Hello to anyone who happened to stumble into my clutches. I am profoundly sorry for not updating in forever, and I'm not going to make any excuses. So, you can hit me. winces Well, here's the next segment, and it's pretty long, so enjoy.
The steady beeping of a heart rate monitor rose above the other noise in the room. The monitor shared a screen with other vital physical data as well as mental activity and a 3-D diagram of a young man. A scientist stood next to the screen, scribbling away at calculation on a clip board. Every few minutes he would glance at the screen, push up his glasses, and shake his head. These activities were frequently accompanied by mutterings and exclamations. The young scientist dropped his pencil onto the clipboard and let out a loud sigh. He turned around and addressed his superior a few feet away.
"Dr. Morin, we cannot proceed with this. My calculations show only a 20 chance of success. Besides, it's very clear to anyone who looks at the subject's data that there is a high amount of mental activity going on in his brain. We can't risk him waking up." Dr. Morin turned to glare at his assistant and strode ominously towards the man.
"Dr. Schramer, we will continue with this operation because I say so. We do not have time to postpone the surgery because of one over-cautious assistant's opinion! Agents from the government will be here in three days. You're welcome to tell them that we don't respect their deadlines. Do I make myself clear?" asked Dr. Morin. Dr. Schramer pushed his glasses up his nose and scowled, his mouth open to disagree. "SCHRAMER!! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" roared Dr. Morin.
"Crystal." replied Dr, Schramer sarcastically.
"Alright then. Dr. Datare, please begin. followed Morin. Datare nodded and began to flip switches on a control panel.
The sounds of machinery coming to life filled the room. The tank in the center began to slowly drain, the green liquid filtered out through seven tubes. Morin watched the figure in the container closely, determined to spot any sign of movement. As he moved to turn away a movement caught his eye. He stopped and blinked. Had he really seen one of the hands move? He peered at the limb in question and the fingers flexed again. Horror dropped into the pit of his stomach like a chunk of ice and he opened his mouth to give the order that would stop the procedure. But before he could utter a sound from his lips and ear piercing alarm sliced through the tense silence. Red lights flashed wildly on the terrified faces of his co-workers and assistants. Green fluid began to pour back into the tank, obviously on Datare's command.
"Datare! Status report!" he bellowed. Datare turned around as a great groan came from the tank. Both men chanced a glance. The youth inside had begun to stir. Computers all over the lab began to spark and short circuit, some even emitted small explosions.
"Sir, as you can see," replied Datare, gesturing to one of the few remaining computer monitors with the subject's data, "There is very high mental activity going on. I think he's overriding the safety precautions encoded in our hard drives." finished a now frantic Datare.
"I'd say he's doing more than that." mumbled Shcramer under his breath. "Well, what do we do?!" asked Morin angrily.
"Well, I can try and initiate the safety measures from this computer but I don't think..." Datare trailed off and his eyes widened as he stared at the tank. Morin slowly turned his head, terror rising up his throat. The subject was now conscious, and his piercing, vibrantly blue-eyed gaze bored into Morin.
It only started as a slight, annoying buzz in the back of his mind, but try as he might; Riven couldn't push it away. It kept growing, dragging him into awareness the larger it got. The cloud of numbness that surrounded his consciousness began to dissipate, leaving his mind clearer with each passing second. Slowly he became aware of his body, which led to a sensation that he was floating. Just as suddenly as consciousness began to return, it began to fade out. With a cry in his mind, Riven tried to grasp it and hold on. It still seeped out of his mind, as it had so many times before. Crying out in silent desperation, Riven focused on the "something" that was trying to drag him back into endless slumber. His mind latched onto it and he crushed it with all he was worth. He began to awaken again, unhindered by the "something" that had defeated him before. He flexed a few fingers in an attempt to speed up the process. It helped some and thoughts began to jumble themselves around in his head again. Slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his eyes. Green wavered before his vision and than gave way to form green tinted men in white lab coats staring at him. Computer ringed the outside perimeter of the room. With rising horror Riven realized he was trapped in a tank of some kind with strange green fluid suspending him. He probed his memories for some reason he was here but to no avail. Everything was gone. His mind screamed in frustration but he forced himself to calm down. It would all come back soon. Tentatively he reached out his mind and called for a familiar voice.
ADA? ADA, where are you? He almost cried with relief when the answer came.
I am here. the orbital frame battle computer replied.
Where is Jehuty? questioned Riven.
We are in the docking garage in the A west sector. she replied.
Right, I'll be there soon. Get ready. affirmed Riven.
As you wish. Riven broke contact with ADA and focused on finding a way out. He reached out both hands and laid them against the smooth glass. Closing his eyes he focused on the glass. Jagged green lines mirroring the pattern on Jehuty gleamed just beneath his skin and blinked out. The glass gave a shutter and exploded outwards with in a shockwave of power. Riven spread his wings to catch the air but they were to wet. He dropped to the ground into a sitting position. He eyes stared intently at the ground until he could stop gasping in great breaths of air. Concentrating again, he dissolved his wings into a flurry of snow white feathers. Wet as they were, they'd only get in the way at the moment. Riven slowly lifted his head to look at his captors. They were all staring in horror at him. One held a gun but his hands were shaking so badly Riven doubted he'd be able to aim, much less pull the trigger. Carefully raising himself off the ground, Riven stood up on now steady legs. One of the doctors shook himself and yelled an order. "Stun him, you idiots!" Several men reached for stun guns but Riven was too fast. With lighting speed he reached the first man and grabbed his gun, meanwhile thrusting his elbow into the man's gut and flipping him onto the ground. He dodged the stun ray off another gun just in time. Sliding to the floor he whipped his legs around and toppled the second man, driving a fist into his chest as the man came down. Riven stood up and looked behind to find the other scientists reaching for guns and he bolted towards the door. He jammed the open button and fled down the empty corridor. He focused his mind in Jehuty and felt its presence in a large room just a few hallways away. Gritting his teeth, Riven picked up his pace and raced to his freedom.
"Here at Oso Corps we pride ourselves in making the most technologically advanced machines of our time. Hundreds of professionals labor everyday to help make our future a better one. Among our employees are some of the most renowned..." Renee blocked out the chiming sound of their tour guide's voice and instead concentrated on the building around them.
Why did we have to go on such a stupid filed trip anyway? she grumbled to herself. A Mizone Highschool sophomore, Renee was forced every year to accompany her classmates on a trip to the business that made her hometown thrive. Many of her friends' parents and relatives worked at the Oso Corps, whose primary focus was innovative devices. Renee, however, had always suspected an ulterior motive. On the outside, Oso Corps was a network of brilliant engineers trying to prosper the human race, but there was sufficient evidence to suggest otherwise. Absolutely no one was ever allowed past a set of plain looking "doors" in an otherwise bare hallway. Renee had once caught a glimpse of someone entering the hallway on a previous field trip. High tech gadgetry lined the corridor inside and out. Many of the doors down the hallway boasted the sign for radiation. Also, Oso Corps owned a large plot of land about one hundred miles from the town, in the middle of the desert. Residents nearby reported explosions and strange lights appearing daily. Several times Renee had seen government agents in the lobby and that said nothing for the fact that all of Oso Corps inventions were somehow related to weapons. Renee's suspicions of Oso Corps' deception only grew every time she was forced to visit, so she'd decided to take matters into her own hands. As the tour group rounded a corner, Renee kept on the straight path that would lead her to the "doors". She continued casually down the hallway, pretending she was supposed to be there and fervently hoping no one caught her. Her class wouldn't notice her absence for a while. Rounding a bend she came upon the very object of her suspicion. In front of her loomed the ominous "doors". With a glance to see if anyone was around, she placed a hand on the door. As she was reaching down towards the doorknob she was startled when it suddenly turned. With a squeak Renee ducked into a shadowy corner and waited as a man in a lab coat exited. As soon as he turned the corner she leapt for the closing doors and caught them just in time. She quickly pulled herself inside and the doors clicked shut.
She stood in the hallway she'd seen before, surrounded by metallic walls and blinking locks. Staying close to the wall, she continued down the hallway. When she came to the end the hall split into to two different halls, each was leading into an opposite direction. She started violently when fast-approaching footsteps came from the hallway on her left. Before she had time to react a boy who looked around her age came racing down the hall. He halted in surprise a few feet away from her. Renee thought her heart would leap out of her chest. She'd been discovered. A second glance told her this young man was probably not going to report her. He was completely bare foot and dressed only in a skintight wet suit. She blushed when she realized how easily his well-toned muscles showed through. He had short, silvery white hair and a pair of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Both young people stood suspended in time for a few precious seconds.
Then footsteps came from the hall the boy had just come racing up and he shook himself out of the trance. With a nod in Renee's direction he took the hallway to her left and sped away as quickly as he'd appeared. Realizing she should probably take his queue, Renee ran as fast as she could the way she'd come and bolted out the forbidden doors. She didn't stop running until she reached the back of her class. Slowing to a halt she gasped in air as sweet relief and a burning desire to know more swallowed her up. Pushing both aside, Renee forced herself to absorb every word the tour guide was saying. But lingering in the back of her mind was still the question she wanted answered the most. What is Oso Corps up to?
Riven sprinted around the corner and was greeted with a blessedly familiar sight. A catwalk about three stories above the ground stretched across a huge garage. Next to the catwalk stood a magnificent human shaped metal machine. Jehuty. The imprinted jagged lines in its outer coating began to glow fluorescent green as soon as Riven approached. A scientist who stood near Jehuty and hadn't noticed Riven jumped a few feet back and adjusted his glasses. Riven ran to the orbital frame, ignoring the scientist who exclaimed in surprise. Placing his hand on the cold metal of the advanced weapon, Riven closed his eyes. The same lines that glowed on Jehuty began to radiate underneath his skin also. He smiled. It was good to feel something familiar. The metal around the cockpit flowed back to reveal the pilot's seat and inner workings of the machine. Riven opened his eyes and sprung into the cockpit as the metal closed over it.
"ADA, its good to see you." he breathed.
"You also." she replied. ADA was the advance back up battle system programmed into Jehuty to help the pilot. Riven placed his hands on two spheres half immersed in the arm rests and the spheres began to glow with the familiar green light. A green screen where a control panel should have been flashed Jehuty's condition and scanned the surroundings, feeding everything directly into Riven's brain. It appeared they were in some type of weapon factory which had in stock no short supply of mobile suits. Riven grinned confidently. The mobile suits and LEVs were nothing compared to their enhanced cousin, Jehuty. He could fend them off easily enough.
"Alright ADA, lets get out of here." Two wing-like thrusters on Jehuty's back sliced outward into the air, parallel to the ground, emitting a blue blast of light that propelled man and machine skywards. With a blast of the orbital frame's energy gun, the ceiling crumbled and revealed bright morning sky. Two mobile suits floated over the building, guns locked on Jehuty. "It looks like we've got company." Riven noted. He smiled grimly and with a shout, flew towards the attackers.
A siren penetrated the monotonous talk of the tour guide and cruelly deposited Renee back into reality. Restraining a squeak, she quickly glanced around to see where the noise had come from and saw her classmates doing the same. Red lights began to flash wildly about the air and the hallway they were walking through suddenly got a lot more crowded. The tour guide looked surprised, but quickly calmed herself. Waving a hand in the air to get the group's attention, she announced,
"We need to evacuate the building. There is no need to worry, as everything is under control." Renee wondered if it really was and how the tour guide knew anyway. "Please follow me to the emergency exit." As soon as the guide quit talking, everybody began to whisper. They all shuffled nervously after the woman, who seemed to know exactly what to do. She took them down a tan hallway and through several meeting rooms to a set of double doors. Holding open the door, she motioned for everybody to group outside. When everybody was out they continued down a side walk.
As the class turned a corner of the building, the guide suddenly froze mid stride. Surprise and curiosity registered in Renee's mind but no sooner had she stopped than the object of the woman's sudden halt came into view. Three massive machines stood locked in battle not fifty feet away. Everyone was trapped. The tour guide explained that the emergency doors were designed to lock so no one could re- enter the building and with an obvious effort to maintain her calm, relayed that they would have to wait for the battle to expire. Renee watched in awe as the three mobile suits faced each other off. Two were identical, obviously Oso Corps' suits by the familiar leaf insignia, but the other was something completely different. Renee had seen her share of LEVs and mobile suits on television but never had she seen any like this one. It wasn't as bulky as its opponents; it maintained a sleek, metallic design and looked to have superior mobility. It was much faster than the other two suits and remained out of their reach. Jagged green lines flashed on and off, etched into the strange metal of the machine. It flitted about the other two suits with ease, avoiding their attacks but making no attempt to launch one of its own. One of the Oso Corps suits slashed at it with a blade, but the defender dashed to the left and than unexpectedly straight for the offensive suit. A blade slide smoothly from the strange suit's arm and sliced neatly through the metal of the hunter turned hunted. The suit exploded in a rain of fire. The metal blade liquefied itself and reformed into a gun. Holding the gun above its head, the suit began to charge. Blue light congregated towards it and a ball of energy formed above the suit's gun. Swinging the gun at the other Oso Corps suit, it released the energy with a wave of power. The ball struck the remaining machine head on, causing a shock wave as the machine exploded and the ground rippled outwards. Dirt and debris gusted towards Renee and her classmates and they all ducked instinctively. Renee was the first one to stand and the winning suit swiveled around slowly. Her gaze traced the suit to the cockpit, where the pilot must be. The machine stood locked onto her gaze, its eerie green light washing over her.
Then suddenly the thrusters on its back flew out and shot the machine into the air. Renee watched as it became a small speck and than disappeared into the impossibly blue sky. Her friends were picking themselves off the ground now and the buzz of conversation could be heard. Renee stood transfixed. When she looked at her watch, she noticed it had all happened in less than a minute. With a last glance at the sky, she joined her class as they made their way towards the bus.