"No one can dispute the fact that the return of the pioneering gate explorers was a great turning point in history, much less me. I am just stating my opinion that the invention of the AI companion chip had a much greater significance. "
- Gerald Smith, Director of the Earth Technological Research Institute
- West Weapons Conglomerate Southeast Asian Branch HQ
With only one week left till graduation, Valerian West felt that he was cutting it close with all the preparation he had yet to complete. In fact, he was completing one of the more troublesome tasks left, the acquisition of something that he would like to call his "Ace in the hole". He had been working on this particular item for almost a year now, on his own, in secret. It was common sense that an effective trump card is one that your enemies know nothing about, and he had gone to great lengths to ensure that even his family knew close to nothing about it.
His window of opportunity would come in 15 minutes, when he would switch places with his body double, giving him some time to sneak off towards the R&D department. In the meantime, he continued with his workout, his mind on the revised blueprint he had worked on. As the appointed time approached, he finished his workout and proceeded towards the showers, nodding towards the other people making use of the company gym. Heading towards the back, he stepped into the second-last stall on the right, rinsing off the sweat that he worked up over the past hour. The sound of the running water covered his light knocking of the wall, and soon after, a small backpack came sliding under the partition.
Dressing himself with the outfit from the backpack, Valerian waited till he heard the sound of someone exiting from the last stall before he made his own exit from the shower room. Staring at the mirror, he made sure that his black hair was completely hidden under the blonde wig. Putting on a pair of glasses found in his chest pocket, he was satisfied that the person in the mirror looked nothing like him. Upon leaving the shower room, he headed towards the lift lobby confidently. A lucky break presented itself in the form of an empty lobby, and with the quiet ring announcing the arrival of the service lift, Valerian thought to himself, "All according to plan." As he entered the lift, he tapped his ID on the scanner. Immediately, the lift doors slammed shut as the lift went into lock-down.
[Unrecognised ID detected, please confirm identity.]
As the electronic voice echoed in the empty lift, the lift panel slide open to reveal various identity verification devices, while the whirl of motors signalling the activation of gun emplacements above. Strangely, the smile on Valerian's face belied the seriousness of the situation.
Activating the various devices in a specific order, Valerian went through the various checks with a practiced ease.
[Identity confirmed, welcome to the Zeroth Research Division, Mr West.]
The lift doors slid open, and the now familiar sight of a dimly lit corridor littered with closed doors appeared before him.
"Very funny Jarvis," uttered Valerian. He was pretty sure the AI had recognised him despite the disguise.
"Well Jarvis, this will probably be my last time here, at least, for the foreseeable future. But I'll be back, in due time."
[Understood, Young Master.]
Moving quickly, Valerian soon found the room he was looking for. Scanning his palm print, the door opened to his personal laboratory. Turning on the display, he quickly got to work, picking up where he left off, putting the finishing touches on his very own masterpiece. As soon as he was done, he activated the multi-fabricator, which completed his latest project of many months. With a hiss of released pressure, a compartment on the fabricator popped open. Once the steam cleared up, he could finally see his work in all its glory, twin pistols, one matte-black, one bright silver. He had designed them as an homage to his favourite half-devil, but had yet to come up with a suitable name for his newly created masterpiece. As he stared lovingly at his first original design, their names came to him in a flash of inspiration.
Putting the twin pistols back in the fabricator, he reset the fabricator and had their names inscribed. Artemis & Apollo. Keeping the pistols into a pre-prepared attache case, he quickly departed the division. After contacting his body double, he found an appropriate place to make the switch. As Valerian handed over the case, he sighed, "One down, many more to go..."
