Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 15:28:48 GMT -5
Carmine stood in the doorway to the Galleon's training room, freshly repaired from his last time under the gravity. Beside him stood Keyra, Ryota's first mate and the ship's head mechanic. She looked at him and sighed.
"You sure you wanna do this? We just got you fixed up."
"And every time I've come out better than before. My systems are learning, but so am I. I'm starting to suspect something, Keyra. Besides, the alien is coming, and even if we appease him this time, we won't appease him every time. I intend on killing him as soon as I've got the power."
Keyra shook her head and walked off. Carmine smirked. He knew she was annoyed at him, ruining all of the repairs that the two of them had made so quickly. He would make it up to her somehow. He'd grown close to her since joining the crew - not as close as he was with Ryota, but close. She was the only other member of the crew that really knew how he worked. She would fix the parts that he couldn't, or would give him tips on adding strength and flexibility to his body. Together, they were building a better mousetrap.
Stepping down into the room, he flicked on the gravity. He started with 20 this time, and shuddered slightly as he felt that same familiar pull. This round of repairs hadn't mitigated as many problems as they had after 10x gravity, but he could already tell he was going to be doing better. So, after warming up a bit, he kicked it up to 25x. Keyra would have shouted at him, would have told him he was an idiot, but now was not the time to go easy on himself, and theirs was not a universe to take lightly. He returned to his basic calisthenics routine as his body began to register the increased strain. As he was doing pullups, however, the bar came loose and his bodyweight tore it out of its fixture. He would have to reinforce it later, but now he was on his ass with a metal bar in his hand.
He felt the weight of it, the heft and balance. Surprisingly, it was not dissimilar to a sword, though a bit heavier. His own sword hadn't been reforged yet since the tournament, and he hadn't gotten any real blade practice in. He shrugged and stood slowly - no time like the present to train with an impromptu practice sword.
He took a few moments to get the hang of the metal bar, swinging it fore and aft, spinning it this way and that. After a few moments, he slid back into a basic swordsman's stance and started a basic kata. Focusing on flow and rhythm of movement over force and damage, he took far longer with this kata than normal - the gravity was doing serious damage to his technique. By the time he was done, one of his cooling fans had started to sputter. He decided to perform the kata again.
Three performances later, he had determined where his problem areas were. The gravity was ruining his grip (which was not improving over time), and there were three points at which the gravity was pulling the bar out of alignment with proper technique, and taking his wrist with it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, starting again. He concentrated on his grip, concentrated on feeling the 'blade' rather than just holding it. He stopped thinking of swordplay as mathematics and angles, because a new variable had appeared that ruined every equation.
He made no use of his Limiter Override, but he did perform that same, slow kata over a hundred times. He'd been in the gravity for hours, and his body had slowly been deteriorating. His cooling systems were completely shut down, most of his ambient and secondary processes were defaulted, all that remained were basic motor functions, his frame, and his focus and determination. He moved through the kata like a fish through water, with an apparent ease and grace.
If he'd not known better, he would have thought he could feel his ki flowing through his wires, flowing through his limbs, and flowing into the bar of steel in his hand. But that was impossible - he was a machine, and android, and had no real ki. He could replicate ki techniques through advanced technology, but he wasn't a living being, he wasn't human. And yet...
When his left leg and sword arm finally gave out, he decided his training was done for the day. He dropped the bar on the floor and limped - more like dragged - himself to the gravity controls and turned them off. Instead of going directly to Keyra, however, he was going to go to his room. He needed to think on these sensations, to meditate and relax before he could really see anyone. Something was strange.
"You sure you wanna do this? We just got you fixed up."
"And every time I've come out better than before. My systems are learning, but so am I. I'm starting to suspect something, Keyra. Besides, the alien is coming, and even if we appease him this time, we won't appease him every time. I intend on killing him as soon as I've got the power."
Keyra shook her head and walked off. Carmine smirked. He knew she was annoyed at him, ruining all of the repairs that the two of them had made so quickly. He would make it up to her somehow. He'd grown close to her since joining the crew - not as close as he was with Ryota, but close. She was the only other member of the crew that really knew how he worked. She would fix the parts that he couldn't, or would give him tips on adding strength and flexibility to his body. Together, they were building a better mousetrap.
Stepping down into the room, he flicked on the gravity. He started with 20 this time, and shuddered slightly as he felt that same familiar pull. This round of repairs hadn't mitigated as many problems as they had after 10x gravity, but he could already tell he was going to be doing better. So, after warming up a bit, he kicked it up to 25x. Keyra would have shouted at him, would have told him he was an idiot, but now was not the time to go easy on himself, and theirs was not a universe to take lightly. He returned to his basic calisthenics routine as his body began to register the increased strain. As he was doing pullups, however, the bar came loose and his bodyweight tore it out of its fixture. He would have to reinforce it later, but now he was on his ass with a metal bar in his hand.
He felt the weight of it, the heft and balance. Surprisingly, it was not dissimilar to a sword, though a bit heavier. His own sword hadn't been reforged yet since the tournament, and he hadn't gotten any real blade practice in. He shrugged and stood slowly - no time like the present to train with an impromptu practice sword.
He took a few moments to get the hang of the metal bar, swinging it fore and aft, spinning it this way and that. After a few moments, he slid back into a basic swordsman's stance and started a basic kata. Focusing on flow and rhythm of movement over force and damage, he took far longer with this kata than normal - the gravity was doing serious damage to his technique. By the time he was done, one of his cooling fans had started to sputter. He decided to perform the kata again.
Three performances later, he had determined where his problem areas were. The gravity was ruining his grip (which was not improving over time), and there were three points at which the gravity was pulling the bar out of alignment with proper technique, and taking his wrist with it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, starting again. He concentrated on his grip, concentrated on feeling the 'blade' rather than just holding it. He stopped thinking of swordplay as mathematics and angles, because a new variable had appeared that ruined every equation.
He made no use of his Limiter Override, but he did perform that same, slow kata over a hundred times. He'd been in the gravity for hours, and his body had slowly been deteriorating. His cooling systems were completely shut down, most of his ambient and secondary processes were defaulted, all that remained were basic motor functions, his frame, and his focus and determination. He moved through the kata like a fish through water, with an apparent ease and grace.
If he'd not known better, he would have thought he could feel his ki flowing through his wires, flowing through his limbs, and flowing into the bar of steel in his hand. But that was impossible - he was a machine, and android, and had no real ki. He could replicate ki techniques through advanced technology, but he wasn't a living being, he wasn't human. And yet...
When his left leg and sword arm finally gave out, he decided his training was done for the day. He dropped the bar on the floor and limped - more like dragged - himself to the gravity controls and turned them off. Instead of going directly to Keyra, however, he was going to go to his room. He needed to think on these sensations, to meditate and relax before he could really see anyone. Something was strange.
