The bleak, grey ship raced toward the sun through a purple morning sky, the early day's light glaring blindingly in through its windscreen. Inside, the ship hummed and softly rumbled with the rush of air across its bulky fuselage, an ever-present whoosh permeating its insides—an effect entirely absent in space flight.

It had already passed over the edge of the city. Though not the single sleekest piece of machinery to grace the aeronautical world, the ship was fast, that was very clear at their low altitude, with dead, empty buildings whipping past the bottom of the crew's vision.

It was strange. The place looked so very... maintained, so very clean, yet so utterly desolate. It had the air of a place that had only been not only abandoned, but preserved and sterilized. Furthermore, there was no hostility yet. If their mysterious enemies had control over artillery weapons, it seemed like it must have been on some kind of planetary-defense scale, because there was not a single threat revealing itself whatsoever, even as they raced deeper and deeper into the continent-sized metropolis.

"So far, so good," said the helmeted primate at the helm, clutching his bad arm close to his body for as long as he could between times when it was absolutely necessary to employ it to control the ship. "See anything to worry about, Tau?"


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"That would be correct," answered Basch, still situated in the copilot seat, assisting when needed. "I doubt how much you'll get out of him though. Hell, he's only told me the bare bones of what's been happening around here."

"That is because anything else would have been useless for you to know, captain," said the robot suddenly. "But now, I've come to the conclusion this group is capable of making use of my information."

He had been sitting with the others outside in the bridge in complete silence up until this point, almost eerily. The machine's eyes had switched between all of the crew members numerous times once they were airborne, constantly studying them all. Now he was doing it again, although more naturally, sweeping his eyes across them all as it spoke.

"I believe it would be best to begin with who I am. I can only assume you question the fact that I am not hostile. Not like the others..." He paused, pondering. The silence was quick, however, as he soon continued.

"I am part of an elite series of my kind, designed to be near perfect with our skill of mimicry. All of us possess such an ability, but it is more fine-tuned for the elites. It is how I am easily capable of learning your language. In fact, the captain assisted me in accessing archived data from his spacecraft in order to learn of some of your culture. Much to my interest, your race is aware of the existence of mine, and even has knowledge of our name. Gizoid."

The robot was now focusing its attention out one of the slim windows of the ship, staring out to the city below.

"I am one of the more recent elites, created by my former master. He dwells in the center of this city, observing everything that occurs within it and above it in orbit. Once an organic being, he is now a machine, trapped in a network he has come to despise."

The robot's eyes turned back to the crew, a more morbid tone encasing his voice as he continued.

"And with such a imprisonment, he has become insane. He strives to regain the freedoms of flesh, something he lost centuries ago. That is the purpose of the kidnapping of your people; to use them as vessels for his own self. Time and time again he has attempted to make a transfer between him and his victims, but it always concludes in failure. Yet he still tries."

He focused his gaze onto each of them one at a time.

"I wish to stop this. I understand my old master's wishes for freedom; I have experienced it. Without freedom, I would not have been allowed to gain knowledge as I have, or have the liberty to create and don my own name; Omnis. But my master is leaving a shadow of blood behind him. Too many have died from his attempts, and the only peace he will receive is if he is silenced."

Omnis bowed his head, sounding and moving much unlike most machines would.

"It will be a difficult task, reaching him, but I require your assistance to do so. It has been my intention for years to end this, and now, I may have a chance."

"The explanation for that would most likely not be reasonable for you and your crew," said Omnis. "But I will provide one anyway. Many years ago, I was deployed to pursue a target; Captain Basch. He recently had landed in his escape vehicle, and my master demanded for him to be killed. The captain fled, of course, and so I gave chase..."

"And what a helluva chase that was..." mumbled Basch over the radio.

"...but he proved to be clever enough to avoid me for quite some time. Enough to lead us out of the city and beyond my master's control. That was when I was left to ponder my existence. Without my master's constant voice, I gradually approached the realization of his insanity. I could gain no more under his control, and by the time I managed to find the captain, I concluded I could become more than what my original use was intended to be, and perhaps, some day, free my other brethren."

"I hope such an explanation will prove to be enough to at least lighten whatever distrust you have for me, seeing what my kind have already done to you. And if you believe I will only fall under my master's control once more now that we are far inside his territory, I will let you know that I have adapted to resist his commands. Hopefully, he does not learn how to reach through my defenses."

Omnis gave a strangely solemn-looking nod. It seemed he was more human than he was previously letting on.

Currently, his eyes were dead set on the hedgehog, starting to reply.

"I would appreciate that more than being under his control once again. Seeing what I have become, such imprisonment would be maddening. I assure you that I will give warning to if it will happen, though, if I am given the time, but I'm quite confident that he will not be able to reach me."

Out of the blue, as he was speaking, the Gizoid's color faded from a solid black to a darkened green in a matter of seconds, matching the color of the hedgehog's space suit. As he finished talking, Omnis gazed downward, holding up an arm in curiosity, examining the sudden change.

"Interesting."

Seemed like they had a chameleon on their hands.

"You must head northwest for nearly another two hundred miles," informed Omnis efficiently. "I will advise you that once there, ground-to-air weaponry may be gathered to intercept us. It would be best to simply let your crew go on their way with haste and make sure your ship is out of range soon afterward."

"I could easily pilot this thing out of the way," mentioned Basch. "Not trying to get out of this grand infiltration, but without a ship, all of us, including me, are going to be stuck here for a long time. Being the aging man I am, I have no use anyway amongst you than just being a good shot with a gun. Take who can keep up. That's all I have to say."