1 The Indra Interface

~Welcome, user, to the Indra Interface.~

"What..? Where am I? What… is going on..?"

Slate looked down at his hands as his vision came through, but he realized quickly that he could not feel his eyes open or close. His hands were also made of metal, yet, somehow, he could still feel his fingers.

"What the hell?!"

~Please try to calm down. Let me explain. The Ligrass, a violent and aggressive alien race, has attacked planet earth. Almost all humans have been annihilated, but the few who survived had their bodies sealed away, whilst their consciousness was transferred into mecha suits which are to be used to defeat the Ligrass and free man kind.~

"The Ligrass..? Wait.. you are saying I'm one of those humans? Wait, then where is my body?!"

~I cannot tell you that. Also, many of your memories have been stripped of you, but I assure you that you had agreed to become one of the Utopians.~

"Utopians?"

~The term used for those who defend the human race. You cannot know the location of your body or the human outposts, if you did the human race would be in danger.~

"Then.. what the hell am I supposed to do..?"

~Find and eliminate all Ligrass life forms using the Indra interface.~

"Indra?"

~The name of this unit, Indra, the strongest of all Utopians.~

Slate sifted through his own mind, trying to think of his past. What the system said had been true, he seemed to have no memories of his past life, nothing at all. All he knew was that he had loved ones, he did not know who, that he needed to protect. He also had access to massive amounts of knowledge and data, from math calculations and science, to battle and war strategies.

He looked down at his hand. It was metal with a white coat of paint, each finger delicately and intricately crafted and designed to the very last detail. Someone obviously took a lot of time to make the machine.

He flipped his hand over and touched his pointer finger to his thumb. He could feel it somehow.

"Interface-"

~You may call me Indra.~ the female, monotone voice came.

"Okay, Indra, tell me, how am I able to feel touch in a machine?"

~Well, you made Indra yourself. You designed small pressure plates of nano size all along Indra's body, when they are pressed in, signals are sent to the main system, imitating the sense of touch.~ Indra answered.

"Fascinating…" Slate said, looking closer at his own hand in awe, when suddenly his view zoomed in dramatically. "Whoa!" It was like looking through an eye-glass.

~You are the machine now. Do not think of it as something to operate, it is something you live and breathe with. Each action you take should be natural, and of course, there are enhancements for each action, such as the zoom.~

"I can see that.." Slate said, wanting it to stop. A moment or so later, his vision returned to normal. That's when he actually took the time to observe the area around him.

He was in a desolate area in the middle of nowhere, most likely some sort of desert. There were large rocks and crags dotting the landscape, as well as mountains reaching up towards the clouds.

"Where are we?" Slate asked.

A moment later a map appeared in Slate's mind. It was like one eye was still observing his surroundings, while a map was put directly over his other eye.

~We are currently stranded in the Gerros Desert in the Mira region of the country of Cannalon.~ Indra explained.

Slate didn't really know what she was saying , but he somehow understood and knew the map well. The desert would go on in all directions for quite some time, but in the north it would end, meeting the ocean, while in all other directions it broke into mountain Raines and forests. To the West was a large city, the capitol of Cannalon, Edagross.

"We should go there first." Slate said.

~Yes, though, be careful. There may be Ligrassian scouts.~ Indras stated. ~I implore you to test out your weapons system before taking your leave.~

"I suppose you are right.." Slate agreed. He began observing his own body for weapons and such, but to no real avail. He had some idea of how to operate his body, but he didn't have a good picture. "Indras, is there a way that I could see myself?"

~Yes. I can deploy a scout drone to look at yourself and admire your own work.~

"That's-not what this is about." Slate said, though he did partially want to admire the machine, as its design peaked his interest. "But sure."

There came a soft hiss followed by a click and then a small circular drone flew over Slate's head and around him. He could suddenly see from the drone's viewpoint and he could observe himself.

The mecha was about eight feet tall and had two glowing yellow slits for eyes. It had three spikes atop the headpiece- one in the middle and one on each side- and the head had a pointed, almost triangular shape. He had large shoulder joints, almost like plates of armor, attached to sockets in the angled torso. His arms were long and thick, as were his legs, and triangular, metal wings extended out from his back.

"Alright." Slate stated, after he'd been able to pinpoint most of the weapons hidden throughout the frame. He somehow just knew where they were by looking. It must have been memories engraved into him from the past he assumed. "I've got a basic idea."

The drone returned to him in its resting place in his shoulder.

~You know, if you wanted to know the locations of your weaponry I could have just brought up the system blueprint.~ Indras said.

"It's fine, it worked either way." Slate said.

He raised his right hand. "So this…" he clenched his fists and then came a click. A long, thin beam of golden energy flashed out from his wrist, shooting forward and creating an energy blade that hissed. "Is the Myrion blade."

~Yes. Myrion is an energy source u inquest to this planet. The human race cultivated it once they migrated here from earth, which is now a desolate waste.~

"Got too close to the sun, Icarus." Slate stated, touching the Myrion blade to the ground. It easily cut through the earth without any resistance, leaving a deep, superheated gash in the ground.

Slate unclenched his fist, the blade fading out. "Now this.." he held up his other hand, holding it out in front of him and clenching his fist as he'd done before.

~Please wait, I must warn you-~ Indras began, but it was too late.