Experiment S20-9C

Chapter 2

Dr. Murik regarded it a while longer and then nodded to himself decisively. He gave the command to stop the ship, turning back to the dark scaled cyborg.

"You have 12 hours to find the crystal and bring it to me—time starts now."

Nodding once more, Cybertel vanished as she used her enhanced speed to begin her search. Crucetti blinked in surprise before mumbling to herself, "Little show-off; talk about teacher's pet."

Outside the ship, Cybertel paused on the hull of the craft. She closed her eyes, focusing on that pinprick of energy that had sparked on her internal radar. When the female cyborg finally located it a few miles south of her current location, Cybertel sprang into action. She took a running start before leaping off the large floating ship. The desert below came up to meet her quickly, and the dark scaled cyborg executed a perfect landing: feet planted, knees bent to absorb the impact, barely disturbing the sand around her.

After a brief pause to get her bearings, Cybertel started sprinting in the direction of the crystal, constantly checking for any enemies and confirming the direction of the crystal. She moved across the sand at a slightly slower rate than she wanted, due to the fine grains of sand absorbing some of her momenta. A minor annoyance, but the cyborg quickly adjusted herself to the terrain.

A temple rose up from the dunes, mostly buried by eons of changing sand-tides. The ship would've missed it easily, but from this angle Cybertel could spot the entrance with ease, ducking down to dart towards it. As the female cyborg approached, something else pricked her senses, and she paused to take in the new presence.

It wasn't a crystal: far too weak for that, and it moved freely. From the way its power shifted and changed, it felt more like... a person. They were headed in this direction, at a speed that implied a manmade transport of some kind—their power marveled Cybertel for a minute, feeling the same energy from this person that she gave off herself—or at least something so similar they might as well be the same thing.

The cyborg shook its head—if this new presence was coming this way, that meant whoever they were had felt this crystal too, and she needed to get the gem before they did. Cybertel couldn't tell if they were alone or not, and she slipped into the temple as she pressed her earpiece to report to Dr. Murik.

"Doctor, are you picking up any others headed this way?"

There was a pause before he answered, ["No. Are you?"]

"Yes," she replied, scanning her surroundings before picking her way through the maze of hallways. "It might read something similar to me; it's located..." she cocked her head, pausing to do the math, "several miles to the east, roughly."

Murik made a sound of intrigue, and Cybertel assumed he was looking into the matter as she continued to move closer to the center of the temple, dodging a few traps before she set them off. It didn't take very long at all, and soon the female cyborg stood in the main chamber, the crystal right in front of her and glowing with mystic energy. It was the same shape and size as the one Dr. Murik had, but this one's color was a bright pumpkin orange.

["Damn it!"]

The sound of the Doctor swearing loudly made Cybertel tense for a minute, freezing where it stood. It took her a moment to unglue herself from that spot, saying nothing to allow the scientist to explain himself as she drew closer.

["Cybertel S20-9C, get that thing, and let's go! The person you picked up is that damned Samuel Vega—he has a shadow form, so look out!"] There was the sound of a muted explosion, but this far into the temple, Cybertel couldn't hear the commotion with its other ear. ["He's brought a friend with him to keep us pinned; you have ten minutes to get back here with that jewel, you're on your own!"]