Chapter 182 [Bonus Late ] You Do Not Have The Clearance!

The place was lit up with glow sticks everywhere, but that made sense since there was no way to vent the smoke. Inside the first floor was a massive area filled with glass containers and four sad-looking scientists walking around the room with clipboards.

I could see why they were sad. Most of what they had been looking after were dead from what I could feel, but that wasn't a problem for me.

"Welcome to the first floor of many. This is the Organics floor, or it was. Most of the plants that were being studied could only survive in regulated climates. Some of them couldn't even absorb Co2, so they had to have special gasses pumped inside," Riley explained as we walked into the area.

"This is something that I can help with," I said as I walked past Riley, looking into each of the glass cases.

There were some exciting things in each one, and I could honestly say that I had never seen anything like them. Though, when I scanned some of them, it seemed that the Annokale had run into almost all of the plants.

"Corporal Riley. Does this man have clearance to be in this area?" A gaunt woman asked with a bit of an east coast accent. "You know that will get us tossed in the far if he doesn't!"

"Permission? Nicole, this man... sure, we will go with that. This man killed Crass and now is taking over the base," Riley explained to the woman, and she looked startled, blinking at Corporal Riley and then looking at me, then back to him.

"Why don't you seem more worried about this?" Nicole asked.

"Because after he killed him, Daniel went and captured the Drakar that got away. Before doing this, he sent in people to go heal those that had been hurt. Then he told me to go have a shower, eat, and get cleaned up after," Riley said, and Nicole nodded.

"Well, for an alien, you are pretty friendly compared to most I have heard about and met. Does this mean I will get to eat as well? God knows I could use a bath, or fifteen," Nicole said as she tried to put her hands through her hair unsuccessfully, but I was curious about something.

"Sure, there are three giant trees outside. Once you enter one, just wait, and the grass will bring you to your own room. Once you are there, everything that you need will be in the room. If you are hungry, you can eat until your heart's content," I explained, and the woman's eyes lit up. "But before that. How did you know what I was, let's say, not completely human?"

"Really?! Can I really? We have been on rations for the last week, and let me tell you. You might as well starve than eat military rations! As for you not being human, your eyes are so blue that they glow slightly," Nicole said, and I frowned.

"Really? I never noticed, but I don't think I have looked in the mirror since all this happened to me," I said, touching my face around my eyes.

"Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. You stand out more in the glowing lights down here," Riley said from beside me.

"Interesting. Well, that doesn't really matter. I will come back to this floor later. For now, I want you all to head up and get yourselves cleaned and freshened up. If you want, new clothes will be there as well," I said, and Nicole smiled brightly, and the other three cheered.

"I can't say no to that, but what do you mean that you will be coming back here later? There are still a few specimens alive, but most of them are long dead," Nicole explained, and I nodded.

"I can scan them and bring them back to life. I can also learn things from them and apply that to other things," I explained, and Nicole nodded.

"That sounds very interesting. If you don't mind, please wait until I return to do so. Very few aliens are willing to work with us, so I would love to witness your work," Nicole said with a bright smile that showed off her beauty, even though she was underfed.

"Sure, but stop calling me an alien. I was born a human, sort of, but I have lived my entire life on this planet. I only received this power less than two weeks ago, but before that, I was as average as they come," I explained, but that wasn't entirely true.

Thinking about it now, things in my life had always come easily to me if I wanted them, but I never had any drive. I always just wanted to be able to make the people around me happy and live comfortably.

I had been doing all that before this happened, but when Omega entered my mind, I suddenly was kicked into gear. It was almost like my body had been waiting for something, and was letting me coast until that happened.

Was anything in my life accidental? From what I could see, this was all just part of Star Child's long stretching plan. Did I actually have free will in all of this, or was I just doing everything that my creator had intended?

"Sorry! I seemed to have made you consider your existence! I didn't mean for that to happen!" Nicole apologized, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Don't worry about it. It was a question that I had been ignoring for a long time, but maybe I really am just an alien that was placed here. Still, even if I was, I still am not going to change what I have planned, even if it is all just part of one big plan that I didn't make. I am in control of myself and everything I do," I said as more of a confirmation to myself than the others around me.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think you seem to be a pretty good person for the job. This world needed a severe change, and you are that change. Much worse, people like Crass could have been the one given your powers, and just imagine how that would be?" Riley said with a chuckle that made me grin.

"That is true, but it wouldn't have happened. You have no idea just how much time and effort went into getting me to this planet. Not to mention what it took to get the power that I have now," I said as I waved for Nicole and the other three to leave.

"I don't, but I don't get paid enough to know that stuff," Riley said, turning back to the door.

"Well, you don't get paid anything now, do you?" I asked with a chuckle, and Riley nodded as we headed back to the stairwell.

"Exactly. The next floor that we go to will be the one where your two friends will be one. This floor and the one below it hold all the alien tech that we have recovered. The first is for the stuff that we say we understand. The next is for the stuff that no one has a clue how it works, or it is too dangerous to be messed around with," Riley explained as we headed down two flights of stairs to the next level.

I could hear the sounds of people arguing as we got closer to the door, and I was pretty sure that one of them was Jack. I groaned inwardly, wondering what kind of trouble the mad had gotten himself into this time. You would think that he would have learned his lesson after getting tossed out of a tree and shit his pants.

"There are no such levels of clearance anymore! Just let me in so Binder here, and I can go look at the damn space tank!" I heard Riley argue as I was led down a metallic hallway filled with doors that were widely spaced out. There were only six in total, but there were almost thirty feet between the door with nothing more than numbers from one to five.

"You do not have the clearance, Jack! I will call the guards if you do not stop with this persistence! Unit 4215 has always been off-limits to you, and it will continue to be! You are not getting past me!" A soft-voiced man argued as we reached the room.

"I will be going over the top of you right away, Sherman! Get the hell out of my way, or I will call the guard! The one that I came with!" Jack snapped as we walked into a large room that had sealed-off glass areas that held strange vehicles.

"I hope you are not calling me your guard," I said and Jack whipped around, putting his hands up.

"Hey there, Chief! I wasn't trying to say you were my guard! I know that I work for you, don't worry! It is this ninny that won't get the hell out of our way, so I can take Binder here to look at the Gauss Gun on that tank!" Jack explained, and Binder just shrugged.

"Let them in, Sherman. This one has the highest level of clearance," Riley said in a tired voice.

"According to who?! You?! You are not the one that runs this place!" Sherman declared, and Riley turned to me.

"I asked nicely, so now you can do whatever you need. I never really liked this guy," Riley said to me.

"Wait! What?!" Sherman squeaked.