The Search for ZKW

[Craines]

Fiona entered the Defiant's docking bay, marveling at the Rheinland architecture. She hadn't set foot on a real Rheinland vessel for almost 12 years... it felt good to hear her steps echo around the halls. Beside her, humming some old Terran tune, was the floating robot deSicev. A strange little orb, it was abnormally smart and had a personality that was all it's own. The screen, the only flat part of the orb, had a face on it, complete with a beard. However, it was all mechanized, and looked nothing like a human.

"I have a dream... a song to sing... to help me cope... with anything... If you see the wonder of a fairy tale... you can take the future... even if you fail..." sang the little robot. Fiona kicked him, to receive a slight jolt to her leg. "Pardon me, Madam deLuna!" the robot chided. "But you know my shield is never down. Please excuse the injury!"

"Don't worry about it. Just stop that infernal racket," the Ambassador said, clenching her teeth and rubbing her calf muscle. Placid, the little robot continued to hover near her. The soldier that was guiding the two stopped in front of a blast door. The ornate, yet strong, door was the traditional Rheinland green, and the emblem of the Chancellor was emblazoned across the length. The door opened from the bottom up, sliding upwards, so when it was closed, it was closed. Unless, of course, you wanted to try and cut through 10 inches of hull-grade steel.

The door opened with a rattling hiss. A small plume of the gases used to open the behemoth of a door escaped, condensing in the air. Fiona and deSicev entered the room, to be greeted by two nice-looking people, a man and a woman, some techie, and a metal sarcophagi. A nice looking table was the focal point of the room, and the man gestured for Fiona to sit down. She obliged, and the man and woman followed suit. The technician left the room, and the metal coffin sat in the room, ominously.

"Thank you for meeting with me..." Fiona began. However, she was interrupted by a mechanized voice, booming from some point in the room.

"We know who you are. The Inquisition has been looking into the incident above Gran Canaria for some time now, and you seem to have played a major part of that."

DeSicev spoke up. "The Inquisition? Pah! You people couldn't discover what happened between your own pockets, let alone the happenings of Doctor Artifice. So let me tell you this: thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing.. thanks for all the...OOF!" Fiona poured a glass of water on the robot, resulting in an eruption of steam. The man and woman looked at Fiona quizzically, confused why a cloud of hot water was rising from her side of the table. DeSicev hovered onto the table, where three legs opened up to support him. Fiona was as amazed as the two people. She had never seen deSicev with legs!

"Excuse my.. uh, pet advisor. Thing. He is called deSicev, and he has a rather interesting past. I can't shut him up, and he has this shield that stops me from directly accessing his hard drive."

The mechanical voice resumed it's discourse. Fiona still didn't know where it was coming from. "Roddy and Rita tell me you may know something about the artifact. Is this true?"

Fiona coughed. "Yes. It might be something linked to the theory of zero degrees Kelvin. That theory..."

"States that in the event that someone can lower an atom's temperature down to zero Kelvin, it will collapse the atom, thus destroying matter. But that theory cannot be correct, for zero Kelvin can't be obtained!" the voice said, cutting her off.

The male, Roddy, Fiona presumed, cleared his throat. "My lord, perhaps we should listen to what the granddaughter of Doctor Artificer has to say?"

Rita chipped in. "Yes, my liege, the Inquisition's Artifact Lab isn't making much headway..."

Fiona looked at the two sitting across from her. "Who is this 'lord' you keep talking to? And who is that voice?"

The sarcophagi rumbled forwards, making Fiona jump a little. "I am their lord," it said. The front of the metal coffin opened up, revealing... Fiona gasped, and fainted in horror.

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