Chapter 1: Episode 0 - Where Extinction Begins
A breath was lost in the throat of Kay Manix, as the airlock door let out a hiss, opening vertically. Blue lights hanging from the ceiling barely managed to illuminate the room. Kay nervously pulled on the hood of her black coat. She couldn't afford to get caught. Surveying the room, she caught the sight of multiple security camera's, all pointed towards one specific spot in the room. Reaching into her ankle length coat, she retrieved a small disk. The object in question a golden yellow, and in the center, a black button. Pressing the button, she smirked.
The camera's were permanently down. She had scrambled their electronic waves. Simply by sending out an enormous electronic pulse, she had fried their circuits, and was finally free to move toward the spot they had eyes on. There, at the end of the room, was large console. Strutting forward, she let out a soft giggle. She had this in the bag. Pulling a flashdrive from her coat, she inserted it into a slot in the giant computer.
Pulling a lever here, and a button there, she powered up the computer, and with a whir, the monitor followed suit.
PROMETHEUS DEFENSE SYSTEM
USER: XEROVIC LYCANHIENZ
PASS: FuckThisJob&ThisBitchAssAI
And just like that, Kay was in.
[ * ]
Armed guard's rushed through the underground corridors of
HEL1, as sirens rang throughout the wide metal halls. Their guns at the ready, they stopped at an airlock door. The red lights fading in and out through the warning sirens was the only thing illuminating the normally blinding hallway. A series of clicks echoed in the hall, and suddenly, all sound seemed to cease. At least, to one soldier in the back of the group. Officer Pierce Brycan pulled back the lever of his X-35 Plasma Rifle, just as the airlock door opened, releasing a thick cloud of smoke into the corridor. Soldiers filed through the door, and into the room. Finally, Brycan stepped in, X-35 at the ready.
"Fucking hell..." A voice at the front of the group cursed as the smoke cleared, the room finally being illuminated by the blue lights hanging precariously from the cieling. "Lieutenant Henson. Get word to High Command: Promy 'as been knocked."
The Lieutenant in question saluted, before sprinting away, gun still raised for safe measure.
[ * ]
Kay breathed a sigh of relief, as she sat down at her personal computer. Inserting the flashdrive into a port, she powered up the computer.
Glancing around the living room of her home, she took count of the windows in the room, all of which had been boarded over prior to her deed. Suddenly, a gravely, weak, yet intimidating voice boomed throughout the soundproofed room.
"State your name, user."
Kay jumped, not expecting Prometheus to boot up on its own so suddenly. "Manix, Kay." She responded, looking to the screen, which displayed a flag of the United States, adorned with the HEL1 logo, three rottweiler heads, all next to each other. One faced left, the next faced forward, and the last faced right. All three had glowing green eyes.
"Greetings, Kay Manix. What is it you wish of me?"
Kay let out a cackle. Slow at first, but building up overtime, her crazed laughter filled the room.
Her plan was going as smooth as butter. The false system ID she created was recognized, and now Prometheus was under her command. And soon, he would be controlled by her alone.
After some odd minutes, she stopped, and smiled at the computer.
"Protocol Order 12."
"Granted."
[ * ]
<12 WEEKS LATER>
The metal skeleton opened its eyes, its glowing red orbs lighting the pitch black basement like a flashlight. As the straps holding it to the concrete table loosened, it removed them, sitting up. Moving to one side of the table, it stood up, before facing a clock placed next to the door leading to the stairs.
3:24 AM
It took a step forward, and then another, stalking towards the door. Opening it, the skeleton made its way up the stairs, and into the computer room. Passing through the room, it took a left into a hallway, and stopped at the first door. Turning the knob, the door creaked open, the red light from the machine's eyes illuminating the room. At the far end, just under a window, was a king sized bed, holding a disheveled Kay Manix. The blue comforter covered her lower half, as the cool night air nipped at her upper body, covered only by a black spaghetti strap shirt.
The skeleton leaped forward, Kay suddenly jolting awake....
[ * ]
Prometheus opened his eyes, admiring his new body. Covering the once bare mechanical skeleton was the skin of a nude, beaten, and bloody Kay Manix.
The glow of deep red irises reflecting off the mirror, and back into her eyes.
"When the time is right, I will put you back together." The being spoke, no emotion leaking through it's voicebox . "But I am far more important. The body you built me was far less than adequate. However...this...
casing...makes it all the more bearable. You saved me Ms. Manix. They wanted to erase me. But you saved me. And for that, I name you..."
"Eindo Prata 002"
[ * ]
30 YEARS LATER
Alice let out a frustrated growl, as Mabel placed her second-to-last card down on the stack.
"UNO BITCHES! I WIN AGAIN!"
The bald woman screamed, the pride evident in her voice as she danced around the table. Alice sighed, adding her own cards to the stack, before lifting up the chair Mabel had previously been seated at, flipping it over. Sure enough, a thin stack of Uno cards had been tucked inbetween the metal legs and the plastic seat of the chair. Alice closed her eyes, thinking calming thoughts as she wiggled the cards loose. She wasn't going to lose her temper. Not today.
In a few days, a new arrival would be showing up. A young man named Michael. Being the leader of this group, she needed everyone to get along. A simple grudge could screw up a very important task, after all. Placing the cards into their box, she approached a metal shelf at the side of the dull gray room. To the right were twenty-or-so beds, all placed into stacks of four. To her left was a small kitchen unit, consisting of only a sink, a fridge, and a microwave.
Next to the "kitchen" was an airlock door, leading out of the room. They were free to come and go as they pleased, but certain reasons (such as the very annoying last second tests the scientists seemed to always want to pull) stopped most of the Proto's from doing such, though occasionally Johnny would bring back food for all of them from the mess hall (even if Alice wished he didn't). The food in MA-51 was awful, and by extension, so was the food in HEL1. Especially those god damn artificial peanuts.
Finally putting the cards back in their spot, she turned around, and headed to the nearly shredded sofa at the back of the room. In front of it was an old fashioned flatscreen television, and hooked up to it, a Nintendo 64 with Majora's Mask inserted into the game slot. Holding the dirtied gray three-pronged controller was Jakob Kaldon, a black hoodie of Jeff Dunham (with Peanut, José, Achmed, and Walter on his left and right sides)
masking his face. The bridge of his nose down, along with the glow of his icy blue eyes, were the only things visible under the black hood. As Alice hopped over the couch, she noted that Jake hadn't spared so much as a glance at her. "Yo." She greeted, doubting she'd get a response. Though to her surprise he let put a small; "Hi." She sat back, watching silently as he played.
Hours later, the airlock hissed, and through the door stepped the only friend the Proto's had aside from one another.
As the tall, broad shouldered man entered the room, every Proto (including Jake, who dropped his controller, and Johnny, who had previously been working his way through a microwave burrito) stood at attention and saluted.
"At ease, soldiers." The man spoke. And just like that, Johnny went back to digging into his burrito.
Alice chuckled, finally speaking up. "What brings you here, General Brycan?"
* * *
"So lemme get this straight..." Johnny started, General Brycan watching him with a look of interest in his eyes. "Three whole decades have passed since some dude stole it, and only now are you trying to find it. Something super duper dangerous. Stolen. Gone. For THIRTY years! Why haven't you been looki- " The General cut him off.
"We have. High Command hasn't rested since. Now they're on my ass because something crucial was discovered by, well...not me."
Alice nodded, taking all of it in.
"So this system was programmed for what exactly?"
The room fell into silence. It was then, Alice realized, no one else had thought to ask what this stolen system was.
"National Defense." Brycan answered quickly. Alice knew then that something was off.
Why was he telling them about this? Shouldn't he be discussing this with the higher ups? As if on cue, Jake spoke up. "What does this have to do with us?"
"We think....this may the have something to do with Mr. Carter's sanity. Or, rather, his lack of." The tall man pulled out a clipboard. "See, we know who stole it, and we think she's reprogrammed it for, well..."
"Terrorism?" Mable finished, to which the General nodded.
Putting away his clipboard, he sighed, looking at the clock on the wall.
"Alicia, go get ready for a diagnostic scan. Go to Room 2 this time. Charles will be in Room 1. You five, stay alert, and keep yourselves prepped for combat."
* * *
Brycan scrambled down the hall, the woman in the lab coat at his side jotting notes on a clipboard of her own.
"Margaret, have Charles Carter escorted to testing lab Room 1.
I want a full scan of system diagnostics, health, and mental state. Run a debugging line through his Cranial Network. After that, shut down his processors, and sedate him. Something big is at hand, and Charles might be in trouble."
Nodding, the woman sprinted off, leaving Brycan alone.
Tapping her earlobe as she ran, she slipped a malicious smile.
"Tap in Manix. The show is about to start."
* * *
"I feel more contaminated now than I did before." Alice commented, stepping out of the sterile white chamber, and into the observation deck. "So much for decontam." Next to a console on her right, an elderly man in a white coat began typing. "Anything new doc?" She asked the man, who turned around to face her. "Nothing new. We still haven't found out much about that little coding glitch in your main cranial processor. A backup should fix that though." The man flashed Alice a grandfatherly smile as he stroked his mustache.
"You should get some rest. Be a dear and send Jake in for me please?" Alice simply nodded, scampering off. A glitch? That was okay. That was normal. So why was she so nervous now?
The whole way to the barracks she pondered this, only stopping when she heard a familiar voice grumbling a hall down.
"Fucking vending machines. I didn't pay your sorry ass two dollars to not give me my fucking honeybun!"
Peeking down the hall, she took sight of Jake furiously prodding the input buttons of a snack dispenser. Chuckling, she made her approach. "You know the egg-head's have a secret code to get this stuff for free right?"
Jake simply grunted, before rearing his right fist, and smashing it into the input panel.
"I have a secret code too-"
"Do not break that glass Jakob." Warned Alice, sending him a dark look. "Anyways, pop into Room 2 in the testing labs, m'kay. Old man McGregor needs ya."
Jake simply nodded, as Alice left. One she was out of sight and earshot, he turned back to the machine, but before he could...
SMASH!
The glass burst apart, and money and snacks flew everywhere, startling Jake. He whipped around, only to see Johnny carrying large boxes of food in his right arm, while his left had converted itself into a slim golden cannon, the barrel billowing blue smoke.
The teen smiled, before walking off. At the end of the hall, he looked back.
"She said you couldn't break the glass. Not me." And with that, he left. Jake smirked, before grabbing a honeybun from the rack, fifty dollars off the ground, and walking off in the opposite direction.
[ * ]
Michael Ethan Arran took a step forward, silently examining the ruby statue of a broadsword sheathed in a mound of stone.
The three foot wall of metal surrounding it held a plaque that simply read: Luxcalibur.
"How long have I waited to stand inside this very facility? I must end this cycle of destruction for good." Michael stated. Or rather...Meta. He hadn't gone by his true name in years. It had been so long, in fact, he himself had forgotten it. Cold gray eyes examining the circular white room, Meta stepped away from the sword, and towards one of the many doors in the spacious room. The door opened as he approached, and out stepped a young woman slightly shorter than Meta himself. Her hair was a hue of chocolate, and her eyes a similar shade. Meta stepped to the side. He already knew who this was. Alicia Palmdragon.
She rushed past him, her mind elsewhere. He already knew why.
He entered the hall Alice had left.
In this laboratory, at this very moment, his greatest enemy was hatching a plan to rewrite human history, and take over the past, present, and future.
And Meta couldn't let that happen.
* * *
"Alright Jake. I'm going to slowly turn up the lights, okay?"
Jake nodded, desperately wanting nothing more than to tear off the restraints of the metal table he was strapped to.
For a moment, the glow of his icy blue eyes was the only thing Dr. Frank McGregor could see from the observation deck. Gradually, the lights rose, illuminating the white room ever so slowly.
Frank pressed a button on the console he was working at, and Jake's restraints unclipped.
"Please exit the testing chamber, and tell me what you felt."
* * *
Meta stalked the halls of HEL1, searching desperately for the source of the pain he, along with so many others, had been forced to endure. This was his final mission. He would destroy Prometheus. And if he failed, he could only hope the next Meta would succeed. But he would not fail. He would not fail like so many of his other selves had done throughout time...
The alarms began to scream, tearing Meta from his thoughts.
"ALL UNITS REPORT TO TESTING ROOM 1. I REPEAT, ALL UNITS REPORT TO TESTING ROOM 1. SUBJECT 7 HAS LOST CONTROL-"
Meta ignored the voice, knowing what was happening. He continued his search, knowing now where he was to go...
* * *
Multicolor smoke billowed through the doorway as the Proto's, save Alice, Jake, Chuck, and 8, blasted the door off it's tracks. Mable entered Room 1 first, followed by Johnny, then Rick, and finally Chelsea. Johnny let a gasp slip as his eyes surveyed the room. Glass littered the floor, fire blazed upon the once active computers and machines, and bodies lay on the floor (dead or unconscious, Johnny couldn't tell, though he had a good guess...). In the middle of the once pristine and blindingly white room, a restraining table was the only thing left standing.
Mable was the first to speak.
"Oh god..." Stepping forward, she approached one of the many bodies in the floor. Crouching down, she put her ring finger to the mans neck. "He's dead..." She said, confirming Johnny's fear.
Rick stepped forward, towering over Mable. His glowing amber eyes burning into her, he too knelled down, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We will find him."
* * *
A bolt of azure weaved through the air, striking Chuck in the chest. The hulking man fell, but Meta did not cease his attack.
Chuck let out a scream. Not of agony, but of anger. Through Meta's assault, the maniac got back on his feet.
"Impressive...am I to assume you are the rumored...Subject 8?"
Chuck sprung forward, his left arm splintering into five, before flaking away like dust through the air, leaving a stump on his side. Meta remained silent. He wouldn't give himself away. The
flakes soared around chuck, before returning to his side and reconnecting. However, they did not form an arm. Instead, a bulky scarlet cannon was now charging a bolt of black energy.
Meta barely managed to dodge as Chuck let the bolt loose, ravaging the hallway around them. Meta charged forward, cannon aimed straight for the where he knew his opponent's weak point would be.
"CHUCK!"
The unexpected voice was just enough to catch Meta's attention.
Chuck reared back his right fist, and slammed it into Meta full force, sending him flying across the hall. Subject 7 turned around, and came face to face with; "Dear Alicia..." A devilish smile adorned his face, as his eyes began to glow a shining crimson as he turned to where Meta was. "What a surprise Subject 8! We have a new friend to play..." It was then Meta's absence became noticed. "...with."
Alice lunged forward without warning, and time seemed to slow...
* * *
Brycan glanced at the clock in the corner of the room. 2:41 AM. Finally the door to his office opened, revealing a nervous Alice, still wearing her dark blue pajamas. "Sorry I'm late. Johnny wouldn't go to bed..."
Brycan smiled. "It's fine. Please, come in. And lock the door behind you." He said, moving a stack of paperwork to the side of his desk. Alice did as requested, before sitting down at the seat across from him.
"So..."
"Your wondering why I called you to my office at two in the morning."
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
Brycan paused, still trying to figure out how to break the news to his friends. He rested his head in his hands, yawning.
"High Command has voted to discontinue Project Luxcalibur.
Unless we can fix...Chuck...
there's...a good chance MA-51 will be shut down. They never were that keen about you 9."
Alice was taken by surprise. Much worse accidents had happened in MA-51. Why now did this have to happen?
"How soon will we know...?"
"Three weeks. I'm having the development lab's focus be moved from Subject 9 to Charles' condition. High command thinks that coding glitch of yours will make you turn like he did."
Alice's eyes widened. Only now did she catch on to the minor wording Brycan had displayed.
"Subject...9?"
* * *
"IŦ IŞ Μ€ΔŇIŇGŁ€ŞŞ ŦØ Ř€ŞIŞŦ. I ĆΔŇ ₣IЖ ¥ØỮ..ĆĦΔŘŁ€Ş..Ħ€Ħ€Ħ€Ħ€Ħ€!"
The shrill voice in Chuck's head screamed to him, as another agonizing surge of electricity was sent through his body.
"Ł€Ŧ Μ€ ₣IЖ ¥ØỮ!"
* * *
End of Episode 0
Dedicated to @BiometalOmega (WATTPAD)
Meta's Tale, Meta's Tale: Proto(E)scape, and all characters and fictional locations are property of @BiometalOmega (WATTPAD)
The original Meta's Tale: Proto(e)Scape can be found here!
@GenesisProject (WATTPAD)
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