Origin of the 11th

Chapter 9: Mission Complete

I arrived at the peak of Mt. Everest, where the freezing cold could be felt through Super 11's protection. The misty clouds obscured much of my vision, but not enough to hide the glory of the world from my eyes. At the peak, I felt on top of the world, as if nothing could escape my gaze. It was surprisingly exhilarating to be this high above everything else. It gave me some insight on why Julia wanted to live in the sky.

"Timothy, we still have a mission to complete." I turned around to see Julia, the real one this time, standing behind me in Mecha-G, which was filled with gashes and burn marks.

"What happened?" I asked in mild concern. I knew what had happened, and if I openly worried too much, she would take it as an insult.

"That reddish-brown Mechanon king that was covered in those spikes." Julia affirmed my suspicions with a small sigh. "He followed me after I left the city. The Mechanon kings are very strong. How did your fight go?"

"It could have gone better, but I took it down. Did you use the Core Annihilator?" I inquired, more interested in how Julia won than my own victory.

She shook her head. "I managed to power it off. Apparently all Mechanon have a hidden power switch or something. Maybe because they were made by humans." She revealed nonchalantly, looking around  the peak of Mt. Everest. "Do you know where the milk is on Mt. Everest or did the Commander not specify?"

I also looked around to see if there was any sign of the desired substance. My. Everest's peak was covered completely by snow, with no hints on how to find milk. The Commander had not specified how exactly we were supposed to obtain it, but that could just be the data we had available. "You're right." I commented, knowing fully well that it wasn't being any help to anyone, but just wanting to say it.

"Timothy, I think there's some sort of test." Julia said. And with that, she slid down to the lower part of upper Everest. I followed her, somewhat confused on why there would be a special test for something like milk.

"Like what kind of test?" I asked, but then I saw it. An extremely inconveniently placed stone tablet lay camouflaged behind a large boulder. Julia and I knelt in front of it in order to interpret what it said.

For those who seek the substance of life; thou shalt perform life giving action before this tablet. Then the shackles shall be released, and the substance of life  shall be released once again unto this world.

"What do you think it means by life giving action?" I asked, hoping that it didn't mean what I thought it meant.

"Not what you're thinking, that's for sure." Julia said, looking flustered from the suggestion and the cold. "Otherwise, a group of one sex could never unlock this thing and it doesn't mention anything about that."

I breathed a sigh of relief before continuing. "If not, then what do you think it means?" I said, sitting down on the cold snow of upper Everest. The mountain seemed very lifeless. I couldn't detect the faintest hint of wildlife that could survive the bitter cold and harsh air of the environment.

"Oh, I think I get it." Julia announced suddenly, causing me to jump in surprise.

"Have you really?" I queried, wanting to make sure that Julia wasn't just mentally fading from the cold.

"Well, at least one of the ways." Julia nodded in affirmation. Mecha-G's Core Annihilator began to power on, heating the air around us and beginning to melt the snow as it was shot upward into the atmosphere in a constant radiant beam.

"What are you doing?" I asked, deciding that, although this was not the time to argue, I had to have an explanation for why Julia was shortening her lifespan.