“Yes, sir.” “He should be here. Should share a word with Jacob if you get the opportunity. I’m positive Julia would be glad to see you again; perhaps you could visit her in Charlemagne one of these days. It has been sixteen years after all.” “Perhaps I will.” Davis looked at his wristwatch, something he had been doing periodically since we started talking. “Something wrong, sir?” “No. Mr. Charlemagne is performing one of his experiments today, which is why he can’t be here today. I told him to keep us updated though.” “Sir, Mr. Malen is requesting your presence,” a servant Exo said as it approached Davis. “Well, I’m sorry to leave you, but I’m supposed to meet Galic about this time. May you be ever blessed, Exo-0300.” “Call me Ithamar, please.” “Oh, you have a real name now! Well, good day to you Ithamar. I hope we meet again.” “Goodbye, sir. Hopefully we will.” We shook hands one last time before he disappeared into the crowd of people. “He really likes you,” Jacob said to me as he walked up. “We meet again.” “We do.” “How has Arcus been treating you?” “Well enough. Davis said I may want to have a word with you?” “Oh yes, about that. Could you and I share a moment alone after the presentation? You and Charles, perhaps? It is urgent.” “Yes, sir. We can.” “Excellent, meet me in the archive room on level thirty-seven.” “Would everyone gather round the windows, please?” an Arcus Emissary Exo beckoned. “Would everyone turn their attention to the demonstration area, please? All Arcus personnel report to their stations.” “Here we go,” Max said. “Been waiting for this for over twenty years. Hope it delivers.” “Hi,” a familiar voice said behind me. I turned around and saw a female Exo standing there. She had long, golden weaved hair in a bun on the back of her head and had blue eyes with a green matrix phasing through them. Her face was simulated. Not of artificial skin or rubber, but made up of some kind of digital membrane that was tan-colored. Unlike hers, my face was made of bulky, scarred, cold, lifeless metal. But Athena’s, Athena’s was flowing, colorful, soft, and warm in comparison of mine. “We haven’t met in person before,” she began. “I’d recognize that voice anywhere. Miss Athena.” If she was human, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she blushed based on her expression. She was about a foot shorter than me and was dressed in an Arcus Tech analyst outfit, holding her hands behind her back. Her long heeled shoes tapped lightly on the concrete floor as she approached closer to shake my hand. “I’ve always wanted to meet you.” “Why?” “I just wanted to meet you.” “Who’s this?” Charles asked as he walked up next to me. “This is Athena.” “Hmm.” Charles studied Athena from head to toe, and then walked away. “Isn’t he friendly?” “You have no idea.” “Ha, ha. May I join you for the presentation?” I hadn’t escorted anyone before that wasn’t a VIP… “Say yes,” Jk-Bx whispered. I looked down at the little Exo who was hiding behind Athena’s leg, who gave me thumbs up. “Yes, you may.” She put her arm through mine as we were walking over towards the window, to which I paused, not understanding what she was doing. “I’m sorry, I-” she began, sounding embarrassed. I looked back down at Jk-Bx. “Just go with it.” I had no idea what he was up to, but this wasn’t something I was used to. Her arm was like a twig through my own and she was a lot smaller in size compared to me; very fragile too. Jk-Bx and Bm-Bx had stayed behind while we continued to walk to the window. This made me very uncomfortable for some reason. “It’s so beautiful,” Jk-Bx expressed with a fake sniffle. “Ow!” Bm-Bx had walked up and slapped him on the back of the head. “What do you think you’re doing? You do realize her dad is going to kill us.” “Eh, he’ll get over it.” “Yeah, he’ll be getting over our bodies when he embeds us in the floor of his base on Titan.” “I’m more worried about Ithamar. He never made time for anything like this when he was in-” “Shhh, we don’t talk about that!” “Oh, that’s right. Almost forgot. Hey fellas!” Charles and Max were looking down at the two mischievous Exos. “What are you two up to now?” Max asked. “None of your beeswax!” Jk-Bx spouted as he shook his fist at them before running away. Max looked at Charles, but he didn’t exchange glances with him. He was more interested in the presentation. We all came around the window and the lights darkened around us as a hologram was projected onto the presentation floor. The digitized man was none other than Master Charlemagne. Even if it was only a digital image, it was still a sight to see. He was a normal sized man standing at 6’ 2” and having a moderate build. He had grey eyes and copper hair that was cut in Ivy League form. His custom three piece suit looked professional and the blend of red and gray looked sharp. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen,” Charlemagne began. “My name is Maximus Charlemagne, CEO of Arcus Corp. Allow me to apologize for not being here personally for this presentation. I’m on the verge of a major breakthrough on one of my projects and couldn’t put it off any longer.” He was quite humble about his position. Most would say he was simply the best and brightest mind of the Golden Age. However, there were those who would say he was the least, seeing how he refuses assistance from the Traveler or has nothing to do with suspicious enterprises. He detested the fact that the city of Charlemagne had been named after him, and he was determined to change it. “I will not waste too much more of your time. I would just like to thank the Vanguard for this opportunity to work on a project as grand as this. I leave you in the capable hands of my assistant technician, Karl Demmy. Goodbye for now.” Maximus never was one big on speeches. The hologram disappeared as Karl took over the presentation. “Hello, if you turn attention to the center of the lab we shall began.” The room grew quiet and the chatter died down as a large portion of the floor, about six feet long by fix feet wide, in the demonstration area parted as a large figure was raised to the top. The colossus Exo stood about 12 feet tall and from his left shoulder to his right was easily six feet wide; he barely cleared the opening of the floor because of his shoulder width. His grey body was covered with thick, blue armor plating, but did not have a helmet or mask. Grim-faced, this particular Exo’s fixed expression showed only one countenance: Anger. White light shone brightly from where the eyes should have been. He had no hairline and his head resembled a skull-like form similar to Charles’, except it featured no nose and had long, set-back cheek bones with a closed mouth. “This is Paul. We have been working on him for ten years with the aid of many businesses dedicating time and resources to get him put together. We do have a second Alpha series fully operational and ready for service as we speak. However, Paul here is still in the testing stages.” Karl was in a security booth that was attached to the demonstration area. I was unable to see where he was inside exactly, but I could see other people standing or sitting around. “Hmm, was expecting to see something more distinct than another Exo, weren’t you?” a man asked his friend standing next to him. “Indeed,” the business gentleman responded. “I see Ithamar has a special someone with him…” “Focus. We are not here to cause trouble. We’re here to see what we are going up against.” "I was expecting better than this from a man like Charlemagne.” “Just be patient. This is only the presentation showcasing how far they have developed the technology. No real action is going to happen here, I don’t suppose.” Karl proceeded to explain the features of the Alpha series, informing us of the molten Orion core that provided the machine with energy, how the outer skin of the Alpha series was self-regenerative and very strong against the elements, and that his AI allowed him to learn and adapt like all other Exos. “He is designed for combat specifically; you may not see any Alphas where civilians are living. We currently only have two functional Alphas.” “Only two?!” one of the corporate investors exclaimed. “I didn’t invest a quarter of my company into this for only two operational Alphas! What do you take us for?!” A commotion among the crowd had erupted. Words of doubt and disbelief in Maximus’ work engulfed the hall with protest. “Sir, please calm down. In a moment, I’ll continue and demonstrate Paul’s unique features and functions. The Alpha series can lift ten times their own weight and are able to communicate with other Exos via a built-in mental com link, but don’t expect to understand them. They are also quite agile and fast for their size, capable of reaching a max speed of 138 miles per hour and are able to jump twice their height without induced momentum. Armor plating is designed to deflect projectiles, but provides the Exo with flexibility as well so it may be kept mobile in combat. Separation of the plates do allow for blades or projectiles to strike his ‘skin’, but his regenerative membrane, as I have aforementioned, he can repair most wounds to his body seven times faster than a human can heal. Now for the demonstration: Paul, please draw your multi-tool please.” [b]Continued below[/b]