"Oh, God, the fucking Zonders," Matt muttered, holding his head. "They're bad enough without Omega Essence."

"What are Zonders?" Helena asked.

"Past acquaintances."

"Why do you have to be so vague all the time?"

He didn't have a comeback for that one.

"I'm sure we'll get the full explanation if they agree to help us," R.D. said, saving Matt from another argument with the girl. "I didn't quite understand what they are myself."

"Okay," Ileyna said slowly, taking her beret off and putting it on the table she was sitting at. "I still haven't felt any Essence here, though. Are we at the right place?"

"I don't see why we wouldn't be," R.D. said. "The Gateway usually dumps in the general vicinity of where the Essence is supposed to be. Bloody thing doesn't seem to care if it puts in danger or not, though..."

"It'll probably turn up soon if we keep looking," Hugo said. "In the meantime, we might as well take the chance to rest."

"I just wish we could've gotten something to eat first," Helena said. "I want a really big hamburger."

Matt tipped his chin up in recognition. "You and me both."

"Don't look at me," R.D. said upon hearing Helena and Matt talk about food, holding his hands up to stave them off. "I don't have any hamburgers on me, and I'm running low as it is."

Hopefully he'd be able to purchase some more food before they left this dimension.

Matt pulled out a snack cake. "I've got a Twinkie, you want one?"

"Gimme that." Helena pulled the sack over to her and shuffled through it, yanking out spare outfits and such.

"What're you looking for?" Hugo asked.

Her eyes lit up as she pulled out a wrapped roast beef sandwich. "Yes!" She bit into the wrapping and tore it away, giving her free reign to dive into the sandwich and savage it.

After watching this strange display for a bit, Matt took up a water bottle and held it out. "You want something to drink with that?"

This earned him an unpleasant look. "Okay, okay, suit yourself!"

Edited by The Helldragon on February 9, 2009 at 20:58:03.

Ten minutes later, a couple members from GGG knocked on the door and informed them they were to escort the group to the Main Order Room.

"Your bosses ready to talk to us about our problem?" R.D. asked as they ushered them out of the room.

"There's just one more examination they'd like to put you through," one of the two members said. "It shouldn't take too long."

"If you say so," R.D. said, hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his cargo pants.

"Just as long as it doesn't involve any more poking in places that don't need to be poked!" Matt said.

"Oh, give it a rest already," R.D. muttered, rolling his eyes. Ileyna giggled at their bickering.

The two members led them through the white metal hallways for some distance until they were brought to a large doorway. The doors opened to reveal a large, circular room with a deep, mahogany floor and walls, and four sets of desks with terminals set around a central pillar. Emblazoned on the pillar was the thin, angular and green emblem of the Gutsy Geoid Guard, and under it was a wide desk. Another emblem was set into the floor ahead and between the two outer terminal desks. In the back of the room, off to their right, was a mural of a forest; to the left, a wide, curving window pane showing them a vast, underwater view of the waterways around G-Island.

R.D. blinked a couple times as he entered the room. "Nice place," he commented, stopping near the doorway. He could see Taiga and Hyuuma, an aging, eccentric-looking old man of short stature, a large, rotund man and another lanky-looking fellow, and two women--one with shortish red hair, the other with longer, wavy blond hair. Guy was also here, along with a young boy that looked to be around Ileyna's age.

It was this boy that caught Ileyna's attention upon entering, rather than the wide window showing the waterways. Her eyes widened slightly upon seeing him, and for a moment, the Ao-Gem set into her pendant shone briefly.

"Ileyna?" R.D. said, trying to catch her attention, as the girl slowly made her way over towards the boy. He frowned; the girl would usually cower behind him, Matt, or Helena at meeting someone; what's she doing approaching someone of her own accord?

She stopped several feet away from him, looking at him. Suddenly, she spoke, her voice full of shocked wonder.

"You... you're like me, aren't you?"

Edited by RisingDragon on February 9, 2009 at 23:06:02.

"Yes," the boy said, looking just as surprised.

"Wait, WHAT?" Matt asked.

"What's going on, Mamoru?" Guy asked. "Do you know this girl?"

"I've never seen her before," Mamoru said. Even for his age, he had an intense feeling about him-that, Matt could tell. "But the energy coming off of her feels the same as the power I have."

"You can detect Omega Core fragments, too?" Hugo asked.

The short, old man rose. "Not exactly. Mamoru here has the ability to detect the presence of malevolent beings called Zonders. Zonders are corrupted human beings that can merge with machines and transform them into different shapes or bodies. Mamoru can purify these humans, which are usually contained in a Zonder Core inside the machine."

"I don't think Ileyna can't do that," Helena said. "But we've never actually met a Zonder before, so we're not sure."

"Hopefully we don't ever need to find out," R.D. said, putting his hands on his hips. "It'd be so much easier if we found the fragment before anyone else does."

"What will we do if a Zonder gets a piece, though?" Ileyna asked, looking at Matt.

"She's got a point. We can't fight off a giant Zonder on our own; we haven't had to fight anything that big," R.D. said. It was a lie; of course, but there was no point in mentioning Donovan or Sheena. He already knew what they had, though, but Helena, Ileyna, and Hugo didn't.

This should bring that secret out into the open.

"We have," Taiga said. "The Brave Robots were created to help protect the city from Zonders."

"Well, that's all fine and swell," Matt said, "but if these Zonders get their hand on an Omega Core fragment, that's bad news, because if they get even more superpowered, your people may not be able to handle it." A gesture of a finger to seal the deal. "Therefore! I propose an alliance. If a giant Zonder does thunder along and has a segment of the Core, if you get us close, we can extract it so you can clean house."

"If a Zonder does have such a fragment," the short man said, "then how will we know it's a piece of this 'Omega Core', as you call it?"

"Ileyna'll pick up the fragment's energy signature. She's got a pretty good radius for this kind of thing."

Ileyna nodded rapidly at that, and R.D. quickly reinforced it. "Ileyna's the only one among us that can extract a fragment, which is why she was also given the ability to detect it," he explained. "Her hair lights up when it happens, and she can find out its location. The trick is getting her near it, because she can't fight otherwise."

"Sounds the same with Mamoru," Hyuuma said, crossing his arms. "We have to destroy the Zonder and secure its core before Mamoru's capable of purifying it. But if we don't, the core'll revert back into a Zonder and escape... it's happened to us once before, back when the attacks first started."

"So what do you say, Commander?" Matt asked. "We scratch each other's back, or so the saying goes?"

"I'd like to discuss this with my crew first," Taiga said. "Is that all right with you?"

Matt threw a thumb over his shoulder. "Actually, that's good because we wanted to duck out for a bit and load up on supplies. That all right with you?"

"Sure," Taiga said. "In fact, we'll have Volfogg escort you. When we come to a decision, he'll let you know."

Entouji quickly informed Volfogg of his new assignment, while R.D. nodded in confirmation. "Alright then. Come on, Ileyna," he said, motioning to the girl. She looked hesitantly up to him, almost as if uneasy to part from Mamoru just yet, then trotted back to the group.

"Now we just need to find a store that takes American currency," R.D. muttered as the girl walked past him.

They travelled back to the city. They were to shop quickly and then leave-they'd already caused enough trouble. Fair enough. Matt hated sticking around in clothing stores much longer than he needed to.

"What do you think?" he asked R.D., holding up a dress to his body. "Don't I look fabulous in this?"

R.D. was holding his head in the palm of his hand, not even looking at Matt anymore. It was all he could do not to try and set him on fire. Ileyna could only stare at Matt's current antics, feeling a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Honestly, Matt, must you try and make a fool of yourself wherever you go?" R.D. asked, refusing to look at his companion. "Its bad enough you... played that... song at the Hiroshi mansion."

"Okay, maybe the song was a bit much," Matt said, putting the dress back on the rack. "But I just like to mess around a lot. You know I'm just as capable of getting serious when I want to be. And really, considering the nature of this quest and what's gone on before, the mood needs to stay light."

Next to Ileyna, Helena held up an airy pink shirt, only for her to suddenly rear back and sneeze.

A burst of flame erupted from Helena's mouth and lingered on the shirt.

"Especially when things like this happen," Matt continued.

"Oh my God!" Helena dropped the shirt near her waist and tried to pat it out. "I'm so sorry I'm so sorry!"

R.D. flinched when he saw the flames gush out from Helena's mouth with her sneeze, but quickly helped her put it out. "Relax," he reassured her once he put the flames out. "Don't make a scene."

He fished the silver gemstone out of his bag and waved it over the burned fabric, repairing it quickly. "This thing sure is handy," he muttered, putting the gemstone back.

"I didn't mean to do that," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Helena," Matt said. "It's no big deal."

"Maybe not to YOU." Helena clenched her throat, as if to catch another burst. "I'm going back to the car."

"Helena-" But she was already walking away. Matt sighed. "Shit. R.D., go make sure she gets to the exit, I don't even know where we came in anymore."

"Yeah, alright," R.D. said. "Stick close to Matt, Ileyna."

"Okay," she said, watching as R.D. turned and trotted after Helena before turning back to Matt.

It wasn't long before R.D. caught up to her. "Hey," he said, slowing down beside her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, not looking at him as she walked. It was probably a lie.

R.D. arched an eyebrow at Helena, but the look went unnoticed. She certainly didn't sound fine to him.

"Well, if you say so," he said, continuing to walk beside her, just slightly lagging behind.

Helena walked on as the automatic doors parted for them both. She lingered to the side as they closed behind R.D..

"It's getting worse," she said.

Ah-ha. So that's what it was. He chose his wording carefully.

"Your... affliction?" R.D. replied, looking to the side at the girl.

"It's not just the fire," Helena said. "Look." She pulled her lip aside. Her incisors were pointed-not immediately obvious, but visible when you looked close. Surrounding them, her other teeth had begun to sharpen.

R.D. gave her teeth a brief look before looking back ahead. "I've seen this happen before in you," R.D. said, keeping his voice low. "But I'm not sure what could have brought it on this time. It was an... environmental problem that caused it."

"What're you talking about?" Helena asked. "What kind of environmental problem?"

"It happened on a world called Khalis," R.D. explained. "Its... a completely dead world. Even the air there was unsafe... me and Matt and Hugo were safe from it because of the Omega Core and Lumiya, but you and Alasea didn't fare so well against it. While we were there, the air was causing your body to change like its doing now... eyes, teeth, hands."

He reached into his satchel and pulled out an old item he had collected on that dead world--when his hand came out, in it was a long, shimmering bluish-white crystal, which he handed to the girl. "This was able to hold off Khalis' atmosphere while we were there... but I don't know if it'll stall what you're going through now."

Helena held the crystal for a few moments. Her knuckles tightened, and she ran a finger across her teeth. "It's not working, R.D.." She gave it back. "I don't know what's causing it, then. But I'm a bit scared now. I don't know how far it's going to go." Helena shrugged tightly. "I don't want to lose control."

R.D. nodded and stowed the returned crystal away quickly, clasping the satchel down tightly. "Its controllable," he reassured her. "Its not... pleasant in any sense of the word, but it is controllable. And if you lose control of yourself, we'll be able to bring you back. We've done that already."