Well here comes chapter 2 of this little thing. I am not sure where to go with this, and I am open to your ideas, input, and characters too. (Although, if I don't thing the fit, I won't use them.)
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vandread universe.
#2: Electric Despair
Hibiki ran through the grassy meadow, past clumps of knee high saw grass, and patches of flowers. Behind him, giving a healthy chase, was a giant wave of a bright wave substance. "Traitor!" a loud eerily hollow voice boomed angrily from out of nowhere. "What the hell are you talking about?" Hibiki yelled back, unable to hide the fear in his voice. But if the voice responded, he did not hear it, for at that moment he lost his footing in a particularly tangled clump of saw grass, and landed face first a foot and a half away. He jumped up, and started again to run, when the red wave over came him. He was knocked to the ground again as it impacted his back, and was up again as it dove beneath him and lifted him up. It entangled his body and bound his arms and leg together so he could not fight. "What the hell are you and what are you going to do?" He said, panic rising as a thick tentacle emerged from the substance swirling around the ground around him. "I…" it boomed angrily," I am the one sent to quell you Betrayal, a send you… back… where you… BELONG!" It boomed, and drove itself into Hibiki's gaping mouth. He struggled in vain as the tentacle forced itself into his mouth. He couldn't breath thought the thing entering his body. His vision blurred. He was floating down, the rising blackness coming to greet him with open arms, through the red wave that obscured his view.
Hibiki awoke with a small jerk, but didn't open his eyes right away. It wasn't until he realized that there actually was something in hid mouth keeping him from breathing properly. He slowly opened his eyes and saw, to his horror, that the red thing that was forcing itself down his throat in what he thought was a dream, was smothering him now.
He flew backwards out of the hotel bed, landed on the floor, and crawled backwards until the wall halted his progress. He sat for a monument, breathing heavily, his mind racing. After a couple of minutes of confused panting, he realized that the red mass that had been Dita's long bright red hair. A faint knock brought his attention to the door across from him. It popped open to reveal Duero, already dressed in his medical smock and drinking a cup of coffee that the hotel had provided in each of the rooms. "Well," he said, slowly looking around, seeing Dita fast asleep in the bed, and Hibiki, slightly pale and sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room. "This is very interesting." "What the hell do you find so damn interesting?" He snapped back defensively. "Well, for one," Duero said calmly, "Dita is fast asleep in the bed, wearing your bed clothes, and you are huddled against the wall, in mild shock." "Just shut up!" Hibiki yelled, blushing.
"Just shut up!" This must mean that Hibiki was up. Bart sighed. Hibiki was always so hostile, even first thing in the morning. Yet everyone liked him. The doctor, always calm, wasn't very far off, as most of the crew of the 'Nirvana' seemed to take quite a shine to him. Meanwhile, he had always tried to impress his captors… no, they were once his captors, but, at least, for now anyway, they where his friends. He decided to go see what the ruckus was about, instead of dwelling upon these thoughts, opened the door and started through Dueros room. Something sparked his memory, Duero telling him about the men with the long hair, and how only time brought these kinds of changes. Thus he tried to rush things, not understanding what he had meant, at first, and dressing as a woman. This didn't lead to the effect he had hope, and had accidentally set the foundation for a riot. "I just want to be excepted now." He said, quietly to himself as he reached the door and opened it. Those thoughts flew from his head faster than his weapons on the 'Nirvana' dispatched of the enemy forces. What chased them away was the scene that met his eyes when he opened the door. Duero smirking, pleased with the scene, Dita sitting up in the bed, just awaken, bleary-eyed and wearing a pair of Hibiki's pajamas, and Hibiki standing against the wall, bright red patches glowing in his cheeks. It was moments like these that made his lack of interest from the 'Nirvana's' crewmembers, he thought as a smile lit his features.
"What the hell are you both smirking at?" Hibiki shouted, now blushing even deeper as Bart joined them in the room, Dita rubbed her eyes, and Pyoro emerged from the bathroom, his "eyes" a pained reddish color. "What is going on in here?" he said with a hint of amusement in his synthetic voice. "None of your damn business!" Hibiki thundered, blushing even deeper. Just how is I my luck that even a robot, crying over a baby was making fun of me? What did I do to deserve this? He though. But atleast Dita hadn't started in on him, right? No soon had he thought it than she said "Hey, why is my hair all wet?"
B.C. strolled through the open doors connecting her room to Bart's to Duero's to Hibiki's. She entered the final room to an uproar of laughter from Bart and Duero, a confused but happy looking Dita on the bed, and a rather angry/embarrassed Hibiki. "Good Morning, B.C." Dita said stretching and yawning. "Good morning." There would be time to answer questions later in the day. "All of you, get ready, it is now…8:10, and the shuttle and escort will be here soon. We will be going straight to the office building to set up for the interview process. Since it looks like we seem to enjoy being in this room, every meet here between 8:40 and 8:45." Without another word she strolled back to her room and shut the door.
The other 2 men left, with Pyoro following Duero pestering him about a communicator. The door to Duero room closed and an awkward silence followed. After a few minutes of this the silence was broken as Dita said "Mr. Alien?" "What?" he said a little forcefully. "Are you going to use the bathroom, or can I take a shower?" "Go ahead." "Thanks" She said as she strolled into the bathroom and shut the door. After a couple of seconds the water started running. After about a minute, Dita emerged from the bathroom. "What do you…" Hibiki looked up, and immediately his face turned red. Dita was gathering up her clothes, wearing nothing but a hotel towel.
Dita emerged form the bathroom, this time fully clothed with Hibiki's bed clothes neatly folded, and placed them on the bed. The clock on the nightstand showed 8:30.Hibiki Called over "You should probably grab some food before we go." He said in an oddly muffled voice. She turned and headed toward the round table where Hibiki sat, shoveling as many pellets as he could into his mouth without choking. Dita wandered over to the pellet dispenser, and after a bit of coaching from Hibiki managed to fill a bowl with the pellets. There they sat and ate in silence, apart from the noise made from the rapidly consumed pellets rattling, and an occasional disgusted noise, accompanied by face, from Dita.
The adjoining door opened to reveal Bart, B.C., and Duero. They entered and saw that both Dita and Hibiki were sitting at the table, eating. A knock came from the door at exactly 8:45. B.C. went to the door and opened to find Corporal Vinn standing on the other side. Good morning," He said warmly. "Hello." B.C. replied. "Shall we?" "Yes." And they set off, Corporal Vinn still backing away when Dita emerged. They piled into the shuttle and within ten minuets arrived at a large, abandoned looking single story office building. "This was once a military storage building," Corporal Vinn explained, "But when the Military Complex Center was formed in the Central Citadel, This area was abandoned, and left to who ever wanted to live in it. This building was locked down incase a military faction needed to come in for some reason. The higher ups thought it would be perfect for your purposes." "Yes it will work just fine." B.C. stated as they stepped off the shuttle.
"Here is the key to the facility, all of the supplies you will need to clean and use the place have already been put in side. Trash pickup is on Monday morning. Saturday and Sunday are your relaxation days, so that you may enjoy yourselves at the hotel. Laundry pickup every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so feel free to use it. Just call the hotel service center if you need anything. The shuttle will pick you up at 9:30 every morning excluding Saturday and drop you back at the hotel at 5:00. Your interviews will begin at 10:00 starting tomorrow. Of course all of this is complementary, as you are doing a service to our government, so, have a good time and enjoy the complements of Tarrak. "Thank you, Corporal, I think I have already found one of the men we are going to chose." Remarked B.C. "Really?" He said Curiously, "Well, as the officer in charge of the program, I am looking forward to seeing your final selection." With that he boarded the shuttle as B.C. removed a portable electronic data-pad and entered Corporal Vinn under the title Selection 1st choice. The shuttle doors closed then it departed as B.C. put the key in the lock and popped the door open.
It was a dusty mess. Cubical walls were scattered all around, some standing, most lying on the ground. Several chairs, a few desks and tables were up against walls, and the one closest to the door was a big box of cleaning goods, one of paper towels, rags, and gloves, and 4 vacuum cleaners. "Well," said B.C. with an exasperated sigh "At least they provided everything else."
They spent the whole rest of the morning cleaning things, and by noon everything but the floor was spotless. Included with the supplies were enough lunch kits for them all. They were individually wrapped bowls of pellets with a spoon, and a bottle of water, not flashy, but they were better than nothing. The group sat down at a table that they had pulled chairs up to, and sat and ate. "I still don't like this stuff very much." Dita said to a murmur of approval from all of the people at the table. Pyoro was just rocking back and forth on a table across the room. "What's up with that thing?" Hibiki asked to now one in particular. "Electric Despair." Duero said, and after seeing that no one had understood that, he continued. "When the artificial intelligence of a robotic being becomes to heavily stressed, the circuitry of its mind starts to fail. Basically it like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in a human, the mind jus shuts down." He finished. After a couple of seconds Hibiki asked, "What does he have to be stressed about?" "The baby" B.C. said coolly. They finished eating in silence, and got back to work. By the time the shuttle showed up, they had completely cleaned the building, and 4 cubicles each with a desk and 4 chairs.
The got back to the hotel, and decided they would all have dinner together at 6:30 in Hibiki's room. So they all just killed some time watching TV, reading, or busing themselves with little tasks around they're rooms. They ate dinner and afterwards, the hooked up the telecom unit to the TV, which then linked to a satellite and to the main COM system in the pirate's asteroid base. The chatted about their accommodations and insisted that Magno come and visit soon, although Hibiki was not very insistent at all. Finally, after ensuring Jura several times that she would be able to put her word in on the final group, they were able to brake of and go to their individual rooms. Dita and Hibiki took turns using the bathroom to change into the pajamas. They exchange goodnights, settled into bed and drifted off to sleep with no idea what the next day would hold, as the clock hit 10:00.