Chapter TWO is here! There will be not so much insight into the mind of Canaan as there will be techno watsits and overall story progression. I'll make it up, promise! This story is not going to follow the Xenosaga story line once it gets past this point.
To my lovely reviewer.
Shartae: I got the inspiration! Yay! I think I'm the only writer to have written a C/c fic on this website so far. Kinda neat. Glad you have such a strong liking for them, cause I'm not going anywhere! HA!
Notice I said reviewer up there. Only one reviewer for chapter one… OH WELL. I would have written the whole story anyway even if I didn't get one review. He he. Onward now!
My eyes flickered open as my consciousness slowly came back online. I felt oddly...refreshed. As if I had been resting for days. I sat up in my bunk and glanced around the room. It was empty.
It must be fairly late. There aren't any stragglers here except myself.
My "stomach" was telling me that it was well passed time for my morning nourishment. I got up from the bed and proceeded to make my way to the door.
Just how late is it? I don't hear anything from the outside.
Being rather groggy, uncoordinated, and otherwise half-asleep, I didn't notice someone coming in a split second before I walked outside. I promptly smacked into said person. Hard.
"Watch it." I grumbled, annoyed to have someone in my way so early in the morning.
Then I noticed who the person was I just mowed down. As cruel fate would have it, it was chaos.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. I've managed to act like a jerk in front of him even before I'm wide awake.
"Sorry chaos..." I said rather lamely.
"Not too worry. I'm just glad too see you're up." He moved into the cabin and sat in a nearby chair. "We were starting to get a little worried."
"Why?" I asked, still standing.
"You slept for nearly ten hours. When we did try to finally we wake you up, you wouldn't budge."
Ten hours? No wonder I felt so refreshed. I slept nearly half the day.
"What I wish to know," chaos continued, "is why you decided to sleep in the cabin last night. Don't you usually sleep on a matenance bed?"
"I do, but I thought of a way to sleep the regular way."
"Define regular."
This question caught me off guard. Why did he want to know? "Regular" was the way every other human slept, right? But, the way Realians slept was regular to them, right? Then again, what was the real difference besides a few technicalities? Being kept awake buy a bunch of snoring men?
I don't need this headache when I've just woken up, thank you very much.
Apparently, he wasn't finished. "Did you just want to 'try it out'? See what it was like? That's understandable. You were just curious, correct?"
chaos had this unique way of teasing people. He would ask a question about something they said that would make them think. Thinking about the question would make them feel silly. Then they would usually come to the conclusion that their idea wasn't a very good one. Then chaos would turn around and answer his own question, making them feel instead like they had made a good point. It was incredibly aggravating, but incredibly...cute. And it worked every single time.
"When's Jr. due back?" I asked, quickly changing the subject, and trying to avoid embarrassing myself with his mind games.
"In a few hours. He did have to go all the way Second Miltia to meet with Representative Helmer. The information we gathered from Miltia was too sensitive to relay via U.M.N. There's always a possibility of a hack, so Jr. decided it would be safer to deliver the information personally."
"So we'll rendezvous with the Durandel in a few hours. I assume we'll have our new orders then."
"Most likely. In the mean time, " he said, while standing up from his seat, "since I know your probably hungry, would you like to join me for a late breakfast?"
I nodded curtly, but on the inside I was practically bubbling over. Sure, I was hungry, but the fact he asked me to breakfast was rather flattering.
My advisor was right. My emotions are getting to a level where I can't control them. I can't imagine what they would be like if my suppressor wasn't there at all...
Wait…wasn't there,
is that?
Yes…it was.
Wasn't there,
wasn't there at all…
Then, an idea hit me like lightening.
"chaos." I said abruptly. "Please forgive me, but breakfast will have to wait. I just realized I have an important matter to attend to."
I hurried off in the opposite direction, leaving a rather startled chaos alone outside the mess hall.
Inside, I was cursing myself violently for purposely ending my chance to spend time with him.
But, if I wanted to understand these emotions...all that I've been feeling...this was something I had to do.
My destination was the one of the U.M.N. ports on the bridge. I knew I could use the public one near the two cabins, but this was...personal. I didn't want anyone to accidentally overhear it.
To my relief, the bridge was empty.
Good, it's on auto-pilot. Everyone must still be in the mess-hall.
I quickly found a port and sat down at the station. I typed in my code and destination. I waited impatiently as my call was going through.
I knew there were only a select few people who about emotion suppressors. And even fewer who could remove them. And the only person who could help me remove it without completely dismantling my main data frame…
A man came on the screen.
His red eyes starred back into mine.
Director Wilhelm of Vector Industries.
"Ah, Mr. Canaan." He murmured, "I was a little surprised when I heard you were calling. How are you doing?"
"With all due respect sir," I said flatly, "I didn't call to chat. I have a request."
"Straight to business I see. And what would this request be?"
"Sir," I continued, "my emotions as of late have been growing to a level where my suppressor cannot control them."
"I see. So, do you want another one? With today's current technology, I'm sure we could..."
"You misunderstand me. I don't want a new one. I want it removed, permanently."
Surprise registered on his face.
"I can perform the procedure myself," I continued, "but in order to do that..."
"You need the access code to your main data frame."
He let out a long deep sigh.
"Mr. Canaan, you are aware that the reason we put that code in in the first place was to keep Realians from messing with their programming, correct?"
"Yes, I'm aware of that."
"And we at Vector have a strict rule not to give away that code under any circumstances."
"Yes sir."
He leaned closer to the screen.
"What makes your case so special, Mr. Canaan? Even if I do decide to give you the code, and you somehow succeeded in removing a program deeply integrated into your frame, how would you cope with the sudden ability to…well…feel?"
"I would perform to the best of my ability, sir. It will not affect my performance in any way whatsoever. You will not hear any complaints if there are any side-effects. I will tell no one where I got the code from, and I will only use it for this occasion only. You have my word."
He leaned back and slowly rubbed his eyes.
"Besides, if you don't give me the code," I continued, "I'll find someone to take my head apart piece by piece."
"You are not going to give up on this, are you?"
"No."
"I know I'm going to regret this, but...all right. I'm sending over the code now. You are not to tell anyone where you got this, under any circumstances. If I ever hear of you abusing this code, you will be discharged from Special Forces immediately and your suppressor will be reinstated. Is that clear?"
"Crystal sir."
"Very well. And Mr. Canaan, good luck."
His face was then replaced with several hundred numbers and letters that were pages long.
The code, I assumed.
Vector sure doesn't want others messing with their Realians.
I quickly copied it on to disk and shut down the console. It was hard to imagine this little piece of technology was now my key to being able to understand this mess. Or so I hoped.
I finished just in time. It was then I heard a deep rumble, and the ship slightly shook.
We must be docking with the Durandel.
I heard several footsteps coming toward the doors. I got up and resumed my normal crossed arms position near the back. I head a chattering of voices, one of them belonging to Jr.
So he's back... I wonder where we'll be off too next.
"...changed too much. You would think people would be a little freaked out, but no, they won't acknowledge the fact that the damn universe is officially minus one planet."
Definitely Jr. I assumed he was talking about his trip to Second Miltia.
He entered the bridge with a scowl on his face. Trailing him were Shion, Allen, Jin, KOS-MOS, and of course, chaos, loyally following her as usual.
"Where is everyone?" Jr. grumbled. He went over and punched the intercom. "Hey! Where are you guys! Come to the bridge now, ok? I got our new orders from Helmer."
Slowly everyone shuffled into the bridge until they were at their usual posts. I thought I saw chaos looking at me a little strangely, but when I turned to check, he had the same neutral face he always had.
Just my eyes playing tricks on me.
"All right everyone." Jr. said in a commanding tone. "As you know, I've just had a conference with Representative Helmer. I told him everything we gathered from Miltia about the Zohar, Proto Omega, Margulis, Dr. Mizrahi, everything. He's going to talk to the federation immediately about possible courses of action."
The Zohar...I personally didn't see it, nor did I see what happened to it. After Jin left to take care of his "unfinished business," I just went back to the ship. What I did understand was that something happened there that made everyone...sad. I know the planet blew up, but something else made everyone so depressed, especially Shion.
"What are the new orders?" Jin inquired.
Jr. smirked. "Believe it or not, we technically have no new orders. Helmer thought we have been "put under an enormous amount of stress as of late," so, we're officially on vacation!"
Everyone's eyes widened. So did mine. Since when did the Representative of Second Miltia get to be such a softy?
"Are you serious?" asked Allen.
"Yep. So I figured while we're docked with the Durandel, we could head off to the Kukai foundation in a few hours. We could go shopping, or get some food, and then go to the beach!"
I could tell everyone's spirits had been lifted a little bit. Even Ziggy looked a little happier.
While everyone was busy talking and planning what to do on their "time off," I remembered my objective. I casually pulled Jr. aside from the others.
"What's up Canaan?"
"I need a favor."
"Oh? What kinda favor?" he asked teasingly, "Does it involve lovely lady?"
If only he knew.
Wrong gender Jr. And hell will freeze over before I ask.
"I need to borrow a Realian cross-referenced U.M.N hook-up. Immediately."
He instantly lost his humor.
"W w what? That some pretty serious stuff Canaan!"
By this time, everyone had stopped talking and were looking curiously at Jr.'s outburst. Noticing the stares he was starting to get, Jr. grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the bridge where we could speak privately.
"Do you know how much trouble I'd be in," he hissed, "if the Federation found out the Kukai Foundation had Realian hacking technology!"
"So, does that mean you have one?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at me suspiciously.
"Perhaps…what...exactly...do you need it for?"
"That is no concern of yours."
"I'd say it is! Whose brain are you planning on hacking into?"
"My own."
"Aww, geeze Canaan, listen, we've been through hell and back over the last few days, and I don't want any more trouble, ok?"
"There will be no trouble."
"Are you sure? Don't make me a promise you don't intend to keep."
"You will not hear one word from me, I promise."
His slumped figure told me he had given up.
"Fine, fine, fine. Make sure you don't tell anyone about this, or I'm going to be in sooo much trouble with Gaignun."
"My lips are sealed."
He walked through the hatch doors and disappeared into the Durandel. Shortly he came back with a long red cord in his hands.
"Here you go. I better get this back when you're done, all right?"
I nodded, excused myself, and then quickly hurried off into the elevator to the engine room.
I shooed the few robots that were ambling around, wanting to have some privacy. I felt anxious and excited while I plugged the cord into the port and began the start-up sequence.
I wonder what it'll be like to finally have feelings.
Will I still act the same?
Probably not.
I wonder how I'll fell about chaos…
The same?
Maybe…I hope so.
I went through the motions of telling the monitor exactly what I wanted to remove.
"BETA-TRANSMUTED EMOTIONS SUPPRESSOR" was on the screen. Perfect. All I needed to do know was to enter the code. I put the disk in and waited.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Nearly three.
Was it working? I didn't really feel any different.
Then I felt a dull burn in my head.
What is that?
I tried to shake it off.
The burn turned into a scorch.
Something's wrong.
The scorch turned into a white hot blaze.
"AHHH!" I yelled aloud in anguish, praying that no one could hear me.
The screen was flashing a warning. "ERROR ERROR." There was a high pitched whirling noise in my ears. The room was dancing. I couldn't breathe.
The pain was so burning, so strong, I gripped my head in agony, begging for it to all end.
I collapsed on the floor.
My vision darkened. Everything felt numb.
I can't...wha...shu..t...t.i..n..g...
All for you. Always for you.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that! You may have noticed in the last chapter how Canaan failed to acknowledge Jr.'s snores while he was trying to get to sleep. I would like to say it was clever planning on my part, but in reality I accidentally forgot about him. Sorry! So I made up that little ditty of him going to Second Miltia to meet with Helmer. He he, I managed to save my skin. Sooo what happened with Canaan? The eternal mystery. I'm not telling until the next chapter! HA!
Cheers, ATA