One Piece: The Freedom Fighters

Chapter 11: Techt's Greatest Laboratory

Ket and Sukato followed behind Genu as they walked down the streets of Techt. The two had finished the ramen, and Genu finally cleaned up his mess. The ramen was really good, but not worth the cost!

"Right this way!" Genu shouted, weaving between people as he walked. Ket and Sukato tried to follow suit, but had trouble with the sea of civilians. Before long, the trio arrived at the Marine base. It was three stories tall, and much more impressive than the one at Seagull Cove! Cannons lined the wall, maintaining an intimidating aura around it. "Here it is!" Genu smiled, staring up at the base with a look of sheer respect.

"Cool, lets go in!" Ket grinned, heading for the front doors. But before they could enter, Sukato poked Ket's back.

"Hey." He started, causing Ket to spin around. "Y'all go ahead, I'm going to go check out the weapons convention." He explained, grabbing Genu's attention.

"You sure you don't want to go with us?" He asked, a little disappointed. "That's... fine! I heard the convention is gonna be at a warehouse by the water, I think the one on Ness Street?" Genu explained. Sukato nodded before walking off, beginning his own mini adventure.

"Stay safe!" Ket called back. This was the first time Ket and Sukato were going to be apart since they first joined forces. He was a little worried, but Ket knew that Sukato could take care of himself. He'll be fine! With Sukato out of the picture, Ket and Genu walked into the base.

The two found themselves a grand lobby, with a big info desk, some couches, and an impressive looking fountain! It had a white coat on the walls, giving everything a modern finish. There were a few people in the lobby; Civilians were waiting on the couches while a few Marines stood guard. "I see where all the taxes go..." Ket mumbled, causing Genu to chuckle.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" He smiled, leading Ket to an elevator. The doors opened up and the two walked in. "Lets see... How about I show you the lab?" He suggested, pressing the bottommost button. The doors closed and the elevator lurched down, crawling to it's destination.

The doors eventually opened up and the two walked out. "Here we are, the lab!" Genu announced. Ket was shocked. It was HUGE! He was imagining a tiny room, but instead it was massive! They found themselves in a sprawling underground area, with rows and rows of offices. There was a hurricane of papers and equations as scientists raced back and forth, shouting out theories and orders to one another.

"Woah..." Ket said breathlessly. He couldn't believe it! The costs to keep a place like this running must be through the roof, no wonder taxes are so high!

"I know right?" Genu smiled. He was a huge fan of the lab! He led Ket down the hall, giving a lecture as he went. "The laboratory used to be an independent facility until the World Government bought it out a year ago. Ever since, we've been expanding and inventing! We produce everything from medicine to weapons!" He monologues, starting to skip along the hall.

Ket shot glances at the scientists as he passed. They were all way older than Genu, it made things a little odd. "So... You must be pretty smart, huh?" He asked, slipping his hands into his pockets. Some of the scientists gave Ket strange looks, they must not be used to outsiders visiting their domain!

"Well, I don't wanna brag but..." Genu replied dismissively, blushing a little from the praise. "Hey, here's my office!" He smiled, taking a sharp right and leading Ket through a door. His office was spacious, yet crowded. In the center was a large workbench, with a long counter that wrapped around the walls. Various bits of metal and electronics littered the room, and a huge rack of tools was hung on the wall.

"It's uh... Messy." Ket concluded, clearing off some space on the the counter before sitting down on it.

"Yeah, I keep telling myself I'll clean up..." Genu replied, perusing his tools before pulling down a hacksaw and blowtorch. "Now then, I'm gonna try to make some adjustments to my smoke bomb!"

Ket sighed, looking at Genu with a hidden sorrow. He seems so happy working for the World Government... "So... What do they do with your weapons?"

Genu looked back, a little dumbfounded by the question. "What? Defense, of course!" He responds, smiling a little as he headed over to his workbench. "The Navy uses our tools to protect others from pirates." He explains, grabbing a welding mask and slipping it on. "Without our weapons, imagine how many civilians would suffer!"

Ket listened with a frown. Genu does have a point; the Marines are constantly battling invading pirates, and doing so protects the people... But he has no idea what else their weapons are used for. "Have... Have any of your weapons been used?"

Genu shakes his head, turning on his torch to start welding bits of metal together. "Nah!" He replies, shouting over the noisy sparks flying from the torch. "I haven't submitted any of my designs for review, they're not ready yet! There's still safety precautions I need to add... Ease-Of-Access features... Most of them are still prototypes!"

"I see, I see..." Ket nodded. At least none of his inventions are finished yet! Ket looked over to his side and noticed something strange: A small pile of multicolored metal cubes. Curious, he picked one up. It was a bright green and about the size of a tennis ball. "Hey, what's this?"

Genu looked up from his welding and flipped his mask up. He squinted at the object Ket was holding before smiling. "Oh, that's a Combat Cube!" He answered, getting a puzzled look from Ket. "It's my own line of weapons that I've been working on, you wanna try it?" He asked. Ket shrugged back. Sure, why not? "Just throw it onto the workbench!" He instructed, moving out of the way. Ket lightly tossed the cube onto the bench; and the second he did, something amazing happened.

A small click emitted from the cube before it began to transform. It first began to grow into double the size, the sides shifting apart to expand. Then, three legs sprouted from the bottom, lifting the contraption into the air. The front of the cube opened up, causing a round barrel to protrude out. The device began to swivel, making soft beeps as it did so.

"It's a sentry!" Genu revealed, putting his hands on his hips in pride. Ket looked at the sentry with a mix of confusion and facinaton. It's... Incredible! "The only problem with it is that I currently have it set up to use Infrared. It works, but it could easily backfire! I wanna try to invent some kind of neurological connector device so that it'll target whoever the user wants... Though that's gonna take a while..." He explained.

"Wow..." Ket said. He really thinks of everything! Someone so young, yet so talented... He could use someone like him on his crew! Though, it's unlikely to happen. Genu's in love with the Navy, why would he ever want to fight it? But... There's no harm in asking... "Hey Genu, I was wondering..." Ket started, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Ah, hold that thought!" Genu replied, brushing off Ket as he approached the sentry. He pressed a button on the back, causing the device to quickly retract back into a cube. Afterwards, he went to the door and opened it. A Marine was standing on the other side, looking down at Genu.

"Genu Engum?" He asked, causing the inventor to nod. "Vice-Admiral Rebound wants you in his office." He announced. Ket looked to the Marine with concern. The Vice-Admiral? Now? Hopefully they haven't already caught on to him...

Genu looks a little confused, but grins anway. "Yes sir, I'll be there right away." He replies. The Marine nods before walking off, and Genu looks over to Ket. "Stay here, and please don't touch anything!" He requested, leaving the office. Ket opened his mouth to talk, but Genu had already left before he could get a word in.

As Genu walked down the hall, he felt a pit growing in his stomach. His mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusions; did he do something wrong? Is he gonna get fired?! No, no... He didn't do anything, he's sure of it! Genu took a deep breath as he approached the elevator. "Okay..." He muttered, pressing the button and walking in. Everything will be just fine...