10-16-2013, 09:30 PM
Samus gathered the Omnilium into her hands and thought of him. His voice. His words. She focused on them, blotting out the voices of protest in her mind. Yes, it was selfish. There was no denying that. Several times she almost stopped, faltering. But she knew it would never end. She had to do this.
The ringing stopped. She was standing in the room, alone. Was it impossible after all?
Of course. It had to be. There was no way she’d be allowed this. Her whole life had proved that fact. The others were a reminder of what she couldn’t have. Nanoha, with her artificial companion. Even the robot child and the librarian. They all served as bitter reminders.
Back then, in that last day before arriving at the Omniverse, she hadn’t known the computed voice was truly Adam, but it had felt the same. Her annoyance at following his orders, but the knowledge somewhere at the back of her mind that he was right. She’d become more like the man since his death. She was no longer the brash, empassioned child she once was. It was as though he, like the suit, had become a part of her. Perhaps that was how it would be. Perhaps she had to be alone. She accepted it.
And that’s when the voice spoke: “Samus.”
She looked at her helmet, breath caught in her throat. “A … Adam?”
“This isn’t the ship.”
Despite her prior reluctance, Samus felt a smile wash over her face like the heat from sinking into a bath. “No, it’s not, Adam. I’m sorry.”
“Is something wrong, Samus? I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you apologise.”
The hunter searched for the words. “It’s a long story, Adam. Perhaps it’s best you see for yourself. You wouldn’t believe me otherwise.”
“Well, it appears that we’re in a library of some sort.”
Samus sighed. “Connect to the database. There should be a wireless connection.”
A minute passed. Then Adam spoke up again. “Just how long have you been in this Omniverse?”
“It’s hard to say. Time is different here. No more than a few weeks.”
“And you took this long to summon me?”
Samus’s mouth fell open. For a moment, she felt awash with emotion, then her words flowed seemingly of their own accord. “I was doing fine without you. I just thought you might be of some help in this library, being an Artificial Intelligence and all.”
A digitized sigh echoed from the speaker of Samus’s helmet. “I could have helped you scour the Dataverse for information long before you summoned me here. Why didn’t you?” As the hunter opened her mouth to angrily respond, he cut her off. “Nevermind. I’m here now. What’s the mission?”
“The Dataverse is under attack by some sort of terrorist group calling themselves the Copper Eye. We’re not sure what they’re planning, but the government of Coruscant seems worried.”
“Yes …” came the distracted voice of the disembodied commander. “There’s bits and pieces of information about them floating around the Dataverse.” His tone changed. “Samus, do you think you should be working for this … Empire?”
“It’s fine for now. I don’t intend to get wrapped up in their war.”
“Yeees …” The AI didn’t sound convinced. “You were right to summon me. These Copper Eye haven’t done anything this big up until now, but there’s good reason to believe they’re very dangerous.”
“Besides the fact that they attacked us on the way here?”
“What with?”
“Robots.”
A quiet moment. “That’s strange. In the past, they’ve never used robots.”
“Use what you have.” Samus shrugged.
“Yes … But it begs the question of how they got the robots. Librarian, is there anywhere in the Dataverse they could have mass-produced robots?”
“Innumerable places.” The librarian was standing in the room once again. “Primes don’t need a factory to build machines under their control. But to summon so many would take a vast quantity of Omnilium, so it is likely that they are being manufactured from parts rather than being summoned from scratch, so to speak.”
Samus groaned. “That doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“So let’s look elsewhere,” said Adam. “If the Empire government is worried, that means they’re in control of something to do with the Empire. Something owned by them, I’d guess. That narrows it down a lot.”
“I don’t need to know the details.” Samus stood up, examined her arm cannon. “Just find out where they’re operating from, I’ll do the rest.”
“That’s something else, Samus,” said Adam. “Your suit isn’t running at full strength.”
“I told you, let me worry about that. You focus on finding out where they are.”
“I can do that at the same time, Samus. I am an AI.” The hunter could almost see his calm, patient stare. It always felt somehow even more patronising by Adam’s determination not to be. “Have you thought about summoning some type of shield?”
“Unnecessary. My suit is tougher than most Primes, and I never needed a shield before”
“Before, you never had the option of choosing your own upgrades. And there are things in the Omniverse far stronger than anything you faced in our own universe,” he added.
He was right, as always. The hunter threw her hands up. “Fine. I’ll think about it.” She hadn’t been lying before though. She had her own ideas. Now’s probably a good time to use them, she thought. She gazed down her nose pensively. One of them might even satisfy Adam and his need for defense. She called an orb of Omnilium to the palm of her hand.
“Summoning something, Samus?”
“Yeah. Any objections, commander?” She couldn’t help but sneer.
A grunt akin to a laugh. “I’ll keep searching.”
The ringing stopped. She was standing in the room, alone. Was it impossible after all?
Of course. It had to be. There was no way she’d be allowed this. Her whole life had proved that fact. The others were a reminder of what she couldn’t have. Nanoha, with her artificial companion. Even the robot child and the librarian. They all served as bitter reminders.
Back then, in that last day before arriving at the Omniverse, she hadn’t known the computed voice was truly Adam, but it had felt the same. Her annoyance at following his orders, but the knowledge somewhere at the back of her mind that he was right. She’d become more like the man since his death. She was no longer the brash, empassioned child she once was. It was as though he, like the suit, had become a part of her. Perhaps that was how it would be. Perhaps she had to be alone. She accepted it.
And that’s when the voice spoke: “Samus.”
She looked at her helmet, breath caught in her throat. “A … Adam?”
“This isn’t the ship.”
Despite her prior reluctance, Samus felt a smile wash over her face like the heat from sinking into a bath. “No, it’s not, Adam. I’m sorry.”
“Is something wrong, Samus? I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you apologise.”
The hunter searched for the words. “It’s a long story, Adam. Perhaps it’s best you see for yourself. You wouldn’t believe me otherwise.”
“Well, it appears that we’re in a library of some sort.”
Samus sighed. “Connect to the database. There should be a wireless connection.”
A minute passed. Then Adam spoke up again. “Just how long have you been in this Omniverse?”
“It’s hard to say. Time is different here. No more than a few weeks.”
“And you took this long to summon me?”
Samus’s mouth fell open. For a moment, she felt awash with emotion, then her words flowed seemingly of their own accord. “I was doing fine without you. I just thought you might be of some help in this library, being an Artificial Intelligence and all.”
A digitized sigh echoed from the speaker of Samus’s helmet. “I could have helped you scour the Dataverse for information long before you summoned me here. Why didn’t you?” As the hunter opened her mouth to angrily respond, he cut her off. “Nevermind. I’m here now. What’s the mission?”
“The Dataverse is under attack by some sort of terrorist group calling themselves the Copper Eye. We’re not sure what they’re planning, but the government of Coruscant seems worried.”
“Yes …” came the distracted voice of the disembodied commander. “There’s bits and pieces of information about them floating around the Dataverse.” His tone changed. “Samus, do you think you should be working for this … Empire?”
“It’s fine for now. I don’t intend to get wrapped up in their war.”
“Yeees …” The AI didn’t sound convinced. “You were right to summon me. These Copper Eye haven’t done anything this big up until now, but there’s good reason to believe they’re very dangerous.”
“Besides the fact that they attacked us on the way here?”
“What with?”
“Robots.”
A quiet moment. “That’s strange. In the past, they’ve never used robots.”
“Use what you have.” Samus shrugged.
“Yes … But it begs the question of how they got the robots. Librarian, is there anywhere in the Dataverse they could have mass-produced robots?”
“Innumerable places.” The librarian was standing in the room once again. “Primes don’t need a factory to build machines under their control. But to summon so many would take a vast quantity of Omnilium, so it is likely that they are being manufactured from parts rather than being summoned from scratch, so to speak.”
Samus groaned. “That doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“So let’s look elsewhere,” said Adam. “If the Empire government is worried, that means they’re in control of something to do with the Empire. Something owned by them, I’d guess. That narrows it down a lot.”
“I don’t need to know the details.” Samus stood up, examined her arm cannon. “Just find out where they’re operating from, I’ll do the rest.”
“That’s something else, Samus,” said Adam. “Your suit isn’t running at full strength.”
“I told you, let me worry about that. You focus on finding out where they are.”
“I can do that at the same time, Samus. I am an AI.” The hunter could almost see his calm, patient stare. It always felt somehow even more patronising by Adam’s determination not to be. “Have you thought about summoning some type of shield?”
“Unnecessary. My suit is tougher than most Primes, and I never needed a shield before”
“Before, you never had the option of choosing your own upgrades. And there are things in the Omniverse far stronger than anything you faced in our own universe,” he added.
He was right, as always. The hunter threw her hands up. “Fine. I’ll think about it.” She hadn’t been lying before though. She had her own ideas. Now’s probably a good time to use them, she thought. She gazed down her nose pensively. One of them might even satisfy Adam and his need for defense. She called an orb of Omnilium to the palm of her hand.
“Summoning something, Samus?”
“Yeah. Any objections, commander?” She couldn’t help but sneer.
A grunt akin to a laugh. “I’ll keep searching.”
![[Image: 0bwAI3j.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0bwAI3j.jpg)