As the terrifyingly-beautiful technological marvel that was an orbital elevator of the three present near the city they were going to, Ariane could not help herself, staring around at the majestic views of the worlds around them, the great big system of Epsilon Eridani and the world of Reach below them, all teeming with human life, military and civilian alike. It was beautiful.
Elster, meanwhile, remained on guard, eyeing the soldiers sat across from her. None of them exchanged a word or had so much as shifted their position once during the descent. It wasn't a non-recommended or forbidden thing to do aboard a Space Elevator, as it seemed. Movement while standing was prohibited during both descent and ascent, understandably. Who knew how a human body handled that many G-Forces?
Elster remained tense. She had left her toolset on the Penrose, so she hoped she was gonna get her and Ariane's stuff back ASAP. Personal effects of that type were nothing if not important to the two of them. That stuff had been aboard with them since the earliest cycles of their deployment on board that rusty old hunk of junk that damn near killed them. She looked over to Ariane, who also gazed back at her. The Replika girl simply smiled at her girlfriend, who suddenly wore a healthy blush as she smiled back.
The group felt the vehicle's descent begin to slow after a few minutes. Looking out of one of the many passenger windows, the two girls were awed to see it:The city below, the skyline filled to the brim with beautiful glass-and-steel skyscrapers resembling the very futuristic buildings one would find in old, banned comic books from the olden days. Ariane gasped, awed, then beamed, while Elster, despite her awe, focused more on the black-clad soldiers keeping an eye on the two of them.
As the elevator reached the bottom, the crews detached their safety belts and harnesses and all stood up. Dare motioned to the girls to follow them off and led them onto the tarmac of the place. A singular transport with four engines waited for them, painted military green. Guarding it was another soldier in black, who saluted Dare the moment she walked up to him. Saluting back, the woman hummed and climbed aboard.
The two Eusan citizens followed suit, clambering onto the vehicle. The sight of the skyline vanished behind thickly-armored walls of the vehicle. They sat themselves face-to-face with Dare and her squad once again, while the pilot up front was doing the final checks for the vehicle, then sat down as the rear hatch closed. Elster kept staring at the soldiers, who stared right back without even flinching. She hummed, took Ariane's hand in hers, then leaned back into the padded crash seat of the aircraft.
Ariane blushed heartily, garnering a few chuckles out of the soldiery in front of her, then hummed as a pit formed in her stomach. The aircraft took off, direction:The city of New Alexandria. Ariane hummed, then looked to Dare and started, "Hey, captain?" as she tightened her grip around Elster's hand. The ONI officer turned toward her, brow raised behind the strange narrow-visored helmet she wore, before Ariane continued, "Where're we going?"
"Currently, ONI HQ in New Alexandria. Afterward? Well, command decides, though one of our scientists has been incredibly vocal in getting both of you to another installation ASAP after reading the reports from your questioning," Dare replied professionally, causing both the girls a moment of distress. She hummed, looked toward the cockpit, then back at the two girls and added, "Relax. Doctor Halsey just wants to talk. So do the rest of us. I get being suspicious, though."
"Appreciate the fact you understand, ma'am," Ariane nodded, before feeling the aircraft begin its deceleration. She looked through the rear door of the cockpit and gasped. She murmured, "Wait, we're already in the city itself?! How fast did we just...?" as she saw an approaching tower coming ever-closer to the transport aircraft. A few of the soldiers aboard smirked and the pilot and co-pilot both gave thumbs up to the awed Bioresonant Gestalt.
"Fast enough. The Space Elevators aren't far from NA..." Dare noted, then hummed. She blinked, remembered something, then turned to ask, "Did... You two happen to see someone aboard the Black Baron? ODST, brown hair, looks like an absolute dork...?" her voice more subdued. Ariane and Elster both looked to her and the woman shook her head, "Nevermind... No time. We're landing. Pack your kit and let's move, ladies."
Ariane chuckled, murmuring, "Oh, I could feel something when she started talking about Sergeant Buck..." before undoing her Harness and standing up next to Elster. The Replika let out a short chuckle, then led the girl off the transport as the rear hatch opened. The Marines providing them escort descended first, however, onto the retracting landing platform.
The two women jumped off the vehicle and onto the platform, then gasped as they looked out. Below them, there was a thick fog layer obstructing the view below. Around them, skyscrapers as tall as the one they were on rose, various aircraft moving to and fro. Police aircraft, civilian leisure stuff and even some military like the one they'd come in with.
"Woah..." Ariane murmured, tightening her grip on Elster's hand. The Replika hummed and looked at her girlfriend, then at Dare and her team. The intelligence officer was probably smiling behind her helmet, going by the wrinkles Elster barely noticed behind the golden slit visor on her strangely angular helmet. She hummed, squeezed Ariane's hand and smiled at her.
The white-haired beauty beamed back, "It's beautiful... Isn't it?"
Elster gazed out toward the wider cityscape as she thought for a moment on how to best answer. While, yes, it was beautiful, it didn't beat a certain someone beside her. She decided to take a play out of the romances she saw in several of their old movies, stating, "Not quite as beautiful as you..." and that elicited the funniest possible response out of Ariane. The girl's pallid face grew a shade of red about as close to her eye color as it got and one could swear they could see steam coming out of the Bioresonant's ears, not to mention the screech like a squishy children's toy coming out of her mouth. Elster smiled at her adorable reaction, then nuzzled her and kissed her forehead.
"... That had to be the most adorable fucking thing I've ever seen..." Commented a female soldier from next to Dare. The entire crew laughed, while Ariane buried her face in Elster's shoulder to hide her embarrassment, letting out several noises that were akin to words, but with a higher-pitched voice, muffled by the frame of her Replika girlfriend. Elster wrapped an arm around the girl and hummed, smiling.
"Sister, I wish I had something like that," Another soldier quipped, shifting on his feet as the platform finally entered the tower's hangar. Dare waved to Elster and once more showed them to follow, with the Replika nodding calmly and nudging Ariane. The two women then followed their escorts off the Platform, to the sight of several dozen employees staring at them from multiple levels of the tower. As they got off and the pilots exited the aircraft, the vehicle was shifted with its platform onto a layered parking area of sorts.
Entering a lobby and atrium area, the girls were once again gazed upon by the locals. Though, for a moment only, as most then turned back to their business. Dare showed the rest of the soldiers to scatter, pulled out a card as the troopers moved to the armory in a column, then slid said card on a door access panel. One of the three doors ahead opened, revealing a tubular elevator with a glass exterior and metal floors.
The trio then walked inside, with Dare sighing and taking off her helmet. The blonde-haired woman underneath the helmet revealed herself to be one with a strong-ish jawline, but still some features of beauty. She turned to the girls and said, "You'll get asked a few more in-detail questions by the ONI agents present in the room I'm taking you two to. They've read the reports beamed over by the Captain of the Black Mark and have already decrypted the information copied from your ship's Data Drive, so they'll want it confirmed by the acting Gestalt officer aboard."
"Gotcha," Ariane nodded, while Elster seemed to slightly tense up. Ariane hummed, then asked, "What about our ship?"
"She's been sent off to Mars for a verification in the Reyes-McLee shipyards. Y'know, proper patching-up and all..." The woman shrugged, "All your personal belongings will be returned to you once you are either transferred to Earth or... Well, if you want, given positions within the UNSC. We need all the help we can get, especially from fellow humans who can do what you do."
Ariane hummed, looked to Elster and said, "We were hoping to send a ping back to home about us being okay..."
"That's already being worked on, too. A transmit system to attempt to make contact with the Eusan Nation is being currently prepared here on Reach," The woman replied, shifting casually from one foot to the other to keep herself busy. The Bioresonant smiled at the news, then elbowed Elster gently in her shoulder. Replika girl nodded approvingly, moving her hands behind her back. Dare raised her hands and said, "I can't promise it'll work, but..."
"We get it," Ariane nodded, smiling, "Thank you all for... Doing so much."
"Hey, we're all humans," Dare replied as the elevator descended to the bottom-most floor of the place. The door slid open and Dare motioned to them to go, "I'll be going back with my team. We're investigating something in another part of Reach. You two ladies take care of yourselves."
"Thank you, captain," Ariane replied, smiling, even with the troubling weight of the place they were in pressing on her shoulders. She and Elster stepped out to the sight of another agent of ONI, this one clad in a black jumpsuit. She motioned for them to follow farther down the hallway ahead as the elevator dinged, the door closed and it began to climb back up to the top. The two Eusan nationals followed the ONI agent down the hall and to the right at a T-intersection. The woman pulled a card out of her pocket, slid it against a scanner and a door to the right slid open. The two entered the place, finding it to be a room with a couple of recessed LED lights, a table and a couch in the middle.
"Please, take a seat, ladies. Chief Hanlon will be here in a minute to talk to you both..." The ONI agent stated. The two complied and, seeing that, she left, the door closing behind her. Ariane looked around, a bit surprised at the sight of the place, while Elster was seemingly already figuring out avenues of escape. Ariane couldn't exactly tell what was going on in the mind of her girlfriend. She just knew that the situation called for calm and cooperation with the UNSC for now.
"It's alright, Els," Ariane said, "We'll be fine."
"I know," The Replika noted, then looked at the camera in the top-right corner. Considering the red light, it was on. Understandably.
Ariane also noticed the cam. She smiled and waved, then leaned toward Elster and whispered as quietly as she could, "Feels like the Protektors' office," which got Elster even more tense than prior. The worst part was that Ariane was not wrong by any metric. It was pretty much just like that. That was what worried the LSTR unit right now. What would this place, a supposedly 'free' state, need a secret police for?
She paused as the door opened, noting several clicks in rapid succession. Then, in walked a redhead with short hair. The man's piercing, ice-cold blue eyes locked onto Elster and Ariane and the jet-black pistol in the black leather holster on his belt was worrying. Still, the man hummed, gauged them for a moment and gave a calm nod, before greeting, "Good afternoon, ladies," his voice smooth, friendly, "I'm Chief Edward Hanlon, UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence, Section Three."
He pulled out a strange tablet from his pocket and thumbed it as he sat himself down across from them, "I'm going to presume you two are miss Ariane Yeong and LSTR Unit 512, belonging to the newly-recovered scout ship of a same numbered designation. Having read the reports, as much of the decrypted database of your ship as I could and the questionnaire given unto you by the crew of the frigate that recovered you, I have to say... A lot of this seems nigh-unbelievable."
"And yet it's the truth," Ariane replied calmly.
The man shrugged and nodded, "I'm well aware, miss Yeong. The simple fact of your presence here is a decent confirmation. Still, the fact that there's a human system as-of-yet undiscovered by the UNSC is both tantalizing and terrifying news. We're not here to discuss this particular issue. I and my employers are more interested in the issues pertaining to what is called 'Bioresonance' in multiple of the shipboard logs and reports... Not to mention the data on the LSTR Unit is also fairly important."
Ariane frowned, then stated bluntly, "Elster's not just a machine. You know that, right...?"
"We have sentient rights, miss Yeong, so, yes, we know miss 'Elster', as you call her, is more than just a machine," Hanlon replied impassively, his face a stone mask that was unreadable to either of the girls. He kept re-reading something on the tablet he held, before stating, "However, that doesn't mean we can't be curious about her kind. Replikas, that is."
"... I guess that's fair..." Ariane nodded, uneasy. She took Elster's hand under the table and the Engineer Replika squeezed it gently, trying to calm her down. The man continued reading whatever he was reading, before setting the tablet down and grabbing one of the two carafes of water and a glass and pouring himself a drink. He hummed, took a sip to water his throat and looked forward once more.
"Similarly, we're interested in what little we could read about your powers, miss Yeong, though we won't do anything... Out of pocket to learn what we want." He stated, though that didn't inspire a lot of confidence in either girl, both feeling the oppressive air in the room weighing heavily down upon them. Swirling the water in the glass slowly, he continued, "I do have a few more questions I'd like to ask you before you are both sent from here to another facility, if you don't mind answering. Provided you do, we can provide you good accommodations for the duration of your stay. Maybe even a fast-track to UEG Citizenship, if the Eusan don't mind the duality."
Ariane blinked, looked forward and was about to speak, but Elster cut her off, stating, "We don't know the views of the Nation in regards to dual citizenship as you are proposing it, Chief Hanlon. We can report back and ask our people once the relay we heard about is calibrated and linked," as she eyed the Secret Policeman. Best not to answer anything before they were sure they'd get what they needed.
"Understood," Hanlon didn't even flinch, "If you don't mind the questionnaire, then? We can offer asylum at the very least after it."
"Please," Ariane nodded, then squeezed Elster's hand. Elster felt her mind ping for a moment, before feeling some of the tension in her body leave. She sighed deeply, noting that Ariane had probably used a bit of her Bioresonant powers to relax her. A mild, easy and weird use of such powers, but it was good Ariane remembered she still had them. Hanlon seemed to have noted Elster relaxing, seeing as he hummed.
Calmly, the man added, "Very well, let's begin..." and he tapped a button on his tablet, "SITREP-001, ONI SEC-3, Chief Hanlon, UNSC ID-551212-1-EH, communique Code Azure Encryption. Case PENROSE FIVE-ONE-TWO, recovered individuals, Exploration Ship Officer Ariane Yeong and LSTR-512 Maintenance Unit, called 'Elster' by officer Yeong, henceforth will be referred to as such during interview. Interview Number Oh-oh-Two, date, late 20th of July 2552, standard Military Calendar. We may begin. Officer Ariane Yeong."
"Yes, sir," The girl now tensed, looking at the man.
"First question is to be addressed to you." The man explained with a cold, calm voice as he looked over the questions on his tablet. He added, "As officer of the Exploration Ship Penrose-512, your answers will be taken most carefully under scrutiny and will be judged with utmost care by the UNSC, Office of Naval Intelligence and the UEG at large. Please answer as truthfully as possible so that we may all go home with a better understanding of you, the people of Eusan and what we may confront when entering your Solar System, should we ever go there. Understood?"
"Clear as day, sir." Ariane replied tersely, though she tried to remain friendly.
"Very good." Hanlon offered a nod. He looked at his tablet, thumbed it and scrolled down to the first question. Looking up at Ariane and maintaining eye contact with the Gestalt Officer/Bioresonant, the man asked with as calm a voice as he could, "Then, the database we were given by your Engineer, Elster, denotes the existence of a system-nation known as the Eusan Nation, is that correct?"
Ariane replied, "Yes, that's our home." As she tugged at the collar of her UNSC-given uniform. Elster herself seemed to grow tense once more as she scanned the room, part of her old instincts kicking in, as it seemed. She didn't even know she had the survival skills or training to look for a way out. She also noted the wall to their right was, in fact, a one-way mirror. There were more people listening to them than just Hanlon or the recording device on his strange tablet.
"I see. And the Eusan Nation, as per both the logs and the interview undertaken aboard the UNSC FFG-960 Black Baron, the nation was born out of a revolutionary action against a supposed system-wide Empire that held many people, both Humans, or Gestalt, as they are referred in the Database, as well as Replikas such as Engineer Elster herself, under its thrall." The man hummed, then chewed on his thoughts for a moment and asked, "Is that correct?"
"Yes." Ariane nodded.
He continued, "And the Empire and Eusan are still engaged in what can best be described as a Civil War over the System itself, yes?"
"Yes." Ariane nodded again.
"Understood." The man hummed, then continued with a professional tone, "Denoting the threat that war may pose to any possible arriving staff that would attempt a diplomatic approach, ONI wishes to know if we should consider the Eusan People's Army, Navy and Air Force as possible threats. The AEON exploration ship you came here with is currently, as I am sure you are aware, undergoing assessment as it travels to Mars. Should we expect a hostile response from your people?"
"I hope not, honestly." The Bioresonant stated meekly, before looking the man in the eyes, "The Eusan Nation just wanted all of us Gestalts to be free, same for our comrades, the Replikas. Sure, their methods are a bit... Inhibiting, but... At least I'd hope they'd see the logic in allowing someone as strong as the UNSC and UEG, who seem to own multiple Solar Systems, to help us in being rid of the Empire. We've made a lot of sacrifices for the War Effort..."
Inhibiting? The man made a mental note to rummage through the files on Eusan once more after they released these girls, continuing with the questionnaire by simply adding the clarification, "Understood, but I was more asking if we should be worried about the armaments your people bear. They must be the same as the Empire's. If you could tell us anything you know...?"
"Oh, that? Well..." Ariane blushed, a little embarrassed. She chuckled awkwardly and scratched her cheek, then replied semi-confidently, "I don't think you folks should be worried, honestly..." All while Elster was trying to figure out what they wanted from this. She hummed as Ariane added, "From what I've seen aboard UNSC ships, you guys have the number advantage, though I haven't seen your guns and stuff in play, so I can't make an accurate deduction."
"Mm..." The man sighed deeply, seemingly a little disappointed in the reveal. He continued, "I see. Very well. Onto the next question..." Then he squinted and read, "Bioresonance. Bioresonance is a supposedly less-understood property various Gestalts such as yourself, plus various Replikas can manifest. A very powerful ability, one might even say something akin to the powers of a god. Is it real and can it do the listed items within the database, such as..." He looked at the list, "Klimaforming, world shaping and telekinesis, not to mention a few other abilities that seem out of the realm of fantasy?"
"Oh, Bioresonance is real, yeah." Ariane grinned proudly, "I mean, here, look..." and she focused hard on the water carafe on their side of the table, gently lifting it up without touching it and pouring it into a glass. Elster narrowed her lips at the sight, wondering just how in-trouble this was gonna get them. Ariane, however, continued her work proudly. She smiled, set the carafe down and picked up the glass with her hands, taking a sip.
The man looked back to make sure the Camera was still working and Elster finally spotted the small com bead in his ear. He hummed, then nodded and stated, "I see..." as he jotted down a few notes on Bioresonance. Ariane looked to the concerned Elster and used her Bioresonance to calm her down again. Elster sighed deeply, rubbed her temples and took Ariane's hand. This was gonna be a weird day.
Ariane blinked, hummed, then smiled and remembered, adding, "And yes, we use it to Klimaform new planets for human habitation. It's a draining process, but I've practiced a lot for the Penrose program to be able to do it. Still takes a few days..." as she took another sip of water and sloshed it around in her mouth a bit, watering bits that were drying out due to the talking.
"Days." The man blanked for a moment, eyes shooting wide open before he corrected himself and put his mask back on, so to speak. He stated rather bluntly, "Officer Yeong, we have Terraforming technology akin to this and for us it takes years to get a planet to any acceptable level of habitability." Surprising both Ariane and Elster. They had technology to Terraform stuff? Huh, talk about useful...
"... Okay, maybe weeks...?" Ariane replied meekly... Elster squeezed her hand to reassure her.
"I see..." He cast a sideways glance at the one-way mirror to the side, before looking both of them in the eye and replying with some professionalism, "Duly noted. A couple more questions for you before we move on to miss Elster. Do you understand the fact that the UNSC and UEG seek to offer you and your compatriot asylum here until we can make contact with your people, but that this comes at a cost? You do know we are currently at war, yes?"
"Yeah. The ship crew told us a bit about your war, but said it was on some faraway worlds of yours..." Ari nodded, while Elster tensed. Ariane asked hopefully, Right?"
Elster noted the man's hesitation night immediately. Still, he answered them with the same thing the crew had said, "... Yes..." before switching subjects rather quickly. Something even Ariane picked up on, considering the fact she elbowed Elster. The man said, "Moving on, do you also understand that the UNSC and ONI may seek to learn about your powers, to see if we cannot cultivate them for our own defense?"
"Yeah...?" The girl nodded, calm and understanding, while Elster remained tense as a fucking wire being tugged at on both sides. Continuous attempts by her beloved to soothe her worked every once in a while, but Ariane was more focused on answering questions that felt like violations of the State Secrets of Eusan. Still, Elster could only bite down on her worries for now and let Ariane speak. And speak, Ariane did. "I mean, it'd probably bring you on even footing with the Empire and our Nation, at least... Oh, yeah, right, you guys seem far more advanced tech-wise than us, so..."
"Mm. Would you be okay with us allowing some of our doctors to do some tests? Non-invasive, of course, so they can learn about it?" The man questioned, calmly. It was good to know that they were probably more advanced technologically than both sides of a system-side Civil War. Still, the uneasiness of the Replika grew noticeable to the ONI agent's trained eyes. She seemed to be casting continuous glances at her girlfriend.
Ariane shrugged, though, careless, then replied unsurely, "... If it gets us a place to stay until we can contact home, sure, I guess...?"
"Ariane." Elster whispered, her voice stern, hard as stone, as she gently tugged at Ariane's hand. Ariane was surprised by the gesture, looking at her with wide eyes. Elster, however, seemed dead serious about this, enough so that Ariane soon realized that she had gone with the flow and calmly answered questions that could easily damn both of'em if Eusan ever learned about it. Not only that, but she agreed to be a guinea pig for them... Eh.
"It's fine, Els... They're talking about diplomatic missions, not a war." The girl whispered back, caressing Elster's shoulder with her free hand, then cupping her chin with said hand. The Replika paused for a moment, blinked and thought about the process ahead of them. Would Eusan accept that as an explanation? Would they think the two of them traitors? Would their people besmirch them and hate them...? Or would they be hailed as heroes for bringing an army to the System to end the Civil War? Elster did not know the answer. Nobody truly knew the future. Alas...
"... Right..." She relented, shoulders sagging as she loosened the tension in the joints and bowed her head, leaning into Ariane's hand. The Bioresonant beamed and pecked the girl on the cheek, which got a blush out of the Replika, both almost forgetting they're still in the presence of someone, or a bunch of someones, going by the one-way mirror and the camera.
The officer cleared his throat, taking their attention back to the matter at hand and getting both of them to go tomato-faced. He blinked, tapped his tablet to turn it back on, then continued, "Onto you, then, Engineer Elster. You are a Replika, right?" eyeing Elster. The girl paused for a second, to register the fact that she'd finally been addressed by him. A short hum escaped her lips as she decided to speak normally.
"Yes." She nodded, without hesitation.
"Anything you can tell us about yourself or any supposed fellow Replikas?" He inquired, already jotting down notes on her behavior.
"Nothing you probably haven't learned from our logs already." She shook her head and crossed her arms. That was something they could've easily gleaned out of the database and both of them knew it. He was just testing her to see something, she assumed.
"I see..." The man hummed and rubbed his eyes, before setting the tablet down and closing the window. There was just that question. Was he planning on winging it? It didn't matter. He added calmly, "Then I suppose there's nothing we could ask you beside if you would be interested to earn a living alongside miss Yeong while you wait for a return trip home?"
"... How?" Elster blinked, surprised. That caught her off-guard.
The man opened his tablet and opened another window, then turned it toward Elster and Ariane. Two documents to sign. A Non-Disclosure Agreement for Ariane that included all the info necessary on what work was gonna be done on her, as well as a 'binding work contract' for Elster, stipulating even the amount of money she'd hearn. The man stated, "Learning to repair UNSC equipment. Our War Effort is straining us, even with it being..." And he hesitated again, as if the supposed lie tasted bitter. Yet, he still added, "Distant... So we need capable hands for everything. Engineers and scientists especially."
"... Okay. If it means I can stay with Ariane while the tests are being done." Elster had taken a second to think. She thumbed her signature onto the tablet and was surprised to see that it... Actually confirmed it. Huh, colored impressed she was, the technology necessary for touchscreens being something beyond awe-inspiring to both her and Ariane for some reason.
"We'll do our best to keep you two together, miss Elster." The man replied. This one was with little hesitation. Rather quite direct and straightforward, in fact. Elster was glad they got that much, at least...
"That's all I'm asking..." She stated, then pulled her lover close and said with steel in her gaze, "I only care about her."
"Sweet, if a little selfish, but very well..." The man sighed and stood up, "That concludes our interview. We will provide asylum request forms within a few minutes of me departing to file my report, ladies. If you need anything, just wave to the camera and one of my staff will come assist you. We will also let you know within the allotted time to what facility you will be travelling for the work. Farewell."
The two girls looked at each-other...
Aboard the Pelican that headed the route to their new home, the girls, now asylum seekers within UEG Space, were sat together. Across from them was a pair of UNSC Marines that were also being transferred to this place, called 'CASTLE Base' by the UNSC. It was apparently an ONI Base deep within a mountain range on Reach. Menachite Mountain it was called, if Elster remembered correctly.
"Elster?" Ariane started, whispering and taking the Replika out of her thoughts before she got any deeper into a sort of spiral. She looked to her lover, then raised a brow, to which Ariane spoke, "Do you think I was a bit too forthcoming with information? Because I just... Realized when we were boarding the gunship, I talked like a parrot, just jabbering on about everything... Think we're in danger?"
The fact that Ariane realized it on her own was not surprising. Dear miss Yeong was the smartest Gestalt Elster had met in her admittedly-short life since coming out of the factory. Alas, she could only admit that, "Yes... Maybe a bit too much. But do you trust them? The UNSC, I mean? That they only want to interact with our people?" because she knew that spouting that much stuff was tantamount to treason.
At the same time, if they brought forth Allies to help their Nation beat the Empire, then they'd be hailed as heroes. Eitherway, it was a gamble that was nowhere near close to 50/50 odds in Elster's eyes. She was not a betting woman, though, so she could've been wrong. Ariane sighed, then looked to her and said, "Sorry... Maybe we should've just... Shut up..."
"We'd probably be in one of their prisons right now." Elster replied, squeezing her hand. The girls hummed and looked toward the Marines. Two of them had fallen asleep on the third's shoulders. And the poor woman was looking mighty tired of their shit. She tipped her cap at them, arranging her rosary around her neck. Oddly, she seemed to bear similar features to someone Ariane knew.
The Marine woman spoke, "You been staring for a hot second, kids. You good?"
"Just wondering," Ariane, "Who're you?"
"Sergeant Zhao Heng Lopez. Call me Lopez or Sarge," She stated bluntly, "Not a lot to talk about with me, you two. I'm just here to get you to that weird old lady, Doctor Halsey... Then I'm back aboard the Red Horse with these two chucklenuts asleep on my shoulder," and she shifted uneasily, before barking, "Benti, Cranker, wake the hell up!" which awoke the two other Marines, one of whom was wearing white armor.
Ariane chuckled, while Elster shook her head. The vehicle touched down on the side of a mountain face, slowly drifting inside the maw of the mountain itself. The Marines disembarked, with Lopez giving one motion of the hand. The two other Marines held guard next to the vehicle as she marched inside. The woman murmured, "Swear to Christ, I hate ONI shit..."
"Take it you're not very fond of working with the Secret Police, Sergeant?" Elster inquired. Lopez snorted.
"Girl, if these bastards were the Secret Police, half of the UNSC would be in chains by now and there'd be nobody fighting... Nah, I just hate the cloak and dagger shit. I'm a Marine after all. We like stabbing people in the front, not the back," She looked back to Elster and flashed a grin. Visible now, were the scars of her injuries. The woman was middle-aged and quite a rough beauty.
Elster sighed. Entering into the base through a multitude of security checkpoints where cameras, soldiers and ONI agents kept an eye on them all the way down to their intended target area, the girls finally reached the complex where the lab of the doctor they'd be working with was. It was so deep underground, it might as well have been a bomb shelter.
Lopez slid a security access card across a reader and the door opened, revealing a mess of a laboratory where a woman seemed to be working. Grey-haired and with her back turned away from them, the woman toiled away at something on the table there, next to a smoothed metallic wall, a lamp blaring a bright white light down on the work space. She spoke, her voice stern, "Leave whatever it is on the table somewhere. I will get to it in due time," before murmuring, "Damnable preparations are nearly done for RED FLAG..."
"Doc," Lopez started, "PENROSE case is here."
She paused, stopped whatever she was doing and turned around. The girls now noticed the various cups of coffee, either empty or half-drunk and rotting away on the desks. She turned around, revealing a tired-looking old woman that resembled more a grandmother that aged really well than a mad scientist. She pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose and arranged her turtleneck and labcoat, stating, "Sergeant Lopez..." with an impassivity that was nigh-mechanical.
"Yo," Lopez waved, "Job done. We got them here. I'll be going."
"Yes, yes. Farewell, Sergeant. Take care..." Halsey murmured, eyes focused on Elster and Ariane. Lopez hummed, smirked and looked at the two, before giving them a wink and stepping away. Ariane caught a faint red tint on her cheeks until Lopez left and the door hissed shut and locked behind them. Halsey, meanwhile, stared both of them down like someone scrutinizing their next piece of work, "PENROSE Case. Miss Ariane Yeong and miss Elster. I read your files and the recent ONI interrogation. Quite an interesting pair, you two... My name is Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. Welcome to OMEGA Section, CASTLE BASE. If you'll make yourselves comfortable, I'll be right with you." She hummed, then called out, "Kalmiya."
"Yes, doctor?" A disembodied, soft voice spoke, scaring the two.
"Give me a tenth of your processing power for the following tasks:Prepare and send a series of manuals on various pieces of UNSC equipment to the tablet prepared for miss Elster and prepare the sterile room for me to check on officer Yeong, please..." She requested as she plucked up the only cup of fresh coffee the girls saw and took a sip. She nodded approvingly, while Elster and Ariane found somewhere to seat that wasn't dirty with discarded food trays and empty paper cups. Halsey added, "Add in some classified documents as well. Project MJOLNIR's latest additions, the Mark-V and the still-prototype Mark-VI, shield generator and reactor specifics included. I fully intend to send our new friend out with the ability to fix everything... Everything but the Kitchen sink, as the euphemism goes... Cortana can wait two minutes."
"Right away, doctor." The AI replied and the PA dinged.
"Who was...?" Ariane blinked, surprised.
"An Artificial Intelligence I utilize for multitudes of tasks here," Doctor Halsey murmured as she sidestepped some trash on the floor and approached Ariane and Elster. She stopped in front of them, tidied up her hair a bit, then extended her hand, her face impassive, "Excuse the hurry. A major... Item of interest... Is set to occur within a few days. I have a lot of work I need to do still."
"We understand," Elster replied. She and Ariane both shook doctor Halsey's hand. Halsey nodded, hummed and walked back to her work station. Elster now noticed that there was an armored breastplate painted OD Green laying on said table. Ariane was still awed, looking around at all the tech just laying, strewn about. It was chaotic as all hell, but Doctor Halsey seemed to know where was what and when. Ariane's little look-around, however, was stopped by the audible groan of her stomach.
"Feel free to order any food you want from the terminal on desk three. And order me the same item that is saved on the top-left menu, please," Halsey jabbed a pointer finger without even looking away from her work. She stated, then she murmured to herself, "It is lunch after all. Not a healthy idea to work on an empty stomach..." as both Ariane and Elster stood up and walked to order. The two women looked at Doctor Halsey, then at the touch-screen terminal.
Ariane tapped it and gasped as the screen moved smoothly. She smiled and looked to Elster, before pulling up a menu to order the items. She tapped Doctor Halsey's previous order once... Then two more times. The food, whatever it was, seemed appetizing enough. Halsey, meanwhile, switched to another desk and began working on that item of interest. Elster hummed and Ariane stared, surprised.
Woman was a workaholic...