Hello everyone, while this isn't as soon as I'd hoped for, its still thankfully a lot sooner than my last release. I don't really have much to say this time so lets get going. First the regular review responses:
AceShadow: Since this is mainly gonna be another "answers" type chapter, you'll get a lot of explanations here regarding those questions. Glad to see your enjoying the direction the story is taking.
jtdarkman: This probably took longer than you expected, sorry about that, hopefully whats happens here will constitute a good enough cookie.
Jack Cross: Don't worry, Father gets his moment here, again sorry about the cliffhanger, I just couldn't find a good place to end it right there.
This time we have no newcomers to the story, so I can skip this part and get right into the chapter, lets go!
"History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time."- Anonymous
Ancient KND Tunnels: Beneath the Ruins of the Capital City
Father stood before them, the curtains of fire whirling around his immaculate black business suit lit up every corner of the ancient chamber. He glared at Nigel with a look of pure hatred and rage. He pointed at Nigel, his finger and indeed his entire arm shaking with from the barely contained fury that boiled within him. "YOU", he said again, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE GONE THROUGH TO FIND YOU!" Nigel was horrified by the sight of his oldest enemy and most hated relative, shocked he sputtered, "you... you've been down here this whole time!?" "I SCOURED THE EARTH FOR YOU", Father ignored him, "I SPENT MONTHS DOWN HERE ROAMING THESE EMPTY CAVES AND TUNNELS AND FOR WHAT! TO HAVE YOU JUST APPEAR IN FRONT OF ME!" Father let go of his control and the full force of his fury sent waves of white hot fire billowing out of his form, "I SACRIFICED EVERYTHING! MY LIFE! MY CHILDREN! MY EMPIRE! ALL TO FIND YOU!"
Nigel couldn't believe what he was hearing, "WHY...", he yelled back incredulously, "...did you waste all this time trying to find me?! Why am I so important to you?!" "YOU?! I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOU", yelled Father, "ALL I WANT IS WHAT YOU STOLE FROM ME!" Nigel stared at Father in disbelief, "you can't be... ARE YOU SERIOUS", Nigel exploded. "YOU THREW AWAY EVERYTHING AND WASTED NEARLY TWO YEARS SEARCHING FOR ME, JUST TO FIND A STUPID PIPE!" "FOOL", screamed Father, "IT'S NOT THE PIPE THATS IMPORTANT, IT'S WHATS IN IT! NOW HAND IT OVER!" "What...", Nigel wasn't following, "its his plans", said someone. Nigel looked over his shoulder, Schmitt had limped out of the corner and moved over to stand beside Nigel's group. "The pipe contains a hidden USB drive", the admiral went on, "he uses it to store all his top secret plans, designs and secrets."
"Who said that?", Father's eyes fixed on Schmitt, "you! How did you know that! I've never told anyone that secret! Wait..." Father took a second to study the admiral, "I recognize you! You're that little brat who crushed my armies at the beaches!" The admiral did a little mock bow, "guilty as charged, nice to see your keeping busy." Father's rage went up a notch and the clouds of flame began swirling violently around him. "My word!" Nigel looked back again, Monty had just stepped in the room and was staring at Father, "what is that?" Father stared at Monty, "you to?" Father laughed maniacally, "finally, fate has smiled on me! All my enemies here in one room, for me to DESTROY!" He conjured a massive fire ball from the storm swirling around him and flung it at the group. Nigel and the others dodged out of the way, but Schmitt held his ground.
Extending a hand, Schmitt halted the fireball in mid air and then, clenching his fist, dissipated it into a cloud of steam. Father's eyes widened, "impossible", his voice carried a hint of surprise. Then his eyes narrowed and he roared with anger, "IMPOSSIBLE! NO OUTSIDE OF MY FAMILY HAS EVER BE ABLE TO USE THOSE POWERS!" "Oh you'll find I'm full of surprises", said Schmitt nonchalantly, "but I'd really prefer not to do this right now, if you could just calm down for a minute, I'm sure we can settle this without fighting. "Thats ironic coming from him", whispered Hoagie to Wally, the two snickered. Schmitt shot them an angry glance and they both shut up.
Turning back to Father he asked, "how bout it then, I'm pretty sure your in no shape to fight either." Father snorted, "not this time kid, I'm done talking, now I TAKE MY REVENGE!" Father conjured a wall of fireballs and flung them en mass at Schmitt. Schmitt halted them in mid air like the last one and combined them into one big fireball, which he threw back at Father. The ball hit Father's firestorm and was absorbed back into the blaze, Father laughed madly, "you can't hurt me with my own powers!"
Schmitt grinned, "we'll see about that." Without moving, he thrust his fist forward in a punching motion, Father was blown backwards as an invisible force clouted him in the chest. He quickly regained his footing, but Schmitt was already on the offensive, swinging his fist back and forth. Father had no way to dodge the attacks and was smacked backwards by the heavy blows, he seemed to realize he was on the back foot now, but two could apparently play at that game as Father whipped his fist around and smote Schmitt across the chest with an invisible blow of his own. Schmitt reeled from the strike, enough for Father to regain his footing, he immediately began throwing volleys of fireballs at the admiral.
"YOU INSOLENT LITTLE BRAT", scream Father, as he intensified his attack. Schmitt was on the defensive now, dissipating and dodging fireballs as fast as he could, though the sheer volume of projectiles made it nearly impossible for him to avoid all of them. Father landed a few blows which scorched the admiral's already battered uniform and left burn marks on his skin. Nigel and his group weren't fairing much better, many of the fireballs were getting past Schmitt, forcing them to jump and dodge this way and that to avoid being crisped by the flaming projectiles. One of the projectiles hit Monty in the chest, throwing him against the back wall. He hit the concrete surface with a resounding thud and was out cold before he hit the ground. Nigel snatched a glimpse back at his father with concern, he looked ok, just knocked out, but there wasn't anytime to stop and help as more fireballs filled the room.
Suddenly twin columns of flame shot across the floor towards Schmitt, surrounding him in a cage of fire. Father levitated into the air and an aura of pure white flame engulfed him, the fire burned so hot and so bright that Nigel could barely look at him. "I grow tired of this charade", Father said with snide arrogance, "its high time I ended this pointless battle!" The fire was so hot that Nigel felt his skin burning, even at this distance. Schmitt however was unperturbed, in fact he looked more annoyed than afraid, "would you just go down already", he yelled with irritation.
"You thought you could best me at my own game?", Father went on, as he conjured another giant fireball above his head, "A MERE CHILD LIKE YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY WIELD THE FULL MIGHT OF SUCH AWESOME POWERS, SEE NOW WHAT A TRUE MASTER..." While Father was monologuing, Schmitt waved his hand and the cage of fire around him turned to ice, which he promptly shattered with a swipe of his sword, then he extended his left hand and began to slowly clench his fist. Father's voice was cut off in mid rant as Schmitt strangled him. Still strangling him, Schmitt raised his fist and pulled Father off the ground, he then threw his fist to the left and right, bashing Father's body against the walls of the chamber. He ended by slamming Father's head into the ceiling before releasing his body like a discarded puppet, letting it crumple to the floor.
Schmitt looked like he was about to topple, he could barely breathe, slowly he sheathed his sword and began to limp back towards Nigel and the others. "RRRRAAAAGGGGHHH", a pure blast of white hot flame blasted Schmitt from his feet and hurled him across the room. He smacked against the wall with a resounding thud and fell to the floor. Nigel looked back at Father in horror, he was changing again. His body grew to twice its size, he sprouted wings from his back and from his face sprouted an elongated jaw lined with razor sharp teeth. This was only the second time Nigel had seen Father in this form and just like last time the sight chilled him to the bone.
The Father Dragon roared and fixed its huge yellow eyes on the group, "I'M DONE PLAYING GAMES WITH YOU KIDS! GIVE ME MY PIPE OR YOU ALL DIE!" While this was going on Schmitt had managed to pull himself off the ground had pushed through the small crowd of Nigel's friends to stand before Father once more. He appeared stricken, "if you can still hear me", he called out, "you need to change back now! You're destabilizing the room!" Father ignored him and reared back his head, preparing to spew flame at them. Schmitt closed his eyes, "I really didn't want to have to do this, but..." Schmitt crossed his arms and stood still.
Father exhaled a jet of concentrated fire that barreled towards the group, there was no way to dodge this one. But the flames never reached them, Schmitt flung his arms outward and instantly he was covered in an aura of pure fire. The aura engulfed Nigel and his friends as well, encasing them in a shield of fire, Father's torrent crashed against the blaze like water against rock. Schmitt opened his eyes and commanded the blaze to surround him. The fire blazed around his body, yet he didn't so much as wince. The flames coalesced into a compact ball of pure energy in his palm, Schmitt extended his hand and aimed the ball at Father's immense figure. "BURN", he screamed and let loose a column of white hot energy that filled the room.
The raging inferno slammed into Father, bowling him backwards until he finally smashed against the far wall. The beam pinned him in place as he was buffeted by columns of pure heat energy. Slowly he shrunk back to his normal form, then as Nigel watched his black suit burned away, revealing the skinny, pathetic man beneath. Benedict Uno, Father, screamed as his skin was scorched by the rays. Abruptly, Schmitt closed his palm and the beam dissipated, thought the act seemed to cost him an immense effort. Without the beam pinning him in place, Father fell to the floor and immediately lapsed into unconsciousness.
The fight over, Schmitt levitated to the ground and promptly fell to his knees in exhaustion. Leaning on his sword for support, he called out, "would two of you come over here and help me?" Nigel looked over at Numbah 4, the boy looked as dumbfounded as he felt. Wally arched an eye brow at him, but Nigel just shrugged and the pair crossed the room and helped Schmitt to his feet. They had to activate their head lamps, as did everyone else, once Father hit the floor, all the light in the room had gone out again. With a bit of effort, the two dragged the admiral back into the corner he'd come from and gently propped him up against the wall. Even so, Schmitt winced a little when they set him down, he looked himself over with annoyance, "as if I didn't have enough wounds already", he growled. While Schmitt was inspecting himself, Nigel headed over to check on his dad. Monty was still unconscious, though he didn't show any signs of burns or bleeding, he tried slapping him on the cheek, but is was no good, Monty was out cold.
Nigel did a quick assessment and decided that his father would be fine for now and decided to let him rest. Now that the excitement was over, Nigel could feel that tugging sensation at the corners of his mind. He stopped, it felt different now, earlier it had been more like something had been pulling him, pushing him in one direction. Now it felt more like he was standing on a downward slope and something akin to gravity was attracting him, urging him to go down. Eager to test his analogy, he moved side to side and the sensation changed, the epicenter of whatever was attracting him, he realized, was near, very near. Unconsciously he turned to look at Schmitt, who was busy inspecting his wounds. The feeling intensified slightly. Nigel's eyes narrowed, experimentally he took one step towards Schmitt, he felt it in his mind, like he'd moved further down the slope.
As he watched, Schmitt finished his inspection and looked up to ask, "I don't suppose any of you happen to have a KND standard medical kit?" Numbah 3 produced a small, boxy container from her pack that was marked with the standard six-pointed blue star that you'd see on the side of an ambulance. "Is this it", she asked, the admiral nodded, "quick give it here", he said with urgency, beckoning to her. "Hold on", interrupted Rachel, snatching the container from Kuki, "we're not doing anything for you until you explain what the heck is going on here." Schmitt groaned, "are you seriously doing this right now, I'm bleeding over here!" Rachel opened the case and tossed Schmitt a few bandages and a bottle of burn ointment, "use this for now, but you don't get anything else until you do some explaining."
The admiral grunted and set to work cleaning himself up. Nigel walked back to the group, not ready to share what he'd learned just yet, and instead asked Rachel curiously, "what are you doing?" Rachel led Nigel a few feet away from the group so they could have some privacy, "it occurred to me, this may be the only chance we'll get to force some real information out of him." She gazed back at the wounded admiral with a hint of frustration, "last time we did this we barely got any useful info out of him, this is our chance to finally figure out whats really going on here!" "You think he knows", asked Nigel matter-of-factly, "if I recall, he seemed as much in the dark as we were about a lot of things." "True", replied Rachel, "but I'd bet theres a lot of stuff he does know too that he didn't tell us, he even said that he wouldn't tell us everything, so nows our chance to find out what he's been hiding."
"We may still need his help in the future", countered Nigel, "in the long term, interrogating him like this may not work to our advantage." "Well the choice is we just blindly trust him like everyone else, or we make him mad and actually get some real information out of him, I'd much rather go with the latter." Nigel considered this, on one hand it didn't seem very wise to piss off a boy capable of beating you to a pulp without moving a finger, but on the other, his questions about Schmitt and his powers had only doubled after witnessing that fight, and then there was this strange mental sensation. He had to admit, it seemed worth the risk.
Finally he sighed and relented, "I suppose so, just be careful. After seeing that display, I really don't want to be around him when he's angry." Rachel nodded in agreement and the two walked back to the group. Schmitt was just finishing his work as they walked up, "alright what else do you need", asked Rachel. "I need a stim-shot from the kit to jump start my body's systems, it'll replenish some of my energy and help me heal this", he said, indicating the gash in his side. Nigel and the others winced, "how'd you get that", asked Numbah 4, trying not to stare at the torn flesh.
Schmitt sighed and when he spoke, his tone was solemn, "my ship was shot down by Confederate patrols upon approaching the west coast, we managed a crash landing near San Francisco, I was the only who survived. I took a bit of shrapnel from the crash though, tore a chunk out of my side, I was able to use some of my energy to stop most of the bleeding, but...", he looked down at the pool of dried blood next to him, "...not all of it." "And how did you get down here", asked Rachel, Schmitt snorted, "doesn't matter right now, give me the stim-shot." He reached for the case, but Rachel pulled it back out of reach, "not until you tell us more."
Schmitt growled with irritation, "I'm not doing this right now McKenzie, give me the shot!" "No", she stated adamantly, "not until you give us an explanation, we came down here because of your stupid contingency orders, so I want some answers!" Schmitt's eyes narrowed, "so you found out about the contingency orders, I figured as much considering you managed to make it down here. Which one of my subordinates broke protocol and told you?" "None", replied Rachel with more than a hint of smugness, "we snatched this from the Arctic Base before leaving", she took out the logbook from her sweater and brandished it before him. Schmitt hissed in anger, "you stole my logbook!" "Maybe you shouldn't have left it in such an obvious place", teased Rachel. Schmitt seethed, "I assume you've already read the whole thing, so I don't care that much about the book itself, but..." He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "you found the logbook, was there a locket with it?" "Oh yes", replied Rachel, as she continued her teasing, "how else do you think we read it?"
Schmitt actually turned pale at that, "you... you read the hidden text?" "You bet", said Rachel, still smug as could be, "why, is that a problem?" Now Schmitt looked genuinely worried, "you shouldn't have read that, there are things in there you aren't ready to know!" Rachel cocked an eyebrow, "like what?" Schmitt wasn't listening, "give me the locket", he demanded. Rachel tucked it back into her jacket, "thats another thing you want, you give us something we'll give you something, now start talking." Schmitt attempted to stand, but he was still too weak and he fell back to the floor. Glaring up at Rachel he said, "this is not a game McKenzie and I'm not going to barter with you. You have no idea what you're getting into right now!"
"Do I", asked Rachel challengingly, "this place, this ruined city was once ruled by the KND. This is KND history right here and we came here searching for a lost legion, a legion of the KND. A legion that you stated in these files", she slapped the book for emphasis, "would help us win the war. So where's the legion?" "KND yes", responded Schmitt impatiently, "but not the KND you know." "Speaking of which", Nigel cut in, he felt he had to get this off his chest, "its like a maze down here, we could have wandered around for months and never found you, just like him", he pointed at Father, who was still lying unconscious against the far wall. "But we didn't, I felt something, some... urging in my mind that led us down all here, that led us right to you, now explain that!"
Schmitt stared at Nigel with keen interest, his frantic anxiety forgotten, "so I was right", he muttered softly. "Right about what? What are you talking about", exclaimed Nigel in exasperation, he was getting really sick of the admiral and his cryptic answers. Schmitt seemed to be mulling something over, "have you had any... visions recently? Glimpses of things you can't explain?" Nigel was taken aback by Schmitt's question, he'd never expected Schmitt to ask about his visions. He also wasn't really ready to explain all this in front Rachel and the others, hesitantly he glanced over at her, she was looking at him curiously, waiting for his answer. He sighed and decided to get it over with, "yeah I've been having visions the past couple of days, only one or two though, but how do you know that?"
Rachel seemed more than a little surprised and worried by his response, but she kept her mouth shut as Schmitt considered his reply, "I guess I don't have much choice", he said finally, "I'm going to have to explain this, if you're aware of the connection then I'm going to have to teach you how to handle it before you hurt yourself, or the others", he said with a glance at the other operatives. "I still don't understand what you're talking about", replied Nigel in confusion, "of course you don't", responded Schmitt in a knowing tone, "there is much that must be explained before you can fully understand the burden that has now been placed upon you. But first..." Schmitt glanced at Rachel, "you wanted to trade for information, I'm offering full disclosure of my powers and how they work, but first you have to give me the locket." Rachel withdrew the locket from her pocket, but kept it clenched in her fist, "how do I know you won't just refuse to answer when you get this", she asked suspiciously. Schmitt grunted, "that little trinket is worth much to me, but of little use at this juncture, on the other hand...", he eyed the med kit, "you'll still have something I really need..." Rachel thought it over for a second before relenting. With a nod, she tossed him the locket, which he caught deftly in his right hand, before pocketing it.
Schmitt sighed, "I suppose is should start by explaining the details behind my powers." "I think we all want to know that", put in Rachel, "We've never known anyone except Father and Grandfather who can use those powers, so how is it you can too?" "The answer to that question is a bit complex, but I can give you a basic understanding of how my abilities work", replied Schmitt calmly, as he settled into his teacher mode.
Schmitt relaxed against the wall and continued, "the powers are mental in nature, they are the result of an experiment I partook in, the goal of which was to create a special forces unit capable of wielding psychic powers on the battlefield." He paused, "stop me if you don't understand any of this, you are only kids after all", "so are you, as your so fond of telling us", retorted Rachel. Schmitt only smiled in response before continuing, "obviously the experimentation was a success. The experiment itself was genetic, all humans possess buried esper, or ESP potential, some more than others. ESP is our ability to see without seeing, to sense things with our minds, our sixth sense. Basic powers as a result of high ESP ratings include limited telepathy, high reaction rates and a limited ability to sense what is going to happen in the future. Like I said though, the experiment was genetic, some... foreign material was discovered that, if introduced to subjects with high ESP ratings, would allow new and more powerful abilities to manifest. Test subjects had key genetic strands spliced with the foreign material, which nearly quadrupled their esper potential."
Schmitt paused again, "do you get it?" "I think so", said Rachel carefully, "so they're like force powers!" Schmitt face-palmed, "not its not like bloody force powers! Why does everyone make that connection?!" Nigel raised an eyebrow, "because you can throw people around with a wave of your hand, because you can choke people without touching them, you know that kinda stuff?" "Telekinesis", stated Schmitt irritatedly, "its called telekinesis, its the ability to move objects with your mind!" Rachel gave him a confused look, "then why do you use your hands?" "Simple", replied Schmitt matter-of-factly, "it helps me focus, in order to use an ability I have to visualize the attack in my mind and then channel my energy to give it form, using physical movement makes it easier for me to visualize the attack while in battle and allows me to focus the attack onto a single point. If I only used my mind, I wouldn't be able to focus the attack and it would just go out in all directions like a bomb, using my arms and hands as conduits, I can direct the attack onto a single specific point."
"When you say energy", asked Rachel, who was finding this just as enlightening as Nigel was, "what do you mean?" With a flick of his wrist, Schmitt manifested a small flame in the palm of his hand. The flame burned brightly, illuminating much of the room around them, "all body functions are fueled via energy that is created from the breakdown of resources found in food and water, this is something you probably do not know as body chemistry and biology aren't normally taught to students until high school." Clenching his fist, Schmitt extinguished the flame in an instant, "energy used to fuel psychic powers is drawn from the same pool, thus using your powers too often makes you tired and lethargic. Use them too much and you may pass out from the effort, thus using powers requires a strong body as well as a strong mind and high ESP rating." "But you can run out of energy", pushed Nigel, "what happens then?" Schmitt's expression was grim, "you die, if you exhaust all your energy and go beyond your body's capacity, then your bodies systems will instantly shut down and you die."
Rachel crossed her arms, "so this is why you don't just use these powers all the time, you'll die if you do." "Don't be silly", chided Schmitt, "I can use them to a much greater extent than what you've seen so far, if I was at my full strength I could fight with my powers for hours before draining my energy reserves. The trick is concentration, while I can accurately direct my attacks using physical motions, I have to be able to concentrate in order to focus my attacks and when fighting multiple enemies, I can only really focus on one at a time, else I run the risk of hurting my own forces as well as the enemy, that is why I mainly reserve my abilities for one-on-one fighting."
Schmitt spread his arms above his head in a shrug, "in essence though, discipline is the key too all of this, which is the reason why these powers don't make me or him", he jerked a thumb towards Father, "infallible." "Discipline in what way", asked Nigel curiously, while he didn't really understand all the words falling out of the admiral's mouth right now, he understood the basics of what the admiral was trying to explain. Schmitt raised his hand and a ball of dim fire popped into existence above his palm. He let it burn for a second and then dispersed the energy so that the sphere broke up and shot embers of fire off in all directions, these too quickly burned out, "in order to use any of these powers, an aspirant must first learn how to tap into their inner self and channel their body's energy, which is what fuels the activation of psychic abilities. Some abilities like telepathy and future seeing are passive and can be activated without tapping into your inner self, but most combat oriented abilities like telekinesis, pyrokinesis and others must be activated in order for them to work. To fuel and use these powers, you must first..." "Hold on", retorted Nigel with more than a little confusion, "back up there, whats an 'inner self'?"
Schmitt grunted, "probably should have explained that, but it's a very complex theory. Even I don't truly understand all of it, but if I had to give it a name I'd say that its your soul, the portion of your consciousness that exists on a higher plane of existence than your body." Rachel crossed her arms and favored Schmitt with a dubious expression, "souls, really? And here I thought this was all sciency." "Souls", said Nigel, equally incredulous, "like ghosts?" Schmitt put a hand over his eyes in annoyance, "why is this so hard for you to comprehend, you've had experiences with ghosts in the past." "Ok hold up", cut in Wally, "that was once, and how the heck do you know all this stuff about us!?" "You think its that hard to find information about you guys", Schmitt responded, "theres loads of stuff on you in the KND archives, all I had to do was wait till I had command clearance to access it." Rachel huffed, "yet another reason why I should never have promoted you."
"Look, we're getting off topic here", cut in Nigel, "lets get back to your explanation, so... souls?" Schmitt put up his hands in frustration, "if you don't want to call it that be my guest, all I'm telling you is that there is a portion of your consciousness that exists on a higher plane, that portion is able to interact with other objects in reality in ways that are different from the interactions performed by your physical self, hence the psychic abilities I've explained to you." Schmitt tapped the side of his head for emphasis, "in order to tap into that portion of your mind and use your powers, not only do you have to have a high ESP rating, you need training in order to sense and feel that part of your consciousness. Only through training can you develop a profound enough connection to it, to sense and activate it on a regular basis."
"If thats true", countered Rachel, "where did he learn how to do all this stuff", she jerked a thumb at Father. Schmitt glanced over at the adult with obvious distaste, "in the absence of training, emotional stimuli are sometimes strong enough to trigger a temporary connection to your inner self, Father uses anger as means of connecting to his inner self and activating his powers. However, the downside of emotional stimuli is that the activation of the powers is as uncontrollable as the emotion itself, notice how he's always covered in flames when he activates his powers, using anger, he radiates his abilities outward in all directions, he's able to focus certain attacks by finding objects and people to center his rage on, but beyond that all he can do is basically flail about and throw out blasts in all directions. Also notice how he's capable of 'burning out', when his rage runs out, so to does his connection to his powers, he needs to keep himself angry in order to maintain the link, a very ineffective and unreliable method to say the least." Rachel kept her arms crossed, "that still doesn't explain how he figured out how to do it", Schmitt shrugged, "the line of Fathers is extremely long, it stretches back all the way to the first days of the KND, likely the knowledge of how to use the powers was passed down from Father to Father over the years, how it started in the first place though, I don't know."
"But you do know what he's been doing down here the whole time right", asked Rachel curiously, "and how did you know that about his pipe? We've fought him for years and no one has ever heard anything about that, heck I was one of the KND's best spies for years and I never figured it out, so how did you?" Schmitt smiled, "telepathy, one of my abilities, I can read surface thoughts, but anything deeper than that requires a level of concentration bordering on meditation." He grunted and added, "as you can imagine, I had plenty of time down here waiting for you to do just that", Nigel was confused, "when we got here, you acted like you'd been waiting for us, but how did you know we were coming down here in the first place? Did you read our minds our minds?" "Your mind to be precise", answered Schmitt, "and it was all by accident to tell the truth, something you did triggered a temporary link between you and your inner self. Your inner self reached across the connection and touched my mind while I was waiting here, I followed the trail back to your mind and extracted enough information to learn you were coming here and why."
"I did have a short vision before coming here", Nigel thought out loud, "I saw you down here in this chamber, but all I did was think about you, how did that trigger a link?" Schmitt shrugged, "its possible that my mere presence back at Arctic Base and on the Moon might have subconsciously activated your inner self, also, you didn't realize it but when I first talked to you on the Moonbase, I did a quick scan of your thoughts to determine whether you were truly telling the the truth or not, my presence in that manner might have started the process, in the end though, who knows, perhaps it was just fate, in the end it doesn't really matter right now does it?" "Wait you said you extracted all the info you needed from his head when he connected with you", cut in Rachel with some confusion, "why didn't you know then that we had your logbook." "Because I wasn't looking for that information", responded Schmitt irritatedly, "I only looked for what was necessary to determine your immediate course of action and disposition, I didn't really care where you got the info from, I just assumed you got ahold of one of the secure files and got either Fritz or Jonathan to cough up the coordinates to this place."
"What did you do with all the other stuff from my mind", inquired Nigel, "I discarded it", replied Schmitt, just a little too quickly, "there was nothing useful or worthwhile in that information." Nigel's eyes narrowed, "all of it?" Schmitt met his gaze, "all of it", he said adamantly. Nigel wasn't buying it, but Rachel cut in before he could inquire further, "you said you knew why Father was down here?" Schmitt was more than happy to change the subject, "yes, after he exhausted all other means of finding you", he pointed at Nigel, "he went to ground and began looking for leads every place he could, his search eventually brought him back to your treehouse, where he discovered the replica of the chamber from Britain under your house. He went in to inspect the tunnels and apparently got lost down here."
"How'd he survive", Rachel inquired curiously, "I don't see any food down here?" Schmitt pointed to another corner of the room, the operatives shined their lights on the spot, illuminating several small piles of bones, "rats", said Schmitt, "poor bastard had to roast them to a crisp to kill off all the germs on em, but meat is meat I guess." Nigel and the others gagged, "thats disgusting", spat Rachel, she looked like she was going to throw up. Schmitt nodded in agreement, though he seemed fairly unfazed by the implications, "trust me when I say I've eaten worse." "But why", demanded Nigel, "why did he put himself through this, what was so important for him waste his life searching for me?" "Like I said", responded Schmitt, "its the pipe, the pipe contains all his plans, specifically, his master plan?"
"Master plan", said Rachel curiously, Schmitt nodded, "or so he thought. He saw it as his ultimate strategy, his ace in the hole to be rid of the KND once and for all. You see, up north in Alaska is a secret experimental weapons testing facility/ military base built and owned by evil adult industries." "We heard about it on the way over here", put in Nigel, "though I'm surprised we've never heard of it before now." Schmitt extended his hand and let another small jet of fire come, forth, enough to illuminate the room around them, "I'm not surprised, the base's existence was kept secret even from the other adult villains. The base acts as a research facility for reverse engineering captured KND technology." "That explains how they've been able to keep up with us", Rachel considered Schmitt's words, "I always wondered why so much of their tech was so similar to ours. What was so important about the base though, I mean besides that?"
"Father spent decades stealing KND tech and reverse engineering it at the base, recently, about four years ago, he finally amassed enough to begin work on his greatest project: a fleet of warships capable of attacking and destroying the KND Moonbase." "But he's attacked the Moonbase before", countered Rachel, "why would this be any different?" "All the other attacks were test runs", confided Schmitt, "he was working out the best way to bypass your defenses and destroy the base itself, this time he believed he had created the perfect force for doing just that." Schmitt looked over Father's unconscious form with a hint of mild irritation, "he believed it would end in his ultimate victory, after destroying your space forces, he would have had his own fleet with which to attack each and every one of your treehouses at will, systematically destroying each one until he had finished off the KND." Schmitt pointed a finger at Nigel, "what he didn't count on was you stealing his pipe, the ships have been finished for years but out of paranoia that he'd be discovered he locked them down with secure access codes that only he knew and he stored them in the USB in his pipe. By stealing that pipe you robbed him of his ability to enact his final plan."
"So thats why he went crazy", whispered Nigel, "I robbed him of his ultimate victory, and he wasted everything to try and turn it around." Schmitt huffed, "his 'ultimate victory' would have hardly lasted a few decades, every century or so its the same deal, a Father rises up and destroys the KND, the KND in turn is eventually reborn and destroys the Father that destroyed it. Just look at Grandfather and Numbah 0, Grandfather destroyed the 6th age KND, in turn Numbah 0 rose up and defeated Grandfather, creating the 7th age of the KND, which if you hadn't noticed, means this shit has happened SEVEN times already." Rachel made a face, "do you have to swear?" Schmitt rolled his eyes and ignored her, "both sides always come back in the end, its been like that for almost seven hundred years." "Seven hundred years for seven ages", mulled Rachel, "I didn't know the KND went back that far, you guys really have been watching us for a long time."
"Yeah its been a great show", responded Schmitt sarcastically, his gaze flickered towards Nigel, "I've told you the basics of what these powers entail, what follows is two-fold. Thankfully you have no training and no way to connect with your inner self so you won't be able to access these powers for the time being, however you could still inadvertently activate them through emotional stimuli, so... I guess try not to get too worked up. Second, you can still use base powers like telepathy if you concentrate hard enough, being in close proximity to me is bound to set them off a little, I'll be sure to guard my mind, but be carful not to wander into the others if you find yourself in a telepathic state."
Nigel nodded numbly, this was a lot to take in, "but I will be able to use your powers, right? And if I can, how come my dad can't?" Schmitt shrugged, "possibly because his ESP rating isn't high enough, also possible is the fact that he was never taught how to by Grandfather, you know, because he's good. You however... I can't tell how high your rating is, but I can say your strong enough that with proper training you will be able to wield most of the powers I've already displayed." "Can you train me", Nigel asked hesitantly, he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of being mentored by Schmitt, but the alternative was Father and there was no way on Earth that was happening.
Schmitt sighed, "I can, but it would take some time, I wasn't mentored when I learned how to use my abilities, with my help hopefully it will only take you about a year or two." "How long DID it take you", asked Rachel curiously, Schmitt shrugged again, "took me about... three decades of personal study before I mastered... oh... shit." Nigel stared at Schmitt, "you just said it took you thirty years to learn how to use your powers", "yeah", Schmitt sighed despondently, "so I did." Rachel stared angrily at him, "if thats the case, WHY DO YOU STILL LOOK LIKE YOU'RE 12!" Schmitt sighed again, "I guess I couldn't keep this a secret forever, yeah I'm not 12, though I know you already guessed that."
Rachel threw up her hands in confusion, "ok... so how old are you!?" Schmitt groaned, he appeared to be extremely annoyed, "me and my big friggin mouth", he grunted under his breathe, looking up at the pair he said, "you won't believe me if I tell you." Rachel and Nigel shared a glance, "try us", they said in unison, Schmitt shrugged, "ok, I'm exactly 1098 years old, give or take a couple of months." The two stared at him, finally Rachel said, "ok quit joking, how old are you really?" Schmitt threw up his hands, "I told you you wouldn't believe me." "I think he's actually telling the truth for once", Nigel murmured to Rachel, but Rachel refused to believe it, "thats physically impossible! Even if you drank from the fountain of youth every day of your life, theres not enough water in there to last a thousand years!" Schmitt shrugged again, "I suppose you could call it the proverbial fountain of youth, but no, I didn't drink from the fountain." "Then how", demanded Rachel, "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!"
Schmitt sighed, "you think the kids of the Federation would build a civilization for children without insuring they stay children? I told you about the psychic warfare special forces program, that project was based off of genetic manipulation and splicing. The Federation has always been adept at such processes, in the early days when our first worlds were being colonized, the current Federation high council realized that if we were to create a society free of adults, we would have to find a way to purge them from our very evolutionary process."
"Your what", asked Rachel with confusion, Schmitt rolled his eyes, "growing up is part of life, all kids have to do it, we had to find a way to prevent that from happening, our scientists pinpointed the exact genes in the human genetic structure responsible for the growth and maturation of our bodies, artificial inhibitors to counter those sequences were developed using genetic material culled from various sources. This material was introduced via a viral system so that it infected every one of our body's cells, insuring that the growth process would be totally restricted. The result was that we stayed at the same height, build and development stage for the rest of our lives, with this anti-aging vaccine it was physically impossible for us to develop into adults."
Schmitt's eyes fell, "there were... side effects however, the first became apparent when the first kids to exceed a hundred years did not die of natural age, our scientists studied the vaccine and realized that one of the strands added a repair sequence to our telomeres, which", he noted their confused expressions, "are the genes that protect our DNA strands. I'm simplifying this as best I can, you see when you grow, your DNA is used as a blueprint for determining what you'll look like as you grow up. DNA strands are copied and used to direct your cells on how to build your body, but the copying process damages them, the telomeres protect against that damage." He looked up, "get me?" Nigel, Rachel and the others shrugged, "as best we can", replied Numbah 5, "but go slower, this is making my head hurt", added Numbah 4.
Schmitt nodded and continued, "once your telomeres are too damaged to protect your DNA, you begin to die as your DNA becomes damaged and your body can no longer figure out how to grow more cells to repair your systems. Not only did the vaccine slow down the copy process exponentially, it added a repair sequence to our genes, allowing our telomeres a slight ability for self repair, meaning that we can't die of old age or at the very least, have extremely long life spans." Nigel gaped at him, "so you can live forever?!" Schmitt shrugged for the umpteenth time, "I don't know, no one has lived long enough to see if we can die from old age, frankly I'll be one of the first to know since I'm one of the oldest citizens of the Federation."
"Wait, that reminds me", said Rachel slowly, "you said the Federation was founded over a thousand years ago, yet you're almost a thousand and a hundred, that means you predate the Federation!" Schmitt huffed, "I admit, I was there when it was founded, but predate it by much I did not, about... twenty years or so, give or take." Rachel contemplated this before responding angrily, "that means you were an adult before you took the vaccine!" Schmitt's furious response surprised her, "NO, I was fourteen when I first took the vaccine, I was no adult!" Rachel wasn't backing down from this one, "a teenager non the less, why should we trust you then?" Schmitt rolled his eyes, "we're going back to that now? I told you the Federation has kids and teens, teens a thousand years ago were quite different from teens now."
"If they were all like you, I wouldn't call that an improvement", shot back Rachel. While this heated exchange was going on, Nigel was busy mulling over the implications of Schmitt's uncovered age, "hold on", he cut in, "you said you were fourteen when you took the vaccine, why do you like you're twelve now! And now that I think about it, how could you take the vaccine when you were fourteen, if you just said it wasn't invented until after the Federation was formed six years later!" Schmitt ground his teeth in frustration, "you're lucky I'm telling you any of this, its bad enough you know about the Federation and the Confederacy, but this is crossing a whole new line, ask me something more relevant!"
"Alright", agreed Nigel, but added, "after you answer the two questions." Schmitt groaned, "fine, while the vaccine halts the aging process, it is possible to use a similar process to accelerate or reverse the natural growth process, basically we can use other forms of the vaccine to make ourselves look like we've grown older or younger. The vaccine will still be in effect, but your body will look different, for example, a person who's 12 can have the body he'd have as a 14 year old and", he indicated himself, "vice a versa, obviously I would want to revert to a younger form to infiltrate a kid organization, though while in the Federation I prefer to stick with my seventeen year old form." The group considered this, "that actually sounds kind of awesome", said Numbah 2, "so could I have like, the body of a baby but the mind of a 12 year old?" "If you wanted to", replied Schmitt, "though I imagine that'd be pretty inconvenient."
Schmitt adjusted his sitting position before continuing, "as to your second question, I said the vaccine was introduced to the Federation during its early days, I didn't say it was developed then. Work on the vaccine began seven years before the creation of the Federation, early prototypes were completed within a year and introduced to certain key test subjects. I was among those test subjects, voluntarily of course. The early prototypes had few bugs, but they did not last indefinitely, regular doses were required to maintain the anti-aging effect. Subsequent modifications to the vaccine's structure yielded better results and by the time the Federation was formed, the vaccine was already fully completed."
Schmitt gave Nigel an impatient look, "happy now?" Nigel shrugged, "for now, lets move on, you said the KND has been around for almost seven hundred years, that means you would have been around to see its birth seven hundred years ago." "I saw it", verified Schmitt, "in fact I was here, seven hundred years ago, I was here during the birth of the KND, in this city", he gestured to the room, "right here in this very bunker." "Why", demanded Rachel, "what were you doing here!" Schmitt favored her with an annoyed glance, "you know you could learn a lot from Nigel, just demanding things isn't gonna get us anywhere."
"What were you doing here", repeated Nigel for her, "that seems like a pretty valid question." Schmitt sighed, "thats gonna take another history lesson, could you give me the stim shot then, before we start this?" Rachel was pretty pissed with Schmitt at this point, but Nigel didn't see any reason to deny him any longer, so he grabbed it from her and tossed it to the admiral. He caught it deftly, "much obliged", he said, before pressing it against his leg. Rachel looked at Nigel with a hint of annoyance, he shrugged and said, "give him a break." Rachel sighed and sat down on the floor opposite Schmitt, Nigel and the others did the same. Schmitt threw the empty vial to the side and promptly jumped to his feet, "ah now thats better, right then lets get going."
Nigel looked around in confusion, "wait, I thought you were gonna tell us about the ancient KND?" Schmitt passed a hand over the wound in his side, which began to heal with startling speed, "I can do better than that", he replied, gesturing towards the door on the other side of the room, "I can show you!" He strolled over to the door and rapped his knuckle against a small hand print scanner stuck into the wall, "I told you I'd been waiting for you down here and thats because I can't get into the bunker myself." "Why not", asked Rachel hopping to her feet, "you said you were here seven hundred years ago, why can't you get in now?" Schmitt scratched his head, "thats the odd thing, my access clearance has been denied, this system is ancient KND tech and its hard wired to accept access only from official KND operatives, my booger is still in the Super Big Computermabob from my initiation, this pad should recognize me as an operative." "This thing is connected to the Super Big Computermabob", asked Nigel with confusion, "how?"
"Satellite uplink to the Moonbase", replied Schmitt, "the Super Big Comput... oh forget it I'm just gonna say SBC, was created during the first days of the KND as a master data base and manager system for the KND's global command network. The system was removed from Earth and installed on the Moonbase after the exodus at the end of the Reclamation War." "Is that what they called the war between kids and adults", asked Rachel as she walked over to the panel. "Yes", replied Schmitt, "the computer was linked to this facility so that when new generations of the KND found this place, the system would recognize them as operatives and let them enter. The only reason my genetic signature could be denied then, would be if someone altered the system to specifically lock me out, I wonder..."
"So all I have to do is this then", asked Rachel as she pressed her hand against the screen, suddenly she jerked back with a sharp cry of pain, "that thing bit me", she exclaimed. "Not bit", corrected Schmitt, as the panel whirred and clicked, "analyzed, its taken a sample of skin tissue from your palm to analyze your genetic material." "Why isn't there just a slot for boogers", demanded Rachel, cradling her injured hand, Schmitt gave her a somber look, "like I said, the KND was very different back then." The machine stopped whirring, suddenly a robotic voice sounded from somewhere above, genetic ID verified, welcome Supreme Leader McKenzie, then came the sound of creaking, rusted metal and the grinding of gears that had not moved for near a millennia. Slowly the massive steel bulkhead split open, the huge doors slid sideways on rails and clanged to an abrupt halt when they were half way apart, behind the first set of doors, a second set creaked open, then a third and a fourth. Finally the way into the ancient bunker was revealed, Schmitt cast a glance back towards Father and Monty.
"The last thing I'd want is for someone like him to be gallivanting around behind these doors", he said, looking pointedly at Father, "but the alternative is to leave him out here and I don't want to know whats going to happen when he wakes up, better to take him with us." He flicked his fingers and Father's still unconscious form floated a few feet off the ground and through the door, Hoagie and Wally went back and grabbed Monty by the shoulders, hauling him through as well. Schmitt produced a flashlight from his belt and as the group descended into the ancient facility, he began his tale.
And there you go, a few thousand short of 10,000 like last time but still pretty lengthy. I'm sorry for the second cliffhanger, but to be honest the alternative is for me to write one long chapter thats talks about everything that will not only take twice if not three times as long, but will be around 30,000 freaking words long, who has the time to sit down and read all of that in one sitting? At least this way you get a little at relatively short intervals of time (if I wasn't such a lazy ass that is), next time we start talking more about the KND's ancient history, for now, I'm out.