Chapter 53: Protocol 6-C

Celes collapsed into a sitting position. Clyde immediately squatted down to help her, but Celes raised her hand and remained seated, lost in thought. Seeing Celes sitting there, Clyde, Craig, Casca, and Corie exchanged looks before lining up beside her on her left and right, sitting atop the folders and files scattered across the floor. Still holding the folder containing the information about the swarmers, Casca closed it and tossed it toward the broken desk.

Silence fell over them all, and no one spoke a word, casting a deep quiet over the archive room, a place no human had set foot in for years. The only sound was the hum of the fluorescent lights illuminating them from the ceiling, flickering occasionally. As they sat there, Craig noticed a document beneath him, picked it up, and read it.

It detailed the melody experiment used to soothe, control, and operate their system, designated as Protocol C-17. This project was also designed to manipulate their thoughts and emotions so they would become fully controlled military weapons.

"Hah... even our feelings were manipulated by that music we always heard... I don’t even know if we were actually alive or not if that’s the case," Craig said, handing the paper to Clyde.

Clyde read through it. The song they heard was a system developed by the military to control them, suppress them, connect them, and monitor them. However, the experiment was deemed a failure because Protocol C-17, which utilized AI, evolved and generated a specific melody derived from the giant’s womb, granting all five chimaera child subjects their own free will, distinct personalities, and independent minds.

That was why the Chimaera Initiative project was shut down as a failure when its five children attempted to escape, coinciding with a massive attack on the facility by the nephilim. The children then obliterated both the nephilim and human forces simultaneously, leading to them being judged as extraordinarily dangerous.

"We are alive... each of us has our own personality... we aren’t controlled by the melody written here... that’s why we’re failed products," Clyde said, setting the file down.

"But Brother... remember when we were invited to the Neo Ark guild by Mary? Back then... they played that melody and gave us such a severe headache... then we passed out and woke up inside those pods," Casca said.

"Huh... something like that happened?" Craig asked, turning to look at Clyde and Casca in confusion, completely in the dark about the incident.

"Oh... back when you guys rescued me? I felt that pain when I heard that song too... I still remember because I had just woken up then," Corie added.

Clyde, Casca, and Corie fell silent again, while Craig waited for an explanation without saying a word. But suddenly, Celes leaned forward, grabbed the document in front of Clyde, and read it,

"No need to worry... it’s impossible for you to be affected by this melody now," Celes said as she read the file.

"What do you mean, Celes?" Clyde asked, turning to her.

"During the 10 years after I woke up... I studied everything from the Chimaera Z-X database while I was trapped. Now that Chimaera Z-X has merged into the framework, the song they used to capture you back then won’t work anymore," Celes said.

"Why are you so sure about that, Sister Celes?" Casca asked.

"Because I didn’t just sit idle for those 10 years. I rewrote the entire program within our melody and overhauled its system with the help of Chimaera Z-X, whose cockpit was the birthplace for each of us. As proof, I used that melody to kill the simulation and wake you up, didn’t I? That melody belongs to us now and functions strictly when we sing it. The humans who captured you won’t be able to use it against us anymore. I placed that melody inside our cockpit in Chimaera Z-X and set it to a specific frequency only we can hear," Celes answered calmly.

"Oh... so that’s why you asked us to find you?" Clyde asked.

"That was one reason, yes... but not just that. I really missed you guys, and when I was able to detect you, I was overjoyed to know you were still alive. After that, I looked for a way to wake you up and guide you here to fetch me. Now that we’re together, no one can control us or use us as tools of war ever again," Celes answered with a smile.

"Hmm... thinking about it, that makes sense. When Mary sang that melody, nothing happened... but why were we still affected after we woke up back then? I’m still a bit confused," Clyde replied, lost in thought.

"Mary?" Celes asked, bewildered.

"Oh... she’s the person who helped me, Casca, Corie, and Craig in Safe Haven City. I’ll tell you everything about her and introduce you later," Clyde answered.

"Hmm... alright. The reason you were still affected was because even though you were integrated into the framework, you were still running the old program. I hadn’t installed the new additions into your ORBs yet. I’ll do it right now," Celes said.

Suddenly, Celes closed her eyes and raised both hands. A bright light enveloped her body as a dark reddish energy swirled up from beneath her. Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie could see Celes transforming into her combat form behind the glow before the light faded away,

"Na... na... na,"

Celes’s voice rang out, humming the melody within the light, followed by the faint sound of a piano chiming in their heads, seemingly originating from outside the room. Suddenly, Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie felt a wave of dizziness. Without realizing it, they clutched their heads, just as they had when hearing the melody before passing out into the dream. But before their eyes closed completely, a holographic screen popped open in front of them.

[Song confirmed.]

[Registered subject C – 1703, C – 4504, C – 0213, C – 2419 in framework confirmed.]

[Updating protocol C-17 to latest version named protocol 6-C.]

[System 6-C detected.]

[Unpacking module.]

[Protection module... confirmed.]

[Function Alteration module... confirmed.]

[Power limiter remover module... confirmed.]

[Song side effect remover module... confirmed.]

[Installing module to all new subjects... 10%... 28%... 49%... 77%... 100%... completed.]

[All subjects join to framework... confirmed.]

[Update to Protocol 6-C completed.]

[Unlock all subjects memory... completed.]

Suddenly, Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie felt an incredible sense of relief, even as the melody continued to play in their heads. Their headaches vanished, and they reopened their eyes. They looked at the holographic screen, now split into five panels displaying all of their statuses. A new bar had been added below their status meters,

[Synchronization : [Progress bar 100%] Status : Ready.]

"Hey... I’m not dizzy anymore," Corie said, looking at her hands and touching her head.

"Same here... I don’t feel dizzy or heavy-headed anymore either," Craig added.

"Hmm... synchronization... does that mean the five of us are synced up?" Casca asked.

"I don’t know... I don’t fully understand it either," Clyde answered.

"It means we are all synchronized to Chimaera Z-X, and now there aren’t just five of us, but six," Celes interjected.

They all turned to look at Celes, who had returned to her human form but looked exhausted, covered in a cold sweat and pale despite her smile.

"We are all one now, and no one can control or capture us ever again," Celes said cheerfully.

Seeing Celes smiling while looking so exhausted, and noticing her stamina was down to just 45%, Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie moved forward to wrap Celes in a group embrace once more. But soon after, a display popped open on the holographic screen, startling all five of them. The screen showed footage of numerous soldiers descending from helicopters outside in front of the building above, gathering on the ground. A jeep could also be seen stopping in front of the ruined building above, alongside a massive, heavily armed GEAR stationed in the center of the crater.

Clyde, Celes, Casca, Craig, and Corie seethed with anger as they spotted the emblem reading GDAB on the soldiers’ uniforms and on the upper arm of the giant GEAR that had landed in the crater.

"They’re GDAB... the people who ran all those experiments," Craig said, furious.

"Alright, time to leave with Chimaera Z-X. We’re heading to Utopia, which is close by," Clyde said.

"But... how do we move Chimaera Z-X?" Casca asked.

"I don’t know, let’s get to the cockpit first, hurry, before they break inside," Clyde answered, standing up. "Come on, Celes, I’ll help you up," Clyde added, assisting Celes to her feet.

"Yeah... you’re right, Clyde. Come on everyone, let’s head back to the cockpit," Celes added as she stood up.

After that, Clyde scooped Celes up into his arms and sprinted out of the archive room, with Craig, Casca, and Corie running close behind him.