Warning! This story will have lots of swearing, violence, and blood/gore. If you don't like that, then this probably isn't for you and you shouldn't be reading this.
"Yes, I am Zero." = Regular speech
What is he up to? = Thoughts
"Where are you, young one?" = Telepathic speech
"Hello, I am your PDA." = The PDA is speaking
/Can you understand me?/ = Sign language
I don't take any credit, nor do I own Code Geass or Subnautica. This story is purely for fun and my entertainment only.
Ch. 18: Access Denied
Once exactly twenty minutes had passed, Lelouch figured the thing had lost interest and decided to go explore somewhere else. Checking outside at the helm just in case, as soon as the cost was clear Lelouch decided it was time to leave and head back to the island as quickly as possible lest it come back.
"...Go… It is near… Waiting…"
He deployed the Seamoth to get closer to the island, just in case.
. . .
As he docked the Seamoth closer to the shoreline, but made sure not to beach it, Lelouch jumped out of the vehicle and quickly speed-walked back to land. With each step, the ravenette felt his fears and anxieties lessened bit by bit, until it was gone completely.
Who am I kidding? I definitely overreacted to that thing. How embarrassing. Lelouch chastised himself as he made his way towards the alien console. It didn't even do anything to warrant such a reaction from me, yet I was so scared of it. Pathetic, this planet has me jumping at anything and everything. I'll be sure to rectify that next time if I ever meet it.
"Hey Lelouch! Up here!"
Hearing Suzaku's bellow from up high, Lelouch blinked and took an imaginary step out of his thoughts. Dichromatic eyes slowly looked up, up, and up all the way near the very top of the naturally made mountain. The blinding sun caused him to raise a single cape extension to block it from his eyes and better see where his best friend's voice was coming from.
There from on high, he could just barely see Suzaku's white diving suit and Kallen's own red suit and hair. Lelouch's eyes widened in shock at how quickly they managed to get to the top of the mountain. God, they're quick. It made him wonder if he had been slowing them down the entire time they explored the Floating Islands. If he was a burden.
He didn't want to think about that.
"How the hell did you two get up there?!" Lelouch hollered as loudly as he could to be heard.
It took a moment, but a faint shout from Kallen could be heard. "There's a little ramp leading up if you go to the right of the door! We'll meet you halfway down!"
"Watch out for Cave Crawlers!" Suzaku warned right after, and then they were gone.
"Huff, jeez." Lelouch grumbled to himself, looking up at all of the steps he'd have to take to meet back up with them, intimidated. "As if I don't get enough exercise by just swimming everyday. Now I have to climb another mountain, jolly." The man's sarcasm was so obvious Lelouch couldn't make it anymore clear.
All the same, Lelouch still followed Kallen's instructions, and eventually he did find a ramp that led further up the mountain. Following it and the occasional alien lantern lighting the way, he eventually came across the broken fragments of another purple tablet. The purple glow had died the moment it was broken probably.
Over the alien structure connecting the skyscraper to the island, Lelouch walked until he was on the other side of the island. The revolutionary looked out towards the wreckage of the Aurora far out in the distance. No matter how hard he tried to look, Lelouch couldn't find the other island, even though he knew where it should be according to the Aurora. If he could see the Aurora, regardless of how massive the ship was, then he should've been able to see the island as well despite how small it might've been in the distance.
Hmm, perhaps the aliens made a sort of cloaking device for the islands as a way to protect their buildings. Lelouch theorized as he advanced up the path and towards the insides of the mountain itself.
With how dark it was, Lelouch pulled out his flashlight and turned it on before advancing. The skittering and chittering of Cave Crawlers echoed out, but Lelouch couldn't find where they were no matter where he turned. The only ones he could find were the deceased bodies of some that probably tried attacking Kallen or Suzaku and died in the process. Lelouch wouldn't be surprised if the Cave Crawlers consumed them in an act of cannibalism. It was survival of the fittest after all on this planet, and they were just animals running on instinct.
Alien lanterns helped light up the inside of the cave just a bit, showing off the huge, thick metal cables winding throughout the entire cave structure and further ahead. It all looked like a huge maze in there, but instead of trying to find his own way, Lelouch figured out an easier way.
"Hey!" Lelouch cried out, and his voice echoed so loudly in the cave system Kallen and Suzaku had to have heard him. "Which way do I go?"
Once his echo had died down, Suzaku's own started up. "To the left up the ramp! Keep to the left!" He sounded closer than before.
"Local scans indicate an abundance of mineral deposits in this area." The PDA advised, and Lelouch raised an intrigued eyebrow at the notion. That will definitely be useful news.
Following his orders to the T, Lelouch went up the slight incline that led further up the mountain. Keeping to the left even when it meant doubling back once he got to the second level. Careful so that he wouldn't fall and break a leg, Lelouch slowly walked over the stone arches and further up the mountain. The genius occasionally picked up stray lithium and broke shale outcroppings the other two failed to see.
Just as he exited out of the cave system again and into the light of the afternoon sun, a blotch or red and white was visible out of the corner of his eye. After taking a moment to look at the higher view he had of the world, Lelouch turned to Kallen and Suzaku heading his way. "Ah, there you two are. How did you guys get up here so quickly?"
"Well, we originally didn't plan on it." Suzaku shrugged harmlessly as he looked out towards the horizon. "But after you took so long we got bored, and figured it'd be interesting to look around at what we could see."
"I was only gone for twenty minutes." Lelouch deadpanned.
"What? No you weren't." Suzaku objected, his eyebrows raised high at Lelouch's statement. "Dude, you were gone for like an hour. If we hadn't gotten so high up on the mountain and had to constantly deal with Cave Crawlers we probably would've investigated to see if you were alright." His brow furrowed in concern. "Are you alright? What took you so long?"
"Oh, I'm perfectly fine. I just ran by a strange new purple creature, but it didn't seem aggressive and it just left me alone. I just wanted to be safe and waited until it left… An entire hour though?" Lelouch said that last bit to himself as if in disbelief, before shrugging it off. Sure, he was a little worried about the new purple creature, but he wasn't that worried, was he? "Huh, must've taken longer looking for the purple tablet than I thought. I could've sworn it was only twenty minutes."
"Well anyway, while you were doing that we actually found quite a lot too!" Kallen butted in and used her one hand to sift through her bag before just opening it and showing its entire contents to Lelouch. "Turns out you didn't need to get that tablet we found before, because we managed to find two more just laying here on the island." She closed her bag and threw it back over her shoulders. "Then there was another one of those monument arch looking things too. We can show you what we saw if you'd like real quick."
"That would be nice." Lelouch agreed easily, and soon after they were off. Not before Suzaku demanded that they take a picture from the very top of the mountain. Both for the scenic view and to document the giant alien building.
Because wow, that thing was huge. What were the chances that they would come across another giant alien structure like that in their lifetime? In the negatives most likely.
Yes, this island was MUCH more productive and useful than the Floating Island. While it had another mysterious arch with an unclear purpose and more alien tech, it had a ton of resources too. Tons upon tons of shale outcroppings and lithium deposits just begging to be plucked from their hiding places and used for other things. The place also had a lot of Crawlers, but as Lelouch expected once they had dragged away their fallen comrades they paid less attention to the humans and more towards their food. The only downside Lelouch could fault the island for, besides the Crawlers of course, was the caves themselves. There were so many ways to twist, turn, and move around the island that it was almost like a labyrinth. It was easy to get lost in. One moment the group would find themselves facing the massive alien building, and the next they'd be on the other side of the island completely.
Even with near photographic memory Lelouch struggled to orient themselves within the cave system that had a cave system within it.
At one point Suzaku had even slipped and fell through a hole in the floor since the caves were so dark near the island's center. The sheer panic both Lelouch and Kallen felt at Suzaku just suddenly vanishing with an abrupt scream made their hearts squeeze in anxiety. Thankfully, it turned out that there was a huge pool of water that had helped cushion his fall since it wasn't too high up. When Lelouch shoved his flashlight through the hole to look around, the place was like a secret chamber or oasis hidden within the very heart of the island. Suzaku being right in the center of the water, rubbing the side he had smacked on to help soothe the sore muscles from the impact against the water.
Seeing as he was fine and there was no visible way back up, Kallen and Lelouch followed right after him. One quick dive under the surface showcased an even bigger, and even more elaborate cave network than the one above the waves.
"No." Kallen objected once they ventured a bit further beneath the waves and still somehow breached under 100 meters below the surface. "I'm not going to risk getting lost in here and end up drowning as a response. If I had the Seamoth, maybe, but definitely not without it."
"There's an exit over there." Suzaku pointed out where a little bit of daylight was still visible. "Let's get out of here and finally get a look inside that building." Without further prompt, the group did just that. After taking a moment to store whatever resources they could into the Seamoth, and a quick lunch break later, the group was right back where they had started.
Though, there was some fun to be poked at regarding Lelouch deploying the Seamoth. "I can't believe you deployed the Seamoth to move like 50 yards through the water." Kallen teased as she playfully nudged into Lelouch's side. "Are you afraid to exercise again after swimming for so long?"
"It's not like that at all." Lelouch objected with a sour look and narrowed eyes. "I saw a new creature looking at the Cyclops and I thought I'd better take the Seamoth back just in case okay? I'm not afraid of a little exercise."
"You totally are." Kallen rebuked with a playful grin.
"Mhm." Suzaku immediately hummed in agreement right after her statement. "Todoh-Sensei would be proud of how far you've come, Lelouch."
"...Shut up." Lelouch grumbled faintly as he pulled out the purple tablet he had obtained from the Oblivion. The teen wordlessly placing the tablet down onto the console, or, he tried too.
Once the tablet came within a few feet from the console it was like the thing had grown possessed. The purple tablet wrenching itself out of Lelouch's hands and into the console with a light click and green electricity flowing over it. The ravenette instantly raised his hands up high as if that would prevent himself from getting harmed in any way, but nothing bad happened. The console merely closed and folded in on itself, and a loud, low droning noise echoed out.
The force field protecting the entryway of the alien skyscraper flickered, and then died completely.
"Awesome!" Kallen did a fist pump before giving Lelouch a high five, something he returned after a moment of contemplation with one of his cape extensions. Immediately, the redhead was off and heading inside the building. "Let's hurry up and look around, see what we can find before the Sunbeam arrives."
"When does the Sunbeam arrive, Lelouch?" Suzaku questioned as they finally stepped foot into the alien base. Their steps echoing off down the metal hallway eerily as silence greeted them. So far, the only thing everyone could see was an empty hallway that went further into the base. Besides the usual glowing green aesthetic of the alien species and the constant droning of the machinery there was no other noise, no other presence.
It was just them.
Taking a moment to look at the PDA, Lelouch responded. "About an hour and a half." Dual colored eyes looked around the long, empty hall uneasily. "Depending on exactly how big this structure is I don't know if we'll have enough time to explore it all."
"Once it gets to 45 minutes left let's turn around then." Suzaku threw his arms around his head as he walked casually forward. "I'd rather get rescued than miss it because I was curious about some weird alien stuff I wouldn't even understand."
"Alright, that sounds good to me." Lelouch agreed
"Scans indicate this structure is composed of a metal alloy with unprecedented integrity." The PDA chimed in, its voice echoing off down the hallway as it spoke. "No matches found in database. Performing structural analysis."
"Oh?" Lelouch's voice rose in unexpected surprise. "So this material hasn't even been discovered by humans in this reality. That's very interesting."
"Well, space is pretty big." Kallen piped in casually as she slowed down a bit to let the two boys catch up. "There's probably a lot of stuff people haven't discovered yet still despite how far humanity has come in this age." The group passed the first archway and entered a strangely designed room. "Jeez, this place is empty." Her voice rebounded off the walls and echoed further down the corridor.
No response came.
"More like abandoned." Lelouch stated as the group weaved around a strangely placed pillar in the middle of the room and advanced forward. The room looked so weirdly designed it was like pillars were all over the place. Columns and rows of the strange metal were organized to look like there was a second floor, but there wasn't. There were no stairs in sight, instead there were just ramps that steadily went up and down at different inclines. "And weirdly designed." Lelouch raised his eyebrows at the sight before him.
It all looked like a big mess in his opinion. He could do better.
There were platforms that probably should've showcased something, but there was nothing on them. The area looked more like a convoluted maze than anything.
"Hey, what's that glowing thing over there?" Suzaku pointed out, and the others followed his finger over towards the far end of the room. Elevated on a pedestal was a glowing green hologram of what looked like a hieroglyph, similar to the one on the purple tablet, but just a bit different.
"Beats me, let's find out." Kallen stated simply and the trio began to speed walk over to the strange thing. Weaving between jutting structures and up ramps as if the place was an obstacle course. "Should you touch it?" The redhead questioned and turned to Lelouch.
"Wha- me!" Lelouch said incredulously before gesturing wildly to Suzaku. "Have him touch it!"
"No way! I don't want to get vaporized or something." Clearly, Lelouch's wild reaction from earlier was still on the brunette's mind.
"Well, I'm not touching it." Kallen spoke firmly and crossed her arms.
"Look, you have a blaze luminous on your suit Suzaku." Lelouch reasoned, and as he gestured his cape extensions mimicked the action. "If you touch it for like a split second I'm sure you'll be fine and nothing will happen."
"You're sure?" Suzaku raised a single disbelieving eyebrow.
"Yes." Lelouch confirmed. "Probably."
"I have so much faith in you right now." The sarcasm in the soldier's voice was so obvious, it was painful.
"Just touch the damn thing already!" Kallen finally shouted out over the two friends' bickering.
"Okay! Jeez." Suzaku hissed, and slowly reached his hand out towards the hologram. Once he was close enough, the Lancelot pilot touched the hieroglyph with a single finger before taking it back as quickly as humanly possible. The brunette's head turned to the side with eyes tightly closed, afraid of the outcome.
"Unknown language. Attempting translation."
The PDA suddenly speaking up out of nowhere caused Lelouch to nearly jump out of his skin. Suzaku opened his eyes, and watched as the revolutionary pulled out the PDA with a confused look on his face.
"Alien Data Terminal
Discovered inside an alien facility, it was not possible to translate any useful information, however scans have returned some information on the device itself.
It is likely a solid-state computer, although there is no clear way to interface with it. On approach it began producing a low-frequency radio wave containing complex but recognizable data patterns.
It is likely the alien species which designed this technology evolved, or genetically selected, sensory apparatus to 'hear' and understand the information being broadcast by the device, and to communicate back. The mental processing power required to perform this kind of telepathy would imply the designers were considerably more psychologically developed than the common human.
Assessment: Further research required."
"So they're data terminals that the aliens could use and manipulate to communicate with others of its kind so long as it was connected to the database." Lelouch breathed in awe. His eyes wide as his mind flew with possibilities. "The implications of this are astounding! The sheer mental fortitude to be able to sift through unknown, staggering amounts of data to communicate and perform the way they would want to has to be near incomprehensible. That's amazing!"
The way Kallen's face screwed up in deep thought showed she was pretty confused about what Lelouch and the PDA just said. "Soo… These guys basically have electronic telepathy?"
"Yes!" Lelouch's cape extensions tapped against the metal floor in his excitement. "Not only that, but they could probably communicate anywhere in the facility using these terminals. Hell, with how advanced these beings seem to be they could probably communicate with each other across the entire planet, maybe even off planet too!" Lelouch looked forward, and seeing as the ramps started to go down the terrorist quickly followed them. "They can 'hear' and 'understand' the information being broadcast, so they could also probably upload and download information from the terminals directly into their heads in a sort of sense! They would be like living, breathing supercomputers."
"Sounds like a hive mind when you put it like that." Suzaku said uneasily as they advanced deeper into the base.
"It very well could be." Lelouch said as he looked around with much more interest than before. "We'd need access to more data terminals and information though before we could confirm that hypothesis."
"Analysis of the patterns on the walls cannot ascertain whether their purpose is aesthetic or functional. Further research required." The PDA announced once again, adding more mystery to these unknown intelligent beings. "Your best probability of interfacing with this facility is achieved by accessing the control room in the lower section."
"Did it just give decent advice?" Kallen questioned, disbelieving.
"Who would've thought the PDA would actually do its job for once." Suzaku remarked as they made it to the next lower level. "At least we're already on the right track."
"More like the only track." Lelouch remarked before his eyes were drawn to a much brighter, glowing green from normal. "Hey, what is that thing?" The group walked over towards a strange, green glowing cube that had just been left on the floor.
It only went as high up as the group's ankles, so it was pretty small to be glowing so brightly. Sitting between two smaller pedestals, as the group got closer the building seemed to sense it. The closer they got a small pillar jutted up from the ground and raised the little cube up further and further until it reached the bottom on their waists.
"Not sure." Kallen shrugged as she leaned forwards to get a closer look at it. "Scan it real quick, maybe the PDA will know." After a moment of doing just that, looking at the PDA did reveal the answer. A very good answer at that.
"This green mineral substance has no entry on the periodic table, and an unprecedented ability to store huge amounts of ionic energy within it.
Likely grown artificially.
Cubic appearance suggests it has been cut from a larger deposit.
Each cube contains the equivalent ionic energy of 5 kilotons of TNT.
Under the right conditions the energy could be released in a controlled manner.
Likely used as batteries, but would require a substantial power source to be recharged.
Assessment: Valuable energy source.
"This thing is a giant bomb!?" Suzaku exclaimed as he took a few steps back from the innocent looking cube in disguise. "How! That thing is so tiny!"
"Fascinating." Lelouch muttered as one of his cape extensions slowly weaved up and poked at the small cube. Everyone reeled back, waiting for it to explode, but instead it merely fell off the platform and harmlessly bounced off the floor towards their feet. "Fascinating!" He repeated much more loudly before scooping the cube up into his hands.
Turning it side to side, the cube sparkled like it was a treasure. Looking at it from all angles, Lelouch found himself more and more impressed with this alien race the longer they explored the building.
"And they built this themselves." Lelouch hummed before quickly storing it into his bag for safe keeping. "They made a huge, near everlasting battery that can be easily used. We're definitely dealing with beings a lot smarter than us, even me." Wasn't that thought somewhat terrifying in and of itself. The revolutionary wasn't used to being the one with the inferior intellect. It would bother him more if the aliens were actually there to flaunt it.
Though it was probably best they weren't here, because Lelouch wasn't too sure if they'd try to kill them or not for trespassing.
"Should you be handling that thing as carelessly as you are Lelouch?" Kallen warned as she looked between the pedestal the cube was at and then back to Lelouch's bag. "One wrong move and we're all dead because of that thing."
"If it didn't explode because of falling on the floor then I'm sure it'll take a lot more than mere roughhousing to break it." Lelouch denied as he started looking around for more of those small yet powerful cubes. "No way these beings would leave such a dangerous threat out in the open if it was super fragile. Especially since their base would be the first thing to go, no matter how strong the metal alloy is."
One trip down another hallway later and the group found not only another ion cube, but a second alien data terminal as well. "Unknown language. Attempting translation." The PDA repeated once Kallen reached the terminal and Lelouch gathered the second ion cube for future use.
"Enforcement Platform Schematic
This data set appears to be a multidimensional schematic of some kind. By mapping the pattern to three-dimensional space it is possible to gather a basic understanding of this facility's internal workings.
Construction Material: The facility's unknown construction material is identified as ultra-hard, non-reactive metal amalgam, synthesized from offworld materials. There is no indication that it can be damaged or destroyed by available means.
Power: The schematic indicates the facility was to be powered by a separate, self-sustaining power plant, located elsewhere on the planet. The location is not listed, but there is evidence the designers intended to harness the planet's natural thermal energy.
Layout: The facility consists of the upper engineering section, where this schematic was found, and the control room, which is accessed via a security-sealed elevator shaft, or a separate underwater moonpool.
Control: The control room in the lower section houses the only known way to interface with the facility. However the schematic does not detail the operation procedure or installed security measures."'
"So they are from off planet. I figured." Lelouch determined as they went further down the only hallway available to them.
"Explains why nobody is even here." Suzaku shrugged as he looked around. Honestly, his eyes didn't even know what to completely focus on.
"There goes the idea of cutting off the power too." Kallen pursed her lips as she walked. "Not only is the metal near indestructible, but their power plant could be anywhere on this planet."
"Actually, not anywhere, I think I have a pretty good idea as to where it could be." Lelouch interjected as he started putting the PDA away. "You see since it says the designers are harnessing the planet's natural thermal energy I believe they built it-"
"Lelouch hold up!"
"Wait, stop!"
"WOAH!" Lelouch hollered as suddenly his stomach felt like it was starting to come up his throat.
"LELOUCH!" Both Suzaku and Kallen yelled, but their voices were starting to get smaller and farther away the longer they spoke, more echoey.
Then Lelouch realized what was happening. He was falling.
Screaming, the ravenette whirled all of his limbs out in an attempt to gather his bearings, but only managed to make himself more disoriented as he spun around as he fell. Green electric-looking particles zoomed by him as he descended towards his demise. The terrorist was so terrified that he accidentally dropped the PDA in his moment of fear.
This was it. He was going to die. All because he was so focused on a stupid screen instead of what was in front of him-
Suddenly, it felt like his descent was starting to slow. A weird feeling in his body spreading from his head to the tips of his toes causing them to curl. It felt like someone or some force was starting to pull him up instead of down. As if gravity had suddenly decided to reverse its polarity for no reason.
But that wasn't possible, the laws of gravity dictated that he should be attracted towards the force with greater magnitude which would have to be the planet's core! There's no way-
Slowly opening dichromatic eyes watched as the PDA idly floated past him and further up what was once thought to be a very long drop. The blue screen spinning as it passed him and went further up the tall expanse.
Lelouch's eyebrows furrowed as fear turned into confusion. He was still alive, and frankly he didn't have a single clue as to what the hell was going on.
"What the fu-"
"Oh my GOD! LELOUCH?!"
Turning up towards the source of the voice, Lelouch watched as Kallen and Suzaku looked down at him. The two looked just as gobsmacked as he felt, minus the weightless feeling. The teen couldn't blame them. Seeing someone who had just fallen a fatal height suddenly flying back up to meet them for no explainable reason was rather confounding.
"What's going on!?" Lelouch questioned as he started floating up closer to them.
Just as the group met at eye level, Suzaku answered. "I have no clue! How are you doing that-"
"AH!" The brunette was cut off as once again, Lelouch found himself falling back down. The two knightmare pilots screamed once again as the terrorist began his descent again. The PDA quickly followed and surpassed him right after.
The duo listened as Lelouch's voice slowly dimmed and went out. Suzaku even took his scuba helmet off and rubbed his eyes to see if this was even real. What the hell was that?
"I think he's coming back up again!" Kallen exclaimed, and from the sound of Lelouch's frantic yelling again increasing, Suzaku would have to say that she was right.
Go figure, the PDA zoomed up past them before idly floating for a moment, and right after Lelouch came flying up from the drop as discombobulated as last time. Perhaps even more so as he struggled to move anywhere on his own.
"Grab him!"
"On it!"
Working together, the two pilots reached out to try and pull Lelouch back towards them.
Unfortunately, that's not what happened.
Instead, the strange green particles and force grabbed ahold of them and pulled them both in as well. Once the PDA fell past them, all three of them found themselves falling.
It was hard to think over the cacophony of everyone screaming as they felt their stomachs rise into their throats and not feel any ground underneath their feet.
Kallen tried grabbing a hold of any edge she could find, but the grooves in the metal architecture were too shallow and smooth to grasp well. She even tried to dig the blades on the sides of her arm into the structure but it was fruitless. Suzaku was stuck falling upside down, and he couldn't change it no matter how hard he tried. Lelouch finally had enough sense to re-right himself as if he was skydiving. His cape extensions expanded outwards to better help balance himself.
The moment the PDA started rising back up towards the top again, Lelouch had enough forethought to catch it with one of his extensions and not let it go.
"What is going ON!" Suzaku hollered as they started going back up again. This time, seeing as nobody was dead or had gone splat yet, everyone's screaming began dying down much more quickly. Olive green eyes looked towards the glowing green particles as they passed them by, and watched as they reached the top floor again before starting to drop back down.
"I- I think this is an artificial gravity elevator!" Lelouch shouted as they started falling again. "We just got sucked into its artificial gravity, and it's trying to decide which floor we want to be on."
"Any floor is good with me!" Kallen screamed as she looked around wildly. "Just get me off of this damn thing before I get sick!"
"There!" Suzaku pointed towards a rapidly approaching exit near the ground floor from his upside down position. The rest looked towards where he was pointing to see the beginning of another hallway. "If we get close to the exit maybe it'll spit us out!"
"Right, get ready!" Lelouch ordered, and everyone tried to orient themselves in preparation to jump as best as they could in an area of zero gravity. "Annnnd, NOW!"
With a loud war cry, everyone started moving themselves towards the exit. As if sensing they wanted off, the artificial gravity suddenly reversed itself, and the trio were instantly expelled from its grasp. Their war cry turned into exclamations of surprise. The group found themselves wildly flying out of the hallway and straight into an enormous pool of water. Three separate splashes ringing out throughout the building as the trio were dumped into the water unceremoniously.
Opening his dichromatic eyes, Lelouch watched as Kallen quickly readjusted herself to being back underwater. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as bubbles flew off her scuba mask. Turning to the otherside, the teen was shocked to see Suzaku frantically grasping for his helmet, which he had taken off earlier, and forcing it back onto his head. Once the water was flooded out of the mask, the brunette took in a deep breath and exhaled shakily in relief.
A flicker of blue caught his eye, and Lelouch watched as the PDA began to sink after he had dropped it again in the chaos of being thrown out of the artificial gravity. Moving quickly, Lelouch grabbed a hold of the important piece of technology before gesturing that everyone start heading up towards the surface.
Once breaching the waters, everyone scrambled to get out of what had to be the moonpool area and back onto solid land. Everyone laid flat on the metal ground as they went lax in relief.
"Finally." Kallen sighed, thanking God for ending that unwanted experience.
"W-What the hell!" Suzaku swore as he turned to lay on his side. "At this rate what have these guys not figured out!?"
"I'm just glad I'm not a pile of blood and broken bones on the floor." Lelouch moaned as he stretched his limbs out, checking if he was okay. A quick glance at the PDA proved that it was fine too, thankfully.
Despite its sass, Lelouch was pretty positive they couldn't survive long without it.
"Where are we now?" Kallen questioned as she started getting up, Suzaku following not long after.
"Pretty sure this is the moonpool the PDA was talking about earlier." Suzaku guessed as they finished regathering their bearings. "Ugh, it seems really big for it to be a moonpool though." The brunette rubbed his stomach as if to ease it from the wild ride it just went on.
"They probably have much bigger vehicles than us." Lelouch reasoned as he looked back into the water. "We should be fine to park our Seamoth or the Oblivion here if we ever decide to come back. Seeing as they perfected artificial gravity so well I wouldn't be surprised if there was some force on the entrance to the moonpool preventing any creatures from 4546B from getting inside. We'll be safe here if we're ever in an emergency."
"Can we please just move on?" Kallen asked, not as excited about exploring anymore than she was before. "We have to be close to the end here. Let's finish up and get back up to the surface before the Sunbeam gets here."
"Do we have to take that elevator again though?" Suzaku bemoaned the mere thought of going back up that thing. His lunch probably wouldn't make it.
"No-" Lelouch cut himself off as that damned familiar roar of a Reaper Leviathan sounded out much closer than before where the Oblivion was located. "Yes."
Well, that answered that question.
Moving on, the group stepped up the pace and made their way further into the building. Not stopping for a second since it was starting to get close to the time the Sunbeam was planning to rescue them. Even when they entered a very huge room that had multiple levels on it and ramps leading up, the group didn't spend too much time in awe over it.
The group split up and looked for four distinct things. The first being any possible room that looked like the control room. The second was obviously any data terminals, while ion cubes were the third priority on the list. Otherwise, there were a few alien cases that had strange looking items in them that Lelouch wanted to take the time to scan and look at later on. While there was no clear way to open them and remove the mentioned items inside, what was inside seemed pretty unique. From a humanoid-looking alien rifle, to another unknown alien archway that required an ion cube to be powered up, all the way to a freaking doomsday device.
Needless to say, everyone was very happy to discover that the bomb that could destroy a good chunk of the solar system had malfunctioned and was inactive.
"Scans indicate the facility's control room lies beyond this doorway."
"Hey! Over here!" Lelouch called out to gather Kallen and Suzaku's attention. The duo came back to reunite in front of another forcefield blocking their way further in. "The control room is past here. What did you guys find?"
"I got an ion cube." Kallen hesitantly gestured to her backpack, still weary of holding what could easily be classified as a bomb in her bag.
"Found another one of those purple tablets too." Suzaku added in before turning towards the console controlling this forcefield. "Just gotta put it in there and boom, we've got access to whatever this place is."
"Careful." Lelouch warned as the brunette took the tablet in both hands and the console started to fold back, exposing the place to put the tablet. "It's got a really strong magnetic pull, so just let it go halfway and it'll do the rest."
"Got it." Following his friend's orders to a T, Suzaku watched as the tablet snapped into place with a click. Seconds after, the forcefield flickered, and then died out completely. They now had access to the most important part of the place. "Let's go."
Walking down the designated walkway, the group waited, tense in case any security measures decided to go off and attack them. Yet, nothing happened. The group looked around to see a ton of really thick metal pillars all throughout the room. Turning the corner, the group instantly came face to face with what had to be the reactor and main power generator for the entire complex.
"Dang." Kallen whistled as they started stepping up towards the giant machine that hummed very loudly. "That's pretty impressive."
Impressive indeed. What should've been a massive engine was instead sleek, small, and simple. The ramp leading up to a much smaller pillar than all the others, and in its center was a bright, glowing neon green energy trapped within a small forcefield. The hum coming from the machine was so loud at this point that the group had to slightly raise their voices to be heard. From the ceiling, three pillars slowly lowered halfway once the trio got close enough to really examine the technology before them.
A tall, thin console right in front of the glowing energy suddenly retracted its top, and out popped a simple button that glowed a gentle green on the edges. A smaller circle lined in the same color right about the button.
"Well, that's somewhat disappointing." Lelouch deadpanned as he looked towards the futuristic engine maintaining the entire place. "All of this, and the control panel only has a single button that's most likely just an on and off switch. How stale."
"The rest of the controls are probably only accessible to those aliens from those data terminals." Suzaku reasoned as he tapped against the forefield containing the near blindingly bright energy behind it. "Probably a security measure in case someone like us were to come along while they were gone."
"Well, they did a rather good job then." Lelouch's face scrunched up in extreme disappointment. "No wonder there are no security measures here. They don't even need them." Despite his words, Lelouch took the time to scan the energy core and see what the PDA had to say about it.
"I guess let's see what it does then." Kallen stated, and without further prompting pressed the giant rectangular button.
Near instantaneously, two side bars popped up around Kallen's wrist, and suddenly a transparent green field wrapped around her wrist.
"Huh!?" Reacting instinctively, Kallen tried to pull her hand back, but found that she couldn't move it even an inch. Her hand spasmed in panic, but she couldn't move her arm at all. "What the hell-!"
Suddenly, the circular symbol above the button popped out of its socket, revealing a very, very long metal cord coming out from the terminal and leaning towards the redhead's face.
"Hey!" Lelouch barked, and tried swiping at the apparently sentient metal contraption. "Let her go!" Dodging out of the way of Lelouch's attack, the thing retreated back into the safety of its console.
"I can't move my arm!" Kallen panicked. Trying to put her full force against the barrier ensnaring her and getting no results.
"Let me help." Suzaku was by her side in an instant alongside Lelouch. The trio worked together and tried to pull with all their might. "Come on!" The brunette tried to mess with the brackets projecting the field holding Kallen's wrist hostage, but got no results from that either.
Suddenly, the long cord sprung back out of its socket. Lelouch instantly tried to snatch the thing up and break it, but even with the help of his cape extensions he couldn't stop it from doing whatever it wanted. Despite the resistance coming from everyone, the machine looked down Kallen's arm, before stilling.
Then, a giant needle that made everyone feel queasy at the mere sight of it ejected itself from the small hole that was in the center of the machine. Without hesitation, the machine then jammed the needle down deep into Kallen's arm.
"AH!" Kallen screamed, her hand spasming in pain as she crumbled onto the floor in pain. Despite that, the machine easily kept up with Kallen's movements, and after a moment released itself from Kallen's arm. The thing had been searching for a suitable vein to take blood from during its initial inspection.
"What the hell!" Lelouch hollered, enraged as the machine quickly retreated back into its console for good this time. The brackets holding Kallen's arm hostage released her, causing Kallen to tumble backwards expectedly from the force she was pulling against it. The console rapidly folded back into itself and returned to normal, as if nothing had happened when clearly a ton had. "What was that for?! Are you okay Kallen?" The ravenette was by Kallen's side within a moment, and quickly helped the redhead stand back up as she cradled her only usable hand to her chest.
"Why is it always my arms!" Kallen hissed in pain before kicking out at the machine, not even leaving a scuff mark. That only served to make her more mad. "I only have one usable arm at the moment damnit!"
It was like the building came alive at that exact moment. The entire building droned out in a series of very deep, baritone sounding clicks, groans, and snaps. "The control panel is broadcasting a message. Translation reads…"
"What the hell…" Suzaku breathed as the trio huddled together, preparing for an all out brawl. The brunette quickly got his knife out and held it out in front of him ready to fight to the last enemy.
"WARNING: Infected individuals may not disable the enforcement system. This planet is under quarantine."
"Huh?" Like a balloon popping, all the charged energy rushed out of the trio at this unforeseen development. "Quarantine?"
"Infected?" Kallen questioned, incredulous. "The hell is it talking about? I'm not infected." She looked down at herself. "I feel perfectly fine!" Her voice rose up an octave in her confusion.
"Relax." Lelouch soothed as he put a calming hand around Kallen's shoulder while one of his cape extensions wrapped around her and gave a soft squeeze. "It's probably faulty or something. Who knows when this thing last had anybody attending to it. It probably needs a massive update or whatever."
"It said it was an enforcement system." Suzaku said uneasily as he looked directly at the console and that button that seemed much more intimidating than before. "What does it mean by that?"
"The PDA probably has an idea." Lelouch stated as he quickly whipped out the Alterra tech and looked towards the latest data bank entry. Taking a moment to skim it, the revolutionary's pale features suddenly began to turn ghostly. "Oh my God." He said meekly, the teen's tone of voice instantly putting the others on alert.
"What? What is it?" Kallen demanded, and without further prompting took the PDA from Lelouch's loose fingers to read it herself. Once she had read it, her features soon turned very pale as well. It looked like all of the blood had been drained from her body. "No. No!"
"Let me see." Seeing as they weren't explaining, Suzaku took the PDA and finally read what it said.
"Energy Core
This device houses energy equivalent to 100MT nuclear detonation, which can be channeled through the facility and directed at vessels overhead, or bent around the planet's gravitational pull to strike targets in orbit. Power is routed via the attached terminal, allowing for the device to be deactivated if necessary. It is currently operating without parameters, suggesting it will target any ship within range.
Assessment: Deactivate by any means necessary."
"Dear Kami." Suzaku's normally tan skin suddenly turned bleached and sickly. He felt like throwing up. "The Sunbeam." He realized hoarsely. Their only hope of salvation was suddenly hanging on the precipice to destruction, and they hadn't even realized it until now. The Lancelot pilot nearly dropped the PDA in his stunned shock, but instead had the forethought to give it back to Lelouch who instantly started sifting through all the data they had obtained throughout their journey on this planet. "This place isn't a base, it's a gun!"
The revelation served to jumpstart the group into action as if they were headless chickens. "We need to turn that thing off!" Lelouch demanded. "The PDA said it can be deactivated, so pressing the button should've turned it off!"
"But it didn't!" Kallen objected frantically. The girl rubbed her arm, putting pressure on the spot her blood had been drawn to help stem the bleeding. "Infected individuals can't deactivate it, but I don't understand what I'm infected with! I feel fine! I swear!"
"Here, let me help you wrap that up." As Lelouch used his cape extensions to help open his bag and pull out a medkit the genius searched the PDA for any assistance. "I can't find any other hints of information from the PDA." He revealed solemnly as he started wrapping Kallen's injury up with skilled hands.
Suzaku paced back and forth in front of the console in his unease, trying to think of a solution. "How much longer until the Sunbeam arrives?"
A mere glance at the PDA revealed the answer. "Ten minutes." It didn't look very good. "The metal is too strong to break with any of the tools we have at our disposal, and I don't see any other way to manipulate the machine to turn it off. The only avenue we've got is to deactivate it the way it was made to be turned off with that button."
With a dark growl, Suzaku spun back around towards the console. "Then let me give it a try."
"Hey- Wait a second!" Lelouch objected hotly, but by then it was too late, Suzaku had already pressed the button.
Just like last time, the brackets popped back up, Suzaku's wrist was ensnared in a field of energy, and the metal coil unraveled itself from the console. This time though, Suzaku knew what would happen, and braced for the incoming pain without fear. The machine looked for a good vein, and once it found one, ejected its needle and sunk itself deep into the brunette's arm. The Britannian soldier hissed, his features scrunched up in pain, but he otherwise held out whereas Kallen had to deal with the surprise factor. Once the machine reeled back and freed his arm, Suzaku instantly put pressure onto the wound and kneeled down so he could use the medkit Lelouch had opened for himself.
"Idiot." Lelouch remarked as he handed his friend some bandages and antiseptic.
"Look, I had to try okay." Suzaku butted back as he got to work mimicking Lelouch's work on Kallen's arm.
Once again, the building sounded out a deep series of groans and clicks. The PDA activated itself to translate what was being said. "The control panel is broadcasting a message. Translation reads… WARNING: Infected individuals may not disable the enforcement system. This planet is under quarantine."
"Damnit." With his other hand, Suzaku slammed a fist down onto the metal floor in frustration. "How am I infected? With what!"
"That just leaves you to try it, Lelouch." Kallen said as she rustled through the revolutionary's bag and pulled out the scanner. "Suzaku and I will scan ourselves to see if we can find out what's wrong."
"It's probably not even going to work though." Lelouch objected rapidly, his words spilling out like vomit as he wrung his hands nervously. "I mean, I've been living with you guys for over a month at this rate! There's no way I don't have whatever you guys have!"
"You have to at least give it a try though!" Suzaku objected as he finished wrapping himself up. "Nothing changes if it doesn't work, but if it does we have a chance to save the Sunbeam and get rescued from this damn planet."
"Alright, fine!" Lelouch threw his hands up in defeat, his cape extensions mimicking the action as he gave in. Quickly, the genius stood up, turned about face, and walked over towards the button. A moment of hesitation appeared over his face, but just as quickly it disappeared.
There were more positive possible results than negative. Suzaku was right, it was worth at least a shot.
He pressed the button.
Once again, the brackets popped up from the console, and the machine coiled out of the console and drew towards Lelouch's face. The ravenette reeled back instinctively, but couldn't move too far back since he was essentially stuck in place. Then it set to looking down the terrorist's immobilized arm, looking for a suitable vein to puncture and draw blood from.
He couldn't help it. Lelouch closed his eyes tightly shut, unable to watch.
Ever since his mother got assassinated and Nunnally lost her legs and sight, Lelouch couldn't stand the sight of needles. The sight of a young, traumatized Nunnally struggling on a surgery table flashed through the genius' mind every time.
Finally, a bright burst of pain burst beneath Lelouch's eyelids, and he swore as the needle pierced his skin and started to draw his blood. "Shit!" Hands clenched into fists, Lelouch's extensions wrapped around the coil, trying to pry it off to no avail. After ten seconds, the coil extracted itself from his skin and let Lelouch go. The teen nearly went boneless in relief as the machine rapidly retreated back into the console.
For a long moment, all was silent. Everyone's hope suddenly rose as Lelouch put pressure on his arm and looked up towards the ceiling in anticipation.
Then the building started its baritone clicks and whirls for the third time again. The PDA translating it right after it finished.
"The control panel is broadcasting a message. Translation reads… Anomaly detected." It began, causing everyone to quirk an eyebrow up in curiosity. "Alternate reality Geass detected. Royal blood detected. Creating new file…"
In that exact moment, Lelouch could literally feel his soul leaving his body, leaving it icy cold as the PDA revealed absolutely everything about him bare towards the others. He could feel the moment Kallen connected what the PDA just said about him together and realized what that meant. Could feel the way her gaze suddenly burned into the back of his head like a rising, raging hellfire.
This thing knew about alternate realities, about geass.
It even knew that he was of royal descent in his reality just by a simple blood draw.
What the fuck. Lelouch screamed in his own mind. His dual colored eyes widened in disbelief at this machine's accurate description.
"WARNING: Infected individuals may not disable the enforcement system. This planet is under quarantine." The PDA finally declared in the resounding silence that echoed throughout the entire facility.
That was it then. The last of his secrets revealed to everyone to air dry, and all of it was for nothing.
.
.
.
This was perhaps even worse than when the two first found out that he was Zero and learned of his geass.
"Oh boy." Suzaku winced, slowly inching away from Kallen as if she were a volcano about to erupt. She may as well have been judging from how red her face was suddenly getting. It was almost the same color as her hair.
"What, the fuck." Kallen hissed, baring her teeth towards Lelouch as he slowly turned to face the incoming catastrophe.
Ohohohoho! I'm so evil. I love it yet hate it at the same time.
Anyways, if you have enjoyed the story so far leave a REVIEW, Follow, and Favorite the story so you can keep track of when chapters pop up. Because FYI, I don't have a posting schedule and I just post whenever I feel like it.
Otherwise, I'll be seeing you guys in chapter 19! -MoonlightWright