The future memories

Subject: The future memories Sat May 25, 2013 6:08 pm

Nothing seemed to suffice lately; nothing seemed to be like it used to be. The young woman sighed, turning away from the darkened window that was granting her a view over the moonlit garden of their palace. When you could have all what the world could give you, it was very difficult to understand and accept when a wish was denied. Her father was dying, that was a fact, and there was nothing she could do about that, which was another fact. This situation caused the young female to sleep a bit less than she used to. Her restless nights were becoming something regular and didn’t do her mood any good. It was the middle of the night, but Kasumi didn’t care. Opening the door of her room, she left it, closing it with a soft click when it fell into place. The hall was softly lit, as she walked, the girl wondered if the guards had gone to bed. It’d be rather unusual, but lately there were a few things that had become unusual. Kasumi had thought about it, and decided that it was time to act. She did have the full command over the army, because her father had grown too old for it a few years ago. There were a few things that had to change, nothing too important, but people had to know that there still was someone to lead them. The army clearly knew that, but there were others who thought that their positions as advisors and so on, made them too good for laws. That would change and Kasumi would be the one to make sure of that.

Walking out of the hall, she turned towards the stairs just to see that there were two guards at the side of it if you looked down. So it seemed that they didn’t feel like being put back in place by her like the last time. Back then her father had been at the hospital for a short time, while her mother had stayed there. With Kasumi out of the house, the place had pretty much been empty with an exception of a few servants. This piece of the palace only had the rooms of the royal pair and their daughter. Back then the guards had decided to take a break, thinking it was unnecessary to stay when the family was away for a few days. Once the princess had returned, she made sure to remind them of their duty. Nobody left their posts unless they were dismissed. If you were on a battle field and there was no enemy in sight that did not mean that you could take a break or go make a walk. Unexpected things happened everywhere and all the time, one had to be prepared for that. She hadn’t been mad about the fact that they weren’t guarding a partly empty palace. She had been furious about the fact that they had ignored their duty.

As she walked down the stairs, the guards didn’t turn around at first, only when she reached the bottom, they slightly turned to make a bow. One of them didn’t look at her, probably still worried about the later encounter. Though Kasumi wasn’t unreasonable, they had been there and now it was forgotten and forgiven. Of course as long as they wouldn’t make the same mistake again, then it could turn out quite troublesome. The other man, seem to know that and after giving her a warm smile, which she returned, he spoke.

“Kasumi-sama, in case you would like to head out, I’d recommend putting on a coat, it is quite fresh outside during the night.”

The comment made her smile politely, while she nodded and headed around the big stairs into another room. She’d go through some halls and end up at the backside of the place. There was no need to use the front door if she wanted to walk in the garden. Taking in account the thing her guard had just told her, she picked a jacket from a room that held some of her shoes and jackets that she frequently used around the house. After having put it on, Kasumi figured that once again she didn’t quite look anything like royalty. One of those things she and her mother could never agree on, were her looks. The silver haired female left the warmth of the palace walls to enter the garden, being hit by the cold air of the night.

If you looked at her relationship with her father, it was a quiet and strong one. Not taking in account most of their fights that stayed between them, going about different views on the kingdom and its relationships with the other nations, they got along very well. Some could think that he would have been disappointed having a daughter. But he never ever let her feel that she wasn’t good enough. More than once he had told her that he was proud to have an heir like her. A strong willed woman, who, despite her playful and proud nature, could come down to business and take care not only for herself, but for the most around her. Of course she was still young and there were a lot of things she had to learn about. But that would come with time, experience and knowledge was something you had to gain on your own. Even when people warned you not to make the mistakes they’ve made, you wouldn’t quite listen. In the end you had to go through something, in order to fully understand it.

The wind was tugging at her hair, and her pink eyes turned a bit to the side, noticing motion a few hundred yards away. Her sight was pretty much perfect, and she could see a guard walking parallel to her. A sigh escaped her lips while she put her hands in her jacket. Someone must have seen her go outside, and one of the guards had followed her. It was always like that, someone somewhere was looking out for her. When she had been younger, around the age of 15, 16, it had quite bothered her. The young princess wasn’t really princess-like. She used to climb out of her window, in order to get on the roof and slide down the side of the palace over the kitchens in the west side to get away unseen. More than once she had been busted, scolded and grounded afterwards. Such reckless behavior could bring the future ruler in grave danger. But what teenager would care about the future when you could have fun, even if you were the heir to the European Kingdom?

Walking between the Sakuras, Kasumi looked at the fountain that was lying ahead of her. When she had been small, the girl had been fond of the trees after visiting Japan. As the daughter of the king, she had travelled quite a lot, even though sometimes places hadn’t been too safe to go to. But then again, there were occasions where the presence of her father was needed in abroad, and then she always took the chance to go with him. Later on, she represented him from time to time, going alone. In Japan she had seen the trees back when she was small. And after returning home, she had asked her mother if they could have them as well. With wide pink eyes and a bright face, the little Kasumi was able to convince her mother rather easily. She had let the trees be planted, already partly grown, and now about 15 years later, the young Sakuras were blooming once again. It had been a surprise that they actually adapted themselves, but Kasumi was very happy about that.

Another few steps and she had reached the fountain in the middle of the garden, which looked more like a giant park. The water was making a soft, calming noise as it flowed from the statue in the middle. Sitting on the edge of it, she reached over the white marble into the clear water. It was cold, even colder now that it was night and there was no sun to warm it up. You could see the moon being reflected in the middle of the water. The image flickered a bit due to the waves which were caused by Kasumi’s hand dipping into the water. For the last few weeks she had been coming here for almost every night. Next day would be a day off; she wouldn’t need to visit the central of the military base close by to talk with the current generals. It was a time of peace, for now. But one could never know when that was about to change. Hence they were always ready if the situation would turn around. Sitting up straight, she allowed the night breeze to caress her hand while letting some water she had scooped up fall back. Wondering if this could be a chance to go visit an old friend, the woman got up and waved her hand trying to dry it. She’d have to be quick and she’d have to partly sneak out. Not because she wasn’t old enough to go where she wanted, but because of the tensed situation around the family. There were always those who tried to get information to write about in the papers. She didn’t feel like giving an interview in the middle of the night. Or trying to explain a picture of herself in the papers while she was walking around the streets on her own. Walking back towards the door, she could see the guard returning to the side of the building. He was probably positioned there to keep an eye on the park-like garden. With a sly grin on her face, she sneaked around the other side of the manor, not going inside. She walked towards a door that would lead to the garage, which was a floor beneath the enormous house. With the keys she had in her pocket, she opened it before closing it behind her and putting on the light on her right side. That motor looked good enough, she decided, picking up a dark helmet so her face would be covered. Even during night, Kasumi always used the ones with the glass that one couldn’t look through. The chances of being seen by someone she didn’t want to be seen by were small, but who knew. Again she thought about how unpredictable life was.

Amazing, the feeling of natural forces, tugging at your body while you flew over the road at a high speed. The gravel flew to the side from beneath her wheels when she flew out of the open gate of the garage. It auto closed behind her while she rode down the ramp and made her way out of the royal gates down the road to the city. It’d take a while to get there, but she didn’t mind, enjoying the ride as long as it would last.

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“Never expected you to be here at such an hour, it’s been a while girl, come on in!”

Without saying much, she got pulled inside the apartment of her best friend. A fine flat at the edge of the town, currently inhabited only by Shizuka. They had been friend for probably the most part of their life now. Having been studying together ever since elementary school. Shizuka’s parents were one of those richer people around them, not quite nobility but pretty much with the same rights. Her father was one of the generals; probably the only general Kasumi actually listened to as if it was her own father. Her mother was a kind woman who was a surgeon at the biggest hospital of the capital. She was the one who was helping Kasumi’s father at the moment, though even while she was one of the best, the whole situation didn’t look too good. The whole family had a good name, and Shizuka was working on the complicated and sophisticated electronic devices for the military. Not only working on them, she was leading a recent project about new weapons and how to connect them to the soldiers, to make the aiming and reaction time as optimally as possible.

“Didn’t expect it myself to be honest.”

With the door closed she took of her shoes before progressing into the house. You could see the city in the distance, the lights burning bright against the dark sky. It wasn’t just the edge of the city, it was the other side, situating a bit higher, as if on the side of a mountain.

“Well sit down and talk.”

Her friend yawned before letting herself fall back into a soft looking couch of white leather. She pulled up her legs and grinned. Her black hair was hanging loosely over her shoulders and her bright green eyes were directed at the silver haired woman. After a moment she sat on the other couch that was placed straight over the first one and relaxed before speaking about what’s been on her mind lately.

Words: 2183 (GP – 21 + 10 = 31)

Subject: Re: The future memories Mon May 27, 2013 12:27 pm

approved for 31 GP

Subject: Re: The future memories Mon May 27, 2013 3:57 pm

Soft noises of cars driving by from time to time somewhere on the streets down below, tugged at Kasumi’s mind, bringing her back from a deep sleep, forcing her to open up her eyes. No, she didn’t want to wake up just yet, she really didn’t feel like going back to reality and have to actually do stuff. For once, she wanted to be lazy and stay right here on this comfortable couch. While nobody actually knew where she was, except from Shizuka that is, but her friend wouldn’t kick her out too quickly. With a sigh she turned around, covering her head with the blanket, before hearing a sound around her. Footsteps. Oh no, she thought while trying to act like she wasn’t awake. Did her friend actually got up early today? Or wait a second.. Tossing the blanket aside she sat up straight before covering up a yawn.

“About damn time you’d wake up, if it had been 8 years ago they’d have probably sent out a whole section of the army to look for you.”

“Is it that late?”

“Really? It’s almost time for dinner. Did you even sleep lately?”

That was a really good question, because she hadn’t slept enough. It did have been a while since she had slept so long and so deep. A grin appeared on her face as a response and Shizuka shook her head, leaving the room. Her voice was coming somewhere from out of the kitchen when Kasumi smelled food.

“You should get up and get yourself ready, there is something I want to show you.”

“Oh my god, I’m dying, what are you making? Can’t we look at whatever you’d designed another time, I really feel like being lazy today.”

“You always feel like being lazy, admit it.”

There was laughter in Shizuka’s voice, and Kasumi had to laugh as well, rolling from the couch. Okay, that was the reason you had friends. They were the ones that said the things as they were, right in your face. And Kasumi appreciated that a lot. Certainly in her position, when there were only a few she could trust. And barely new people she could get to know without the formalities, it made her happy that her friend had never changed. Shizuka was the one who could easily scold her or put her back in place no matter the topic. Stretching out, the silver haired female headed into the direction of the kitchen. Whatever this was, it smelled deliciously.

“Okay, okay, that is true. But can I have a bit of your amazing cooking before we go?”

Making it sound like she wouldn’t get any food, Kasumi deserved a big grin. Kasumi wasn’t used to cooking, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t, there was just no need to. Hence she never made anything that was actually taking a lot of time or effort. The food was always ready when it had to be. Some people would think that it’s amazing, and it was handy, but sometimes she just wanted to be able to make her own food. Burn it or mess it up without a servant around who tried to help her so it’d work out well.

They ate while discussing a few things, and Kasumi had found out that her friend had already been called. It’d probably be her mother if not one of the people around her. She could bet that they had found out that she hadn’t returned from her night walk. But for now she didn’t feel like bothering herself with that. Shizuka had texted that Kasumi was alright and they seemed to have calmed down. Amazing how everyone still could make a hassle out of something so unimportant. Luckily she didn’t need to explain stuff now like she used to do.

An hour later Kasumi had refreshed herself and was perfectly ready to leave. They decided to take Shizuka’s black range rover, with the darkened windows. It wasn’t night now, and Kasumi still didn’t feel like being seen by too many others. So closing the flat’s door behind them, they headed towards the garage using the elevator. It was an old looking one, always amazing Kasumi that it was still here. Why would someone place an old model inside a new, modern building? Not that she really complained about it, the thing worked, and that was the most important part. As the soft ring announced that they had reached the garage level, Kasumi walked out of it following her friend. She had parked her motor next to Shizuka’s car last night. Thinking about it, she would need to get the vehicle back home somehow. Well that would be something to worry about later on. Passing through the dark garage, she saw other vehicles from the people who lived on the other floors. There was some water on the ground, and the woman walked around it, wondering why it was there. She couldn’t remember that it had been raining last night, had she slept through the rain this morning? Shrugging it off, she got into the car with Shizuka behind the wheel. There was something about those green eyes that told her that it would be worth it.

“Alright, now I’m terribly curious about where we’re heading.”

“Oh just you wait.”

With those words, the black rover with some green signs on the back doors rode into the sun.

__________

The sun was still shining bright, though it was starting to set, when they drove through the city. It wasn’t as busy as it could be, probably because it was a sunny Sunday evening. As they crossed the bridge that was going over the river, she could see some boats on it. Kasumi had never been the type who liked boats too much. She just didn’t like the unknown depth beneath her feet. When you were on land, you could run and depend on your own strength to get away from whatever. But in the water, if you’d drop in the middle of an ocean, well chances were small that you’d ever survive. It wasn’t as if she never swam, she just preferred to use a car, or a plane to get where she had to be, or of course a Knightmare. The one she had been using now wasn’t the type she liked. It was a good machine, smooth and advanced, but somehow the white thing wasn’t something she could consider more than a bunch of metal glued together.

“Well, here we are.”

With a quick motion of her hand, Shizuka had put out the radio while slipping and stopping in front of the technology developing building. Kasumi’s eyes narrowed while she turned her head towards her friend. What? Did she actually drag Kasumi out of for this? She knew that her friend was enthusiastic but this was going too far, it was a god damned Sunday.

“You have to be kidding me. Shizuka, you are officially a total workaholic now.”

Passing through the gates, they parked the car at the entrance of the building. There was barely anyone around, except from the guardian. The institute was closed, but Shizuka could get in everywhere. Her genius friend had the permission to be there whenever she wanted to. And of course, for Kasumi it wasn’t a problem to get in either, seeing as this was a part of the military project. But why in the world were they here now?

“Couldn’t you show me what you want to show me now, tomorrow?”

“Stop complaining like a little kid, I bet you’ll change your mind once you’ll actually see it.”

Following the blacker haired woman, Kasumi couldn’t help but getting excited. What was this about? Well she definitely wanted to show her something special. Had they made some sort of progress here lately? It had been a week since the last time Kasumi had been here. Not too long, but with the speed these folks were working, they could’ve built a brand new battle ship by now. They walked through the halls, getting to the second elevator of the day that brought them to the techno-lab. That’s how Kasumi had nicknamed the enormous space beneath the earth surface, full of new gadgets and mechanical parts.

“Well I remembered how you nagged about the operating system from your frame, the riffle gun, the lack of close combat and practically everything about it.”

Alright, fair enough. Kasumi had been an ass about it, there was no denying that. But what was about it? She grinned a bit, while Shizuka continued with her explanation. They had gone through the hall and opened up the double door with a special pass. Now they had to scan their irises in order to get further into the facility. Their bodies had already been scanned while they had walked through the white hall from the elevator.

“So I decided to restyle it, or well, I decided to make you another one. One that would suit you better, at least that’s how I think.”

Another one? Slightly confused Kasumi allowed her eye to get scanned before they entered the space. It could be described as a large hyper modern garage, full of the latest technology. It was empty now; no one was around because even the developers of new systems and weapons had a day off. It wasn’t always that empty though, there were emergency projects sometimes, or things that had to get ready, or sometimes there were just people around like Shizuka, who loved doing their job.

The light revealed what Shizuka had been talking about the moment they had entered the place. It was a new Knightmare that was situated at the side of the platform they were standing on, kept in place by a few large threads that came down hanging from the ceiling. It weren’t just threads, probably electronic cables that were feeding and supporting the proto type. You could clearly see that it was the latest model, but it was so much better than the one Kasumi had now. The one she had now was probably the strongest device they had at this point. But it just didn’t suit the girl; she didn’t feel the connection she just had found with this mysterious mecha. It was high, probably between 5 and 6 meters if she had to estimate it right away. The color was something she already loved; black and gold. It had a fierce look even while it wasn’t even started up. Astonished and speechless, she turned around to see a satisfied Shizuka who had put on her lab coat.

“How do you like it?”

That voice. She knew that she had impressed Kasumi enough to turn her into a little kid again. Without even thinking, she already climbed up the side to get into the cockpit. It had been open and she slid down the soft black leather seat, Kasumi’s grin grew wider.

“My god! Shizuka, this is awesome! When did you even find the time to make it?! You’re a genius I tell you!”

As the silver haired girl kept on going about how incredible this creation was, Shizuka laughed climbing up next to her. She had pulled out the cables that had been attached to the sides. The second seat; that was behind the one made to operate with the machine seemed to be one that could be used for transport.

“Made that one especially for yourself, didn’t you?”

Kasumi grinned before feeling a soft thud on her head, something slowly slid down her hair, falling into her lap.

“Keys, will you shut up and start it already?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Mockingly she put the key into the machine, starting it. It was amazing, far better than the other one. Asking what its code was, Kasumi got the laughing answer. It wasn’t too bad, it sort of suited the look of this giant.

“Well, allow Mr. Ember to take you on a ride.”

They wouldn’t go outside, it’d get too much attention, but there was a whole parcours made for testing out the frames. So Kasumi could have some fun without a military reason. Setting it in motion, she felt how smooth he moved. Damn this was so great; she’d definitely need to get Shizuka something for this. Knowing her friend she’d be happy with more secret projects and special details that could only be purchased with high orders. Not that it was ever a problem, all Shizuka had to do was pick up the phone and call her friend. There had been a few very funny situations because of that. Then again, each and every time, their faces when Kasumi called or appeared, telling them that it was an order she had given, the were damn priceless.

“Let’s see if all the work has paid off.”

Words: 2139 (21 +10 =31GP)

Subject: Re: The future memories Tue May 28, 2013 5:39 pm

Hell yea, this thing was awesome. The motions were so quick and smooth; she went from left to right, following the parcours’ curves. Turning around she tried to ride backwards, which went perfectly. There was no pause needed, the machine was as if it was her body itself. Turning in mid-air, she landed before seeing the first dummy appear. It was an old version of the current Knightmare frames that were being used in battle. They were all broken, set up to practice on. You could fire at it, practicing aiming at targets, but you could also kick, smash or just dodge them. Seeing something interesting, Kasumi set her idea in motion. You could see from outside how the black and golden frame took something from its hip, as if it was a hilt. Wait, it was a hilt. Activating it, Kasumi could see how a katana was formed. The red blade consisted from something rather close to a laser, but not quite. You could still definitely see the shape of a blade in it. Swinging it she grinned when the point of the blade met the shoulder of the dummy. Oh my, she’d molest all those frames around here by the end of this evening. Shizuka laughed somewhere behind her, mentioning how she had expected her to like it. With one swing, Kasumi was able to cut through the frame in front of her, before turning around just to see how the metal hit the ground. Cut clean into two pieces, the wreck was glued to the floor. There was no explosion, the frames weren’t active, they had no battery or any energy source inside of them. Proceeding to the next one, Kasumi’s pink eyes burned brightly before she kicked the frame in its face. Pieces of metal and plastic flew towards all sides when her foot crushed the head. With a flip in the air, the young princess managed to land on its back, before totally decapitating it. Still excited like a small kid, Kasumi proceeded to do a few more maneuvers, before being able to switch her attention to her friend.

“I’m not even sure of how to thank you for this, this blade..”

She swung it a few times, and the red katana was shown a few times through the viewing window. They could follow everything on the screens. And not just electronically, this one was made the way that she also had an actual view for about 180°.

“I love it.”

“You love the blade? You’ll go nuts for the new flying system then, try it out, though please don’t go through the roof like that one time.”

Oh, that time. Assuring Shizuka that she wouldn’t dare to do such a thing again, Kasumi activated the wings. Red energy was forming two big wings, one on each side of her shoulder. Back then it had been her first Knightmare and Kasumi had been too enthusiastic. A 16 year old with too much energy and a permission to test her first frame, a quite bad combination if you asked her. She had gone through the roof of the practice space. Ending up in the first floor’s laboratory, causing quite some damage. The only reason why she hadn’t been arrested was because nobody actually had the authority to do so. They had only stared at her in astonishment, before Shizuka’s dad was called in. Kasumi had never seen him yell at Shizuka, she could barely imagine that he could. And luckily, he hadn’t been yelling at her friend, but at the young princess. It was the first and only time he had gone that mad. She could still remember him call her a cheeky and irresponsible brat, only being able to get away with this because of Fortuna’s merciful deeds of giving Kasumi the privilege of being born in royalty. That had been a quite interesting day. Facing her father had been less scary; he just shook his head, telling her that he fully agreed with his first general later on. The scientists and soldiers who had been around had almost died from the shock. Nobody dared to comment on Kasumi ever, not to speak of raising his voice. But Kasumi hadn’t mind, she had felt guilty and even apologized for being so reckless. The next time everything had gone smoothly and a few months later she was fully capable of operating the frame.

“Nah don’t worry about it, not planning to make that much of a mess.”

Dashing forward, the machine left the ground the moment she spread the wings, it had some awesome speed. And even with that it was still perfectly steerable. They were heading back to the start of the parcours and everything was flashing back. Spreading them more, she landed next to the first dummy she had cut in two.

“Check out the attacking ability.”

“Attacking one?”

“Yea I put that in, I know you like it flashy.”

“You bet!”

With a turn, it formed a cocoon around the frame, another turn of her hand and the wings were spreading again. A few hundreds of scattered laser beams were flying into the direction of the wreck on the ground. Pushing back, Kasumi wanted to make sure that there would be no damage from the flying pieces. But she wasn’t close enough and the fire from the explosion was about the hit her. When it got blocked by a shining shield that formed itself all around the mecha.

“Did you actually worry about getting damaged by that? You’re offending me, Kasumi.”

This was actually too good to be true.

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Words: 936 (GP 9)