Cole and Celes turned back to look at Cyrus with baffled expressions. Finally, Cyrus stood up and walked back toward the robot. He raised his hand. "psssssh," the cockpit opened again, and the bridge shifted, making Cole and Celes jump, holding hands to avoid the moving section. The cockpit opened further, and Cyrus leaped inside. Then, Cyrus transformed: his arms became like woven branches forming hands, his skin turned blackish-gray, and his eyes glowed red.
"Come on, you two, change and get in here too," Cyrus urged.
"But can we get out again later?" Celes asked.
"Of course you can. I was only trapped because I couldn't transform and I was too weak from not eating for five years," Cyrus answered.
Cole and Celes looked at each other, then they transformed and jumped into the cockpit. Inside, both felt a comfortable warmth. The cockpit chamber was surprisingly spacious and pulsated like living flesh. They also noticed six circular openings arranged in a diamond pattern. Cyrus took up position in the second circle on the right and instructed Celes to take the second circle on the left, while he asked Cole to take the center opening in front of both of them.
Once the three were in position, "sreeet," a multitude of vein-like cables emerged from the ceiling, and the circular openings they stood on retracted, then released the same kind of vein-like cables.
"Ugh, this is disgusting," Cole muttered.
"A... are you sure this is really okay, Cyrus?" Celes asked.
"Just relax, trust me," Cyrus replied.
The cables then plugged into their hands, arms, waists, both legs, chests, backs, and finally, the back of their necks.
"Ugh... that tickles," Celes said, wriggling.
"Just hold still, big sister," Cyrus replied.
"Psiuuuuu," the cockpit entrance in front of them began to close again, and then everything went dark. "bwuuuung," suddenly a screen appeared before them displaying the robot's point of view from its eyes high up, allowing them a clear view of the upper hangar.
"Wow... this robot... is alive," Cole said, amazed.
"That's right, we're the pilots," Cyrus replied.
"Gluduk... gluk," suddenly the flesh on the floor rose and enclosed Cole's, Celes's, and Cyrus's arms. Likewise, the cables lifted all three bodies upward so they were floating, and then the flesh in the openings enclosed their feet. On the large screen, a small display read: "Chimaera GZX ready to go."
"Huh... this robot's name is Chimaera GZX?" Cole asked.
"Yep, that's right. This robot belongs to the six of us; just look, there are six openings, right?" Cyrus said, looking back.
"Bwuuuung," another small screen appeared on the main display showing the outside environment. The text read:
"Registration check....completed,"
"Welcome Cole, Celestia, Cyrus,"
Cole and Celes were stunned, seemingly awestruck and forgetting the disgusting situation that had bothered them moments earlier. Then Cyrus moved his hand inside the restraining flesh. "Bwuuuung," a window detailing history then appeared on the screen.
The Draugr first appeared in the Iceland region in 1933. Within a year, the Draugr had taken control of half of the European continent. In five years, the Draugr had taken over half the world and resurrected many mythical creatures or creatures that had long been extinct.
The Draugr themselves are also referred to as vengeful flesh ghosts, meaning anything that was alive since ancient times, even if only in fossil form, could be resurrected by them. The Draugr simultaneously brought back dinosaurs, the Nephilim giants from before the flood, and mythical and cryptid creatures that were already discovered or still hidden.
And because they no longer had a vengeful purpose and stopped consuming animals as a food source, they ultimately attacked humanity and began devouring humans for their bodies. All the remaining nations joined forces to form an organization called the G.D.A. or Global Defense Army, whose members were all the armies of the world.
The first Draugr war began, lasting five years and ending in a human defeat because dead humans were resurrected to join the Draugr ranks. After that, humanity was increasingly cornered. In 1945, humans began various research projects to find an effective weapon against the Draugr; the Chimaera Project commenced.
The goal was to produce hybrid super-soldiers capable of fighting the Draugr and saving the world. Thanks to six volunteer women, six children possessing Draugr DNA and the DNA of cryptid or mythical creatures were born. They were raised in the facility, they were much smarter and stronger than humans, but they had one weakness: they got incredibly hungry easily and consumed anything with the essence of life, like humans, animals, or even Draugr.
The method to subdue them was to sing a specially designed lullaby that would calm them and temporarily disable them, as they were extremely fond of music. In 1954, the six children rebelled—the lullaby no longer worked—and they destroyed the base and killed all military personnel using the monster robot named Chimaera GZX, which was specially designed for them.
Ultimately, the Chimaera Project was canceled because it was deemed too dangerous for both humanity and the world. Following that, the GDA evacuated humans from the landmasses and settled them on the open ocean because the Draugr couldn't cross the seas without specialized equipment.
"Plip," the window vanished. Cole and Celes were silent, unable to utter a word.
"So... we destroyed everything using this robot? When we were just kids?" Cole asked.
"That's the long and short of it, big brother," Cyrus replied.
"So it's true, then... we ran away about seventy years ago... but why did I only wake up a year and a half ago?" Celes wondered.
"That's the mystery, big sister. I myself only woke up five years ago and have been stuck inside this robot ever since. How I got in, and who put me here... I don't know," Cyrus said.
"Plip," a window reappeared. The three looked back at the screen in front of them. This time, the window showed the moment Cyrus was captured. In a subdued and helpless state, Cyrus saw Calista—who had bird wings along her arms, blackish-gray skin, red eyes, and was emitting lightning all over her body—walking toward him after passing the soldiers she had killed.
Calista then lifted the semi-conscious Cyrus and placed him inside the robot. She then stroked the head of the semi-conscious Cyrus and smiled.
"Goodbye, Cyrus... I'm leaving a message using this robot. Cole, Celes, Calvin, Charlotte, whoever of you finds Cyrus in this robot first and enters it, remember one thing: the six of us must be together. Never be separated again, and go to our meeting place. I'm going to finish everything now and go to our meeting place afterward. Wait for me there. I love you all. Goodbye,"
Calista was then seen leaning forward to kiss Cyrus before exiting the cockpit, which then closed. "Plip," the window disappeared again, leaving only the screen displaying the robot's vision. "Huh," Cole, Celes, and Cyrus were all shocked. Cole and Celes immediately looked at Cyrus.
"Sorry, that's the first time I've seen that message in five years. So big sister Calista put me inside this robot... and that means I was asleep all this time and only woke up five years ago... ugh," Cyrus muttered.
"The meeting place? Where is that?" Celes asked.
"I have absolutely no idea. It hasn't crossed my mind," Cyrus replied.
"Alright, how about we use this robot to go find our meeting place from back then?" Cole suggested.
"There's one problem, big brother," Cyrus stated.
"What is it?" Cole asked.
"This robot can only move if all six of us are inside it. If it could move, I would have left here five years ago," Cyrus answered.
"Ugh... right, of course," Cole replied.