The -Not So- Unexpected

Another week had passed, all the while Xenon had still been left wondering, trying to find all the answers for himself. However, yet another issue had been added to the seemingly endless line of questions. About two days ago, during another test, Vexis almost seemed like herself again, she almost refused to cooperate, instead of the obedient, mindless drone they turned her into. Although, Vexis obviously hadn't remained like that, because earlier today -when Xenon saw her last, she was back to the robot personality. What made Vexis revert back so quickly? Little did Xenon realize just how...corrupt this place was.


Layla had explained to them what the plan was for reviving the Nova stream; it would be a gradual process. There were certain areas on Aristaisia where the stream seemed to cluster most, "Gates" as Layla called them. Each of these Gates were buildup points for Nova energy, they acted like portals into the stream.

Vexenesis and Xenon were supposed to visit these Gates, and help pull more of the stream into Aristaisia by using the portals.

Simple, right? Maybe not...


Anyway, today was the day that they would set out towards the first Gate, up near where ancient Ethiamn used to stand.


~

Xenon begrudgingly followed Layla and Vexis down the long walkway, needless to say; he wasn't looking forward to this day. The large metallic door slid open, but not nearly as much sunshine as he would've expected poured in. The sky was gray and cloudy. Again. Big surprise. Layla led them around the side of the gigantic lab building, only the annoying clacking of her ridiculously high-heeled boots could be heard amongst the silence. Xenon was just glad to be outside for once, and a non-simulated 'outside' at that.

Finally they stopped on the other side of the concrete parking lot...thing. Just ahead were a bunch of strange looking androids, all clustered near a single vehicle (which looked like a miniature star ship that you'd find in space, only on a much smaller scale). The robots were all shaped like human beings, but were missing several details such as a face, skin, hair, and gender. They were all made from a bright silver metal, a single glassy looking band of red light replaced where their eyes should be.

"These androids will be accompanying you on your journey, they will fend off any disobedient people in town. After all, being projects of Axion, you're both prime targets for their hatred..." Layla headed over to the group of robots, directing one to step forward from the group. "These are specially designed androids built specifically for combat, they're called the 'O.M.A' series -Offensive Model Android. They are equipped with twice as many weapons as the regular town-patrol series, and are S.S.A.S capable. Any questions?"


Xenon hesitated to say anything at first, but curiosity got the better of him eventually. "Uh...what exactly is this 'S.S.A.S' you speak of? You know, just so I don't accidentally piss one off and have it kill me..."

Layla gave him a look of extreme disapproval, as if she expected him to know all this. Maybe she did? "Strategic Self-Adaptive System. It's a program that allows the android to adapt the use of a weapon to fit the task at hand. Say, for example, the android saw that you use mainly Nova-based attacks, it could adapt one of it's weapons using S.S.A.S to have a much more effective use on you. Like, say, it could make you unable to use Nova energy if it adapted well enough."

Xenon shuddered at the very thought, anything that could adapt itself so easily was just plain frightening. What if -as crazy as it sounds- Xenon had to actually fight against these things someday?

Layla made all of the robots clear out of the way now, she opened up the door to the black mini-ship. Funny, it was made out of the exact same material as the laboratory walls. The inside was exactly like the interior of a car, a very luxurious, roomy car, that is. Vexis immediately took her seat in the very back, Xenon hesitantly followed (only, he chose to be closer to the front -it was too dark and depressing in the back). And then, a few androids shoved their way in. For some reason, Xenon was very uncomfortable with sitting next to a homicidal robot, but why could that possibly be?

Once the door slammed shut, and the ship started to move (with no driver, this thing had an Auto-Pilot function, apparently), everything just seemed to whoosh by unbelievably fast. Just staring out the window made you dizzy. Gray landscapes, gray magnetic tracks beside the gray roads, black industrial buildings (with gray smoke puffing out of the smokestacks), they all sped past and disappeared into oblivion. Wow, this planet was certainly colorful. Not.

A very depressing span of 30 minutes went by, Xenon had already seen enough of Aristaisia. He was sick and tired of this monotone world. Xenon couldn't imagine having to live in grayness for his whole life, but hopefully, he would be able to help fix this. Otherwise, if their attempts completely failed, and all hope was lost, Xenon most likely wouldn't be able to continue existing. Vexenesis, however, could live this way for centuries. But, well, that was because shes basically just a freaking drone in personality.


The ship came to sudden stop, outside of the black-tinted windows could be seen the tall buildings of a city. The magnetic track shifted slightly, and the ship began to move again, only much slower. A sign that they had passed by told them that this was Neo-Ethiamn, the city that only dreamed of being like Ethiamn. Seriously, this Ethiamn was merely a pathetic replica of the original. But to a person like Xenon whom had never seen a real city before, it was just as amazing. Xenon let his mind wander off for the time being.


However, the serenity did not last very long. A sudden blast occurred directly in front of the ship, Xenon, Vexis, and the four androids all jumped to attention at once. Someone was trying to attack them? "What the hell was that!? A bomb?!" Xenon exclaimed in surprise, well that was certainly a way to be greeted.


"Did Layla not warn you of uncooperative civilians? Or are you just that stupid?" Vexis said rather coldly.

One of the androids immediately took action and blasted the roof away and leapt out, god knows where it got that gun from. The other three androids followed. Why didn't they just use the door? Oh well, at least neither Vexis nor Xenon had to pay for it!

Turns out that the ship had completely stopped on that part of the track, great, now they were stuck in the middle of the road. Oh, right, wings, they're there for a reason...just like doors! Imagine the concept! Vexis jumped up through the hole-y roof, and in one powerful surge, was airborne. 'How can she just react like that without wondering about things?' Xenon, well, wondered, then went and did the same.

They both landed gracefully on the sidewalk, just ahead stood a group of people...armed with weapons.

One man in the group had his gun pointed directly at Vexis, ready to shoot at any moment. Vexis just stared at him coldly, unafraid. The man's face showed bitter determination, "You people are to blame for what happened to this planet! And now you try to tell us that these mutant freaks are just going to magically fix the Nova stream!? How do we know these things won't just end up making things worse, like the government's other 'solutions'?!" He shouted out, enraged.

Xenon just waited and listened to the man's ranting, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "Huh?"

Vexis suddenly pounced forward into the crowd, accurate and deadly. Blood lust was visible in her eyes.