See? Not abandoned, just very slow updates.
Fear
Albert woke to the sounds of a very angry Chinese Cook yelling at someone- probably Jet, since G.B. wasn't around- to get out of the kitchen. A wry smile twisted his lips as he sat up.
:006, you do know that you broadcasted all that on our internal radio, right?: Albert kept his smile as Chang apologized to everyone, before (probably) resuming his original warpath against the American Cyborg. In a moment, 004 was dressed and heading down to the Dolphin's galley for breakfast.
"Zero-Four!" Jewel ran up to him. "Bweakfast Time!"
"Yes, that it is." Albert nodded, 003 was behind the girl, smiling a little apologetically. "003 was showing you around the Dolphin?"
"Uh-huh!" Jewel nodded, holding up her arms. "Up, Please!" 004 froze, unsure. He didn't want to hurt the little girl. "Please!" But somehow he couldn't say no to those eyes.
"Alright, but let me know if I hurt you, alright?" Now he knew how 005 must have felt, those first few times he was asked to hold something without breaking it. But Jewel didn't seem to care, wrapping her arms around his neck and beaming. "Any luck?" He asked, but 003 shook her head before he could elaborate.
"We've found the 'Big Company's' location. Demeter Enterprises has been helping farmers in the area for decades, with some medical research on the side- usually on improving the healthiness of consumable crops." 003 glanced at Jewel, who, now that she was being carried, had relaxed and gone quiet. "It's not a global company, while they have some buildings in Central and South America, but their primary focus has been small agricultural towns in Europe and only recently have they begun helping remote farms in African countries."
"How close is it?"
"We'll be there by tomorrow, Phantom requested one last look around the town before we left."
004 nodded, glancing down at Jewel. "How do you like the ship so far?"
"It's nice, Dreamer showed me around the dinning room, but she had to go take a nap, so Zerotree showed me everywhere else." Jewel paused, looking up at him. "I didn't know adults took naps, I thought only little kids had to. It's not even breakfast."
"Well, some adults do, some don't." 004 entered the dinning room, and blinked at the massive amount of food laid out.
"Zerotwo!" Jewel scrambled out of 004's arms and ran over to the red haired flier.
"What's with the food?" 008 had come up behind them, and look just as surprised as 004 felt.
"006's worried about 007, it's going to be four or five days since they went missing, depending on when Phantom returns." The Dolphin suddenly shuddered, and leaving Jewel with 006, the four of them ran to the cockpit.
"What happened?" 008 demanded of Jean Paul and 005, who were looking at all their screens, are we under attack?"
"Nothing." Jean Paul answered, looking up at 008 in confusion. "Nothing happened. I thought we got hit, but," Suddenly the screens started to flicker, and one even began to bleed. "Natalie!"
"But her powers were stabilized?!" 003 objected, worried for her friend.
"Only if Sophia's are, 001 said their abilities were far too tangled together to completely separate them." 005 noted, the only one not one the verge of panic as the cockpit began to warp around them. "They are more balanced, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of what they were as Hades operatives. Just, less inclined."
"The door isn't opening!" Jean Paul slammed his fist onto the door, and was completely shocked when 005 just pushed his hand through as if the door wasn't there. "An illusion?"
"You all need to calm down, her powers are fed by your fears, subconscious or conscious." 005 frowned as 003 whimpered, staring at something only she could see, 004 was on his knees, mouth moving in a silent apology, and 008 was shaking, begging someone not to be reckless. Turning his attention back to Jean Paul, he sighed as the young man began muttering the names of his sister, Natalie, and Renegade. "I'll go wake our dreamer."
005 hurried down the corridor to the room Natalie and 003 were sharing.
Natalie was thrashing in the bed, clearly in the throes of a nightmare, and whimpering.
"Natalie, wake up!" He grabbed her arm and gently shook her. "Wake up!" :001, wake up! Natalie is out of control!:
"Please, don't!" Natalie yelled, barely awake, before looking up at 005. "They're going to hurt Sophia!"
"Calm down, your powers are affecting the Dolphin." 005 frowned as Natalie shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, despite being flushed and sweating. "Are you sure? It might have been a dream."
"I don't know … I'm so scared …"
"You're sick." 005 realized. Due to his thick armored skin, it took a while for temperatures to register if he didn't focus on them. "I'll call Dr. Gilmore."
:005, is Natalie alright?: 003 asked, sounding shaken.
:She's sick. Are you back to normal?:
:Yes, we all are, but …: 003 paused. :Dr. Gilmore is ill.:
:Could you repeat that?: 005 glanced down at Natalie, who was shaking and looking at a ballet poster.
:He's sick. We were so busy thinking about 002, 004, Phantom and Jewel being infected, that we didn't consider that it might only affect humans.: 003 sounded upset. :Natalie only has minimal amount of cybernetics compared to the rest of us- even Ivan has more than her.:
:I see. I will take her to the infirmary, then. Is 001 alright?:
:He's fine, but still asleep, even when not affected by the 15 day cycle, he requires as much sleep as he can get to be useful to us.:
:002, get Phantom back on board.: 004 interrupted. :We're going to Demeter Enterprises now.:
:I'm already on it.: 002 snapped back.
Kilometers away, a young research assistant smiled at the results of her recent batch of wheat.
"Oh, it's rot-resistant?" The sudden voice at her shoulder made her jump. "Ah, my apologizes, Ms. Findor, I did not mean to startle you, I just wanted to see how your project was coming along."
Iruka 'Cynthia' Findor just smiled. "That's quite alright Dr. Carnor, and it's rot-resistant to only the weaker types of rots, I'm afraid, the stronger types are all too varied for me to get them all, without making the wheat toxic."
Dr. Carnor smiled down at her. "No start is too small, my dear, afterall, not all rots are universal either. These preliminaries are quite promising, I'm sure our Madame President will be pleased to see them."
"Thank you, sir … ah, I don't mean to be forward, but isn't the pharmaceutical lab a floor above this one?"
"That's not forward at all, yes, but I have a new project I'm setting up in the basement and I noticed you were here early." Dr. Carnor sighed, a little theatrically. "You'd think the elevator would go all the way to the basement, but no, I must walk down a hall to the stairs."
"A new project?" Cynthia blinked.
"Yes- is it Iruka or Cynthia?, calling you Ms. Findor is far too formal this early in the morning."
"Iruka was the name mom gave me, but Dad and I prefer Cynthia." Cynthia explained.
"Ah, You can call me James. Well, in answer to your question, Ms. Cynthia, yes, I'm starting a new project, I'm sure you heard about the town that was taken over by an epidemic that wiped out the populace? We've recovered some samples, and Madame Ceres is adamant the only experiments are done in the basement with a large amount of safety precautions in place. Meaning I have to set it up, and I am the only one allowed in or out of the basement." Dr. Carnor explained, practically pouting.
"Well, if you need any help, I'll be in this lab for the next few weeks. Dr. I mean, James."
"I'm glad to hear that. Your work is getting noticed by your superiors." Dr. Carnor smiled. "Keep up the good work, Cynthia."
Cynthia nodded, and turned back to her testing. With her hatred of weapons still strong, she had decided to study agriculture and was fascinated by the applied sciences of it. She had little interest in being a doctor, but she enjoyed this job, hoping to make someone's life a little easier.
It's July 23, 2014 … so that's what, 3 years or so since the last update?
On the upside, this story's muse has returned from her vacation, so I should be able to finish it in just a few more chapters. Ironically, the sequel is already written up.
Honestly, I like Iruka over Cynthia, however, it's just easier to use Cynthia right now.
Next chapter: Back with our captured duo, and perhaps the beginning of their rescue?