This took so long to write... ><;;
Chapter Seventeen: Hello! Project Underground
“We’re here.”
Miki scowled. “I know you think we’re stupid and whatever, and though I may have only just been born yesterday, I must inform you that this is just a tree.”
And it was. Just a plain old ordinary tree standing at the edge of the dark and creepy forest that the group had been so far away from only a half-hour ago. No matter how you looked at it (and Aika tried several ways, such as tilting her head to the side), a tree was still just a tree.
The robots said nothing, however, and were just standing around the trunk, waiting. They did that a lot, and it was starting to get a little bit creepy, like they were communicating with aliens or something.
“Wait a minute…” Eri was shifting about on her feet, her face deep in concentration. The blind girl suddenly crouched down, and she ran her hands along the earth before rapping on the ground with one of her fists. “…There’s something beneath us. Something really big and hollow.”
Everyone looked down at their feet, skeptical. Miki stomped at the earth, but she did not have Eri’s senses, and therefore felt and heard nothing. The metal-armed woman crossed her arms, unconvinced.
“I don’t—” She started, but her words were cut off as the ground began to shake and tremble violently, startling everyone but the robots. The group began to back away as the tree began to rise up and slide backwards, supported by a large slab of metal that had been hidden beneath it. After a few moments, the metal groaned and lurched to a halt, having revealed a very large hole in the ground. There was a mechanical hiss, and a spiral staircase rose to meet the opening of the hole, leading down into the unknown.
Miki was aware of twenty pairs of eyes on her, and she threw her hands up into the air.
“OKAY, so maybe it WASN’T just a tree. I can be wrong, too, y’know?” And with that, she was the first to begin the descent, the other clones following quietly after her.
It was damp and cold underground, and Aika was reminded of the cave they had stayed in the previous day, though this was much bigger, and the only illumination was that of the hole in the ceiling. The stairs were slippery from the moisture, and though there was a thin metal railing, it was freezing to the touch and hard to hold on to. Once everyone had made it onto the stairs, the robots included, the tree began to slide back into place over the hole, and soon the clones were enveloped in complete and total darkness.
Sayumi let out a shriek, and Aika could hear Momoko begin to whimper from somewhere behind her, which was coupled with Saki’s quiet attempts to get the girl to calm down. She could feel hands grab onto her shoulders, and she assumed that Risako wasn’t exactly having a great time either.
A resounding slap echoed through the darkness, and Miki’s snickers followed, as did Aya’s rather-peeved voice.
“Reina, would you mind helping out a bit here?”
Dim light came from farther up on the stairwell, and Aika could make out the wonky-eyed female’s form from above her, staring down.
“I was waiting for someone to ask.”
The group continued on down the treacherous spiral, using the firebrand to light the way, since the robots didn’t seem to be inclined to try and help them out at all. When they reached the bottom, Aika found that the floor was made of some sort of tiled metal, and it seemed to be just as slippery as the stairs. Almost as if the taller female had read her mind, Hitomi spoke up to warn the others of this fact.
“Be careful. We don’t want anyone to fall and split their head open.”
Nice. Nice and graphic. Risako’s fingers were starting to bruise a little bit. Good job, Leader.
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The little genius was just crying her eyes out.
She was a fountain of tears, hiccups, and sniffles at the moment, and most of the clones were just standing there, rather confused about the entire matter. Well, Aika was only slightly confused. For the most part, she didn’t really care, and had lost interest in the situation about five minutes ago.
They had made their way through the underground chamber into a brightly lit laboratory that had been carved into a room beneath the earth. It was much like the one they had escaped from, though it was bigger, and didn’t feel evil… or like death.
The little robots were trying to comfort Asami, and Makoto was standing behind her, staring at the clones like someone had punched her in the stomach. It was shocking enough to know that they even existed, but it was much harder to see the group face to face.
“Ah… Excuse me…” Ai was the first to speak up, though she did so timidly. She felt some kind of strange connection with these people, and it tugged at her heart a bit to see the chubby-cheeked female crying, even if she didn’t know why. “I’m not really sure why you’re upset… and I’m sorry for whatever it is, but… we came here to find out some answers… answers that we need. If you have something to do with why we were created, then maybe you can explain some important things to us…”
Asami sniffled, trying really hard to compose herself. Seeing this girl… it wasn’t her… but at the same time…
“You’re absolutely right, I’m terribly sorry… I’ll be glad to answer any of the questions that you have… But first, let me introduce you to my friend Ogawa Makoto here, and welcome you to the Hello! Project Underground.”
“Hello! Project? …Underground? I don’t know about the last part, but… isn’t that the name of the place… where we… or well, where the people that we came from… didn’t they work there before they died?” Miki asked, sitting down on top of a rusted metal box that just happened to be behind her.
“Yes, that is correct. Hello! Project was a name given to all of the groups and artists that were produced by a man named Tsunku. To honor everyone that was killed, we named this place after it…”
“You said that you were responsible for getting the DNA that created us…” Aika was paying more attention now that things were getting back to the point, “What did you mean by that?”
“In order to explain that… I have to tell you this: Makoto and I used to be a part of the Hello! Project ourselves. Until today… we assumed that we were all that remained of it… Anyways, the last time I actually saw any of the H!P members… before the incidents began to occur… was at the Winter 10th Anniversary concert that the organization was holding. I had been there for two members that were graduating from a group that I used to be a part of, in order to give them support and encouragement.
While I was there, I collected samples of DNA from certain members, because I was going to use it for a project I was working on outside of my homework for the university I was attending at the time. I actually had forgotten that I even had it until about a year after the shootings occurred…”
“…Wait a minute…” That little lightbulb in Risa’s head had gone off, and the clone of the Reaction Queen was staring at Asami with wide eyes. “If you survived… I mean, if you were a part of H!P back then… then that makes you… you should be…”
Asami rolled her eyes. “Very, very old, I know. And technically, I am. However, I invented an inhibitor chip a long time ago that keeps my body from aging. Makoto is under the chip’s influence as well, and so is the other survivor, Maiha. Though, physically she’s younger than we are. I suspect you’ll meet her later…”
Reina narrowed her little wonky eyes at the genius. “Why did you give that scientist the DNA to clone us? Was it just because you missed your friends or something, because if that’s the reason, I’m gonna be pissed…”
“I never gave it to any scientist. I actually left the collection to Tsunku, who I thought I could trust to keep it safe until I figured out what I WAS going to do with it. I didn’t think it would be right to just have it destroyed… But I also didn’t think he would let it get into anyone else’s hands, either… This clears up some things for me, though… Only one of Shizuka’s scientists could have created you, which means that he is probably aware of your existence, and probably isn’t very happy about it, either.”
Miki snorted. “Duh. We’ve already been attacked a couple of times within the past forty-eight hours… Tell me something, though. Why aren’t you dead? I can’t imagine that a place like this is legal in this screwed-up world.”
Asami managed a mischievous little grin. “It’s not. And I’m not dead because I happen to be brilliant. His technology is highly advanced simply because he’s the only one with technology… besides us. Radar devices, tracking chips—there are probably some embedded in those jumpsuits of yours, by the way—anything like that gets short circuited down here thanks to the metal shell that is currently surrounding us. Those three pets of his can’t find us here.”
“What can you tell us… about them?” Hitomi dared to ask, being horribly curious as she was.
“The Three? …It’s hard to say, really… As far as I know, they are the original members of Biyuuden: Okada Yui, Miyoshi Erika, and the leader, Ishikawa Rika. Back when the H!P performers were being killed, their deaths were staged, but what happened in reality—or at least, what I believe to be true—is that they were abducted by some of Shizuka’s followers and subjected to genetic experimentation and brainwashing. Many people think that they were the ones to slaughter the members of Morning Musume, but I don’t believe that for a second.”
Miki was really quiet at this point. There was no mistaking what she had seen in that creature’s horrible blood-red eyes… but if there was a chance that those things hadn’t always been this way, then maybe she was wrong. Perhaps it was just an illusion meant to frighten her…
Asami clapped her hands together, after rubbing the last stray tears from her eyes.
“Well, I understand if you have more questions, but I see that one of you is horribly wounded, and I might be able to do something to help her. In the meantime I suggest that you all should either try to get some rest because you look terribly exhausted. If you’re hungry, too, Makoto can get you whatever you’d like to eat. We have plenty of room and supplies down here, I can assure you. Just follow her up those stairs, and she’ll take care of what you need.” She immediately wandered over towards Maasa, who was still carrying Maki on her back. “Now, let’s see here… why don’t you get her over to this table…”
Makoto stared awkwardly at the other clones for a minute, before turning and motioning for those that wanted to follow her to do so.
Maybe coming to this place wasn’t such a bad idea after all…
Topic: ::Voices of Angels:: [Chapter Twenty: The "Training" Room, Part II] (Read 42197 times)