As she hummed a happy tune under her breath, Sherilyn examined the repair data for the GRM Gundam that was displayed on her workstation monitor. To her delight, she discovered that the unit had been stored away properly (even with the dust and mothballs that had gathered), which meant she would only need to make a few upgrades and modifications to get it combat worthy within the desired perimeters. ‘A few OS tweaks, improved motion servos, and maybe replacing the GN Condensers with higher grade models should get the GRM Gundam’s combat performance on par with Arios, Cherudim, Exia, and the Seravee.’ She didn’t bother to include the 00-Raiser simply because that was a different beast entirely.
She tapped a few keys to open up a small vid-window on the side of her main monitor. It showed the timeline of evolving technical specs of the GN Tau Drives, from the early mass produced versions used by the Thrones and the GN-Xs to the ones on this base. After some initial debate, it was decided that they would simply make use of the abundance of GN Tau Drives onboard the station and keep the GRM Gundam outfitted with a Tau Drive. It certainly would prevent it from operating as long as the other Gundams and despite the fact that Trans-Am could be used by the Tau Drives now, activating that feature would certainly put the unit in poor shape afterwards as it would have to rely on whatever supply was left in the condenser until it could head back to base for repairs. If possible, she would have liked to use the fifth GN Drive originally used by 0 Gundam but considering that that Drive wasn’t fully ready to head back into service, their options were rather limited.
On the bright side, Seravee’s repairs were proceeding smoothly enough that it would be usable again within a week or two with the addition of the Haro interface system. Hopefully, Tieria would have finished his entire sweep of Veda’s database before he returned to service as a Meister.
Sherilyn’s ears picked up the sound of a door opening behind her and glanced over to the right to see who it was. Upon seeing a Haro unit with cat-ears roll in, she smiled. “How’s it going, Hanayo?”
The Haro unit rolled closer to the console before coming to a stop. It popped open a plate on top of its head in order to activate its hologram projector and soon, the form of a young girl with blue-white-hair, cat ears and a black and white almost maid-like outfit phased into view. Her normally red eyes were shining gold, indicating that she was connected to Veda. “So far we have accounted for 80% of the data in the system. The physical inventory is approximately 85% completed. There are still several secret areas we’ve yet to breach.”
“So Ribbons Almark did put in some contingencies in place in case this base was taken over and he lost control of Veda,” murmured the young mechanic.
Moving closer to the console, Hanayo placed her hands on two hand-pads, which glowed as she interfaced with them directly and brought up direct status feeds to Sherilyn’s attention. “I grant they’re flimsy contingencies, but they are preventing us from finding out the purpose of some of the chambers on board this station. Another problem is that many of the ‘black rooms’ as we’ve dubbed them are sealed and require hacking or heavy-duty torch cutting to gain entry which in either case is time consuming. As things are now, we cannot investigate into them any further.”
Sherilyn grimaced as she went back to her earlier work of rewriting and tweaking the OS for the GRM Gundam. “Jeez, even when he’s gone, that guy’s making it hard for us to get a leg up. Makes you wonder if he set up some trap that got us stuck in this alternate Earth.”
“Doubtful. There are no technological means that could catapult anything into another universe.”
“And yet here we are. This is not our galaxy, no solar generation system, no space colonies, no orbital elevators; the history of this earth is vastly different from the one we know,” said the young woman as she counted off the number of key differences in this world. “This knee-deep Sci-Fi grade parallel world junk is the current reality we have to deal with now.”
The sentient A.I. Meister could not argue that truth. Despite all logic, the reality before her was irrefutable. “It begs to question how we came to be here.”
“That’s the million dollar question,” replied the mechanic while sighing in frustration.
Hanayo deactivated herself from the interface while her golden eyes turned back to her normal red colour. “It makes me wish we had a chance for more of our personnel to reach us before we came here. The extra man-power would have been a blessing.”
Sherilyn nodded in agreement as her fingers continued to work on the keyboard. “Yeah, and even with some maintenance drones onboard this station and what personnel we had with us before this Universal Displacement took place; we’re still under-manned to run this station effectively. If Mr. Erde wasn’t helping us with unlocking levels of Veda’s functions to automate some things here, we’d be in trouble.” She paused for a moment before flashing a friendly smile at Meister 874. “Of course, your help in interfacing with Veda to hunt down data, and unlock station functions has also been a blessing.”
Hanayo returned the smile. “I did miss interfacing with Veda as I once used to. Now that I am able to do so again, I’ll use all my power to help my friends.”
“Attagirl!”
“You want me to pilot one of those Neo-Frames? If the Professor’s cool with it, I’m in!”
V.V. just stared at his fellow diminutive immortal, blinking in disbelief. “You… agree to be a test pilot?” Honestly, the only reason he asked was due to some strange curiosity he had in hearing how she would respond. The last thing he had expected was her to actually agree.
She simply shrugged once. “I pilot Knightmares for Proffy all the time. Being immortal I can stand tolerances normal humans cannot. In fact I helped Proffy test some of the tech he incorporated into those Neo-Knightmares. A simple thing really! You build the tech to normal Knightmare scale, test it in a Frame and see if it passes. Then re-scale it for the Neo-Frame, re-test and if it passes, bingo!”
“I am curious… how did you test any of the Frames when they have no power source to allow them to move?”
“We’ve hooked a few of them up to external generators and did basic movement tests and a bunch of VR simulation tests. Naturally once we got the power plant, we’ll need some quick and dirty run-tests to make sure it’s up to snuff, and bingo-bango we got Neo-Frames.” Upon noticing his perplexed expression, a smug smile formed on P.P’s face. “What’s the matter, Shorty? Didn’t you read up on any of Proffy’s development reports on the Neo-Frame construction stages over the past four years? If you did, those facts would have been clear as day.”
Truth be told, V.V. actually did not read the reports in detail. He mainly skimmed them, shoved them aside and focused on the real work that needed to be done which was to kill the Gods. While he held Professor Steamhein and his work in high regard, he simply did not care for any projects related to the quack-visions of Elpeo Ple.
His silence merely served to fuel her glee. “Soooo, you DIDN’T read em’! Ha! So once again you, like half the other twits in the Cult, dismissed the need for the Neo-Frames and didn’t give it a second glance?” Leaning back she snorted indignantly as she crossed her arms. “Again, you’re all proven idiots as yet ‘another’ of my visions came true. Tell me doesn’t it get old being proven wrong for the billionth time?”
V.V. fought the urge to twitch as he swallowed his pride. “I admit you caught me with my pants down as the expression goes. Yes, I did disregard the paperwork for the project as I did not believe it was of any great consequence. Yet now the Gundams have appeared and in order to fight them we need the Neo Frames.”
“You know you should be super grateful that Proffy loves science and tinkering as much as he does. He went through a lot of crap for this project. He had to give up his career and all of his other projects. He cut ties with friends and any family he had left… all for you bunch to shove him into a lab in a bunch of caves asking him to create a fighting chance just in case those ‘glowing metal giants’ ever appeared. Yet he got black-listed for funding! The Neo Frame Project was considered a joke, everyone snickered behind his back about how the once great scientist was put to work on a ‘gag project’ that would never see the light of day…” P.P. sighed dramatically. “Oh, I can just go on and on.”
“Just what are you getting at?” asked V.V. with an exasperated tone.
In that moment, her blue eyes hardened, a sign that she was now in a serious mood. “Proffy deserves to have the recognition for making the weapons that will save the Empire’s ass. He deserves everything he lost returned to him. I want you and Chuck to more or less literally or just metaphorically, get on your knees and kiss his feet for making the impossible possible once again.”
V.V. had to admit he was surprised by Ple’s rather selfless demand that Steamhein be praised and rewarded for the sacrifices that he made. “I agree he deserves to be rewarded for his work, however we have yet to see if the Neo Frames can stand up to these Gundams. That said he was called by the Emperor to serve his homeland so it was his duty to answer the call.”
“I don’t think I made myself clear,” said P.P in a low, slightly dangerous tone before she casually grabbed one of his blonde locks and pulled him over so that their faces were only inches away from each other. “Professor Steamhein’s been the first and only friend I’ve ever really had in this place since I lost my big brother. And in just four years with what little resources he had to work with he made TEN freaking Neo Frames! Once he gets the power reactor problem solved, they’ll work, they’ll fly, and they will be the only thing able to stand up to those Gundams. You, Chuck and all the other naysayers whose hopes ride on his Neo-Frames OWE him! Duty to king and country be damned, you owe him! So next time he wants funding for a project, he gets top billing. Whatever materials he needs, you ship him twice the amount. Am I making myself clear now?”
Normally, V.V. did not fear anything Ple could do to him since he couldn’t die as long as he had the Code. But to see this side of her was a little unsettling. Normally, he was used to her ranting or complaining about how ‘how bad things were for her’ or ‘how nobody took her seriously’. Yet here she was insisting that Steamhein’s well-being should be considered and compensated without a word towards her own lot in life. “I don’t know whether to consider it a good or bad thing you hold the Professor in such high regard, but you make a point. I’ll discuss the matter with Charles the next time we speak.”
And just like that, the cheerful expression returned as she released the lock of hair. “Good! Oh, and don’t tell Proffy. He sometimes gets embarrassed when others go to bat for him. Since you know, like a good Britannian he does what’s asked when his Emperor calls for him, but he gets so wrapped up in his work and he just goes with the flow even when he sacrifices everything else for his project.”
“This once, I will indulge you in your request. It is after all, a rarity for you to be more concerned for another over yourself,” said V.V. while he cleaned up his blonde locks.
“Hey I can be selfless when I wanna!”
“The key term being when you want to, which in of itself is a major rarity,” said the male immortal with a smirk. “However I can understand that you and Steamhein have grown close so naturally you’re concerned for him. You do not need to worry; the Empire will acknowledge his contributions properly and ensure that he is properly compensated.”
“Has there been any change in Setsuna’s condition, Feldt?
Looking away from the observation window into the medical bay, Feldt Grace shook her head. “Not really. His brain activity has mostly calmed down, but there are spikes on occasion. Given what has happened to him, the medical computers can’t really tell how this is affecting his thinking patterns. The only fact we have to go on is that his brain activity is a cluster.”
Sumeragi gave a soft sigh as she crossed her arms. “I was afraid that was going to be the answer. I just wish now I’d talked with Setsuna and Rai more about safety perimeters for the experiment. If I’d known what Rai was going to use for a Geass command, I would have asked him to try something else that would have worked to convince everyone else on how dangerous Geass is.” Left unsaid was that she should have really taken into consideration how Setsuna’s recently evolved Innovator Quantum Brainwaves would have reacted to Geass. As it were, the crew was still trying to come to terms on that development even if it didn’t change their perception of Setsuna.
“I think you had a hard time believing it just like the rest of us, so you didn’t think much about it.”
“Maybe so, but my job is to consider all the scenarios in a given situation. Setsuna and Rai both told us how Geass could twist a person depending on its power and influence, and I should have trusted Setsuna’s judgment more on the matter. I let a preconception of what sounded like magical nonsense override my usual sense of caution.”
Feldt shook her head. “Now you’re just being hard on yourself again Miss Sumeragi. None of us expected this, and Rai certainly didn’t expect it either.”
“That’s true. He looked like he’d shot his best friend after we had to subdue and restrain Setsuna when he reacted badly to the Geass command.” The tactical forecaster could clearly remember how the white haired young man was badly shook up by those events. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up Feldt, but I still feel a little guilty for not planning the experiment out more thoroughly in terms of safety nets. Speaking of Rai, I take it you don’t seem to blame him given the way you spoke of him.”
“I don’t think he meant to hurt Setsuna and well…” After pausing for a moment, she continued. “When Marie first came onboard, I held a grudge against her Soma Peries personality. While I had a right to dislike Soma, like Allelujah she has two personalities who share one body. And while she did participate in the UN Forces attack that killed Chris, Lichy, Dr. Moreano and Lockon, she didn’t personally pull the trigger on any of them and so I should have held back my tongue a lot better. I want to give Rai a fair chance before passing judgment, and if Setsuna felt we can trust him, then it is all the more reason I feel he deserves a chance.”
Walking closer to the younger woman, Sumeragi placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not that you aren’t already, but that’s a very mature thing to say Feldt. You’re right. He deserves a chance before we cast final judgment.” Her eyes noticed the time on the wall clock in the med-bay. “We’ve had a long day. You should get some rest.”
“I promise I will, but I’d like to keep an eye on Setsuna a little longer.”
“Alright, but not much longer. We can’t have you falling asleep while on duty now,” said Sumeragi with a small chuckle as she playfully ruffled Feldt’s pink hair for a brief moment, earning a squeal from the other girl.
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
“Good night, Feldt.” With that said, the older woman started walking back to her own quarters to retire for the evening.
“See you in the morning!” After Sumeragi had disappeared down the hall, Feldt turned her gaze back to the observation window intending to watch Setsuna’s slumbering form for any sign he’d awaken.
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(Posted Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:37)
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