Ok all, let's begin.
As they all stood at the edge of the airlock, the crew of the Normandy could only watch with still shocked faces as Clark had taken Miranda and the two left the hanger, leaving the rest of them there. Garrus stood right on the edge of the airlock, Ashley and Tali standing on either side of him. The rest of the group was only just behind him "ugh" Ashley scoffed "I can't believe Superman is banging Cerberus" she said allowed.
"Really?" a male voice said from behind them and they all knew it was Joker the moment he opened his mouth, as well as the sarcastic tone. Not that surprising when it came from him "I think it's very believable"
"So, what do we do now? Grunt asked them.
"That is up to you" a new voice said from in front of them. They all turned and looked as a small robotic body floated towards them "greetings to you all, crew of the Normandy. I am Kelex, I am the artificial Intelligence for the House of El. It is an honour to host you onboard Genesis" as he spoke, there was a sudden flash of light and they all looked down to see that a set of holographic blue stairs suddenly appeared in front of them "as I was told by Master El, Genesis is open to each of you expect for a very small number of restricted sections, please allow me to guide you to where you would like to go" he said to them.
Of course, none of them knew what to say to that but before any could respond. The large Krogan stepped past the others and casually started to walk down the steps without much care "where are the food stores?" he asked aloud "I'm hungry"
"I will be happy to assist you" Kelex spoke as a holographic image of another body just like his appeared in the air next to Grunt and started to lead him away.
The others all just watched as Grunt left them all behind without much care, Kelex being able to tell they were not happy decided to speak with and attempt to calm them down "Please be at ease, you have been welcomed on board Genesis. Master El has given you free reign of the ship minus the restricted sections, in fact this is an unprecedented moment for you are the first organics to board the ship that where not Master El. You should be honoured to be given such an opportunity"
"You specified this unit will be unable to enter restricted sections" Legion spoke as it walked forward past the group "we request specifications?" it asked.
Upon the request, a large holographic image of Genesis appeared behind the body of Kelex "the entire ship is open to crew of the Normandy expect for four sections of the ship. The power cores" as he said two parts of the inside of the ship highlighted themselves, one in the middle and another at the back near the thrusters "the command bridge" another section near the top of the ships central tower like structure near the back "the vault" another section that seemed to be just under the most central power core "and Master El's personal quarters and study" this was by far the smallest section to be highted by far, a small blip near the command bridge "everything else is open to you"
"We would request a guide to take us to the ships A.I core?" the Geth immediately asked.
As all the organics rounded on the synthetic body, Kelex did not hesitate "of course Legion. I would be happy to assist you" another holographic body of Kelex suddenly appeared "Please, follow me" he said and the Geth unit followed him though it did hesitate for a moment before stepping onto the hard light stairs.
Seeing the Geth move seemed to effect the others quite easily, Mordin was the one to speak next "Would I be permitted to see one of the labs present on board?" he asked.
Much like before, another body of Kelex showed up and nodded towards Mordin "of course Doctor, though I should say that I believe you would be better off exploring the central achieves" at the mention of the word Mordins eyes widened even further and he looked like a child on Christmas.
"Oh yes, that sounds amazing. To think of what could be learned" he said as he started to walk forward.
"I believe I will join you" another voice spoke and Samara started to walk forward and the two walked together.
"Me as well" Thane said as he moved forward and jogged to catch up with the other two.
"You said tha power core was off limit" an accented male voice said from behind the group and some turned to see the engineers come forward.
"Does that include the engines?" Gabby asked as the two walked past the group and down the stairs.
"For the most part" Kelex said back "though there are sections of the engines that would be open to you and I will inform you of what I can"
As those two moved, the rest of the crew started to wake their way down as well and soon the crew of the Normandy started to exit the ship and step into Genisis proper "I was told that I could see the specifications?" Tali spoke in a neutral tone, while she did want to know about this ship, she clearly was still unsure about the whole A.I situation.
"I would be happy to help you with that Tali'Zorah. The ships specifications can be accessed by any remote terminal. The closed is right over there" the A.I nodded towards the corner of the hanger where a small building like structure, not too dissimilar from the Normandy's medical bay "I shall unlock it for you"
She gave the others a look and nod before moving over towards there, while some did want to follower her to make sure everything was alright, it seemed that their own curiosity was getting the better of them "Kelex, there wouldn't happen to be a weapons bay or something of that nature around here would there?" Garrus asked.
Another body appeared next to the first "of course, follow me" he said and Garrus followed the A.I, though he himself was followed by Ashley and Jacob.
As the synthetic body carried Legion down the corridors of the ship. The many different programs continued to process all the information that has been made available to it in the recent few minutes, it was all very interesting to the Geth. It started to go over everything in more detail, this ship for a start. Needless to say that its image was already squared away deep within the Geth's memory banks, ready to be sent back to the collective.
As of the moment, two major things occupied the combined mind of all the programs. The first was the ship itself and what it would be capable of, the second was what they were heading towards now. The ship's A.I core, while Legion has had many different interactions with the Normandy's A.I EDI. Neither he nor any other Geth have met with an A.I that was so alien, even the Old Machines that came to them where similar to their own in that they could see many different programs that were making up the A.I proper.
But the one moving next to him, designated Kelex was an unknown and completely alien A.I. it was a fascinating concept to think about. Due to this A.I seeming to be a creation of Kal-El Supermans family, it could easily be one of the most advanced A.I's discovered by the Geth and it's first thought was to see its core. Perhaps with the knowledge of how to improve themselves in it's image.
"May I ask, how long did it take you to complete this ships construction?" the voice of the other A.I spoke. Legion did not need to turn in order to see the image of EDI moving alongside them. It would seem that even though the Cerberus A.I could not move with a body like the other two could, Kelex saw fit to grant EDI access to the some of Genesis' systems that allowed it to make use of the holographic systems that seemed to come from a thin blue line that went along the corner that connected the wall to the ceiling.
"Well, that would depend" Kelex started as its body turned to face the other two while it guided them "the idea and designs for Genesis began in the year of 2063 April 08" it told them "Though official construction did not start until much later. Since it started, the time until 100% completion which is expected to be in within the next few minutes, is 122 years, three months, one week and two days" he informed them.
That caused his programs to come to a consensus that requeued answers to questions "We do not understand, for a ship of this size, assuming we possessed the technology. The Geth collective could construct a ship of this size in three solar rotations, we do not understand how it would take one such as you so long"
"While I'm sure he didn't mean to sound rude, I too am curious as to why it would take so long?" EDI asked as well.
"You just said it yourself" Kelex said back to them "Assuming you possessed the technology" he repeated to them "While this is a creation of myself and Master El, we did not possess everything we needed in order to complete the design. While the basic design was easy to build once the workforce was completed, it took myself and the master years of research and development in order to not only understand all the technology that is integrated into the ship but have it coexisted with all the others as well. Also, please do keep in mind that it was not rushed, Master El only tried to complete the work when he felt he had the time to. As such, it has taken longer than one would expect to complete"
As he spoke and the other two listened, they could understand now why it would take so long to create. It made sense when one thought about it "Ah, here we are" he said as he led the two towards a small door off to the side, when they got closer, it opened to them allowing them to see the ships transit system "Please, step inside and you will be taken to the nearest transit exit to the A.I core"
Legion looked at the small room for a moment before stepping forward, however before he could step inside there was a small thud that caused him to lose his footing and nearly fall over "ah, I apologise" Kelex said to it "it would seem that the final changes where just made by Master El and Lady Lawson. Genesis is now completely operation, we shall be ready for departure in just a moment. Please step inside and you shall be taken to the A.I core"
"Truly amazing!" Mordin spoke as they just stepped off the gravity defying transit system, followed quickly by Samara and then Thane "would love to ask question about design and capability"
"Will be time for that later I am sure" Thane said as he stepped away from the transit with a final look before he took a step away "for now, I believe this archive would be an interesting read"
"AH yes, of course!" the doctor said as he turned back around, still clearly very excited about the prospects of what was being offered "please Kelex, lead the way"
"Of course, Doctor" Kelex said as he turned around and started to lead them down a corridor.
"I was wondering if I could ask Kelex" Samara started as they continued to walk "does this achieve contain information on ourselves?" she asked calmly as they neared a large door.
"Why yes" the A.I answered as it stopped in front of the group "ever since a large assortment of data recently came in from Master El, the data achieve now includes information on everyone all of you" he told them as the door behind them opened and he backed up into the room. Mordin was quick to follow him in followed by Thane and then a narrowed eyed Samara.
Though those eyes did look more surprised as she saw what was inside, it was a large hall like room that was full of what must have been hundreds of different aisles spread out over three floors. But these aisles didn't contain books like she would have expected, no they were completely solid, there was no room for books as they were shaped like solid brick walls. But what made her thing that they were holding the data was that the surfaces of these barriers that made the aisles were a bright blue with black lines, not only giving the impression of what shelves in a library would look like but seemed to be holographic in nature.
Right down the middle of the hall in front of them was an assortment of tables that held comfy looking chairs and computers screens, she would hazard a guess that this is where one would access all the data around them. She walked in slowly compared to the other two who immediately went deeper "recently came in" she said to herself before she realized that there was only thing that could be "you have the data of the Shadow Broker" this time it was aloud for them all to hear her.
"Indeed" Kelex agreed immediately "and I must say that it was a truly fascinating collection full of so much information, though I dare say that since most of it is based around people, it will be made redundant in a few decades" there was a small hint of disappointment in his voice as he spoke "but that is something that doesn't need to be worried about at this time" he turned back around and moved forward to hover in front of Mordin who was at the lead of the others "now, if you will take your seat at one of the tables" he instructed them "you will not need your Omni-Tools as you already have access. This achieve contains a vast assortment of data from many different sources. As of the moment it is ninety-eight percent open to you, all you have to do is type in a topic, location or person for what you want to find" he informed them.
The Mordin and Samara where quick to begin typing away to find what they were looking for, Thane hesitated for a moment before he turned his head and looked at the floating robotic body "Ninety-Eight?" he asked "I take it the remaining two are locked from us?" he asked.
"Indeed" Kelex answered with a nod "that data that is currently locked to outside observers. As it is a part of Master El's personal collection" he informed that before the ground underneath them began to shake slightly and caused them to stumble for a moment "Ah, it would seem that the final obstacle for Genesis' completion has now been delt" he told the others before they could panic "It would seem that we shall be departing soon"
"And this is a de-atomizer?" Garrus asked her lifted the rifle that looked no bigger than the one he normally carried.
"Correct" Kelex said as he hovered in the air above them within one of the ships many different armouries "if the target is struck by the weapons energy beam. The atoms that connect the target together shall fall apart reducing the form of the target to nothing more than a pile of dust" he informed them.
As he spoke, Ashley and Jacob too looked at the weapon closer and could see that it was almost elegant in its design and if they didn't know this was an armoury, they wouldn't have guessed it was a weapon "Who designed this, you or Clark?" Ashley asked, not really happy with the idea of someone like Superman creating a weapon like this.
"On the contrary" Kelex said with a slight shake of his head "this brand of weapon was created and integrated into Kryptonian society two hundred and thirty-eight years before the master was born" he told them "When it was, it was quickly made into the primary weapon of the Kryptonian armed forces"
"Is it just in the man carried weapons or was it installed on vehicles as well?" Jacob asked as he picked up one of the weapons himself and had a closer look.
"There were many different variations of the weapon put into place within the Kryptonian military, including many different larger variations placed onto vehicles" he told them with the same happy tone he carried himself.
"I have to ask" Ashley started as she placed the weapon down "why would this ship have so many weapons? I don't just mean the cannons and the one's on the outside for ship combat but all of this" she nodded towards the inside of the ship "Who are these all for?" it was a good question, considering someone like Superman would not need weapons like these.
"Oh, I see your confusion. While Master El was intended to be the only organic on board. It does still have a standing force" he told them calmly.
"Wait what?" Garrus quickly turned to look at the smaller drone body "what do you mean a standing force?" he asked.
"Genesis is equipped with an automated standing force of over two hundred thousand robotic drones capable of fighting in any combat situation" he informed them, before any of them could ask a follow up question. There was mechanical sound behind the group and they turned to see two small panels in the ceiling on either side of the door open and from it feel two silver... blobs? They fell onto the ground without much decency.
All three of them looked at them nervously for a moment, no chance of them thinking that it wasn't what it seemed to be. While both of them did seem like a clump of wet cement, it seemed to almost pulse with something, not a heartbeat, which Ashley was thankful for but something else. Quickly, it started to rise off the ground and began to take the shape of a human.
It was large, with a skeleton like face and pale eyes. The surface of all of it seemed to shimmer and distort like it was made of something millions of little pieces of metal that were welded together (1)
The two drones stayed perfectly still as the others starred at them, clearly too shocked by their design to say anything. The Geth were one thing but these were simply much scarier, for a simple term "these units are designated Marauders and are the standard fighting force of Genesis" Kelex told them as he body moved over to the two Marauders who had yet to move "they are a multi-purpose fighting force that was created with a use of programable matter held together with a magnetic field. Due to that nature, they are quite adaptable" as he said that the one on the left moved forward and its heavy footsteps echoed throughout the armoury "while their primary purpose is the safety and security of Genesis, they are also capable of many other missions that they could be used. Infiltration for one"
The Marauder that walked stopped in front of the nervous group, it looked right at Ashely who held her ground despite not wanting too and before she could react. The machines outer surface began to shimmer and distort. Then the colour of it changed, as well as the features of it, it shrank slightly and it looked like strands of hair began to fall from its head.
When all was said and done, a carbon copy of Ashley stood directly in front of her "that's so weird" she said as she leaned forward slightly to get a better look at... herself but stopped when the machine started to copy her movements.
"Kelex" Jacob said as he took a step back towards the weapons table "those aren't A.I are they?" he asked with a very nervous voice.
"Of course not" he denied quickly "the only A.I onboard this ship at the moment is myself, Legion and EDI" he added moving forward, going past the Marauders who had yet to move and towards the one who looked like Ashley who upon Kelex getting closer quickly stepped back and reverted to the form of the silver robot "the Marauders are not true A.I like I am but they do have the basic functions of one. In the event that they would be needed, I would within real time transmit all the data of an event or situation directly to them and from there they would come to their own conclusions on how to act in the situation"
As Kelex told them all how the machines worked, a shudder went throughout the ship, causing the others to stumble. Ashley seemed to lose her balance and was about to fall where it not for the Marauders who reached out and grabbed her arm, preventing her from doing so "what was that?" Garrus asked as the others looked around, Ashley however looked at the machine and down to her hand, then back up at the machine "thank you?" she said to it as it let go of her and stepped back with the other. Both of which moving back into the hatch where they came from.
"The final hurdle in Genesis was just completed" he told them with a cheerful tone "the ship is now one hundred percent completed. This is a very joyous occasion. We shall be ready to start our maiden voyage on Master El's word"
All three of them could only look at each other an uncertain look.
Miranda was gasping as she tried to straighten her hair with her hands as she leaned against one of the consoles in the Powercore. Her cat suit was pulled down and resting on the ground around her feet, leaving her in only her underwear. Well, only a bra, her panties where casually tossed to the ground after being ripped off by Clark who was standing in front of her, putting his own clothes back on. It would seem that turning on the power properly for the first time meant a lot to him and hell, she guessed she had no trouble celebrating with him just out in the open like this.
She took the time to admire his body as he started to cloth himself and casually brought to the strap of her bra back onto her shoulder before she bent down and started to pull her suit back on "are you sure you don't have a bed in here somewhere?" she asked with a grin and she placed her arms back in and started to zip it all back up.
He turned to her and gave her a grin "I have one of the most comfortable beds in the galaxy upstairs" he added as he zipped up his pants and walked over towards her, without asking or waiting he picked up and placed her on the terminal behind her and started to kiss her, she didn't fight him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and probed him with her tongue and he was more than happy to let her in. They just stayed like that for a moment and enjoyed themselves, she found herself thinking that if this is what it felt like to be a teenager.
She never really had the standard teenage romance before or any type of romance to be honest. There was always a goal or an objective to her love life, she's never kissed or had sex with someone just because she wanted to, it was all new. she never had a... boyfriend before. Though that word has started to crop up more often than not over the last couple of days. She liked it, for some reason it felt like this was a part of her real life, not some deep cover operation or a mission.
Clark pulled away from her and their foreheads were pressed together for a moment, he looked deep into her eyes and she did the same, simply enjoying his presence "come with me, I want to show you something" he said.
Smiling at the request, she hopped off the terminal she was just fucked on and grabbed his hand. The two calmly walking away out of the power core and the heavy door closing behind them. Hand in hand as they did so "where are we going?" she asked him as they stopped in front of the smaller transit system.
He didn't say anything for a moment, instead he stepped inside, bringing her with him and as they stood side by side he spoke aloud "Vault" he spoke aloud. When he did speak, a number of holographic panels appeared. He lifted his hand to a panel that was scanned, he leaned forward as his eyes were scanned. When those two where down a keypad came forward and Clark's hand became a blur and he typed away. Miranda couldn't even tell what he was doing or what codes he was putting in, it went on for ten seconds but soon everything around them turned green and much like before the two were lifted into the air and began to move.
"What was that?" she asked with a tilt of the head.
"About a ten thousand code combination" he added with a smile that she gave back to him.
"So, what about the Vault did you want me to see?" she asked him with a confident tone though she was still looking around herself in amazement at the type of transportation this ship has.
To her surprise however, Clark's voice took a more uncertain tone as he spoke "well... I did want to show you the vault anyway but there was one specific thing that I felt you should know about" he looked forward as the two slowed down and eventually came to a stop.
Clark walked forward first and Miranda looked at him with nervous steps, at least that was until he stopped and turned to look at her. It must have been easy to see her uncertain features and so he took a step back towards her with a smile and offered a hand, still unsure about the situation but confident it wouldn't be too bad, she took it and the two turned to walk down another corridor of grey and silver metal with lights decorating both sides of them where the ceiling met the walls.
Though when she turned to face the direction Clark wanted them to go, Miranda froze mid step. Just a few dozen or so metres in front of them where two large machine bodies. They were unlike anything Miranda had seen before. Unlike the drones that helped make the ship, or Kelex. These two where massive and fashioned with Golden metal. They stood slightly taller and bulkier than the prototype Cerberus Atlas mechs that she's seen the schematics of. Each of them carried a large silver double bladed sword and shield that was half the size they were. She could see two smaller turret like weapons that were stationed on the top of their shoulders, she could see three different types of cannon like weapons sticking out from their backs (2)
Then there was the door itself, it wasn't like the rest of the ship. It didn't look like it was made of metal of any kind that she knew of but instead it seemed to be made of a type of white... rock, crystal. She had no idea. Stopping in place she turned to look at him with questioning eyes "Right, Miranda this is Magni and Modi. They are a super advanced defence unit and their main purpose is very simple. Protect the Vault at all costs" he added as he walked forward with Miranda following close behind though there was some hesitation in her steps, especially as the two machines looked at her, one with red eyes and the other with blue.
"Are they A.I?" she asked him as they walked towards the door.
"No" he was quick to shake his head "not really, they do have basic intelligence but they're not like Kelex or even EDI. In the event of an attack, Kelex gives them all the intel he has on what's happening and they act on their own, though it would have to be something big if they felt that they would be needed to defend anything" as they passed the two, he reached and patted the arm of one and the two stopped in front of the large crystal door.
"What is that?" she asked as she nodded at the door.
"This is... well the closed translation in English would be Sunstone. It's the mostly used building block that Kryptonians had and quite sturdy" he told her as he moved forward and placed his hand flat on the surface of it.
"So why is the whole ship not made of it?" she asked him as she stepped forward and crossed her arms.
"A couple of reasons, the main being that I only have so much of it and it would be impossible to make more. From what Kelex tells me the main ingredient in making it is a special type of mineral is native to Krypton, so..." he trailed off with a shrug as he reached out and pushed on the crystal door.
It opened and Miranda found herself able to see inside what must have been the most secure part of the ship. She had to admit, she had no idea what she was expecting to see. It wasn't like any other room she expected to find on a ship, or anywhere else for that matter. In fact, it didn't look like a room at all. It looked more like that of the inside of a cave then a vault. The bright crystal walls covered everything head to toe, she didn't know if there were lights behind those walls or if they were that bright to begin with.
When she stepped inside on the other hand, she heard the large heavy door close behind her with a thud and she had a moment to see what was in here, at this point she started to get used to the idea of not knowing what to expect. Which really helped in this case as she didn't have the slightest idea of what she was looking at. There were many different pedestals scattered around the room, each of which had thick looking shields around them. Without even looking back at Clark, she started to walk forward, the sound of her heels clinking on the ground as she did so.
The first thing she saw was a large golden gauntlet that looked around the size of her torso and no normal person would be able to use it, maybe an Elcor could but that was the only alien she could think of, scattered around the golden metal where six multicoloured gems that seemed to glow with power.
Walking past that she saw what seemed to be a simple golden helmet that lacked eye holes sitting calmly on another pedestal, she didn't know why but as she starred at it, she started to feel that it was looking back at her, judging her, testing her maybe.
Looking over her shoulder, she could make out a simple yet it large hammer that looked like it could fit in the palm of her hand, it seemed to look like a weapon as the metal was way too big to be used for construction and she could make out a type of runic symbol that when she got closer, simply vanished.
She continued to walk forwards, deeper into the vault without having any idea what she was looking at. Sure, they looked simply enough. Like the pedestal that had nothing but a mannequin of a hand and on each finger with a different coloured rings that went from black to white that were quite large with a different symbols embedded on them. Or the small collection all together that had a sword, lasso, twin bracelets and what she could guess was a tiara. There was a simple stone that looked like a diamond, but it was black and like the gauntlet it seemed to pulse with pure power.
When she looked past it to the wall of the room she could see something that didn't have a pedestal or a shield, it was just calmly placed on the ground and to her, it just looked like a treadmill but if it was here then it must more than that, granted it looked a lot more advanced than any other she's seen before. There were so many others, she could see an orange staff, a large cube that seemed to hum, a floating book that gave off black smoke.
There were so many different things to look at and observe, it wasn't until she made it halfway through the vault that she stopped. At least she thinks it was halfway, with how it was all laid out it was tricky to see how big it actually was. When she did stop though, it wasn't because there was any less to see, that wasn't the case. Everything just seemed to go on and on for miles with more and more pedestals, some larger then others but still. But she didn't stop to look at another one of these... artefacts?
No, she stopped because every single cell in her body was screaming out in fear.
One her right, behind a small bend was a construct. A mechanical machine that was far larger than anything else in here. It was connected to both the wall it pressed up against, the floor and the ceiling. The front of it looked like a large door and at the top of said door was a glass window, what was inside of it was paralyzing her with fear. It was a large type of creature with grey skin, what looked like shards of rock sticking out from its skull and chin, glowing red eyes that she could see where looking right into her soul.
She didn't know what to do, her heart was beating quickly, her breathing was become stagnant and uneven. All she could do was look right back at it and prey that she was just dreaming. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she remembered she had legs and she quickly started to back up. She didn't know what she was doing but what she could say was that if it wasn't for Clark stepping in front of her, completely blocking the view of that creature, she would never have stopped moving away.
Before she even knew it he had his arms wrapped around her and she buried her head into his chest, her eyes wide and doing everything she could not to think about it "wha..." she tried to speak "what is that thing?" she asked with a shaking voice.
"A monster" was what he said back and she found herself agreeing with that statement easily. He moved back and stood with her at the side, allowing her and the monster to maintain eye contact once again "there's no mind, no thought, I don't know where it came from or who created it. But it is a monster that has destroyed entire worlds without any hesitation, it just wants to kill. It nearly killed me when I first met it" to hear that this thing almost killed someone like Clark made her shudder and she latched onto his arm, holding it tightly.
"Why didn't you kill it?" she asked him as her eyes never left the monsters as she was worried that if she did lose it, it would somehow vanish and she wouldn't be able to fine it again.
"I did" he answered with a nod "nine times, it kept on coming back and even though this thing is a complete monster. It has to be the most adaptable organism I've ever encountered, whenever I killed it, it just healed itself and its grew pretty much immune to whatever killed the last time" he explained to her "Now, the only thing I can do is try and keep it sedated until I can figure out a way to permanently kill it. It's proven difficult. But that's not what I wanted you to see" he said as he started to lead her away.
Though as he did, his eyes lingered on his old enemy before and the two eyes locked onto each other for a final moment before he turned away and started to lead her towards what he wanted her to see. While he knew giving her a face to face with Doomsday was a dick move, he had to give her an idea of what she was in for if she wanted to be with him. Even more so considering what he was about to tell her "What I wanted to show you is this" he added taking her to another section of the vault, though this one is much different from the others.
While it did have the same type of thick shielding as the others did, it also had more than that. It had a type of steel sheet that kept whatever was inside the shield hidden from plain view, it also had many different types of extra protections. The two stopped in front of it and Clark reached forward and placed his hand flat on the shield, when he did a holographic terminal appeared and he started to type away "What's in there?" she asked him.
He didn't answer for a moment, instead he simply continued to type. Though he knew that he shouldn't have, after what she just did, she deserved some basic truth "It's... power" he said after a moment of hesitation, he finished typing away. Knowing that it wasn't enough, he thought about it for a moment before he turned to face her completely "you know about Kryptonite, right?" he asked already knowing the answer. He didn't wait for her to continue "yeah, there's the green that weakens me quite a bit and can cause... so much cancer. But there's other types" he added as the shield started to fade away slowly and the metal barriers separated at the middle, one half going to the top and the other to the bottom.
As this happened, Miranda tore her eyes away from it and back to Clark "There's red that can alter my mind, doesn't kill but can cause me to become more... ass like, it gets rid of my inhabitations... you get the idea, I just turn into an ass" he said as she tilted her head at him "but we also had, blue, black, white, gold but the real important one. Was Platinum" as he said that the metal barrier gave way and she could see a syringe.
"Blue, red, black" she listed back to him "you're not very imaginative with names, are you?" She said with a smirk as she leaned forward to get a closer look, like many of the other things in here. It seemed to pulse with something "and what does it do?" she asked almost dreading the answer.
He reached forward and grabbed it, holding the Syringe within both hands. Then he looked up at her with uncertain eyes "it's... a concoction of sorts, some forms of Kryptonite don't affect me at all. This is one of them, what it does is affect other people" as he spoke the uncertain look Miranda had started to get stronger until he gave her another reassuring smile "Platinum Kryptonite has the ability to completely alter humans on a molecular level, and would allow a human to become half human, half Kryptonian" she found herself taking a step back completely has he said that and the realization of why she was here started to come forward.
"Why... why would you have something like this?" she asked him after a nervous moment.
His arms dropped slightly and he let out a sigh "because Kelly was right" he admitted "you know those sessions she insists on doing with me" she nodded back at him "well during the last one she talked about how I knew I didn't age the same way humans do when I married Lois and she was right" he placed the syringe back on the pedestal and leaned back against it "when we started dating I was... I was starting to understand how I worked and I don't just mean 'oh, I know who I am' or 'I know what I'm meant to do' it was more of an understanding from a biological standpoint. What I can do or would be able to do. It was then I found just how slowly I do age" he lifted up his hands and rubbed his face, letting out a deep sigh "I knew what would happen if I married Lois, I know exactly what would have happened. Me, staying the exact same while I watched her wither, grow old and die"
Miranda found herself crossing her arms as she listened to him talk, while she may be sympathetic to what he went through, she also found herself surprised by how uneasy it made her feel when he spoke about his late wife. Made her feel like she was second in his eyes and she hated that, Miranda didn't do second place "So, you sort a way to prevent it" she added.
"Yeah" he nodded "I found this type of variation of Kryptonite and I lost myself trying to find a way that would make it work, make it so my wife could live alongside me. And I did, I found out how to make it do exactly what I wanted it to... two days after she died" he added with a bitter chuckle "can move faster than light but I couldn't save my wife. I don't want to lose someone else" his eyes zeroed in on her "I know we're not married, I know we probably don't even love each other yet. But... if we keep going the way we're going..." he trailed off seemingly unable to continue the conversation.
"What?" she asked crossing her arms with a small shrug "You want me think about the idea of... being like you" the very fact she didn't immediately jump at the chance to be someone with his kind of power was not unnoticed by her. If she was given this chance even a few months ago she wouldn't have thought twice about it, but now... listening to what it meant, having that type of life span, she still didn't know how long it was but all that stuck out to her at the moment was her sister.
"You wouldn't be me" he assured her "not really but you wouldn't be human anymore either" he looked back over his shoulder towards the syringe "you wouldn't be as powerful as I am, that much I can say but you would be more then you've ever thought possible and you would be able to come with me"
Her mind went to a halt for a moment, it was a thought that entered the back of her mind when she saw Genesis for the first time. Why would someone like Superman, who on his own could fly faster than light under his own power have a ship like this? It was dark thought she didn't want to entertain but when she heard that, it was all but confirmed "You're leaving?" she asked.
He looked at her before stepping forward towards her, when he did so all the defences around the syringe came back and it was once again out of few "the universe is a very big place Miranda, more big then you or anyone else knows" he pointed to one of the walls "outside those walls is everything that you could possibly think of, all the worlds, all the civilizations, all the wonders are there just waiting to be seen, to be explored. Genesis is the way to do that. It's my... way out" he took another step forward until the two there pressing against each other "I know the Reapers are coming, I know that I'm going to be needed to stop them. But that's it, when this threat is gone. So am I, my time here is over"
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her head, she closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly. Embracing the feeling "I don't want you to go" she whispered more to herself then him.
"Take some time" he said taking a step back "really think about it, I wouldn't mind staying for a while after the Reapers are gone but only if I know that when I leave, you'll be with me. I don't want to spend years falling in love with you only to leave you behind later"
She simply nodded at him before he walked past her and towards the entrance they came from, leaving her alone for to just stand there. Which she did, she stood there for a couple of minutes thinking about everything she was just told, it wasn't until she thought she should leave that it just occurred to her that she was just left alone in the most secure room in the entire ship "err... Kelex" she said out loud "are you there?" she asked.
As soon as she finished speaking a holographic image of Kelex appeared in front of her "yes Lady Lawson. I how can I help you?" he asked.
She gave him a small smile "I appreciate the professionalism Kelex but you can just call me Miranda"
"I haven't called master El by his first name since I've met him and he has asked for me to do so many times, I'm not going to start now" the sheer presence of that attitude an A.I had caused her to smile slightly, it was funny to see such personality come from a machine "How can I help you?" he asked again.
"I was wondering if you could tell me about some of the... artefacts? Around this vault" she asked "I need to take my mind of that heavy conversation" was her excuse.
"Of course, lady Lawson, I would be happy to tell you what we know about the many different Artefacts within the Vault, though I should inform you there is still much about many of them that we do not understand and are still studying" with that he moved away and Miranda followed him, looking forward to learning just what the hell these things were.
Clark felt many different things as he move through the ship towards his destination, he knew that he felt slightly down about unloading so much on to Miranda but if they were going to get serious then she had a right to know about what his plans are. But the rest of him felt a sense of satisfaction that he hasn't felt in a while, this was a very big moment after all.
Genesis's maiden voyage.
She was ready for it, every system they had was green and there was no excuse he could have to delay it anymore. He walked down the corridor towards his target, the main command bridge. At the top of the ships central control spire. He stopped walking in front of the door for one moment before he took a deep breath and stepped forward.
The doors opened and he got a full view of the bridge, it wasn't the largest room on the ship but it was large. The was a large bridge that went from one side of the room to the other, underneath on each side of it was many different computers and consoles for a multitude of different purposes. After all a ship of this size couldn't be controlled by Kelex alone, he glanced down off the bridge and he saw what must have been fifty different Marauders all standing in front of them typing away in some cases and standing still in others.
He looked back forward as he moved, at the end of the bridge, in front of the central window was the command chair. From that one space, if the mind was capable, one could control the entire ship. He stepped around the chair which to be honest looked more like a throne then he would like but he also knew that it had to, there was a lot of technology in the command chair so it had to be a little bigger to accommodate all of it. When he looked out the window he could make out almost the entirety of Genesis from the view.
Taking one final deep breath he sat down on the chair... he sighed. Throne, it was a throne, but he would ignore that for now. Placing both his hands of the arm rests he could feel something rest upon his head, he didn't need to look in order to see the neural links that where now stationed on top of his head. This would be how he controls his ship, closing his eyes he reached into his mind and in a way only he could 'Master El, how does it feel?' Kelex's voice echoed in his own mind.
"It..." he started to speak out loud but found himself unable to find the right words, how would an organic being find a way to describe how it feels to control a machine with its mind, while it wasn't like Clark felt his was Genesis at the moment but he could slightly the strain on his brain process centres, not surprising when one could consider just what he was connect too.
From an outside observer, they would be able to see Clark's eyes adopt a pale purple hue as he was connected to his ship, he looked through all the different cameras of the ship and he could see everyone. He could Tali, Jacob and Ashley in the armoury, the firing range to be specific. Mordin, Samara and Thane in the archives going over so many different topics. EDI, Legion and one of the many different bodies of Kelex within his own A.I core. Tali was still in the hanger standing next to a terminal going over the ship's schematics, which was fine. She wouldn't be allowed to find out anything too important about the ship or how it was made.
On the other parts of the ship, he could see Kasumi and Kelly where within the ship's menagerie, looking at all the different animals he had on board. He let out a chuckle as he could see the two women being smothered by a small horde of Dyrkthers, who are pretty much oversized puppies at the age they're at. Many of the other Normandy crew were wondering around, some in the lounge areas, others just exploring. Joker just looked like he was having fun on the transit system, flying around.
"It feels good" he said to Kelex as he looked back out the front window, nothing was visible past the front of the ship. All he could see was the many different drones that where keeping the hologram of the meteorite that was keeping them hidden "It's time to go, don't you think?" he asked out loud as he typed away on the small keys on his arm rest and soon the large hologram fell away, giving the open view of space.
He made the mental command for all the drones to return to the ship and place themselves in their ports, ready to be stored until they were needed again.
He walked through the ship, with the headache already forming in the back of his skull. Despite the steaming cup of coffee in his hand, Admiral Steven Hackett walked onto his bridge. The two marines standing guard saluted him as he did so, he nodded back at them and made his way inside. The bridge of his own flagship, the SSV Kilimanjaro was a flutter with activity but no more than usual. He nodded towards his own XO, a captain Robert and took his most liked spot just in front of the primary observation window.
He took a sip of his drink and went over to the bridges command table and looked at what was in front of him. The Fifth Fleet had just enjoyed two weeks of shore leave, following a lengthily deployment. Which was the main reason as to why he and his fleet where not investigating the delict Reaper Williams reported to him. In the middle of the table was the sensor data of the Alliance third which were the ones sent to investigate and he was so happy that he convinced Williams to stay on board the Normandy. He could see the entire fleet took a defensive position around the derelict and he could make out a dozen different reports surrounding it, this was exactly what he needed to give to the Alliance chiefs of staff that would convince them of the Reaper threat.
He took another sip and started to go over the bullet points he would use in his own reports to declare a state of emergency and get humanity ready for a full-scale war. At least that was the plan, until a warning light come on from the corner of his eye and he could see some of the bridge personal that were going over the Kilimanjaro's own sensor data. Not looking over completely because he knew it would be waste of time to walk, he instead typed away a few keys on the table and looked at it himself from his own spot -
Hackett almost spat out the sip he just drank, coughing heavily as the hot liquid burned his throat. As soon as he saw it himself, the once organized personal bridge of one of humanity's best ships now turned into a shit show of chaos and panic. The alliance personal started to run back and forth, some typing furiously into consoles while others were shouting into an Omni-Tool communicators or just right at him.
"Admiral, we have an unknown vessel in grid sector Alpha-592!"
"Profiles don't match any known Alliance or Council vessels!"
"Sound general alarm!"
"Look at the size of the fucking thing!"
"How the hell did it get past the 1st fleet at the Charon relay"
The admiral didn't think twice before he threw his coffee into a disposal bin and snapped into action. He quickly brought up his Omni-Tool and got into the ships intercoms systems, his voice was echoed throughout the entire ship just after a loud whistle "General quarters! General quarters! All hands to battle stations!" he lowered his arms and went back to the rest of the crew "Contact the rest of the fleet! Get us in between Earth and that unknown, defensive formation Alpha one" everyone on the bridge began to calm themselves as they listened to the orders of their leader "scramble all fighters"
He could feel the Kilimanjaro's engines hum as the ship followed his command and the large dreadnought began to move. He looked over his shoulder towards his XO "Robert, I need information, right now! What the hell is that thing?" he asked.
The XO moved forward to stand next to him though his eyes were glued to his own Omni-Tool "I don't know sir, this thing just showed up out of know were. Based on what we can see, it's moving fast!"
Hackett lifted his arm and pointed at the comms officer "Ensign, send word to the first fleet at the Charon relay! And someone get me the data up on the Visual up on the holo"
It wasn't even a moment before an image of this unknown contact was the main display of the bridges main holotable. The admiral jaw dropped.
This thing, whatever it was. Was massive, if one looked closer at the image then they would be able to see a small blip next to it and that little blip was his own ship. From what he was seeing, this ship measured just over thirty point six kilometres in length and looked like it had enough weapons to wipe out an entire planet. It looked very sleek in its design down the edges, but the top of the ship looked like it housed a small city based on the multitude of different towers or many sizes scattering across the top just shy of a large central spire further back. He tried not to think about the damage all the weapons he could see would do but he had to think about the worst-case scenario.
"Where the hell did this thing come from!?" he shouted out for all to hear.
"Earliest sighting came from it exiting Satruns orbit. It's making its way towards the Charon relay, ETA thirty seconds" he was told.
"Send a priory message to the first fleet. Tell them they have incoming!" he ordered.
"Sir, I have Alliance council on the line. They're demanding an explanation for all the activity" someone told.
He frowned hard as he heard the news "tell them I'll get back to them later, just give them what we have over a secure link"
"What the hell is this thing?" he heard Robert mutter to himself as he leaned in towards the table, looking closely at the real time image of the ship as it flew away from them, the very fact that it seemed to be leaving brought more relief to him then he liked to admit. Whatever this ship was, he didn't like the idea of his own ships fighting it. He did not like those odds one bit.
Just as Hackett was about to order all fighters to start perusing it, they lost the signal.
Where the ship once was on the holo was now nothing but an empty space and red warning light "What happened?!" he shouted to the bridge "someone, get me sensor data back!"
"I can't sir" a voice called from the side of the bridge "I've lost all visual and all reading. It's gone"
"Gone where!" it was Robert who shouted this time.
"Unknown sir, I've lost all readings. Commencing scans now. There was a tense silence as it seemed almost everyone on the bridge was waiting for a response "I've got nothing" the woman turned around in her chair and looked at the two "It's gone"
As he listened to the quick report, Hacketts mind went a mile a minute. They missed the ship entering their home system and now they've just missed it leaving as well. They had no idea where the hell it came from, what it was, or where it was right now. For all they knew it could be making a B-line right towards them and they wouldn't even know it.
"Keep on high alert, send word to every fleet and every nearby system of what we just saw and I want everything on full battle readiness. Send word to the Citadel about this as well, inform the council of everything we know" with that he turned and left the bridge, planning on moving towards the communications centre and inform the leaders of the human race just what the hell all the fuss was about.
(1) Think the archives within the Jedi Temple in star wars.
(2) Warhammer 40K Legio Custodes Contemptor Dreadnaught.
Alrighty then, before anyone says anything. All that stuff that was seen in the vault is just a bunch of Easter eggs and the like. They're not coming back or going to be mentioned again, it's just funny jokes. Now that we have Genesis all done we can move back to the rest of the story.
Next time: Genesis arrives at the Citadel, Clark meets with the council for the first time while Garrus and Thane get their loyalty missions done.
Next story Update: Project Atlas (P.S: I'm going on holiday next so there may be a delay in when it gets updated)