Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2012 2:40:58 GMT -5
Since returning from the tournament, and the subsequent banquet, Carmine had spent most of his time repairing himself and meditating. Meditating...he found it interesting that he found any solace in it, considering his inorganic state. His programming really was quite elegant if it included states of relaxation and centering. He only wished he knew more about it, more about where he'd come from.
But now was not the time for frivolous endeavors. Now was the time to prepare. The Icer Touketsuki Yakedo was coming, and possibly very soon. He would demand a fighter, money, or a battle to the death, and the price of non-compliance was eradication. The alien son of a bitch was probably out there right now destroying entire species whose only crime was to plant themselves firmly on the ground and say "No." The mere concept made him wish he had blood to boil.
Time was of the essence, and so Carmine decided to test how his body and systems would react to a greater gravitational yield. It was necessary information, considering the real possibility of space travel in his future. The potential power benefits were also a temptation. He stepped into the Demon Galleon's gravity chamber, dressed lightly. He wore no shoes or boots - he'd not worn them since he had both his legs back. He didn't know why. He just didn't feel the need.
As he activated the gravity console to its most basic setting, 10x, his shock absorbers almost immediately registered the difference. It was as if he was landing from a small jump, but simply never recovered. If he'd been human, he considered, he might have trouble breathing, and might begin sweating. Instead, he withstood a series of warnings from his operating system, and moved into the center of the room.
He started with basic calisthenics. Pushups were followed by leg raises were followed by bridges were followed by pull ups were followed by squats. Much like an organic being, each exercise utilized different parts of his body, and as such each was necessary to get an accurate readout on the effects gravity would have, so that his repair systems might make the appropriate adjustment settings for future use.
He then moved on to slow, meticulous martial forms. Katas taken from various mundane Earth fighting systems - Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and the like. He cycled through them to get flexibility readings and overall find his center. Thus far, while he found difficulty in the gravity, he wasn't under any real significant strain yet. At least, he didn't feel like he was about to blow a gasket. Then again, he wasn't doing anything truly strenuous yet.
He decided to pick up the pace. He changed from katas to freeform shadow boxing. His imagined opponent was Ryota. Not the Ryota he knew and respected, but the darker, more sinister Ryota that the man was hiding. To date, that had been the most dangerous and powerful opponent he'd come across, and as such it was the best option for him to imagine.
The imagined foe came in for a series of quick jabs and slashes, and Carmine danced to avoid them - or at least, he tried. He took note that he'd have been skewered at least twice, and in the effort he'd received a warning that his body was not intended for such movement while under such strain. His cooling fans started to whirr audibly as he ducked under a series of imagined kicks, and he felt a spring nearly pop as he twisted away from a phantom punch.
He launched his own series of attacks - kick, punch, punch, kick, kick. He noticed his movements were more sluggish than he'd expected, and he heard a joint pin nearly snap in one of his hips. This was different from Limiter Override, more dangerous but less obvious. He was slowly being crushed by nothing while he struggled to fight someone who wasn't there. He didn't quit.
He formed the Galleon Buster from his left hand and aimed at a training dummy, an imagined crony that perhaps sinister Ryota had brought with him. He leapt backwards - a jump that would have brought him four or five feet in the air and twenty feet back that only brought him a few inches up and a foot or two back - as he fired two shots into the dummy.
He continued on like this for nearly half an hour, fifteen full minutes after his last cooling fan sputtered and died, and nearly a minute after his systems stopped giving him detailed error messages and instead had defaulted to a constant generic WARNING. He dragged himself to the gravity room console and shut the machine off. Immediately he felt the difference, but the damage was done - and thankfully, the data collected. His knee joints had nearly fused together, and as such his legs were almost just a pair of long metal rods. His vision was staticy. He had a ringing in his ears. He nodded slowly, and his neck let out a soft creaking noise. He decided to go visit Keyra for a tune up.
But now was not the time for frivolous endeavors. Now was the time to prepare. The Icer Touketsuki Yakedo was coming, and possibly very soon. He would demand a fighter, money, or a battle to the death, and the price of non-compliance was eradication. The alien son of a bitch was probably out there right now destroying entire species whose only crime was to plant themselves firmly on the ground and say "No." The mere concept made him wish he had blood to boil.
Time was of the essence, and so Carmine decided to test how his body and systems would react to a greater gravitational yield. It was necessary information, considering the real possibility of space travel in his future. The potential power benefits were also a temptation. He stepped into the Demon Galleon's gravity chamber, dressed lightly. He wore no shoes or boots - he'd not worn them since he had both his legs back. He didn't know why. He just didn't feel the need.
As he activated the gravity console to its most basic setting, 10x, his shock absorbers almost immediately registered the difference. It was as if he was landing from a small jump, but simply never recovered. If he'd been human, he considered, he might have trouble breathing, and might begin sweating. Instead, he withstood a series of warnings from his operating system, and moved into the center of the room.
He started with basic calisthenics. Pushups were followed by leg raises were followed by bridges were followed by pull ups were followed by squats. Much like an organic being, each exercise utilized different parts of his body, and as such each was necessary to get an accurate readout on the effects gravity would have, so that his repair systems might make the appropriate adjustment settings for future use.
He then moved on to slow, meticulous martial forms. Katas taken from various mundane Earth fighting systems - Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and the like. He cycled through them to get flexibility readings and overall find his center. Thus far, while he found difficulty in the gravity, he wasn't under any real significant strain yet. At least, he didn't feel like he was about to blow a gasket. Then again, he wasn't doing anything truly strenuous yet.
He decided to pick up the pace. He changed from katas to freeform shadow boxing. His imagined opponent was Ryota. Not the Ryota he knew and respected, but the darker, more sinister Ryota that the man was hiding. To date, that had been the most dangerous and powerful opponent he'd come across, and as such it was the best option for him to imagine.
The imagined foe came in for a series of quick jabs and slashes, and Carmine danced to avoid them - or at least, he tried. He took note that he'd have been skewered at least twice, and in the effort he'd received a warning that his body was not intended for such movement while under such strain. His cooling fans started to whirr audibly as he ducked under a series of imagined kicks, and he felt a spring nearly pop as he twisted away from a phantom punch.
He launched his own series of attacks - kick, punch, punch, kick, kick. He noticed his movements were more sluggish than he'd expected, and he heard a joint pin nearly snap in one of his hips. This was different from Limiter Override, more dangerous but less obvious. He was slowly being crushed by nothing while he struggled to fight someone who wasn't there. He didn't quit.
He formed the Galleon Buster from his left hand and aimed at a training dummy, an imagined crony that perhaps sinister Ryota had brought with him. He leapt backwards - a jump that would have brought him four or five feet in the air and twenty feet back that only brought him a few inches up and a foot or two back - as he fired two shots into the dummy.
He continued on like this for nearly half an hour, fifteen full minutes after his last cooling fan sputtered and died, and nearly a minute after his systems stopped giving him detailed error messages and instead had defaulted to a constant generic WARNING. He dragged himself to the gravity room console and shut the machine off. Immediately he felt the difference, but the damage was done - and thankfully, the data collected. His knee joints had nearly fused together, and as such his legs were almost just a pair of long metal rods. His vision was staticy. He had a ringing in his ears. He nodded slowly, and his neck let out a soft creaking noise. He decided to go visit Keyra for a tune up.