- Location : Akibahara Research Base, Kyushu system. Lab 0A West wing.
The head researcher Sho Minamimoto was satisfied. Finally his genius had been accepted from the scientific community and his researches were generously financed.
Weeks ago, a KSP recon wing, while patrolling the nearby systems, found a disabled fighter. This wouldnt even have captured his attention, normally. Often the criminals or terrorist groups prefer to actually seize vessels instead than destroying them. That could have been an unlucky traveller who stumbled upon the Golden Chrysanthemums, or the Blood Dragons. No, it wasnt that.
The vessel, while looking like a normal Kingfisher Civilian Heavy Fighter, it had something particular. Cyan - purple, patches on the hull, barely noticeable at bare eyes, but visible to the scanners, although every test and examination on those patches couldnt determine what they were. They seemed crystalline, for their resilience and transparency, but also organic, for the layers of it, who almost seemed to slowly replicate. Even the onboard AI was something completely unknown. Every known hack, reprogramming subroutine, virus, did not manage to bypass the system and forcing it to start up.
Moreover, there still actually was a pilot in the fighter, and a young one at that. A girl, seemingly, not over 18 years old. Her name, Lorelei, was on her pilot suit. She hadnt reacted to any stimulus since theyve found her, but, oddly, her synaptic connections still seemed to be working perfectly. Even more interesting, was that the neural synapses seemed to react to the material found on the hull, increasing the neural activity exponentially.
He immediately told the scientific community about these discoveries. They examined both the fighter and the pilot, and his assumptions were proven to be correct. Now his fame is almost system-wide, and the KNF showed interest in this, too. They had already given over 250 million of credits to his research department, and 25 more to him personally, as motivation to continue his work. Yes, nothing could have ever broken this dream.
Incredible how much could a head researcher be wrong.
Chapter One : Calling.
- Location : N/A
She looked around. Everything was dyed in shades of blue and purple. There was no telling between sky and earth, either. Where was she? What was that place? And how did she get there in the first place?
Obviously, she couldnt find any answer to this. So she decided to try to move around. Useless, her legs wouldnt respond.
She was distracted from these thoughts by something. A voice, maybe? It somehow sounded familiar, as if she had already heard it, although there was no trace of humanity in it.
Awaken.
She turned around, to see where the voice came from.
Awaken, my child.
Now she saw something. An orb, right in front of her. Incomprehensible images swirled in it, yet those were familiar, too.
Awaken, my child. You have a role to fulfil in this world.
What role? What world? Was she going insane?
Now, we must part ways. Farewell, my child. Go, now.
She was about to ask again what was that thing talking about, but she couldnt. As the colours disappeared, everything turned black, and she fell into the void.
Screaming, she opened her eyes.
Chapter Two : Freedom
- Location : Akibahara Research Station, Kyushu System. Containment cell 0A West Wing.
At first, she couldnt see anything but grey and white spots. Everything hurt her, from the head to the feet. She closed and opened her eyes again, and took a deep breath. Slowly the vision became clearer. Walls all around her, and a closed door. A cell.
She stood up, and tried to realize what was happening, when the door opened. An armoured man entered the room, and moved towards her.
Prisoner Lorelei, follow me. The director wants to see you. Hes got great news for you. Somehow the mans laughter made her think that probably she wouldnt have liked them.
She stood up, and slowly started to follow the man. They walked through a long corridor, filled with many other cells. All of them were eerily quiet. If there were other prisoners, wouldnt they try to capture the guards attention?
Hey, hurry up. I aint got all day, you know? The guard took hold of her arm and lead her to the directors office. They entered and the guard bowed.
The director was waiting for them, noticeably impatient. He dismissed the guard and turned towards her.
Ah, our number one prisoner, I see. I am honoured to see you. After all, it doesnt happen any day that some Libertian citizen enters Kusari space and starts shooting down civilian transports and liners, one after another. I always thought that you Libertians are no more than criminals.
Excuse me, sir? What would I have done?
You blew up thirteen civilian transports, destroyed four liners and shot down one hundred and seven civilian ships. Dont tell me you forgot about this. It is not going to work, if you hope that you life will be spared due to this.
I did nothing of all this. Or, if I did, I cant remember.
Oh, allow me to disagree. We have the proof of your massacre, starting from the families of those you killed, to the fire signatures found on the victims hulls. You, maam, are guilty of mass murder, and therefore you will be executed today. Any last comment?
Shouldnt I be judged from a tribunal, before eventually being executed?
Not in this case, no. These proof are more than enough to immediately determine your guilt, not to mention that the Shogunate itself asked for a death sentence. Kishimoto, come here and lead the prisoner to the Execution Field.
The guard came shortly after and lead her out of the office.
Okay, lets think. I am accused of being a homicidal maniac, and I am going to be executed today. I have two options : just surrender to the fate, or try to get out of here.
Corridor after corridor, the time was running out. Near the walls there were many heavily armoured suits and gas helmets. All of them had their ID number on the frontal and back plate, and some even had oxygen reserves. Seemingly some were meant for outer space only use just like the guards one.
The junction between the oxygen cylinder and the helmet wasnt too difficult to remove, and the helmet could only be removed from the outside. He didnt noticed the lack of oxygen until it was too late. She dragged the body in a nearby cell, and she took his armour and helmet, after reattaching the junction. This would have made for a perfect disguise hopefully. The wrist computer was still working, and it was showing a map. She repositioned the marker to the Hangar area, and started to head there.
When she had reached it, she was about to open the gates when she heard steps right behind her. Im done for, she thought.
Kishimoto! Trying to see the new fighter again and slacking, eh? It was the quartermaster, judging from his ranks.
Ah yes, sir. Im sorry, sir. Ill be back to my duties, sir.
No, stay here. You see, you did a nice job last week handling those prisoners, so I though you deserved a prize.
A prize, sir? What would that be?
Well, since you really want to see that thing, Ill pretend I didnt notice you opening the main gates and peeking around. I dont know what got you so excited about it, but its none of my business.
Miracles do exist, after all. I thank you, sir. I really appreciate this.
Its okay. Show your appreciation by offering me some sake, later. When youre done, meet me at Sector Eight.
I will, sir. Now, if youll excuse me
She opened the gates, darted in and moved towards the vehicle. Oddly, there were no other ships but that one.
Now isnt the time to be picky, she said to herself, and jumped inside.
As she did so, the entire stations alarms triggered at once.
Warning, unauthorized use of the experimental vehicle NPKF underway. To the pilot, it is suggested to exit the cockpit and stand down at once. A guard squad will be at the hangar section in one minute.
One minute left to figure how does this thing work. If I get out of this alive, they better give me a medal, she thought.
AI, activate yourself. Nothing. 45 seconds left. Shouted the alarm.
Onboard AI, activate startup system. Nothing again. 30 seconds left.
In desperation, she put her hands on the control pad.
System booting onboard AI ADA activated. Checking main systems.
Miracles exist for sure. 20 seconds left.
System boot complete. Greetings, Archon LiirHrein, I am the vessels AI system, ADA, Advanced Defence Assistant. I am at your orders, Archon.
Archon? LiirHrein? What was that thing saying? Whatever, now this isnt the main problem.
Yes, um ADA, take off and head for the nearest friendly base.
At your orders, Archon. 5 seconds left.
As the soldiers started swarming in the hangar, the engines engaged. The vessel slowly lifted itself and loaded the cruise engines. Before the unbelieving eyes of the soldiers, their most wanted prisoner just escaped, defying almost all statistical rules of success. This would have meant no payday for them.
Moments later, she was 14K away from the station.
ADA where exactly are we going, now?
Basing on the IFF data associated with your current profile, we are heading for the nearest friendly base in the Kusari sector, Ainu Depot. It is located in the nearby Hokkaido system and my database shows it is a GC stronghold, Kiith-Sa. ETA is two hours. I would suggest you to rest, as your stress levels are excessively high, Kiith-Sa.
Yes I think I will follow your advice. I leave the navigation to you, ADA. She lain down on the seat, and closed her eyes. She still couldnt find the answers she sought, and instead found even more questions. But at least she was alive, and that was enough for now. Slowly, the drowsiness overwhelmed her questions, and fell asleep.
- Location : Akibahara Research Station, Kyushu system. Main Hall.
The director was predictably upset. Not that Minamimoto would have cared much. In fact, he was kind of relieved that the girl managed to escape. If she had been executed all his efforts would have gone wasted. And his fame and fortunes with them.
This is all your fault, Sho! You were supposed to study her, not let her escape and get away with the fighter!
Calm down, director. I had foreseen this possibility.
Calm down? He planned this for weeks, the prisoner escapes and an egghead waltzes in and tells him to calm down? He was about to strangle him, but he managed to control himself barely.
Then why didnt you do anything to prevent this?
I believe that shell be more useful to us like this, rather than being dead. After all, she did activate the prototype, am I right?
If youve got a point, make it. Quick.
Its simple, really. Something even people like you would understand. Shell lead us exactly where we want to.
Hmph. Youre right.
As always.
Just make sure to track her moves, or youll find yourself floating in space, along with your sarcasm.
Understood. Ill leave now.
As Minamimoto left, he opened the intercom.
Section Nine. Track down and bring back the prisoner. Possibly alive. At all costs.
Affirmative, sir. We will launch our patrols soon.
Nobody will ruin his plan. Neither an egghead, nor a girl from God-knows-where. Liberty has to get out of Kusari, no matter what.
To be continued.
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//Author's notes : this is my first RP story I've published. Constructive criticism is appreciated. If you find incongruencies, errors, things that generally shouldn't be there or suggestions, PM me. If you want to do it in RP, even better. Thanks for reading this.
