19 Unto The Monolith 1.2

Carrian POV

Carrian thought that the situation was pretty comical.

When he talked Miranda into joining him in the cockpit where he thought Mitch would be, he received the response he had been hoping for. Agreement. But when they actually arrived at the said door and entered it, there were a few unexpected details to be seen in the room's occupant and the surrounding space.

For one, there was Mitch, in the pilot's seat, with his legs crossed, and small arms resting on the seat's armrests. He had a superior aura about him like he was waiting for his minions to arrive for instruction.

The room around him was surprisingly dark, except in the many camera screens displayed on the cockpit window's overlay. The screens sometimes flickered with increased blue light, when experiencing feedback errors.

The whole image added up to the appearance of an old-time cinema villain.

Albeit a strange one, considering the one in question's bloody, tattered, and burnt rags. But the cool looking helmet and visored face made up for that.

"I've been expecting you"...

...

Miranda, once a colleague of his, in a bandit group; whose deceased captain still haunted his memories, stood behind him, blankly staring at the spectacle before them.

Carrian smiled lightly and scratched the back of his head,

"Hey, Mitch... uh... thanks for the rescue" He laughed lightly, turning to the female figure beside him.

"This here is a... friend... of mine", the brunette squinted at Carrian, "her names Miranda Ve Rhea, an Elvheim chosen"

The bandit then gestured to Michael, while facing Miranda.

"Miranda, this here is Mitch... a-uhhhh... fellow... uh... wandering- Yes! Wealth-seeker like me! - these past few years!"

Carrian noticed Michaels hands shaking at this. It was as if he was fighting the urge to rub his temples, and/or smash his head against some of the machinery in the room.

"Yep", He then heard an up-tuned voice say, "why not, that's me.".

Carrian returned to scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"So... um, to explain this situation to Ms.Rhea here..."

"...Both me and Mitch were uh...exploring a perfectly abandoned ship when we found an Artificial Intelligence that needed... 'help' "

He could feel the intensity of Miranda's stare boring into the side of his head, causing him to gain a little discomfort in his speech.

" After that....we were sent to, send a message... and.... here we are I guess?"

Yep. That stare was too intense. Both of the others were just staring at him.

"You alright Carrian? I think that wall might've given you a concussion. Because I'm pretty sure a hell of a lot more happened than that."

Michael legitimately seemed concerned that Carrian might have a head injury. But the bandit shook his head and swiveled to face Miranda.

"I'm sure that just mind-reading the events off of me would be a lot faster than a detailed explanation, wouldn't it?."

Miranda stepped backward, revealing a face full of disagreement.

"I remember intruding upon your thoughts before, Carrian, I do not wish to witness such deluded perversions ever again. I'm not sure I even want to know what you've been up to all of these years" She shook her head.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Michael nodding in agreement.

'Wait! What?'

Never before had he felt so confused and misunderstood in his life.

Michael spoke up before the conversation could continue;

"I think Foreward can best explain the events so far..."

The elf-looking woman turned to direct a questioning gaze to Mitch

"Foreward?"

"Yeah...that's the name of the A.I." Carrian continued.

"Wait! Its here?!" Miranda seemed unable to believe a legitimate A.I. resided on the vessel.

But before either of the other two could answer her, a console to the Chosen-Elvheim's left, fizzed to life in a bright red, surprising everyone in the room. Miranda and Carrian, both slightly jumped out of sheer surprise. Michael didn't however. Maybe explosions were wearing off on him.

Turning to the console, Miranda noticed clear, white letters, printed over the red background of a message.

// Greeting Betanic organism of the Elvheim-Andii, you have been labeled "Miranda" by other occupants in the room, therefore you shall be designated: Ms.Miranda.

Ms.Miranda, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am designated Foreward Star; the once ship-bourne A.I. of the U.P.C. Desolate Star-Cruiser.

You have hereby been drafted into a covert operations mission.

The consequences for mission failure include:... ||

...

The further down she read the list, the paler her complexion became.

Michael and Carrian began to wonder what exactly was on the message, to achieve such a result, even more so when she turned to face them and asked,

"What have you both gotten yourselves into?!" in a fearful tone.

Carrian paused for a moment, unsure how to answer. He wanted to peep over her shoulder at the red message itself, for the possibility of reading over what had caused her overall change in tone, but the red message promptly disappeared, leaving him and Michael to guess what information the A.I. had given her.

A sudden jolt rocked the ship.

"What is it now!?" he heard Michael begin to complain loudly, but then cease the action completely, "Oh...it seems we're moving again..."

"...that was a lot quicker than I was told it was going to be..."

And thus... the physically smallest of the people present began to have a conversation with seemingly no-one.

Miranda looked puzzled for a second, then remembered the obvious odd helmet the child was wearing. One that belonged to a U.P.C. Agent. Her brows furrowed.

Carrian nudged her side and told her that it was probably just the A.I. communicating with him, but she apparently wasn't listening, with a very concentrated look on her face. Staring at Michael and the helmet.

Seconds later, a brief, very dramatic shift to surprise and pain overtook her expression.

And she fainted.

Carrian was confused and shocked at the seeming randomness of the event, caught her, and looked over to Mitch, who had his arms crossed as if disappointed.

The younger then sighed and slumped exhaustedly into the comforts of the pilot's seat.

"Well now....why'd she have to go and do that?"