.
// CH. 1
< Initializing >
Moriko sighed. They just didn't understand!! She didn't name herself Moriko because she was a weeb. She didn't even like anime. She shook her head, then looked around the fifty foot "forest" in the middle of the city park; thinking about why she had named herself Moriko in the first place, an expression of a dream. After spending days researching a name that could mean "Child of the Forest" (and still sound nice) she finally settled on the pretty Japanese name. She smiled wryly. It worked to express her wish and most people wouldn't even know.
Briing, briing. Her phone rang for longer than six rings, then eight. She ignored it, but it rang again.
Briing, briing. Briing, briing.
"Yes?" She finally answered the phone.
"Where are you?" Her Mother asked worriedly. "It's getting dark and you arent even back yet. I saved you some dinner. Please come home," her Mother pleaded.
"Mom, I'm just in the fortress of solitude." And it's not like I ran away or something, so why are you always so worried?? She thought.
"I know, but honey it's getting dark out. Remember, you never know what can happen."
"Mom, you say that wherever we live, even if it's in the country or in a small town." Moriko reasoned, trying without effect to belay her Mother's worries.
"I know honey, but it's getting dark out. And you're a girl. Please come home."
She almost ended the call right then. Through gritted teeth she replied informatively to her Mother, "I am not a girl, I am 27 years old."
"You're still not as strong as a man. I'm just saying this because I love you and I don't want you to get hurt. I--" her Mother didn't have a chance to finish as Moriko angrily hung up the call. She shakily stood up from the now flat patch of grass, considering that maybe she was getting too old to sit cross legged for that much time. Brushing the grass off her pants, she allowed herself to be distracted by these thoughts so she could calm down. Then she walked off in the direction of home.
She only made it partly through the city park's weak excuse for a forest when she saw something humanoid sitting on the ground against a tree, although the top part was tilted towards the ground. She was sure it hadn't been there earlier. So she got closer to it and realized it looked a lot like a mech. No, it WAS a mech!! An old one by the looks, but definitely a mech. She got excited and looked for a brand name or an owner's mark somewhere; to her inexperienced eye, it looked intact, and not many people owned or even had access to a mech if they weren't in the military or engineer corps. She guessed whoever forgot it must be super rich, and if she returned it then maybe she could ask to ride it once. They would probably sneer and say no, she was sure, but she would definitely ask.
But a half an hour later, to her dismay, there was nothing she could find to identify it. And the forest (or whatever it was) was quiet. No one had come by yet, not even a jogger or a lost dog. She waited another twenty minutes then decided to report it to the police; maybe someone had forgotten where they left it? She started dialing the number for the sheriff's office, but something held her back. Her finger wavered over the CALL button before she simply turned her screen off, instead of calling. She waited another twenty minutes, then texted her Mother that she would be home soon and sorry that she was running late. Still, no one had come by for the mech, and it was almost too dark to see, so she shone her phone's flashlight on the mech again and decided she couldn't leave it there to be stolen. Plus, she REALLY wanted to ride one. She could ride it home (if it turned on) then report it as lost or stolen to the police (and hope they didn't suspect her). No, she should just call the... nahh, it'll be fine, she reasoned. Then from the back of the mech she slid her healthy, not chubby, 5' 2" body into the slim 6' 5" metal frame. It was almost a tight fit, but it worked; good thing she had small boobs. She grinned. Then she moved her head forward and laid her face into the mech's face to turn it on.
Nothing happened.
Oh. Maybe that was why it was left behind.
Maybe they broke it.
She blew air out her mouth in frustration. "Stupid piece of junk," she said and tried to wriggle her arms back out first. But she was interrupted by the machine powering on, sealing its backside shut and effectively locking her in.
She was scared. But she was also exhilerated.
She was INSIDE A MECH. Whoo!
The inside of the mech's face lit up with a blue screen inside each of its eye sockets; the close proximity of her eyes to the screen made it easy to read, although it was bright at first since it was already getting dark outside.
"Seven-Seven-Nine, Activating." said a robotic but male voice. "User authentication required. Temporary user authentication granted. Welcome to the Seven Seven Nine, an exoskeleton mech with AI enhancement. Please state user's first name with no other words."
"Moriko," she held her breath.
"Agent Moriko, welcome to the Seven Seven Nine. You have been granted temporary full access. Please begin training module now."
It took half an hour, but she finished the training module, managing to direct it closer to home in the process. It was tricky at first until the mech auto adjusted the leg and arm lengths, sliding the extra plates onto the outside of the forearms and calves like extra armor. She just thought that was so cool. Now she had to go show it off to her Mom, plus she was very late anyway. She ran the mech to her home and made it there in half the time it would normally take. Then she eagerly but carefully knocked on the door; using the mech was nice, but she didn't want to break anything with it.
A couple of minutes passed by and there was no answer. Was Mom in the bathroom? Moriko knocked again, and waited again.
Still no answer.
Moriko sighed. Mom must have gone to bed, she thought; she fumbled around trying to remember how to get out of the suit when she noticed the living room light was still on. That was weird. Mom almost always remembered to turn it off. Panicking, Moriko didn't know if she should keep trying to get out of the armor or just break the door down. But then she decided she shouldn't panic, everything was alright. Sometimes Mom forgot to turn the light off. Moriko knocked on the door louder this time, accidentally putting a dent in it too. Then she continued with her efforts to get out of the mech suit, when it dawned on her that the training mode never mentioned that part. Moriko panicked again. "Mom," she called through the suit, knocking rapidly on the door. "Mom, please open up, I can't get my key out and I need help with something." No answer. "Mooom..." Now Moriko was really freaking out. She broke down the door and ducked under the doorway to go inside. "Mom!" There was no answer, and as she checked, the whole house was empty of people besides Moriko.
"Mom?"