-Loren Kelley & Veronica-

The dreams, first of him obliterating all his enemies, turned into nightmares. Morain and Veronica, both of them killed right in front of his eyes, shot, stabbed, ripped apart. The deaths got worse and worse and soon the rider realized that he was chained down. He tried pulling and ripping at his binds until his wrists and ankles bled, but the hold would not give. As he closed his eyes to avoid watching anymore things went from bad to worse. When he opened his eyes he saw that it was him doing all the killings, with the murdered corpse of Morain and Veronica in front of him, their blood (even Veronica's) covering his hands.

Kelley opened his eyes, his real eyes this time, and looked over at the sound of sniffling. He looked over and saw Morain, her face hidden in her hands, tears flowing through them. He scanned the room he was in. Probably the infirmary. What was he doing there? Last he checked he was in Fate's Edge fighting, then nothing. Where was Veronica? Didn't the Lieutenant get shot? That would explain the arm. Kelley's eyes finally fell upon a pile of sandwiches on the table in front of him, and a rare moment of hilarity and funniness struck him. He looked at Morain and said,

"Not that I do not appreciate the gesture, but I eat other things besides plain sandwiches you know?"

-Nate Bishop & Auriel-

Bishop looked at the girl, then his memory flooded back at him. Oh yea! He was going to have dinner with her! With all the commotion he had forgotten all about that! Auriel looked at him disapprovingly from his shoulder. She had reminded him several times, but she supposed that a major enemy attack would be distracting for anyone to remember dinner plans. With that she contented herself to play the role of chaperon during her rider's little "date." Meanwhile Bishop rubbed the back of his head and smiled at Skye.

"Sure, Kylei. Do you want to eat at the mess hall or grab food there and go somewhere else?"

< @Andraina >

"Make the first move, Freya." Says Killian after the pre-battle rituals were completed.

{ The SOUL with Rider Kelley is still Veronica, and she is operating fine. I believe the problem lays with the FRAME itself. I can't give you much more than that. I would if I knew more, believe me. But Captain Onyx received a message that Kelley was taking over Holding Bay 03, and that he was restricting the personnel allowed inside. I've tried scanning the room with my Technomancy, but... It feels like there is somthing... ELSE in there, more than just Veronica.}

< @WanderingJester (Loren Kelley) >

Morain looked up, did she hear...? Then the words reached her, and she laughed despite even more tears flowing down her cheeks. "I know, but I couldn't really ask what you would want, could I?"

{Veronica! He's awake! Thank Goodness... I thought we lost him...}

< @WanderingJester @Shadhunter (Nate Bishop) >

Kylei seemed to pout a little. "Nope! You're gonna come with me!" she said, grabbing his hand and skipping off towards somewhere Bishop had not been before... a small warehouse that had been converted into a kitchen... a fully stocked household kitchen. And odd sight in a Military ship.

Freya nodded, "Yes Sir." She began with an attack towards his right shoulder. Her usual starting move. She was probably working on automatic mode while she processed all this information.

Agalia nodded, {We agree Veronica was working fine and saved her pilot. Very well, Freya's next concern is that the reality before her doesn't make sense to her. I don't know the circumstances, but she says she'd never be so arrogant as to consider herself a Master before she learned her Father's final technique which she only perfected in the Academy. Anyone that wanted to learn from her would be sent to her Father which would lead to what sounds like a hilarious and catastrophic chain of events. Certainly not something that would be so rudely forgotten. A fact she's deeply sorry about by the way.}

-Loren Kelley & Veronica-

"I know, but I couldn't really ask what you would want, could I?" Kelley laughed, though his chest still felt a bit tight. He looked at the Lieutenant.

"Well, trying bringing something else next time, I might just like it so much I wake up earlier." He sat up, and try to look for someway to settle himself back in realty. A clock or a calendar maybe. Alas no such thing was in the room; he didn't even have his digi-pad. Still the rider grabbed a sandwich and began munching on it, before remembering something. "Are you ok Miss Dereso? I remember you getting hit." He looked at her arm. "And how long have I been out?"

Veronica looked at Fate's Edge with disgust. She wanted nothing more than to jettison the thing out the nearest airlock into space, but knew Mr. Kelley would hate her for that. He had spend way too many hours working on the cursed thing to just kick it into space. So the SOUL placed it back in the stabilizers in holding bay 03, but as she did that, she noticed the interior of the rider's chamber. After pushing past some initial scans she found the name "Zodiac System."

Veronica wasn't a child by any SOUL standard, however she also wasn't technically a "full grown" SOUL either. Stuck somewhere between the awkward stage of childhood and adulthood, she lacks the massive knowledge banks of some of the fully grown SOULs but definitely have much more understanding of the world and protectiveness than a child SOUL might. However, the words Zodiac System didn't ring a bell, so in the span of a second she did a thorough search of all known databases on the Super Carrier. All she came up with were second hand sources and vague mentioning of the thing, but the rumors alone were able to scare her. So when Morain's message came, Veronica decided to ask someone else possibly in the tech world longer than she had been.

{Veronica! He's awake! Thank Goodness... I thought we lost him...} Veronica instantly appeared in the infirmary room.

"Mr. Kelley! Are you feeling better?" Veronica asked, a tinged of red on her face covered by her blond hair. "You were in a pretty bad shape."

Kelley slid his legs off the bed, and with one hand holding its still, began testing his feet. "Good enough to get back to work Veronica." But the SOUL didn't find this amusing. Not one bit. Instead of answering him, she saluted and sent a message to Morain.

[Hey sis, have you ever heard of a connecting system for a FRAME called the Zodiac?]

-Nate Bishop & Auriel-

Bishop was surprised, to say the least. Getting your hands on a working stove and a frying pan was hard enough in the military, but here he was standing in front of a fully stocked kitchen! He walked over to the counter and looked over the condiments. They had oregano! How did she get her hands on oregano in space? Bishop turned back to Skye, a big smile on his face.

"This is amazing Kylei! How did you get all this? Spices are notoriously hard to get for me." He moved to the counter and began pulling supplies out from the cabinets while Auriel nodded in agreement as well. Nothing like a home cook meal to keep the morale of her rider up. "You wait just there and I'll whip up something in a sec. It'll be delicious. You'll see!"

Kyras had not been Idle the last Three days. He had finished turning his room into what it had been before, a messy workshop filled with salvage and madness. He had been furious that not only had they been boarded, not only had they reached the crew quarters, the incompetents had actually let them take the medbay. It seemed he couldn't rely on anyone here, as they had almost killed the one person to ever say those words to him. Speaking of said person...

Kyras grimaced. It seemed she hadn't taken the scenery so well. He meant, maaaaaaybe he went a bit overboard. Then again, the guy had been both an evildoer and about to kill Yalei, so his first instinct had been to kill him so hard he died to death. But it seemed Yalei wasn't quite as happy. It didn't really matter though, as he would see her and clear this whole mess up.

As he left for Yalei he was followed by what could only be described as an entourage. He had built three additional SCARABs in the last few days as well as many much smaller scarabs that floated behind him in the air. He called these attack/flensing scarabs, and was very proud of them. However, the last two were his real pride and joy. They were massive serpentine constructs called Wraiths. He had spent two days on each individual Wraith, and was very happy with the result. He was confident that in the situation of another boarding, his new friends would be very useful.

Seryu, however, was not as happy. Kyras never had been a stable one, and after losing all his friends in a single mission he had really started going downhill. She had hoped this new relationship would help stabilize him, but now Yalei was avoiding him. If he lost the last person besides her who cared about him, especially in such a manner....it wouldn't be pretty.

< @Andraina >

He smiled, dodging the attack with a practiced move, and whipped a slash towards her side. {It wasn't her idea.}

{You've heard of Fero Mechanical? That's my family's company. We worked very closly with the Unison Family, building their FRAMEs, weapons, all that. Even the Lævateinn was built by us.}

{Anyway, our families were so close that we often had meetings that were more like friendly gatherings. I was a very small, shy boy back then. Our fathers got togeather and decided to have Freya teach me. Oh, she protested of course, but eventually we were in the dojo almost every day. I could never quite catch up to her skills, but I got better every day. We became good freinds.}

{And then it happened. The terrorist attack that claimed her Parents and My brother. She pushed me away, and I was lost. I trained with my sword every day, hoping that, if I got better she would come back to me. But she never did. But Frey-San will always be my sensei.}

All through this data-speak his guard was up, blocking and counter-attacking. {I just wish she'd remember}

(OOC: I have taken some liberties in designing his backstory where it met with yours, if you need anything changed, tell me.)

< @Xanxas >

When Kyras arrived and knocked on her door, Yalei would tell him to close his eyes. When he did, he would hear the door open and feel her hands wrap around his. It was remarkable, he couldn't tell one was artificial, they had replicated her skin perfectly. "Open Up!"

It... was not what he expected. Streamers hung everywhere, and a large sign saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY hung in the middle of the room, above a table that held a huge chocolate cake.

Yalei stood their, beaming. "Do you like it?" she asked, holding her hands together. Her hands were bandaged over what could only be knife cuts. Why she used a knife to bake a cake she never said.

< @WanderingJester (Loren Kelley) >

Morain looked at her arm. "I believe this speaks for itself. And... you've been out Three days. And sit down. You're not going anywhere for a while." She said calmly.

To Veronica, she sounded much more worried {You said... Zodiac... Oh god... Not good... How did he build one? Veronica, search all UTC research using Keyword "Zodiac"... You need to know. Here's the passcode you'll need}

< @WanderingJester @Shadhunter (Nate Bishop) >

Kylei Shook her head. "Nope. You're just gonna sit there. I'm gonna cook for you. What would you like?" She seemed to be in her element in the kitchen, all shyness forgotten.

"I....I" His eyes were tearing up now "This is the first time someone has thrown a birthday party for me. T-Thank you!" Poor Yalei had but a second before the attack glomp occurred, and knocked both of them to the floor with the sheer power the tackle hug contained. She had no time to rest, as seconds later she was scooped up in a hug once more and spun round and round. As the poor girl tried desperately to recover, Kyras was having none of the patience. "IT IS TIME TO PAR-TAY!" He yelled. Seryu was equally joyous "So. Much. Keki."

< @Xanxas >

Yalei absolutely beamed at her lovers' reaction. "I of course made you one, too, Seryu." She said, transmitting an identical cake to the SOUL. Her smile then diminished a little. "I'm sorry for avoiding you, but I really wanted this to be a secret... She looked away "I'm so sorry if I hurt you."

"Ah its no biggy. Seryu is the pessimist not me. Besides, it gave me the time to make all these swagmeisters. Like these attack scarabs" he gestured to the ones perched on his shoulders "Fucking. Adorable. Speaking of SCARABs, I have something for you." He pulled a deactivated SCARAB out of his voluminous coat. "This is for youuuuuuuuu~. I noticed a disturbing lack of minions and this little guy can help out a LOT. He's a computer, fixy person, etc etc. Now, for more important things. Like cake!"

-Loren Kelley-

"I believe this speaks for itself. And... you've been out Three days. And sit down. You're not going anywhere for a while."

Kelley looked sadly at Morain. Why he was sad he didn't understand. The questions from before rushed back at him. Wasn't she just another soldier? He shook his head, then realizing that he felt strangely fine got up and started walking towards the closet where his clothes were, under the worried gaze of the two girls.

"I feel fine, so I will be quite interested in how the medical staff will keep me lock in here, and anyways look, I do not even feel sore anymore." He did a little jump off the ground and landed. "See?" It was strange, even for the rider. He remembered now that he had taken injuries, arguably worse than those on Y'Coren. Yet he only feel a bit stiff, not sore at all. Kelley pulled his patients gown off just as he entered, accidently giving Morain a full look at him naked from the back. Within a few seconds he had his normal uniform on and began heading out of the infirmary. "Well thanks for all the sandwiches Morain." He grabbed another one and chewed on it on the way out. Wait! He can't just leave! And did he just call her something other than "Miss Dereso?"

At the same time Veronica had received Morain's message and disappeared.

{You said... Zodiac... Oh god... Not good... How did he build one? Veronica, search all UTC research using Keyword "Zodiac"... You need to know. Here's the passcode you'll need.} Before the first sentence by Kelley even finished Veronica was gone, and going through all the secured files of UTC secret archives. What she found scared her. That much connectivity? Mental and Physical Side Effects? Who would use this in their right mind?

"Loren Kelley would." She breathed out loud, realizing why now. She sent a message to her sister.

[Mr. Kelley's doing this because he only sees himself as a soldier, not a human being sis! In order to become the ultimate military force, he needs to break through all of his limits, and he's using this system to do that! Even if... even if he loses all his humanity in the process...]