MEKA BORN: UNKNOWN

000

A burst of bubbles slid up his body. His eyes shot open to nothing but a greenish hue liquid that has encased his body. A cooled pressure held him off the ground, weightless and floating. He exhaled, another stream of small bubbles came from something strapped to his face.

He reached up, and felt some sort of mask. Forcing air into his lungs, then exhaling into a stream of bubbles. He tried to peel the mask off, an electric shock rocketed through his body, and made him let go. A blinking red light caught the corner of his eye.

"Do not touch the mask." A woman's voice spoke, but there was no woman nearby. Was it his mother? Or someone else?

He tried to see passed the greenish liquid he was submerged in. There seemed to be an edge to the liquid, and darkness on the other side of that edge. The only light allowing him to see was emanating beneath him, making the greenish cooled liquid glow a radioactive neon.

He reached out, little stubbly fingers, and a fat arm stretched out before him. He was a baby, at least that's what he pictured himself to be. He raised his other hand, the same stubbly fingers, and chubby white arm. So he was a baby, couldn't be at least one or a few months old.

He looked to his right, and saw another baby floating in another vat of liquid right next to his. The tank was cylindrical, mostly glass, except for the base and lids. The baby next to him was floating in the same liquid, with a mask on too. Ropes of wires swirled and floated above the baby, leading to the mask, and nape of the neck. At the neck, the cords seemed to go into the baby's skin. He hoped the baby wasn't hurt.

The baby had small sprouts of bright red hair flowing aimlessly attached to it's scalp. Then he realized he was in the same position as the baby in the tank next over. And he too, had wires in the nape of his neck.

With his stubbly hand, he reached back behind his head and touched something cold and hard at the nape of his neck. His fingers found the wires, then he received another electric shock. This time, worse and longer than the first.

"Do not touch the wires!"

The woman's voice spoke again, this time it sounded angrier. He decided it was best not to test for a third shock.

To the left of him was another tank, with another baby, in the same position. It seemed to him that there were far more than just him and two others. The only difference was that the baby to his left had longer strands of pink hair floating in the liquid. And the baby didn't have what he and the boy to his right had. It was not a boy, but a girl.

Suddenly, a bright consuming light filled the darkness outside of his tank, startling him, forcing him to close his eyes from the sudden brightness. Then he heard muffled voices walk in.

After a few painful seconds, his eyes finally adjusted to the now brightly lit room. He was in a large room, filled with hundreds of other tanks, each one filled with babies the same exact size as him. The floors, walls, and ceiling were pure bright white, almost as if they were emitting the pure white light, that now consumed the room.

Two figures walked in, and came up to a tank a few rows down. Their clothes were all white, like they worked here. One man, and another female. The man was taller, and the woman shorter and holding some sort of tablet.

"Shame..." the man spoke in a calming voice. "PNK-223 seems to have died."

"Ah I see..." The woman said, her voice shook with nervousness. "I'll flush it."

He heard a few beeps, then a loud sound of a tank filled with water being drained quickly. It was down his row, so he couldn't see what was happening. The two people moved to a tank closer to his.

"This one is alive," the man said. "Any significance to him?"

"Let me check it's projections...." The woman said. "28% projected Sync. No projected skills either."

"I see..." the man said.

"Should I flush it? The Unit will most likely die quickly," the woman said.

"Go ahead, it's best not to delay the painful inevitable for him... goodnight my child," the man said. Then the same flushing noise rang out.

The two moved to the tank to his left. He could see them clearly now. The woman was shorter, had tightly pulled back dark hair and thin glasses. Her hands were shaking, and the tablet shook with. The man however was completely calm. He was tall, stood proud, and kept his hands behind his back. He had a soft look on his aging face, and black hair that started to gray at the temples.

"This is RED-199. One of our best projected Units in this Class," the woman said.

"Go on," the man nodded.

"Projected Sync is at 79%. And has a number of projected skill traits that will make it formidable in a Meka," the woman said. "Although... it's projected Confident Levels are...exceedingly high."

"Oh my," the man chuckled. "I predict he will be quite the hot head." The man turned, then settled down with the girl infront of his tank now. A small smile curled at the corner of the mans face. "What's this Units information? He's the one who was accidently formed in the recent Reaper attack, isn't that right?"

"Um... y-yes Father," the girl spoke. "The Reapers attacked nearby, and a large explosion hit very close. Temporarily knocking out power, and shaking the whole facility. The Lab Tech making this Class of Units, got spooked. And accidently knocked all of the genetic material at their station into a mixer. They panicked and filled this Units vial with the mixture solution and turned it in. She has since been delt with."

"I see..." the man spoke, stepping near his tank. "What... is his Serial Number?"

"His vial turned a color we've never seen before... black," the woman said nervously. "So... we named him BLK-001. We confirmed the name once we saw the Units hair start to grow a few hours ago. It's black...as you can see."

"Interesting... very interesting," the man said, he brought up a finger, and pressed it to the tank. "What's his Projections?"

"Unknown, sir," the woman said.

"Stats? Skills? Race? Sanity?" the man said, moving his finger along the glass of the tank. He followed the fingers tip.

"All... unknown sir..." the woman said.

"I think... he's awake...and alert... like he understands us right now," the man said, he moved his finger up and down. He followed it, and nodded with the movement.

"That's impossible sir!" the woman squeaked. "We just put in the Embryos three days ago. Even with the rapid growth liquid, the Unit would not get full mental function for at least another four days."

"I see..." the man said. "He's very...interesting... tag him for me. I wish to watch his growth."

"Are you sure we shouldn't just flush the Unit? There's no way to know if it's even going to have mental function," the woman said.

The man placed his palm against the glass. He copied, pressing his tiny chunky hand against the glass, in the mans palm. The lady gasped, and the man smiled.

"BLK-001 is it?" the man said. "Nice to meet you, my name is Father. I find you very interesting, I'll be watching your training."