All posts by ShinJae

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #21

The observation apartments were in a separated division of the research labs.  There were many unknowns in research.  It was a precaution on the off chance that conscious subjects would control or react to devices being researched in the lab.  With the valuable items in the lab, it never hurt to be as safe as possible.

Several types of protective barriers blocked the way into the apartments.  With their high rank, Doctors Yu and Wu were able to walk through most of the check points unhindered.  They were stopped only twice.  Even they could be imitated or bugged by a crafty thief or saboteur.

The apartments were relatively nice; filled with soft things and many means of entertainment.  They were quite comfortable and themed in a calming light blue color.  From time to time, the laboratory staff spent time in them reading or resting on their breaks.  Today though, they were off limits.  A guest considered potentially hazardous was staying there.

The doctors approached the apartment door.  It slid to the right, opening the way for them.  Dr. Yu couldn’t help but stare for a while at the embodiment of her inspiration and her warning, AD7.

Their guest was examining a toaster though it seemed as though she had no interest in making toast.  She put her head to it as though she was thinking with it.  Then she put her ear to it and listened to it as though it had said something to say.  Looking confused, she simply set it back down.

She looked almost like a crisho female, though quite a bit taller and thinker all around though still quite fit.  Instead of the lizard-like crisho flesh, metallic patches of different colors, sizes, and shapes covered her.  Each patch held a powerful Hanja of matching size.  Both Adrianne and Chaeri knew what most of them did.  There were a few of them that were old or obscure enough to escape even their memory.

She was found with no clothing but in the interest of modesty, the lab crew dressed her with a simple tunic and slacks.  Even with the tunic, the two ladies could tell that her wings were replaced with sleek jet packs.

Their guest turned to regard them.  Her eyes were solid white dimly-lit lights.  She had a simple slit of a mouth that, dispite the metal face opened and closed as normal.  Inside of the slit, something that resembled a speaker took the place of her throat.  What passed for her hair was instead hair thin bits of wire.  It stayed in place but from time to time a single strand would move on its own.

Adrianne stared for a while awestruck while AD7 looked back at her.  After a time, she decided to speak, “Greetings AD7.  I am Dr. Yu head of this facility.”

Their guest looked back and smiled.  Her logical systems computed her situation in a split second.  Yu says Eight-Seven is Master.  Eight-Seven is not Master.  Yu knows neither Eight-Seven nor Master.  Yu is leader of this facility.  Facility has trapped Eight-Seven thinking she is Master.  Facility has high potential to be enemy of Eight-Seven and Master; reevaluate later.  Eight-Seven must escape facility to fully obey Master’s commands.  If Eight-Seven is to succeed in escape procedure, should gain trust of Yu.  Eight-Seven will impersonate Master and gain Yu’s trust.  “Hello Dr. Yu,” she spoke imitating AD7’s voice perfectly, “Your facility is remarkable.”

#1Awakening #20 – Awakening #22

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #20

Brisa sat there for a few moments, paralyzed by fear.  Jaquan and his crew took their seats around the table.  None of them said a word.  Jaquan made it a point to sit just to the left of Brisa.  They waited in silence giving Brisa time to think.  Within a few minutes the servers brought food serving Brisa first.

Still, it took a little time for the truth to sink in: Catlin’s friends were the BigBad Crew.  Brisa thought back to their earlier conversations.  Each time Catlin giggled was a reaction to knowing this secret.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”  Brisa was still wearing the mask.  There was thin black cloth covering her eyes along with a painting of a mantis designed to hide were she was looking.  However, it was quite obvious that she was talking to Catlin.

“The first time we met, wasn’t under the best of circumstances,” was Catlin’s calm response.

“What do you mean?  You knocked on my cabin door.”

Neely was sitting to the right of Catlin.  He mumbled something to her.  Catlin whispered a barely loud enough for Brisa to hear, “I dropped it a few minutes ago.  We have to wait for her.”

After a time, she gathered her wits just enough to look them all in the eyes.  Almost all the BigBad Crew was there: Jaquan, Neely, and Liana still in her mech suit.  Even Justice was there.  Brisa wasn’t sure if he was an official member of the crew.  However, he had been with them since the championship victory party.  The only one missing was…

OH NO!

Catlin sat across the table from Brisa with a bored look.  Brisa had missed it all this time.  Catlin’s eyes were different than before.  Not red in black, not glowing, or spouting black flame, they were normal.  Still, there was no mistaking it.  Catlin had attacked her at the shuttle port.  The one she had the most reason to fear had just become her close friend in the last few hours.

Brisa’s thoughts of safety were nothing but illusionary smoke.  Catlin had tracked her down easily.  Within the first few minutes of the flight Catlin was knocking on her door.  Like a fool she opened the door embracing the enemy with open arms.

How did Catlin disguise herself so well?  She must have used something, perhaps an enchantment to hide herself.  She was never malicious and could have attacked at any time.  Instead, they had what Brisa thought was the most wonderful time.  Still Catlin used a trick to get close to her.  If she was truly repentant, she would have apologized at the beginning.

“I apologize for my reaction to you earlier,” Catlin said, “I thought for sure you were a spy.  I was looking for a good time to tell you but it never came.”

“We all apologize for our actions before,” Jaquan spoke up, “but now, let’s eat.”

Brisa was so full of conflicting emotions: ultimate deception by an enemy that had become a best friend; a lady that had given her so much to prove that she wasn’t what she had to be?  Brisa said as she got up from the table, “I’m sorry.  I can’t do this.”  She walked away from the table, back towards her cabin.  She half expected to be pulled back to the table and forced to sit.  Since she was not she assumed she was free to go.  Under the mask a tear left her eye.

Catlin stood almost grabbing at Brisa with her Kin-Po Talents but thought against it.  Instead she called, “We’re planning to leave for Bear Gate at hour seventeen.”

Brisa paused at the information then kept walking.  She was welcomed to join them but unsure if she wanted to.

“So,” Liana said, her mask altering her voice to that of a machine’s, “What do we do now?”

Jaquan simply answered, “We eat.”

#1Opportunity #19 – Opportunity #21

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #16

Metcalf accepted the challenge but first she needed to take a break.  The push drill was short, only thirty seconds, and it didn’t require her to move.  The extreme effort was there none the less.  She was sweating quite a bit.  Her armor wasn’t very good at letting heat out so she’ll be sweating for quite a bit longer.  She made a mental note to modify it later.

On her way to the water tank, students took notice of the push drill area.  It rarely used this time of year.  As such, the sudden air stagnation was new for most of the students there.  Even those used to the push drill would be surprised this time.  The air stopped enough that it was getting hard to breath.

On her way back from the water tank, there were students gathering around the pit to watch the next challenge.  Word spread pretty fast as always.  It was also hard to watch this drill from the bleachers.

The river stones were quite heavy.  Replacing one was a chore for motion skill classes.  It would usually take a team of students to remove an old one and bring out a new one.  This stone had seen a lot less abuse than most.  There was however that new crack down the center.

In years past, it was her trick to break a weakened stone into several pieces then push the pieces in different directions towards her opponent’s zone.  Dividing ones attention among separate targets was difficult especially for male students.

There was now a considerable audience at the motion drill pit.  She disliked showing off but Lance was much stronger than she expected.  She needed a better plan than last time.

Metcalf reached her platform.  To her surprise, all of Lance’s criteria were set already.  As always, if the stone reached the wall the match was over.  But this time, a greater proportion of points were given if the stone reached the wall earlier in the match.  She accepted the terms and their second round began.

At the bell, she pushed as hard as she could expect the same effort from Lance.  There was none, instead the stone moved quickly into Lance’s zone.  The screech was quite loud.  It seemed like Lance wasn’t doing anything this time.  She knew better than to check the other platform though.  She needed to be focused to win as many points as possible.  She may even hit his wall.

At three seconds into the match, the crowd was acting strangely.  They were all focused at Lance’s platform.  Then there was a thud.  Right after the thud the stone stopped cold.  In an unexpected turn, Lance had jumped down into the pit.  He endangered himself to push the stone by hand.  There was no rule against that but it never happened, ever.

To her surprise, the stone started moving quickly towards her zone.  She was using motion skills to push just even harder than before.  The stone refused to respond in the slightest way to her commands.  It kept pace with Lance’s walk as though the stone was on wheels.  With Lance pushing, the stone reached her wall in just under eight seconds.  Still, there was no stress on his face.

A defeat like this could only be devastating.  She calmly checked the platform pad for the amount of points she lost.  She was upset but strangely calm when she realized the truth.  She had lost all but a quarter of her points.  She was almost finished at Spear Mint Academy.

Right there and then, she decided to make the best of what time she had left.

#1Lost and Found #15 – Lost and Found #17