Date Begun: 15th August 2005 Date Ended: Ongoing Genre: Action/Romance/Angst Albums listened to during the making of this fiction: Shadow Hearts 2 Soundtrack, Ixnay on the Hombre/Americana/Ignition (Offspring), Facelift/Jar of Flies (Alice in Chains), Wiseblood (Corrosion of Conformity), Dutty Rock (Sean Paul), etc. Author's Notes: The Messiah Series is the third collaboration between Kaiser, Christine and Shadow Bunny. And it's by far the most significant of them all. We all agreed that we wanted something hard and gritty in a Anime-flavoured light, something to break away from the soft heroism of Last Saga 4 and the simplicity of Circle of One. And this is the end result. A story of over 48,000 words. Though we had only planned to make it a 20,000 word story, we slogged our guts out and it ended up being twice as long. Messiah was originally intended with hand-to-hand battles rather than mecha ones. But after an entire week of watching Gundam Wing, Gasaraki and Neon Genesis Evangelion (as well as playing Xenogears for the first time ever), I convinced Christine and Shadow Bunny to let this be a giant robo fiction. In the end it came out as a sort of angsty action/light romance story with a particular flavour to it (sort of like Xenogears meets Serial Experiments Lain meets RahXephon). So read and see what you think. Be warned from now though. This story has a selectively mature outlook and detail. It contains violence (physical, emotional, psychological and sexual) as well as quotes from the Bible and romantic/sexual engagements between women and other women (once again I managed to convince Shadow Bunny to hold off on the guy/guy stuff... somehow). If any of those ideas put you off then I suggest you stay away from Messiah. If you're mature enough to handle it then read onwards. This story can also get a bet complicated and detailed if you don't follow it properly, so to spare some confusion I added an FAQ at the end of chapter 15. But if you don't want to spoil any of the plot twists then I suggest you save it till you read every chapter. Okay then. The characters 'Terry', 'Sophia', 'Rain' and 'Edwina' and the Meta Suit 'Diablos' are the creations and property of Shadow Bunny. The characters 'Celaph', 'Leena' and 'Selena' are the creation and property of Christine. All other characters and Meta Suits are the creations and property of Kaiser. The three authors of this story reserve joint ownership of it. If you have any comments (and you've read this from a site that doesn't have review capabilities) then you can send them to moonknuckle@hotmail.com. Okay then! On with the show! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Messiah: Ac Causa Hic Novo Mundus ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Hey ah na na Innocence is over Hey ah na na Over Hey ah na na Ignorance is spoken Hey ah na na Spoken Hey ah na na Confidence is broken Hey ah na na Broken Hey ah na na Sustenance is stolen Hey ah na na Stolen Hey ah na na Arrogance is potent Hey ah na na Potent, yeah What I see is unreal I've written my own part Eat of the apple so young I'm crawling back to start Hey ah na na I repent tomorrow Hey ah na na Tomorrow Hey ah na na Is suspended my sorrow Hey ah na na Sorrow, yeah What I see is unreal I've written my own part Eat of the apple so young I'm crawling back to start Hey ah na na A romance is fallen Hey ah na na Fallen Hey ah na na Recommend you borrow Hey ah na na Borrow, yeah What I see is unreal I've written my own part Eat of the apple so young I'm crawling back to start Hey ah na na... Hey ah na na... Hey ah na na... Hey ah na na... ~ 'Rotten Apple', Alice in Chains ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chronicle One - because her name is 'Yumi Mishima' ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Light pattered through a gap between two curtains that had not been opened very often. That light traced itself as a beam across the carpeted floor of Yumi's bedroom. Rolling all the way over to her pristinely re-made bed. Of course she herself was not sleeping. In fact, that in itself was a task without a steady supply of sleeping pills. But the treatments her doctor had been giving her would have suggested otherwise. Which was why he cut Yumi off of them. The time had come for her to 'work out her insomnia without the use of drugs'. If she had parents, they probably would have agreed with him. But Yumi couldn't see it that way. And she never would. Which probably meant that she would be this tired for the rest of her life. The door to the young woman's bedroom (adorned with posters that had been dedicated to her favourite band, Suicide of Claire) opened. And Yumi walked back into the room with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. She took one sip of it, even though coffee wasn't the best choice of beverage for a confirmed insomniac, and then sat down on the swivelling chair aside her computer. Yumi put down the coffee mug and sighed, placing her fingers to her keyboard. The scene she had left on her monitor came back to life with the end of the screen saver. A window popped up showing the conformation of the save of the very same thing she had spent nearly 230 hours downloading. Yumi's light frown didn't leave her face. But her emotions, quiet as they normally were, leapt at the thought of finally having downloaded it. Trigger Mode 890. The newest software in the field of AWG (Artificial World Generation). The known concept of Virtual Reality had grown much in recent years. No thanks in part to the technological heads of Protocol. The idea of forging your own virtual world and living it through with the brain visor was a dream come true for many. After all, such tech was not even in proper circulation to the public yet. But for someone like Yumi, with the hacking skills of a demon, it was a matter of find and take. Downloading this illegally would get her in trouble if she didn't watch herself. If she had a significant other, he or she probably would have been concerned by the idea. But Yumi was too good for that. To get the software she had to buy a neo-broadband modem, one that would run for the amount of time specified. Then she had to hack into the system of the Protocol mega-database, break (or rather bend) its numerous firewalls, and then download. Of course she couldn't just rely on that for 200+ hours. The Protocol Database was a stringent user of 'Security Demons'. Which were basically randomly coded security programs to detect criminal activity in the server. They 're-spawned' every two and a half days, always with a newer code for Yumi to deal with. But as said, she was no amateur in that field. Security Demons had a bonus in the fact that they changed constantly so they had no solid and consistent method of deletion. But because of their randomly generated codes, Security Demons weren't always very detailed. Thus they couldn't often detect the more secretive actions of hackers. And more importantly, Yumi had a program of her own to deal with the Security Demons. Her own invention. Something she liked to refer to as a 'Counter Demon Wall'. With use of that she could hide her downloading of Trigger Mode from the Security Demons. The end result of that was this. Yumi took a blank CD from her drawer and opened the case. And then slotted the CD inside her C-Drive for the copying. In no time at all she saved the Trigger Mode software onto the CD, and then broke her links with the Protocol database. She was a daring hacker, but she wasn't stupid. You didn't wanna fuck around with an organization that controlled the world for too long. Skill may have been one of Yumi's strong points, but arrogance was not. Once she successfully saved the software to the CD, she breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed her mug of coffee. The eighteen-year-old took a sip and then relaxed peacefully. Now that her connections with the database were over, she could rest more easily. It was a dangerous business, hacking in the 22nd Century. Even more so when the hacker messed with a global force like that Protocol. This year of 2153 had seen the rise of the organization. The force that was once the UN had subsided to it long ago. It was both a scientific and political organization that acted as the world's first global, non-unilateral government. A representative from every country was sent to join a group known as the Upper Council. That group was the highest known authority in the world. They decided on many things for all countries in the world, or at least the parts that were under Protocol's jurisdiction. When it came to things like agriculture and military force, Protocol's heavy influence controlled everything. Yumi leaned back on her chair, thinking about Protocol. It seemed a little unbelievable, even in this day and age, that a political faction like Protocol could exist. Especially one based on a theocracy. The world government was as religious as it was political. Often talking of the 'end of the world' and on 'human redemption'. Of course, Yumi was an embittered atheist so she didn't really know much else about the religious aspect of Protocol. Thankfully the group never really attempted to force their theocracy on anyone. Even at college, the learning of Protocol's religion, Messiahism, was a completely optional lesson. They had learned from the mistakes of previous eras, it seemed. Besides. Those living the good life in the world felt... indebted to Protocol. Because, in some respects, they had restarted the world. But rather than dwell on any thoughts of a war that took place nearly 148 years ago, the Japanese girl sipped the last of her coffee and stood upright, stretching out her arms. The girl then strode up to the curtains of the windows and pulled them open. She didn't like opening the curtains of her apartment much. Mostly because she wanted her privacy, partly because she preferred it dark in her rooms. It was an addition to a not necessarily gloomy decor, but it suited Yumi in the way she felt about things. If she had friends, it might have bothered them. Yumi was a lonely girl. And there were only two things in her life that made it worthwhile. Her exploits as a hacker, and her... other. The closest thing that she had ever had to a friend. The woman known as Chizuru Matsubana. Even now, Yumi could feel her cheeks flowering at the thought of her. Chizuru was no ordinary woman, that was for sure. But those beautiful yet lofty fair-weather dreams were all she would ever get from the woman. Such thoughts further served the Mishima girl's depression. Yumi sighed once more then opened the two windows of her room. Allowing all new fresh air to seep in. Whilst looking outwardly into the wonders of the place known as Meta Tokyo. A regally grand and bustling offspring of its former self. The towering skyscrapers of Neo-Shinjuku could be seen as far away as Yumi's residential district. That was the centre of business when it came to Japan. And also the centre of the scientific/technological world. All twenty of the Japanese research stations of Protocol were stationed around Neo-Shinjuku. And when she looked down to the street she could see sweeper androids clearing up the rubbish left in the roads by the biological half of the city. Androids were an important part of life in this time. The world population was at least 42% lower than what it had been 148 years ago. Thus there was that little bastard issue called labour shortage for the world to suffer with. Around the time that Protocol had risen, the field of AI had seen massive growth. Mostly because scientists remaining from the Great War had to push up the speed of android development to quell the labour shortage. But also because the Great War had shown people just how much they resented participating in warfare. Conscription had been one of the tyrants of that particular war. Eventually the Protocol group made the jump into android tech. Now, more than a century later, androids were as commonplace as sex. Once Yumi breathed in the freshness of the air that she didn't often admire, there was a subtle chime from the speakers of her computer. A bell that indicated that she had a new e-mail. That was strange. When she started up her computer, none of her contacts had been online. Yumi walked over to her desk and sat down once again to see what it was. She placed her hand over her mouse and brought the cursor to an open window of her explorer. She clicked on the address bar and then typed in the location of chosen e-mail account. The window switched to that same site, and the white-haired teen clicked on the icon that held her e-mail. Her inbox then appeared. In which she saw the e-mail. Addressed to her from someone under the title of 'anonymous'. The heading of the e-mail said nothing more than 'Yumi'. She stared at it for a moment. It wasn't junk, her account would have deleted it if it was. So who was it from? She wasted absolutely no time pondering on that and opened the e-mail. When the window adjusted itself she read out the text of it, reciting, "Yumi Mishima. The world is subject to a constant cycle of Assimilation, Process and Reaction. The engine of the universe to which all things -- biological and technological -- are based. At the beginning of the time of the Seven Keys such distinctions were completely foreign to us. As was the concept of 'distinction'. If all is as destiny plans, that time will come again. You can remain as you are no longer." End of the e-mail. Yumi blinked. "What is this? Some kind of riddle?" No matter was this thing actually was, Yumi knew that she couldn't understand a word of it. In her mindset she just ignored the content and focused on the more glaring fact. Whatever moron sent this e-mail, he or she knew her name. Her real name. The only person that knew Yumi's e-mail address in the real world was Chizuru. And she wasn't much of a techno-buff in any sort of way. So who was it from? And just how... did they know Yumi's real name? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In this world, the importance of the military was known to all. Not always as a method of destruction. But as a deterrent of it. That was the sentiment that Protocol pushed to separate themselves from the image of them as a bunch of unified despots. An image that was frequently being shown in the media force of the internet. But there was no separation between Protocol and military force. And in the centre of Meta-Tokyo, the heartland known as Neo-Shinjuku, the central station of the Japanese division of Protocol's military power existed. Protocol's army had many bases across the world. This was only one of them. It was called the Shinrai Complex. A gigantic hexagonal building fenced off by nothing more than four long stone walls. Surrounded by a layer of grass and trees that sought, in design, to brighten the layout of the facility. It was bordered by the business skyscrapers of Neo-Shinjuku, dwarfed in height but not influence. In fact, even the grassy grounds around the walls of the building were off limits to unauthorized members of the public. In terms of firepower in reserve, the Shinrai Complex was the biggest non-armed military base in the world, under a square distance of 300 metres by another 345 metres, which included both building and layout. It was more a centre for admin and direction to the lesser, more-heavily armed bases around Japan. In fact the Shinrai Complex possessed only a few hangers for mobile weaponry in means of defence. But what it did have was a huge underground research facility, which connected to many tunnels underneath the city of Meta-Tokyo. One stretched all the way to Meta-Tokyo Bay as the primary escape route. The importance of this base to the web of military bases across the country was undeniable. Because this was the centre point of it all. Which made it easier to understand why the Divine Blade, the division of the Holy Protocol Army (which made total use of the weapons known as Meta Suits) was stationed primarily at the Shinrai Complex. In the upper levels of this administrative building was a certain office. A richly designed one. It had a desk, and a computer and a large window for much light to peer through, naturally. But it also had trophies. Along the walls were armaments from bygone eras. The matchlock rifles that had been a staple Japanese firearm until the 1800's. The katanas and naginatas that this nation had been famous for. As well as pistols, axes, German Zweihander swords and spears. All mounted on the walls of that particular office. The reflection of a certain man's dreams, his fascination with the art of warfare. And that of his heart, a warrior's heart chilled by the taint of that which his superiors called peace. There was no greater pain than for a soldier to suffer the lust for conflict in a world of peace created as a result of conflict. That man, the one who suffered that same pain, was standing by the bright light of that large office window. That man's name was William Ank Celaph. In the Shinrai Complex, he was referred to as Commander Celaph. He was not a Japanese national. No, he was born far to the west, in England. But after the much publicized terrorist attacks on Meta-Tokyo's ports three months ago, the previous commander of the Japanese division of the Holy Protocol Army had 'abdicated' his post in a rather swift way. It came to the point where the Japanese military truly needed a new, charismatic and talented leader. And thus they had sent for William Ank Celaph. The man famed for his many successful string of victories against the rebels outside of the Meta Cities. Celaph looked out to the window to the scene of the many car-packed roads outside of the Shinrai Complex. The man of little more than twenty-nine-years brushed his blonde bangs out of his eye line, smiling unhappily. Meta-London was his home. But this would do for now. Across from Celaph, on his desk, the intercom went off. And his secretary, Mitsuko, called to him, announcing, "Commander Celaph, you have been contacted." "It must be the Triad of the Inquisition," He whispered, "please put it through, Mitsuko." The girl made a confirming noise and did just that. Above the desk, in the ceiling, was a compartment. The doors to that compartment separated and opened to reveal a video screen. The mechanical gears and pulleys holding it up shifted the screen down slowly, so that the screen came into a vertical position to be seen. Then the screen turned itself on. An image of three shadowed figures, each bathed in darkness but glowing with their own individual aura stood silently. Celaph turned around and fell to one knee in esteem. It was truly a great honour. One that was not new to him but very important. "It is good to see you all once again, great sirs." He exclaimed. One of the three holy men, known forever more as the Triad of the Inquisition, spoke to Celaph with his biologically morphed voice box pouring out a seething and oily voice. "Commander Celaph. The time we have prepared for all this time, is finally upon us." Celaph's eyes widened. "Do you actually mean to say... that the rebirth is finally at hand...?" "Yes," One other replied, "...the reunion of Eros and the Thanatos to the birth of the Greater One. A Novus Deus after all our waiting. The time has come. Which means that nothing can interrupt the process." Celaph stood back up. "I see. Is that why you had me stationed in Japan? To oversee the reunion?" "No. We actually felt that your talents would be better issued to the destruction of the rebels. We have great reason to believe that Chrysalis is now operating out of Meta-Tokyo. They must be stopped once and for all." "Hmm," The commander mused on the idea, "I see. Defeating them would more or less leave EDEN defenceless. Do you wish me to mobilize the Divine Blade for that mission? General Naam is a rather difficult man to control...but... his skills in piloting Meta Suits are almost flawless. The only one who surpasses them... is..." "Deploy the Divine Blade," One of the three answered, "Naam shall lead them into battle. You shall formulate their pattern of attack. Now. How is that one?" "You mean the Thanatos? He is a... pistol. His recklessness knows no bounds. But then... that recklessness is a result of that amazing tank of energy he possesses. I've come to believe his significance. I just don't see putting him into battle conditions as a good idea as yet. The Raum Meta Suit is ready for him... but... I do not think that his mind is rational enough to follow orders on the battlefield." The second of the Triad of the Inquisition addressed that. "Contact between the Eros and the Thanatos is not pivotal at this point. If he is not ready then send him to Ix Nos Babel for the time being. For now, you will focus your efforts on suppressing the insurgence of those following under the banner of Bartholomeus. You are familiar with his granddaughter, are you not?" Celaph smiled solemnly. "We knew each other... once." "Then no one is better suited to this operation than you, Celaph. The completion of both the Oriax and the Raum Meta Suits is just the first step in the plan. Use of them... might be necessary." "Is Chrysalis that powerful? Have we been underestimating the Ark of the Luria? Or do you have a different reason for this?" The middle of the Triad shook his head. "...You needn't concern yourself with that, Celaph. The important thing now is to secure the event to come. By destroying those who would interfere with it. That should be your primary concern." That was enough for Celaph. "Fair enough. But then what of Eros? Should we make sure that one is secured as well? Transportation to Ix Nos Babel would not take long." "We will handle that end," One of them replied to the English commander, "you just concentrate on the rebels. If something should happen in that respect, then, all issues concerned will be handed to you, Celaph. Do you understand?" The Englishman nodded. "Yes, sirs. I understand. So. It's finally happening. The reversal of the events of the Seven Keys is finally at hand. One can't help but be... excited." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It had been an hour or so since Yumi had downloaded the Trigger Mode software from the Protocol mainframe. College had been out for the summer for the past three weeks. She still had plenty of time before she had to get to work on any of her mid-summer projects. It didn't much matter to Yumi; most schoolwork of her own she did with great ease. It was never really a challenge. But it was never an annoyance either. Putting it off was a matter of convenience. Not for Yumi herself, but rather for Chizuru. Who was the person that Yumi was going to meet today. The white-haired teen had dressed in the best clothes she afforded for herself because of her meeting with Chizuru today. A beige brown set of shorts and a white top, one which had the phrase 'bad girl' on the back. Yumi looked down silently and waited for Chizuru to make her appearance. They had agreed to meet just outside of Yumi's apartment. On a side road just ten metres down from the door to Yumi's building. She stood leaning against the north wall of a bakery, smelling pleasantly the fragrance of freshly cooked bread. One of her club heel sandals tapped the other whilst waiting. She didn't mind waiting for Chizuru, even though there were times when she could become impatient. But seeing Chizuru in the flesh was a telling reason for her current patience all of itself. There were few women in this world or the next that were quite so beautiful. Then she heard the phrase 'what's up, Yumi?' from a short distance across the road. Yumi's bright baby blue eyes blinked and she looked upwards from her feet. Her normal frown was now replaced with a small but heartfelt smile. And that all came from seeing that same girl of her dreams. Chizuru Matsubana. Yumi's cheeks automatically blushed. Just from being aware of the girl's presence. Never before and perhaps never again would Yumi be so attracted to a single person. The hacker dared or willed herself to look at Chizuru. To look at her long, flawless locks of raven black hair, inching all the way down to the crests of her small and tight rear end. She forced herself to admire Chizuru's long flawless legs, in their delicate yet athletic posture, and her healthy bouncing breasts. What Yumi felt was no more than sheer human attraction at this point. But she wasn't the kind to circumnavigate the reasons for and against it. All she was aware of was the beauty of the Matsubana girl. So much so that it caused a reaction in Chizuru herself. The long-haired female smirked playfully when she came up to the silent Yumi. Chizuru then pulled her hand out of her jeans pocket and pressed it against Yumi's forehead, analysing something. "Have you had too much sun?" She asked rhetorically, "cause if you have, maybe we shouldn't be going out together?" Yumi blinked, shaking herself out of her reverie. "...Um... no." "Well then you can stop staring, Yumi," Chizuru said with a smile, "I'm not that ugly am I? Or is it the opposite?" Given that Yumi had not ONCE spoken of her feelings (physical) to anyone, least of all to Chizuru, it should have struck her alarm bells to hear such a comment from the dark-haired woman. But she was far too caught up in the sweet, sweet beauty of Chizuru. They were not friends. Never once had they called themselves as such. But what they had was a shared interest in each other. Yumi was near enough bewitched by Chizuru's beauty. Enough to follow her even into the fiery pits of hell. And Chizuru had her own reasons for being around the hacker from time to time. She had never specified them. But rather Chizuru had a habit of using harmless flirtation to avoid the subject whenever it was brought up. Times came when Yumi questioned why Chizuru, one of the most popular girls at college, would even bother associating herself with one of college's dregs. Now was such a time. "...W-why... did you ask to meet me?" Chizuru's face went still for a brief moment. Then she pulled a wide smile at her current companion. "What kind of question is that, huh? Do I really need a reason?" "I suppose not." Yumi admitted. "Yeah, well," Chizuru tugged a strand of her hair backwards to her ear and then said, "I do have an ulterior motive. I need you to do me a REALLY big favour. Could you do it for me, Yumi?" "That depends on what it is." "I need you to change something," The darker haired teen went into the back pocket of her jeans, ones which, Yumi noticed, hugged very closely to the globes of her ass. Still Chizuru pulled out something. It was an ID card, "Could you alter this for me?" Yumi took the plastic card in her hand and looked it over. "Is that all you need me to do?" "Well, I was hoping, if you're not too busy with your gloomy anti-social life, if you'd agree to come see a movie with me? I just need you to tamper with that card a little so that it says I'm 21 rather than 18. You'd have to do that with your card too if you wanna come." The Mishima girl blinked, astounded. "You... actually... want to... hang out with me...?" "Well duh! I just said so, didn't I? Don't act so surprised. You've done a lot for me since we met during the first term. I guess this is the least I can do for you." It was then that Yumi's sudden peak of happiness mellowed out. So Chizuru only thought of it as an obligation. A way to repay favours. No matter what way Chizuru acted, she still couldn't see that Yumi felt something for her. It was understandable in a ridiculous way. She was a typical trendy bimbo in most cases. The only reason she had passed the flawlessly difficult entry exams into Meta-Tokyo was because she majored in Drama, which couldn't really be evaluated that way. And since they had met... all that existed between them was a system of want help and take help. Chizuru needed help on a certain homework problem from one of her secondary classes? Yumi was there for her. If ever she needed a written essay typed up on a computer then Yumi was the one to pull the all-nighter. You could have said that Chizuru was... taking advantage of Yumi. And you would have been right. But that little detail didn't really matter... to either of them. Yumi was too caught up in Chizuru's beauty. And young Chizuru was too caught up in herself. ...Or so it seemed. Yumi nodded as an acceptance of what Chizuru wanted. Chizuru replied with a loud and childish giggle. But if they were going to get into whichever movie that the taller girl wanted to see, then they would have to get back up to Yumi's apartment. ID cards were laminated but she had a device to change that. The two of them turned around to head back around to Yumi's apartment. But then when they did, they noted that two men, both dressed in dark black business suits, were waiting before the stoop of Yumi's apartment building. Both girls became cautious. It was a quiet area that Yumi lived in. These men seemed somehow out of place. And the focused smiles on their faces showed that they had an agenda. Chizuru huddled closer to Yumi while the pair of them walked over to the stoop. But before Yumi even set foot on it, one of them stepped ahead, stopping her. He pulled a smirk, lowering his shades with his fingertips. "Would you happen to be a woman by the name of Yumi Mishima?" A cold and blunt fear suddenly crept up Yumi's spine. What if this had something to do with her illegal downloads from the Protocol mainframe? "...W-why do you want to know t-that?" "Just answer the question," The second man barked, "are you Yumi Mishima?" "Look, we don't want any trouble," Chizuru said hopefully, "can you just let us go this time?" The first of the suits laughed derisively. "This kid thinks that we're with Meta-Tokyo's constabulary. Hmph. That's rich. Broads really are stupider than they look. Hey there kid, d'you get that from your mom? All tits and no brains?" The sparkling twinkle of anger shot through Chizuru's eyes in all but a flash, however she didn't act on it. Before she even would have had that chance, Yumi stepped ahead of Chizuru and hid the other girl's ID card. "Please leave us alone. If you're not the police, then-" The second man growled, and then thrust his fist out. Yumi gasped as he grabbed her by the throat, so quickly that she barely caught onto it. The taller male sniggered rudely at her face. Watching her cheeks redden with the sudden lack of oxygen from the throat. His grip around her neck tightened, causing her to writhe, gag, and claw at his thick, muscled hand to stop. But he wasn't stopping. And it became clear that he had no intentions to do so, either. "You're coming with us... Yumi Mishima..." This time Chizuru's frown was here to stay. "Hey! Let her go!" Chizuru tried to get to Yumi before she choked, but the first of the suits stepped ahead of her, blocking her pass. He then tugged a grin and drew his hand up. Each of his fingers curled up into the palm, to form a fist. Then he smacked Chizuru across the face in one hard but controlled punch. Chizuru yelped and fell backwards, collapsing to the ground, her cheek bruising a dark purple. Yumi's eyes widened with alarm, catching sight of that. But no more so than when the tall business suit-dressed man stamped his scuffed black shoe into Chizuru's face, as she lay prone over the pavement. "Little bitch. Got something to say now?" -- ASSIMILATION -- Yumi tried to yell at him to stop. She tried. But she could hardly part her lips. And it seemed that with each second that passed, the grip of the second man was growing tighter. Soon her feet began to rise up off the ground, her sandals clicking against the pavement. This man was strong enough to lift the teen right off her feet with just one hand. Which meant that he was at least using muscle enhancements. Which also meant that he was working for Protocol. Only they had that kind of performance-enhancing therapy. But Yumi's concern was never for herself. All she did was stare powerlessly at Chizuru. Watching that man step on her beautiful face like it was a doormat. And so, at that point, something clicked inside of Yumi. -- PROCESS -- Her eyes dilated. A sudden action that had nothing to do with the man that was choking her. Yumi's head tilted backwards, almost as if she were in a trance. And her large blue eyes suddenly thinned out, their previous blue swiftly shifting into a subsequent white. The suit stared curiously at the thin white of Yumi's eyes, but couldn't figure it out. But she was no longer concerned by his actions. In Yumi's head, the scene with herself being choked and Chizuru being kicked around vanished. And was replaced by constant flashes. Scenes of a certain moment in time buried inside her brain as deep and hidden as any old file in a computer system. This images now ran unbidden in Yumi's mind. To a far different location. In her mind she could see a hallway. A hallway of a lab. The white walls and chilled air so vivid, as if she were there at present. Even deeper... she could see a small girl of no more than five or six years of age. Her hair was white like newly fallen snow, crying her eyes out in the middle of that corridor. In her hand was a teddy bear. The other she used to rub the tears out of her eyes. In between her sobs, she muttered 'Daddy' over and over again. And surrounding her were the bloody, broken corpses of four men. The red of their blood was smeared all over the ashen walls of that cold hallway, their corpses laying lifelessly in pools of it. Their skulls were broken open. The pur‚ed matter of their brain tissue, in all its pink and red glory, was splattered across the ground. The fragments of the bone of their skulls and the scattered remains of their hair dotted the bloody excess of their cracked heads. And yet all the same... that white-haired girl stood, her frilly dress stained with blood and brain matter, she stood crying, murmuring only one word. ...Daddy... Then Yumi's focus returned to the current situation, not the deeply suppressed images that dared to be thought of as memories. But the cause of them would be all the same. Yumi's now thin white eyes locked firmly on the one holding her by the neck. And a cold, almost chilling aura of silver awoke from her. Yumi's body was surrounded in a silver-flaming force that felt as cold as an arctic snowstorm. The coursing but frosty flames of silver covered her hands, her head, her legs, her chest, her thighs; all of her. All the while her snow-white hair rose up into the air, clearly presenting the sudden shift in her expression. The man holding her, whose body was now bathed in the glow of Yumi's silvery aura, blinked in alarm. -- REACTION -- "Oh, crap!" He expressed, "Her Qi is awake! The biological lock isn't holding! Aaaa-AAAAHHH!" One flick of Yumi's eyes and the skull of that man exploded. In a bright flash of cold silver force, that man's head burst open, spraying blood and brain tissue over the stoop and over Yumi's emotionless face. His now decapitated body fell backwards, releasing Yumi's neck from that choke hold. It collapsed without motion, spreading the blood from the shattered neck outwardly. Yumi remained hovering in the air. And her head slowly turned to see the man on top of Chizuru. Both Chizuru and that man were silent and shocked. With nothing more than a look, Yumi had... killed someone. But in Chizuru's eyes... their was less in the way of shock... and more in the way of worry. Yumi, her body alight with those cold silver flames, floated across from the corpse of the dead suit to the torso of the living one. She lifted her hand up, as if to strike him down, but couldn't act. Her arm froze when it hit the air. Her whole body started to shake. From the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes. The white of her eyes then revered back in blue, the wideness of them also returning. Yumi had recovered consciousness. But now she was bitterly aware of what she had done. And a haunted look framed her face. The cold fire of her manifest Qi soon evaporated into nothingness, causing her to fall to the ground. But Yumi's body still shook. She could... feel the blood and bone scraps over her face. As well as hear the sound of blood dripping off the edge of the pavement and into the drain. ...Did I... did... I... kill... someone...? Yumi, stricken by the realization, clasped her head, curling up into a fetal position. Her body shook constantly, over and over again, while the blood from the dead man stuck to her face. "No... no... it's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. It's... not... true... it's not... IT'S NOT TRUE!" Yumi screamed out a bloodcurdling shriek of terror, one so loud that it echoed throughout the block. And then just as easily as that, she lost consciousness again. Her body jerked hard. Yumi's mind was emotionally exhausted. Chizuru and the man above her were still speechless. But there was someone else around who had seen the whole thing. Someone who was not at all surprised by this turn of events. A shadowed figure rushed out of the gap between two buildings across the road. His swift strides on his brown boots got him across the street quickly. Once he was there, the young man jumped up and swung his leg out. The last man in black didn't catch onto this in time. The unknown blonde man kicked him hard across the face, hearing him groan hard at the attack. The suit toppled over, robbed of his consciousness. And the young man who had done that, landed to the pavement. He beamed a stunning smile whilst running a hand through his long blonde bangs. "Are you okay?" He said to Chizuru, concerned. Chizuru exchanged glances between Yumi and this mystery man, who now looked to be western in origin. "...I... I..." The blonde youth caught onto Chizuru's wordless state and was going to say something to soothe her, until they both noticed that a new flaming silver aura surrounded Yumi's unconscious body. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "What in the...? It's awakening?!" Deep below the building known as the Shinrai Complex was a multifaceted laboratory. The deep white of the walls and halls and the lab coats give this away without doubt. Hundreds of rooms were built in the jurisdiction of the lab. Each one used for separated purposes or experiments. Some technological, some biological. Over five levels and all of them underground, free from the risk of security breaches. Very few people other than those in the upper echelons of Protocol knew of this place. Or of the importance of it. Such information was considered top secret amongst Protocol personnel. So much so that only a few hundred people (92% of those people being the scientists that actually worked there) had even heard about it. For secrets, those hidden even from lesser-ranked members of Protocol, were aplenty in that place. And it was known as the Ochiai Underground Research Facility. In the highest level of that underground laboratory, a large research room contained a certain something. A Meta Suit. These machines were gigantic humanoid-shape mecha. Designed specifically for combat, but also adapted for construction purposes. One particular Meta Suit stood upright in the large white room of that particular section of the Ochiai Underground Research Facility. At a towering height of 65.7 metres, with polished white and blue armouring made from the finest titanium that man had ever discovered. From its head came two thick and ear-like antennae that extended backwards diagonally. Its face had been sculpted in a human-like shape, with the contours of eyes, and those red glass eyes were glowing brightly now. It was clearly a Meta Suit like no other. Hooked up to many large wires which were also connected, at the ceiling, to a net of harnesses that held them in place. The information that was gathered from the body of that Meta Suit was fed directly to the computers in a separate room via those cables. That room was right next to the holding chamber of the Meta Suit. A thick glass pane allowed the three scientists inside to observe what was happening to the machine armour from there. A given safety. One of them huddled by the computer terminals that was being fed information from the opposing room. His glasses were illuminated by the bright flashes of codes that was shown over the screen. So many at such a quick rate. "I don't believe it!" He yelled ecstatically, "these readings are off the charts! Someone's Qi is coalescing with the essence of the Oriax! At this rate, the suit will achieve activation in less than three minutes!" The second scientist looked out through the window pane to see the status of the Meta Suit they had dubbed as 'Oriax'. Its armour was now covered with streaks of blue electricity, the sheen of the metal growing. The light of its red eyes came alive. And all the cables that had been attached to its arms, legs, chest, head and back broke off. They dropped from the torso of Oriax, spurting out clear white gases and rogue electricity, as well as a green substance in drops which closely resembled blood. The doctor pressed his hand into the glass and expressed a dazzling smile of wonder. "It's incredible..." He said, "it must be the one. The biological lock we were told about must be breaking. Now that it is free... it must be... acting unintentionally as a beacon. But whoever that person is, they must not know that..." A hard look came to him and he turned around to his colleagues. "Come on, quickly now! The P.T.P (Phase Transport Phenomenon) will occur soon! Contact Control Room and tell them to deploy at least three Meta Suits as quickly as possible! And make sure that they inform Commander Celaph about this!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Above ground, in the upper levels of the Shinrai Complex, was the office room of the commander in chief of Protocol's military affairs in Japan. That same man was Commander Celaph. Now gone from the window, he sat at the desk he had come to loathe for so long. It was such a place that a soldier should never have had to adjust to in his mind. But there was no real choice for him in the matter. The Triad of the Inquisition had given him his orders. It was a soldier's duty to follow them. But this time he was not the only soldier in that decorated office. Across from Celaph and his desk was the very same man that controlled the Divine Blade division of the Holy Protocol Army. The same man, clad in haughty red garbs with his chest bearing the golden standard of the lion, that had won so many battles against insurgents to the Meta Cities in the Eurasia area. The man that was not born in the Meta Cities... but had a frightening will to prove himself to those who were with his overwhelmingly skilled hand in the art of piloting Meta Suits. ...That man, that infernal warrior, was known as General Naam. The tall, strident leader of the Divine Blade Meta Suit forces, who had been stationed in Japan only two weeks ago. With a great wide grin and his ornamental broadsword strapped to his side, General Naam stood before Celaph, saying, "Commander Celaph, is this true? You wish me to lead the attack against Chrysalis...? Are those our orders from the Upper Council?" Celaph shook his head. "No. Not from the council. These orders come directly from the Triad of the Inquisition themselves. Thus you can understand why I summoned you from your quarters at such short notice." "Ah, I see," the general said sneakily, "...it makes sense. But I won't pretend to care about the reason. Heh. All I care about is getting a second shot at Beatrix and her damned team. They made a FOOL of me in that battle at Shiratoo'i, the bastards! This time they will pay with their lives!" Celaph smiled at the fiery Meta Suit warrior. "Do not underestimate that woman's talents as a leader. We both know what she is capable of, do we not? Such a situation demands more than brute strength. We need wiles and intelligence to stop Chrysalis." "I fail to understand just what it is that you're getting at. What are you trying to say to me, Commander Celaph?" "I have an informant who is following the movements of... a certain someone that is fundamental to our ultimate plans. I believe that that informant will soon have the details we need to both locate EDEN and launch an assault upon it. Just have patience. In the meantime, I want you to ready your men for the attack." "Fair enough, but," General Naam suddenly became serious as stone when he continued, "I had actually believed that when you called me here, you might have had some information about... her..." Celaph held a hand to his chin. "Are you talking about the one who escaped Ix Nos Babel? I had a feeling you would have inquired about her at some point." "Soldiers don't often ask favours. When they do it's often because they have something important to handle. That alone should have been enough of a warning to it." "I suppose," Celaph replied, "but I wouldn't know much of it, now that I am forced to fight with pen and paper. In any case, we still have not yet caught up with her. But considering the calibre of the Meta Suit she pilots now... that is understandable. She was connected to your family somehow, was she not?" General Naam dragged his fist across his grey beard. "That isn't really important right now. If you haven't found her then so be it. I'll take up the mission myself once Chrysalis is destroyed. Revenge is a certain something I like to carry onto the battlefield, too." The commander smiled softly at that, but that smile faded when he heard the phone on his desk ring. Celaph lifted the receiver to his ear and listened in to what they had to say. His eyes narrowed with understanding to the comments being spoken into his ear, then he put down the phone. Shortly afterwards a second smile came to his face while he chuckled acrimoniously. Naam was curious. "What was it?" "Heh, heh, heh..." The commander leaned back in his chair, "...that was the Control Room. It seems that the Oriax has finally awoken..." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The cockpit of Oriax was unlike that of any other Meta Suit. Aside from the leather seat and the controls around it, it was not metallic. The surrounds of the cockpit were like a globular mass of water, fixed together to form a barrier that might have looked fragile to the naked eye, but acted as security the likes of which no one had ever known. For that strange cockpit existed inside a relatively small dimension. One that had been miniaturized with Qi manipulations for the 'womb' compartment of the Meta Suit. And the whole thing pulsed in rhythm like a clockwork heartbeat, every few seconds. Such technology was foreign fiction to all but Protocol. Their power manifest by nothing more than the existence of this tech. A wisp of silver flames chilled the innards of that cockpit. And those flames formed into the girl known as Yumi Mishima. Teleportation as a result of unknown forces moved her through time and space into the cockpit of the Meta Suit. She dropped into the seat, her eyes resuming that pure white, and her body still burning with cold fire. Inside that trance of before, Yumi knew, subconsciously, what to do here. Her small hands gripped the control sticks that were built around the seat that hovered in that water-sphere womb barrier. In front of her appeared what looked to be a video screen. One that showed her what was going on around the Meta Suit from the eyes of the Oriax itself. Now she was in control. Outside the Oriax, in the Ochiai Underground Research Facility, was the layout of its holding chamber. In the separate observation room, the very same scientists who had informed Control Room of these developments were now marvelling at the sight of the Oriax coming to life. No one aside from a chosen few could pilot it. This was truly a sign. From behind the sheet of metal that acted as a mouthpiece for the Oriax, came a loud, bestial and ethereal scream that rumbled throughout that section of the research facility. That in itself was a testament to the fact that this... Meta Suit... was not completely mechanical. The Oriax tilted its large head backwards and 'looked' upwards at the ceiling of the room it was trapped in. The polished breastplates of its armour shot open, one side swinging to the other, which showed the circular gemstone-like device in its chest. Acting as a kind of organ. That green 'heartstone' started glowing. A light so bright that the scientists had to look away to keep themselves from being blinded. Oriax released another bestial war cry, causing a huge beam of searing, Qi-converted energy to shoot outward from its chest. Filling the entire chamber with unearthly emerald light. That energy beam burned savagely through the roof of the research facility. Everything in its path was burnt to cinders. The floors, the furniture, the scientists, the machines, the tests. Everything in the path of that beam, that Jupiter Maelstrom, was obliterated before knowledge of that obliteration came. It burned all the way up to the top level of the compound. There were gasps from the nearby people when they saw a towering pillar of light burst up from the gardens of the Shinrai Complex and climbed up into the skies above. The energy of the beam slowly faded away. With a hole successfully created in the ceiling of the chamber, all the way up to the top of the complex, Oriax jumped deftly through that hole with all the speed that it had been blessed with. The Meta Suit leapt out from the crater-hole into the scenes of Meta-Tokyo. All the people close enough to the complex could see both the Oriax and the energy blast that had preceded it. Waiting for the Oriax above ground were three Meta Suits. Each of them hovering in the air from their energy propulsion systems. They were combat Meta Suits, a type known as Zagan. They were armed with cannon rifles in their metallic, humanoid hands. Their black and brown military colours contrasting the white and blue of the taller Oriax. One of the pilots of the Zagan yelled out through a com link, saying, "Is that the new experimental weapon that the research department was building?! I thought the only immediate forces stationed here were those of the Divine Blade accompanying General Naam!" "Idiot!" The second yelled, "Those four-eyed bastards didn't create that thing for military use!" The third one, the one in command, scoffed. "It doesn't matter. We were ordered to bring the Meta Suit back down to the Ochiai labs so that's what we'll do! Move out!" "...Roger!" "Roger!" The three Zagan Meta Suits then charged the Oriax through the air. Their speed was far greater than that of land-based Meta Suits. But it did not seem to be an issue for the Oriax. As they came at it, they all pulled up their rifle cannons and fired continuous blasts at their target. The shots from the Zagan suits rained down on the Oriax in a coordinated wave that simply engulfed the machine. It was rocked by a series of compact explosions that surrounded it in clouds of smoke and flame. The Zagan-types fired on and on at the smoke cloud, burying more of their rounds into the 'enemy' Meta Suit. Once a full number of 9,700 blasts had been fired, the Zagans lowered their guns and scanned the scene for the result. The suit had to have been disabled by all that. But when the smoke faded, they were all shocked to see that the Oriax had not even been scratched. It had enswathed itself inside a circular shield of emerald energy. One that protected it from all of the shots fired by the Zagan's rifles. A second scream sounded out from the Oriax and it evaporated its shield. The white-armoured suit burst forwards with intense speed and grace, towards Zagan #1. The Oriax stuck out its hand and thrust it straight through the centre of the machine. The iron of the Zagan was no match for the titanium of the Oriax. The white suit reacted its hand and zoomed away. Subsequently, the first Zagan exploded in a bang of flame and metal; its remains falling out of the air. The second Zagan tried in vain to shoot down the Oriax. But it was no use. The line of fire now had a direct hit. But still the rounds could not pierce the armour of such a Meta Suit. Yumi's mecha put out its right hand to one side. Then a scimitar-shaped beam of energy formulated around it. Born of pure Qi from the pilot herself. The machine then flew across to Zagan #2. One powerful slash came down upon that standard military mecha. Slicing right through it. The machine exploded violently once the Gauntlet Blade had been dragged out of it. Leaving behind only one Meta Suit. The pilot was, by now, terrified. "This can't be... there's no way a Meta Suit can be this strong! It's just not possible!" The breastplates on the Oriax opened up again. The energy of the Jupiter Maelstrom blast was already gathering up. And it was fired just as easily as before. The third Zagan simply melted away within a roiling wave of jade Qi-force, one that did not simply shoot down the Zagan, but left absolutely no trace of it. The beam burnt right across the skies, travelling as far as the Neo-Shibuya district. All the city dwellers marvelled at the sparkling green light that brightened and darkened the air all at once. The light of the heavens. Once it vanished with the end of the beam the Oriax was left screaming its yell over the space of the city. It had destroyed three Zagan-types with less than an afterthought. From the window of the head office, Celaph and Naam could see the Oriax and hear its scream. General Naam was astounded by the sheer power of the mecha, but Commander Celaph just grinned, closing his eyes with a dirty chuckle. "...For all intensive purposes... this is a setback. But one cannot speak of the consequences without first speaking of the lesson... as well as the realities of that same situation." Naam turned to Celaph. "...What do you mean by that?" "You wouldn't understand. Because there are very few that actually would. The bread of the body has been bitten... and the wine of the blood has been sipped. The rebirth of a Novus Deus, a perfect God, will soon be at hand."
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