Disclaimer: Hee hee … I own OC's … Does that count? Didn't think so……
Author's Notes:
Ah. Life is good. I feel really refreshed today. I finished my drawing for NINA and it will be posted sometime in the next month. I have yet to complete the drawings of Wilder and of Kael with his brothers.
This chappie will have action in it! Finally! After this chapter I will be taking a break from writing just to get away from my computer and to let new ideas come to mind. It won't be a long break. It will be from today (June 26, 2006) to Friday (June 30, 2006). On that day 2 new chapters will be published and my short breather will be over! Yay!
Alas, this chapter may be somewhat long … That can be good … In fact, that will be perfect… Muahahaha! -begins to scheme-
Music Pieces:
Chapter 7: Ghosts in the Machine -- "Under Bevelle" – Noriko Matsueda – Final Fantasy X-2
-- "Open Your Eyes" -- Tomohito Nishiura -- Dark Cloud (game)
The Woglinde, Cockpit
The consoles hummed and beeped quietly in the cockpit of the Woglinde as the many inhabitants of the ship slept. In the cockpit however, there was never time for sleep. Manning a ship as large as the Woglinde required 24 hour attention.
"Gate jump complete. Final procedure will complete in 19 minutes and 30 seconds." a woman with hair the mute color of nutmeg announced in her soprano voice.
"Good. Proceed as planned." the captain of the Woglinde replied. A small alarm began to sound about the hangar, alerting the cockpit crew of a potential danger.
"Captain, sir!" a man with orange hair shouted as he scanned his screens for the source of the alarm.
"What is…? Is it them?" the captain asked as he approached the man's terminal.
"I'm not picking up any signals." the young man replied as he stood and turned to the woman with nutmeg hair and called to her. "How does it look on your side?"
The woman glanced at her screens for a brief moment before answering.
"Everything's fine over here." She shook her head much to the relief to the crew, yet it raised suspicion. The orange haired man turned back to his terminal and tapped the keys, searching for the source.
"Captain, I don't think an external source is causing the alarm." he rather concluded than suggested. His eyes widened as he stared at the search results. "It's coming from inside the ship! Sector 3!"
The captain had no time to answer as several crimson warning screens flashed over the terminals of the cockpit. Each terminal in the cockpit was overloaded with a protocol program.
The young man read his screen in his jumpy stare and his voice nearly left him.
"KOS-MOS…"
The Woglinde, Analysis and Scientific Labs, Vector Industries
An alarm sounded as red lights flashed throughout the ship. The terminals of the Vector employees were overcome by that same crimson as KOS-MOS's program began to boot up.
"What the hell? What's going on?" Allen shouted over the alarm as each employee still present in the room attempted to recapture their consoles and find out what was causing KOS-MOS's program to act on its own.
"I don't know! It happened so fast!" the blonde haired woman answered for all of the employees. "I'll try to shut it down!" His fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered in the code for the shutdown sequence.
"No luck!" the brunette called as she attempted to shut down the system. The blonde woman and the dark haired man nodded and shouted in reply. Allen's mind began to race as he attempted to shut down the mainframe. His luck was identical to his colleagues'. The terminal was so overrun that it was incapable of accepting any other commands.
"This can't be happening…" he breathed.
The Woglinde, Residence Area, Cabin H5, Shion Uzuki's Quarters
The lights in Shion's quarters blinked on as the room's terminal as well as Shion's pocket console began to glow a bright red, the word 'Warning' flashing on the screen. Startled as she awoke, Shion sat up with wide eyes. Turning to her console, she saw KOS-MOS's boot up sequence beginning. Frantically, she snatched the console and began to tap on the small keys in attempt to shut down the system.
The word 'Error' appeared in bold and flashed on her screen.
"What?" she gasped. No one except for her was able to activate KOS-MOS. Only her terminal had the ability to activate the KOS-MOS mainframe. It was made as a safety precaution should a certain incident happen again.
No one was able to activate the mainframe. No one.
Leaping out of her bed, she snatched her jacket and thrust her arms through the sleeves as she turned to the room's terminal. Punching in the deactivation code was useless as it had been for her own console. Her eyes widened as she realized how familiar this situation was.
"Not again. Oh, please, not again…" Shion pleaded aloud. She ran for the door as it breathed open and closed. Exiting into the hall, she turned to the left only to see the emergency doors lock closed in her face. Wrinkling her brow to think, she paused to regain her shaken composure.
"Could someone have activated KOS-MOS?" she asked herself. Shaking her head, she continued. "No, that's impossible! Only I can activate her using my terminal … That was the failsafe we integrated…" Sighing with frustration and fear, an old and unwanted memory came to her.
There was blood everywhere, blood of her colleagues and friends. She knelt next to a man she had known quite well, his body was limp as death claimed him. Pressing his hand to her cheek, tears plagued her eyes as she watched her beloved exhale for the last time.
Beside the bodies that lay scattered about, an android with flesh colored metal-wear and grey flows of hair stood nearly completely still as if taking a photograph of the horrific scene. Her head turned to Shion, her body still and quiet. She had been the only employee unharmed.
Shion was snapped back to reality when her terminal in her hand buzzed to claim her attention. She glared down at the screen which now had thick red numbers counting down—Wait, counting down?
"What?" Shion gaped as her glare widened into a completely amazed and frightened stare. A new alarm began to sound throughout the ship and she groaned. "Oh, what is it now?"
The Woglinde, Analysis and Scientific Labs, Vector Industries
"What is it now?" the captain shouted.
"We're detecting a large special distortion ahead of us! An enormous mass is gating out of hyperspace!" the orange haired man reported.
"That's impossible! We're still outside the column area!" the dark haired captain exclaimed.
"The U.M.N geodesic structure is being breached!" the young man cut off the captain before he could make any further comment.
"The target … it appears to be interacting with the U.M.N somehow!" a woman with red hair announced frantically.
The captain was nearly beside himself.
"It's being hacked? That's possible?" the captain shouted, the situation overcoming him and his crew with each passing moment.
"Massive gravity fluctuations! Surface anomalies forming in space-time!" she continued quickly.
"Impossible! That defies all laws for physics!" a man's voice exclaimed in disbelief.
"Computing mass—The numbers are completely inconsistent! I can't get a clear reading!" a woman announced. "Whatever it is, it's huge!"
The orange haired man watched the graph on his terminal screen as the wavelengths' crest increased rapidly and grew to an unbelievable height.
"What the hell? The amplitude is like a tidal wave!" he shouted. "The readings are increasing! It's entering normal space!"
"Captain!" he and the red haired woman screamed in unison. What little matter there was before the ship began to defuse and spread out in waves and ripples. Each member of the crew was side eyed as they watched what would be their doom.
"Straight ahead! There it is!" the man exclaimed, pointing to the bow of the ship.
The captain stared wide eyed for a moment before grasping the anomaly occurring before him.
"Gnosis!" he concluded.
The Woglinde, Analysis and Scientific Labs, Vector Industries
"Damn it!" Allen exclaimed at a loss of words.
"KOS-MOS is starting up in Auto-Mode! Countdown has initiated!" the black haired man shouted, earning gasps and squeals from his colleagues. Allen was one of the few that took that in without the aid of a gasp or a squeal.
Something was terribly wrong here…
"That's impossible! We disabled that after the incident!" he returned. The man merely shook his head in disbelief. "Only the Chief has the authority and the ability to do that … Unless … could it be reacting to … the Gnosis? Where's the Chief?" he demanded as he realized all of his co-worker's eyes were upon him.
"She should be on her way up here!" the blonde woman replied over the alarm. She cursed when she failed to reach the Chief over her phone. "The U.N.P lines are congested! I can't reach her!"
Great. Jammed communication lines. Just what they all needed at a time like this. Allen cursed violently under his breath.
"What about the emergency line?" he suggested.
"We're trying it now!" the dark haired man said. All employees were silent as they waited to see if the call would make it through or not.
A cheery and wordless song rang out about the room and all eyes fell on Shion's chair. There, mingled in a pile of her other belongings, was a cell phone shaped like a bunny and white. It buzzed as its cheery tone continued.
"Oh, great…" Allen sighed as he rested his head in his hand. So much for the emergency line…
The alarm was abruptly cut off and all fell dark and silent. The Vector employees gazed around the now black room with suspicion and confusion.
"What happened?" Allen asked no one in particular. He held his hand in front of his face, barely able to make out the shape.
"I don't know! The power just suddenly—" the man's voice was cut off by a small shock of electricity that came from KOS-MOS's module where she was kept. The locks on the front of the module were all unlocked simultaneously and a bright light blue glow came from the inside. As the top lifted, KOS-MOS's body was revealed in that glowing light. All of the people present let out confused gasps and began to back away from the module, frightened by their own memories.
A black gloved hand reached for the side of the module and gripped it. She pushed herself upright and slowly climbed out of the bright module. No one dared to speak a word or grunt a sound.
The visor over KOS-MOS's eyes lifted, revealing her closed eyes and emotionless face. Slowly her eyes opened, revealing stunning yet frightening crimson orbs that seemed to shine on their own amongst the blue around her. She began towards Allen, her steps slow and measured. Fear in his eyes, Allen stayed where he was, unable to move.
Was this the end?
The Elsa, Cabin 1
NINA awoke with a sharp intake of breath as jolted upright, her head narrowly missing the bottom of the bunk above her. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she let her heart slow and her mind calm.
What was that feeling? That feeling of terror, excitement, and rage … What was it? A new feeling was mixed in with those emotions … a feeling that she had never felt before. It was of another presence, and an interesting one at that.
Remembrance of the man that kept watch over her came to her. Glancing around the space she was in, she didn't find him. Ignoring her small headache and slightly stinging body, she swung her legs gently over the side of the bed, her feet meeting the off-white floor. Ducking her head so her head wouldn't collide with the top bunk, she used her hands to push off of the hard mattress and stand.
She took a few wobbly steps into the vast space of the cabin. The carpeting in the main area was a soft red and there were many more cubicles with two bunk beds in each. Spotting a door on either side of her, she chose the door to her right. Making her way over, the door whispered and slid open and closed behind her.
What seemed to be muffled mumbling reached NINA's ears. It was coming directly ahead of her, but not from the second cabin before her. Careful not to disturb anything she came across, she walked quietly towards the source of the sound. Around the cabin and across a small intersection, she noted the word 'Bridge' painted on the floor. She looked up at the door that supposedly lead to the bridge. As she approached the door, the voices grew audible.
"I don't know … she seems like trouble to me." a harsh and deep male voice trailed.
"Aw, c'mon, Captain." another male voice piped up in a tenor tone. "She seems fine to me."
"Oh, yeah. She's fine, alright." a baritone voice joined in with a chuckle. Both of the man's comrades sighed.
"Knock it off, Tony." the harsh voice more asked than ordered. "I still say she's trouble. Even if chaos argues differently, I still say we shouldn't have brought her in. What if she's in deep with the Feds?"
"You worry too much, Captain." the tenor voice warned lightly.
NINA too a small step towards the door and it hissed open, causing her to jump. When all she saw was a short hallway and a blue door at the end, she decided to venture forth. It was time to find out who she was dealing with on this ship…
The blue door lightly breathed open and she found herself staring at the cockpit. The three men were all at their stations doing what they were assigned to do. No one had heard her come in.
"Still … chaos seems to be in a better mood now that's she's here." the helmsman further up front called back over his shoulder. "Don't get me wrong, he's always optimistic. But now he seems to be even more so."
"Yeah, I'll agree with you there." the man with a tenor voice replied. NINA took a step forward and the door closed behind her with a muted thud. All three men turned their gazes to her and she felt her gut tie up in a knot.
She shouldn't be here…
"Oh … you're awake." the harsh voiced man said as he lowered his raised seat. Once it was lowered, he took a few strides towards her. She recoiled slightly, yet was ready for immediate battle. Who knew what these men would try?
"Are you feeling better?" he inquired just loud enough for his crew to hear.
"Y-Yes. Thank you." she replied strongly despite her stuttering. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."
"Nah, you're fine. Nothing eventful happens in this hunk of junk anyway." the man grumbled. NINA found a relieved smile grace her lips. She heard the door behind her open a close and she turned quickly to face the door.
"Oh, good! You're fully awake!" a soft voice said with a smile. NINA weakly smiled back at the man who had comforted and kept watch over her. He made his way to her and stopped at her side.
"There you are!" the older man exclaimed. "I was wondering where you had gone to."
"I was just checking out the catapult deck. It was having problems again." he replied. He spared a glance towards NINA and his memory kicked in. "That's right! Everyone, this is NINA."
The helmsman and the man who seemed to be the navigator waved a hello.
"NINA, this is Captain Matthews." the man said, gesturing towards the older man before them. The Captain nodded his head in greeting.
"That's Hammer, our navigator." the silver aired man continued. Hammer waved with a strong smile. "And Tony's our helmsman." The man named Tony had risen from his seat after putting the ship to a stop and had started towards them. He halted before NINA and took her hand.
"A pleasure to meet you, NINA." he greeted seductively. NINA found her cheeks turning a rosy color. He released her hand and winked as chaos continued.
"You already know my name, right?" he confirmed as she turned to him. She pulled his name out from the top of her head.
"Yes. You're chaos." she nodded. His eyes seemed to light up as she recalled his name. He turned to face her with a smile.
"We haven't been properly introduced, however." he said, holding out his hand. "I'm chaos."
NINA's smile strengthened and she hesitantly grasped his hand.
"I'm NINA." she replied. Out of the corner of his eye, chaos could see Tony's flustered stare as he folded his arms. It was typical of him. If anyone were to get the best of his cleverness with women he would pout for a time before finally letting it go...
Did Tony just admit defeat over a woman?
Another late chapter … I'm terribly sorry! It was my fault this time! I guess I got a little lazy here … and I had a bit of a writer's block of how to begin this chapter.
I'm not entirely happy, nor entirely disappointed with this chapter. I wished I could have ended it a little more suspenseful, but considering that last scene on the Elsa, it would be pretty difficult. The next chapter will make a better impression, I'm hoping.
Well! I'll finish chapters 8 and 9 and I'll take a break for a day or two! The reason why I'm posting two chapters on Friday is to apologize for the recent chapters. They were late and I'm disappointed with myself! You can deal with a "double date," can't you? I thought you could…
Reviews are appreciated!
The Next Chapters Will Be Published Friday (June 30, 2006)