As the sun slowly rises over the waters off the coast of Chandonis, the first ferry of the day trundles through the water, en route to the island of Tasmil.
The aeronauts and Marc stand inconspicuously on the deck, the aeronauts all wearing matching jackets that conceal their wings and weapons.
Marc is also holding a jacket, but… well, it was strange. Before he had put it on, the ferry's conductor had taken notice of him and let all of them on for free. Curious, he had scanned her mind…
A new armored exec, finally. He's hot, too. Should I ask for his number?
Marc leans on the railing, taking in the breeze. "Maybe I'll still put it on, just in case," he murmurs. "Can't draw unwanted attention from a real AE…"
Vernicia joins him, dangling her arms over the railing. "Mmm… ferry's not very fast, is it? Yeah, this is as inconspicuous as it gets," she yawns. Everything's bolted down, too… boring.
"Hey, Marc. The free boarding was your doing, right?" Rurin approaches from the other side. "Are you an armored executive too?"
"Nope, just armored," Marc replies. "The only AE I knew died some time ago. I don't know what happened, but they never got a replacement."
"You could become one though, right? Or is it, like, a seniority thing?"
"No idea. I may look all fancy and high-tier, but I think it was mostly nepotism," Marc figures. "I was part of A-Tech's system for as long as I can remember. I bet my dad could have been one if he was better at fighting, though."
"Oh, yeah… your dad was Joseph," Vernicia recalls. "Um, what do you know about the thing that killed him?"
"Only that it's some kind of remote bomb implant. Almost all the higher-ranked researchers have one. Maybe I have one, too?" Marc touches his chest, feeling a twinge of nervousness. "I don't really know how they work, but you'll go up in flames if you say too much or act out of line."
"Well, you've been talking willy-nilly this whole time," Vernicia points out. "Maybe you don't have one after all."
"Hey, the island is coming up." Rurin points – a slice of land appears on the water.
"Oh…" Marc squints. "It's a bit bigger than I remember."
"Why do you sound disappointed?"
"Er, don't worry about it."
The ferry lands at Tasmil's south dock, where Marc, the aeronauts, and a few other people step off. Marc's jacket is now covering his armor. You know, just in case.
"Right then… while we're here, we'll need to familiarize ourselves with the area," he says.
"We shouldn't fly straight out, though. Too many people around…" Diantha surveys the area. "Maybe we can slip into the forest."
"A tour! I meant take a tour," Marc cuts her off.
Diantha blinks. "A tour…?"
"Seconded," Vernicia says. "We'll probably only get one shot at finding this place before we're found out. And, like, it's a tour. There's no better way to scope out the area AND stay under the radar."
Diantha glares at her. Trying to be the brains of the operation? Over my dead body. I'll show you the intuition of a prodigy.
Angelina speaks up: "A good plan, I think so. Uhm, unless…"
Diantha looks away, flipping her hair. "I never said it was a bad plan. Let's do it."
"Ah…" Angelina trails off. Bad. Bad. Get us all killed, her grudge will.
They approach the central forest trailhead. A fairly simple-looking path lies before them, surrounded on both sides by trees.
"Check out this map!" Vernicia holds up a pamphlet. Can't believe I missed this… thanks, Bluebell.
Bluebell? Marc keeps silent as he passes the paper over.
"Hmm…" Rurin carefully observes the map. "Leeward forest… Veranti Village… Melmount Caldera… Discovery Rock… north dock. That's it?"
"Right? So much is unlabeled, the facility could be anywhere," Vernicia mutters. No no, you did great.
Marc straightens. "Alright guys, ready to hit the trail?"
Vernicia raises an eyebrow. "What's with the backpack and flag?"
"I'm your chaperone," he replies. "It's the easiest way for us to investigate the island without a guide or other tourists. Hence why I also made sure your jackets matched."
Diantha sighs, hands on hips. "We aren't kids…"
"You wanna tell the rangers that? Be my guest," Marc replies.
"I wasn't objecting. Let's just do this," Diantha says. This sucks. Why do I have to work with these killers?
They begin walking down the trail. The trees stand tall on either side, concealing the wildlife beyond. In spots where the trees thinned, lush beds of moss and flowering vines cover the ground, surrounded by taller plants of varying colors. No one says a word the whole time.
Wish I knew these plants. They're pretty.
Talk to her, I should do it. But when? After? Now? Later? Too late, is it maybe?
I still feel like Dia doesn't like us…
Hey Bluebell, what's that one? Ooh. And that one? Okay, what about that one? Oh, really? Cool.
Bluebell again… Marc tamps down his growing curiosity. "We're coming up on our first landmark. Over here should be Veranti Village."
Sure enough, the path opens to a byway past a rustic-looking village of short stone abodes and shops.
"Huh, weird," Marc mutters.
"What?"
"Look at the residents." He points.
Diantha observes their movements. "I get it. The way they're walking… those are patrol routes, no doubt," she asserts.
"You think the facility is in the village?" Vernicia asks.
"Let's keep moving. They might notice if we plan something here," Marc says.
Past the village and a bit further down the path is a rest stop. The five of them sit down, making sure no one else is around.
"Alright, let's have two of you go investigate the village," Marc proposes. "The rest of us will stay on the path. Who's going in?"
Diantha and Vernicia both raise their hands.
"Geh. Never mind," Diantha grumbles, lowering hers.
"What? If you've got a problem, just say it," Vernicia shoots back. This diva. I had a feeling she still hates us.
"I'd like it if I could run with someone I knew better. Oh, wait!" You have no idea how it feels.
"Dia," Angelina protests.
"Forget it! Don't hold me back, Verni." Diantha jumps over the bench and disappears into the trees.
"Ugh, okay…" Vernicia reluctantly follows. Hopefully she'll listen.
"Ohh-kay," Marc sighs. "Let's keep going, you two."
"Mmmh…" Angelina holds her arms. Bad idea, that was. Inevitable is a fight. Mission scuffed?
"I think I can guess what this is about," Rurin says.
Angelina looks at him. "Your fault, I know it isn't, but…"
"No no, it was our fault. Gen 1 even left us over it," Rurin tells her. "Maybe Roy's death was our fault too. Like a ripple effect."
Angelina doesn't say anything. Solve anything, a blame game won't. Know that, though, I feel Dia should…
"The other two in your generation as well… yeah, she's right to hold a grudge." Rurin sighs. "I'm more surprised you aren't also bitter."
"A second chance at life… is death," Angelina says. "Juniper and Fern, they were freed."
Rurin blinks, surprised. "Uh…?"
"As a biotool, as a living weapon… painful. Forced to fight, forced to kill, forced to destroy, all of us are. What you want, it doesn't matter to them."
"Ha… you got that right," he forlornly replies. "But you know… we've still got a lead and a plan. We can still turn things around, right? I want to tell her that. I want their deaths to not be completely in vain." Though we are down two boys because of it… now that's grudge-worthy.
"Succeed in our goal, or die trying…" Angelina closes her eyes. "Freedom, we'll get it either way."
"That's… a… way to put it," Rurin says. Marc is enough for now, I guess… I wonder if Kit is actually into him…
Marc clears his throat. "L-let's keep going, guys."
The east side of the path has long given way to the rocky ridge marking the border of Melmount Caldera, a low basin full of rocks, dirt, shrubs, and the occasional creature darting through. Near the basin's center, the walkway loops around a large boulder of dark stone that sticks three meters out of the ground.
"That's Discovery Rock over there," Marc says, looking at the pamphlet.
"A meteorite?" Rurin looks over at it. "Looks like a meteor crater."
"Nah, craters are round," Marc replies. "Melmount used to be a volcano like all the other islands off this province's coast, until it imploded like five hundred years ago. The weird part is, it apparently didn't empty itself out in an eruption. So where did all the magma go? No one knows."
Angelina seems to get a burst of inspiration. "Volcano bones… a murder!"
"What?" Rurin glances at her. She confuses me.
"Well, it does look igneous. Maybe whatever magma was left cooled off or something," Marc suggests.
Vernicia's voice comes in through the comms. "This is Dark Pixie Girl, do you copy?"
"Hi, Verni," Rurin says.
"Are you at Discovery Rock yet?"
"Um, almost."
"Stay there! We're gonna try something." The connection closes.
The three of them share a befuddled look, then look at Discovery Rock.
"Found something, maybe," Angelina suggests.
"Meh… I hope it's good," Rurin mutters. Knowing Verni, at least, it's gonna be a coin toss.
Soon they find another rest spot next to Discovery Rock and wait there, the three of them sharing a bench.
Marc opens his backpack. "Who wants snacks?"
Rurin and Angelina both silently nod.
As time passes– Two hours? Three? – people come and go, paying them no mind. While Angelina and Rurin remain alert, Marc finds his attention beginning to wane.
As another hour passes, Marc starts to doze, slipping in and out of consciousness. Then a voice whispers from above them, snapping him out of it–
"Psst. Hey. Guys!" It's Vernicia.
"Shush! Get back down," Diantha hisses.
"They're right there, though. Guys!"
"Hm?" Rurin looks up at Discovery Rock's summit, then stands to his feet. "Oh, hey."
"Come on, while the coast is clear," Vernicia says.
As they climb atop the boulder, Marc notices bruises on Verni's face. "Did you guys run into any trouble?"
"Eh, nothing we couldn't handle," she shrugs. No need to out yourself.
"Y-yeah," Diantha nods. You really are stronger than I could ever be… I'm so sorry.
"So what did you… oh. There's a hole here," Rurin notices. Huh, did something happen between them?
Marc checks the hole's cover. "Disguised as a part of this rock… I see. The facility is underground!"
"Wrong. Come on, we'll talk more down in the tunnels," Diantha says.
As they climb down into the darkness, the hole shuts above them, leaving only the red glint of the aeronauts' eyes in the pitch blackness.
They assemble at the bottom of the ladder – it feels like a low, wide tunnel. "Right then… first, Veranti Village," Diantha begins.
"As we thought, it's an outpost. Rather, it's more like a barracks in disguise," Vernicia states. "A bunch of guards and agents seem to live there. No facility, though."
"We overheard some guys arguing about whether the forest or the tunnels were faster, which… um, eventually led us here," Diantha continues. What was I doing? Juniper especially wouldn't have wanted me to act like I did. I'm such a fraud.
"This tunnel system seems to run under the entire island, and I'm certain one of them leads to the facility," Vernicia deduces. "And considering what parts of the map are unmarked… my money's on this stretch of trees east of the caldera." She confidently points at the pamphlet.
"Um. You realize it's pitch black down here," Marc mutters.
Four pairs of red pinpoints turn towards him. "Oh yeah, you don't have night vision."
"From what we saw, the guards use lanterns," Diantha says. "Just, um, follow our voices or something. We're heading down this way."
"Touching the left wall works too, right?" Vernicia asks. Every cave movie does it. There has to be a reason, right?
"Does it? What if there's a turn?" Brilliant, but uninformed. Haha, like Fern.
As they move down the tunnel, Marc feels along the wall anyway. "This rock feels ancient," he mutters. "Were these tunnels here while Melmount was still standing? But then, if that were true, they'd have been full of lava…"
"Lantern spotted. Quiet," Rurin says, pointing ahead.
The light illuminates a pair of guards emerging from a connected tunnel. One of them points, then they start to move down a different tunnel.
"That way, huh," Marc whispers. "I bet they have a more detailed map on them."
Vernicia draws her sword. "I'm on it." Alright, dash slide! Go!
She takes a running start, then slides along the floor at top speed straight towards the guards.
"What the – gah!" ZATCH, SLATCH! The guards are both killed before they could even process what had attacked them.
"This way, guys," Vernicia calls. "Lantern, comms, access cards, guns… aha! Detailed map."
As they walk towards the looted corpses, Marc stops to examine the area Verni had slid through… ice?
"Hey, hand me a gun," Rurin says.
"Me too." Marc jogs to the aeronauts.
"Knock yourselves out." Vernicia unfolds the map. "Now, let's see… here it is! This building wasn't on the tour map. Come on! Neocon awaits!"
"Hm? That looks more like an M," Diantha points out.
"What, like Meocon?" Vernicia looks back at the map. "Oh wait, you're right. Weird."
"Come on, before more guards come through," Marc calls.
"Oh, look who's confident now that they can see," Rurin teases.
"Ahh, shut up."
Angelina silently looks at Diantha and exhales. Her vibes… phew. Breathe again, I can…
The team runs through the tunnels towards the marked location. North, northeast, east, north, east… it looks like Vernicia had correctly deduced the location. Soon they stop at a ladder, where light is streaming in from above.
At its top, the team finds themselves in the middle of Tasmil's eastern ridge forest.
"Aha. We should be close now," Vernicia says, clicking her black device a few times. Just in case…
Something sparks in the trees. Aha! I knew it.
Rurin looks up. "Was that a sensor?"
"Heh!" Verni pockets her device – small, black, more powerful than it appears. "We're off the radar until someone notices they're down."
Marc snaps his fingers. "A compact, range-adjustable electromagnetic wave projector! That looks like the prototype; where did you…?"
"Where do you think?" She raises an eyebrow. "It's come in handy a good number of times so far. Especially during errands, hehe." It's not a crime if you don't get punished for it.
"Guys, I think we got our place." Rurin points at an unmarked building in the clearing past a few taller trees.
"Guards ahoy. But they don't seem to notice anything is wrong yet," Diantha whispers as they approach.
Vernicia rapidly clicks her device, and the guards start touching their helmets, confused. "Now!"
Angelina and Diantha attack, striking from above. In a flash, the front guards' bodies are dragged away.
Marc takes off his jacket, letting his armor shine in the afternoon light. "I'll go in first, you all wait for my signal."
"Copy that."
Marc approaches the facility with the access card from one of the guards. The door's lock calmly disengages with a click. Then, suddenly feeling bold, he raises his foot– BAM!
"Wargh! Watch it, you nearly hit me," someone says, having jumped back. "What's with all the bravado anyway; the handle works just as well!"
They face each other for a second. The woman standing startled has a large, round puff of kinky dark brown hair and black almond-shaped eyes. Most troubling, though, is her shining silver armor – it has a sleeker design than Marc's, giving the impression of a lady knight. An Armored Executive…
She straightens. "Are you new here?" She asks. "What's your affiliation?"
"A-Tech," he carefully replies.
"Aha. Finally got a new AE for them," she nods, turning to leave. "Cool, cool… I'll let the others know."
Marc raises his gun, sinking it into the deep curls on the back of her head. "I wouldn't if I were you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The AE stops. "I am Kisha Romanell. If you were me—"
Suddenly, the air charges up. Then, WHAM–ZZAK–BAM! Marc's gun is gone, he's in the air, and now he's on the floor, the same gun now pointed at his head instead.
"You would do this," she finishes.
"Nrgh! Crap," Marc grunts.
"So who are you, really?" She begins interrogating him. "How'd you find Metacorp? Are you a spy too?"
"Meta…? I thought this was Neocon," Marc grunts.
"Nope. You're a long way off if that's what you were after," Kisha replies. "Not that there's much left there anymore." I really miss it, honestly. The lake view was so nice…
Kisha begins tapping Marc's armor in various places.
"Uhh, hey. Careful with the goods," Marc nervously says.
"Where did you get your armor?"
"What do you mean, where–" Kisha promptly begins bending his arm backwards. "Oww, okay, okay! I don't really remember; I've had it my entire life!"
"What's your affiliation?"
"A-Tech! I wasn't lying about that."
Kisha stops bending his arm. If he's been living there, how could he have had this battle armor his whole life? It's clear this beanpole isn't meant to fill Nikos's succulent curves. And if he isn't the successor, that leaves…
Kisha shakes her head. "Something stinks here. Only armored execs can wear what you're wearing. And A-Tech are just a bunch of mid-rank researchers and scientists, so…" Wait… research. They had a prototype!
Marc looks around – the door is still open. Should he call them in now…?
"I get it now. It's fusion, isn't it? What do you know about Fusion?"
"W-what if I don't know anything?"
"Then you'll have outlived your usefulness," Kisha states. "You should know all AEs are authorized for lethal force."
"D-don't get too excited, now… I did read a proposal on it," Marc replies. "It's the process of melding biometal into the dermis so that the end result is something like a steel exoskeleton. It never went into production, though, presumably due to stability issues."
"Can you remove your armor?"
"Huh? Of course I can. W-well, most of it. Why do you care?"
Kisha narrows her eyes at him. Too young to be him… a second attempt, maybe?
"What do you know about the secret project, codename Cryos?" She asks.
"You can't possibly think I have anything to do with him," Marc retorts. "There's no evidence in A-Tech's… anything that proves his existence! And believe me, I've looked."
"No tangible evidence…" Kisha pulls him to his feet, still keeping a tight grip on his arms. "It's decided. You're coming with me."
"Not if they can help it," Marc grins. "GUYS, NOW!"
"Wh–?"
The four aeronauts immediately fly in through the still-open doors and slam into them, throwing Kisha across the lobby. She immediately recovers, though, and lands on her feet, fists clenched and crackling with energy, likely from her armor.
Angelina does a double take, though. Electricity?
Then, WHAM! Kisha slams into Angie, stunning her. How had she moved so fast?
Rurin fires his rifle at Kisha – PING, SPANG! The standard live rounds prove ineffective as Kisha dashes to him next – with a shock-charged punch, he too is stunned.
Vernicia's blade glances off Kisha's back, but she dodges backwards before Kisha can retaliate. "Is she toying with us?"
"No… they must still want you alive," Marc figures.
"Unfortunately, the maybe-fusion is correct," Kisha sighs. "You lot should be grateful."
Angelina sits up, still dazed. "No… worse than death is getting captured…"
Kisha shrugs. "I don't make the rules."
Rurin sticks his hand into Roy's bag and pulls out… one of his orbs? They never did figure out exactly how Roy wielded them, but–
BLAT! They still explode when thrown. This one coats Kisha's armor in viscous, sticky gunk, slowing down her movements.
"What the–?!" The gunk seems to dampen her armor's conductivity as well, much to Marc's relief. It's so much more advanced than his own…
"Got ya," Rurin says, picking up Angelina. "Dia, Verni, let's regroup!"
Kisha draws a heavy-looking handgun. "Using tools now, are we? I'll always try to fight fair," she sneers.
Marc dashes to the side, firing his gun – PANG! Kisha blocks the would-be headshot with her free arm. "Gah. Need nerbo," he grunts.
"Yes, it's quite useful," Kisha agrees, then shoots him – KZAK!
"Dammit… you…" he falls over, unconscious.
Diantha drops from the ceiling, aiming both feet at Kisha's head.
SHEEW–! An energy booster on her back fires off, launching Dia the other way and sending Kisha airborne. Then, KZAK! Diantha is down.
Vernicia flies in and strikes from Kisha's flank, but the armor stops her advance. Kisha retaliates with a kick, knocking Verni to the floor. Then KZAK!
Vernicia tries to stop the shot with her sword, but the force of the blast knocks it out of her grip. Then another KZAK rings out, knocking her out cold.
"Not yet!" Rurin pulls out Roy's gun and fires it at Kisha.
SHEEE! The beam encases her hand in ice, along with her handgun.
Kisha looks surprised, floating backwards. Then Rurin raises its power output – SHEEEEE!
Now her torso is iced over, causing her aerial system to fail. She crashes to the ground in an undignified fashion, the ice over her body shattering in the process.
"Come on, Angie, we gotta move now," Rurin says. "If we're quick, we can get everyone out before backup arrives."
"Oh yeah?" Kisha rises to her feet, her armor creaking in several places. Rurin tenses, gripping the ice gun.
"I get it now," Kisha growls. "You're using the prototypes." She smashes her frozen hand onto her knee, freeing it. The handgun, however, breaks into several pieces, leaving only its handle and trigger. She drops it in disgust. "I talked to Mathis about them once, and he said A-Tech was holding them. You lot are no different from grave robbers."
"We just want to know where the protoforms are," Rurin states.
Kisha rolls her eyes. "As if I'll just tell you such sensitive info."
SHEEE! Now Kisha's feet are frozen to the ground.
"Yeah, how about now? You have no other choice, do you? Just tell us and we'll leave you alone!" Rurin levels a fierce gaze at her.
Kisha sighs. Then her armor bursts into pieces, leaving her in thin pants and a tank top. Now unburdened, she jumps towards Rurin, hands streaming electrical energy–
Whoosh! Angelina pulls Rurin to the ceiling, and Kisha lands near their previous location.
"Thanks, Angie. Let's get outta here," Rurin tells her.
"The others…?" She looks down at them.
Rurin shakes his head. "They'll still be here, yeah?" He quickly pulls out several orbs and throws them at Kisha. She quickly jumps back as they explode in a burst of smoke and rope-like tendrils.
Then Rurin and Angelina fly out of the facility, heading north over the rolling waves, then towards the shore. Soon Tasmil is out of sight.
After some time, they end up over a coastline Rurin recognizes – Bread Reef, still secluded and colorful. Though perhaps less lush with sea life.
Angelina lands on a boulder and slumps down. "Failed, we…"
Rurin sits next to her. "Hm… somehow, I think it'll be okay," he says. "For starters, we found Metacorp. I mean, that wasn't our goal, but I still feel like we achieved something. And that place, Neocon, and A-Tech, they've gotta be all connected!"
"That lady… her lightning magic, you saw it too, yeah?" Angelina hugs herself. "If she wasn't holding back… killed us all, maybe she would've done it."
"Yeah…" Rurin stares at the sky. "So mages are real after all. I guess it isn't that hard to believe," he murmurs. "She was an armored executive, right? Seems like they have to be crazy strong to achieve that rank."
"For us, too strong," Angelina sighs.
"I bet we can still turn this around," Rurin resolves. "We just need to regroup with Kit and Travis, then we'll be able to come up with a plan to rescue our pals and track down the protoforms. We can just call this a minor setback, really. We've bounced back from worse."
"Confident…"
"Hey, someone has to do it." Rurin then lays down, exhausted. "You wanna rest for a bit? I'm pretty sure no one followed us."
"True… sense anyone, I didn't." She lays down next to him, covering her arms with her wings.
As the wind blows through the lavender late-afternoon sky, both of them fall asleep.