1 Making Waves

After getting Doctor Freya out from beneath the mountain of papers, she led the duo to a better looking corner where a pair of couches rested. A small automated bot came over, carrying a tray of beverages. After gulping down her glass of exotic liquid and getting a refill, Freya finally decided to address them.

"Ah, Jacob. Thank you for bringing Max over for me." She turned to face Maximiler. "How are you feeling, Maximiler? Have you settled in well? Any issues with your body that I should know about?" She shot questions at him in rapid succession.

"I'm fine for the most part. It's just..." He trailed off intentionally, wanting to pique her interest.

"Yes? What's wrong?" She pressed, eager to know what it was that the monitors installed in his room hadn't picked up.

"It's just that I feel too confined. All I do is go through my exercises and periodic examinations. I'm itching to get out. There's something in me that wants to see what's outside this building." He threw her a look. "I'm sure you understand me."

A look flashed across her face for a moment, and she took on a fanatic air for a moment before abruptly shaking her head.

She pondered for a moment before slowly speaking. "Basically, you don't like being confined in one place." She held her chin and nodded thoughtfully.

"Although I don't have the authorization to let you out of the underground living quarters indefinitely, I have enough sway to be able to make some changes. You'll have to give me some time though." Her face took on a serious look when she spoke to him. Unlike most fanatic scientists, she was able to reign herself in quite well and make rational decisions.

"I look forward to your results." Maximiler nodded at her. Everything about his demeanor had gone from the simple clone that was barely aware of his surroundings to a proper human that was able to fend for himself.

"Very well, then. If that's all, Jacob will show you around certain part of the above ground facility. After that, we'll go through our routine check up before you retreat to your stateroom for the night." Freya waved the two of them off, practically chasing them out of her office.

"Well, that wasn't what I expected." Jacob sighed and shook his head in a defeated manner.

"If we're talking about unexpected turn of events, then I would say that your relationship with Doctor Freya can be considered unexpected." Maximiler pointed out.

"W-what?" Jacob choked on his saliva when he heard Maximiler's casual remark.

"Doctor Freya's your aunt, isn't she? I heard you calling her your aunt back when we were in her office."

"Let's not talk about that now. We have to explore the open parts of the above ground facility before nightfall so we can get back in time for your check-up." Jacob hurriedly changed the subject. He strode forward with wide steps, quickly leaving Maximiler behind.

"Wait up!" Maximiler made sure to stick with his fabricated hobble as he tried to catch up with Jacob. After a few seconds of trying to make things hard for Maximiler, Jacob finally let up and slowed down so Maximiler could catch up with him.

The pair then moved on to the entrance of the ground floor of the facility.

"First up is the nutrient pack production facility where all the nutrient packs are created." Jacob explained to Maximiler. "The nutrient pack production facility is essential to make sure all our workforce is properly fed. We mass produce without taking a lot of consideration about taste so the nutrient bars are mostly bland. You should already be aware of that by this time." Jacob winced as he spoke about it.

The pair eventually left the building, exposing Maximiler to the open air for the first time since he got Rebooted. He took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air run through his lungs; he had grown too used to the stale, recycled oxygen that ran through the vents underground.

"Feels good, eh?" Jacob cracked a smile when he noticed Maximiler's relaxed face. "Yeah, the fresh air is always good when you spend so much time underground. Hope you enjoy it while it lasts." At the last part of the sentence, Jacob's voice dropped down to a whisper and his smile sunk. Maximiler noticed the change in expression, choosing to subtly drop the subject and touch upon it later on when the two were closer.

A high tech flying car zipped over their heads, raising dust and ruffling their hairs. The sound of chattering people was carried through the air.

Back when he was a fleeter of the USC Central Army, he barely spent any time on planets. Even when he was assigned to patrol any part of USC space, he never set foot on any of the planets. If anything were to happen and he was on the planet, instead of the flagship of his fleet, it would be somewhat awkward.

Jacob led him around the various facilities, pointing out all the important places he needed to remember.

"And that is our Single Unit Combat Platform production and storage facility. It's one of our largest facilities to date. With how large our organization is, we need enough power to protect it so we're always hiring more personnel and procuring more mechs. I'm not sure how many we have, but they number in the hundreds, forming one of the largest private owned mech force on the planet. Only the Planetary Guards have the number to overwhelm us when it comes to mechs." Jacob bragged, puffing his chest out when describing the facility.

"Can we go there?" Maximiler asked, not paying any mind to the guard's bragging.

"Hmm, sure. I don't think anyone would mind me showing you around the facility for a while. Come on." Jacob led him into the building. After going through an automated checking procedure, the pair of the were granted access into the building.

Sounds of machines whirring bounced off the white metallic walls. Various personnel that were assigned to the facility were hastily walking about. A few people stared at Maximiler, his unusual pale skin standing out among the sea of dark skinned people. The both of them ignored the stares, making their way deeper into the building. Jacob led them down various floors until they reached the underground testing facility.

"This... Is the testing facility where all the newly fabricated mechs are tested out." Jacob gestured at the various mechs that were scattered about the massive expanse of the underground facility. Some of them were going through an obstacle course, others were testing out their various weapons and components while some just stood to the side, inactive.

Someone called out to Jacob, taking his attention off Maximiler for a short moment. That short moment was all he needed to slip away from Jacob and go off on his own. He walked through the facility, recalling the areas that Jacob had pointed out to him while showing him around. He soon found a relatively eye catching door that stood out from the rest. What made it stand out was the warning written in bold red letters.

<TESTING PERSONNEL ONLY!>

Maximiler slipped into the room, closing the door silently behind him. Luckily for him, he had managed to snag Jacob's pass card which coincidentally had a high authority level.

The reason he was doing this was because of the new mech model he had managed to get a glance of. When he asked Jacob about it, Jacob had told him it was an experimental unit that made use of some particular high technology.

Whether coincidentally or not, Maximiler had come into a mech with such technology before. Back in the Central USC Space, mechs with such technology were not that high up when it came to their parameters, but for a colony at the edge of USC space, such a unit was a rare thing. He planned on taking control of the mech and performing admirably in order to gain the attention of those individuals high up the ladder of power in order to gain extra investment. If everything went as planned, then he would go from being a simple clone, to being a clone who could make use of one of the most expensive mechs of the organization.