Trouble from the Future (Skeith x Solita)

[Skeith Takahata II]

The autumn had come to a close, and the first snows of winter were beginning to fall. All the better, as it was just another excuse for the brilliant and introverted Reina to remain locked up in her dorm room. Her college life had become quiet and dull, her friends were few, and of them, none were all that close. She preferred it that way. Her real friends were her books.

Today she sat upon her bed, wrapped in her heavy blanket, with her books sprawled about in front of her. Programming texts, and advanced robotics. Ever since her youth she had been fascinated by the idea, but she never really had to motivation to actually try to build anything. At least nothing complex.

Despite the calm nature of her afternoon, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was forgetting to do something important. A quiet beeping came from her computer. "Ugh, who is it now?" Someone was trying to send her a message, and as much as she wanted to ignore it, something pulled her to check it. Maybe it was a teacher, or a worried friend. She lazily moved from her bed to sit at the computer. "That's odd." She examined the name on the messenger quizzically. "Who's this?" She opened the message curiously.

 

[Solita]

Oh thank goodness! I was afraid that you might not be there! Hello Reina. I'm sorry to spring all of this on you so suddenly, but time is quite precious at the moment. You are in mortal danger right now, and I need you to trust me just enough to let me help you. You need to download this audio file immediately, and have it prepared to play at a moment's notice. I'm not even slightly exaggerating when I say that your life depends on it.

Below the rather odd message, there appeared a blue link in the form of a jumble of numbers and symbols, almost akin to some sort of IP address than any web URL. As the message had said, this link was prepared to automatically download a small five-second audio clip onto Reina's computer if she chose to open it.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

"Mortal danger?" Reina cocked an eyebrow as she read the bizarre message. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?" She asked aloud as she moved her cursor over the link. If it were a scam, or some hacker, they would be shocked to find a genius at the other end of the connection capable of destroying their software and turning them into the law. If it were a joke, she failed to see the humor. She clicked the link, following the instructions on the page and downloading the file.

She waited patiently for the small file to finish downloading. This had to be some sort of joke. She clicked on the file when it finished and waited for it to play. "Now, let's see what's soooo urgent." She mumbled as tapped her fingers against the desk.

 

[Solita]

As soon as the file loaded up and was played, a loud, unnatural noise suddenly pealed forth from the speakers, consisting of seemingly random beeps and electronic tones over a background of what sounded like white noise, but slightly off. As per the file's size, this noise played uninterrupted for the full five seconds, before abruptly cutting off as it finished playing. About a second into the silence that was left behind afterwards, a short beeping indicated a new message from the one who had sent the file.

Oh! You played it already? I'm sorry, I should have clarified. That noise isn't meant for you... it's meant for what's coming after you right now. Something is coming for you with the intent to kill you, and what you have to do is play that noise as soon as it's in the room with you. That is the only way that you'll be able to stop it.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Reina quickly covered her ears as the loud noise filled the room. "What the hell?" She growled. As it finally fell silent she looked back at the message. She was getting really tired of this game. Whoever this was, was not being very funny. She quickly typed back a response. "You're not making any sense. What's coming after me? Why am I in danger?" She rubbed her brow irritably before she continued typing. "If this is somebody's idea of a joke, I can only say that it is in very poor taste."

She leaned back in her seat groaning lightly. Who could be behind the message. Sure she'd blown off a couple of friends who wanted her to go out today. But this seemed a bit excessive.

 

[Solita]

I'm sorry... I know what this all must seem like to you, but answering those questions right now might just complicate matters further. I promise I'll answer any questions you have once this thing had been taken care of. Right now, all I'm asking is that you keep the file ready to play at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, I doubt that you'll have to wait very long...

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Reina let out a short laugh as she read the response. "Unbelievable." She muttered to herself. She rose to her feet and walked away from the computer. The audio file hadn't made any sense. More over, the message suggesting that she keep it at the ready? It seemed kind of obvious to her that it was an attempt to fish important data out of her computer. Her security measures would see to protecting her from that. Still, she needed to find out where the message was coming from. She hastily grabbed a soda from her fridge before sitting back down at her computer and setting up a home made trace program.

"Alright, I'll humor you. So, when's this big baddy supposed to come for me, anyway?" She typed in response. Keeping an eye on her trace network as it worked on the signal. She cracked open the soda and leaned back in her chair, taking a long swig from the can.

 

[Solita]

Oh, thank you! I couldn't give you an exact time for when it arrives, but it's coming for you right this moment, so it may be a few minutes, it may be a few seconds. All I do know is that it will be soon.

As if on cue, the window to Reina's room suddenly shattered as a gray shape flew through it, landing in a convulsing heap on the floor amidst the broken glass. Very quickly righting itself, it was revealed to be a small humanoid robot, roughly three feet tall, with a wicked blade almost half that length protruding from one of its arms. A single lens affixed to its odd half-moon shaped head immediately focused on Reina, and within the span of two or three seconds it had taken for all this to happen, it was already advancing on her, its blade being raised in the air as it closed the distance between them and prepared to strike.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Reina hardly had time to read the stranger's response before her window was shattered. A surprised yelp fled from her lips as she hastily played the bizarre sound clip, spilling her soda in her haste. Despite having hit played the audio file, she quickly pressed herself against the wall as far away from her assailant as she could.

She clenched her eyes shut in fear as she wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. "Wh-what is that thing!?" She whimpered as she slumped down to a seated position.

 

[Solita]

As soon as the strange noise began playing again, the robot froze stock-still, blade still held in the air as if ready to strike. For the whole five seconds of the clip, it just stood in place, its single lens staring blankly at Reina. The moment the sound stopped, all of its limbs seemed to suddenly go from being rigid to completely limp, as it collapsed with a small, anticlimactic clatter. For a few seconds afterwards, the only noise was the eerie silence left behind, before it was broken by the alert noise for another message being received.

You played it again...? Oh god, it just happened, didn't it? Are you okay Reina? Please, tell me you're alright!

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she looked around the room. Her attacker lay lifeless on the ground, and a message was blinking on her computer. Still shaking with fear, she hesitantly rose to her feet and worked her way to her computer, trying to stay as far from the robot as she could. She looked at the message before typing. "What the hell is going on here? What is that thing? Who are you?" She typed hastily, glancing back at the disabled robot frequently to make sure it was still disabled.

 

[Solita]

Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried you might have... Oh, um... right. Explanations. Like I said, I'll be more than happy to answer all of your questions, but I'm going to have to ask that you start heading somewhere safe as soon as possible. We're not expecting them to send anything else again so soon, but... they know where you live, and I don't want to take any chances... but I can tell you that I'm Ophelia, and I'm a friend.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Reina was beyond doubting this stranger, this Ophelia. Besides, she was far to frightened to form a sensible explanation for the events that had transpired. Instead she simply agreed with Ophelia's suggestion. "Alright. I'll try to find a place with Wifi so I can still get messages." She hastily grabbed her coat and pulled it on and prepared her laptop bag so that she could get out of the dormitory as quickly as possible.