Samos Island.
A name I was familiar with.
Friederich de Grosse's words echoed through my head. "Before I go, let me leave you with a gift. You'll want to pay a visit to Samos Island. All I can say is that you'll find something of intrigue there."
Of course, I never got the chance to go. Between Hornet and Northampton being knocked out of action and the Reality Lens experiment, I didn't have a lot of time, and Naval HQ shot down any notion of an expedition when we were still recovering from Operation Siren. And now, I guess I'll finally get the chance to find what Friederich wanted me to see. Assuming that this Samos Island and the one in reality are the same.
Again, I found myself wondering if this wasn't some sort of massive fever dream on my part that the Reality Lens was simply feeding into…or from. We knew so little about it, had my interactions with Anchorage caused it to overwhelm me, render me unconscious, and then interpret my dreams as a memory? It made an odd sort of sense. It would explain why Hornet, Northampton, Memphis, and Yorktown were here, along with my Fighting Lady's angelic glow-up. How my mind perceived her, rather than her actual appearance. And Samos Island was my next stop on my quest to cure Yorktown, but…some things I don't have an easy answer for. Like why Langley's here, for starters. Hammann, I could draw a connection from Yorktown, but Langley…she and I don't interact on really any level.
In any case, I was clearly still trapped in here, and aside from the brief slip-up, if one could even call it that, by Memphis, I had no way of knowing what was going on back in the real world. I could only hope they were doing their best to get me out without turning me into a vegetable.
"Bright sunlight, sandy beach…" Northampton's voice brought me back to the moment. "Now that's a vacation island for you."
She was right. Samos Island looked more like a tropical resort than a secret weapons research lab. Tourists, beautiful beaches, clear blue water, colorful birds overhead…it looked fantastic.
"It's like an island resort!" Hornet gasped, putting voice to my thoughts.
Anzeel grinned and looked up from her tablet. "Right? I told you we were gonna party."
Hornet grinned right back before she looked around. "You also said this place had a secret military research facility. I don't see anything like that, though… Should they be letting tourists get so close to a military facility in the first place?"
The disheveled woman gave Hornet a curious look before it dawned on her and she let out a quiet breath of understanding. "I forgot that this was your first time here. This is how some secret research facilities are. It's not the facility that needs to be hidden; it's the research." She shrugged. "You never know. Maybe that university had a lab where they conduct secret experiments right under the café! Anyway, it's not like this facility isn't hidden. Outsiders think it's just the Samos Marine Research Institute, though. A long time ago, they actually used to research marine life here. One day the military took over, and it became Dr. Aoste's research facility. I think he had his reasons for picking this place. But hey, it's a tourist destination. Maybe he just picked it so he could hang out on the beach when he feels lazy." Her head snaps toward me with frightening speed. "Ooh! Commander, did everyone bring swimsuits?"
"Uh, no," I answered slowly. "We didn't have time to buy any in NYC. We barely had time to get on the plane with you rushing us outta there!"
"Oh yeah…" she tapped her tablet pen against her lips before she shrugged and began trekking towards the treeline. "Oh, well. The facility's just through these woods. Make sure you keep up! We don't want anyone getting lost."
We all looked at each other before I gave the girls a helpless shrug of my own before I trudged after the Doctor to…wherever she was leading us.
After a few minutes walk, we found ourselves staring at a run-down-looking building. It might have been some sort of research lab at one point, but it hardly seemed state-of-the-art, or even well-maintained. But despite the dilapidated appearance, it seemed to have a brand new security scanner next to the door. Doctor Anzeel strolled up to the scanner, pushed her glasses down her nose stared into it for a second, then punched in a code. "Authenticating access, aaand... Done." There was a buzzing noise, and she flung the doors open dramatically. "Heheh. Open sesame! Welcome, one and all, to Aoste's own research center: the Samos Marine Research Institute!"
Again, we all looked at each other, wondering if the Doctor had finally gone completely crazy before we slowly filed into the building. Hornet spoke up for us as we passed by her. "Th-thanks…"
Anzee rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Geez, temper your excitement. This is THE secret research facility! Aren't you excited at all?"
"It's kinda plain," Hornet shrugged. "Like, it's just... a research facility, like you'd expect."
"If you're gonna camouflage your secret research facility, then go all the way! That's basically Aoste's motto."
"Is that... a room full of fish tanks?" Hammann interjected, tugging on Anzeel's lab coat.
"Yep!" the doctor cheerily confirmed. "That's a remnant of when this place actually performed marine research. This one time back at university, Aoste and I visited the aquarium together. The exhibits were, well, okay. But their restaurant's specialty was grilled squid! So you'd see squids in the exhibits, and then you'd have to eat their relatives…" I wrinkled my nose at the distaste of the idea. "Let me tell you, I remember crying while I put lemon on it more than I remember the aquarium itself! Yorktown, you ought to take the Commander and Enterprise out on a date there sometime!"
Yorktown and I caught each other's eye and quickly exchanged a frantic shake of our heads. Whatever internal conflict I had going on, and whatever this Yorktown's feelings for me were, that wasn't my idea of a fun time. "Eugh... They didn't cook the squids from the exhibits, did they...?" Yorktown asked.
"Of course they did! They had other stuff like that, too." She paused, tapping her pen against her chin thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, maybe Aoste chose this Marine Research Institute because of the trauma… Anyway, the boring building up ahead is our destination. You'd never know what kind of research is going on here unless you went in there!"
As soon as we set foot inside the main building, a hologram flickers to life, resolving itself into a familiar face.
"Welcome back, Dr. Anzeel," TB intoned in her usual dispassionate voice. For a moment, I thought I had been saved, that she finally managed to regain control of the Reality Lens. And then Anzeel unwittingly dashed my hopes.
"Lookin' cute as ever, Zero. Is Aoste in?"
Zero? This was clearly TB. But nobody else, even Memphis, seemed to recognize her as such.
"Yes," the not-TB answered, "He has been awaiting you. Unfortunately, the doctor is currently preoccupied with work. You cannot meet him quite yet. So for the time being, I will be your guide around the facility. Subject for Artificial Navy Transformational Intelligence, Class X is ready for testing. Will you be observing?"
"Yes, please lead the way. Also, that full name is too much of a mouthful. Just go with Antiochus, alright?"
Antiochus. I'd heard that name before… It couldn't be…no…
My mind raced as I numbly followed along with the group, trying to wrestle with what I'd just heard. Surely it can't be the same Antiochus…could it? Then again, how many people or organizations would even have that name? Am I walking into the belly of the beast itself?
"Hrmm... I figured something like this would happen." Doctor Anzeel's comment dragged me back to the present, and I looked around, hoping she hadn't noticed me spacing out again.
Fortunately, it seemed that nobody else knew what she meant, either. "Knew what would happen?" Yorktown asked.
Anzeel sighed as she looked around. "More often than not, having the backing of the military isn't a good thing. I can tell, that guy's under a ton of pressure right now. He not only has his own projects to attend to but also has to deal with the whims and never-ending demands of the military folks. His project team has gone through several rounds of expansion, fragmenting, and reorganizing, all the while their workload continues to grow. With deadlines to meet and confidentiality levels to balance, keeping this place running must be an absolute nightmare. Basically, there's a laundry list of reasons why the facility looks the way it does. Try not to take it out on the staff, alright? Having that said, we're not some formal government delegation either. Just follow me and don't go running around, and we shouldn't have any problems."
"I see…" Langley mused. "Everyone has their own share of troubles, huh?"
"I can manage that," Hornet conceded with a smirk. "Not like this is my first choice for a date spot either, heh."
"Thank you for your understanding in this matter." Zero flatly acknowledged. We're almost there. Please stand behind the yellow line while the doors open."
We followed the instructions as a warning claxon sounded and yellow lights began to flash. With a rumble, the massive set of doors ground open, revealing something that seemed like a cross between a hangar bay, a workshop, and a research lab.
"The assembly workshop is open. Standing by pending further directives." The hologram gestured towards the bay. "The experimental ANTI-X vessel scheduled to participate in the upcoming test is just ahead. Please wait for further instructions from Dr. Aoste." After speaking, she vanished, and one by one, we all slowly stepped inside.
"Whoooa!" Hornet marveled, tipping her hat back so she could get a better view of everything. "This place is huuuge! Look at all the equipment hanging from the ceiling... I can't even imagine how much that must've cost."
Northampton wandered over to the left side and pointed out towards something in the distance. "Look over there. That corridor seems to lead to some kind of... harbor? Even though we're deep underground, they even dug out an underground waterway. I wonder where it leads…"
"Must be some sort of cave on the surface that allows them to discreetly enter or exit," I hypothesized. "Although I don't know how they'd keep some of this secret. Pretty sure a tourist would've gotten a picture of this stuff leaving the cave or popping up on the horizon…"
I looked back up at the sheer volume of machinery that hung above our heads, or on the walls around us. Somehow, despite never having been here before, I felt that these pieces of equipment looked…familiar, somehow.
"Woah, look at that, my assistant! Isn't that freakin' amazing?" Anzeel calls out to me, pointing to a girl sitting on the railing, a huge machine strapped onto, or into, her back. Almost as soon as I turned, I could feel a familiar, unsettling aura about her, and I instantly knew what she was. "An Arbiter…"
Of course, nobody else felt or saw it. If anything, Anzeel seemed even more excited than usual. "I can't believe my eyes! Her hair... isn't white!" She quickly spun around, looking for the nearest hologram emitter. "Zero, come here! I need to know this girl's name!"
The white-haired girl flickered to life and she immediately answered. "Zero? Acknowledged. This is a vessel for "The Devil XV."
"Another Major Arcana name, huh? Aoste, you edgy lad," she grinned, and whatever else she had to say was lost as I flashed back to another time and place.
A hot wind whipped across my face, the smoke and soot stinging my eyes as I looked out at the kansen standing before us, a hard and resolute expression on her face. "The attack on NY City... was no more than a ploy devised by the Antiochus. Its true purpose was for us to meet one another. As for us, we are but Ember and Ash in the wind. You need not concern yourself with our names…"
Antiochus. Sirens. The Sirens' true name was Artificial Navy Transformational Intelligence, Class X. Antiochus. My God. After years and years of war and struggle and all our best efforts to uncover what the Sirens were or where they came from…all of a sudden it just walks into the front door and falls in my lap!
But is any of this real? Is any of this true? Why is the Reality Lens showing me this? Assuming this is someone's memories, why these memories, why now? And what good is knowing all this if I can't get back and tell anyone? I needed to find out what was real, I needed to get out of here, I needed to tell them, I needed-
"Commander, are you okay? You look pale…" My head snaps over to Memphis, and she catches the look in my eye and takes a sudden half-step back.
"Memphis, about the Sirens––" I gasp, still trying to avoid being caught in an endless downward spiral.
Her eyes went wide, and I could see the flash of recognition in them before it was quickly buried as she feigned confusion. "Huh? Commander, what are you saying…"
My sudden shift in mood caught Anzeel's attention, who wandered over to me. "Are you alright? And what are these "Sirens" you keep talking about?"
I looked back over to Memphis, who was still playing dumb. I needed her, I needed to know I wasn't going crazy, but she decided to act like she didn't know what was going on.
When I realized she wasn't going to help, I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to come up with some plausible excuse. "Sorry, I mixed something up in my head."
Doctor Anzeel wasn't having it this time, pinning me with a focused stare as she placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, I'm not gonna let you squirm your way out of an explanation after you said all that. You said something about "Sirens" and some "Arbiter Program." Never heard of those things before, but they definitely sound like Aoste lingo…" She lets out a sudden gasp as she's hit with a realization. "Have the two of you been secretly working on a project behind my back?!"
"What?! No!" I blurt out, grateful her guesses have all been wrong so far. I rue the day she guesses correctly because I don't think I'd be able to deflect. "I just…I've been having a dream lately…the name Antiochus and Sirens keep coming up…"
Fortunately, that seemed to placate Anzeel, who relaxed slightly. "So... Those words just came to you in a dream?" I nodded, and she tapped her pen against her chin. "I suppose that's not too unusual in this line of work. See, while dreams are usually reconstructions of your memories, sometimes they'll hit you with something you've never even thought of. Dreams follow their own rules. Sometimes they can't be logically explained, other times they can't be explained at all. The brain has a tendency to mash things together and recombine them into things that you perceive as entirely new information. Happens to me all the time. For all we know, these "Sirens" could be a mishmash of mythology, horror, and sci-fi…"
Oh no. It seems I accidentally triggered her TED Talk. Fortunately, the girls had experience with this sort of thing. As Anzeel droned on, I heard Yorktown and Hornet whispering with each other.
"Psst, Hornet. Why is she giving the Commander a lecture on dreams?"
"Beats me. All I know is we have to step in, or she'll never stop." There was a momentary pause. "Hey, Zero. Can you power up that Antiochus vessel?"
Much to my amusement, which I had to hide, Zero responded in a whispered tone. "Yes. The Devil is in standby mode and ready to be activated whenever desired."
"Then do me a favor. Wake Devil up and tell it to draw the doctor's attention."
"Understood. Initiating program."
A low hum began to fill the room as the Arbiter's rigging began to power up, and a few seconds later, the girl attached stretched languidly and opened her eyes.
"Hmm...? Who woke me up?" Her heterochromatic eyes, one red, and one yellow, gazed around the room until she spotted us and she gave us a bright smile. "Oh, must've been you guys. Guessing you're with Dr. Anzeel. Welcome to the Samos Marine Research Institute. I'm The Devil XV. Just 'Devil' is fine. I've received the plans for our test and am ready to get started. Lemme know if you need something."
For several long seconds, Doctor Anzeel stared at the Arbiter, her dream dissertation forgotten. Then a massive grin split her face. "Dr. Anzeel ...Holy shit. She's so cute I'm gonna get diabetes!" In a heartbeat, she darted over to the girl with a speed I've only ever seen kansen achieve and began taking pictures with her phone. "Awwwww! You're the sweetest little devil ever! Let's see a smile! Look into the camera! Yeah, that's perfect! Three, two, one!" Picture after picture as she tried to capture the new Siren from every conceivable angle.
Memphis stepped forward and placed a hand on Anzeel's arm. "Doctor, everything in this facility is absolutely top secret. Any pictures you take will be deleted on the way out."
"Dammit, I forgot!" Despair crossed the doctor's face for a moment before she snapped her fingers and smiled. "Aww... Wait, I've got it! I can send these pics to Aoste before they get deleted… Then after we've left, I'll ask him to send them to me, citing communication between project members. I'm a genius!"
"That's not a solution, Doctor. That's leaking classified material."
"No, it's not! It's perfectly within the rules!" Anzeel argued, looking offended at this pink-haired member of the Fun Police.
Before the disagreement could grow into a full-blown row, Zero, strode into the room. Not the hologram this time, but a real girl in the flesh. "Commander, Dr. Anzeel. Dr. Aoste's work has concluded. He is waiting for you in his office."
Her attention now focused on Zero, who she took several pictures of immediately. "Uooooh! She's even cuter in person!" Her photo collection sated for now, she slipped her phone back in her pocket and gestured to me. "Anyway, come along, Commander! It's time you met Aoste."
I nodded and followed along, hoping I would finally get some answers…
A/N-All aboard the Exposition Express, next stop, Aoste's office! Until next time, fair winds and following seas!