Enjoy.
I remember the first time I set foot outside the Facility. I was eleven at the time, and I had begun my first real mission. I had been issued my first power suit, an orange model similar to Mother's in every way but size. I had been clumsy at first, expecting it to feel different than normal, but found my movements to be just as concise and precise as they had been without it. The only thing I had trouble with after the first few minutes was handling the space jump feature, which required far more practice than I had available. My first mission was simple enough: I was to track down a man named Gead Vellsa, and if possible, bring him in for questioning. I wasn't told why, and when I asked Mother, she ignored the question. If she didn't think it was important enough to tell me, then it wasn't worth knowing, is what I thought at the time.
I found him, mere days after my search began. He had been in a bar on a luxury freighter, spending credits like they were water on drinks and women. The trail from his bank account had been ridiculously easy to follow, even a child without the training I had undergone would have been able to find him.
I entered the bar, power suit fully functioning and arm cannon ready to go at the first sign of resistance, although unbeknownst to me, it had been modified to fire only stun charges instead of a full power beam. I felt a bead of sweat appear on my forehead as a massive sad of flesh appeared immediately within the entrance. It was a bouncer, and I was eleven. He said he didn't want any trouble, but if I didn't leave the other guests would soon be inhaling my disassembled atoms. I complied, wishing to keep my atoms assembled as much as possible. As I was roughly escorted out, Gead noticed me, or rather, the Federation symbol on my right shoulder. I watched a bead of sweat roll down his face as his already wide eyes grew even wider. He turned quickly to the man on the other side of the bar, who I assumed was the bartender, and said something I couldn't hear, gesturing in my direction. The bartender laughed, nodded, and called out to the bouncer in a language I'd never heard before, and the bouncer responded in kind. He then picked me up and forcefully carried me over to where Gead and the bartender were. For the first time I realized that most of the bar was empty, with only one other person, a man in a dark coat and sunglasses sitting in a booth in the corner of the room, muttering quietly as he nervously checked his watch repeatedly. I turned my attentions back to Gead as I was gently placed on the barstool next to him.
He seemed less concerned than he had been moments before, as he began to ask me questions.
Who was I?
I don't have a name.
Where was I from?
The Facility.
Why was I here?
Mother sent me to find him.
Who was Mother?
Mother is Mother.
The questions went on for a few minutes, before he finally asked why I was looking for him. I told him that I didn't know. He just looked at me curiously, then pulled some credits from his pocket, set them on the bar in front of him, and stood to leave. He told me to take him to Mother, and as we left, I had a strange feeling, almost like apprehension. As we moved to the freighters docking bay where my ship laid in wait, he began to talk, quietly at first, then louder and faster until he reached a fervent pitch.
He talked for a while about a place called the Bottle Ship, and an experiment there to create an artificial intelligence to rival the once - great Mother Brain. He talked about a platoon of Federation soldiers who had been sent to this ship after a distress beacon had been activated, and they entered the ship to find all of its human inhabitants dead. He also spoke of a woman who had appeared shortly after, one who had faced many trials to stop the AI, who had gone rogue and killed most of the people aboard the ship. After the dust had settled, only one member of the original platoon returned alive, and a new group of Federation scientists had taken up residence planned to take up residence in the Bottle Ship, only to find it destroyed under mysterious circumstances shortly before they arrived. Finally, he told me about the soldier who had survived, and how the soldier had managed to get his hands on some very sensitive data before the ship was lost, data that could change everything. Data that now resided in only one place in the entire universe.
The mind of Gead Vellsa.
It was then that we arrived at my ship. He looked at me, not moving for a moment. Then he did something funny. He smiled, and said that I looked just like her. I asked who 'her' was, but he just ignored me and shouldered past me to enter my ship. I followed closely behind, and that's when it happened. As he walked over the thin bridge that extended out to meet my ship, he stopped. I came to a halt beside him.
He said something I couldn't quite hear.
I asked what he had said.
He turned around to face me, then said that the data must never be found by her. He smiled sadly one last time, and then propelled his body off of the side of the bridge, where he fell for hundreds of feet before slamming violently into the floor below. As I watched confused workers on the ground floor scurry about his misshapen corpse, wondering what those last words meant. I also dreaded having to tell Mother of my failure. I felt no sympathy for Gead, only remorse for not stopping him. As a pool of blood emenated from his dead body, I entered my ship, heading back to the Facility once again.
When I came to this time, the lights were on. I could just make out Sal off to my left, but I couldn't see what she was doing. I moaned quietly, and she turned toward me.
"Awake already? Well, to be honest, I expected that." She smiled. "How are you feeling?"
I tried to speak, but my mouth was almost totally dry, and I had trouble forming the words I needed. Seeing my distress, she turned back to the table in front of her, grabbed a cup of some liquid, and turned back to me, offering it. I reached for it, and she gingerly pressed it into my hands. I leaned up slowly, waiting for the sharp pain I had felt from my previous attempts. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached a sitting position without any pain, and pressing the cup against my lips, drank for the first time in what had probably been days. Whatever it was, the liquid inside the cup tasted sweet, with just a hint of a bitter aftertaste, and my speech soon returned to me.
"I'm fine now." I managed, still taking sips of the drink.
"Good, good. We can't have our important guest out for much longer." A male voice came from the other side of the room, and I turned to look. The scientist from before was leaning against the wall. Now that I finally had a chance to get a good look at him, I noticed a few things right off. First, his age. He was incredibly young, perhaps barely older than me. Second, his hair. It was a dull red, and it seemed to have a mind of its own as it sprung out at odd angles. The last thing I noticed was his eyes. They were a deep red, with black slits where his pupils should be. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. But don't worry, I intend to answer all of them, to the best of my abilities."
I sat, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, I spoke. "Why are your eyes like that? You seem human, everywhere except your eyes."
He grinned. "I have my father's eyes. You may have heard of him. His name is Ridley."
Exciting. Next chap should be up soonish. As always, I love you for reading this, the support is amazing. Tell me if you think I'm stupid, and I'll try to improve.
CM out.