She has a tender voice, soft yet firm. Though she's in a suit, I can tell she has a fit body. She's.... hot. She's looking down on me with piercing cold deadly stare.
"Oh! It's the Pretty ranger! The one you molested her chest!" announces 42, through my suit's speaker.
The lady's mouth made a snare for a moment *Tsk*. She's looking at me with a sour look. I can tell by how she's squinting her eyes at me and keeping on her guard. Her arms crossing her chest becomes tighter. The atmosphere is thick and suffocating. I have a bad feeling. I feel if this continues, I will end up dead in a ditch. When did 42 put a speaker on me?
"Shut up! Are you trying to get me killed?" I ask in panic.
"No.. I'm just trying to help you." He responds through the speaker.
"How is this helpful! Your making her more angry! Thanks to your mistake at the gate, I landed the wrong way!"
"Sure... Though you don't have to worry. She won't kill you." He nonchalantly responds.
"Well..." I look up at her again. She's giving me an icy stare with her eyes squinting at me. I notice her ears top are pointing further back. Her stance is still the same, but firm. "You might be right, but she still doesn't look happy"
"You like to crash in to things.. don't you," She suddenly said. "It's unusual to see a human here... and you seem to be in a hurry... Why?"
Before I could say anything, 42 responds "Oh I told him to hurry, I'm trying to beat the rush. It's also why I'm guiding him through here."
"Hmm I see... And why are you in a hurry?" She asks.
"Oh, that's simple... you see these humans are the last group to depart, and it's the biggest group, and I don't like a crowded place nor waiting in a line." He casually said.
I guess there is no need for me to say anything. Seeing how 42 is handling her, I pay a closer attention to her and her suit. Her suit differs from the others I've seen so far. Her suit seems to have... more armor. The suit has a gold shine to it, with Silver line going from her shoulders, and cross each other on her abdominal area, then make their way towards the back of her thigh. On her left side of her chest... there is some sort of a symbol, it's about as big as a coin, and is in octagon shape. Its symbol looks like it has an image of a winged beast holding a sword, the sword is pointing up towards a quad shape star. Her suit has wings too, but smaller compared to mine. Like mine she has engines below her feet, however her engines are octagon shaped, and the engine is giving a white burst, however next to her engines I notice a circular electric circuit... What's that for?
"What are you staring at?" She asks, looking at me with a sour look this time.
Uh oh.. not good! "Oh, I'm wonder what are those el--"
"Oh, he's admiring your body shape! You must be his type.." 42 Disrupts me.
At that comment she startles and notice her cheeks become red. I am still processing what just happen... Then I realize what's happening, did 42 read my thought earlier? At that moment, I feel my face is heating.
"Right my human friend? Hehehe," 42 continues.
She quickly regains her focus and asks, "Is what your guide saying is true? How vulgar!" in a serious yet with a soft tone of voice, but there was a hint of danger behind her voice. Her expression this time... is unreadable. It's like looking at a mask that hides everything behind it, and her eyes are the only thing that is giving a hint that some form of a plan is in motion behind that expressionless face...
My mind is racing, and it's all over the place, all my thoughts are coming in simultaneously, however my body cannot keep up, and it's frozen. I want to respond to her, but I can't turn my thoughts into words. My mouth remains open.
I am not sure of what's keeping me frozen, is it the blooming and threatening aura that's coming from her, or is it her elegance and beauty, perhaps both.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" She yells this time, floating closer towards me, slowly.
I snap back to myself. Right.... this is no time to admire her, or else I'll probably end up in a terrifying condition. Will 42 interfere again? Can I take him out of my suit? Probably not a smart move since I will lose control, but right now I need to get her out of whatever trance she's in.
"Well" 24 continues
Yup... he is interfering... So I imagine that I eject him out of my suit as hard as possible.
"Of Course I'm tellin..... WWAAAA..." right when he is answering, he shoots out of my suit.
He got out directly from behind my back, and the eject force is so powerful that he slams to the wall behind me. I heard the crashing of debris and objects breaking in to pieces. As soon as that happened however, my suit got jam, engine turning on and off, completely out of control. Since I can no longer control myself, I float and my body spins slowly, turning upside down. Judging by the expression of the young lady, she did not expect this stunt either, for she has a surprise look on her face. Which also stop her on her track.
"I apologies for that.." I said and look back at 42. He is flying in a circle and its lenses are turning rainbow color.
"Checking for possible damage... Repairing..." he said
42 seems to be recovering, his missing parts are being repaired and rebuild by a white cloud of dust, similar to when my suit's Nano particle turns to dust. Huh, thank god that he's sturdy, but it serves him right, I should think of a way to restrict his abilities when he's in my suit. I face the young Lady.
"42 has a habit of putting me in trouble sometimes, I guess. Now back to your question, I was wondering what those electric circuits are next to your engine.. that was why I was staring... and your unique outfit," Best to keep it to the point.
Wait a minute. What's a circuit?
The lady is staring at me, but I can't tell what she's thinking, all I can tell however that she is no longer upset, while that is a relief, I am still uncomfortable. I don't think I had anyone this pretty stare at me like that, and I'm certain that I didn't have anyone stare at me like that before I lose my memory.
After a few moments, I felt more uncomfortable. Why is she staring like that? And why for so long? Is that how she felt? Wait... is this her way of getting back at me? I have now fully turned upside down. Wow, she's still pretty from this angle too.
'Ok dude! Snap out of it!' I think to myself. "Uh.. I am really sorry for staring, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable".
"Huh? Oh! I apologize for that." She looks away for a moment and looks back at me. "So, are there any issues with your suit?" She casually floats around me, with her arms still crossed and observing me. "Why are you floating like that?"
Is she ignoring my question or was she not paying attention? Oh well, as long as she doesn't want to kill me, I'm fine with it. "No, my suit is fine, I have a hard time controlling it on my own, 42... my guide is helping me to navigate."
I have rotated about 270 degrees; The lady returns to my view in front of me.
"So... why can't you control your suit? Do you know?" She asks, squinting her eyes.
"N.. No, According to 42, I can use imagination to control it, however when I do imagine it... I can't seem to do it" as I explaining it... Now that I think about it, it feels more like, I can't reach the suit with my thoughts, as if I'm shooting my thought in a dark endless void with no destination to reach, but when 42 helps, it feels that I'm connected to my suit it. Though it does feel strange, it's like, having an extra limb.
The young lady put her right hand on her chin from cross position, and looking at my suit, she seems to be thinking.
"Repair complete. Going back to standard mode..." 42 analogy announces "systems check, visual normal, status normal, all damages repaired!"
I look back at 42 and make eye contact with his lens
"That wasn't very nice of you, human! Is this how you treat a beloved guide who is only trying to help you out? Hm?" said 42.
"You kinda had it coming, otherwise The lady here would probably end me," I calmly replied.
"No, she wouldn't, well she might've beaten you up, but not killing!"
Is he telling me he wanted me to get beaten up?? And how is he so confident that she wouldn't do that? Don't tell me this AI can't read body language! Nor does he have common sense!
"Well, let's get back to business! Where were we? Ah! Yes, we were on our way to the departure sight.... The Hall of Descendant!" 42 explains..
"Before you be on your way, might you explain to me what is wrong with this human's suit?" The young lady suddenly asks with a sharp tone, with her hands on her hips, and looking at 42 with one eyebrow higher than the other.
"Ooh, um, uuhhh. Well, you see, he seems to have an issue channeling his thoughts to his suit. So I've been helping him to travel," 42 replied.
"Hmm issue channeling his thoughts? And you let him fly this fast in his current condition? Even if you are in a hurry, you should've made out a better design to fly! What is this design anyway?" her tone becomes sharper.
42 Hovered behind me "W... well, in my defense.. He's the one who designed his outfit actually, I.. I just helped him channel his thoughts to the suit.."
The young lady got taken by surprise and she looks at me. This time her expression is even more mysterious, but I see a light flash in her eyes and I see her eyes going up and down scanning my suit.. Whatever she's thinking, I'm feeling even more uncomfortable.
"Uuhhh I'm sorry miss.. But could you tell me what those Circuits are on your suit?" I tried asking again, mainly to distract her.
"Hm? Oh yes, I apologize! You asked that before too, and it just slipped my mind. These are my anti gravity and hovering circuits, so should a situation like yours arrive, I'll be able to prevent from crashing in to other object!" She said that with a smile, with her eyes close. Is that her vein showing on her forehead? It looks like it's about to burst!
I don't know why, but I feel I'm being attacked on so many levels. I think the more time I spent with her, the deeper my grave will be, and I'm the one who digs it this time.
"So" she began, the lady put her hand together. "Anymore questions?" with an awkward grin on her face, trying to hide her frustration.
"No, ma'am!" Both 42 and I said unanimously.
I look at 42 and see him shaking behind me... Oh, now he's scared?
"Good! Now I have a few more questions." She said calmly. She tilts her head a bit and her smile wider and she narrows her eyebrows. But they remain close. And keep her hands together in front of her. This time the vein went away.
"This can't be good," 42 whispers
"So... Tell me human. What's your name?" She asks.
My name? Why does she want to know my name suddenly? And... What is my name? I don't have anyone call me anything particular in any of my current memories, except for Greeny 2 from the Sargent. Who was I?
"Judging by your expectation, it doesn't seem that you remember" Said the lady, with the same posture but her eyes open to a squint this time, and her smile faded a bit.
"N... No ma'am, I don't remember"
"hmm interesting" She said, scanning my suit this time.
Right now I have made a full 360 degree spin, and back to my original position, 42 then stops me and kept me steady, but he didn't go back in to my suit.
"What do you remember so far? Particularly, how did you come up with that suit?"
I am about to explain my situation. Then Dr. Rosita's advice echoed through my memory of not trusting anyone so easily. She also said to get on good terms with the lady in front of me, Dr Rosita said that she can greatly help me survive. Who is she anyway? How can she help me? Not to mention Dr. Rosita's warning still bother me. How much should I tell her?
I answer her question through her particular request. Technically, my suit is based on a fighter in a video game. I also told her what I remember about my parents, and about how I came to love flying. However, I decide to leave my military experience out, for I am not sure if it was a good idea to share yet.
"Huh, so you like flying..." She chided "Ok, I shall call you fly boy for now until you remember your name, well if I'm still around by then that is.."
By her being 'still around'. Dose she means she'll be hanging around with me for a while? Or she'll be in the general area? Should I be happy and be at ease? Or should I be panicking and fall in to despair?
"I find it quite strange..." She continues, and she hovers around me with her arms crossed again, "Usually your kind remember their names first, though its not unheard of. There were a few individuals that I encountered that were similar. You seem a bit different".
She is now behind me; I looked at her until where my head could turn, but I can't turn around. 42 is hovering stationary and holding me in place, however he is only observing us silently. The lady came in front of me again and made a quick glance of my suit one final time.
"OH! That reminds me!" she suddenly said, which I got startled by her sudden realization. "Didn't you visit Dr. Rosita? Mind if you tell me, what was that about?"
"It was because he was bleeding and fainting frequently," 42 quickly responds
"So why was his nose bleeding and was he fainting?" She asks.
This time I respond quickly before 42 and give an eye on 42, which he didn't notice for he was focusing on the lady. "I'm not sure why, but whenever I try to remember something; I get a headache and get dizzy. I start to remember stuff when I pass out."
The lady is giving me a surprised expression then she looks away *tsk* and she put one of her arm up from her crossed position and began chewing on her thumb. She mumbles "Guess he might not be a pervert after all."
Huh? Did I hear her right?
She looks back at me, and stops chewing her thumb, but kept her hand in front of her mouth in a fist. "What did Dr. Rosita said about that?"
"She said it's because of several reasons, my amnesia, my lack of nutrients, and my severe injuries" I respond.
"He already had BLT," 42 adds
"What's BLT?" she asks with a blank face.
"It's a human food, a sandwich" said 42, also with a blank stare.
"Ah... So how dose it tastes?" she asks
42 raised both of his wings, "I have no clue! I can't exactly eat you know."
With that, they both faced me with a blank stare..
I suddenly feel sweaty behind my head. Do they want me to tell them how it tasted?
"I... it tasted quite delicious!" I respond, "hehe.."
The lady's blank stare turned back to normal. She has a serious and firm expression, but has softer eyes this time.
"I guess that explains your scar on your face.." She mumbled
What? I have a scar? I touch my face with both of my hand, and after a few moments I find it. The scar seems to stretch from the front left of my forehead, just above my eyebrow, passes over my eye and stops above my left cheek. Did I always have this scar or was it from my injury? I suspect it's related to my injury.
"Huh.. Seems to me you weren't aware of your scar until now. I take it you don't remember how you got that scar?" she asks.
Even though I do have an idea, I'm still not exactly sure, besides, I still don't want to tell her about my combat experience with the strange beings, perhaps this is not a good idea, but I don't feel it's necessary yet. So, I shake my head in response.
"I see," She said with a brief sigh, "So you were on your way to the Hall of Descendant, correct? I'll help you get there. I am on my way there, anyway"
Oh? Well, this is interesting. I think.
"Oh, that is wonderful! Thank you for your help!" said 42 cheerfully, flapping its wings.
The lady looks at us a bit with a laid back expression and said, "You two are an odd duo. Well, I don't have a pleasant expression from the two of you, but I can't leave you here. Besides... As a ranger, I must make sure everything goes as planed, and it's my mission, anyway".
She's a... Ranger? A combat unit? Come to think of it, 42 did call her 'that pretty ranger'. Who is she really?
She turns and hovers ahead. "Ok. Lets go Fly boy."
"You heard the lady! We can't be here all day!" 42 adds and returns to my suit, "Ah, and please give me a heads up if you try to eject me!"
Sheesh! Well, don't try to put me in trouble! I thought. I look back at the lady.
"Wait!" I say, and the lady turns around
"How may I address you miss? Especially since you are helping me."
She looks at me for a moment with a calm expression. Then she made a soft smile.
"Galiteeya. You may call me Galiteeya!"
*End Chapter*