JPHiP Radio (29/200 @ 128 kbs)     Now playing: Viyuden - Kurakura Dinner time

Author Topic: ::Voices of Angels:: [Chapter Twenty: The "Training" Room, Part II]  (Read 41942 times)

Offline FeverInducedMadness

  • Loser87's Fanfic Rival
  • Member+
  • Posts: 181
  • Ai wo kudasai...
(Well, this is my very first post here at JPH!P. And this also happens to be my very first fanfiction. It's definitely a work in progress, and as I am not a professional writer by any means, all comments and constructive criticism are welcomed. :) So here's Chapter One. Two should be coming along later tonight after I get back home.)

::Voices of Angels::

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

~Maya Angelou


:Table of Contents:

Chapter One: The Stranger (You Are Here)
Chapter Two: Awakening
Chapter Three: Meeting
Chapter Four: Past
Chapter Five: Divided
Chapter Six: Battle
Chapter Seven: Regroup
Chapter Eight: The Second Day
Chapter Nine: The Three
Chapter Ten: Complications
Chapter Eleven: Premonition
Chapter Twelve: Premonition, Part II
Chapter Thirteen: The Search Begins
Chapter Fourteen: ProjectHPK
Chapter Fifteen: ProjectHPK, Part II
Interlude I: The Genius, Her Friend, and the Lucky One
Chapter Sixteen: ProjectHPK, Part III
Interlude II: The End of Morning Musume
Chapter Seventeen: Hello! Project Underground
Interlude III: Sayonara, Miracle-chan
Chapter Eighteen: Reunion
Interlude IV: Munasawagi Scarlet
Chapter Nineteen: The "Training" Room
Interlude V: The Survivor, Ishimura Maiha
Chapter Twenty: The "Training" Room, Part II
Chapter Twenty-One (Coming Soon)

Chapter One: The Stranger

Shizuka Genetic Research and Testing Facilities; 2/24/56, 4:00AM (DNA Splicing Room)

Every time the stranger passed through a room in the facility, the electronic hisses and groans of purification followed after him. Because of what went on within these halls was delicate, every nook and cranny had to be sterilized frequently.

He didn’t like it.

The smell of the place was like that of a hospital, and if the stranger could remember correctly, hospitals were for the sick or the injured…

Or the dying.

It certainly wasn’t a place that a healthy person like himself wanted to be. But he had a job to carry out, and he had to do it quickly for several reasons: One, he wanted to get out of the facility as soon as he possibly could, and two…

He was already late.

As he continued to the room where he was to meet his employer, the stranger could be seen carrying a small object in the form of a steel-plated box, and he was holding it like a mother would cradle her baby. He had a haggard, worn look about him, as if it had taken a great deal of effort to obtain said box…

Finally, the stranger entered a small room, eerily lit by a blue glow from the strange fluorescent lights overhead, and before he could even consider turning back, the doors sealed shut behind him.

A lone figure stood at the opposite end of the room, appearing to be busy with one of the consoles on the wall, typing away at the holographic keyboard beneath his fingers. He was tall and slender, and had long, white hair that had been tied meticulously at the base of his neck. He was wearing a white lab coat that trailed down to his ankles, and the light from the screen in front of him reflected off of the glasses that he was wearing, hiding his eyes behind two silvery orbs.

“You’re late.”

The words traveled down the stranger’s spine, startling him as they broke the silence. The white-haired man hadn’t even bothered to turn around when he spoke, but the stranger didn’t need to see the look on his employer’s face to be able to figure out the other man’s mood.

“I ran into a bit of trouble…”

“Such as?” The white-haired man pressed a sequence of keys, shutting off the console before him. He then faced the stranger, dark eyes reflecting the slightest hint of mild curiosity. “All you had to do was deal with an ancient cyborg… don’t tell me you couldn’t handle that?”

The stranger put on a scowl. “He wasn’t exactly all that keen on giving up his collection, Akira. Don’t mistake this for me being sentimental, but I’m pretty sure this was all he had left in life, and he was fiendishly attached to it…”

“Indeed… What you hold in that box is all that remains of Tsunku’s finest creation… I suppose I can imagine how difficult it might have been to pry such a thing from his hands…”

Akira (as the stranger had called him) took a few steps forward, pressing down on one of the floor tiles with his foot along the way, which summoned a holographic table-like surface that floated in the air between the two of them. The stranger set the box down on the table, looking over at the other man. Akira seemed hesitant to do anything, as if realization of what was in front of him had settled in.

“Should I open it?” The stranger asked, looking at the young scientist curiously. “You still owe me my explanation as to what exactly is going on here, you know…”

“Yes… open it. I don’t think that I can… I’m too nervous.”

With a shrug, the stranger reached for the box, popping open the latches that secured it close. He reached in his pocket for an old-fashioned key that he had obtained on his ‘visit’ and inserted it into the lock that hung off of the side, twisting it in the hole. It opened with a rusty scraping noise, and the stranger pulled the lock free of the box before sliding the lid off to reveal the contents.

Inside lay neat rows of tiny glass vials, each containing a clear liquid of sorts. They were individually labeled, and the stranger reached out to pick one up, twisting it so that he could read what was on the vial.

“Kamei Eri… Morning Musume… 6th Generation…” Puzzled, the stranger looked to Akira. “What on earth does that mean? What are these?”

The scientist had been holding his breath in anticipation it seemed, and as he looked at what the other man was examining, he finally let out a sigh of relief. So far… everything was going according to plan.

“DNA.”

“DNA? Of what…?” The stranger picked up another vial. This time, the label read: “Tsugunaga Momoko, Berryz Koubou”.

“Of diseased Hello! Project members.” Akira answered, walking around the table so that he too could look in the box. For a moment, he paused, running his finger along one of the small tubes ever so carefully, as if it would break if he even dared to look at it. The stranger placed the Momoko vial back where he had gotten it, raising an eyebrow at the scientist.

“And what do you plan to do with all of it?”

“I’m going to clone them.”

“Are you out of your mind? You’ll get shut down for sure if they catch you. And even if you do manage to do it… they’ll all be killed. That was a pretty long time ago, but… I’m pretty sure the government hasn’t forgotten. That’s where everything started.”

Akira was silent. He moved towards one of the windows in the room, looking out at the dark city below. His father used to tell him stories of how his grandfather had lived in an age where cities were lit up with artificial light at night, glowing for miles and miles. But now…

“I’m tired of living this life… being forced to create new ways for our government to keep its people under tight control… The entire world is decaying because we aren’t being allowed to move forward. Depression becomes so overwhelming that people are killing themselves every day just to escape it. So that’s why…” He turned to face the stranger, resolve burning in his eyes.

“I’m going to try and change things. It all started when they began to murder the idols… When they stole the music, they stole a little bit of what kept some people sane. That made us easier to control… So I’m going to bring back one of the very things they tried to snuff out of existence.”

“You really think that some pop star clones are gonna be able to do anything?” The stranger looked skeptical as he picked up yet another vial and scrutinized it suspiciously.

(“Matsuura Aya, Soloist, GAM”)

“Well, you see… I’ve always been of the impression that idols have always had some certain quality about them… Something that perhaps separated them from the rest of us.”

“Like some kind of power?”

“I suppose you could look at it that way… In any case, using the techniques and skills I have learned while I’ve worked here, I should be able to tap into such an essence and genetically alter them in ways that normal humans wouldn’t be able to handle.”

The stranger seemed to understand now. “So you’re going to make super-clones. Like you do with the soldiers for the government.” He chuckled, a satisfied smirk upon his face. “Using their own technology against them… how fitting. So how long will it take?”

Akira put on a grim face. “Unfortunately… a little more time than I actually have. I’ve decided that it would not be practical to return them all to the age they were when they were murdered, so I’m going to set their growth to accelerate them all to the age of eighteen. Generally, if everything goes right… that will take only about two months… but since I am also altering their genetic composition… Perhaps a month more.”

“So you’re talkin’ about a serious race here… assuming that the facility big dogs don’t figure out what you’re doing before then.”

“Precisely… But I’m going to try to be as discreet as possible. Hopefully luck will be on my side…” The scientist sighed, before composing himself and reaching into his coat pocket, pulling out a small, iridescent card. “I suppose you’ll be wanting the first half of your payment, though, hm?”

The stranger nodded, grinning hungrily as he took the card and pocketed it. “So… I’ll come back in three months then, to finish the job. I’ve already got the van all fixed up and running, so it’ll be ready when we need it. I figured you were gonna need me to carry something pretty big, but I didn’t think it would be clones…” He started for the door, pulling his ragged cloak tighter around himself as he did so.

“Good, that’s fine then.” Akira replied absently, staring back at the box and what it held. “I’ll make sure to come in contact with you if I require your services any earlier than that…”

But the man was already gone, headed towards the secret exit of the facility so that he could slip out unnoticed. The scientist let out a heavy sigh, slumping down in a holographic chair that rose to catch him from the floor.

What have I gotten myself into?
« Last Edit: April 14, 2007, 11:40:23 PM by FeverInducedMadness »
-sig is undah construction because it needs to be pimped out-

Offline Sexykago

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 491
Voices of Angels
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2007, 12:16:37 AM »
Awesome. Yours if sci-fi like mine. :D


Offline jafeijai

  • Member+
  • Posts: 4661
  • Music is my life ♪
Voices of Angels
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2007, 01:23:23 AM »
EHHHH?!?! CLONES?!?!?! O_O Whoa..
Right off the bat, the date hooked me into the story....Me and my liking of sci-fi/fantasy fics :P

Lots of things running through my head as I was reading this: "Tsunku's greatest creation?! What could that be...?", "Disease?!?! What disease?!?", "Murder? I thought the H!P members had some sort of disease...? :S" among other thoughts...It'll be interesting to find out what powers the clones will have :) Keep on writing!! :thumbsup

Offline Aioros

  • 「 ebiru powered+ 」
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 7291
  • A CAT IS FINE TOO...
Voices of Angels
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2007, 01:52:06 AM »
I like where this is going. Keep it up! :thumbsup

And welcome to JPH!P! :D

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline glcorps2002

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 360
  • Rina Akiyama: Booty Beauty
Voices of Angels
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2007, 02:56:28 AM »
Quote from: jafeijai;327862
What could that be...?", "Disease?!?! What disease?!?",
The disease of being sexy!!!

Offline Estrea

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 2624
  • ひゃっっほーい♪( ´θ`)ノ
Voices of Angels
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2007, 03:15:05 AM »
Wow, I love your writing style! You write very well. :)

Nice story concept too. Cloning? I love sci-fi in general, so I'll stick around to see what happens. :) The world you describe reminds me of George Orwell's 1984, somehow, just more high tech. XD

Oh and welcome to JPH!P. Hope you enjoy your stay. :)

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline Sexykago

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 491
Voices of Angels
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2007, 03:22:31 AM »
People seem to love this, but not mine.
I guess I'm not very good at writing stories. :(


Offline JFC

  • Miki's Birthday Twin
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 28564
    • jfcantalejo
    • jfcantalejo
Voices of Angels
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2007, 04:17:50 AM »
Idols have the power to change the world!!!

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline FeverInducedMadness

  • Loser87's Fanfic Rival
  • Member+
  • Posts: 181
  • Ai wo kudasai...
Voices of Angels
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2007, 05:26:06 AM »
@Sexykago: Thank you very much. ^-^ I haven't read your story, but if it's sci-fi too, I'll most definitely have to check it out later.

@jafeijai: Haha, thank you for the encouragement. I shall definitely continue on with the story. I wouldn't want to keep you in suspense. (Well, actually, yes I would, that's the point. lol Sorry. :D ) Fortunately, some of the powers will be obvious right off the bat. UNfortunately, some will not, and might take a while to be revealed. But you're welcome to guess.

@wordsworth: Thanks. It's nice to be here. :)

@glcorps2002: Sexy indeed.

@Estrea: Aww, thank you. :heart: That makes me feel good, considering how horribly nervous I was about posting this here. But it seems like my story's being well-recieved so I guess I'm doing okay for my first time. :) I've actually not read 1984, because I never had to, and I was told that it was somewhat boring. lol

@JFC: That they do, my friend. That they do.

Thanks for all the comments on the first part here! I wasn't expecting so many, actually. lol And here's part two before I head off to collapse in bed. (And before my left contact fails me, because it seems to be all fogged up now and I'm ready to take it out.) It'll probably come across as confusing, and maybe a bit rushed because I'm only halfway awake right now, but you'll learn much more in the next chapter anyway.

Enjoy.

--------------

Chapter Two: Awakening

More than three months later…

Shizuka Genetic Research and Testing Facilities; 6/03/56, 2:47PM (Growth and Containment Room)

It was dark.

Dark, but warm…

Warm, but… frightening.

She (at least, somewhere in the subconscious of her mind, she had identified herself as female) could not remember where she was or where she had been… or if she had been before. It was like being woken up from a long afternoon nap and staring at whomever had disturbed you in a hazy sort of manner.

Only… she wasn’t so sure that she had been asleep. Or if she was sleeping now, for that matter.

It was quite a dilemma, and if she hadn’t been feeling so loopy, she probably would have tried harder to figure out what was going on. Thankfully, however, her awareness increased with the passing of time, and after a while she could make out faint sounds from somewhere around her.

First, she identified the loud screeching of a siren wail that blared out at an annoying, quick pace. It scraped at her eardrums and was nearly unbearable to listen to. There were voices, too; deep voices… men’s voices. One was familiar, and the other was rough and foreign to her ears.

They were arguing about something, and though she could understand what it was they were saying, she had no idea what they were talking about.

The female had little time to mull this over in her thoughts, though, for soon she became very alert to her sense of feeling as her skin became subject to a tingling sensation. She was no longer numb, and her limbs flailed about in the liquid that surrounded her body, struggling to grasp anything or everything that was within reach. She also now realized that there were certain wires attached to her, and they began to feed small jolts of painful electricity into her back, forcing her to open her eyes.

Blinding light flooded into her vision, and for a moment she paused, stunned as her surroundings came into view. She had never seen before, and she wanted to look at everything and anything, overwhelmed at the shapes and colors. The female observed that she was suspended in a tank of sorts, which was filled with a glowing, jelly-like fluid. A mask was secured over her mouth and nose, allowing her to breathe.

The two men she had heard speaking were watching her from outside of the tank. Both appeared to be in quite a rush, and only one looked even remotely friendly.

There was a series of short clicking noises, and she felt the fluid around her begin to move, draining itself from the tank. Once it was gone she slumped to the floor of the container, not used to the sensation of gravity weighing down on her. There were a few more mechanical twists as the wires detached themselves from her body, and the mask was removed as well, giving the female her very first unaided breath of air.

She coughed violently as her lungs were forced to get used to breathing on their own, and she began to tremble as she managed to calm down, feeling her heart beating rapidly within her chest.

The man outside with the long white hair began to adjust some knobs on the outside of the tank, and mechanical arms reached down towards her, clothing her naked form in a soft, white jumpsuit of sorts. It was tight, but comfortable, and it allowed her to move with ease as she cautiously rose to her feet.

The two men had continued on to a tank beside her, and were doing the same things to it that they had done to the one she was standing in. And as she looked around the room once again, she realized that there were at least twenty other tanks, each one similar to hers.

Some of them had already been opened, and there were other girls in them, dressed like she was, standing there with varying degrees of confusion and apprehension on their faces. She felt a little better knowing that she wasn’t the only one who had no idea what was going on.

Turning her attention back to the two men, she listened to them speak as they hurried along from tank to tank.

“…And can’t you at least shut that damn alarm off? I’m pretty sure they’re all aware that something’s up by now.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. And it doesn’t matter anyway. I managed to crash the door lock system a few minutes after you arrived, so that should buy us some time and keep them busy.”

“When you said that you’d be cutting things close, I didn’t think you meant THIS close.”

“I didn’t think so, either, but apparently, time’s up.” The scientist finished inputting the release sequence on the final tank, and turned to the stranger. “The van is ready, is it not? We’re going to need to start moving them into it now.”

“Yeah, for the billionth freakin’ time, it’s hidden and it’s ready, just where you told me to put it.”

“Good. Start leading them out the back. They’ll follow you for now, because they’ll be too dazed to do much of anything else.”

The scruffy-looking man grunted his agreement, and began to coax a few of the girls towards the back of the room, where he slapped his hand down on a panel in the wall, revealing a dark, hidden tunnel. With his less-than-friendly urging, they began to disappear into it, and the female still standing in her tank followed after them out of curiosity, without being told to do so.

A blast of cold air hit her in the face almost immediately, and the metal walls of the tunnel amplified the hellish siren wails to a new level. However, she had this feeling tugging at her insides that pushed her onwards behind the trail of girls stumbling along ahead of her, and she didn’t stop or hesitate for a moment.

After a while, the atmosphere in the tunnel changed, and she stepped out onto a foreign surface: it looked like little rows of green hair were growing up from the ground, and instantly her mind registered the word “grass”.

The female looked up, and her eyes took in the blue sky with wonder. As much as she wished to just stand there and gaze at it, however, the line of girls had all made it out of the facility with her, and the stranger was at the tail end of the group, shoving the stragglers along.

“Come on, hurry up. None of you are safe out here.” He began to usher them towards a large, box-like metal object, which rested upon four wheels and had doors in the sides and back of it. The stranger immediately opened the back doors, waving frantically at all of them. “Get in, now!”

None of them dared to argue, and miraculously, all twenty-one of them managed to squeeze into the back of the van. The doors were shut closed behind them, and the girl began to examine the others more carefully, now that she was able to see them better. Most of them looked normal, but there were a few that stood out: there was a girl with glowing orange eyes, one with a mechanical arm, and one even sported white, angelic wings that were folded tightly on her back to allow for more room in the cramped space.

They were all regarding each other curiously, but nobody seemed to want to speak or make eye contact.

She was startled when the stranger started up the van, and the engine rumbled and growled beneath her feet somewhere, making her uneasy. The stranger was sitting up front behind a wheel, and he pulled hard on a lever, before pushing down on something with his foot, causing the van to jerk forward and begin moving at an alarming rate.

A few of the girls let out little squeaks or screams, but the stranger didn’t make any move to comfort or acknowledge them. He was focused on the dirt road ahead of him, and with good reason.

They were being pursued.

Two smaller vehicles were following after them at high speed, and despite their size in comparison with the van, they looked to be much more advanced technology-wise, and were armed with two gun turrets on either side. They were dark black in color, and once they got close enough, they began to open fire.

Bolts of energy tore into the metal shell of the van, and although they didn’t pierce through, that didn’t stop the vehicle from rocking violently due to the impact.

Many of the girls were really starting to panic at this point; it was slightly hard to deal with all of these things when you had basically been ‘born’ only a few minutes earlier. The female with the robotic arm, however, appeared to be hatching an idea somewhere in her mind, and she turned to press her ear up against the wall of the van. She tapped on it with her metallic fingers, and then without warning she punched a hole into the metal, much like one would poke a straw into the lid of a fast food drink.

The stranger didn’t seem to be amused.

“What the hell are you doing back there?” He asked angrily, but the girl only ignored him, and pulled her arm back into the van. She stared at it for a moment, and before everyone’s eyes it transformed into something similar to a miniature Gatling gun. This she shoved back into the hole and used to fire away at the ones that were hunting them.

The other girls watched through the windows of the van, as the high-tech vehicles were torn to shreds by the projectiles being fired from the female’s metal arm. A few of them sighed in relief as the machines finally turned away and left, too damaged to continue the chase.

The girl with the gun arm grinned triumphantly as she pulled her smoking limb back into the van, watching as it transformed back into a perfectly normal—as normal as artificial arms go, anyway—metallic hand.

Everyone else was just staring at her, and the female from before who had been content with just standing around observing the sky was doing the same, shaken from the experience. She looked over at the stranger who was still driving the van, knuckles white from gripping the wheel so hard.

She had no idea where they were going or what would become of them, but she DID know that she was mentally and emotionally exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep. The van was rolling along in a gentle, rhythmic sort of way now, and before she knew it, her eyes were drooping and she began to doze off.

Perhaps it was just as well that she hadn’t taken notice of the metal id tag that had been fastened around her neck while she was in the tank. There was a name etched into the silvery surface, and it would have only served to add to her confusion. But for now, it rested beneath the jumpsuit, the words hidden from view.

“…Mitsui Aika.”
« Last Edit: March 13, 2007, 01:23:37 PM by FeverInducedMadness »
-sig is undah construction because it needs to be pimped out-

Offline JFC

  • Miki's Birthday Twin
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 28564
    • jfcantalejo
    • jfcantalejo
Voices of Angels
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2007, 05:53:07 AM »
Aw, and here I thought it was Eri for some reason. :P


Anyway, girl with the mechanical arm HAS to be Miki. To be able to punch out the van and shoot at the baddies? Gotta be.  :D

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Estrea

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 2624
  • ひゃっっほーい♪( ´θ`)ノ
Voices of Angels
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2007, 06:32:56 AM »
^Agrees with JFC

Only Miki could be that badass. XD Interesting, they're all cloned now? Awesome! Let's hope they evade capture for now. :)

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
- Everything Else. Too many to list.

I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline Sukoshi

  • Member+
  • Posts: 1243
  • Forever in love with the turtle and the hare
Voices of Angels
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2007, 10:26:27 AM »
ooo nice plot.  It's nice and fresh =)  I too thought it was Eri for some reason XD  I wonder if this will be the first fic with aika  as the main character or will every chapter feature someone different?

Offline rndmnwierd

  • Subleader of Tsunku's Army
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 4824
  • What has been seen cannot be unseen.
Voices of Angels
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2007, 12:45:17 PM »
Aika? I'm definately interested on your take of the new kid.

Offline Amarghetta

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 722
  • The likeness of a human
Voices of Angels
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2007, 06:07:35 PM »
Sci-fi! Count me in as reader, definitely.

Aika? Now, that's... interesting.

Keep it coming. :D

ETA: Just noticed you got my 100th post.

Offline Aioros

  • 「 ebiru powered+ 」
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 7291
  • A CAT IS FINE TOO...
Voices of Angels
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2007, 06:26:58 PM »
Finally had the chance to read part 2 :P

I like your writing style. Those parts where 'she' was trying to comprehend what her senses was telling her was great. (the sirens,'grass', etc.) It makes me picture in my mind what she was actually seeing,feeling, hearing when that was happening. :thumbsup

Aika gets a gatling gun for a hand. I wonder what the other girls' abilities are. At least 20 tanks were opened yet only one has been revealed. Who are the rest? :ONdunno:

I need to know.:ONfarofflook:

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline FeverInducedMadness

  • Loser87's Fanfic Rival
  • Member+
  • Posts: 181
  • Ai wo kudasai...
Voices of Angels
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2007, 04:23:04 AM »
@Everyone who thought Aika was gonna be Eri: haha, sorry to disappoint. Though Eri will be making an appearance in this chapter, if that's any consolation. I picked Aika for the main character because we don't know all that much about her yet with her being so new and all, which makes it easier for me, because that I can pretty much do whatever I want with her character. Yay~!

@Sukoshi & JFC: +5 points to both of you for guessing correctly about Miki. lol I suppose I made that too obvious. haha.

@rmdmnweird: You shall have to wait and see, yessss? :D

@Amarghetta: Aww, 100th post! Yay! :heart:

@wordsworth: I really like stories that pull a person in and make you feel like you're the one actually experiencing what's going on. That's kind of what I'm emulate here too, I guess. :) As for who's been revealed... you know at least from the beginning of the story due to the vials that were read that Eri, Momoko, and Aya are three of the clones. Obviously Aika is one of them now, too, and four more are revealed in this chapter. So that leaves... thirteen more to go? lol

And here's the third installment of my story. After finishing it, I realized that I lied. Other than learning who a few more of the characters are, you don't really find out a whole lot in this. It was getting kind of long so I decided to break it into two chapters instead of one enormous one. So um, enjoy! I'm going to try to write a chapter a day if I can, and I also plan on drawing several things for this story (like a cover and the characters and such) when I get the chance.

So um... enjoy!

--------------

Chapter Three: Meeting

“Hey!”

Poke poke.

“Wake up now, the others are leaving us behind!”

Poke poke.

“Come onnnnnnnnn!”

Hard jab to the side. THAT woke her up. Aika stared up drowsily into the face of one of the other girls, who had been kneeling beside her sleeping form for the past few minutes, trying unsuccessfully to bring her back to consciousness.

The other female was smaller than she was, and had short blonde hair that only made it past her chin in length. Her face seemed to light up as she realized that Aika was awake, and she stood up, bouncing a little bit on her feet.

“Good, you’re awake! Everyone else is already in the caves with that man that brought us here. I saw that you were asleep, so I didn’t want to leave you behind.” The girl held out her hand as if to help Aika to her feet. “I’m Mari.”

Aika blinked at her for a moment, brain trying to register the spew of words that had come from this energetic being’s mouth. She took the other girl’s hand and rose to her feet, confused. For the first time in the short while that she had been ‘awake’, Aika spoke.

“How do you know?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“…How do you know that you are Mari?”

The shorter girl seemed to be puzzled at first, as if she wondered why Aika was asking such a silly question, but then she grinned. “Well, I just assume that that’s who I am because of this.” She pulled the dog tag necklace out from beneath her suit, showing it to the other girl.

“Yaguchi Mari”

“I figured since it was on me that it had to be my name… even if it’s not, I’m going to call myself that. It’s easier to have a name that’s not yours than to be nobody, don’t you think?” Mari continued, rocking back on her heels as she spoke. She couldn’t seem to stand still for more than a second or so… “Anyway, what does yours say? Who are you?”

Aika hadn’t considered that, and wondered if she even had a necklace like Mari’s to tell her such a thing. But as soon as she reached up to touch her neck, she felt a tiny chain of metal resting there, and she pulled the tag out to read it. Sure enough, “Mitsui Aika” was inscribed there, and for some reason she could not place, she was completely and utterly positive that the name belonged to her.

“I guess that I’m Aika.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you then. We really should catch up with everyone else, though. I think that the man was going to explain to us what’s going on here.” And with that, Mari grabbed her arm and began to drag the other female off of the van behind her. Being jerked around from place to place was becoming the norm, and it was starting to give Aika a little bit of a headache.

Apparently the van had finally come to rest in the middle of a rather dense forest, which made her wonder how the stranger had managed to maneuver such a large thing through all these trees. As she allowed Mari to tug her along by the arm, she noticed that they were coming upon a rather large rock face, at the foot of which was the dark opening to the cave that the smaller girl had mentioned before.

There was another female stumbling around in front of the cave in a strange sort of manner, as if she hadn’t yet figured out how to walk or something. Mari looked back at Aika, puzzled, and as they neared the girl, she tripped over her own foot and sprawled out onto the ground with a thud.

Mari was the first to react, and she ran over to the girl almost immediately.

“Are you alright? That was kind of a nasty fall you just took.”

The girl on the ground merely whimpered in response, staring wide-eyed up at Mari. It was when Aika caught up with the two of them that she noticed there was something very strange about those eyes. For one thing, the irises were almost pure white in color, and the pupils were tinted gray as if they were filled with smoke. Mari didn’t seem to realize it, but…

“I don’t think she can see you, Mari.” Aika stated quietly, nudging the smaller female’s shoulder. “It looks like she’s blind.”

Mari seemed to take this in, and experimented by waving her hand in front of the fallen female’s eyes.

No response.

“I guess you’re right.” The blonde reached for the girl’s nametag, squinting to read the words as she brought it up to her face. “Kamei Eri. So I guess this is Eri, then… We should probably get her inside… it doesn’t look like she can get there on her own. Come on, help me lift her up.”

The two of them each took one of the blind girl’s arms and lifted her onto their shoulders, which turned out to be slightly awkward due to the difference in height between Mari and Aika. However, with careful steps they managed to carry her to the entrance, and together the three of them entered the cave.

--------------

It was dark at first, and Aika was starting to regret every step they took away from the welcoming light they left behind at the entrance. She began to hear voices, though, quiet whisperings of other females whom she could only assume to belong to the group she had traveled here with.

There was a warm blue glow coming from up ahead, and as they neared it, she realized that from this point the tunnel was illuminated by natural light from rocks that were embedded into the walls of the cave. Looking at them was somewhat calming, and it helped to dull her apprehension.

For the moment, anyway.

They made it into what appeared to be a central room that had been carved out inside of the cave, where the rest of the group was sitting up against the walls of the room. Most were by themselves, curled up in blankets that had probably been supplied by the stranger, whom Aika noted did not seem to be around. She and Mari set Eri down up against one of the walls and plopped down on either side of the blind girl in order to try and keep her warm, as the poor thing had begun to shiver once they had made it deeper into the cave.

The girl with the wings wasn’t sitting too far off from Aika, and when she noticed their predicament, she tossed a blanket over at them.

“Here. The guy left a few extras in case anyone needed them.”
Aika nodded her thanks, while Mari took the blanket from her and wrapped it around their shivering friend. The room was silent for a little while longer, before Aika wondered if the stranger had told the group anything else about what was going on, and decided to ask the winged female about it.

“Any idea about why we’re here?”

“Nope. He said he was going to go get us some food and that when he got back he’d give us some answers. Then he disappeared through one of those back tunnels over there.” The girl pointed lazily at several more entrances in the opposite side of the room, each leading off into other chambers in the cave.

“Food…?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how he’s going to get it, either, but I’m not exactly complaining. By the way, you can call me Koharu.” She smiled, and Aika couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’m Aika. This,” She started, motioning to the blonde, “is Mari, and the other one is Eri. Do you know anything about the others?”

“I heard a few names… but some of these people are kind of scary.” Koharu replied, smile fading into a frown. “The girl with the gun for a hand… her name is Miki. I don’t think you want to mess with her, because she seems kind of hotheaded and mean from what I can tell. And you see that one over there?” She pointed, and Aika’s gaze moved to rest on the girl she had noticed before with the glowing eyes.

The female was sitting cross-legged up against the wall, and she had her hand held out in front of her. She was holding a small ball of fire in her hand, and with the other she was caressing the flames that licked off of it with her fingertips. At first, Aika was perplexed, but as she looked closer, she realized that none of the blaze was actually coming into contact with the girl’s skin. The girl’s eyes were slightly off… kind of wonky… and it would have been somewhat amusing, if not for the dangerous look she was giving the element in her hand.

Aika had a feeling she didn’t want that look to be sent in her direction.

“Yeah… I see her.”

“That’s Tanaka Reina. Once she figured out that she could do that, she just sat down over there and has been like that for a while now… Kiiiiiiiinda creepy. As for everyone else, I don’t know. Nobody’s really been talking and we’ve all been keeping our distance…”

Before Aika could formulate a response, one of the girls on the other side of the room rose to her feet, glaring in the direction of the one called Miki. She was tall and muscular, and looked like a force to be reckoned with.

“What the hell is your problem?” She fired off, directing the question at Miki, who was wearing a very satisfied smirk on her face from her position on the ground.

“Whatever do you mean?” Came the reply, which was dripping with false sweetness.

“You’ve been staring over here for the past five minutes and it’s startin’ to get on my nerves.”

“Sorry. Can’t help it. You’re kind of hard to miss over there…”

“What did you say?”

Miki stood up, rolling her shoulders back and listening to the cracking noises her vertebrae made as they shifted against each other. The tension in the room was starting to rise, and all eyes were on the confrontation.

“I said you’re freakin’ huge. It’s kind of hard to look at all the pretty scenery when you’re in the way like that. I was thinking about asking you to move, but-”

Almost immediately, the other girl had charged up to her with full intent to put a dent in Miki’s face, but she was too quick and caught the muscular girl’s fist with her mechanical hand, holding it off with ease. The female was struggling in Miki’s grasp and it caused her smirk to grow wider.

“Now, now, let’s not be hasty… But since you seem to be so excited, let me show you how you REALLY start a fight.”

Miki let go of the other girl’s fist and brought her mechanical arm back, letting it fly hard into the female’s stomach…

…where it… bounced… off?

Both the muscular girl and Miki just sort of stood there for a moment, processing what had happened.

“Did I miss?”

“No, you hit me… I just didn’t feel it.”

“What the hell?”

“Maybe you should try again?”

Miki obliged, getting the same results. This was rather frustrating, and she began to repeatedly sack the other girl in the stomach, bouncing off again and again until finally she lost it and tried to hit her with her normal arm.

Bad idea.

It was as if someone had thrown a brick wall at her hand, and because it wasn’t made of metal like the other arm, she rebounded painfully this time. She began to curse very loudly and started hopping around a bit, waving her now very bruised hand about. The muscular girl simply stood there, confused, scratching lightly at the spot that Miki had used for her target.

Miki was not pleased, and once her hand stopped throbbing and she regained her composure, she continued on to make sure that everyone was aware of this.

“What the HELL is wrong with you? Are you like made of freakin’ STEEL or something?”

Of course, the other female could not answer this question, and she merely shrugged in response, at a loss for words after surviving Miki’s fist barrage. It was at this point in time that the stranger returned, interrupting the altercation by wheeling in a wooden cart that held several plates of steaming hot food. He eyed the two standing in the center of the room with a frown, before disregarding them and opening his mouth to speak.

“Any of you hungry?”
« Last Edit: March 14, 2007, 06:02:38 AM by FeverInducedMadness »
-sig is undah construction because it needs to be pimped out-

Offline rndmnwierd

  • Subleader of Tsunku's Army
  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 4824
  • What has been seen cannot be unseen.
Voices of Angels
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2007, 05:57:45 AM »
Eri's blind? Koharu with wings? Reina a pyro? Miki's pretty funny, though. Can't wait to see how you take this.

Offline Sancho

  • 8LayerIceCreamVendor
  • Member+
  • Posts: 539
Voices of Angels
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2007, 03:07:10 PM »
I just read the first part and I say it's very interesting. Sci-fi funfic? That's something really hard to pull off (for me in that case). I'm looking forward for this one too. :D

Offline coachie

  • ecchi
  • Member+
  • Posts: 1165
Voices of Angels
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2007, 03:52:54 PM »
Quote

“Did I miss?”

“No, you hit me… I just didn’t feel it.”

“What the hell?”

“Maybe you should try again?”


:ROTFLMAO:

Offline jafeijai

  • Member+
  • Posts: 4661
  • Music is my life ♪
Voices of Angels
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2007, 04:01:03 PM »
Laughed quite a bit after reading this one, though I don't think that was the main intent was it? XD Miki's already starting fights within the group haha

[prepares a list of powers]
Reina - controller of flame
Miki - robotic arm
Koharu - wings
Unknown person - High-density body (possibly steel?) & strength
Eri - blind (if that really counts..)
Mari - unknown
Aika - unknown
Momoko - unknown
Aya - unknown

Can't wait until more people (and their powers) are revealed as well as how the story will continue :thumbsup

JPHiP Radio (29/200 @ 128 kbs)     Now playing: Viyuden - Kurakura Dinner time