Um... yeah. I actually have nothing witty to say.
By the way... Felicie "Fern" Beaufurt belongs to FernClaw. I just really German-vamped Fern's name...
Thanks for the reviews Hordak's Pupil, FernClaw, Invader Johnny, MutantLover09, Plushiemon, Chargefire, Jag Lady, lily moonlight, Miriam1, princess moon shadow, Cantdecideonaname, bloodmoon13, TPcrazy, Grumbles
3. Breaking Through
1940. Berlin, Germany.
"Impossible!" the woman spluttered in English, glaring at the officer that stood right in front of her, military style. "How could this be? They are discovering things much sooner before we are, and yet we have the most advanced technology on the planet!" She stood there, fuming and glancing down at her watch. "And why in the name of heaven is he still up? It's two in the morning there!"
The officer winced. "Fräulein, if I might be so bold as to speak... the American government has been funding the Guys In White for many months now to locate the legendary city. I'm not sure what exactly they have found out about it yet, but I do understand that Flamme is undercover as we speak. He called me a few hours ago and told me about the progress they were making." He shrugged his shoulders in worry and nervously tapped his foot. "What are you suggesting we do with the test subject?
Felicie Beaufurt, or 'Fern', shook her head and gestured to the lab in which a human figure floated behind a wall of glass. "The Guys In White might indeed have all the smartest people in the earth who are wonderful at textbooks, but right now... textbooks are the last thing we need. I want more intel about the true spirit inside that monstrosity of a weapon. Get my men working on it immediately." She turned to the window and gave a very rare smile, nodding and glancing over at the radio. A few strands of her brown hair fell in her eyes, and she impatiently shook it away, scanning the horizon with sky blue eyes. "Our moment of triumph approaches," she whispered to no one in particular.
Fern had been recruited to be a Nazi soldier out on the field in 1939 when the war first started. Because of her brains and her lack of muscle, though, her recruiter had called her out of the battlefield and asked her to be a scientist in the lab trying to create new weapons for the Axis Powers. It soon became clear that her skills were unmatched when solving mathematical equations, and it was there in the room she stood in where she got a promotion merely a year later to become the head of the science department in Berlin. And now, here she stood, seemingly tasting victory on her lips.
There was a knock at the door, and she turned around, sighing and muttering about how "a Nazi's work is never done." Fern straightened herself up and called out, "Eingegangen."
A scientist walked into the room, holding out a clipboard and trying to keep a straight face. "We are on schedule, ma'am. Our data indicates that we should be able to get in contact with the creature in merely a few days!" He looked hopefully at her, hoping to hear just a word of praise from this woman of nearly no emotion.
For the first time in days, Fern gave a slight crack of a smile. "Is that right?" She thrust her hand out and glanced down at the clipboard, muttering to herself in German and tracing her finger across the page. There were a couple of nods, a scowl or two, and... was that a German swear that softly escaped her lips? For a woman of high class, the scientist thought for certain that she would not utter a curse word ever. At least, not within his hearing. Finally, Fern handed back the clipboard and furrowed her brow in thought. "Tell me- when will the subject be prepared for the battle field?"
"W-what?"
"You heard me!" she snapped, her impatient demeanor returning. "When will the being be ready to take to the thick of the battle?"
Johannes Fenton, a native of Britain- having moved to Germany a few years after the first world war- hurriedly looked at the calendar in the back and made some quick mental calculations in his head. "Um... I'd say in perhaps five days, Fräulein. If that is acceptable with you."
Fern snorted in disgust. "Make it a shorter amount of time, if you can."
Johannes nodded and bowed slightly, exiting the room and walking quickly down to the lab. It was either die saving his family, or work for the Nazis in the end. With John Fenton, his brother, in the states and his wife bearing a son, he knew he couldn't take his chances. He surrendered himself over to the Nazis when they invaded their house looking for any signs of Jews, and this allowed them to be free to go to the States. He pulled out a picture of his brother and swallowed. "I hope you are having more luck than I am right now, John," he murmured before walking down the steps.
"Operative M?"
O yawned as he struggled to stay awake at 2:00 AM, K holding a tasteless cup of coffee in his hand. The duo had been going back and forth between the textbooks and the screen that held precious data about the new ghostly device that could aid in finding what they had been searching for. Now, as they stood there watching M type in more seemingly useless data off a spreadsheet, they watched in anxious eagerness to see what they could get off of the wall the ghost probe had run into. K finished his drink and crushed the styrofoam cup in his grip. "Anything?"
M shook himself slightly and nodded, pointing at the screen and forcing back a yawn himself. "This wall right here: I've been doing a bit of digging on it for these last twelve hours- with little food and water, mind you- and I've found out some strange qualities about it." He pulled up another window and gestured to the wall. "Really, really interesting stuff going on here. It turns out that in order for it to show us where the real door is, it needs an ectoplasmic signature to be opened."
K furrowed his brow. "Any specific signature, or can we just go capture a ghost and use it on this wall?"
"No, it has to be a very specific ghost's signature. Unfortunately, I do not have that exact signature yet." M looked slightly crestfallen for a moment before brightening again. "Although, judging by the fact that we have millions upon millions of ghosts' data in our computers, I'm pretty sure we can find one by tomorrow."
O stretched, shaking his head. "Well, I'm not going to be waiting for that hour right now. I need some shut-eye. You coming up, K?"
His ally gave him a short nod. "In a minute. I just want to give something to M for his work."
Shrugging, Operative O waved a good night to the other two men before walking out of the room and shutting the electronic door behind him. Operative K crossed his arms and pointed to the screen. "You think you'll be able to get all the computers on this data search overnight?"
M typed in a general email to the other agents about the slowdown of computers for the next couple of hours. His fingers moved quickly on the keyboard as he logged into the system database and submitted the ectoplasmic signature they were searching for. Eventually, the search doubled, tripled, quadrupled over all the computers in the building. K gave an approved glance at the younger agent and raised an eyebrow. "Why did they put you on guard duty again?"
"I'm not sure, sir. Hey, you said something about-"
K waved his hand. "I know, I know. Tomorrow, you'll get the day off unless you are specifically called in for duty. Go do something nice for yourself, like hang around the spa area and grab a massage. But keep your cell phone on you."
M's face lit up as if Christmas had come early. He nodded vigorously and hurried out of the room, mumbling a good night to Operative K and shutting the door.
The older man frowned thoughtfully. How was it that this new kid was stuck here on security duty and he wasn't helping them in the science and research department?
"Good morning, students!" Mr. Ross greeted his second block history class cheerfully.
A dull "good morning" was the response, and Danny couldn't help but feel queasy that his teacher could have been so happy that morning. It was rainy, and already, the thunderclouds were rolling into the city. As the minutes ticked by to the next period, it seemed like it was going to be yet another boring day in History for the twenty-six students in the room with the 'new' teacher. The students had out their textbooks, and their pens were poised to write anything and everything he had to say for fear of it being on the final exam. Sam yawned slightly. "What's today's lesson on, sir?" she asked.
Ross gave her a knowing smile and turned to the board, writing with an erasable marker with zealousness. "I have to say, I'm excited about this lesson, and I hope a great many of you are, too. Today's subject is on the legendary City of Phantoms, a place in the ghost zone that is thought to be the home of a long-lost ghost civilization." A collective murmur arose in the group, and Ross held up his hand for silence, looking much more serious. "I know it seems like a stupid thing to speak of today, and you must all be beyond confused about why we are learning this. However, I have my reasons."
Tucker cocked his head in a curious manner. "Why today- I mean, during the World War II era?"
"Excellent question, Mr. Foley." Ross turned to the board and began to scribble notes furiously, using a professor tone of voice and already getting the eyelids of half the class to droop. "In the time of Nazis and warfare and other such disturbing instances such as the Holocaust..." Here, Sam closed her eyes. "...the infamous group of government aided paranormal scientists- or the Guys In White, depending on your look of things- began a long and rigorous search for a city of ghosts that was a safe haven to those during the time of the apparent ghost king, Pariah Dark. They had the latest technology in discovering various locations and other possible points of interest in the ghost zone, but they didn't necessarily have the best technology."
Sam scratched her neck and gave Tucker a smirk, whose jaw had practically hit the desk.
"Meanwhile, the Nazis had some of the most brilliant minds in the world. Some of them would have rathe been working for the United States, but they could not, for fear they would be killed trying to escape. They had a great many pieces of equipment that could allow the to reach the darkest depths of the Ghost Zone, but sometimes... they didn't work out as planned. And hence, they had to go back to researching more things about what they were searching for- the City of Phantoms." Ross turned to the class. "Both the Allies and the Axis Powers had the same goal, but they had different ways of achieving it."
The Goth girl looked at her other friend and blinked. Danny looked... he looked attentive for once. Whether it was for the reason of his paper and getting more information or just listening to his teacher actually speak about ghosts in class, Sam couldn't place her finger on it. She looked at the ghost hero awkwardly. "Um, Danny?"
He glanced at her and looked down at all the notes on his paper, shaking his head and frowning. "What? What is it?"
Ross' voice faded in the background for a moment as the duo looked at his supposed notes. Sam blinked. "Danny... what in the world is that?"
On his paper, a strange drawing of various lines and flames lined the margins. Danny shook his head in disbelief, looking down at his pen and other notes he had taken. "I don't... I don't know, Sam. I didn't see it until you showed me."
"Ms. Manson! Mr. Fenton!"
The duo looked up to see Ross' eyes staring through their skulls- or so it seemed.
"Is there something you would like to share with the class?"
Both of them shook their heads.
The teacher gave a satisfied grin and turned back to the board while Sam studied Danny's reaction to the drawing on the notes.
He looked... lost and confused, to say the least. How did it get onto his paper without him even noticing it until Sam pointed it out to him?
Eingegangen is German for "Enter."
Oh, please say that was long enough for you guys. I'm not even trying to be funny. PLEASE say it was good. Reviews are nice. Thanks for reading!