A New Dawn

Chapter 4: First Contact

"Time marches on, with or without use. Rarely, though, does one experience life from two different lifetimes…"

She was a tall woman, with the light build of a dancer, all slender limbs and a quick grace. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked at him, a slightly mischievous smile framing her creamy face. Light silvery armor hung over a burnished copper bodysuit; the whole outfit looked optimized for speed. A simple silver helmet swept back into a nest of short hair that started brown, but faded to black as it met the tips. She leaned on a long white rod, which to all appearances looked to be a staff or spear of some sort. The woman was not human, at least not fully; a pair of graceful, vulpine tails swept behind her, colored the same odd brown-black as her hair.

Leaping off her perch, the woman twisted in a graceful arch as she landed behind him. She slowly made her way around him, looking him over.

"I don't recognize you. When did they assign a Hunter to this dig site?"

Blues gave her a confused look. "What?"

She stopped in front of him and folded her arms. "You fight well… Like a Hunter. What unit are you with?"

Unfamiliar with the term, Blues continued undaunted. "Unit? I am no Hunter, if that is what you mean…?"

The woman cocked her head to the side, a wisp of hair falling across one eye. "But... if you've not-"

Blues pushed through her hesitation. "Who are you, anyway?"

Shaking her head, she stood upright and saluted loosely. "Pardon my rudeness. I'm Argent Fleur, Junior Hunter in the 11th Regulars, under Commander Tiger."

Now we are getting somewhere… He nodded, holding out his hand. "Call me Blues, as I already said. I must say, for a human, you are quick, Miss Argent."

She took the offered hand, shaking her head. Humph. Normally, the tails tip people off. "No, I am a Reploid, same as you. The 11th is a fully Reploid unit."

Blues blinked in surprise, slowly getting used to the almost constant feeling. She seemed as advanced as himself, if not more so. She looked so much like a human, albeit for her odd tails. He could not help but wonder if many more of the humans he had seen were actually these 'Reploids', and he just did not recognize them.

She waved to the surrounding area, which had recently been a battleground. "As I was saying, you fight quite well, if not a little stiffly. Having some trouble with your Hand Buster?"

Seeing her holding out her hand, Blues nodded and placed the gun into it. She looked it over carefully, checking down the barrel and over the grip. Handing it back to him, she whistled, shaking her head. "You must be incredibly brave or stupid; with the rigors you were putting that training gun under, it's no wonder the poor thing gave out."

Training gun? This thing is as powerful as my Buster Arm… Shaking his head, he simply shrugged. "There was no one else here at the time, Miss Argent."

She waved him off. "By the time I showed up, you seemed to have the big guy in hand. I was curious of what you could do, so I waited until it looked like you needed help."

"You were here the whole time? I could have used help a little sooner, you know…"

She shrugged. "As I said, you pretty good. It looked like you had him in check. And please, just call me Fleur."

"…Suit yourself. Where are you headed now?"

Fleur sighed. "Well, now that the Maverick is gone, I need to speak with the Site Director to see if anything else requires my help. Then..." Trailing off, she gave him one more hard look, and then shrugged again. "Well, you can help with that. Can you lead me to the Director quarters?"

"I really do not know my away around this place. Sorry." Blues shook his head.

She nodded. "New worker, eh? Well, let's go get looking around… You ever consider a job in the Maverick Hunters?"

With Fleur chatting merrily, they set off to go look around the camp. Blues could not help but to wonder what sort of rabbit hole he had fallen into.

A few minutes later, they had managed to find the center of the dig site's residential area. It was teeming with humans and Reploids, all shaking off the shock of having a Maverick appear in their midst. They cheered a little as the two came into view; they knew who had saved them. An older human male pushed his way out of the crowd, yelling at them to all get back to work. Apparently, he had been yelling at them for a while, as the gathering quickly drifted off. He stepped up to the two of them and introduced himself.

"Hello, there. You must be the Hunter that was dispatched our way. I am Victor, Director of Site Four." He held out his hand to Fleur, who shook it firmly.

"Argent Fleur, Junior Hunter in the 11th Regulars, under Commander Neon Tiger." She gave the Director a salute. "Between Blues here and myself, we were able to take down that Maverick pretty quickly. I must say, he's a rather good fighter for a worker. You run into much trouble in this area?"

Shaking his head, Victor turned to look at Blues, confusion written all over his face. "But… you're not a worker…" Pausing, the light of understanding came to the older man's face. "You are that Reploid that was just excavated, aren't you?"

Fleur looked startled, as she looked over her companion in a new light. "What? You?"

Blues looked at the two of them and simply shrugged. "I have to admit ignorance, here. I just woke up and tried to help…"

Fleur glanced at Victor and back at Blues, then smiled. "Well, this makes my job easier"

The Director gave her a look, then sighed in slight irritation. "I suppose Cain would want to see him immediately." He turned and waved them to follow him, talking back over his shoulder as her walked. "He always was rather impatient when it came to his work…"

Taking the hint, the other two followed. Blues looked over at Fleur, that lost feeling starting to come back to him again. "Fleur. What is going on?" he asked in a low voice.

"I would not worry about it, too much." She gave him a smile.

Glaring at her, Blues suddenly wished he had his visored helmet to hide his expression behind. Pausing to think over that thought, he shook his head and barreled on with his questions. He would have to save the self-evaluation for later; things were moving much too quickly for his tastes…

"Who is Cain, and why am I being taken to him?"

"Persistent, aren't you?" The female Reploid laughed a little, and then continued. "Doctor James Cain is the man who created the Reploids. A top robotic scientist, he found a, well, pre-Reploid named X in an abandoned laboratory..."

Blues frowned as she talked, the ghost of a memory drifting through his mind. The sounds of a man yelling and the smell of pulverized concrete…

"…So, now Doctor Cain is rather interested in anything that can be found in these dig sites. Obviously, this Doctor Light was incredibly skilled; maybe he knew some way to stop the Mavericks once and for all." Blues nodded along with her narration, only half paying attention.

Reaching the main tent, Victor pushed his way inside, gesturing them to follow. As they walked in, Blues stepped forward and grabbed the opening, holding it open for his companion. He waved her in.

With an indignant look, she stopped, opening her mouth to complain. Figuring this was going to happen, he glared at her. "Just go, Fleur."

Giving him hard look, she stalked inside. Looking around the camp a final time, Blues turned and ducked into the tent. Doctor Thomas Light…? How do I know his name?

Thanks for the reviews, folks. Do not worry; I have plenty more to come!

A tad bit of extra credit before class is dismissed, however. Does anyone know what Dr. Cain's first name is? I could use the help, if you folks know…

Questions? Comments? Concerns?