I know, the last couple of chapters have had pretty much nothing to do with music, but this chapter returns the craze! Forte means to be LOUD! BE BOLD! Not what Ra and 0015 would be thinking, which is "FORTE! FOR-TE FOR-TE FORTE!"
I don't own Forte, or anyone else. Well…I own Josephine, Marco, Pierre, Andrew and Alexa! Doesn't that make you wanna go DOUBLE FORTE?
MAJOR CANCELLATION : The D.S. al Coda Songfic Contest is closed. I cannot afford to be deleted a second time, so I will not use a songfic. However much I want to, I won't. However…if you've written a song, you can hopefully submit those with busting Operation Songfic Contest.
ONTO MEASURE 104! ((Where Project Meteor is opened, Andrew is brought back from the dead, and hell rises to Earth once more))
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D.S. al Coda
Chapter Seven: Forte
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009 continued to stroke the short, light brown hair. Its owner was still sound asleep – she wouldn't care, even if she was awake. And it was more than likely that she wasn't about to jerk awake and pummel the Japanese boy, for she had been in this state for nearly three days.
0099 had said that she would just stay asleep, and wake up. It wasn't that he doubted her, it was just that it had been a while. He had never been very patient – it was always that you had to keep moving on. He heard 006's calls for lunch and left the infirmary.
As the door closed, 0021's eyes began to open. Her hand flew to cover them as tears spilled down onto the white cotton sheets. She rolled over and cried like she hadn't in a long, long time.
And she was happy that no one was there to watch her.
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"There." Pierre said to Alexa and Marco. "He's finished. Shall we give him a number?"
"Nah," Marco said. "He's still Andrew. Why change it?"
They both knew that saying anything about how Josephine had commissioned them to do this would set Alexa off on a rampage. They exchanged glances and left the room. Alexa blinked and also left, her black hair waving out behind her.
They ran into Josephine as they walked down the hall. Josephine was heading off for a meeting in Central America, so they only told her that they had finished. She acknowledged it with a curt nod and told Marco to get changed because he was going to be heading with her.
"Alexa, I would watch out for when Andrew wakes up," Pierre said. "I'm off to work on 0042 and 0016. Try not to kill Andrew, okay?"
The four went in their separate directions. Pierre rubbed his weary eyes. They were in their estate, but it also served as a base to the Black Ghost Organization.
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"I'll help clean up today," 0015 volunteered. "009, are you going back down there again?"
"Heh, yeah," 009 responded, grinning a little. "I can't but help but feel sorry for her."
"That's okay. Just let me know when you're planning on making this up." 0015 said, walking into the kitchen with a high stack of plates and silverware. She checked to make sure that no one had touched Soul Eater, then entered.
009 walked down the long halls to the infirmary. It sounded like 0021 had woken up inside, so the door slid open to admit him. Sure enough, 0021 lay on her side, crying into the pillow as if to muffle her sobs. He walked over and sat down near her head.
"Are you okay?" He asked, beginning to run his fingers through her hair again. She slowly shook her head and continued to cry. 009 could see the growing damp spot in the sheets and the pillow; she must have been crying since he left forty-five minutes ago.
"I'm…sorry…" She finally managed to get out. She brought herself to roll over and look up at him, but then began to cry harder. "All my fault…kill me now, get it over with…"
009 lifted her head into his lap. Her hands followed to hold onto something alive, something, anything. He remembered having a feeling like this; a feeling where it felt like you were so distant from humanity that you were dead, and yet you were so close, like a ghost. But 0021 had felt the entire blow of robotics: she'd been one for nearly two hours.
He could sense how upset she was and changed to rubbing her back in a slow, circular motion. She continued to cry into his jeans.
"It's all right…" 009 whispered. "Sadie."
0021 (if possible) began crying even harder. 009 picked her up and hugged her, and her arms snaked up around him. Her head was bent so she cried into his chest and her tears fell onto his pants.
"I don't want to kill you," 009 whispered. 0021's tears calmed down a little. "None of us want to hurt you. Can you trust me about that?"
Slowly, she nodded. She placed her head into his shoulder and let her tears drain there, and let her back continue to be rubbed.
009 was really sorry for 0021. 0021 had known what was going to happen, and in her mind, everything had actually gone the way Black Ghost wanted it to. In her mind, 0099 had never come.
"Sadie…" 009 said, as if tasting it. "May I call you that, for right now?"
Another nod.
"You're fine. Nothing happened the way they wanted it to. Operation Boom and Dust was unsuccessful. We're all safe." 009 said. 0021 lifted her head again.
"You mean…?" She asked. She was too tired to do very much; it was probably from crying so much. "Stay with me…I like it when you're here…Joe."
He placed her head back down on the pillows and returned to stroking her hair. She drifted off into sleep, still in her shirt and pants from three days back. She shivered, and a comforter appeared from nowhere to cover her. Joe guessed that it was just her ability kicking in.
One final tear slid down her cheek, and Joe caught it in his hand.
Joe…did you know that if you catch a tear you'll have good luck? Michiko's voice asked him from the dark recesses of his childhood. He smiled at the tear in his hand.
Don't worry, I won't leave you…&-&-&-
"And I'll be back. Try not to hurt yourselves." Pierre said bitterly. A collapsed 0016 and 0042 lay behind him, both sporting burn marks and huge bleeding gashes. As he locked the door, 0019's face met him.
"Hey." 0019 greeted him with a casual wave. She pulled a butt out of her mouth and stuck it in an ashtray.
"It isn't like you to be out without Diana near by," Pierre noted. 0019 shrugged and walked with him down the hall. "What's wrong?"
Pierre, like most others, had learned to tell Diana and 0019 apart from the way they wore their hair, and the fact that 0019 smoked.
"Well, that's a good question. For starters, I'm pissed because Diana's all weepy again, and the fact that I have to be feeling them in my head all day long. Then there's this thing called the 'Hong Kong Experiment' that 0018, 0020 and I have to go clean up after that whole mess…" 0019 began.
"Enough of this pity-party. I can't really do anything about it. Josephine and Marco ran the HKE. Anyway, would you like to come talk with 0037?" Pierre returned. 0019 gave him a hard glare.
"Did you know?" She demanded. Pierre blinked.
"Know what? About Diana and Andrew?" Pierre asked after a minute of thought. "Oh, I knew. How else was he getting those…"
0019 slapped him. "So Diana's right. How exactly can you try and ignore her emotions like that? I mean…"
Pierre could understand 0019. Diana and Andrew were very close to one another, and it was Josephine who ordered him killed. But this was taking the Meteor Project nearly years in advance. No wonder Marco was heading with her to Central America – they were getting ready.
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Joe entered the infirmary three hours later. 0021 was waking up again without the waterworks. She noted his entrance and gave a loud sigh.
"Hey. How's it rocking?" Sadie asked, sitting up this time. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms out.
Joe smiled. "Feeling any better?"
She nodded and was able to stand. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble…for everyone, especially Mika. I had to call everything out so fast. Have you ever felt where so much is depending on just one second of your life that you can't bear to live it any longer?"
Joe could think of nothing of the nature she was talking of. Sadie met his glare.
"And they showed me something…" She said. "It's a horrible secret. I can't just tell one person. This is dangerous. You're going to have to batten down the hatches. I'm wanted by Josephine and Alexa to be killed. And there's more…"
Joe looked at her. She was terrified. She held the keys to hell and oblivion, and could use them at any moment for any reason at all. Slowly, she kissed him. Joe was taken aback by it, but then regretted that sensation, for just as it began, she was out the door.
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Josephine and Marco arrived late that night to be greeted only by Alexa. Alexa was in a shockingly good mood for her – she only tossed off one insult about lint. She led them indoors, into the meeting room.
"Well, what's this all about?" Marco demanded. Andrew stepped out of hiding and received no real recognition for coming back to life.
"It's about 0021." Pierre said. "Apparently, she remembers the warehouse area. So does 0017, but she hasn't had the mental trigger yet."
"Absolutely mother-fucking beautiful. We'll wait for 0019, 0018, and 0020 to get back from the HKE site, then send them off with Diana to bring 0021 back here. We can't have a cyborg running about with that kind of information. There's years of research down there. Pierre, get a guard. You may want to have them posted soon."
Andrew was silent. Alexa whipped out her cell phone to call a squad of guards to make sure their warehouse wasn't broken into. Her voice was going in fluent Spanish as she made the call.
The warehouse was a place where all the failed experiments were kept. It was vast, and it reached out for a long way. The zero-zero cyborgs weren't the only ones to be stolen, you know. There were at least twenty prototypes of the prototypes, stretching back to before the nine final prototypes were kidnapped. They were stored in pods in stasis, ages ranging from about two to eighty-nine. Both men and women were there.
And that, that was where Project Meteor was opened.
"Okay, they're posting guards right now." Alexa confirmed. "Project Meteor is now open."
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0021 had fallen back asleep in her own room this time. She was having an odd dream at the moment, and she wasn't feeling bad about it. Everyone was asleep with her; it was midnight.
"Hey 0021…" Someone was calling her. "Come over here."0021 was standing in a moonlight area with a cluster of weeping willow trees, near a pond of sorts. There was a girl standing near her. The girl had dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and bounced back up, violet eyes, and wore a black tank, a pair of super flare sandwashed jeans, and red sneakers.
"No need to be scared. My name's Verita." The girl said.
"Okay then. What am I doing here?" 0021 asked. Verita shifted her weight.
"Well…Veritas means dreams. Verita probably is the singular form of Veritas, so I guess my name means dream. You're here because I've got something to tell ya." Verita responded.
"And that would be?…" 0021 asked. A wind blew and lifted the sorry leaves from the trees.
"You remember Project Meteor, right?" Verita asked. 0021 nodded. "It was originally planned to begin about four years from now, but you kinda accelerated things by remembering about the warehouse. I'm just here to warn you. Mika sent Anzu last time, so she sent me."
0021 just blinked at this. Verita climbed into a tree and smiled down at 0021.
"But what's Project Meteor?" 0021 asked. Verita laughed.
"Relax, I'm getting there." Verita said. "Project Meteor is the plan to take off into space and start humanity up there. They've been testing this for years, but Operation Boom and Dust was meant to begin it. What they weren't expecting was for the whole thing to be unsuccessful and ruin the Hong Kong Experiment, which was meant to control everything from Hong Kong. But now that they don't have all the cyborgs, they have to go into the warehouse and pick out the half-assed cyborgs. After you've done that, I'll be able to tell you more."
0021 woke up, her heart thumping and cold sweat dripping from her entire body. She rose and dashed to the control room, almost terrified of what was waiting for her there.
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Diana was sound asleep when 0019 entered. 0019 smiled at her.
"Art…e…mis…?" Diana asked in her sleep. 0019's eyes widened. Diana could remember that time when they were both different, when everything had been calm.
0019 sat down on the bed and hugged the sleeping Diana. Diana whimpered a little, but 0019 cooed softly.
"It's all right, Diana," 0019 whispered. "Artemis is here."
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At one in the morning, nineteen people were awake and standing in the Dolphin's control room. Most were half awake, others asleep, and about three were the ones who had been piloting.
"Well, what were we dragged in here for?" 0015 asked through a yawn. 0021 stood up.
"I woke you all up. There's something that I have to say." 0021 said. It took most of her confidence to say anything at all to them.
"Well, no duh," 0017 said.
"We have to go somewhere. Right now. It could mean our destruction if we don't do it." 0021 began. "They're ticked that you ruined Operation Boom and Dust. They turned Andrew into a cyborg and they're planning to open Project Meteor. Right now, Pierre, Andrew and Marco are headed for a warehouse in Spain to retrieve some of the failed cyborgs and see what they can do. We need to beat them there."
Everyone was wide awake now. Mind you, they were in their pajamas, but then, they had a lot more to worry about.
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The five Scarl children sat in their meeting room, discussing Project Meteor.
"Alexa. You want to do it?" Andrew asked in disbelief. "I thought for sure you'd want to bring Jessica or Raven out of stasis and have one of them take your place!"
As a matter of fact, there was a grand total of seven children. Alexa had been born as a triplet, and her two sisters, Jessica and Raven, had been placed in pods and were also stored in the warehouse. Alexa took a sip of her water.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Alexa asked. "It's just that we need a human sacrifice, and they are cyborgs now. I can do it without a problem – my DNA is already coded into the systems and I know how to work the machines. Besides, it'll be our family who takes absolute power over the galaxy after that. If we sent one of the cyborgs, we'd have to share power. Unless one of you would like that, I'm willing."
Marco and Josephine exchanged glares. Alexa knew she had won.
"Andrew, Marco, Pierre, you're going to Spain. You get to pick out thirty cyborgs and we'll fix them up. Oh…and bring back Raven and Jessica."
Marco knew that Alexa was finally going to face her fate. She was going to be seven years older than her sisters, but they would still all look the same. If Alexa wanted this, then that meant that she was going to give up to Josephine. Josephine would no longer have to share with anyone. She could kill all life anywhere she pleased without the younger sisters.
"You know, you don't have forever." Josephine remarked. "I'll take over torture for today, Pierre. I need to get one last message into them before we send them off again."
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"If you're dragging us on a wild goose chase," 002 said to 0021. "I'm going to kill you."
0021 just turned her head away. "I'd love to see you try with that."
Spain was waiting for them ahead. 004 prepared to dock as 0043 got ready to leave. She didn't want to know what was waiting for her. For lack of other things to do, she looked down at the blue uniform with its flashy golden buttons. It was like a scar to remind her that a life-changing event occurred, and someone had ruined her death by it. Her body looked no different, but the insides had all changed.
"Let's go. We don't have much time to waste." 0021 said. She popped her head out into the misty morning and saw a pleasant little town waiting for her. There were several warehouses near by.
"003, could you see which one of these it is?" 0017 asked. 003 looked around.
"That one." 003 pointed. It looked like every other warehouse: it was gray, it was cement, and it had ample graffiti. There were a few guards milling about aimlessly, and looked rather like gorillas with machine guns.
"Let's get inside fast! I don't want to freeze out here!" 006 said. 0021 seized him by the neck and looked right into his eyes.
"Listen, you short-order cook," 0021 growled. "There's about five hundred times more at stake than you freezing. I could honestly care less right now because…just look behind you."
Before they had the chance to look, they heard gunshots. 0021 dropped 006 to get a full frontal view of Andrew, who was running toward the warehouse.
"Let's see you race!" 0043 exclaimed, grabbing 008 by his collar and entering acceleration mode to challenge Andrew. Of course, she had no idea that he was also in acceleration mode. She sped up and went for the warehouse.
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"Let them go now. We have no use of them." Josephine snapped to the guard at the door.
"Josephine, the cyborgs have been reported to be in Spain." Alexa said. Josephine gave her younger sister a nasty smile.
"Well then, are they ready for what Andrew can dish out to them?" Josephine asked in her all-time most evil voice. "Let them free."
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"Holy shit…" 0014 whispered. She was hiding behind a wall to escape one of the guards, and could have done this in no easier manner. Quite by accident, her elbow hit a switch and a door appeared.
"OVER HERE! HURRY UP!" 0017 screamed. 0014 shoved them all inside, hit the switch again, then ducked her way inside.
It was dark inside. 006 sent a trail of flame out in front of the party, and they saw a long, winding staircase leading down. 006 and 007 groaned loudly, only to be met by 0034's flames from her hands.
"You heard what she said," 0034 said, holding her hands out and starting the descent. "We'll be in deep shit if we don't get through this. Three nutcases are outside, and you can choose to go down or back out."
006 and 007 scuttled down to follow.
It was a long and narrow staircase, with varying levels in the steps. The further they went down, the more they could see a dull bluish-white light. 0034 finally reached the bottom of the stairs and nearly danced for joy.
"Finally! I was going to be claustrophobic if that lasted any longer!" 007 exclaimed. 0043 was ready to punch the other changeling if he dared enter another Shakespeare drama for them.
The look on 007's face was absolutely priceless. It appeared that he had read 0043's look perfectly and crept behind 0050 to avoid her. 0043 waved her hand and followed after 0034.
What they saw took their breaths and minds back to the world above them.
"Holy mother of Jesus," 0021 breathed. If she had any thoughts about re-joining Black Ghost again, they were completely swept away by the sight in the glow of the bluish-white room. Tears blossomed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks, and 003 wasn't very far behind. ((lessee…should I insert a 0021/003 bitch-fight scene?))
((Nope.)) "It's horrible." 004 spat. It was a dirty scene. Horrible, filthy, bastard.
There were at the very least, hundreds of cryogenic suspended animation stasis pods in rows in that underground room. Every single one held a human – whether that human be young or old, man or woman, boy or girl. Their faces were that of a deep sleep and their bodies were stiff, bound by metal. They had been categorized by age.
"This is it," 0021 finally said. "Now all we have to do is seal it so they can't get in."
They split up and ran up and down the aisles of pods, looking for something to open them or seal the warehouse. 0021 froze in front of one of the pods.
It was the same girl from her dream, Verita. Her hair was the same hue and reached down to her waist, and she wore the typical red and gold uniform. Except that the extra shirt was not extra: it was instead a full-length skirt that would be totally useless in battle.
0021 inspected the pod for a way to open it from the outside. As she looked at the back, she found something of interest.
Model Number: 004
Year captured: 1947
Equipment: acceleration up to mach two, rockets, psychic
Pod Number: X7350 – 4J6792 – 9AS
"Hey! Check the back and see if you can figure anything out from there!" 0021 shouted to the others. She herself ran to see if she could find a computer.
There was a computer hooked up to the back wall. 0021 immediately sat down and overrode the security system. She brought up a few programs, then found the one she was looking for. 0034 came over to her.
"Hey. You overrode it?" 0034 asked. 0021 nodded.
"Did you find anything interesting?" 0021 returned, punching in the number she'd found on Verita's pod.
"Funny you asking. On the back, there's dates from the end of World War One. How long has Black Ghost been around?" 0034 said. They heard 003 give a little cry of shock.
"Oh my God…" 0050 said. One of the pods had opened. 0021 cracked out a large smile.
"So, we can start our own army." 0021 said. She rushed over to where the pod was now opened and saw how Verita had grown limp and was taking gasps of air. "Can you hear me, Verita? Can you open your eyes?"
"How on Earth, 0021, do you know her?" 0043 asked. "The date on the back is…"
"1947…" Verita said in a weak voice. "Isn't that the year…right now…?"
"No, it's over seventy years later," 008 said to her. "Let's get you out of there, it's probably uncomfortable."
"Hey, thanks…" Verita said, cracking her eyes open. "How did you know my name?"
0034 and 006 burned the bindings off of her arms, chest, waist and legs. Verita fell limply onto the ground and laughed at herself.
"You guys may want to check this out!" 0017 shouted. 0021 helped Verita to her feet as the others took off to see what 0017 was calling them for.
0034 rubbed her eyes to check if she wasn't dreaming. There, in two pods next to one another, looked like younger versions of Alexa. They were identical, right down to their cropped black hair.
"Read them." 0017 ordered. 0050 bent down.
"Raven Scarl. Jessica Scarl. Only to be opened during Project Meteor. What the hell?" 0050 read. "Does this mean that there are seven? And what is 'Project Meteor'?"
"We'll discuss that once we're out of here!" 0021 called. "I've sealed this place! No one can get in, but we have to get out!"
"If it's sealed, then how are we supposed to get out?" 002 demanded.
"Easy," Verita said. She held a hand out in front of her and a swirling blue vortex appeared on the wall. "It'll take you to the surface, I promise you."
0014 placed a leg through, then put her entire body through. The rest followed suit, and 0021 and Verita brought up the rear. Upon being out in fresh air again, she gave a cheer and closed the portal.
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"What the hell do you mean, you can't get in?" Alexa demanded. "Have Andrew punch the wall in!"
"We tried that, moron. It's sealed from the inside." Pierre remarked snidely. "We're coming back. Have you released 0042 and 0016?"
"Yes, Josephine did about three hours ago. The cyborgs should be finding them soon." Alexa replied. "Get back here and we'll see what we can do. You have visitors."
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"Thank you very much, 006." Verita said. She placed the cup back onto its coaster and leaned back onto the couch. "I think that's the first thing I've had to drink in more than seventy years."
"About that portal," 004 asked. "How did you create it?"
Verita smiled widely at him. "I was born with psychic abilities. Black Ghost attempted to try and corner them, but was unsuccessful. Just take a look at me: I'm probably the earliest thing you'll find in that place, the earliest of cyborg technology."
She took another long sip of tea. She folded her hands in her lap. She even went as far as to meet the glances around the room.
"It's not that strange," Verita said finally. "I have hinges on my legs, elbows, fingers, and ankles, and a depressing attempt at rockets in my feet. There's what they called a 'mach switch' which allowed me to run for three seconds at mach two. God only knows what would happen if I tried either stunt again. It's kind of a long story."
She let out a long sigh. "Okay, be that way. I'll show you something."
Verita looked fixedly at the teacup. After, maybe five seconds, it lifted from the coaster and splintered into hundreds of pieces. Verita looked at one piece, and suddenly, the tea flew off the ground and the pieces formed the cup again.
"Good enough?" Verita asked. 007 clapped for her.
002 stood up and slipped from the room. 0014 sprang up and followed after him.
"What's eating you, Jet?" 0014 asked, inviting herself for a piggyback ride. "Ever since we met 0099 you've been quieter. Is something wrong?"
002 looked into the amethyst eyes. "Tiz…it's just easier not to explain."
0014 jumped off his back as the control room doors opened.
"HOLY FUCKING GOD!"
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"We need to re…" Pierre began. Before he could finish his sentence, 0019 cut him off.
"What we need to do first is break into the warehouse. I have this funny feeling that they sealed it and that they are planning on stealing our fucking army from us. Okay, who's with Diana and I?" 0019 said.
"Damn it, 0019," Diana complained. "Quiet down! My headache is bad enough without you yelling!"
"Diana's right. We shouldn't yell about something so stupid," 0020 said from her chair, filing her nails. "Let's just go get 0021, wipe her memory clean and let her back out."
0020 turned her hand to admire the nail filing she'd just finished. 0018 muttered something under his breath about women, then reclined in his chair.
"My idea is to wait until they've recovered 0042 and 0016, then send Diana and 0019 to obtain 0021. We clean her memory, maybe keep her, or send her back if she's worthless to us." 0018 said. "Are you sure that you're okay, Diana? You sound like shit."
"I'm touched," Diana said through her sweatshirt. Truth was, she'd rather be asleep in her bed right now, but there were other things more important. 0018 watched her with his piercing eyes.
"Let Diana stay here and rest," He said at last. "It's apparent that she's ill. 0019, we may be able to cover this without you. Stay here with Diana and make sure she doesn't try to follow us. Andrew, Pierre; 0018 and I will leave."
"Hang on." Pierre said. "0061, 0037 and 0049 will come with you."
"Come along, little Diana," Andrew joked. "I'll get you into your bed if it's the last thing I do."
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"But WHAT HAPPENED?" 0017 asked 0014 for the millionth time.
"Look, she has no fucking clue. Just get them out of the fucking water and we can go from there." 0043 said. 0021 came in, saw two bodies on the water, then in an instant, they were at her feet. The two that had just been transported on wore blue uniforms with the gold cape and buttons. They also happened to be a much worse for the wear 0016 and 0042. 0017 gave a blood-curdling scream and bolted.
"You fucking bastard," 0016 muttered. "You come near me again and I'll kill you."
"0016, are you sure you want to do that?" 0015 asked. "We aren't who you think we are. We're your friends, remember?"
0016 stood up and looked into 0015's eyes. 0015 drew her sword.
"Pierre, I warned you," 0016 said through gritted teeth. But before she could warm up her hands, she fell back to the ground.
"0042's out cold. 0050, let's get them to the infirmary." 0021 said. Verita looked on from her empty teacup, scared to move. She pulled her hair back from her face and cleared the vision from the cup.
The visions of the end of the world…I wonder, will they come true? Verita asked herself as she stood up to find the kitchen. She sighed deeply as if something were going on that no one but she understood.
"However crazy I sound when I say this," 0017 said, laying a hand on Verita's shoulder, "You look tired. Why don't you sleep on the couch? Nothing exciting will happen without you, I promise!"
Verita smiled. "At least, let me wash this out."
0017 returned to the control room to take over for 0034. Verita continued on her search for the kitchen. She stopped before she walked in to see 002 holding 0014 in a kissing position. In her time, that was considered to be a dirty scheme. They eventually broke apart, and as they moved to leave, Verita concentrated on becoming invisible. The two passed her without notice.
Verita swept through the kitchen and rinsed the cup clean. She placed it upside-down on the counter because she couldn't find a dish rack. Silently, she walked back to the living room type place and fell asleep on the couch without another thought.
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"Not sick!" Diana argued. Andrew wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"If you weren't sick, would you be tired?" Andrew asked her. Diana managed to curl up into him. "See how much better it'll be if you just sleep and let us take care of you?"
Andrew understood how Pierre had felt with his girlfriend now. Pierre had had one of the cyborgs as a girlfriend a while in the past. Andrew was almost positive that it had been 0050.
"Just don't leave me again," Diana managed to get out before unconsciousness claimed her as its own. 0019 came in from outside the room.
"Good job." 0019 congratulated him. "Hey, wanna come play DDR with me? I usually play with Diana, but in cases like this…"
Diana broke into a riotous coughing fit. Andrew rubbed her back in a gentle motion.
"I'll stay here," Andrew replied. 0019 sat down next to him.
"I think she understands you," 0019 said to him.
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"Yo…0017, right?" Verita asked her. 0017 looked thoroughly miffed.
"Verita? What happened to you?" 0017 asked. Verita had short hair and wore normal clothes from the present time.
"No time to explain right now. What's important is that I deliver this message." Verita replied.
0017 looked puzzled. "Okay, sure, I'll take the message."
Verita clapped her hands together. "You have to go to the exact location that they found you in Kanagawa. It's really important because they're planning on sending 0018 and 0020 there next. Careful not to let me go – I'm the one they're after. Late last night, a combo of 0049, 0037 and 0020 busted through the seal and found out I'm missing. So they're going to use reverse methodism to haul you back in. Also watch out not to attack 0037 because if she's hurt, 0049 launches into an unbeatable attack."
Some of 0017's confusion cleared up. "Kanagawa, and step on it. Got it. But are you Verita, the same Verita who's asleep on our couch right now?"
Verita laughed. "Something along those lines. All in due time, you will all reach the world's end and Project Meteor. Black Ghost is unaware of the end of the world, so he will not understand. You'll understand more later. It's Generation Zero – the generation that found itself and created itself. Verita and I are part of it."
All of 0017's confusion reappeared. Verita smiled and climbed into a tree.
"Right now, Anya, you need to wake up!" Verita exclaimed.
0017's eyes snapped open. She saw 0021 asleep across from her and a watery beam of moonlight through the tiny window.
Control room. Alert them.
0017 didn't have time to think. Her feet moved themselves. 0050, 009, 008 and 004 were piloting at the moment. 0050 turned at her entrance.
"Hey, 0017. What's wrong?" 0050 asked. "Your shift isn't until tomorrow afternoon."
"Kanagawa. Right now." 0017 managed. 0050 had her turn at confusion.
"But why?"
"I had this creepy dream with Verita. She told me to go to the exact spot in Kanagawa that I was found in, because they're trying to pull us back in. Dude, I swear, it was real as real can get. I'll wake 0021 up if I have to." 0017 answered. She had caught the other's attention. 0050 closed her eyes.
"KANAGAWA!" She thundered. There was a brilliant flash of purple light, then 0017 could see twinkling yellow lights below her feet. "009, 004, go with her and find the spot. 0017, you should automatically be drawn toward the spot. If what you say is true, then we could all be in deep shit."
They left the Dolphin, leaving 0050 on guard. 009 and 004 followed 0017's lead. She was able to jump some of the taller buildings, and after about ten minutes, they came to the spot.
"Okay. Just hide." 0017 ordered.
That's right. They'll be here any minute now. Verita's voice told her. All you have to do is be there and it'll cancel the effect instantly. Right now, Just stay hidden.
Sure enough, 0018 and 0020 showed up about five seconds later. 0020 got a little peeved, called on a cell phone, then dragged 0018 away. 0017 was too scared to hear the conversation that passed.
Epona thinks you did a good job. That's quite a compliment! Verita complimented. This time, 009 looked 0017 straight on.
"Why are you talking with Verita?" 009 asked. Modern Verita appeared next to him.
"I am communicating through a dream link right now. My name, begging your pardon, is not Verita. It is In Somnis Veritas. I need to return now, Epona and the crew will wonder what happened. We'll meet again soon enough. Back to the Dolphin." Verita said.
They were standing near 0050 in the control room. She jumped backward when she saw them back so soon.
"Whoa! That was fast!" 0050 exclaimed. "Well, if you're done, we can always see if anything's wrong around in Japan."
&-&-&-
"Well now, this is an interesting turn," A girl with short, dark red hair said. "It'll be coming to us soon. The hands of fate are turning against us. Black Ghost will learn how horrible it is to have your own…"
"ISV, pipe down." Another girl said. "Akio and Rona have the gate covered. I doubt that Verita will be with them when they arrive. But if Verita does arrive, we will have to explain. We cannot continue to hide."
"That's right, Somnis." A male said. The red-haired girl made a face at him, for only he still called her Somnis. "You've already delivered the central message to them. But right now, they need to discover his one last escape. We will all need to be ready to accept Omnes Verita again."
"The hands of fate are long, and our destinies were written by them." A final girl noted. "Black Ghost has initiated the beginning of Project Meteor. We must be prepared to accept our fates. Akio and Rona can't protect us forever."
&-&-&-&-
I hope you're good with dead languages! The climax will be here soon, and we'll find out who these people are! Generation Zero is a puzzle! It is amazing, yes it is, how much can change over a single chapter. And who exactly is Verita? Is she friend or foe? The translation of the names from last chapter and the meaning was –
Mika – new moon. When there was no moon, this is the symbol.
Ruri – emerald. The sky. Enough said.
Anzu – apricot. See the next.
Anthay – loosely translated, rose. The apricot rose is symbolistic of 0099's real name.
Sora – sky. Well, what the hell else do I need to tell you?
Hoshi – star. With all the stars booming out across the fracking sky, this completes Sora's name.
Our name translations: Mika Ruri – Emerald New Moon
Anzu Anthay – Apricot Rose
Sora Hoshi – Starry Sky
ALL ARE JAPANESE NAMES!
((Mika whaps 0017 upside the head))
0017: Well, dammit, you just pawned this off on me! ((What's the Justice? CN version plays in background)) I'm 0017, a member of the Dolphin crew. In the next chapter of D.S. al Coda, Exponents and Factorials, we find out a startling truth about Verita and her connections with the Black Ghost. Who is the dream Verita who has contacted two of us now? What does she want? Who or what is Generation Zero? Tune in next time to find out! HAPPY NOW?