SystemStart - Area 11 Songfic

The dark eyed girl looked over her array of monitors again, taking notes on the clipboard she held close to her chest. Kaeyi seemed to bounce from screen to screen with boundless energy. Shoving her hands into her lab coat pockets, she looked up at their little project, contained inside a glowing blue cylinder. Inside was a girl, her eyes closed as if she sleeping, breathing through oxidised water. The steady beats on her heart-rate monitor showed she was still alive. Kaeyi always kept half an eye on all the monitors, in part because she had a fondness for the girl in the case. After all, it was her job to make sure Cassandra didn't die.

On the opposite side of the room, a blonde boy darted around on his platform, checking machinery. His bright blue eyes triple checked that every switch was in the right position at the right time. The steady humm of the computers lulled him into his work. Occasionally, he'd glance up from his task, and meet the eyes of his female companion on the opposite side of the room. He'd smile back at her before resuming his tasks. It was his job to make sure everything worked when It needed to.

In the middle, on a platform high above everything, the final member of the trio observed his comrade's work. This was his project, his goal, its success dictated his future. His light grey eyes scanned the scene, smiling contentedly. This was what it felt like when a plan came together. He pulled up a monitor and began typing away at the keys. It was nearly time to put the Cassandra project into motion.

Kaeyi took one last look at all her monitors, half noticing Sam the technician enter and cross the bridge over to Martyn's pod. He did rag-tag jobs the team always seemed to miss. Half of the project's more basic aspects would have been accidentally skimmed over if not for him. He was a life saver so It was only right he was here now.

She looked over the room and pushed down the button beneath her microphone,
“Are we ready to begin?” she asked. There was a pause before hearing Sparkles voice.
“Almost, I need to calibrate.”
For a moment all she could hear was the squeak of the machines and the hammering of his fingers on the keyboard. Calibrating was always the last thing on everyone's list. Then there was a massive screech – the mainframe was ready.
“Ok, calibrated.”
The machines around the room slowly began to start. This was the first time they'd ever been activated. Keayi's eyes did not leave her monitors. Thankfully, nothing was yet abnormal.
“Subject is responding normally,” she informed the rest of the crew. She could practically hear Sparkles sigh of relief. In any project, startup was always tense.
“Ok, let's begin.”
This was the signal. It was go time. The Cassandra Project was ready to launch.

Marytn immediately started flicking switches and pulling leavers, running from one side of the pod to another, only stopping to input commands into a nearby computer.
“Machine starts,” he reported, slowly rising the leaver that would start the main machinery. The light around the room dimmed slightly and the blue, ethereal glow coming from under the pods seemed to fade. It was frightening to think how much power this thing consumed.
“Let me just check the signal, over.” Sam rushed over to a computer Martyn had neglected and opened a few screens. A series of loud beeps resounded throughout the room. Sam gave him the thumbs up, everything was normal. Power continued to pour into the machines. It was actually working!

“Signal is stable.” Sparkles confirmed to Keayi who hadn't seen the thumbs up. She sent a smile in the direction of the overseers pod as thanks. Looking over her monitors, knowing it would be the most significant point to do so, she saw nothing abnormal. She even looked at the camera placed inside the pod- her eyelids hadn't even twitched.
“Subject is ready.” she confirmed, hoping her readings were all correct. She ran a quick diagnostic just be sure. They were all clean. Sam ran over to her pod, as if to check it for himself. Maybe he just wanted to see Cassandra wake. Almost everyone else did.

On the other side, Martyn pulled the final leaver, sighed, then flopped on his chair. The mechanic sound that echoed through the room was nearly deafening but the team didn't even seem to notice. The pod which contained Cassandra began to glow mint green.
“Machines are all up to speed and within normal parameters.” he reported, tempted to join Sam and Keayi on the other side, knowing full well he was more needed here.

“Subject is awake, vitals are good.” Sam reported, looking over the medical statistics that poured in every second. Cassandra had woken but her eyes were closed. They would open soon enough, they had too, otherwise this whole thing was for nothing. Sparkles pulled up the camera feed to look at Cassandra, leaning in toward his microphone so his voice was louder.
“Cassandra, can you hear me?”
There was a moment of painstaking normality where nothing could be heard other than the endless din of the various machines. Then her cheek muscles twitched, she was waking up. It was now or never. She could either awaken or slip into a coma she couldn't recover from. It was all up to her.
“Yes,” she said, her eyes still not opening, but the single word slipped from her lips. The sound echoed across the room as if she was speaking with a thousand voices at once. Kaeyi's mouth fell open and she stared across the room at Martyn who looked as giddy as a schoolboy. He ran over to the final leaver, hoping it was time to start the Final Stage. The stage they had no control over – it was all up to Cassandra now.
“Are you ready to begin?” Sparkles asked.
“Yes,” she said, her dazzling eyes flicking open. The machines of the Final Stage began to blare loudly, a ring rising around the cylinder, swirling faster and faster until it was little more than a ring of light.
“I'm ready.”