Lyria glanced at the clock displayed on the monitor in front of her. Half the day was already gone. She expected Marcus to take his time at the hospital but she was hoping he would have been just a little quicker. Hopefully he had remembered the way to their operations center. It wasn't hard to miss, being one of the largest buildings in Celestia, but for a newcomer it was possible.
As she went back to surfing through some files, she heard the elevator ding behind her. The large cylindrical chute had stopped on her floor, and she could see Marcus through the clear glass on the other side. As the doors opened, he gazed around the room. It looked like something from a futuristic sci-fi movie. The floors were adorned with shiny metal plates, covering up luminescent wires underneath. Thin, modernized desks were lined up around the room, monitors thin as paper attached to them. At the back of the room, he saw Lyria.
She had her legs folded and a cheerful smile on her face. It was obvious she was proud of the operations center, hoping Marcus would chime in about it. A few moments passed before he took the hint, "This is... advanced. How are you able to maintain this kind of environment?"
Lyria jumped up out of her seat and spread her arms to frame the room, "First and foremost, welcome to the World Revolutions Alliance, or W.R.A for short. You are now standing in one of the many terminal rooms of the operations center, maintained by Dr. Sukomoto and her staff. Here at the W.R.A., we provide shelter for those in need while advancing our current technology to provide resistance to Helix."
"Um, I appreciate the breakdown but you don't have to be so formal." Marcus wasn't displeased with the presentation, he just didn't want to feel like he was being freshly recruited into some task force. They planned on offering their assistance, but he wasn't about to let Generation be directed by someone else.
"Oh, I apologize. It's just been awhile since I've got to show off the place. People are usually more awestruck when they step in." It was the first time Marcus heard her apologize something. Back in Marlow she had been very standoffish and seemed more like a give or take person. Maybe it was because she was back in her home territory that she appeared so lax now.
"Yeah well, I've seen some things in my time kiddo. You kind of learn to not be shocked so much." Lyria simply nodded her head and sat back down in her seat, motioning with over her shoulder for Marcus to come join her.
"I was just pulling up the files and going over them again. If you recall, I showed them to you on the datapad but I doubt you took time to actually read them." Marcus didn't want to admit it, but he had wounded his ego with his immaturity back then. He remembered flinging the pad back to her at first, and finally realized she had only been trying to help all along.
As Marcus approached the monitor, Lyria was scrolling through a research report that had been locked away deep within the Helix servers. She had pulled it and other files from the servers back when she had worked for Helix, realizing they could be extremely useful in not just finding a way to fight Helix, but to boost morale and bring in supporters from those who wanted to fight.
Lyria quickly scrolled back to the top of the report and pointed her finger to the name of the document, Project Omega. "Sounds pretty ominous doesn't it?" The sarcasm in Lyrias voice did nothing to undermine the topic.
"Project Omega. Is there anything specific in the file?" Marcus felt his curiosity peaked. The name made him think of when they had first started the Alpha project, making him feel slightly uneasy.
"While there's no identifying plans that lead me to figure out what it was meant for, I had noticed a name mentioned specifically from within the file." Lyria scrolled partway down the file and pointed at the screen once again. Marcus felt his stomach tighten up. Under the heading, possible subjects, he saw his daughters name, Maple Wright. Lyria scrolled further back up the page and nodded at the log date of the file. It was dated around 1 year before the soldiers had attacked him, Maple and Helen at their home.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
He wasn't sure what the plans meant, but it at least gave him a reason for what had happened so long ago. "So, I take it this is what made you come looking for us?"
"Well, we didn't have much more to go off of besides a name a brief profile of you daughter. It seems that they somehow knew about her little fire ability. Using that knowledge, I simply began monitoring their communication channels. It took a while to pinpoint you guys out, but when I noticed a large number of attacks being reported with some soldiers being burned, I kind of figured it was a good place to start." Marcus felt a worry grow within him. He had never directly reported Maple's birth during his time serving as an Alpha for Helix, and neither had Helen.
As he rummaged through his mind for an explanation, Lyria grabbed his attention once more, "I should also mention that the man who was overseeing this project is a man named Faust Nikifor." Lyria quickly pulled up a photograph of the man. While it was less aged, Marcus recognized it right away. It was the same man that had first walked into the Underground and made demands.
"Well, that explains why he asked for Maple specifically. And you're positive that there's nothing in there about the project itself?" Marcus didn't want Lyria to feel that he didn't trust her, but there should have been something that at least hinted at what was intended.
"Well, most of it's just sample reports on something called the Omega gene. It never tells what it's for, but if I were to place a bet I would assume that Helix was planning to make a weapon of it somehow. Your daughter must have been the only candidate that possesed the gene."
Lyria's explanation made sense, at least to a certain extent. Why create another weapon though? They already had the mass produced Alphas and were hunting down the originals one by one. Why repeat their mistakes once again?
Lyria clicked off from the file and began to logout from the terminal. "So where to now?" Marcus was aware that there was still more to be done, and wondered where she would take him next.
"To meet Dr. Sukomoto of course. I already notified her and the rest of your crew. We'll be meeting her over at the research hangars. She's always got a habit of showing off her pride and joy to newcomers."
"Wait, you mean you have aircraft here?" Marcus was surprised at the thought. He could see them keeping the operations center running, but with the dome overhead how would an air based machine have any use?
"Oh, did I forget to mention that it's not technically a plane?" Lyria was smiling. She seemed just as eager as the doctor must be. Marcus still felt confused at her statement. What else could a hangar possibly be used for?
They took the elevator back down, emerging in the lobby that Marcus had first entered. A young woman had first shown him the way to the elevator, and she was standing back at her desk as they exited the elevator. Marcus gave her a sllight wave, soliciting a soft smile in response. As they left through the front doors, a small black SUV was parked out front.
Lyria hopped into the drivers seat and started the car. Looking to bring out a little humor, she looked over to Marcus, "Don't worry. I won't drive like when I drove the RTHV." Marcus gave a small chuckle and they pulled out, headed in the direction of the hangars.
A short trip down the main street followed by some turns and they had arrived at a small security gate. In the booth, a tall and lean man stood on duty. Lyria gave him a wave and he nodded, opening the gates allowing them to pass through. As she pulled up onto the small runway, Marcus saw the rest of his team waiting out front of a large hangar.
Lyria pulled the car up to the doors and shut the vehicle off. Jumping out of her seat, she proceeded past the rest of Generation and beckoned them with her finger. She walked over to a door on the left, and knocked three times. A small but pudgy woman came to the door, seemingly throwing her hands up in excitement. Her dark brown hair was pulled up onto her head in a bun, and a thick black coat covered most of her body. She waved past Lyria to the rest of them, motioning for them to come in.
As Marcus walked through the doors he turned his attention immediately to his right. In the center of the hangar sat a large machine. It was sleek in appearance, a combination of red and white colors adorning the hull. Marcus clearly recognized it as an airship, technology that had supposedly been banned by Helix back during the inital peace conversion. It was massive in length, but was slim in thickness. Two large wings grew from the sides, turbines placed in the middle of the wings for vertical take off. At the rear, quad thrusters adorned it from one side to the other.
The rest of the members of Generation gazed on in amazement. Surely this thing wasn't capable of flight...