A Fallen Star

Emanulle thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I want to give the movie a fair chance before then. It's just started, it seems to be one of those movies that needs to progress further before I can really say." Which was true for the most part.

* *

Cory thought about it, he could just go to bed but at the same time you didn't always get anywhere by playing it safe all the time. "I'll pay them a visit. Do you have their room number?"

After the end of a Long movie, Anita was a bit sleepy. But she didn't want to disappoint Manny, the first Real date she's been on in a long time, so she put up with it. She looks over to him "That was interesting. So what do you want to do next? Maybe get something to eat?" she asks.

* *

Ness finished his work on the cloaking device. It was a simple matter of getting a spare one and plugging it in. Now that were ready to go. He taps his combadge to contact Jason and Jack.

* *

"Yeah. She's in the habitat level, room 2-35." Buddy says. What was more interesting, was the fact that Cory didn't react in the slightest to a computer talking to him like it was a person.

Emanulle mused it over a bit. "I think that's an good idea, we could get something to eat and call it a night depending on how we feel? Regardless, I'm having a lot of fun and I enjoy your company so I would like to do this again some time."

*  *

When you went to a world passing through that had talking furniture, among other things talking to an A.I was pretty tame. A.I were people, too.

Cory went into his room to grab a blanket and a pillow, that way he could have his own corner in the room since Christine would probably be more comfortable with that if she agreed but he'd have to see. Once that was done, he went and knocked on their door.

Anita nods "So what are you in the meed to eat?" she asks. She already knew what she wanted to eat, but she wanted to see what Manny had in mind.

* *

After a quick chat with Tumbler before Jack and Jason get there, dressed in what the people dressed in now "Oka, Jason, I would like you on sensors, Jack, weapons, I'll pilot us down and keep an eye on the cloaking device." he pats both of them on he back "Let's go be heroes."

* *

After a minuet, Christine opens the door. She looked a bit sleepy. She was also in her night stuff, triple X large pull over shirt, and sockies "Hey Cory...What can I do for you?" she asks.

Emanulle thought about it a bit. "I was feeling for some Lasagna. You know, back home where I come from they don't have that. People can say what they want about earth but you can never knock their food."

* *

Cory liked what he saw of course, but he didn't stare. "I was wondering if you wanted company tonight? I got myself a blanket and pillow so I could be on my side of the room. If not, its no biggy I'll head to my own room."

Anita nods "Sorry, I'm not Italian. But I Do know a good restaurant with some outstanding lasagna." she jokes, as she wanders over to the control panel and taps some buttons. The movie theater shimmers and disappears, only to be replaced with a restaurant. It eve had a few people wandering around in it.

* *

The three of them load into the shuttle and take off. It was a tense ride down to Earth. The planet looked in pretty bad shape. The oceans were polluted and, from the look of it, drying out. There ere dead fish all over.

The cities were in just as bad condition. A lot of the skyscrapers had been destroyed and Zebesian patrol ships dotted the skies.

Ness landed the shuttle in a junk yard "Now remember,we're here to gather information Only." he stresses "We canNot engage the enemy, no matter How much we may want to." he says, hitting the back hatch "Let's roll."

* *

Christine nods as she moves aside "I certainly wouldn't mind the company right now..." she mumbles "Almost getting wiped from existence is fraying on ones nerves..." she says "You know you didn't have to bring those..." she nods to his blanket and pillow "I could have replicated some for you."

Emanulle chuckled at the first part. "Maybe you'll have to show me some day." Then the scene changed, he still wasn't used to it. . "Not sure if I'll ever get completely use to this, but probably becomes mundane once you use it long enough." Emanulle said as he went to find a seat with Anita, taking note of the people. "Are the holograms true AI?"

*  *

Cory moved inside once Christine gave her consent. "True I guess, I'm just not used to tech being able to replicate all this stuff, and I've seen a lot of odd things on my travels trying to get back here. I'll know for next time if I need a new set of clothes or something."

Then something clicked, That had never been told to him. He only knew something was going on and they all had to leave. "Wait, you said wiped out from existence?"

Anita shrugs "I have no idea. I Think they might be pseudo AI, or reactive AI." she says "But I don't think they're True Ai. That would be horrifying for them when the program ended." she says.

A waiter walks over with some garlic butter bread sticks and some water "Greeting, folks." he says as he sets down some menus "Do you know what you want, or do you need some time?" he asks.

* *

Ness, Jack, and Jason were walking through the ruins of Tokyo. There weren't many people on the streets at the moment. And what ones Were, seemed to be slaves to the Space Pirates. Jack looked pissed by this, but Jason had a blank look on his face. Ness, for his part, had seen this sort of thing many times.

There Were some businesses still open, so Jack decided to head into one to see what he could find out. Jason and Ness followed. But the former was keeping a Very sharp eye on the surroundings, just in case.

* *

Christine chuckles, a bit nervously, but brushes the question off "That was a figure of speech. Of course I wasn't in danger of fading from existence." she says, waving a hand "Stuff like that only happens in science fiction." she lightly laughs.

"Agreed. I figured that was the case." That would of been a bad look to have True A.I as people's plaything's in that matter and out of character for Ness from what he had been told about them. Monica knew him more and said while he wasn't her all time favorite people, he was a good person and went out of his way to help others that was one thing you couldn't take away from regardless of how you felt about him. He could just rub people the wrong way or be a jerk at times. That's probably what Ness meant when he said people either liked him or disliked him with rarely in between.

When the waiter came over, Emanulle took glance at the menu. "I can't speak for the lady, but for myself I would like some Lasagna and bread sticks. And just water would be fine."

* *

Cory usually had a knack when someone was bullshitting him and while he felt something was up it was also apparent something that bothered Christine. So he left it. For now.

"I gotcha." He said before moving to get more comfortable before shifting the conversation to something lighter and easier to dgiest. "So if it can replicate clothes, could it replicate something more complicated like a T.V.? Not that you could likely get channels up here."

Anita nods "Lasagna sounds pretty good. I'll have some four cheese lasagna with some red wine, please." she says. The waiter jots everything down and excuses himself "So, after dinner, did you want to go exploring?" she asks.

* *

Jack was able to get Some information from the store owner. As it turns out, it's exactly how Jason remembered it, at first. The Space Pirates came to Earth looking for Cinda, and when they couldn't find her, they dug in, calling for reinforcements, in which the bulk of the Space pirates had showed up.

Earth put up a decent fight, but in the end, they had to surrender, due to the overwhelming might of the Space Pirates. Since then, the Zebesians had been strip mining the planet and selling off the Humans for slaves or food for other races.

There Is an active resistance fighting against the Pirates, but they are Vastly out numbered and out gunned. At this point, it was sheer Human nature that kept them going.

* *

Christine nods "Yup. Anything you want to wear, you can." she walks over to the replicator and pulls up the clothing catalog. It had most everything from period pieces to cosplay outfits, even some from alien cultures that Ness had encountered "Now I know what you're thinking, if I could dress in Anything I wanted, why am I dressed like this? Simple, it's more comfortable." she says simply.

It wasn't as if he had anything that required his immediate attention early in the morning he could think of, and he was stuck here not that he minded. It could be a hell of a lot worse. "I would like that. We could go a bit further and then when ready call it a night."

* *

Cory smiled. "Nothing wrong with that, if it works, it works. You know, me and the others were created in a space station? Not quite as advanced at this but just the general idea. It's not really the here or there though how have you been adjusting to being on one? This is your first time on a station right?"

It was some time before their food got here. After all, they were freshly made sheets of lasagna. Anita looks out of one of the windows "So, what do you think it going on?" she asks "I mean, Jack probably has Some idea. Did he say anything?" she asks.

* *

Jason looks back to Ness and Jack "We've got company." he says as a large patrol of Space Pirates comes walking past the store.

Ness had hidden himself. He Had encountered Space pirates from this dimension before and by before, he means before they invaded, so he didn't want to take a chance that they would remember him. If it were a few, he knew he could make them see what he wanted them to see, but in mass like that, it was better to be safe then sorry.

Jason was still looking out the window "Okay. They're gone. But we have another problem." he says as Ness and Jack converge on him "They were using those scanner devices we have in our timeline." he says.

Jack nods slowly "I was told they are seeking out any non Humans and disposing of them." he mumbles "We'll have to be careful from here on out." he says in the same low tone.

Ness shakes his head "No. You two will have to be careful. I'll come up as a normal Human, Jack will come up as a mutation and Jason won't show up at all." he explains "But if these are Anything like what we have at your home, I Think I can send out false signals to confuse them." he says as he pulls out his tricorder.

* *

Christine nods "Yes. But it's not the most high tech place I've ever been in.' she says "I was in my dad's base for a bit and it was pretty high tech." she says with a shrug "But this is pretty close."

Emanulle did wonder that too, but he honestly wasn't sure. "I'm honestly not sure, obviously something is going but beyond that is up in the air. I haven't gotten the chance to talk to them after but I will next time I see them. I just hope whatever it is passes soon."

* *

Cory wasn't really a tech person and didn't have much interest in it, but he could appreciate the work and such that went into it. "I'll leave the tech stuff to smarter people in that area, but its still fun to see and talk about."

He was kinda tired but really if that made sense, more on the idle side of things. "So you've been to the Mystic world right? What's it like? Never been there and mainly staying with you guys since I managed to drag myself back here finally."

Anita nods slowly "So do I. I mean, no offence to Ness and his design, but I can Feel this space station moving." she chuckles lightly "After here, I want to go check on Kitt. He should be here somewhere." she says.

* *

Jack, Ness, and Jason were getting ready to leave when Jason pauses slightly "When it happens, do Nothing." he says suddenly.

Ness frowns, then raps one knuckle on the door frame "Ah Hell... I think we should-" his words were cut off as an explosion rocks the area!

It had come from the direction of the Pirate patrol! Jack runs out to see what was going on. There were a dozen masked people attacking the pirates, with one of them dressed in a uniform that seemed really Familiar!

* *

Christine shrugs "It's okay. Not all that, like everyone makes it out to be." she says "I was in a state of rage at the time when I visited, so I wasn't Really paying attention to my surroundings." she says with another shrug.

As long as the station didn't float to somewhere it shouldn't, they should be fine hopefully. "Kitt? Another friend of yours?" He of course imagined a normal person rather then a talking transformer.

* *

"True, true. A lot of times people build a idolized image of things in their head but it almost never lives up to that ideal of whatever it is." Cory leaned back a bit, getting comfortable in his spot. "The T.V. doesn't seem to work so I'm up for suggestions if you want to do anything else. Course I'm cooling with just chatting, too."

Anita nods "Yeah. He got hurt by some bad guys, pretty badly." she says "But Tumbler says he's getting better, though he still can't transform yet." she says.

* *

Jack was about to rush in and help out, but stops, recalling what Jason said "We had best get out of here, before the bugs come to investigate." Ness says.

The three of them start to go in the opposite direction, when one of the guys, who was keeping watch, waves for them to come with them "Come on! The bugs have eyes everywhere and they'll be looking for you!" he calls.

Jack was leery, as was Jason, but Ness starts over "Come on, guy. I know who's leading these people." he says as he looks over to them "Not to worry, this Isn't our time, remember?" he reminds them.

* *

Christine shrugs "The TV might not work, but I'm sure the library of movies still works fine." she says "Plus, it has plenty of TV shows on there as well.' she points out "I'm certain we can find something to watch."

Emanulle did idly nod along to it, though the last part threw him off. "You said transform? Is your friend some type of shape shiftier?"

* *

Cory got up to see what they had in this room far as movies went, though he Also didn't know what Christine was into. "Not sure what all is here, but more to the point what kinds of movies do you like?"

Anita shrugs "In tis day and age, who Isn't a shape shifter?" she asks, more to herself than Manny "It's like almost everyone on this station is a shape shifter in one form or another, right?" now this was directed to Manny.

* *

Jack, Jason, and Ness follow the resistance member, after the others finish off with the bugs and take their weapons. It was a series of tunnels that lead them to a old Hunter safehouse, Ness noted.

There were some familiar faces there too. Mad, Abraxus, Julius, to name a few.Abraxus walks over to the masked man, who was clearly the leader "Who are these people?" he asks.

The man looks over to Ness and company "They were passers by who would have been blamed for out attack." he says.

Ness knew who the leader was right off the bat, as did Jason, but to Jack, hearing the voice of someone who attacked one people, now a hero, was a bit off putting.

Ness moves close to Jack "This Isn't the same Vlad as in our timeline..." he mumbles to the younger man, all but confirming this was the prime follower of the Outsider.

* *

Christine shrugs "I don't now. A Johnny Cage movie, maybe?" she asks "We could watch an anime also, if you're into that sort of thing." she says.

Emanulle thought about it briefly. "I guess, technically depending if you mean slight physical changes or a whole transformation. My kind have a transformation where they grow wings and become stronger, but other then that we mostly stay the same. What about you? You change at all?"

* *

Cory nodded, scanning through the contents before finding a interesting cover; anime it was for the night. He had seen some of them, and others were foreign to him so he opted to pick something he hadn't seen before as he popped it up for them to watch.

Nothing major was going but that suited him just fine. He'd rather just be taking it easy with Christine then doing anything, but it may not last depending on the nature of what the heck was going on. Regardless, in the present he wasn't going to worry about it.

Anita shakes her head "No. I don't. It's just irritating that it seems to be a requirement of races now. Not like Humans, who can't transform on their own." she mumbles as she stands "I'm finished here. We can leave whenever you want." she says.

* *

The man that Ness called Vlad, throws back his hood and takes off his mask. It Was, indeed, Vladimir, the guy who attacked Jerod and the base! He looks over to the three "Sorry to have dragged you three into our battle. Once it cools down, you'll be free to go. For your own safety, you'll have to stay here until then." he says.

Ness nods his thanks as Abraxus moves in close to Vlad and whispers something. Thanks to Jason's Great hearing, he could tell what they were talking about "Abraxus is questioning Vlad's decision to let us stay here. Saying we could be spies..." he mumbles to the other two.

Jack looks over to Jason and Ness "Was Vlad's history the same before the invasion?" he asks. Ness nods slowly, thinking.

Jack takes a step forward "Thank you for your hospitality, but if I can ask, how did you go from a self absorbed prick, who only used others for his own ends, to a freedom fighter?" he asks.

* *

It embarrassed her to think about it, but before Cory came over, Christine Had planned on relieving some stress by clicking on an adult movie and pleasuring herself a bit. Otherwise she might crack under the stress she found herself suddenly under.

But, that would have to wait, as long as Cory was here. Christine watches Cory flick through the movies "Whatever you want to watch is fine with me." she says.

In Emanulle's experience, there weren't actually many races he ran into with true blue transformations. Of course Anita and his experiences were two different things and it was a good bet she encountered races he hadn't before as well.

At those words, he nodded, politely putting his food away. "I am too. Let's go visit this friend of yours."

* *

There was, he supposed on his end possibly one sided sexual tension around Christine. Large part of it was just being a normal functional male around a attractive woman. He also wasn't stupid and took note she had been uncomfortable around the other times when Nicole was around. So he didn't think too much else of after the fact, not unless something changed.

As for what anime to watch? He didn't know, so after a moment of not able to decide he simply went with something called Full Metal Alchemist and called it a day.

Anita ends the program and heads out. She gets the info on where Kitt was and starts off there. He was in one of the cargo holds that had been changed into a medical room for the transformers.

She heads in and there was Kitt. He was in his car form and had some machines hooked up to him "Hey there Kitt. How are you feeling?" she asks.

The led sensor bar on the front starts moving slowly moving back and forth "Hello Anita. I am doing as well as can be expected." the car says "I still can't transform yet, but with some more treatments, I should be able to with in the next few days." he says.

Anita pats the hood "Well, hang in there. I'm sure Ness is doing everything he can, when he has the time." she says, encouraging her friend.

She moves aside "Kitt, this is my new friend, Emanulle." she looks over to Manny "Emanulle, this is Kitt, the one I mentioned."

* *

Ness had to Force himself from rolling his eyes "What my friend means is, that we all know how you Were, from what we've read and what the media had said about your... Singular personality and we were wondering what prompted this abrupt change?" Ness corrected.

Vlad eyes the three of them "After the invasion, and the world surrendered, I found myself wandering, keeping a low profile..." he starts "Then I seen a couple being attacked and toyed with by the Space Pirates. This annoyed me, so I stepped in and saved them..." he continues.

"They were grateful, and I liked the attention, so I saved a few more people from the bugs and got more attention..." he explains with a shrug "I was invited to an anti Zebesian rally, but it was attacked." he says "Me and a few others stepped in and saved many people, though many lost their lives..." he grumbles, clenching his robotic fist.

"So, with most of the leaders dead, they asked me and a few others if we would mind leading them and training them to fight back, and thus, the resistance was born." he finishes "Now, with the help and praise of the Outsider, we stand up against those who have invaded our home and enslaved it's people."

* *

Christine never seen Full Metal Alchemist before and knew nothing about it. So this might be something new to watch. Despite Cory being alone with her, she had Other matters on her mind. Like, wanting to calm herself down from almost disappearing.

Emanulle had seen a lot of things, but this was a first for him. A what he assumed to be a A.I with a car shape? That was new, but interesting none the less.

Once it was his turn, he introduced himself. "It's an pleasure to meet you Kitt. If I may ask, what are you known as? I haven't seen anything like you before."

* *

As it turned out, FMA was actually a Damned good series. Cory had thought it be one of those melodramatic ones. As long as it wasn't another badly written harem series, he had seen enough of those. It always annoyed them of the general genre with the absolutely clueless guy with girls fawning over them, but he guessed he could see the appeal of wish fulfillment even if he wasn't into that genre.

He wasn't sure if Christine was enjoying it though. "It holding up to you so far?" Cory felt like something was bothering her, which is why he was just trying to keep her company and happy.

Kitt was silent for a moment "I am known as an Artificial Cybertronian." he says "If I may ask, what race are you from?" he asks.

As the two were talking, the cargo bay doors open and a Big Car comes driving in. It stops as soon as it sees Anita and Manny. The top opens and a Young Woman steps jumps out.

After a second, the car starts to shift and transform, panels sliding with the metallic sound of metal coming into contact with metal and oddly computerized whirls and with a few seconds, the car was gone, having been replaced with a Big Robot!

Anita quickly holds up her hands "Whoa! Hold on, Tumbler, I was just checking on Kitt and Emanulle is with me." she says, trying to sooth the sudden situation.

* *

Ness nods "Well than, if that's the case, how can we help?" he asks.

This gets a frown from Jack as he places a hand on Ness' shoulder "Can I have a word with you?" he asks.

Ness and Jack take a step away as Jason looks around, then focuses on Vlad "Having the Hunters around must have made things much easier, when it comes to training new recruits." he comments.

Vlad nods "They have been the main driving force behind our attacks. Without them, and the guidance from the Outsider, we couldn't have come as far as we had.' he says "Speaking of, we're getting ready to make a food run. Would you guys care to join us? We could always use the extra..." he holds up his cybernetic arm "Hands." he chuckles at his own joke.

* *

Christine shrugs "It's okay. The characters, so far, are okay and the action is pretty good. But, that's not how Real alchemy is. she says "Real alchemy is mainly potion mixing and making different solutions and dipping different objects in it." she explains.

"I'm something what you call a Arkon, we come from a world called Alus. We're actually a artificially made race. I never heard a Cybertronian before.."

Before he could continue the conversation, a young woman in unique gear, a car that then transformed into a robot caught him completely off guard. Anita seemed to hopefully calmed things down so they didn't get out of hand. "..Another friend of yours?"

* *

"Yeah. This stuff is rarely accurate to the full thing.." Though that did peek his interest of what she said. "You have personal experience or know someone who knows someone sort of deal?"