laptop. "What's that?" He asked.

"This is my friend, Riina." I said as a window popped up on screen. It showed a brown haired girl with light blue eyes and normal facial features. "Hey, Riina. My friend here would like a challenge at checkers. Do you think you could give him one?" I asked her.

"Sure, Ruska. Who's your friend, and where am I, because it's kind of cramped here." She replied.

"My name's William. You're on my laptop. Are you an entirely original AI?" He asked.

"Yep, Ruska made me. Now are we going to play checkers?" Riina asked.

"Sure, let me just get the program ready." William said, but before he did a thing, the checkers program popped up behind Riina. "Never mind." He mumbled as he made his move. Riina immediately made her move. Fifteen minutes later, William was defeated. "Wow, you're good." William remarked.

"Riina, you need to get back on your CD. We're getting off." I said. Riina looked disdainful, but did as I said. I removed the CD and put it away. "Thanks for the game of checkers." I said as William put his laptop away.

"You're welcome. Did you really design Riina?" William asked as we exited the gustav.

"I made her from scratch. She was my first ever try and my only successful one." I replied. A woman came walking up to us.

"Please give us your Zoid designs, and walk into the building." She said. I pulled out my Zoid CD and handed it to the lady before entering the building. Inside was a circle of six Zoid simulators.

"Ackley, get in number one." A man ordered. I got in, and checked my controls. Just like a Gunsnipers controls. I popped open the CD tray near my knee, and inserted Riina.

"Hey Ruska, is this our Zoid?" Riina asked.

"No, this is a simulator. Get ready for a battle." I said as the other kids got in the simulators.

"Ruska, what Zoid do you have?" William asked over the comm.

"Gunsniper. What about you?" I replied.

"I've got a Raynos. I hope that your a challenge at this, unlike checkers." William said.

"Don't worry, if these are designed after our Zoids like I think they are, you'll get a challenge." I told him.

"Start up your simulators." A new voice said over the comm. I started up the Gunsniper simulator. My radar was telling me that everyone else was at least 50 meters away. A little to close for comfort.

"Riina, is the simulation based on our design?" I asked.

"They're the same, even in color." Riina replied.

"Battle, NOW!" The voice said over the comm. I targeted a Command Wolf that was in front of me, and fired off a couple of missiles, taking out his gun.

"Ruska, behind you!" Riina warned. I popped the blade out of the tail, and sliced off the incoming Revraptor's blade. I checked my radar. A Shield Liger and Blade Liger were going at it, and a Raynos was swooping in on them. I fired off my side mounted machine guns, and as soon as I ran out of bullets, I detached the guns. I'd taken out the Blade Liger, and William took out the Shield Liger. As he fired his missiles, I got a lock on him and fired my remaining missiles. I took out a missile pod, but the Zoid kept going.

"Not bad, Ruska, but it could have been better." William said over the comm. I checked my radar, and saw that he was right above me, unmoving. I checked his speed, and it said he was going almost the speed of sound. I immediately detached the missile pods and turned my boosters on full power, sending me twenty meters backwards. As soon as I landed, a Raynos came in, trying to pull out of the dive. William partially succeeded, but still crashed into the ground. The simulator turned off, and Riina reverted to the disc. I pulled the disc out and put it away in my bag before getting out of the simulator.

"Ruska Ackley has won the contest. He will get his own custom made Zoid. The rest of you get normal versions of the Zoid you used in the simulator." A lady said when everyone was out. "Mr. Ackley, if you could come with me please." She said as she dismissed the others. I walked after her into a garage like area with the six Zoids from the battle, but unmodified. Some equipment was working on the Gunsniper. "This is your Zoid. We won't be giving you a ride back, so in a half hour you need to leave with your Zoid." She said. She left me there, watching my Zoid be built.

"I can't believe you won. You're better at Zoids than checkers." A voice behind me said. I turned around to see William and the other contestants come in.

"I designed my Zoid to fit my battle strategy, and be unpredictable." I said, "If you wait five more minutes, my Zoid will be finished, and we can register as a team."

"Sure. Maybe you can also teach me how to make an AI." Will replied as the other kids got in there Zoids. The equipment pulled away from my Zoid, and I picked my bag up.

"I'll attempt to teach you. Get in your Raynos, and let's go." I replied, climbing up the ladder and into my Zoid. I popped open the CD tray, and placed Riina's CD in. Riina immediately popped up on a screen to my right.

"Wow, a Zoid computer is roomy. Where are we headed to first?" Riina said.

"First, I need you to shut that screen off so I can safely pilot us out of here. After that, we're headed home to register and grab some stuff." I replied. Riina shut the screen off, but when I reached for the controls, they started moving on their own.

"Don't worry Ruska. It's just me. I want to get used to this body." Riina's voice said over the speakers.

"Hey, Ruska. That's some precise piloting you're doing." William said, walking his Raynos out.

"That's not me, it's Riina." I replied.

"How can she pilot it, she doesn't have a physical form." William said.

"She is the Zoid. Her programming is the Zoid's now. Follow us, because we're heading to my home to register and so I can grab some stuff." I said.

"Alright. Can you go faster though?" Will replied.

"Riina, why don't you use the boosters?" I suggested. A screen came on in front of me, showing Riina.

"I can't. I can't access weapons or boosters. You'll have to pilot from here." Riina said. She stopped so that I could grab the controls. Her screen disappeared, and I sent the Gunsniper into a run, and immediately hit the boosters, almost doubling my speed.

"Now that's better. When do you think we'll reach your home?" Will asked.

"By dinner. You can eat at my house if you want." I told him.

"Depends on what's for dinner." Will replied. As soon as we were in the town, I shut my boosters off and returned to a walk.

"See the long yellow house? That's my house. We need to head there first." I said. Will went ahead, and landed. I raced after him, and got there as my Mom came out to see who had landed in her backyard. "Riina, I need you to take control, and set me down." I said, opening the cockpit. One of the hands came up near the cockpit, and I climbed on. Riina set me down next to my mother. "Thanks Riina." I yelled to her.

"Riina, your AI program?" My mom asked.

"Yep, and we won our Zoid. William also won a Zoid, but it's unmodified. Do you mind if he eats here?" I said.

"No, I don't mind. Dinner will be ready in a half hour." My mom replied.

"Then we'll get our licenses." I said as Will came up.

"Where do we get our licenses?" Will asked.

"At the town hall. C'mon inside, I've got to get some stuff." I said. I walked in after my mother with Will right behind me. I walked into the basement, and into my room.

"Ruska, you finally got a computer. I'm guessing this is where Riina was made?" Will said.

"No, I made her during classes. When she first started up, I got a few detentions from my teacher. You should have seen my teacher's face when she started yelling at him for trying to shut her down." I told him, grabbing a duffel bag and stuffing some clothes in it, and some CDs. Then I opened a drawer in beneath my desk, and dug around in it. Then I pulled out some seemingly normal motorcycle goggles.

"What's with the goggles?" Will asked. I put them on, and a set of screens popped up. I pressed a couple of hidden buttons on the side, and all it showed was a dot and distance meter.

"They're some old goggles I got. Riina upgraded the software, and figured out how to fix them." I said, searching in a locked drawer for my money. I pulled out a drawsack full of credits. "Let's go get our licenses and register as a team." I said, putting the drawsack in my pocket, and picking up my duffel bag.

"Ruska, can I go with you to get your licenses?" My sister asked when I was walking up the stairs.

"Fine, Kyra." I replied. Kyra followed Will and I outside, and Will went to his Raynos. "Riina, could you pick Kyra and I up?" I yelled. She nodded her head and set her hand down in front of us.

"An Ultimate X?" Kyra asked.

"No. Riina, my AI program." I told her, climbing onto the hand. "C'mon Kyra." I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her on. Riina picked her hand up, and put it near the now open cockpit. I climbed into the cockpit and stuffed my duffel bag in the storage compartment behind the passenger seat, along with my backpack. "Alright, Kyra. You can come in." I said as I settled into the pilot's seat. Kyra climbed into the seat behind me, and strapped in.

"Are you going to pilot, or am I?" Riina asked.

"You can, if you want." I replied.

"Thanks." Riina said, as the Gunsniper started moving. In less than a few minutes, we were at the town hall, and getting ready to register.

"That will be two credits each." The man said. I pulled a couple of credits out of the drawsack and placed them on the table. William searched his pockets, and placed a couple more credits on the table. The man took the credits, and handed us our licenses. Will and I headed towards the table for becoming a team, when Kyra came out of another room, holding a license.

"Ruska, wait up! I want to be on your team also." She said.

"You don't even have a Zoid." I said, "When you have a Zoid, then you can join the team."

"I've got a Blade Liger. Now I can join your team!" Kyra replied. I groaned, I hadn't expected her to have our mother's old Zoid. "Oh yeah, you got dad's old Revraptor." Kyra added as an after thought.

"William, add Kyra to the team, and a Revraptor under my name. Kyra's got a Blade Liger." I said to Will, who was busy registering the team.

"Done. What do you think your mom's cooking for dinner?" Will asked.

"Probably spaghetti." I replied as we walked out. Riina picked Kyra and I up, and we climbed into the cockpit. After dinner, Kyra packed her stuff, and we put it in with my stuff. Will got in his Raynos, and took off as Kyra and I buckled in. "Riina, I'm going to pilot, okay?" I said.

"Sure. The controls are yours." Riina replied. I grabbed the controls, and turned the boosters on. In less than a minute, we were home. Riina layed down, and Kyra and I got out.

"We'll be back in a bit, Riina." I told her. We walked up to the door as Will came up. Inside, my mom was bringing the spaghetti into the dining room. I took the pot, and set it on the table.

"Thanks Ruska." My mom said as she sat down. After dinner, we said our good byes, and we got ready to leave. My stepfather's truck pulled into the driveway, and he climbed out. "Going to get your other Zoids?" He asked.

"Yeah, we'll need the password." I replied.

"It's Prosnosis." He replied.

"Thanks." I said as Kyra and I climbed in the cockpit. "Riina, I'll have to pilot because you don't know where the garage is." I told her as she stood up.

"Alright." Riina said. I fired up the boosters, sending us after Will. He slowed down so that we could catch up.

"You really should get a faster Zoid. That thing's too slow." Will said.

"I'm planning on upgrading the boosters soon, but it goes a lot faster without weapons." I replied, "Riina, can you divert weapons power to the boosters?"

"Sure. There you go. You can double the output." Riina said. I pushed the boosters harder, and I sped ahead of the Raynos.

"That's better." Will said, catching up to us easily. A few minutes later, Riina set Kyra and I down. Will stayed in his Raynos. I walked over to the Revraptor and Blade Liger restraints.

"Prosnosis. Unlock." I said. The energy restraints disengaged, and fell to the ground. I picked them up, and brought them into my stepfather's garage. Kyra climbed into the Blade Liger. I locked the door behind me, and walked over to the crouched Revraptor. I walked up to the cockpit, and popped it open. I climbed in, and activated the old Zoid. The comm unit crackled to life, and Riina's voice came through.

"Ruska, what are you doing?" She asked.

"You can pilot the Gunsniper while I pilot the Revraptor." I replied, running a system check. Everything was okay, so I stood the Zoid up, and started plodding by the Gunsniper. "C'mon. We want to get to the next the town by ten." I said. The Gunsniper remained motionless for a moment, and then the boosters sparked to life.

"I figured out a way to use the boosters!" Riina exclaimed.

"Now let's get going!" Kyra said, turning the Blade Liger in the general direction of the town we were going to head to.

"Fine." I said, activating the Revraptor's boosters. It had the second best boosters a pilot could get, instead of the normal blades, it had energy blades like a Blade Liger's. It sported two large energy cannons, mounted on the back. They were of the same design as the legendary Panzer armor, and just as powerful. It had an underbelly gattling gun, and it's armor had been upgraded many times, but it was still in the medium weight range for a Zoid. I sped after my sister, Will, and Riina. A couple of hours, we arrived at our destination. We went to a Zoid garage, and rented a bay for the night.

"I don't want to stay here. It's so lifeless." Riina complained.

"Sorry, but this is the only place you can stay." I told her. She grumbled, but agreed to stay peacefully. We left, and went to a hotel to rent a room. I had just enough credits for one night. We made our way to the room, and each collapsed on a bed or couch. A few minutes later, we were all snoring. I woke up to a loud snort. My goggles were hanging around my neck, so I pulled them up onto my forehead. Kyra was out on the couch, snoring loudly, and Will was rolling in the nearby bed. I checked the time, and got up. I walked over to Will, and shook him awake.

"What?" He asked.

"It's ten. We have to leave in an hour, so connect your laptop to the phonelines, and find someone who wants to battle." I told him, walking over to my sister. I shook her awake, and she rolled off the couch.

"They need thicker carpeting here." Kyra moaned.

"I found an E class team." Will said, folding his laptop up.

"Did you contact them?" I asked.

"Yeah, and we're battling this afternoon." Will said as we left with our bags. We stopped to check out, and then went to the Zoid garage.

"Took you long enough." Riina grumbled as I climbed into the Revraptor.

"Just go to the coordinates Will gives you. We'll be having a battle there." I replied, walking out of the garage. A map appeared onscreen, and a small red dot was blinking. I turned the boosters on, and headed off to the battlefield. Will passed me, and Kyra caught up to me. Riina was behind us, barely keeping up. Fifteen minutes later, we were at the battlefield. It was a desert with a lot of large rocks. I crouched the Revraptor down outside of the battle field, and set up a sleeper mode. I climbed out, and headed over to Riina. "Riina, can you give me a lift?" I asked.

"Sure." Riina replied, setting her hand down in front of me. I climbed on, and she placed her hand near the open cockpit. I climbed in, and shut the cockpit.

"Everything running okay?" I asked, strapping myself in.

"Yep, we're ready for battle." Riina replied as a judge capsule came roaring in.

"Hey, where are our opponents?" Kyra asked.

"They're probably going to launch a surprise attack. Be cautious." I said as the judge gave his speech. Kyra started preparing her shield.

"Will, see if you can spot our opponents." I said, extending my sensor range as far as possible. I picked up a faint blip as Will came back.

"Ruska, they're behind the sand dune. If you come near them, a Command or Revraptor will be after you. Their third Zoid looks almost like the Liger Zero." Will informed me.

"Thanks. Distract the Revraptor, and Kyra can take care of the Command Wolf. I'll go after the other one." I said, warming the boosters up.

"On it." Will replied.

"Fine." My sister mumbled.

"Riina, as soon as we get within scanning range, I need you to scan the mysterious Zoid." I said, pulling my goggles down. They immediately turned on, and started giving me a distance readout. I ignited the boosters, and sent the Gunsniper towards the enemy's hiding place. Kyra and Will shotahead of me, and the Command Wolf and Revraptor followed. The remaining Zoid did look like the Liger Zero, but Bit owned that Zoid, and he was in Class S. Riina scanned it, and I prepared to fire some missiles.

"Ruska, that Zoid has the same exact reading as the Liger Zero! Be careful, I don't know what it's capable of." Riina said. The Zoid sprang to life, and was behind me in a flash. I activated the tail blade, and the energy arced towards the Zoid, missing it by inches. I ignited the boosters to spin me, and deactivated the boosters. I got the missile lock to lock onto the Zoid, and emptied the back pod. I immediately detached it, and fired the boosters to get me away.

"Not bad, for a non Ultimate X. Try this. STRIKE LASER CLAW!" A voice said over the comm.

"Riina, charge our hand claws!" I said as the Zoid burst out of the fog. I raised the Gunsniper's hands, and batted away the forepaws of the Zoid, and then headbutted it. The blow knocked it onto its back, and I fired a couple of rounds into the underbelly.

"The Omega Team is the winner!" The judge announced.

"Riina, when I get out, I want you to go pick up the missile pod we dropped, okay?" I said, opening the cockpit as she bent down.

"Sure." Riina replied before I got out. I hopped out, and she stood up and walked over to the pod.

"Your Zoid's also an Ultimate X?" A boy asked, climbing out of the cockpit of the fallen Zoid.