The Will to Power
June 10, 2006
by: Silver Nightingale
---
Upon the length of his career in Vector Industries First R&D Division, Assistant Chief Engineer Allen Ridgely had never encountered close calls regarding Encephalon dive activities. Such accidents were highly uncommon and were only mainly caused by either mechanical malfunction, which was very rare, or human error, which could be quite easily avoided. Although, once he was assigned under the command of Shion Uzuki, he began to notice that the latter ground's probability sharply soared up. Today's fiasco proved just that.
"Chief!" Allen exclaimed as he dashed to Shion's side as soon as he regained his consciousness in the physical world. His vision scope had been carelessly discarded on his way to the VR-2000.
Shion looked around in a daze after the virtual reality visor was released from her eyes. She gave no response.
"Are you... all right?" Allen questioned, determined to get some sort of reaction from her.
Finally, Shion recovered. "Yeah... thanks." She then gave him a sheepish smile, "Did I push my luck a little too much this time?"
Allen collapsed to his knees, overwhelmed by the huge wave of relief that washed over him. He had feared the worst. He thought that Shion's prolonged stay inside the Encephalon had inflicted some sort of damage.
"Allen?"
"You can't... keep doing this, Chief." Allen panted. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack."
Shion crouched to his side, "Sorry about that... But I bet the data's really good." She tilted her head, "Besides..." The image of the little girl flashed through her mind as she trailed off.
"Was there something else?" Allen's concerned voice brought Shion out of her reverie.
"Hmm?" Shion blinked. "Oh... it's nothing." She took that moment to stand up, "Well, we better get started on that data. Today's our deadline, so I'm sure they'll be asking for it soon."
Allen opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted when a series of melodic notes chimed, which indicated an announcement was underway, within their workspace and, no doubt, throughout the ship.
Attention, please. We are scheduled to gate out in approximately 3 minutes. All hands, please return to your designated areas immediately. Once again... Attention, please. We are scheduled to gate out...
Up in the central part of the upper section of the Woglinde, the Federation Marine Corps. navigators were busily overseeing the gate jump.
"All ships, gate-out complete."
"Shifting main engine to stealth mode."
"Maintaining current speed until sector withdrawal."
"Exit from current space set at absolute time 1300 on the 22nd. Seven hours, 16 minutes and 30 seconds to withdrawal."
"Next UMN column in seven hours, 36 minutes."
"All gate jumps from other sectors will remain offline until then."
Forty-year-old Captain Moriyama relaxed on his seat in the bridge. "So, we're almost home..."
"Yes, Sir." Commander Andrew Cherenkov, second in command of the battle cruiser Woglinde, confirmed. He stood in a straight albeit slightly rigid posture just next to the Captain. His short sand-colored haired was immaculately combed and both his hands were positioned and clasped behind his back. One look at this man and people knew that he has been forged with undisputable discipline. Even the aura he possessed commanded higher authority than even the Captain himself. "Our final gate jump is at the next column. We're almost there."
A female navigator offered a cheery smile, "We made it this far; we'll be fine! The odds of contact between columns is statistically low... Besides, this asteroid field we're in is perfect for hiding the fleet from them."
"Hmp. So Pollyanna thinks those asteroids are going to protect us," Commander Cherenkov retorted.
"I...I'm sorry, Sir." Shamed, the navigator bowed her head and went back to work on her console.
"A bit testy today," Captain Moriyama noted, his tone gentle, "aren't we Commander?" He then turned to the man's direction, "Is something wrong?"
"No... Of course not..." Cherenkov refuted in a curt manner.
"Ever since we picked up that object ten days ago, everyone's been a bit jumpy. And we still have a ways to go before we hit comm-space..." The bridge's Lieutenant stated. "I can empathize with the Commander."
"Hm..." Cherenkov murmured to himself.
One of the Woglinde employees hesitantly spoke, "Uh... Captain... Can you... uh, debrief us on the current situation? Our original orders from the Galaxy Federation were to investigate the vanished planet and assist the researchers, but ever since we picked up the object, it feels like... everything's changed." His brows furrowed in confusion, "What exactly is that thing anyway?"
"Who knows? I haven't heard a thing from the research team," Moriyama truthfully answered. "But as I mentioned before, apparently they're after the object, too..." He paused, "That's unofficial info, of course."
"What about the rumor regarding the casualties during the retrieval process..?" The female navigator wondered out loud, unable to keep her curiosity.
"Even if it were true, that's none of our business." The captain replied good-naturedly. "The research team has their own orders to deal with. The only explicit instructions we've received state...that should any salvageable objects exist in the area, their retrieval takes top priority."
"Top priority? What does that mean?" An employee questioned.
"What it means is," Commander Cherenkov responded as one of his hands closed to a fist over his heart, "over our very lives."
Everyone, with the exception of the two head figures, looked amongst themselves in bewilderment.
"Now, now, no need to scare them." Captain Moriyama spoke in a calming voice. "Those orders merely reflect the importance of this operation to the Galaxy Federation government, that's all. Just stay sharp and be careful."
The Lieutenant beamed, "That makes sense, Sir. The entire fleet was renovated for this mission. Besides, if there's an emergency, we've got the trump card to fall back on."
"Aah, yes, speaking of which... What's the latest on that situation?"
"They're scheduled to turn in the A-7 reports today."
"A-7, eh... Only one step away from fully operational. It's about time, I suppose..." Moriyama leaned forward in his seat, "Lieutenant, please ask Chief Uzuki to come to the bridge once her data's ready. Ask her to bring all the previous data as well."
"Yes, Sir." With a nod, she exited the bridge and proceeded as instructed.
"What trump card?" One of the employees marveled as soon as the Lieutenant had left. He then swiveled his seat to face a nearby male navigator, "Was he referring to that battle android?"
"That's right," the navigator answered. "You didn't know?"
The employee's expression turned into that of incredulity, "Wow, so it's true..."
"Hey," the cheery lady navigator from before suddenly piped in, "I heard that project's really behind schedule."
"You can't blame 'em," her co-worker grimaced. "There were casualties during their last boot up test two years ago. They're being more careful this time."
"It's hard to believe that they're making an android in this day and age," the employee who initiated the conversation remarked. "Only place I've ever seen them is in old space novels."
The male navigator shrugged, "Well, trump card or not, it's still an experiment. And it ain't like one android's gonna make that much of a difference. The whole project's just a chance for those Vector guys to show off. Someone's outdated hobby, that's all."
"I hear that even their commercial models differ greatly between those that've seen action and those that haven't," the female navigator recalled.
"They say ignorance is bliss..." Commander Cherenkov's voice imposed as he squarely eyed them all, "looks like they were right."
The startled woman returned his gaze, "Commander!"
"I'm just envious, that's all." With that, Cherenkov had ended his subordinates' conversation.
Back in Vector Industries First R&D Division's makeshift laboratory, Chief Engineer Shion Uzuki was just finishing a conversation with the Woglinde's Lieutenant via the communication monitor.
"...Sure. I'll be there in 30 minutes." The holographic screen dissipated as Shion turned the machine off.
"They certainly didn't waste any time," Allen, who stood just behind her, noted.
Shion tapped her head with a smile, "See? I'm usually right about these things."
One of her subordinates approached and handed her a number of records, "Here's the data you requested. Will that be all?"
"Thanks," Shion nodded as she began to scan through it. "This should be good enough. I'll take care of the rest."
"Chief..." a researcher tentatively advanced towards her. "Do you have a second?"
"Yes?"
"The military is expecting actual field data for KOS-MOS. Is it right for us to keep giving them simulated data like this?"
Shion was taken aback, "Well... I must admit, you got me there." Her sight wandered off to KOS-MOS' maintenance bed, "But honestly, if it were up to me, I'd keep her here... safe in her dream world forever."
"But why are you so afraid to put her to real work, when you push her so hard in the simulations? I can't wait to see KOS-MOS up and completely functional." The researcher seemed sullen, "Couldn't you at least try taking her up to Phase 3? That should be no problem for her by now."
Allen intervened by giving a friendly hit on the researcher's posterior, "Phase 3 in a simulated battle config? Come on. We're not about to wake our little princess for that." He gave Shion another set of records once the researcher took his leave. "Here's a summary of KOS-MOS's main equipment from the Second Division. This should help you with the guys upstairs."
Shion gratefully received the files, "Thanks. I'm sure it will." She then made her way to the exit. "All right, see you later!" The engineer waved as the door parted for her.
"Okay, good luck!" Allen waved back as Shion's figure disappeared behind the closing door. His blue eyes looked wistful as he slowly brought his hand back to his side. After a short while of silence, he cleared his throat. "Well! Back to work!" Allen began to walk back to his station, not noticing the mischievous expressions and suppressed giggles that went on around him.
"She's really got you trained, hasn't she, sir." Togashi, one of Allen's more jovial younger colleagues, commented.
"What? Trained? What do you mean?" Allen sputtered. "Hey," he complained after seeing Togashi's smirk, "what are you smiling at!" He frowned, "Hurry up and get back to work!"
"I'm on it." Togashi complied. "See how he always changes the subject..." he whispered to a co-worker closest to him, Basil.
"What was that, Togashi!" Allen demanded as he stopped by behind the two.
"Nothing at all, sir. You're just hearing things!" Togashi promptly supplied.
Allen patted Togashi on the back a little harder than necessary and, with a stern expression, passed on. "I swear..." he muttered to himself. His steps were quickly halted as he came face-to-face with the group's researcher. "Hmm? What's up? Still not convinced?"
"Oh, no, it's not that. It's just..."
"I know what you feel, but you saw what happened just now. Even the Chief is cautious sometimes. Besides..." Allen trailed off as a sudden realization struck his mind. "Ohhh, that's right. You just transferred in a month ago, right? I guess you couldn't have known."
"You mean the accident from two years ago? I've heard about it, but I don't know any details."
"Oh, right..." Allen stopped short as his vision spotted the things scattered on Shion's work station chair. There laid a white bunny-shaped UMN phone, a vision scope, and something that should not have been there--KOS-MOS' data sheets. Allen's shoulders slumped, "Oh man, not again... Oh well."
"Perfect!" Togashi exclaimed. "Now the two of you can be alone. Why don't you ask her out while you're at it? We can handle the rest by ourselves."
"This is your big chance!" One of the girls couldn't resist to add.
Allen grumbled in aggravation, "I told you guys, it's not like that! For crying out loud..." He handed one of the unneeded data sheets to the researcher and made his way towards the exit. He paused, "A-anyway, I'd better get this to her."
"Good luck!"
"--Yeah!"
"Go Tiger!"
Allen nearly sighed in exasperation as the door hissed to closure after him. "...Geez, they just don't know when to quit... It's not like I don't want to... I just..." sadness crept in his tone, "cant..."
A fair distance away from the Assistant Chief Engineer, Shion's feet faltered as she heard loud odd noises in the block just ahead of her. Since there was no other way, she treaded on despite her better judgment.
Once inside the block marked as Hangar 1, Shion's sight was met by a huge golden monolith. It was positioned in the central region of the hangar and was being kept afloat by a number of blue rings that were being projected from revolving binding devices. Further down the hangar were stairs leading down a wider area where a big and strong-looking bald man, who wore a military uniform, stood. His face was painted with a bold purple X and was twisted in a permanent scowl. Situated before him were his men, all suited in orange uniforms matched with similarly-colored hats.
"You're slacking off!" He yelled ruthlessly to his men as he trained his cold gaze on one of them. "And you!" The high-ranking officer raised a muscled arm and punched that one in the gut. The 'slacker' moaned in pain and fell to his knees. No attention was spared to the pitiable man as the officer turned his glare to another poor soul, "And you!" The harsh sound of fist against unprotected flesh sliced through the air. "You're all a bunch of slackers!" The officer's voice, along with another series of punches and grunts, reverberated throughout the hangar. "Listen up!" the burly man snapped. "You lazy bums were the cause of that accident! You're not getting any time to confess your sins, though! Why not? 'Cause I'm not giving it to you! If you got time to be sorry, you got time to get your ass in gear! If you got time to think, you got time to get your fingers moving! Don't even start thinkin' you got a brain to think with! You're gonna become machines, and work like 'em, day and night!" He strode close to another one of his men and proceeded to knock that individual senseless, "You're all a bunch of slackers!"
Shion winced as she witnessed the amount of abuse the officer was inflicting, "Boy, I guess not every department's run is like ours." Her emerald eyes gleamed with nostalgia as a fond memory resurfaced.
It was raining then, creating a faint yet soothing rhythm that eased both her body and mind. Briefly, she tore her gaze from the holographic monitor in front of her as she allowed her sight to view the night sky. A tiny smile lit her face at the serene scene. Suddenly, a mechanical hiss broke through the silence and Shion, awoken from her thoughts, returned once more to her work.
"You're still here, huh?" the voice of her immediate superior, Kevin Winnicot, warmly noted. "Killing yourself over work won't get you very far."
"Oh... How are you?" Shion acknowledged. "I had to get this data done before morning, so I..." Her explanation trailed off as she turned to face the Chief Engineer. "Well, what are you doing here so late, Kevin? You'd better get some sleep. We've got an early morning ahead..."
"--Here," Kevin interrupted as he offered a cup of steaming coffee to her. "This is for you."
"Huh?" Shion was caught off guard. "Oh... thank you!" She accepted the cup and took a small sip of the bittersweet beverage.
"To tell you the truth, I haven't been able to sleep lately." Kevin conversed with a faraway look in his eyes. "Something's been on my mind."
"On your mind?" Shion gently pressed. She placed the cup down as Kevin motioned for her to come with him towards KOS-MOS' maintenance bed. Once they arrived, Shion sat back on the machine's surface and waited for her superior to continue.
"Tomorrow, she's finally going to wake up. I'm looking forward to seeing her come to life, but... I have no idea what to say to her when she wakes up. It's been bothering me..." Kevin gently shook his head, a few stray strands of his midnight locks fell from behind his ears. "I'm just being weird, huh?"
"Why don't you just say... 'Good morning, KOS-MOS'"?
"G...good morning?"
"Well, that's what you say to someone when they wake up, right?" Shion beamed up to him.
"Yeah... Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks. I think I can finally get some sleep now."
"Glad to help, sir." Shion said in a teasing manner as she stood and gave a little bow.
"You should get some rest, too."
"All right."
"Well, good night."
"Good night..."
The memory receded yet Shion's eyes were still distant. "Yeah...Everybody's so eager to see her..." She turned her sight to the golden monolith and stared ahead in contemplation.
Out of the blue, a shrill tone chimed. Shion felt cold as her body was cocooned in a sensation that she could not quite place. Her whole world was then submerged into a dreary shade of black and white. A wave of uncertainty washed over her and, oddly enough, that was when she noticed that she was not where she previously had been. When at one second she was light-years away from natural solid ground, she was now standing in a grassy field of earth. Before her was the colossal monolith that she was staring at beforehand.
The shrill tone chimed once again and Shion's mind was pierced by a vision of a golden square cross with a dark purple gem at its center. It then vanished as quickly as it came and Shion found herself in the grassy field once again. Her eyes widened as she saw the girl that she had encountered in the Encephalon.
The girl began to speak but no sound escaped her lips. She turned to her back, advanced towards the monolith, and walked right through it.
After a moment of shock, Shion followed the girl's example and walked up to the huge item. She extended her hand and grazed her fingers on it. In response, it rippled. Gradually, everything turned back to normal.
"Look out!"
At the sound of the alarmed shout, Shion blinked back her daze. She managed to avoid being hit by one of the revolving binding devices as a blast of wind made her step back. As a consequence, however, she lost her balance and fell to the floor.
"Watch it, you slacker!" The officer marched up to her and gave her a fierce look. "Only authorized personnel are allowed up here! I've had three people vanish on me already! Get the hell out of here! My men'll start slacking off if they see bimbos like you around!"
"I'm so sorry!" Shion hastily picked herself up and all but ran out of the hangar in embarrassment.
"Who's the idiot that let civilians on this ship!" The officer then spotted one of his men stare at the woman's retreating form. "What the hell are you staring at!" He punched the guy in the face and watched in disdain as he fell. Discontented, the officer picked up him up the ground and threw him an uppercut, which promptly caused him to fall back down. "Damn slacker!"