Pontifex Omega: Chapter 1

Waking up in a mechanical suit, Miranda Lovell, with the guide of the suit's onboard AI, Pendleton, make their way out of the facility.

Chapter 1: Unseal

Miranda Lovell lazily opened her eyes. A dark-red mist obscured her vision. She could make out two blurred shapes, simply standing in front of her. Having little strength, her limbs felt heavy, and she was unable to move them. All she could do was float, and breathe… Miranda could hear muffled sounds coming from the figures.

“Doctor Slocomb, how close is this thing to completion?” The first figure asked.

“Unfortunately, we’re still a long way off, Major Lord. This subject is the only one who’s body hasn’t rejected the enhancements, but she’s highly unstable at the moment. If we rush the test, she could become hazardous. A little more time, maybe three weeks--”

“Three weeks? The Bane aren’t gonna wait three weeks for a bunch of monkeys in lab coats to finish their little science project before they completely vaporize us! Slocomb, either you finish this soon, or we’re screwed!”

“But Major Lord--”

“Don’t but me, Doctor. I’m giving you two days!”

Miranda’s vision started to blur. Then, blackness.

…

A fizzing noise caught her attention. She jerked up, having been woken by a shock up her spine. The cryo tube, which kept her unsealed, and her body was released. Clumsily moving forward, she took small steps, her limbs even heavier.

Something wasn’t right. The heaviness she felt was not caused by drowsiness. Something was weighing her down. Finally awake, she looked at her hands. They were covered in armor…

Slowly wandering away from the pod, the reflection from a glass monitor caught her attention. Shocked at the sight, she jerked back. Miranda was clad in some sort of mechanical suit.

Her thoughts raced. What had happened to her? What did they do to her?

Suddenly, a dim-colored string of text appeared in front of her eyes.

‘ExoProto engaged. Emergency power activated. Please locate an energy core, and insert it into the slot on your chest plate.’

Confused, Miranda looked around. Walking around the control panels in the room, she came across a crystalline looking orb, with little sparks of energy inside of it. She assumed that’s what the suit was asking for. Carefully retrieving the orb, she moved it in front of her chest plate, and a brief flash of light blinded her. Then, symbols and monitors lit up in her vision. Her limbs didn’t feel as heavy, in fact, they felt unusually light, for such a heavy looking suit. Suddenly, a voice began to echo in her head.

“Greetings, Pontifex Omega. I am your on-board AI, serial number C-17-013. But, if you’d prefer something more personal, you may call me Pendleton.”

Miranda was even more confused. The suit could talk? And even more puzzling, it referred to her as “Pontifex Omega”. She wondered what that meant. Suddenly, the floor beneath her shook. Grabbing on to a nearby console, Miranda looked around for a source, but failed to find one. Whatever shook up the room came from outside. Pendleton began to talk.

“It seems the facility is being attacked. My guess is, that the Bane have begun their strike.”

This was too much for Miranda. Waking up in a mechanical suit with it’s own personality, stuck in some facility she doesn’t remember entering, and…The Bane? She froze up. She didn’t know what to do.

“I suggest immediate evacuation, Omega. Allow me to direct you on a fast and efficient path.”

A pointer appeared in Miranda’s vision.

“The door of the main entry-way has malfunctioned, rendering it useless. I have, however, found a duct under the catwalk we stand on which should lead us to the right path. Follow you’re Nav Point to the duct, and proceed to navigate through to the other side.

For a mechanical suit, it seemed pretty professional. For some reason, Pendleton’s voice seemed rather calming to her. Getting back to her senses, Miranda found a ladder heading down to the floors under the catwalk. She tried to walk, but was thrown off by the lightness in her limbs. Clumsily making her way down the ladder, she followed the Nav Point to a somewhat large air duct. She had no trouble climbing through.

Author's Note

Not bad for a beginning, don't you think?

Reviews

[A.C. Davis]

On your note, the one you wrote regarding this whole series, you wrote "but go easy on me, please." like you were worried. Well, I'm here to say that you have nothing to worry about, your story is facinating and you're not too bad at describing, either. The one thing I did have a problem with is that it's too SHORT! It felt like I was starting this great journey and then I just walked off a cliff and died! I would recomend editing this so it's longer since you have no more chapters besides this one. I hope you write more, I really do!