〔Conurbation Haven〕
〔Airspace〕
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〔2/4/2306 21:34〕
When DWN-49 regained consciousness, he found himself pressed into a tight and uncomfortable seat. The slight swaying told him that he was flying in a transporter shuttle.
***Did I just dream all of this? No, I still can't remember anything. It must've been real.***
Next to him, he heard a persistent grinding sound. DWN-49 turned to his right side and saw a middle-aged soldier with a serious bearded face and a focused expression. Through his left eye ran a conspicuous scar. He was busy cleaning his chest plate of clotted blood and paid no attention to DWN-49.
When he briefly put away the shred of cloth with which he polished his armor, DWN-49 recognized an engraving of five irregular letters.
"Baker," DWN-49 said frightened.
Much more than about his reunion with the man who knocked him out earlier, his rash exclamation shocked him.
But Baker only turned his head towards him and said. "Look who's back. Slept well?"
DWN-49 didn't utter a single sentence and sat there as motionless as if he wanted to play dead.
"What are you staring at?" Baker scolded him. „Never seen someone cleaning his armor after a fight?"
***I have to answer him now. Come on, think of something clever.***
"A noble armor is the only thing that helps you separate a knight from a brigand. Right?" DWN-49 replied.
"True" Baker agreed briefly.
"Our new friend is smart and a good fighter. I like him already" said a loud but gentle voice. It came from the back corner of the room. There sat a gigantic muscular creature. His skin was dark and his face emaciated. He smiled wryly in DWN-49's direction, pointing two massive machine guns at the door that covered an entire side of the room
"Don't get too attached to him too fast, JP. You know most of them are not built to last."
***Not built to last - Where are they taking me? I hope I won't end up like JP over there.***
"I hope he's as tenacious as Jo" JP said.
"Who is Jo?" asked DWN-49 in awe.
"You'll meet her soon enough. We are arriving in a couple of minutes" Baker replied.
"Where are we heading?"
"The Arc. Your new home" Baker grinned mockingly.
"It is our headquarter" JP added.
"Our? So I am one of you know?" DWN-49 was curious.
"You are now part of the Archetype Commando at the HMD. I am Seargent Erik Baker."
"That means you are mercenaries? There are things I'm still not clear about. Why did I become a cyborg and why don't I remember anything?"
"You voluntarily agreed to the transformation and your commitment to the HMD. I'm sure you had good reasons for that. After all, the money involved was considerable. That's all you need to know for now" Seargent Baker stopped himself to avoid giving too much away.
"So, does that mean I'm loaded?"
"No, you spent it all before you got transformed, along with all your possessions. I'm afraid I can't give you any more information than that."
"Strange, what could I have spent it all on if I don't own anything now? It must have been something very precious to me…"
"Or you did what every rich man does. He drinks and whores his fortune away!" Sergeant Baker joked. "Luckily I'm as poor as a church mouse, so it can't happen to me."
"Have I sworn an oath in my old life? I can't believe that" DWN-49 inquired.
"You did. We kept the recordings."
"Then I want to see them now," DWN-49 demanded.
"Don't think we dance to your tune, newbie" Sergeant Baker said.
"Oww, Erik. Don't be so hard to him. Just show him the tape" JP requested.
" Fine. So you stop getting on my nerves…" Baker took out a display.
On clear high-resolution footage, DWN-49 was able to identify a regular young man with black hair sitting in a blank room. He was the only thing in the picture and seemed calm and sane.
After a while, he started to talk. "I hereby solemnly pledge to serve the Haven Military Department for an indefinite period of time and to be optimized within the framework of the DWN-49 project in order to better fulfill my obligations as a soldier. In exchange, I accept all contractual benefits."
"Is that really me?" DWN-49 asked, saddened by the loss of his old self.
"Well, it was you" Baker said and patted DWN-49 on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it. "
After that, DWN-49 watched the video for a second time and paid more attention to the details. "Is something wrong with the video or what was going on with both of my eyes?"
"You seemed to have a little quirk there. But it's all fixed now" Sergeant Baker told DWN-49. "Thank Doctor Shen for that, she attempted to match your new face to your original one."
Baker pointed to Shen, who took a seat next to DWN-49. Her presence only now caught his attention, and he was astonished at how he could overlook her all the time sitting beside him.
"Here's a mirror," said Baker and handed one to DWN-49.
He looked at himself in it and felt his face as a mask rather than his new countenance. Welded seams of his skin ran through his temples and cheeks in straight lines. His lower jaw had no cover and exposed his inner clockwork-like mechanism. His eyes had a double pupil consisting of two translucent lenses. Although he wasn't completely satisfied with it, he thanked Doctor Shen out of courtesy for her efforts, who obviously felt flattered.
"Are there more like me at the HMD?" DWN-49 wanted to know.
"You are the first with a human mind and a complete machine body among us" Baker began to explain. "That's why you're with us. The Archetype Commando is for those who are different from the rest. You are the forerunner of your kind, DWN-49. Whatever you do, don't forget this."
In a little turbulence, Baker started cursing. "Goddamn autopilot. Oh, the times I remember when I could fly these things by myself. The Pelican is the future of mobility, they said. Don't make me laugh."
Shen Hualing intervened "Sir, I don't think this was a technical defect. That was an evasive maneuver."
" Evasive action. Why?" Baker said before he was interrupted by the shaking of the Pelican. This time it was much more vehement and the impact noise from the rear was heard, causing a crack to appear in it.
A machine-like voice echoed through the narrow transport room. "Rear impact. Initiate mandatory evacuation."
The Pelican's door opened. DWN-49 anxiously held on to his seat. Below them stood a huge gunship with four turbines in the air, two at the rear and two on the sides. Over the entire surface, cannons were mounted.
"The things the Moonlight Legion does to get you...This is all gonna blow up, kiddo" Baker said to DWN-49. "Jump out to use your thrusters and the anti-gravity mode of your Case."
"And what will become of you?"
"We can handle that. Don't worry." Sergeant Baker shouted, who could hardly be understood because of the strong air circulation.
"I've been through much worse" JP added.
"Like the shame losing countless games of 3D-chess against an eleven-year-old child?" Baker laughed.
"Hey! After all, Zero is half AI" JP defended himself.
His Internal Assistance System showed DWN-49 his current altitude.
" - - - - 5560 meters above ground level - - - - "
DWN-49 stood up and got ready to jump off the Pelican. He noticed the enormous dimensions of the battleship.
***If I'm lucky, I can dock onto it unnoticed. This is the only way. I have to hope for the best.***