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Post by Moe on Nov 20, 2023 15:21:49 GMT -6
Prologue:
Before the beginning, there were four celestial dragons. Neither duo knew how they came into existence, only that they had simply always existed. The first two, the ones who argued had existed the longest, were Time and Space. The second two, who argued they had been around for as long as Time and Space, were Life and Death. They argued that since Time and Space were alive, that meant they had to have created them. Time and Space argued that nothing could exist, without the time and space to hold life in the first place. Nobody knows who’s right, but most believe they simply came into existence at the same time.
With life and death, new beings on Earth were created in the dragons’ likeness. These being were called the terians. With that new life, two new dragons were also born. This time, the ancients saw their creation. They were born from stars, created by the intense emotions of terians and their conflicts: Mind and Body. Mind created sentience, free thought, problem solving. Body created pleasure, and fun. The two were bitter rivals, and never agreed on anything. Mind argued that life needed the wisdom to create tools of survival, and Body argued that life couldn’t always be about survival and created the feeling of pleasure and happiness.
As terians took over the globe, war and territorial struggles were rampant. Many terians lost their lives in conflicts. Although they had the wisdom to organize armies, they had no sense of right and wrong. All they did was fight for territory, until there was nothing left to fight over. Over time, the ancients agreed that the terians were destroying the Earth and needed to be stopped. Time and Space decided to create a new planet. It would be far from Earth, only accessible by the gods themselves. It would serve as a prison for their creations, where they would continue to fight and struggle for territory until the planet turned into a desolate wasteland. The terians were presumed extinct, and their planet was forgotten by the gods. Earth was still salvageable, and began to regrow on its own. Eventually the ancients decided to create new life, this time allowing the life to decide what it wanted to be.
Humans eventually evolved, and with their sentience came the capacity for right and wrong. Many early humans still fought for territory and started wars, but they also had the ability to want peace and to share land. Conflicts about religion began to arise, over which god was the real one, and other religions simply wanted all of them to live in peace and kindness. That’s where the youngest dragons of Good and Evil came in. Since they were born from the humans, they had capacity to make choices like the humans. Good decided they needed names, and chose to call herself Sheah. She represented peace and kindness, childlike innocence and pureness. The Evil dragon decided if Sheah should have a name, so should he. He became Vetaal. He only wanted death and destruction, chaos and conflict. Unfortunately, as more hatred and spite filled humans, it caused Vetaal to grow in power and influence. Hate and evil began to overwhelm the good, and the ancients were once again faced with having to destroy a creation.
But each of the dragons cannot exist without the other. Vetaal had to be stopped, but could not be destroyed. It was collectively decided that Sheah absorb Vetaal’s soul, to become a single entity. One capable of both good and evil. It would balance the scales once more, but at the cost of corrupting her soul. She agreed, and destroyed his body, taking his soul within hers. This caused her beautiful, angelic and pure white appearance to change into something demonic with scales and horns.
Now capable of hate and rage, Sheah grew angry at the ancients and left their home amongst the stars. She descended down to earth, to live with the humans. And she lived among them, for a thousand years. She only showed herself as a demon in their dreams, a crafty succubus desperately trying to find some kind of happiness in her life. The ancients watched her struggles, until humanity became more and more advanced. They had evolved from living in caves and telling stories of ancient gods, to building houses and churches. Religion was on the rise, again. With that, the corrupted Sheah saw opportunity to start more chaos and conflict. She, presenting herself as a demon, and had a child with a priest. The child was human, with eight wriggling tentacles making him look as a spider. She passed her mantel to him, giving him her godhood and using him as a tool for war. He was called the devil’s child, and unable to be killed as he was given immortality. He grew up in a world of hatred and war, never truly knowing what he was.
With that, the ancients saw their own opportunity. To finally stop the conflict and create their own progeny, with the humans. They had observed the planet for billions of years, and now it was finally time to live with them and give their powers to the next generation. After all, they couldn’t truly understand the conflicts and emotions of humans, without becoming one themselves. The six ancients all agreed they would take human form, live among the humans for a time. They would marry and start lives and families, and then all meet again with their eldest child, after their eighteenth birthday.
All but Mind did so. She found the young child of Sheah, and took him in. Instead of marrying, she adopted him. He was only ever called Spider, so that was his name. Nobody is quite sure what happened with the two as she raised him, but he decided he would only be good, even though he carried a piece of Vetaal’s soul.
When the other’s children were all eighteen, and Spider much older, they met each other for the last time. All the children knew what they were tasked, and had accepted it. Each parent passed their responsibilities and powers to their children, as their bodies began to vanish. Only Mind remained as the original ancient, though she never explained why. She looked to the sky as a new constellation formed, in the shape of a majestic dragon. The children all dispersed, each into a different region of the globe, just as their parents once did in their own places in the sky. Of course, this did not destroy religion as the ancients intended, but only fueled it further. War, conflict and hate will always be a part of human nature. Though Sheah had long since disappeared, Vetaal’s soul would always exist, and always would for as long as humans could feel hatred.
The halflings still exist today, but they created their own home, parallel to Earth. A realm accessible only to the gods, or those with very particular knowledge. They called it Faerie, and legend says that wherever a shadow on Earth aligns with a shadow in Faerie, it creates a portal and you’re able to travel between the realms. The realm not only houses the halflings, but they use their realm to keep monsters and creatures of lore, as they feel humanity isn’t ready to merge with magic once more. As humanity attempts to extend their reach into space, rumor has it among the Fae, that the terians also still exist, having evolved into more advanced beings, waiting for a time when they inherit the Earth that was once theirs. Some even believe terians are already walking among the humans, in disguise, scoping out the planet and patiently waiting and planning.
Fast forward.
Most of humanity has forgotten about the gods, in favor of science. Two lead scientists developed the idea of a super computer that can learn on its own. An AI program with full sentience. The scientists, Dr. Rockford and Dr. Allen, have named the program Apollo.
“Apollo is the latest scientific breakthrough in technology!” Dr. Allen boasted. “An artificial intelligence that changes everything we know, about computers. Apollo is able to learn on its own, and form its own decisions and opinions. It can learn the difference between good and evil. It can learn emotions and empathy. Anger and sadness. In other words, a fully sentient program, capable of learning just as any human would.”
“What’s keeping it from overpowering humanity?” a reporter asked. “What are you doing to ensure all the laws of robotics are in place?”
“We have a failsafe installed by the lead programmer, Dr. Rockford.” The scientist responded. “Apollo can decide on its own to ignore the laws, but if it does, the failsafe will trigger and shut down the program. We have taken every precaution to ensure everyone’s safety. Dr. Rockford overlooks the project and keeps logs of every decision Apollo makes. If there’s any concern of the program going rogue, Dr. Rockford will know about it well before the failsafe even needs to trigger.”
“Can we speak with Dr. Rockford?” another reporter interjected.
“He is not available to speak, at this time.” The scientist responded. “The Apollo project is still undergoing minor tweaks and refinements, before officially going online. Once Apollo is online, it will be integrated into all computer systems, through the internet. It will be able to help you with day to day life, by learning each individual’s needs and preferences. Naturally, we need to make sure there are no bugs in the program that could cause future issues. Apollo will change life as we know it.”
The other side of the world, 1,500 years ago:
Alarms were blaring. Fallout sirens were going off, throughout the entire continent.
“What’s happening?!” Spider shouted.
“He did it. He actually did it. Apollo is setting off the entire world’s nuclear bombs. He’s going to destroy everything.” A woman gritted through her teeth. “We need to get the shields up!” she shouted, to her companion.
“Where??”
“On every border. We’re shielding as much of this damn planet as we can.”
“That’s insane! We’ve never covered such a large area! If the shields don’t reach and meet in the capital, the entire continent will be destroyed with the rest of the planet!”
“Do you trust me?”
“I don’t see how that’s-“
“Do you trust me?”
“To the very end.”
“Then activate the shields.”
Spider sighed, and began to do as he was commanded. Ancient-looking, ethereal stones all over the continent began to glow a haunting pink color, before shooting a bright beam of light into the sky. The light illuminated the night sky, making midnight look as though it were noon. Citizens from every corner huddled together, fearing it may be their last moments.
“Athena, if this doesn’t work-“ Spider started.
“It will. I always had a gut feeling my old friends made a terrible decision. I’ve spent my whole life preparing to prevent what happened last time. Trust me,” she looked back at him. “It will work.”
The light shot across the sky, blanketing the entire sky for as far as anyone could see. Bombs no sooner began to go off, everywhere else in the world. Fire and dust covered the entire planet. The oceans were decimated, creating land where there never was. All life on Earth was being destroyed, by Apollo.
Fast forward.
It’s present day. Every kid in school now knows about the disaster that split all the continents, dried up ancient oceans and created new ones, and most of all, they know that the other side of the world is strictly off limits. It’s known as The Expanse, and is thankfully separated by a massive wasteland that neither human nor robot dares to traverse. In the middle of The Expanse, sits Olympus, Apollo’s kingdom where he’s created his own robotic life. Most fear he will try to extend his reach to other parts of the world, others aren’t concerned as the rest of the world has its own issues.
After the disaster, humans began to evolve more rapidly. Mutant genes began to emerge, forming both heroes and villains. Vigilantes began to emerge, to protect against those who would use their powers for evil. The primary city for heroes to gather and train, was Kaiser City. Some of them worked alone, some worked with the police, and some formed groups and worked as a team. One such group, The Xcentric Freaks, was a ragtag group of young misfit heroes who weren’t always the best at fighting crime. They had big ideas, but not such great executions.
Their leader was one Hyper X. Nobody knew his identity, save for a select few. Hyper X came off as a know-it-all, he was sarcastic and came off as a bit of a jerk. However, the members of the group who had been there longest, knew it was a ruse in order to further hide his identity. He wore what appeared to be a mechanical suit, though upon closer inspection it was made mostly of carbon fiber, Kevlar, and hard plastics. There were only a few metal pieces on the helmet and arm guards. He was colored in mostly black, white and blue-green. Because of the nature of his suit and his very one-note personality, the group formed a theory that he’s a robot.
The members that know his true identity will insist this is false. However, one of them is currently missing.
“As you all know,” Hyper X started, in a much more somber tone that what they were all used to. “There’s an underground colony of humans living in Olympus. Nathan went with a group to help them, a few months ago. He’s been in contact with me every day since then, except last week. All contact ceased. We don’t know if he’s okay. We don’t know what happened for him to stop contacting. We have no idea what’s going on in the colony or the city. So,” he continued. “I have to go find him.”
“Wait,” a woman in the group spoke up. “You? As in, alone?” she said. She was short, but muscular. She was Alex, the sister to the man behind the suit. “Bullshit, Nate’s one of us! We’re coming with you!”
“You know why you can’t, Alex.” X said, stopping her. “I need you here, for more important things.”
Alex started to protest, but caught on to what he was talking about and simply sighed. “What about the rest of the group? You still can’t go alone.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, this is where things get a little complicated.” He said, sheepishly, knowing they weren’t going to approve of his plan. “I’ve been in direct contact with Apollo.” He continued, to the shock of the others. “I kinda convinced him that I’m a robot who’s tired of the oppression and being forced to work for humans, and that I’m seeking shelter in the city.” He shrugged. This was a lie, but it was better to tell a lie than to tell them what he had actually been talking to Apollo about.
“You. What.” Alex said, dryly.
“Don’t worry, he believes it.” X laughed it off. “Thing is, we can’t really help the colony without taking on the source. So long as Apollo is active, he’s not only a threat to generations underground, but he’s a looming threat to us. We’ve already dealt with the avatars he’s sent here, so it’s not a matter of if he can manage to cross the Expanse, but when. And I don’t want to be the one who just sits by and waits for it to happen.”
“How do we know you’re not gonna turn to his side?” a blue-skinned girl said, shyly. “I um. Sorry. Just. Everyone’s thinking it!” she stammered.
“Okay,” X sighed. “For the last time, I’m not a robot. You’ve all trusted me this long, just trust me a little longer.”
Alex just snickered, holding back laughter.
Later on, X was packing a shuttle in preparation for the long trek across the wasteland. With him, was a similarly dressed companion. She had the same kind of suit, though hers was colored in black and rainbow, with long ribbons not unlike bunny ears drooping from the helmet, as if purposely matching the cat ears on Hyper X’s helmet. Alex was with them, helping them pack.
“You’re sure about this?” Alex said to them both.
“I’m sure. Nate’s my best friend. If nothing else, I have to find him.” X said.
“Yeah, well. You better come back. I don’t wanna have to explain you being vaporized by a robot, to Tiffany.” Alex said, a little more anger in her tone.
“That’s not going to happen.” X insisted.
“That’s why I’m coming, to keep him out of trouble.” The other suited companion said, as she took off her helmet. She wasn’t as concerned about keeping her identity a secret, as he was. She smiled, as she fist-bumped X in the side, as if knowing he was absolutely, most definitely going to get into some sort of trouble.
Alex simply chuckled, trying to hide her worry. “You two are cute.” She teased.
“We’re not-“ X started, but figured it wasn’t worth it to argue. “I’ll be in contact with you as soon as we reach the underground, okay?” he sighed. “I promise, everything will be okay.” He said, giving Alex a big hug. “I’ll be back, before you know it! And I expect this huge hero’s statue and party, when I get back. Y’know. ‘Cause I’m gonna fight a robot god and all.” He joked.
“Get the hell out of here.” Alex joked, shoving him into the shuttle.
X waved at her one last time as the doors closed, and they began their journey. “Take care of Mom and Tiffany for me, okay??” he shouted.
“You know I will!” Alex shouted back. “And I love you, you stupid asshole!”
Quiet. Peace and quiet was the world surrounding the reddish-blond haired woman as she wore a pair of bulky headphones that blocked out the noises from the vessel she sat within. Cloaked in a navy blue vest with its hood covering her face; shadows danced across her freckled pale skin as the light displayed a heavily worded hologram hovering before her. Her pale grey eyes darting left and right as she read the bright blue text and quickly corrected some codes.
The hologram came from a device attached to her mechanical arm, which she had pulled up the sleeve to allow this to happen. Its blue light, reflecting off of her metallic skin, showing off the various dents and scratches, rust and areas in need of repair. She was not immune from the cruelty of the world that she lived within. In fact, she was a victim to the pains and alienation from her home, which did not welcome individuals with high intellect.
With her other hand, she tapped away at the floating keyboard while remaining focused and unaware as to where the shuttle was bringing her. Every once in a while she would gently place her hand on the person beside her and nudge her back to where she was sitting originally. However, these movements were not out of annoyance but out of genuine care. As the person sitting next to her, didn’t appear to be awake and was also wearing a matching vest with a hood covering her face.
After altering some more coding, the woman turned to the other figure and grabbed for her arm. Pulling it onto her lap, she then inserted a cable from her wrist to the other’s. The hologram’s blue light revealed that the individual sitting beside her, was not a human at all but a robot with white armor. The program flickered for a moment as it began to change its options. A green loading bar appeared before her, sending the data to the other.
But the green bar stopped and a red batch of lettering appeared on the hologram. The woman hissed under her breath and pulled the cable out. She returned into her slouched position and slammed her feet on top of a suitcase. Annoyed, she pulled up the original program once again and started to mess with the code.
“Punk.” She hissed under her breath. “Messing with my kid. I don’t know what the heck he did...” The woman scowled as her eyes shifted across the selected code once more. Her mind raced as she read each and every individual letter and punctuation before her. She needed to find the troubled line before the shuttle reached its destination.
However it stopped.
Her eyes broke away for a moment as someone entered the shuttle. Due to her headphones blocking out the sounds, all she could hear were his muffled words. He was saying something to someone who had shoved him into the vessel, letting him leave his home. Or whatever. She didn’t care too much about the details about the other, as he was nothing more than a mere stranger to her.
Disinterested with X, she returned her attention to the program. But it was just her luck. Looking away for a moment had simply allowed her eyes to reset and she managed to spot the incorrect code. She grinned and whispered; “Got’cha.” She then promptly tapped away on the holographic keyboard, fixing the line and overriding its commands.
She then reinserted the cable to her companion. The familiar loading bar appeared once more. Her eyes fixed on the moving green bar. It was nearing the end of the block. The update was soon to be completed and she could feel herself feeling confident in her own abilities of repairing the robot beside her.
But there was red, once again.
The woman slammed her head back into her seat out of sheer annoyance. There must’ve been another error somewhere. But when she glanced back to the program, she noticed a sentence below the bar. It said; “Energy too low, recharge needed!”
She let out an irritated sigh as she glanced over to her companion. Her voice was a mere whisper as she really didn’t want to disturb anyone else within the vessel. “You poor thing... You really did put yourself out of commission, didn’t you?” The woman then reached under the other’s hood and adjusted something beneath it. Not once, did she think her actions would look weird to another. But then again, not many would’ve assumed that the other, wasn’t a human at all but a robot.
“Dang it. He better be there waiting when I get there. He’s going to help me drag her butt to the lab...” She quietly mumbled as she returned her attention to her project. The text floated before her once more and her fingers darted across the keyboard. Instantly, her mind shifted over to figuring out how to write a code that would help preserve her partner’s energy levels. But nothing would happen until her friend recharged and obtained the update. Until then, she was going to awkwardly sit in the back of the shuttle.
After all, she didn’t want to disturb the newcomer. She had no idea what he was or why he was hopping on. Not unless he had a similar intention of traveling to the same place. That, however, would be too unlikely.
Would it?
X and his companion finished putting away their supplies, mostly which included food and water. This would be a long journey, after all. X looked over, glancing at the only other two passengers on the shuttle, and sighed.
“They don’t know you. You don’t have to wear your suit, the whole trip.” she, trying to be quiet enough that they wouldn’t hear.
“I don’t know that. They’re clearly traveling to The Expanse, as well. Nobody just goes there, for fun.” X grumbled.
She made a sour face at him, as she grabbed some clothes out of a bag. “I’m going to go change into comfy clothes.” She stated firmly, as she shoved a set of folded clothes at him. “I don’t want to spend the next few days, hanging out with Hyper X. He is a much more likable person, under the mask.” She teased, walking off to change.
“Fine.” X grumbled. “But not now.” He added, before glancing over to the other passengers. That code, the subtle movements the woman was making, he had suspicions but figured to politely introduce himself before making accusations. First, he took out one of the suitcases and pulled out a little white ball that had the same symbol as his shoulder pads; an omega with an hourglass underneath it.
“Hey.” He said, sitting close to her. “I couldn’t help but notice that code looks a lot like an AI program. Don’t worry, I’m not judging. I have one, too.” He held the little white ball, and activated it.
“Hello!” the tiny robot said in a friendly voice, its single eye looking her up and down. “Executing execution.exe!” it said in the same friendly voice, as a tiny turret gun lifted out of its head and began shooting. Fortunately, it was loaded with soft toy ammo.
When the stranger approached her, Jasmine merely glanced at him for a split second before returning her gaze to her project. At first, she wasn’t going to say anything to him as she wasn’t very interested with speaking to another. This was not because she disliked him, but it was more on the fact that she was used to others mocking her for her intellect.
But when he showed her his own AI programming, she stopped typing to look at it. The little orb was actually kind of cute. A simplistic design choice with a really smooth surface. This particular design choice had always been intriguing to her. Even most of her own designs were relatively simple, except for her companion sitting beside her. She had a pretty complex design, which Jasmine did want to change. Then when his little robot spoke to her, she couldn’t help but smile. It was actually cute.
Before she could greet the little robot back, it started to rapidly fire stuffed bullets about. Jasmine ducked in time to dodge a bullet. A toy then bounced off the back wall with a tiny little clink sound. She laughed at the crazy little thing as X apologized for its rampant shooting. “It’s fine.” She said to him. “It’s an AI, things like that happen all the time. Believe me...I would know.” She then elbowed her companion who still hadn’t woken up from being shut down.
“Ah,” X exclaimed, moving the robot away. “Sorry. He uh, he’s just like that, sometimes.” He said, deactivating it. “Robots aren’t really my thing, I’m more into biomechanics. A good friend of mine actually made this one.” He continued, noting that she seemed frustrated. “My name is Hyper X. Not really, but that’s the only name you need to know. I’m sure you’re aware this shuttle stops in The Expanse, but somehow I get the feeling we’re all making the same trip, even further. You’ve got the robot. We’ve got the robot-looking suits. There’s only one city where that many robots is required, and yours isn’t looking too good.”
“If you’ll let me, I can help charge it just enough to finish that code. It would be the equivalent of charging a light bulb with static shock from your socks, but it would be just enough to complete the update.” He offered. “See this?” he tapped on his helmet. “I charge this. Once I take it off, it stops working. It’s coded only to me, and only powers on for me. I can do the same for your robot, as a temporary fix. If you’re okay with that.”
Hyper X then showed off his helmet and explained to her what it could do. At first, she wasn’t so sure about letting him get too close to her friend. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to feel that this guy was actually speaking from truth. He wasn’t hiding his brains. The design of the armor that he and his companion wore, were simply fascinating. And so, Jasmine glanced over to her friend and quietly removed her hood, revealing her white plated face with blue crystals that sat on top of her head. But much like her sleeping position, it was also revealed that she and her robot were in quite the mess. Cracks and broken bits of armor could be seen in the dim shuttle light.
Jasmine then reached towards the crystals and removed the damaged ones with a simple pop sound. She then placed the broken crystals on the seat beside her. “Her name is Tex, short for Vortex.” She explained to him. “She’s my first ever successful creation. The original plan was to meet my husband at the beginning of the Expanse and do some quick repairs to her damaged components. But the enemy we faced, prior to the shuttle, had overrode some of her coding and forced her system to lock up and glitch out. So...” She glanced back over to him. “While sitting here, I’ve been tinkering away with her coding. Rewriting the corrupt commands and inserting new ones. When she wakes, she may be a bit alarmed to see you being so close. But her weapons are currently damaged and she will not be able to strike.”
Jasmine laughed. “If anything. The only aggressive thing to come from her are the words from her mouth.” She grinned. “But go on. Do your thing and I’ll submit the update.”
“Aww, look at you, Mr. Antisocial.” Ikuki teased, as she returned. “Already making friends! So proud of you!”
“Okay you know what, you win. I’ll change and show my real face to this total stranger whose name I don’t even know.” X threw his hands up in defeat. “But only because Hyper X’s sarcasm is rubbing off on you, and I don’t like it.” He grumbled, as Ikuki made a teasing face. “I will be right back.” He said to the woman, who he assumed must have been confused by this banter, grabbed his normal clothes and stormed off.
“He’s actually quite nice. I wouldn’t have married him, otherwise.” Ikuki said, smiling at the stranger.
Jasmine couldn’t help but snicker at this. The two of them seemed like they complimented one another pretty well. Ikuki even seemed pretty friendly, as she explained that Hyper X was normally pretty good to be around.
“It’s a...nice change of pace, if you ask me.” She said to Ikuki. “Where Tex and I come from, it’s not exactly a place to find encouragement to those smarter than the idiots that run it. We’re heading out here for reasons that they opposed. And that is? To do more research on the advanced life forms out there. I want to see what makes them so special. What makes them so powerful. And whether or not I can hack into one and figure out what makes it tick.” She waved her hand.
Jasmine paused for a moment. She spoke loud enough for Hyper X to hear as well. “It’s not for a power grab by any means. But Tex here? Tex...” Jasmine stopped for a moment as she quickly debated whether or not she really wanted to tell the whole truth as to why she and Tex escaped their home. “Tex...is...more than just a robot to me. She’s like a kid. I made her. I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into building her. With the scraps and leftover technology we scavenged, my husband and I, we...put her together. She’s not perfect but to me, she’s everything.”
Hyper X walked out, having left his suit locked safely away in his room, save for his helmet. This one looked different, with a bright green X on the faceplate and it looked like it had taken some heavy damage. He looked pretty average, and wore a t-shirt that said “never trust atoms, they make up everything” which made Ikuki roll her eyes. The only odd thing about him, where what appeared to be tiny dragon wings in place of ears, and his eyes were solid green with vertical pupils, though they were hard to see behind his thick glasses.
“This is my old helmet. I keep it with me as a backup, and for emergencies.” He sighed. “I typically would prefer to keep it programmed to me and me alone, but something in my gut is saying to trust you.” He said, sitting next to Tex and Jasmine.
Jasmine then explained to Ikuki and Hyper X; “Tex is powered by Solar. The crystals on her head are actually panels that collect the light. But being that most of them got damaged, it’s a bit more difficult for her to recharge. But my husband, he’s waiting for us to get to the beginning of the Expanse. He has some materials with him that can fix her up a little.”
She then turned to them and introduced herself. “I’m Jasmine from Rex City. My husband goes by the name RJ. Neither one of us have code names, except for Tex. But she’s not in disguise right now, so there’s no need for it.”
He listened as she explained the crystals, and solar power. “I think I can work with that.” He said. “It won’t be a permanent fix by any means, and it may not last the whole trip. The way it works, is it charges by being programmed to your specific genetic code. It uses the electric surges in your own body, to power it. Basically, it connects to your brain and your brain works it as an extension of yourself. I can plug it into Tex and program it to extend that power to her, but it might be a struggle if it uses too much power.”
“I get it, you know.” He said, as he fitted the helmet onto Jasmine, with the face plate open. He typed something into a tablet, presumably re-programming the system to power on for Jasmine. “I mean, I’ve never built something like her, but I understand.” He said. “That’s actually one of the reasons I’m out here. There are people in my life I’d do anything to protect.”
“We’re going to rescue a friend.” Ikuki elaborated. “He traveled there weeks ago, but we haven’t heard from him in a while. We don’t know if he’s been compromised, or hurt.” She continued.
The helmet suddenly powered on, in turn powering on Tex.
There was a sudden jolt that came from Tex as her body booted on. Her eye lights, flickered on a bright blue, which matched the colors of her remaining crystals. It took her a moment as the remainder of the update completed before she said anything. And as expected from Jasmine, she was alarmed to see two others within the area with her. At first, she wanted to prepare herself for a fight. But she noticed her status stating that her weapons were temporarily offline. Then when she realized Jasmine was calmly sitting there beside her, as well as the others, Tex relaxed.
“Greetings.” She simply said to them and added nothing more.
“Hello!” Ikuki chirped, happily. “It’s very nice to meet you, Tex, I’m Ikuki!”
“Awesome! Thank you for the help!” Jasmine chimed to Hyper X. “Tex, sit by the window and collect as much light as you can. You’ll need it.” She then returned her attention to the others. “If I’m correct, and being that you’ve mentioned the Expanse...I’m going to be safe and assume that you’re planning on exploring it?”
“You can keep the helmet, if you want. Since it’s programmed to you now, and all. I can always make another one.” Hyper X said. “Truth is,” he finally confessed. “Once we make the last stop in The Expanse, we’re heading into Olympus. Our friend went to the underground to help the people living there. He’s been keeping in touch, but suddenly lost all contact with us about a week ago. We’re afraid the colonies might have been compromised.” He said, trying not to show too much emotion. “Apollo is…” he didn’t want to give away that he thought Apollo was never truly evil. “I think something bad is about to happen, again. The catastrophe, all over again. The whole world will end up looking like The Expanse, and all of humanity will end up underground if we don’t do something about Apollo.”
“Yeah, so basically, we’re gonna save the world.” Ikuki smiled.
“Tex, these two are on our side. So don’t be worried about them.” Jasmine explained to her as she gestured to Ikuki and Hyper X. “Actually, he helped you boot back up.” She then turned back to Hyper X and said; “Thank you! Maybe I can figure out how to make some cool armor and add to it?”
“Your assistance is appreciated. Thank you.” Tex calmly said to Hyper X before turning her attention to the excitable Ikuki. There wasn’t much emotion in Tex’s voice yet, which was something Jasmine and RJ were actually working on. “You appear to be quite energetic which is positive difference to Jasmine’s melancholic personality.”
“I am not melancholic, Tex.” She snorted then paused for a moment as she thought herself over. There were many moments where depressing thoughts did cross her mind. She was hated by many, despised by most, and had very few friends to speak of. In fact, her only true and closest friend is the one that she married. RJ had her back, ever since they were kids. He was the only one that could look around her odd interest with dissecting machines and creating new ones. To put it more directly, he actually helped her. Jasmine had other friends too, but they were in a different nation and weren’t able to help out as much. Except when she needed to call them to get some ideas.
“On second thought...maybe a bit sometimes. But you know how it was back at Rex City. It was extremely difficult to live there without someone trying to dissect you and steal your codes, just to make a quick buck. And no one is stealing my damn work.” She shook her fist at Tex while Tex simply watched her with little to no emotion. To her, Jasmine was just being Jasmine.
Jasmine and Tex then simmered down enough to listen to Hyper X explain that he was planning to go to Olympus. A grin appeared on her face as she thought about the area. “Ah, so you’re planning on going to an area that’s considered the most dangerous of all places to be. Ruled by someone so powerful that it’s basically a death sentence to go there without a summoning. Interesting.” Her left hand reached over to her right wrist as she tapped her metallic fingers against the metal appendage.
Tex wasn’t surprised that these two had spiked Jasmine’s curiosity. As rambunctious and reckless as she was, Jasmine had a very good heart. While she loved learning new things along the way, if it came to rescuing someone, there wasn’t a doubt in Tex’s AI that Jasmine would act upon this. And while she assumed that Jasmine was going to go with them, regardless of their opinion, Jasmine’s proved her theories right.
“You know...” Jasmine said as she rested her feet on top of the suitcase again. She was feeling rather comfortable around Hyper X and Ikuki. In fact, she was finding them very intriguing. Ikuki was strange but in a good way. She was energetic, happy, and most important of all? Jasmine can see that she’s a lot smarter than she leads on. As for Hyper X? He was just the right amount of weird that Jasmine found interesting.
“Since you’re going into a highly technologically advanced area, I feel that you may need someone who can tinker with AI. I mean, I’m not tough by any means...”
Tex spoke up with; “She dismembered herself to replace her limbs with mechanical ones.”
Jasmine paused as Tex revealed her secret. “Yeah...I’m a little unhinged if you ask my husband...or anyone else, really.” She then showed off both of her arms, which were completely mechanical. “I’ve wanted to be a cyborg. So here I am. Originally, I didn’t have special abilities by any means. But with these babies, I can do all sorts of stuff! Though, I do need to do some repairs, since our...exit from our city wasn’t exactly a calm one.” She lowered her hands and looked to Hyper X and Ikuki. “So, I think it’d be the best interest for you two, if you let me tag along. I’m not afraid of death. I’m not afraid of danger...Maybe RJ is right. Maybe I am a little unhinged.”
“Perhaps.” Tex agreed. “And simple to derail.”
Jasmine gave Tex a wry smile. “You know something? Don’t his wings remind you of one of our friends?”
“Correction, it should be structured as; doesn’t his wings remind you of one of our friends? To answer your inquiry, yes. Ezra, Gwen, and Lionel also have dragon-like attributes...because they are hybrids.”
Jasmine looked back to Hyper X. She loved the idea of him possibly being part dragon. “So, you a dragon, hybrid, or something? Because if you are, that’s epic. Not gonna lie. My husband is half fairy and myself? I ain’t got a clue as to what my parents were. I joke and assume I’m part dwarf or something...”
“I’m not a dragon. It’s…a family trait. The one and only thing I’ll ever admit I got from my dad.” He grimaced. “I come from a city with a high mutant ratio. I know people who can turn into animals, people who can heal, and people who just look different. My friend, the one we’re rescuing,” he clarified, “has pointy ears and a tail. After the catastrophe, humans just started rapidly evolving and their ancestors passed down mutations.” He shrugged. “I don’t believe in all that fairy tale stuff. No offense. I just believe in what science can explain.”
“A mutation? Eh? Lucky.” Jasmine looked down at herself. “I’m just a regular ol’ human with a lateral deficiency.” She then quieted down to listen to Hyper X say that he didn’t believe in fairy tales. She shrugged it off anyways as each person was allowed to have their opinions.
“Don’t mind him.” Ikuki rolled her eyes. “Magic is just science we don’t understand, yet. To the ancients, all science was magic.” She said with a smile. “I’m actually a wizard. He just doesn’t want to tell you because I can do way cooler things than his thing.” She said, trying to lighten the situation.
“Oh, cool. Now she knows I have a thing.” X grumbled.
“If she’s going into the city with us, she’ll find out eventually.” Ikuki shrugged. “Better to be honest, now.”
“Uuuughyou’re right.” X begrudgingly admitted. “I can…” he thought carefully of how to choose his words; “Do this.” He said, as Jasmine’s suitcase instantly appeared in his hands. He didn’t reach and grab it, and he barely moved positions. It simply appeared within a literal blink of an eye. He looked at Jasmine with a smug grin, as he leaned on the suitcase. “It may seem really convenient,” he said, smile quickly fading as he handed the suitcase back to her, “But I don’t really have full control over it. If I don’t use it sparingly, I’ll black out. Almost as if stopping time has ill effects on the human body.” He joked, but his eyes showed anything but humor.
Her mechanical feet clanked onto the bottom of the shuttle. “Dang, that’s kinda cool.” She said to him with a smug smirk. “Want to see the reason why Tex was being hunted?” Jasmine then turned to Tex. “Tex. Let’s show him what you can do.”
“My energy levels aren’t at a capacity that’s acceptable to perform such a task.” Tex said to her.
“Duh. I know that. Just make a small one and show them.” She returned her attention to Hyper X and Ikuki. “Since you guys are telling me stuff about you, I’ll show you our little secret. You see? Technology hasn’t quite reached this level of awesome yet. But Tex? I figured out a way to do just that, achieving the impossible with the use of technology. However, it’s incredibly unstable still and needs a lot of work. And the idiots back in our city, found out about it because one of my sisters are a snitch. So we got hunted for it. But here’s what this little robot can do.”
Tex reached over to Jasmine with her right palm facing up. She then held out her other palm, facing up as well. Within a few seconds, a pair of circular lights appeared above them. The blue and white lights, swirled together in a spiraling fashion. If one looked closely, each one mirrored what their eyes could see. Then Jasmine, struck her hand inside the right portal and her hand protruded out of the other. She waved her hand and as soon as Tex glanced over to Jasmine’s hand, Jasmine gave her the middle finger.
There was little to no amusement in Tex’s voice when she said; “How uncouth of you.”
The duo watched, then, as Tex demonstrated her portal abilities. It quickly took X’s mind off whatever was going through it, as an idea struck. “Foreshadowing.” He whispered.
“What.” Ikuki said, flatly.
“I don’t know how it’ll help us, but that’s a really good ability to have, if we want to take down Apollo.” He said, the gears in his head beginning to turn. “Apollo has eyes all over the city. Literally. All. Over. You can’t step foot outside, without him knowing. That’s why we brought the suits. But if we can manage to get to his core, we can take him out from the source. Being able to portal will save us a lot of effort, in planning our break-in. We just need to figure out how we’re going to take him down.”
“Foreshadowing?” She blinked when he said that out of the blue. Jasmine glanced to Tex who didn’t seem to really care much on the topic and was more focused on examining her status screens within her sight. She shrugged and glanced back to the others, listening to them speak.
There was one thing for sure, that she could agree on and that was about Apollo. He was basically a technology overlord that did and watched everything. It was his land and his world. He knew everything about it and sneaking upon it was going to require some handy work. Some skill. And most importantly, a massive update on Tex’s abilities. Which she hoped she could manage before setting out on their perilous journey.
“Based on stories, and what we’ve been able to gather from Nathan before he went dark, Apollo is able to adapt to everything that’s been thrown at him in the past. Viruses, EM pulses, failsafes, everything. He learns every move and adapts to it. So, we just need to figure out what nobody else could in the last 1,500 years.” He said, leaning back in his seat, eyes closed as his brain kicked into overdrive.
“We can figure out something.” Jasmine said as she brought her hand to her chin and tapped it a few times. “If he’s survived all of that, then we need to think of something better. More dangerous.” She then glanced over to Tex and asked; “Any ideas?”
It took her a moment to think over the situation. If Apollo was strong against whatever humans dished out at him, what else could there be? “Two suggestions. We find a way to destroy him from the inside, physically or by entering his datastream. Or. We attack him using a machine that doesn’t have the same coding so it would be difficult for him to understand. Otherwise, I don’t have any other ideas as of current.”
“Mmm...I don’t know...” Jasmine let out a yawn. “I mean, both seem probable. But coding?”
“Example; if you insert a file into one computer which has the specific operating system to read it, it can read it. But if you take that same file and insert it into a different computer with a different operating system, it gets confused because the operating system is not the same as the prior. Meaning, it cannot read it.” She shrugged. “I am merely glancing at a basic computer build and not a massive system that controls an entire landmass. So this suggestion may not even be applicable for the task given. After all, I don’t know what systems he runs on.”
“Eh...We’ll figure out something. Especially the closer we get to him.” Jasmine folded her arms across her chest. “I’m sure we will. We’re a smart batch of weirdos. And I love it.”
“I do appreciate your eagerness to help,” X shot her down. “But I don’t want to be responsible if anything happened to you. Though you seem like the sort of person who would sneak in behind us, even if I insisted you didn’t come. In fact, you’re the sort of person who would do it out of spite, because I said no.” he laughed. “So, I’m probably not going to have much of a choice, am I?” He shrugged.
“Seriously though, the whole cyborg thing is pretty hardcore. I don’t really condone self-mutilation, but…I do understand wanting to change yourself.” His tone changed into something somber, he clearly had some feelings he did not want to share. “Not being happy with the card life dealt you, and wanting to be in control of your own fate. Sometimes you do have to go to extremes, to feel in control.”
Ikuki gave him a look, sensing his mind was drifting into a darker place. He looked up at her, and forced a tired smile. “Sorry, that sounded a lot darker than I intended. I guess I’m just worried about our friend.” He shrugged it off, as he gazed out the window. There was nothing but dirt and rocks for as far as the eye could see. Which wasn’t that far, really, as radioactive dust still lingered in the air.
“You’ve got me there, bud. I’m sort of a traveler anyways. Staying in one spot, really isn’t my thing.” She shrugged.
“Jasmine hasn’t been very honest about her mechanical advances on herself.” Tex spoke up. This was a strong signal for her being sentient and able to speak on her own terms. “Her right hand was removed due to an accident against one of Rex City’s robotic sentinels. Her left leg was removed because she accidentally triggered a bomb which went off, blasting it off. The right leg, was because she decided to try putting it through a portal that was incredibly unstable. Then her left hand was removed due to her making it even with the rest of her body.”
“Thanks for clarifying it all, Tex.” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I just like to tell people that I wanted to be a cyborg. Mostly to make them think I’m crazy. But the truth is, yeah...it kind of sucks being the only person in the family without any special abilities or anything like that. Though, as Tex put it earlier, I suppose my special ability would be my brains.” She shrugged. “Never thought of it that way but it makes sense, I suppose. But...despite that...with what I can do with my brains...I can certainly manage a lot of cool stuff. So I guess that’s a plus too.”
Tex copied Hyper X by looking out the window as well. Although, he was mostly brooding over things that circled his mind, she was merely looking out the window to try and get more of the rays of light to charge herself better. But her statuses within her vision were clearly indicating that there were a lot of parts that were malfunctioning currently. This also included the efficiency of her recharge rates.
“Well...” Jasmine said as she kicked back in her seat. “I don’t know what this person looks like. But if you need help finding them, you’ve honestly came across a good pair to have on your side. We may not look like it but the two of us are a part of a group called, The Scavengers. My husband and I run the show and what we do is, we explore areas that many normal people wouldn’t. This includes the Expanse. Though, none of us ever dared to reach Olympus...yet...but having us on your team, will certainly make things far more interesting for you. Especially if I can get Tex running good again.”
“We just find garbage and make tools out of it.” Tex clarified in a more simple way. “Normally they get sold for a profit but we do put them to good use. Perhaps our skills may assist you in some way?”
“I don’t think it’s an accident that we met.” Ikuki said, to Jasmine. “I know he doesn’t believe in fate,” she gestured at X, “And I don’t know your stance on it. But I believe in it, and I believe that it brought us together. We have more of a plan now, than we did when we boarded the shuttle. Right now, everything is just kind of in the moment. I’m sure after we’ve rested for a couple days, we’ll have a better idea of our gameplan, once we reach the shuttle stop.” She said, specifically directing that at X.
“I’m fine, I’ve got too much to figure out, to waste time sleeping.” He responded. “I do think I should head into my room for the night, though. I promised to contact someone back home, every night before bedtime. It was nice meeting you both,” he said, standing up and retreating to his room. “I hope we can swap notes, in the morning.” He said, with the same forced, tired smile.
“I should probably head in for the night, too.” Ikuki smiled. “Unlike him, I do need to sleep. You both look like you’ve had it rough and need some rest, too. We have enough rations packed to share, if you need anything. I made sure to pack plenty of extra, but that massive dork survives entirely on caffeine.” She said, gesturing again at X.
When Hyper X and Ikuki were thinking about going to sleep, Jasmine had to agree with them. She too was exhausted from the running she and Tex did all day. “Thank you for your offer. We have some food too. And as I’ve said, once we make the stop. You two are more than welcome to come to my little lab. It may have some stuff there that may be useful for our trip to Olympus. And you get to meet my husband too and perhaps, he can come up with some ideas to help us.” She shrugged. “Have a good night.”
Then with that, she hopped to her feet and walked into her room. Tex following obediently behind her. Once inside, she closed the door behind her and flopped onto the bed. Looking at the ceiling, she listened to the humming of the shuttle as it traveled across the rails. “You know Tex?”
Tex took a seat beside the window and examined her battery life. It was just enough for her to survive the rest of the trip and make it back to the lab. “I know a lot of things. But what are you specifically asking?”
“I like those two. And I don’t say that often.” She said with a grin which Tex merely glanced at her with an emotionless expression. “He’s stern and takes things seriously. But I’m sure there’s some fun behind those lizard eyes that he’s got. Plus, he’s pretty dang smart. I’d like to see what else he knows? Perhaps the two of us can collide heads together and figure things out? Then there’s Ikuki. She’s just the right amount of cheerfulness that isn’t overbearing and obnoxious like my sister. Plus, she’s a lot smarter too. I also like the fact that she has some magical skills under her belt. So I wonder what she could do to help us with fighting that massive robot.”
“The sky is the limit, I suppose.” Tex shrugged. “This is incredibly dangerous though. Are you certain that RJ will allow with this? You know how worried he gets.”
“He has no real choice. Because if what Hyper X says is true...We only have a certain amount of time before history repeats itself and humans go underground. And if that happens within our life time? My biggest fear is him learning what you can do. If Apollo gets the information for portal hopping, he’s going to be unstoppable and soon, he will consume the entire planet. All life as we know it, will fall into his wrath and die off. That’s...not a future that I want to see happen...” She frowned. “I love technology a bunch but too much of one thing can really ruin a lot.”
“Agreed.”
“Well, go into sleep mode. We’ve got one heck of a journey ahead of us. Alright?”
“You’re an organic. You need it more than I do.” She shrugged. “But sleep well anyways.” And with that, Tex initiated sleep mode and her LED eyes went dark.
Jasmine smirked with a yawn and said; “Good night, pal. I think you’re going to be more important now than ever. At least...that’s how I feel.”
X was still on video call, when Ikuki walked in. Alex was currently on the screen, and toddlers laughing could be heard in the background. "Cutting it kinda close to bedtime, now they're all wired up." Alex grumbled.
“DADDY!” Tiffany smooshed her face against the screen. “Dia and I found a spooder, today! I put it in Uncle Argaen’s shoe!”
Mark tried his very best to stifle the laughter, but couldn’t speak to Alex without snickering. "Really? Sounds like you had a fun day! Sorry I didn’t call sooner, we met somebody else on the shuttle. She could be a great ally. Her robot is...something amazing." X said. "We kinda got caught up talking about science stuff."
"I'm sure." Alex sighed, as Tiffany excitedly bounced in her lap. "You know, you should get some sleep, too. Have you slept at all, in the last week?"
"I'm fine." X insisted. "Not even a little tired."
"You're still human." Alex said, sternly. "You're tapping into more power than your body can handle, unless-"
"No." X said, a bitter anger in his tone. "I'll fight it til the day I die. I'm in control of my own life, not some stupid destiny my stupid dad laid out for me." he said through his teeth.
"I'm not saying you should tap into your...potential, because he said you had to. You're a good guy, Mark. You always have been. Once you fully lean into it, it doesn't mean you'll end up like him, you can still be in charge of your own life." she said; "Just think about it, okay?"
"Fine. I'll pencil it in with the millions of other things I need to think about." he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so bitter. There's just a lot on my mind, and it feels like it keeps piling on."
"I know." Alex said. "You know I'm here for you. Call me, any time. I'll be here." she smiled.
X smiled his usual tired smile; "I will. But you, he turned his attention to the excited toddler. You need to get to bed, miss. You’ve got an early day tomorrow, catching more spiders with your cousins! As long as they’re the harmless ones.”
Tiffany pouted for a moment, contemplating arguing that she didn’t want to go to bed. However, catching spiders did sound like a lot of fun. “Okay, I accept those terms.” She said, causing confusion and finally laughter, from her dad. It must have been something she’d heard him say at some point. “Love you, Daddy!” she said, hugging the screen before bouncing off to get ready for bed.
“I love you too, kiddo.” Mark smiled, wishing he didn’t have to leave her. He was beginning to feel like he was doing exactly like what his dad did to him. “I love you too, Alex. Thank you so much for watching her…give the girls lots of hugs from me, okay? And tell Mom we’re doing okay, and we’ve already made some friends.”
"Hi and bye, Alex!" Ikuki chimed in, as she didn’t want to interrupt Mark and Tiffany. "Give them hugs from me, too!" she smiled.
"Will do." Alex said; "You guys be careful out there, and don't die." she said, cutting the call off.
Everyone had settled in for the night, except for X. He lied in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to take everyone's advice to try and get some sleep. His thoughts were swarming a million miles an hour, and every time he closed his eyes, he began to hear the voices pouring in saying he wasn't good enough, that he wasn't going to be able to save his friends and family. He tossed and turned and tried to ignore them. Then, the worst one of all screamed at him. The loudest voice he's been trying to ignore, for years. The one that caused him to stay awake.
"All you do is meddle in peoples’ lives, and screw them up. Everything that happened was your fault. It’s always going to be your fault."
His eyes shot open as tears welled up in them. "No," he whimpered quietly, so as not to wake up Ikuki. "I'm in control of my own fate. Not Dad, not anyone else." he continued, shoving a pillow over his face. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, in an attempt to calm himself down. He lied there for some time, before tapping his fingers on the pillow. An idea had struck as Jasmine's words echoed in his head.
"If you insert a file into one computer which has the specific operating system to read it, it can read it. But if you take that same file and insert it into a different computer with a different operating system, it gets confused because the operating system is not the same as the prior."
"Magic." he said, removing the pillow and quickly sitting up, as he grabbed a laptop. "Apollo is the most technologically advanced being on the planet. He was built to learn everything that humans know, but he doesn’t know how magic works. He’s incapable of registering it." he talked to himself, while typing away and taking notes. "Whoever is controlling him, is magic-based.” he said; "We could reverse it back onto the puppeteer and engineer a code that he’s blind to.” he continued typing away, through the entire night.
Before he knew it, the sun had risen. Sun? X looked out the window, to see that the massive dust storm had settled, the further into the Expanse they had gotten. By this point, there was little to no life outside. The ground was dry and cracked and the sky was an apocalyptic reddish-gray. They were nearing the shuttle stop, meaning X once again had to put his guard up to avoid getting robbed or worse. He closed the laptop, changed into his suit, and gently nudged Ikuki awake.
"Hey, we're close to the stop." he said, with a soft tone. "We gotta suit up, before we get off. Lots of unsavory characters, out here. We can head to Jasmine's base first, then I'll let my contact know where to pick us up. Don't wanna spring a stranger on her."
"Mmph?" Ikuki grumbled as she stirred. She sat up and yawned, hair an absolute mess. "Mmkay." she managed to mumble. "Can we at least have breakfast, first?" she said as she rubbed her eyes.
"Go for it. I'm not hungry. I have some ideas I want to run by you and Jasmine. It's gonna take all our combined brain power to pull it off, but I think I've got something." he said, this time his smile was smug, like he knew he was a genius and was eager to show off.
“Such wasted Earth...” Tex whispered to herself as she looked outside the window. Golden yellow sand rolled across the horizon. Dust clouds blew into the air, hiding the monstrosities that could be lurking amongst the land. There was no chance to live out here in the Expanse. Even water was absent from it all as the scorching sun began to claw its way through everything.
She heard a loud snore and something fall onto the floor behind her. Tex slowly glanced over to see a mumbling Jasmine, groan and whine at her inability to remain sleeping on the bed. Groggy and grumpy, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Cussing at herself for her own stupidity.
Tex simply greeted her with a calm; “Good morning, Jasmine. If my location data is correct, we have about two hours before we arrive to our destination. I suggest getting dressed and locate nourishment for the following task.”
“Yes, Mother.” Jasmine yawned as she rose to her feet. “Sheesh, I bet RJ programmed that into you.”
“Perhaps, that is my objective is to ensure for your safe return to the lab. It is what you’ve programed me for. Is it not?”
“Yeah, yeah. Keep flapping your gums.” Jasmine walked over to her backpack and pulled out a loaf of bread. She then broke off a large piece and shoved it into her mouth.
“I suggest chewing your food is a valid way of not suffocating.”
“Tex...I know how to eat food.” She said as she spoke with her mouth full of bread. “I’ve been doing it my entire life, you know.” Then she choked on her food when the shuttle hit a bump. Jasmine pounded on her chest while Tex sat there, staring at her like she was an idiot.
“It appears you speak the truth.” Tex sarcastically said to her while watching Jasmine gag. She made no motions on rescuing her. “Though, I cannot recall choking was a part of it.” She was then met with a sock thrown at her face. Tex quickly caught it with her hand and looked it over. “Jasmine, you really need to acquire new socks.”
“Shut it.” She then stuffed the bread back into her mouth while she got dressed into new clothes. After all was said and done, she looked to her robot companion and said; “Let’s get out there and see what the others are up to. Though, before going out there, how is your battery level?”
In a list-like fashion, Tex replied, “Acceptable. I am capable of performing basic tasks. Large portals are out of the question. My coolant needs to be replenished. There was a leak but I blocked off breakage. My systems are still in need of repairs. But other than that, nothing else major to report."
“Eh, good enough for now.” Jasmine waved her on before opening the door to leave. “Though, good job on the self-repair thing. Didn’t need to teach you that, did I?” She grinned as she guided her robot out of the room. As she walked, she could hear Tex’s steps following in tow. Jasmine could notice Tex's odd stepping pattern which meant that Tex's legs needed to be looked at and readjusted. "Man...That robot really did screw you up, didn't he?"
"It appears so." Tex said without much thought.
Jasmine didn't know what else to say to her friend and so, she entered the main room and greeted whoever was there. “Good morning, folks. Hope you had some sleep?”
"I didn't have time, to sleep." X said, dropping a bunch of notes onto a table. He opened his laptop as well, pulling up lines of data he had been working on. "I had ideas. Can't sleep when there's science to do." he said, sipping on an energy drink.
"You haven't slept at all, in over a week!" Ikuki said, pulling his arm down and taking the drink away. "And that is not a balanced breakfast!" she continued, replacing the drink with a cereal bar.
"Your trade offer is acceptable." X said, dryly. “Oh. That’s where Tiffany heard that.” It clicked in his head.
"Good. Your blood is made entirely of caffeine, at this point."
"Okay, I get it.” He munched on the cereal bar. “Sustenance accepted, now I need to go over some things with both of you." he said, sternly, mouth full of cereal. "Here’s the thing…” he sighed, deciding to finally confess. “I haven’t been entirely honest. Ikuki and I have reason to believe Apollo is being controlled by something else. Something that’s blocked his ability to read magic. We believe that whoever has hacked into Apollo’s systems, is very much magic-based. But,” he said with a smirk and a slight glint in his eyes. He looked specifically to Ikuki, catching her off guard.
"But...?" she said, confused.
"But we can do the same thing. We can create a counter-attack using Apollo’s inability to read magic, and use it against them. They’ll never see us coming.” he grinned, picking up the energy drink again. "Tex is something the likes of which nobody has ever seen or could even conceive of. Jasmine, I think you have the capability to work with Ikuki on fusing some sort of code or virus, with magic. It isn't going to be easy, and I do expect a lot of explosions, but if we can pull this off...this could be the answer. We just have to fight off Apollo’s security, get to his core, and convince him that this will solve the problem. And then…y’know…tell him not to destroy the planet." He added the second part for believability, but he didn’t actually believe that Apollo had any choice in destroying the world.
"Thought you didn't believe in magic." Ikuki teased.
"Yeah, well, a lot of unbelievable things came to light, recently." X said. "I'm still in the middle of having my entire perception of reality turned upside-down, give me a break."
Jasmine couldn’t help but smile when he pointed out how remarkable it was for her to figure out how to achieve the impossible with technology. She knew that it wasn’t perfected but it was a grand step forward. One of which she was pleased with and felt very proud over. Then when he mentioned infusing technology with magic, she immediately tried to think of some way to do such a thing.
After all, science and magic often collided heads and rarely ever got along. And she wasn’t sure how one could achieve such a goal. Even though she believed in magic, due to having magical friends from another nation, she didn’t know all that much about it herself. All she knew was, her sisters had magic and she didn’t. They would tease her with spraying her with water or burning her bagels whenever she made herself breakfast. Then they’d gloat and taunt her because Jasmine had no abilities to speak of, outside of her IQ.
Before she could respond to his lack of sleep and wonderful diet of energy drinks, he slammed a ton of papers down onto the table. Jasmine quickly glanced over to Tex to see how she was responding. But due to the lack of surprise, Tex didn’t seem to have much of a reaction to Hyper X’s antics. To her, it was just another quirky part of his personality.
While the other two spoke to one another, Jasmine leaned over to look over some of the scribbles, diagrams, bullet points, doodles. You name it. If it could be written down in a certain way, there is was. She grabbed a few papers and looked them over. Skimming across his ramblings and thought processes. “You know, I have to admit...You’re pretty damn impressive. This is the kind of stuff I go through when I’m inhaling a gallon of coffee without sleep for a day. Then I crash the next. This is a week that you’ve lacked sleep?” She blinked.
Tex reached over and grabbed a few papers for herself to glance over. This was hard to do, but even this robot was impressed with the brainstorming that was performed during the night. It was only a matter of approximately eight hours and yet, he thought of so many things that would’ve taken a team of scientists to think of, over a week’s length.
"So, what did you have in mind?" Ikuki said as she leaned against X, worried about this whole plan and, although she didn’t want to say it, worried that he still wasn’t telling her everything.
"I don't know, yet." X sighed. "Even if we can figure out the how, there's still the matter of getting into Olympus, searching a continent-sized city for Nathan, fighting off any reinforcements Apollo throws at us, getting him to let us into his core without killing us, and planting the firewall directly into his brain."
"Oh, well that sounds easy enough." Ikuki tried to lighten the conversation. "But you are missing an important detail." she winced. "I'm not...a typical wizard. I’m great at…y’know. The one element. But most of my generic spells backfire...explosively. I've only been able to master the beginner ones...and magic and technology tend to repel each other like magnets. Even if I can come up with something, there's no guarantee that it'll stick."
"That's where Jasmine comes in." he looked over at Tex. "The three of us alone are geniuses, but combined? We’ll definitely figure out a way." he smirked.
“Well, explosions are fun.” Jasmine said to Ikuki. “I’m pretty good at those. But I will have to try and keep in mind that if I do blow up something of mine, it probably shouldn’t have me being a part of it.” She laughed. “I’ve run out of limbs to lose. Though, I suppose this could be upgraded.” She shrugged.
“I suggest that we speak with RJ, when we get to the lab.” Tex spoke up while resting the papers onto the table. “He is part fairy after all. Perhaps he may know of a way that could also work?”
“That’s a good point but I’ve actually never seen him use any magic.” Jasmine said to her. “And he’s actually really good with the machine building part, rather than stuff like that. So I really don’t know how much he’d know about this sort of thing. But...he’d be an excellent addition to the group for the brainstorming session. We can do that while we have you upgraded and whatnot.”
The shuttle came to a slow before he had time to go over all his notes, meaning they were nearing the station. "Here we go. Jasmine, we've decided we'd like to tag along with you to your base, if that's still okay. We'll let our contact know, and where they can pick us up once we're ready to head to the city. I didn't want to bring a total stranger to your place. Heck, I don't even know anything about them, other than they’re taking us into the city." He lied. The truth was, it was one of Apollo’s avatars.
"It could be a trap!" Ikuki said, excitedly. "The suspense is part of the fun of adventuring!"
"Yes, that is also something we need to be wary of." X agreed. "That's why I'm taking precautions not to bring them into your base." he said to Jasmine. "Also, one other thing." he continued. "Since you trusted me with helping Tex, I owe it to you to return the same trust. Hyper X is the guy in the suit. You can call me Mark." he said with a smile, as the shuttle came to a full halt, causing the notes to slide off the table and scatter. "Awesome." Mark sighed.
Hyper X told her his real name, and Jasmine grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up. “So it’s like a Super hero name, got it.” She nodded to him before adding; “Well, we have a lot of neat stuff set up. Just in case. You’ll see when we get there. Also, you’re the first outsiders to be able to see our lab.”
Jasmine grabbed her bag while Tex reached for a suitcase. The two of them headed towards the door but stopped short before it. Jasmine pulled her hood over her head to shield much of her face from any possible onlookers. Tex copied her by pulling the hood over her own head. Unfortunately, this action prevented Tex from being able to recharge herself but revealing her identity would cause more problems than needed.
Jasmine said; “Tex actually has an ability to hide her identity by creating a hologram to cover her face. But as you may expect, it’s damaged.” There was an annoyed sigh. “If I find that jerk again, I’m going to stick an EMP bomb in his backside and let it go.”
“The lab isn’t too far from here, actually.” Tex clarified to Mark and Ikuki.
“Yeah, make yourselves a home there too. I’ve got a good feeling about you folks, so...” She shrugged before hopping off the shuttle and landing on the dusty terrain. A dust cloud exploded from under her feet when they made contact to it. And she could already feel the heat weighing down upon her. Jasmine frowned and said; “Man...another brutal day it seems.”
No sooner did they step foot outside, than a group of bandits started gathering around him and Ikuki. They were probably the neatest-looking people in the Expanse, and they definitely had lots of loot to steal. Some of them had knives, some had makeshift pistols, and some had pieces of junk that were fashioned into weapons.
Ikuki looked around at the group, nervously. "Maybe we shouldn’t have worn the suits.” she squeaked.
"Nah, they’ve gotta learn eventually that the suits mean ‘screw around and find out’.” Mark said; the bandits didn’t quite like the sound of that, and were more than eager to rip apart those fancy suits and salvage the scrap from them. However, most of them didn't have time to make a move, as the world was suddenly completely still.
"I have had a really awful few months," he ranted to one of the bandits that held a pistol. "The last thing I need right now, is a bunch of jerks trying to rob us, as soon as we get off the train." he took the man's pistol, and stuffed it in a bag another bandit had been holding. He dragged the bandits onto the train, one by one. "I'm just trying to find my friend, and overthrow a robot tyrant." he continued to rant, stuffing more of them into a single bathroom in one of the cars. "Is it too much to ask for one day, where nothing goes wrong?" he said to one of them, whose face was frozen in time. They were making a screaming scowl, as though they were in the process of yelling orders to their companions.
"Your weapons are in a bag, hidden somewhere on the train." he said, pinching the frozen man's cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not a thief. However, there is a strict no-weapons policy for this shuttle. It's enforced by the owner. Her name's Athena. I'm sure once the shuttle stops at its next destination, you'll get to meet her in person." he patted the bandit on the head, and walked out.
Time went back to normal as he stepped out again, area clear of would-be thieves. At least, for now. They were still getting some looks, but after that, most weren't too keen on simply ambushing them.
Ikuki blinked, looking around. "Oh, you did The Thing." she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Um, where are they?"
"They're fine, they're just gonna take a lil trip on the shuttle." Mark said. Though he was wearing his helmet, it was easy enough to hear the smug grin on his face. "I mean, I totally vaporized them!" he said a little louder, noticing others looking at them. "They're totally dead, like, super dead! Absolutely no chance of coming back as zombies, kind of dead! 'Cause that's what happens when you mess with us!"
"Okay," Ikuki patted him on the shoulder. "Let's try not to draw any more attention, and just keep a low profile." she smiled, nervously.
"Right, right. Sorry," he said. "Hyper X is a totally different person. I'm used to keeping up an image, with him. Okay, low profile." he repeated. "But we are taking that.” He pointed at the runner the bandits had driven up in. It was beat-up and worn and he wasn’t quite sure how well it would even run, but they did need a mode of transportation and an opportunity did present itself.
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