"Harpuia," Governor Eggleston smiled as the Guardian entered his office. Harpuia nodded graciously. "Please, have a seat." The Governor had sent a message requesting a meeting with Harpuia at the earliest possible convenience. Technically, they were equals, and it might have been more appropriate for him to come to the HQ instead, since he had requested the meeting. But Governor Eggleston was one of the sizeable minority of humans who reacted violently to teleportation, so it was far more efficient for Harpuia to come to him.
Harpuia wasn't inclined to make an issue of something so petty, in any case. He liked and approved of Eggleston. They were on what Fefnir laughingly called a last-name basis… too familiar to use titles, but not friendly enough for first names. Neo Arcadia had never been a democracy, but Eggleston had still managed to have a very long career in politics. Before his death, Master X had chosen the Council directly. They had served essentially on his whim, and he could dismiss them as he chose. Eggleston had been the Minister in charge of Criminal Law for some time, and Harpuia had seen him many times in meetings with X. He had been impressed with how the human could sometimes disagree so respectfully, but in a way that didn't give an inch. He had actually prevailed over Master X on some occasions, until they had finally clashed one time too many, and Eggleston had been dismissed. But after X's death, things had changed. Logically, Master X's successor should have been Harpuia. But no one was willing to give him the same power they had trusted into X's hands, so a new system had to be hammered out.
The compromise that had come about was interesting. Harpuia, Leviathan and Fefnir were all given status as Council members. Usually, that meant nothing since they were too busy to vote. But when Harpuia wanted something, it gave him a small block of support. That had come in handy when they had decided how Council members would now be picked, and who would be ultimately in charge. Eventually, they had decided that if a position opened up for a Council member, anyone on the Council would be allowed to nominate a candidate, then the Council members would vote on which one they preferred. And each Council member was allowed to designate a successor, who would receive precedence unless there was some pressing reason against it. In charge of the whole process would be the Governor, who would have some of the same powers as Master X, but watered down. Harpuia had been instrumental in bringing up Eggleston's name and supporting his nomination. His stubborn integrity had impressed Harpuia. Some of the other Council members had been less than thrilled, realizing that Eggleston would not let them get away with some of the inter-departmental games X had been too busy to clamp down on. Despite that, enough had remembered Eggleston's reputation for the nomination to go through. His reputation with the people hadn't hurt… he was known all through Neo Arcadia as a very fair, if not brilliant man. So far, Eggleston had managed to handle all the events thrown at him with assurance, and the people had faith in him. More faith than they had in Harpuia, in truth. So, Harpuia was more than willing to be gracious.
"How can I help you, Eggleston?" Harpuia said politely, and the Governor sighed, steepling his hands on the desk.
"This is a touch delicate," the Governor started, making Harpuia slightly curious. "It has recently come to my attention that you know about the Translation project." Harpuia's eyes widened, then narrowed. There was only one way the Governor could know that… if Fefnir had told him. Eggleston caught the expression on Harpuia's face, before he concealed it, and gave the Guardian a wintry smile. "Don't blame Fefnir too much. He's very loyal to you, but in this matter, he was bound to keep us informed. It is our project, after all." Harpuia nodded stiffly, but made a mental note to give Fefnir hell anyway for at least not warning him. "Do you have any questions about it?" Harpuia paused, gathering his thoughts. He did have some questions.
"Where did you get the technology for it?" Somehow, he doubted they had invented it.
"A very old laboratory that was uncovered in an archaeological dig. We found many interesting things there, many of which are currently in use. The others… well, I can forward you a report if you wish. Most of it is incomplete garbage, but interesting."
"I would appreciate that. Did Master X know about this project?" Harpuia couldn't imagine X approving of putting humans in danger. Eggleston's smile became a little sheepish.
"Ah… no. We didn't want to worry him about it." Harpuia couldn't help but snort at that. It was a gross underestimate of Master X's probable reaction, in his opinion. Eggleston shrugged. "I'm sure you know what the military situation was like when we started." Harpuia nodded slowly, but then voiced the concern that had been troubling him the most.
"Didn't the… ethical considerations concern you? I mean, the implications for how human Reploids really are?" A troubled look passed over the Governor's face.
"Everyone has thought of that," he said heavily. "Our only conclusion was… to trust Master X." Harpuia frowned.
"But he didn't know." Harpuia pointed out. Eggleston shrugged again.
"Do you really think that would have made a difference? I mean no disrespect to X, but…" Eggleston had had more than his share of confrontations with X, and knew his mind had been made of titanium when it came to his core beliefs. Harpuia winced, then shook his head. He knew the Governor was right. "Harpuia, there's something else important I need to discuss with you. I've heard that the DNA of the creatures has a quadruple helix?"
"Yes, we've managed to isolate that," Harpuia replied, slightly curious to see where the Governor was going with this. Eggleston sighed, and reached into his desk, pulling out a thick folder.
"Please take this to Leviathan and Ciel. It's all the information we have on a sample of such DNA." Harpuia stared at the folder, then the Governor.
"You knew about this gel?" If that was so, then he was… Harpuia wasn't sure what he was going to do, but it wasn't going to be pretty.
"No." Eggleston said so definitely, so firmly, that Harpuia had to believe him. The Guardian relaxed slightly. He didn't want to think that he could have been completely wrong about the Governor's character. "We found samples of quad helix DNA in another ancient facility, but it was nothing like this plague. It was completely harmless, nothing but pure samples of alien DNA. It seemed the facility was in the first stages of analyzing it when it was abandoned." Eggleston smiled, but it was more of a grimace. "Someone has obviously gone a bit farther. We had no idea there was a connection until your analysis detected the quadruple helix."
"Why do I never hear about these things?" Harpuia asked, almost annoyed. He was reaching the end of his tolerance for secrets. Eggleston chuckled softly.
"Harpuia, if we kept you updated on every single discovery our archaeological teams make, your head would explode." Harpuia's eyebrows flew up at that statement. "That's enough data to require its own dedicated server, and half of it is written in other languages. And the only reason I know that is because I cornered the Minister of Archaeology and asked him why I hadn't been informed until after he brought this folder to me. Thankfully, he was reading your reports on the gel."
"Ah, I see." And he did see the situation, now. The Translation project had been unique in that the whole Council had approved it and conspired to keep it secret. But usually, things were kept secret almost by accident. The bureaucratic process and department divisions could often conspire to keep critical information away from those who needed it most. At least the information had gotten to him in a timely manner, this time. Harpuia picked up the folder. "Is there anything else?"
"No, that's all I needed to say. Well, perhaps one last thing." Their eyes met, green on grey. "Good luck, General Harpuia."
"Good luck, Governor Eggleston." They would both need it.
"What's wrong with you?" Harpuia asked Fefnir bluntly, too tired to bother with any other approach. The dark skinned Guardian was looking extremely pissed off, and new recruits were avoiding him with assiduous care. Fefnir scowled, rolling his shoulders.
"It's my own troops, that's what's wrong. If I have to smack one more of them down for mouthing off at Zero, I'm going to scream. Half the little bastards are itching for a fight. When did I get nominated as the voice of reason?" Harpuia smiled slightly at Fefnir's aggrieved tone. He was sure if the red Guardian could follow his own wishes, he'd be challenging the red terror to a duel about now. But as unit commander, it was his duty to provide an example to the troops, and make certain they followed it. Which meant Fefnir, Leviathan and Harpuia all had to be unfailingly polite to the Zero. That was irritating enough for Leviathan and Harpuia, but purely torturous for Fefnir. Then add peacekeeping duties to it…
"I'll have a talk to them, if you want." Harpuia offered, but Fefnir shook his head.
"No, it's under control, sort of. Um… what did Eggleston want to see you about?" Fefnir asked in a miserable effort at a casual tone. Harpuia eyed him sternly, and had the pleasure of seeing the big, powerful Reploid wilt under his hard stare.
"I think you can guess. Next time, could you at least talk to me before finking to the Council?" Harpuia's tone was acerbic, and Fefnir winced.
"I didn't want to, Sage, it's just… the project is their business. I had to tell them. It's the only time I've ever gone to them before you, I swear. Cross my heart and hope to die."
"If you do it again, you better die before I catch up with you." Harpuia said, then let it go. They had other concerns. "Have there been any other attacks?"
"No, but there's been some activity down near Port Town. Almost seems like probing, and one of the human units got lucky and cornered a bunch of the monsters on a sweep. Liquidated 'em." Fefnir sounded amused and rather proud of the accomplishment, but Harpuia scowled. Even if the human battalions were plugging the holes in his line, he despised the need for it.
"Hrm." Harpuia walked away silently, Fefnir following behind. He could guess where the other Guardian was going, and he was right. Soon, they were walking through the laboratory door and into a lively argument. Or perhaps it would be more accurately described as a debate, because all the participants seemed to be enjoying themselves to the hilt.
"I'm telling you it will work," Joanna maintained. "We don't even have to do it ourselves, Ciel, we could just get a specialist in polymers and put them on it!" Ciel looked thoughtful at that.
"Oh, well, if it won't take time away from work on a cure, that's different. Although I don't think the gaps will let it be effective."
"I think she's right," put in a new scientist, a male Reploid named Seek. He was almost identical to his partner and sister, a female named Find. They were both specialists in genetic manipulation, although they usually worked for a civilian medical company that worked on plant, animal and human diseases. The civilian company they worked for had graciously donated their time for the duration of the crisis. "There's no way a polymer coating would be able to adhere to the joints for long. Still, it might provide some protection."
"Alright then," Leviathan said brightly. "I'll find someone to look into that. And there's another idea I had…" She explained her idea, and the conversational ball was up and bouncing again.
"I don't think they need us," Fefnir murmured to Harpuia, who nodded. It would be better if they didn't interrupt the brainstorming session. They might ruin the momentum.
Lord Harpuia? Harpuia frowned as a voice tentatively spoke over his com line. He didn't recognize it. This is Esper, at the front gate… there's someone here who says he's with the Resistance and needs to speak to Ciel and Zero right away? Harpuia arched an eyebrow, surprised. Even with the current truce, it took some balls to come right up to the gate.
"Keep him there, I'll be right down." Harpuia left the laboratory, and was soon at the front gate. Two very young recruits were standing nervously with the Resistance soldier… only he wasn't a soldier. Harpuia blinked as he vaguely resembled the man, from some briefings on the important characters in the Resistance. "Aren't you Cerveau?" He nodded.
"Yes, and I really need to talk to Ciel… there may be a problem." Harpuia frowned… that was an odd way to put it… but nodded, then glanced at the two recruits.
"Return to your posts." They immediately scampered off, glad to be back to the tasks they understood. Harpuia escorted Cerveau back to the laboratory, where Fefnir had gotten bored with the discussion and was writing his name into a table. Harpuia frowned at him. "Fefnir, is that really necessary?"
"No, but not much in life is." Fefnir looked at Cerveau, slightly curious. "What's this, another science geek?" Cerveau definitely had that air about him. Then Ciel happened to turn and spot him.
"Cerveau!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Zero's head turned like a tracking turret, catching Cerveau in his sights as the engineer gave Ciel a hug. His presence here could mean nothing good.
"Well, Ciel, we've… come across something odd. You know how you told us to get in touch with all our outlying cells and bases?" Ciel nodded. Sometimes, a long time passed between communications between very far off facilities. That was to keep the danger to all of them at a minimum, since every communication increased the chance of exposure to the Neo Arcadian authorities. But in the current situation, things had changed. It had occurred to Ciel that those far flung cells and bases could be extremely vulnerable to the creatures infected with this plague, and with the lack of communication, they might not have even noticed if a few of them had been destroyed. Neo Arcadia trumpeted their victories, but not these monsters. "We have no contact with…" Cerveau gave Harpuia, Fefnir and Leviathan a nervous look. Harpuia's expression was businesslike, but Fefnir grinned and Leviathan gave him a sweet, guileless look that no one with half a brain cell would believe. "Uh…"
"For the love of all that's holy! Whisper it in my ear if you have to." Cerveau blushed, but did that, and Ciel snorted. "Cerveau, that's the worst base in existence. You can say it out loud to them."
"Um, alright," Cerveau was chagrined, but continued. "Our Arctic base has been sending us weather reports, but they won't answer our queries. And… remember how they found an abandoned research facility buried in the ice?" Ciel's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Shii and Temla were investigating, and they sent us a few reports on some interesting finds."
"I remember now," Ciel murmured softly, thinking. "But we hadn't heard anything from them in ages, had we? They said they were only going to report if they found something."
"Yes, our last report from them was six months ago," Cerveau said heavily. "If they found this disease, and it took them, they may have been lost all this time. And… two way stations are not responding, as well. Ones deep within Neo Arcadia." Ciel understood what he wasn't saying… that they couldn't check out those way stations without putting a small group in terrible jeopardy. The truce wouldn't allow them to move a large enough force through Neo Arcadia's territory to check out the problem.
"If you give us the coordinates, we'll send large teams to investigate." Harpuia cut in. He understood the problem they faced quite well… and what they would be giving up by giving him those coordinates. The way stations were obviously well-hidden and effective, and now they would be ruined, and probably much of the rest of the network Ciel and the Resistance used to get recruits out of Neo Arcadia. Ciel and Zero exchanged a glance, while Cerveau looked troubled. Then Ciel sighed.
"I suppose there's no choice. Cerveau?" He gave them the coordinates, and Harpuia nodded.
"Fefnir, see to it." He instructed the red Guardian, who grinned, pleased at the prospect of action. "And bring a bullhorn. If it turns out the soldiers are alive, try to explain the situation and verify that they're healthy." Ciel nodded. It was very unlikely that the soldiers in the way stations had somehow managed to miss Cerveau's attempts to communicate with them, but it was good to have a plan just in case. She eyed Harpuia, a little surprised. Ciel had always known he was dangerously competent, but hadn't realized how thorough he was.
"You got it, Sage." Fefnir was already giving orders through his com unit as he left the lab. "For the arctic lab…" Harpuia considered his forces for a moment. Not many could be spared from their duties, but… "Leviathan, gather a team of five from your unit. I'll bring five from mine, and we'll go check it out."
"I'm coming too," Zero said firmly. "Cerveau can stay here with Ciel." While Cerveau didn't really have the strength to protect her, he was quite sure of the Guardian's sincerity, now. She would be in very little danger. Ciel nodded, and gently gripped Zero's arm, making a cloud pass over Leviathan's face.
"Good luck, Zero."
It wasn't winter, but in the high Arctic, that hardly mattered. The air was still and icy cold, and the light in the land of the midnight sun was blinding, threatening snow blindness to anyone unwary. But it was very peaceful, without wind, plant or animal in sight… just endless, hard packed snow and ice.
Then, a series of teleports broke that peace in a dozen flashes of multi-hued light.
"Eeek!" Leviathan shivered violently as the cold air hit her, her breath suddenly steaming in the air. "This is horrible!" Reploids could survive extremes of cold that humans could not, but they didn't necessarily like it. And there were extremely unpleasant side-effects associated with freezing and re-thawing Reploids. Leviathan's lack of tolerance, though, stemmed from her life in Neo Arcadia. The capital was very well situated, with mild winters and hot summers. That was the climate she enjoyed.
"Actually, it's really mild for the Arctic. No wind chill. Believe me, it could be worse." One of Leviathan's soldiers, a female named Sylph, said with certainty. She was of medium high and slender build, with long, thick black, green eyes, and strangely full-chested. Her armor was dark blue and grass green, and clung tightly to her body in a design meant to maximize agility. Pink, swirling tattoos decorated her cheeks.
"I'll take your word for it," Leviathan replied, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them. There was a sudden grating sound as Zero found the hatch to the buried research complex and opened it with one quick pull. Zero jumped down, followed closely by Harpuia.
Inside the research facility, there were no lights. Harpuia and Zero used their blades to illuminate the surroundings… a cold metal hallway. They were uncomfortably crowded in the entrance hall, but there were several branches, many corridors to explore. Harpuia eyed the passageways, and came to a decision. "Leviathan, Sylph, take half the teams and start exploring. Zero, come with me. Do you know the way to the control room?"
"Yes. Follow me." Zero started down a passageway. Leviathan hesitated.
"Um, Sage? What should we do if we encounter Resistance soldiers?" Zero glanced back at her, and answered before Harpuia could.
"You won't. There's no heat, no lights. No one is here." They all looked around, suddenly nervous as they realized the implications of the lack of lights. If the Resistance soldiers were alive, it certainly wouldn't be like this. But if there were gel creatures here… would they have bothered with the heat?
"Be cautious," Harpuia ordered them, and followed Zero. There was a small flurry of activity as the group separated into two teams, and began to explore other passageways.
For Leviathan and Sylph, what followed was somewhat eerie. Neither of them had ever explored a dead base before, and the signs of struggle, interspersed with all the objects of a team that had made this place a home, were rather unnerving. The lack of lighting besides what their weapons could give did not help at all, giving the situation an uncomfortable resemblance to many horror movies.
And there were many signs of struggle. Leviathan held her spear over a bed, looking at the pink floral blankets… and the blood splattered liberally across them. The light from her spear was caught by something, making it glitter. Leviathan stared at it for a long moment, before realizing it was a teddy bear's eye. The bear itself was so heavily coated in blood, she hadn't noticed it in the blankets.
"This is so sad." One of her warriors, a tall dark male named Umbra. He shook his head. "They must have been attacked in the night… it looks like they didn't stand a chance."
"It must have been very quiet, or there were a lot of them," Leviathan agreed, turning away from the pathetic scene. "Since it seems everyone was surprised. But where are the bodies?" Umbra spread his hands… that was a mystery.
Sylph was having a similar time, although smellier.
"Ewww." Machiko, a small female Reploid with a Japanese appearance, held her nose. "Gross. Some early riser must have gotten out breakfast." Sylph grimaced. Six month old milk had pretty much turned to dust, but the stench lingered. The chair had been toppled over, the bowl flung onto the ground… and there were more gruesome bloodstains, sprayed against a wall.
Inevitably, though, as each team searched the passageways, they came towards the central part of the complex… the control room. Zero was typing at the consol when Leviathan stepped in, as Harpuia held up his blade to provide extra light for him.
"Have you found anything interesting?" She tried to look over Zero's shoulder curiously, but couldn't make much sense of what he was looking at. It seemed to be some kind of log.
"Quite a bit. This was the source of the infection. If Shii and Temla were alive, I would be tempted to kill them." Zero frowned at the log he was reading. "Shii, at least. What an idiot."
"What did she do?" Harpuia asked, trying to keep Zero's mind on track. The red terror grimaced.
"It's more what she didn't do. She kept her discovery of the DNA/nanite solution a secret from Ciel… damn her. She wanted to prove how good a scientist she was by examining it herself, then giving us the conclusions so she wouldn't have to share any of the glory." Zero examined the screen for a moment, then shook his head. "She had no idea what she was dealing with. She writes here that she thinks it might be a healing agent."
"Wonderful. I assume her decontamination procedures were inadequate?" Leviathan said sourly. Zero read farther, and shook his head.
"It's worse than that. She found the gel could animate dead Mets, so when a Resistance soldier had an accident that put him into a coma, she decided to try it on him." Harpuia's eyes widened, and Leviathan's breath hissed through her teeth at that revelation. "The last log entry says that he seems to be responding well, and she's going to bed."
"What a… a…" Leviathan sputtered, unable to find words to describe the mindset of someone who would do such a thing. "That's arrogant to the point of insanity! Unbelievable."
"There was a reason we sent her into the far Arctic," Zero said almost sadly. "We thought she wouldn't be able to get into any trouble here. Ciel is going to be very upset." That was understating the case. Zero looked up at Harpuia. "We should leave, I think, and get a science team to look through the old files to see if they can find anything." He had very few hopes for their success. Shii's logs had indicated that the computer files of the old facility were corrupted, leaving nothing but the frozen samples. But perhaps a computer expert could find something. Harpuia nodded.
"Very well." He used his com to broadcast his instructions. "Everyone, teleport back to HQ." There was a small chorus of acknowledgements.
Just before he teleported away, Harpuia glanced around the cold, dead control room, his green eyes puzzled. Something nagged at his mind. He had a distinct feeling he'd found out something important here… but he wasn't sure what.
Then he teleported away.