[Altamira] Serra's Training
It was hard hearing the natural beauty around her; hard to hear its soft winds and the leaves rustling around her. The mechanical shifting and gears whizzing almost drowned it out, but Serra accepted the sounds. She looked back at the source of the sounds, her robotic companion. It was a gift from her father, he designed Model X28 or 'Sammy' as she calls him, to watch over her and protect her from harm... or keep her from causing too much harm.
He effortlessly walked next to her, his hologram skin depicting a regular man with blond hair that didn't flow in the wind, blue eyes that stared into space, skin that didn't not bleed or sweat. His blue jacket and jeans were the only things on Sammy that moved with him. Sammy looked completely human with his hologram on which Serra was grateful for. As usual, Sammy did not speak unless the situation called for it. Serra always tried to make him more human by 'training' him with small talk, but she gave up a while ago. It never worked.
She turned back to look at the trail ahead. The constantly elevating road rose higher up a red rocked mountain, curling and curving while ascending to it's peak. Bits of rock fell down the slopes as the duo stepped up the trail. Serra always had been adventurous and she loved these sort of dangerous hikes, especially with Sam to help her if something went amiss. He was the most reliable person Serra has met... well, he's supposed to be that way.
Suddenly, she heard the robot turned his neck to glance at her, then forward to see the trail. "Please, Mistress Serra?" he asked, his voice emphasizing her name as he spoke, his lips perfectly matching the words. "Why are we journeying up the mountain, you have not told me so and it could be detrimental to your safety. I advise we return down before we reach an even more dangerous zone."
Serra couldn't help but smile a little. "It's all right, Sam. You can take care of me, right?" she asked, knowing his answer.
"Of course Mistress Serra, but-," he started before Serra interrupted.
"We can keep going and I won't get hurt, don't worry!"
He remained silent as the continued upward, the trail going higher and getting a little more narrow as they passed. Serra herself didn't know why they were climbing other than boredom. Still, this wasn't an unusual thing for her to do. She always liked exploring nature and seeing its wonders first-hand. There wasn't much else to do on the trail with an emotionless walking tin can.
They trekked onward and upward, continuing to the mountain's peak. Soon, the path narrowed so much that Serra was almost forced to either sidle across the ledges of the the mountain or climb it. She knew she would have to climb it since the mountain path almost stopped, not near the peak yet so she cautiously stepped to flat sort of platform on the mountain where the path halted. She looked up, seeing that her last option had become her only one.
Serra kicked up her left leg on a large stone, embedded in the mountain wall and hoisted herself up, reaching for a ledge with her hands and then pulling herself up, repeating it until so drew near the edge. Serra occasionally looked down, seeing Sam hoist his body up faster than she could, right behind her. She looked back up, seeing nothing but the red, rocky mountain wall and the sky.
After a long while, she reached the peak of the mountain, almost a perfect ninety degree angle climb to it. Without even relying on her powers, she scaled it and sighed, in both exhaustion and relief. Sam soon lifted himself up and immediately took his place next to Serra, staring off into the sky.
"Beautiful, ain't it?" Serra asked, sitting back and doing her best to catch her breath and relax.
"Yes, it looks quite tranquil, Mistress Serra," he replied, standing still and still looking forward. "Should we head back down now, Mistress Serra? It will be dusk in approximately an hour."
"All right, after a bit," she responded, lying on her back and gazing at the changing sky as the sun set, seeing the sky blue morph into an orange hue. She stood up and looked around the peak. It was rather flat and there were actually large trees taking root up here. Some times, a bird would chirp but there was no other sound besides Sam.
Then Serra noticed something behind the trees. It was huge... it looked like some sort of building, except it was round and curved. She wandered closer, brushing tree limbs aside, in amazed curiosity. As she neared closer, Sam trailing her, she stopped to gaze. It was a domed structure, made of a black material, almost looking like obsidian or something of the sort.
There was a door, or it looked like a door at least. Two slabs of that black material met together with depressions in them like handles. Serra shuffled closer, inching herself toward the door. She felt the door's handles, her hands shivering at the touch of the stone. After pulling on the door as hard as she could, it finally budged open and Serra took her first steps inside the Dome.
Last edited by MaskedLegend; 10-01-2007 at 10:32 PM.