A Sisterly Reunion - Part 3
PART 3
-A FEW DAYS LATER-
KITCHEN - SUMMERSTONE MANSION
Psion sat in the kitchen, resting his arms on the counter top as he scowled at the wrapped object in front of him, regarding it with intense suspicion; he looked back up to Cou’ra and Violet who looked back at him, barely concealed grins on their faces.
“You expect me to eat this?” he asked, as he gestured towards it.
“Yeah, it’s really good. Trust us.” nodded Cou’ra.
“What is it?”
Violet sighed and rolled her eyes.
“I’ve already told you once before…it’s a double bacon cheeseburger! It’s…sort of a signature-ish meal in America.” replied Violet.
Psion’s eyes narrowed as Violet used her telekinesis to slowly peel away the wrapper revealing a relatively appetizing looking burger; the intermingled smells of bacon, cheese and the patty wafting up and invading their immediate area. Psion’s eyebrow raised slightly as he drew away from the burger as it was pushed towards him by Cou’ra.
“It smells like grease. Why are you both so interested in seeing me eat this?” Psion frowned.
“I’m honestly curious, I’ve never seen you Xenians eat or drink anything remotely human, except for water and Mentella’s love of herbal tea. All of your food stuff is either that weird silver sachet stuff or comes in those strange looking sealed containers J’asira brings each month.” Violet replied.
“Then why didn’t you test it on her?” Psion frowned, pointing to Cou’ra.
“Already done my bit, I ate several slices of pepperoni pizza this morning, wasn’t half bad if I’m honest with you. Just eat it. Take a bite out of it at least. It’s not going to kill you.” Cou’ra grinned.
Psion grumbled picking up the burger and bringing it to his lips. He opened his mouth and took a tentative bite. He grimaced slightly and began chewing as Cou’ra started laughing, soon followed by Violet. The look of disapproval was evident on Psion’s face as he placed the rest of the burger down on the plate in front of him. He chewed slowly and swallowed as his look became contemplative.
“It tastes like grease, processed meat and overly processed dairy produce…and bread. I think I like it.” he mused.
Cou’ra’s expression changed and her mouth hung open as Psion spoke. He looked to her and an evil grin appeared on his face.
“You weren’t expecting that now were you?”
Cou’ra rolled her eyes and nudged Violet, they both left the kitchen but not before Cou’ra sent a heated glare his way, the air around him suddenly feeling much warmer until she turned her gaze away. Psion shook his head and headed towards the fridge, opening the large door and pouring himself a glass of water. The door was enveloped in a cyan hue and slowly closed as he drank, he turned back around whilst still drinking and Su suddenly appeared beside him; her sudden presence startling him, almost making him choke. He uttered a string of curses whilst attempting to regain his composure. Su attempted to hide her grin but failed miserably.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was the one thing you were truly afraid of.” Su teased.
“I am not afraid of you. You…startled me. Can, ahem, can I help you with something?”
“Actually, yes, you can. I was scheduled for a combat training session with Sarah, but she’s on assignment at the moment, unexpected, last minute situation. I was wondering since J’asira’s working with UNTIL and Mentella’s doing research…you could help out? It’d give you something to do?”
“I don’t see any reason not to. Lead on.” Psion nodded.
---
LOWER LEVELS - SUMMERSTONE MANSION
Psion stood at a wide control panel overlooking a large, but very plain looking, black and silver room. Su had given him a quick introduction to the various controls and now stood in the center of the large room; eyes narrowed as she clicked her com-link into place, Psion’s voice sounding through it.
“What program are you intending to run?”
“Select number 47 and then go to Edit Program. Increase the amount of concussive cannons from one hundred and twenty to two hundred cannons. I’m working on absorption today.” Su replied
Psion interacted with the control panel, his eyebrows rising slightly as he edited the program.
“Tell me. What is the point of running such a simulation? I’ve never cared much for using my abilities to generate shields. I usually tear everything apart, or throw enemies aside.” he said nonchalantly.
“Von Despaire has been creating stronger robots which have at times surprised me …and VIPER utilize new tactics every couple of months. Besides, I’m not as aggressive as you are, I prefer to use my abilities to defend and protect. I don’t always get the challenge I need, so running programs like this…helps me be ready for the worst case scenario.” Su replied.
“You ‘prefer to use your abilities to defend’ and you ‘aren’t as aggressive as me’? Please, I’m certain there are plenty of VIPER soldiers who would vehemently disagree with that assertion.” he scoffed.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Of course you don’t. Isn’t two hundred a bit…much?”
“This program has been altered to suit my own abilities. It has enough…environmental incentives for me to not fail. Program 47 is generally a good way to test endurance.” Su replied.
“El’sai…simulation begins in seven seconds. Weather conditions are random as per usual.”
Su nodded as she readied herself, she looked up; watching as the control room receded into the wall. Psion nodded to her, shooting her a look of slight concern as the panels reappeared covering the control room. As the panels fell into place, the room shifted once more; the floor crumbled beneath her and the ceiling and wall panels morphed to reveal a series of small hole which lined the ceiling. She stood still as the room continued to transform until it resembled a vaguely familiar jungle-esque setting. Soon enough the sounds of the jungle were arriving and the thick smell of mud, earthy soil and humid air inundated her senses. The ceiling had completely vanished; in its place was a view of the sky as clouded over, lightning flashed above the jungle followed by a truly unnerving clap of thunder. It didn’t take long for the rain to start falling rapidly as if it was only going to get progressively worse.
A pair of holographic projections appeared in the control room with him, one showed a live feed from the simulation and the other displayed Su’s vital signs. He watched as Su proceeded cautiously through the simulation; the dense jungle setting reminding him of the aptly dubbed ‘Monster Island’. It seemed peaceful enough as Su walked through the jungle, coming to a clearing which lead to a dirty beige colored complex, the infamous logo of VIPER clearly visible on the wall, the snake head was sickly bright green and the fangs were a glistening golden colour.
“So, how are you enjoying being a super hero?” asked Su.
“Well, if I was aware how much work did not go into being a super hero I would have switched sides a long time ago. It’s less stressful; I don’t have to split my concentration controlling the minds of my minions, so that in itself is a relief. I’m not sure if I’d call myself a superhero yet though. I haven’t saved this world yet or had a chance to ‘patrol the city’, not that I’m that interested in doing so.” replied Psion.
“I’m guessing you’ve just been accosted by Defender every other day?” Su smirked.
“That man is insufferable. I did not think it possible to meet someone with the ability to be more irritating than myself. I’ve had many a daydream of sealing him inside his armor, permanently.”
Su chuckled lightly as she continued through the last few trees before the clearing. Psion shook his head, turning around as the doors to the control room slid open, revealing Mentella. Psion grinned up at her as she moved to sit next to him. Mentella peered at the screen, noting her sister on it and looked over to Psion.
“VIPER?” she asked.
“Yes, she’s doing an endurance program apparently.” nodded Psion.
Mentella produced a purple and white envelope from a hidden pocket and pushed it towards Psion, gesturing for him to open it. He frowned but opened it, taking out the engraved invitation inside. His frown deepening as he read it. He glared at the invitation and forced it down onto the desk nearby.
“No. I’m not doing this. Every moment I spend inside Millennium City is spent trying to avoid this man and now you want me to attend a social function hosted by his alter ego?”
“Unfortunately I have to attend…and unless you’d prefer me to attend the event alone surrounded by people like him…” Mentella started.
Psion’s eyes narrowed and glowed as he processed what she said, his expression became intense as he replied. Mentella smiled slightly as she noted Psion’s change of heart.
“No. You will not be leaving alone. I will accompany you.” he stated.
---
SIMULATION
Su paused as she saw a group of five VIPER Soldiers close by; she moved forwards, accidentally rustling the vegetation. She turned invisible as they turned towards the sound, soon losing interest and turning away. She watched them for a few moments, tracking their movements and focused on the air above them; she generated several thick disc shaped force fields that appeared, stacking on top of each other as they were suspended in the air. Su released the hold she had on the force constructs, bringing them down upon the soldiers with extreme force, the resultant shock wave ripping up the smaller pieces of vegetation around the clearing, widening it slightly. She cautiously moved past the unconscious soldiers, kicking their weapons away from them. She made a move to continue on but turned back and sliced the pulson guns in half and continued along the path towards the base. Su looked around, pausing for any back up units to turn up, sensing that nothing was coming she returned to her visible state and continued on. A few moments later realized she triggered something as she looked down and saw her foot breaking the laser light from a small device hidden on the jungle ground. The VIPER base in front of her erupted in a cacophony of deafening alarms as rows upon rows upon rows of concussive cannons, accompanied by several groups of VIPER Soldiers appeared and locked onto her position and opened fire.
Su’s eyes widened as she saw the incoming fire, she brought her left arm up defensively and spread her right hand as a dome shaped force field surrounded her. Noticing that the concussive blasts were managing to force her back, Su locked her stance as she grounded herself and her force field, modifying the harmonics of the shield allowing the blasts to be absorbed instead of being deflected. Su stood her ground as the cannons continued firing focusing on maintaining the force field under the enemy fire.
“Each phase will last five minutes. Subsequent phases will increase the rate of fire. Phase One is currently in progress.” sounded a robotic voice.
---
CONTROL ROOM
Psion sat back in the chair as he observed Su’s performance, momentarily monitoring her vitals; he turned to Mentella and then turned back.
“How did it all go, with Sai’edra?” he asked.
“I spoke to her and she mainly wanted a mind wipe, she did not want to remember what had happened to her in full detail. After seeing what she had endured at the hands of Sirlena and the rest of the Psychic Coven…I could not disregard her request so I did as she asked. She wanted to still be aware, to an extent that something terrible happened to her, but the associated trauma is no longer present.” Mentella explained.
“So is she out there on duty with Delta now?”
“No, she wanted to go back, but I stopped her. The procedure was quite lengthy and her mind needs time to relax and recuperate. However, she should be at her best by the end of this week. I’ve been monitoring her these past few days whilst she’s been in my care. Her levels of focus and control are now within the acceptable ranges. I’ve also healed the damage she sustained to her psyche and cognitive systems; her empathy and her, for lack of a better term; ‘theory of mind’ was among the cognitive abilities particularly damaged as well as her memory system. She will feel a lot better, less prone to emotional outbursts. Right now, her energy levels are steadily rising, I’ve provided her with enough energy sources and I have partially enhanced her energy generation abilities to aid her recovery.” Mentella replied.
“I see, well I’m glad she is recovering. What of Delta, have they contacted you? Do they know of our return?” Psion asked.
“I do not expect to have contact with them unless; it has something to do with Sai’edra. To answer your second question, no, they do not. Our return has no impact on Delta, safe or otherwise. I’m confident they have enough to deal with, without concerning themselves over trivial matters. Once Sai’edra has fully recovered, I’m certain they’ll be able to use her talents in the field.” Mentella stated.
“I hope when the time comes for you to reveal how you’ve helped Sai’edra, you’ll be prepared to defend yourself. If I were you I would have video evidence of Sai’edra agreeing to the procedure, for their peace of mind. I’ve seen the way they deal with you, I don’t like it.” Psion remarked.
“You don’t need to like it nor should anything at this point in time be done about it. I’m well aware of what the reception of the news will likely be. I have as much evidence as it is possible to present. Sai’edra is aware that she requested a mind wipe and why she did. The only parts I have removed are to do with the months of imprisonment and associated trauma.” Mentella replied.
Psion shifted a little closer, lowering his voice.
“If anything does happen and things go awry. What will you do?” he asked.
“I will sit there and allow it to unfold. If you happen to be there as well, I would ask you to do the same. Whatever accusations or words arise, apply the same amount of control you have over your abilities over what you say, and regardless of what is said, stay calm. I realize it is a rather large ask for you, given our current circumstance but I would be very grateful. I will not allow the interactions between myself and certain members of Delta who have an issue with me to factor into the perceptions of them by those in my sisterhood. Keeping that in mind, I expect whatever happens to stay between us, if you happen to be present.”
“Alright, well…Harmon’s social function is in less than a week…where can I get a suit in that time frame?” Psion sighed, giving up on the matter.
“Emporio Armani, check their website. I’m sure you can find something suitable there. Choose express delivery. I suggest you order it now, so it can at least be processed.”
Psion nodded and stood up, stretching slightly.
“Coming?” he asked.
“I have some things to discuss with Su. I’m fairly confident you do not need me to order a suit with you.” Mentella smirked.
“What if I get a color that does not match or compliment what you are going to wear? Speaking of which, what are you going to wear?” he replied.
Mentella sent an image directly into Psion’s mind and he blinked several times.
“That…that is quite…yes. I-I er, I like it. Still…I need your help?” he tried.
Mentella’s left eyebrow arched elegantly as she shook her head, a small smile on her face. Psion pouted but moments later he sighed and hovered out of the room, leaving Mentella to observe the unfolding simulation.
---
SIMULATION
Forty minutes later, the vaguely robotic voice of the room’s AI spoke up again, notifying Su of the simulation advancement. Su’s eyes were screwed shut as she struggled to maintain her concentration against the incredible impacts from the cannons.
“Initiating final phase; increasing rate of fire to maximum.”
The cannons stopped firing for three seconds before starting up again. Su grit her teeth as she felt the full force of the barrage, her hands outstretched as she was kneeling slightly as she continued to hold out against the incoming fire. Sweat gathered on her brow as she looked up only to see a sea of green and purple crashing against her force field, the field humming and resonating relatively loudly as each concussive blast pounded against the shield.
She chanced a look up as the minute timer appeared to her left, informing her that the simulation was going to run for thirty seconds more. Su steeled her jaw, closing her eyes as the cannons went crazy during the last fifteen seconds. A single alarm went out as everything froze; blasts paused mid-air and VIPER Soldiers were paused as they were switching out power cells for their weapons. Su gratefully dropped her force field, standing up and resting both hands on her knees for a few seconds.
She heard the familiar sound of metal striking metal as the room suddenly became incredibly bright as the simulation fell apart; she looked around as the earth beneath her vanished along with the jungle setting and the VIPER base. The room’s black and silver panels sliding back into place as the room deconstructed the simulation entirely. The control room slid back into place as the room finally stopped moving, a holographic screen popped up in her face, alerting her to her new achievement. Su interacted with the screen for a few moments until it was sent on its way.
The interlocking patterns on the entrance quickly reversed themselves, unlocking the entrance as Mentella stepped through. Su turned round and grinned, dabbing her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Mentella! Good to see you, how did the research go?” she smiled.
“As expected, we wrapped up sooner than expected however. I enjoy using thematic analysis but it was still quite tedious.” Mentella replied.
“I’m guessing you’re taking Sarah’s place as my hand to hand partner?” sighed Su.
“That wasn’t my intention…unless you would like to duel me? It has been a while since we trained together last.” Mentella replied.
“I’m a little…tired right now, but I can try if you’re willing?”
Mentella frowned as she looked at her sister, a small smile crept onto her face as her left eyebrow arched.
“Try? Sus’anna, are you that out of practice?” teased Mentella.
Su shook her head as they both tied up their hair, Su pulled hers back into a ponytail whilst her sister folded her hair into a bun, using the pen in her hand to keep it in place. Su constructed a bo staff shaped force field twirling it momentarily as her sister fashioned her own staff in a flash of magenta.
“Rules?” asked Su.
“No telepathy and no invisibility?” suggested Mentella.
“Deal. I’ll play offense for once.” Su stated.
Su held the end of her staff, extending it out to cross over with her sister’s staff as they maintained the appropriate starting distance. Mentella and Su nodded as they both retracted their weapons, placing a firm grip on their weapons with both hands as they locked gazes. Without warning Su stepped forwards from her stance, bringing the staff down towards Mentella; Mentella quickly moved into a bo stance, raising her staff above her head to block the assault. A high pitched whining sounding as both weapons collided with considerable force. Su pulled back slightly flicking her staff to attack again, meeting Mentella’s staff again. She pulled back quickly and sliced her staff through the air, narrowly missing its intended target as Mentella ducked out of the way. She tried again and both staffs clashed.
Su frowned and her eyes flashed as she pulled back and thrust the staff forward, aiming to hit her sister solidly, Mentella stepped backwards, flicking her staff to the left, knocking the staff sideways. Su spun her bo staff several times as she advanced towards her sister who backed away, almost mimicking her moves.
“You can do better than this. Don’t hold back.” Mentella smiled, as came closer.
“That’s rich coming from you, Miss I-Have-A-Billion-Psychic-Barriers-To-My-Abilities.” Su laughed.
Mentella laughed as their staffs clashed again, Su exerted extra force, forcing Mentella’s psionic staff down to the ground, and she pulled back quickly, lifting her staff over Mentella and leveling it as she struck out at her sister, who promptly ducked out of the way, taking the opportunity to strike out at her sister’s legs, knocking her over. Su blinked and looked up to see the glowing end of a magenta bo staff pointing at her. The magenta staff vanished as Su’s force staff dissipated, Mentella extended a hand, helping her sister up and frowned.
“You should have seen that coming, perhaps you were more out of practice than I realized…we’ll have to start training again. I’ll sched-” started Mentella.
“No…I’m just a little tired, my day so far has consisted of, early morning lab work, stopping a VIPER attack, more lab work, fighting a group of DEMON cultists who kidnapped one of my staff members and training. I’m just a little distracted that’s all…” Su sighed.
“I believe the expression is ‘a penny for your thoughts’?” Mentella replied, as she looked over her sister.
“I was wondering if you could help me find someone. Do you remember Darren Moriarty?”
Mentella paused, her frown re appearing on her face for a moment.
“Ah yes, the man with the ‘Protogen Armor’. What of him?”
“I was wondering if you could locate him, I’ve been trying to find him since you left but all I’ve been managing to find are burnout safe houses and the leads I get lead nowhere. I never really got the opportunity to have a real conversation with him after the whole VIPER incident at ForceTech Industries with Sarge, him and myself. He sort of left the scene and vowed to stay away from me.” Su explained.
Mentella rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Honestly Su, you act as if you aren’t my sister sometimes. You make it sound as if me doing something for you is a favor you need to repay or a burden for me to bear.”
“Is that a yes?” Su smirked.
“Of course, but not until you give me a real fight, I know how good you can be when you have something to drive you on. So how about this?” grinned Mentella.
Su gasped as Mentella’s appearance shifted into that of Draconis.
“No illusions!!” chuckled Su.
Mentella smiled at her sister as her appearance returned to normal, the Draconis illusion fading instantly. They both stood opposite each other again and manifested their weapons.
“Deal.” nodded Su.
Su’s eyes burned white as she fell into an offensive stance, moments later she jumped up, spinning the staff in the air as she directed it towards her sister, crashing down towards her with incredible force.
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