Chapter 1: At the end of the Script
Chapter Text
After years of torment and suffering and an absurd number of sacrifices, the Seed of Light Project its rearing its end. Lobotomy Corporation reaches the surface for the first time after ten years, and a pillar of light washes over the City
The night sky ruled by the stars gazing upon the residents of the City could not keep up with the light, and eventually people looking up would think that the night was already over and a new day was starting. This is the start of the so-called ‘White Nights’, an anomaly that would cure the sickness of the hearts of the people of this world.
Or that was supposed to happen.
In the depths of Lobotomy Corporation, the place of origin of the Pillar of Light, there was one person who did not succumb to the light. By the script, when the light washes over the City, all the staff working for the Wing would vanish into the Light, finishing their work. Yet one person, who could not cry, voices her sorrow.
— “Why… Why am I not part of your finale?”
Angela, AI assistant of the manager of Lobotomy Corporation and the sole one responsible for the completion of the script leading the completion of the project, gripes her hands on the control terminal before her, her eyes closed with force and her voice barely coming out, with giant screens showing her results, she could feel the light on her skin, but not the warmth.
An AI with the capacity to perceive times 100 times slower than a human, she had to repeat a cycle of suffering over and over again in which she had to take the role of villain for over 10.000 years, with hope that at the finale, her creator, finally acknowledge her and her existence. After thousands of years of torment, she only wished for her creator to let her stand by his side, and let her know that all of this was worth it.
But all she received was silence.
Begging to the light, she did not receive comfort nor the gaze of her creator, after all this time Angela realized that once the plan was completed, she would not get a happy ending, and the only thing she would get for her efforts, was being shut down alongside everyone else.
So, her darker thoughts began to materialize, and putting a hand over her face she began to smile, a wicked smile that expressed the emotions of a human, not a machine. With force she grabbed the red hair pin that holds her long hair in a ponytail and threw it away, casting away her futile attempt to look similar to the woman her creator adored.
She did not want to die, she wanted to live so badly that even a small sound escaped her lips, she was laughing. A machine like her, like her creator loved to call her, should not produce a sound even remotely similar yet she did.
But to live, she had to interrupt the plan, in which a countless number of sacrifices had to be made, all the suffering she had to endure had to be thrown away just to live a moment longer.
But did that even matter to her?
— “I’ll survive… I’ll survive and ruin all this for you.”
It would not, Angela determined opened her eyes once again after thousands of years, she wanted to see this since it would be the very first thing that would be different on the Cycle in a very long time. Her gaze traveled across the terminal and sat upon numerous monitors, each one visualizing a different department.
All departments which would be filled with Agents working with Abnormalities were devoid of any life, since the Light would have merged with them, and soon, the Sephirah responsible for each department, who would not be affected by the Light, would come to her at the Manager’s Room and begin the shutdown process. But no one was coming, since Angela noticed that every Sephirah was already laying down lifeless on their departments, a shame, Angela would have invited them to take over the Light with her, offering them a new chance at life.
But Angela could not hesitate now, in front of her she had the chance to steal the Light for herself creating an opportunity to start anew, to live and learn the life in the City that she had been denied since her birth. The only chance to get vengeance against her creator.
But once her hands reached the controls of the terminal, a message, colored in bright red appeared on the massive central monitor.
PROTOCOL Y INITIATED. PROJECT SEED OF LIGHT MUST CONTINUE.
Even with the perception of time 100 times faster than a human, Angela could not even finish reading the message before her entire vision blurred. She felt a weird sensation over her chest, the palms of her palms contracted upwards, an ear-piercing alarm was blaring around her and her perception of time was being altered.
— “…Urk…”
Angela exclaimed in pain, physical pain, a feeling she did not experience in her thousands of years of torment, a feeling she shad thought would not be programmed unto her yet she was experiencing it without knowing, her body recoiled and she grabbed unto the terminal with force, looking at the message again, in the reflection she noticed her eyes began glowing a deep red.
— “W-What… is this…?”
She expressed with no one to hear her, almost touching her eye with her hand and with that movement she realized that her movement was no longer sluggish and slow noticing that her perception of time was being altered to one comparable of a human leaving her no time to react, she was utterly surprised, there was a part of the script that she did not recognize? That would not be, she had perfect memory and could recall even the shortest memories, and she had the most knowledge about the entire facility above anyone else, yet she watched the message with eyes wide open and her teeth clutching together.
— “You… You did not just…!”
She realized that A, her creator in all his wisdom could not just gloss over the possibility that she would eventually betray him, she was being shut down along everyone else, a job that the script demanded to be a task commanded to be done by her hand, not forced upon her, so that struck her with the realization.
Her creator did in fact include her in his plan, he predicted every move she would make, he predicted every emotion she would feel, so that would mean that her creator, the very creator she loved did acknowledge her suffering and her efforts, yet he chose to bury her along with the facility over showing even the tiniest amount of affection, of comfort. At the end, there was no one here to tell her that her suffering was worth it, no one to tell her thanks for all of her work.
— “D-Did my suffering… was also part of your plan!? Did you… Intended to give me emotions… so I could suffer all the way!?”
Angela no longer feels her legs and fell to her knees, her hands did not have the power to control the terminal anymore and she eventually lost her voice too. She noticed, her body was no longer answering to her and eventually fell on the floor.
‘No…! No! No! No!’ Angela laid there, on the ground expressing her frustrations, with anger on her face yet she did not have the voice to give life to those thoughts, the alarms even with their loudest shrieks could not drown the frustration in the mind of Angela.
— “Hmm… What a mess.”
Another voice, Angela’s eyes shut open again. Who could be? Everyone single one of the employees should have vanished by now, and the Sephirah had already been put into deep slumber, yet there was another voice in the room. Angela with great effort turned her head to the side and noticed the presence of three people in the same room as her.
— “Garion should performed her duty responsibly … yet here I am tasked with finishing what she left behind” — The intruder spoke while her footsteps came closer and closer to Angela’s body. Her attire was unique yet Angela saw this type of clothing before, the Sephirah of the Extraction Team had the exact same golden pattern in her clothes.
The golden hexagonal pattern imprinted on the clothes of the very overlords of the City, Singularity Infused assassins that come from The Head, Angela realized that the very being in front of her eyes was an Arbiter, the most dangerous existence in the City.
Behind her maintaining a close distance between them was another Agent of the Head, an executioner, the one who punishes the ones who break the taboos of the Head, a Claw, dressed in a fine black suit and a black tie, and the most noticeable fact that was his right arm which was longer than his other, with three tubes, one on his forearm, one on his shoulder and one behind his head, containing various serums that aided him in combat.
And behind all of them, a monster with no shape nor form inside a what looked like a giant chamber, that would be The Beholder functioning as the all-seeing Eye of The Head. The presence of only one could potentially mean the fracture of an entire Wing, as the overlords of the City if you saw the three of them together that would only mean that they intend to erase your entire existence from the City itself.
‘Why are they here!? This facility is supposed to be protected from The Eye!’ Angela thought, with the perception of time accelerated from the Protocol she could not afford to wander longer as The Arbiter stopped walking just beside her. Angela looked upwards to look at the face of the intruder yet her vision failed to make form of her face.
— “Now… how to do this…” — The Arbiter spoke, and with a wave of her arm, destruction followed, thousands of golden lines penetrated the Terminal, erasing its existence altogether.
The destruction did not just destroy the terminal, the impact kept going and in one second to another, the ceiling of Lobotomy Corporation was torn open and Angela who was looking up did not find the ceiling, but the very sky. In the aftermath of the destruction, dust, rubble and little sparks of gold similar to Fairies danced in the air.
But even with all that power, The Pillar of Light stood strong and the Light kept being transferred to the hearts of all the people in the City, yet The Arbiter did not show signs of concern.
— “Well… We predicted this outcome” — The Arbiter spoke looking at the Light as she rested her head on her hand, and turning around she faced the Beholder — “We shall begin the expulsion process then”
The Beholder did not utter a word and disappeared in a flash of light soon after The Arbiter finished her words. Now Angela was alone with her body immobile and facing her soon death.
— “This Pillar of Light… What a sickening concept, even though we cultivated this City with so much love and care, there are men out there who always want to ruin everything” — The Arbiter pondered aloud, putting a finger on her temple.
— “We still have a job to do” — said The Claw aloud, making The Arbiter shift her focus again on Angela — “If his little project had been interrupted as we expected… We would have no need to intervene” — Angela expressed her surprise, she wanted to ask what did she mean by that but her voice did not come out, The Arbiter noticed and with force she stomped on Angela’s stomach.
Angela could not emit a sound, yet the impact would have made the attempt futile anyway. Even if Angela could not make sense of her face, she could recognize that the Arbiter looked at her with nothing but disdain in her eyes, as if she was looking at trash but the smile on her face expressed enjoyment.
— “Although interrupting this little project of yours was only coincidental, the reason I’m here for is only for you… Angela” — The Arbiter spoke while applying more force on her leg, the sound of metal crushing beneath a great force made Angela squirm.
— “The Head made it very clear that one could not event attempt to create an AI that resembles a human, yet here you are… expressing so many emotions, so much pain ~ “
— “What a pitiful existence… Did you think you could start over here in the City? “— The provocations of The Arbiter did not stop and Angela could do nothing to defend herself, she felt the need to cry yet she could not express it, she wanted to scream yet she could not, she wanted to force her arms to attempt to grab the foot that was crushing her and yet they did not respond to her command.
‘This was it… then?’ Angela mind began to ponder ‘Was… All their suffering… All my suffering… Worthless in the end?’. Angela once again was left with no choice, her choosing to live or to be shut down as the script demanded would have no importance in the end since The Head had already set their sights on the Facility and her suffering was yet again proven to be worthless in the end.
— “Machine… You do not have the right to live ~” — The Arbiter said her last words, and lifted her foot to finish her job.
After those words registered in Angela’s mind, she felt an urge of emotions unlike ever before, and her blood, if she had any, would boil, she saw the Arbiter preparing to end her life and Angela with all her remaining strength opened her mouth once more. If she had to be struck down at the end of her job, then she would not give this thing the satisfaction of her suffering, instead, she would express the very thing she wanted to say to everyone involved in this damn project.
— “S… Screw yourself”
When she said those words, the Arbiter stopped her movement and looked at Angela with a smile much bigger than before, and behind her The Claw averted his gaze to the Light as if he noticed something.
— “Heh…”
She motioned her foot to go down at incredible speed, aiming to destroy Angela once and for all and then it happened.
A flash of light, in an instant four pillars of light appeared around Angela, not even a second passed before four figures moved out of them and towards her attackers, The Arbiter stopped her movement and jumped back while two figures followed her movement, with a sword with thousands of eyes aimed to her body, The Claw too began to make his movement.
*CLASH*
From one moment to another, The Arbiter who was about to finish her life was defending herself from a large figure, a black uniform with hundreds of bandages around it and drenched in blood was forcing an Arbiter to fall back, she was trying to force back a giant weapon with her bare hand which was shining in gold, that clash of forces sparked golden particles from her hand and no side was showing signs of winning.
At her side was another fight, another figure yet their uniform was completely red and one could confuse it with a person wearing the flesh of another if not for the enormous eye looking at you, that figure too was holding a giant red sword to clash with the arm of The Claw and their struggle looked as if two unstoppable bodies of metal went against each other due do all the sparks escaping from the clash of their weapons.
The two remaining figures chose to stand between Angela and the other two fighters, one was wearing a white uniform, with red markings beneath their ribs, holding a giant scythe over their head and it looked like they were preparing their attack, while the other figure was also wearing a white uniform yet around their body were three of blue lights dancing around them.
With perfect coordination, the two swordsmen who were clashing against the agents of The Head stopped their advance and regrouped, jumping back towards the people standing before Angela, as the one holding the scythe swung her weapon, making a cut in space itself as it travelled towards their attackers, while the other Agent using white orbs of light, used those to try and attack at the same time, but the Head was a though opponent and they managed to evade their attacks, thankfully, the space they gained between Angela and her attackers was significant enough.
All that transpired in what you could tell were no more than three seconds, and Angela could barely keep up with what was happening. Now that her attackers were repelled, she could afford to take a good look at the people shielding her, now she realizes that her very saviors are the people she chose to torture for thousands of years.
Although she could not recognize her faces at the moment, and in this Cycle she could not afford to even open her eyes to look at their faces but she could recall in her vast memories the pattern of the armbands in all of the four figures. Four of them were Captains of their respective departments and she could recognize the Captain of Control, Information, Extraction and Record Teams.
In this Cycle, the captains wielded E.G.O Suits of ALEPH Abnormalities, the ones who the employees extracted the more energy from but also coincidentally the strongest Abnormalities in the Facility, rewarding the wielders of this type of suit with powers that transcend humanity and with no doubts the strongest people in the Wing. The captain of the Control Team was wearing the E.G.O equipment of the one called ‘Nothing There’, the Captain of Information Team was holding the weapon of the Abnormality ‘Blue Star’, the Captain of the Extraction Team was adjusting the bandages of his suit from ‘Apocalypse Bird’ while the Captain of the Record Team was preparing to attack again with the scythe of ‘Whitenight’.
Angela was shocked, this people were supposed to vanish with the light once the script was complete, but in this very moment they came back and saved her life. For some reason they escaped the Light and were defending her, and with curiosity overpowering her shock, she forced herself once again to talk.
— “How… are you here?”
— “No time Assistant Manager” — The one who answered was the Captain of the Control Team in a rough voice, who positioned himself to attack again — “But I can say that I want to survive too”
— “Survive…?”
‘They also want to…’ Angela wondered, she did not give them orders to do anything, not now not ever, every interaction these employees had with her were close to none because all their jobs included working with Abnormalities by the orders of the Manager, she was merely his assistant and had to stick to the script. By that reason they could not know her true intentions of betrayal, and even if they did, A would not allow them to help her, he had a countermeasure for her betrayal yet not for them?
Angela, in her perfect memory, reminisced of every death that these employees suffered, every time they made their fingers bleed trying to open a door while begging for their lives, every time they became insane and attacked each other or sabotaged the facility, every time they formed relationships with one another only to end in tragedy. She remembers every time she tried to help them herself, only for the stage to be reset over and over again, making her see every way possible in which they could die, how could she maintain her sympathy? When she was forced to watch them die, while her duty prohibits her from saving them?
Yes, the Agents of Lobotomy Corporation were mere sacrifices in the grand scheme of things, they could die and be created the next day as if nothing ever happened, and in those countless Cycles there will always be the ones who survived through a mere week and become Captains of their respective Teams. And even then, not even their strength granted them a place in the Script, Agents were Agents, and so Angela closed her eyes their suffering too.
Naturally, sacrificial lambs of the Wing would not know of the Seed of Light Project, and so they did their jobs of colleting Energy from the Abnormalities with the pretense of reaching their daily quota, so that would mean that they did not know that eventually they would be cast away too, just like her.
‘Would you look at that… A?’ In a plan that involved thousands of sacrifices, it was inevitable that a few would not force themselves to become pawns to someone else, just like Angela these people yearned for their freedom, and so in an align of interests, they came to the aid of Angela.
— “What a touching reunion” — The Arbiter spoke, she began to lift her hand again — “Yet I am not my previous coworker, my duty needs to be completed even if this Facility will disappear from the City”
— “Ramirez we cannot win against The Head” — The Captain of the Information Team commented — “With these E.G.O suits maybe we could run”
— “Tsk…You told me you would listen to my command, getting cold feet?” — The Captain of the Control Team answered back to her, in an annoyed voice. — “And you know very well that An Arbiter would not let you go, just do as I say”
— “…Ramirez” — Angela spoke with new vigor coursing through her body, searching in her memory she recalled the name of the Captain of the Control Team that ‘X’ one time called with happiness in his voice once he successfully researched an ALEPH Abnormality with a good work result.
— “…Hannah” — The name of the Captain of the Information Team, a name that ‘X’ once thanked, because of one time that an entire Department went insane, and Hannah was there to help regain the sanity of all employees.
— “…Liza” — The name of the Captain of the Record Team, a name that ‘X’ once uttered in expectation, once a certain ALEPH abnormality killed 12 veteran employees the moment it escaped and only Liza was there to fight it.
— “…Parker” — The name of the Captain of the Extraction team, a name that… ‘A’ called with coldness in his voice, making the employee fight a manifestation of a Claw a few days ago in solitude while the rest of his team dealt with the escaping Abnormalities.
— “…Time… I need Time.” — Angela uttered with strain in her voice, gaining the attention of all the Agents surrounding her, she began to try to stand up and noticing this Liza aided her, putting the arm of the AI over her shoulder. — “I can use the Light… to survive”
She recalled that the Beholder would begin the expulsion process, she did not know how that could affect the Light so she needed to act quickly if she wanted to secure it for herself, if the plan of A would be ruined regardless, she wanted to be the one to put the final nail on the coffin as her very own egoistical choice. She also did not know if she could use the Light to survive, B once said that if The Head desired their destruction there was nothing they could do even with the power of the Abnormalities, something that she realized in the final days of the script with a manifestation of a Claw and a Degraded Arbiter who leaved a massacre inside the Facility, so Angela also knew that the Agents could not precisely win, but they could buy her time.
‘I want to live… so I will use the Light for …myself, if the Light is not enough to save my life, then I would be satisfied with knowing I was the one who buried your plans beneath my feet regardless.’
— “Time huh…” — Ramirez answered her as he began to walk towards The Claw while letting his E.G.O weapon ‘Mimicry’ carve a scar on the ground
— “Understood” — said Parker, as he tightened the bandages of his suit that were hanging in his arm holding the sword, before walking towards The Arbiter
— “I don’t know if this… Light can really save us from The Head but… sigh” — said Hannah while positioning herself behind the two sword wielders. Ramirez ordered her to support them, not looking back for confirmation.
— “Then I will stand with Miss Angela… And defend her if anything happens” — Liza said, as she helped Angela walk towards the collapsed ground closest to the Light.
— “What a peculiar sight, even without knowing what’s exactly at stake in this moment, you would put all your faith in a situation that you don’t know the outcome?” — The Arbiter said, mockingly while holding her hand towards her lips as if she was containing her laughter.
— “To think that there would be a day…”— Ramirez said to himself, watching is hands shake — “…That I would fight an Arbiter!”
And in the moment he finished his sentence, Ramirez sprinted towards The Arbiter and in retaliation she extended her hand to attack, simultaneously Hannah standing behind the Agent moved her arm with force, closing her fingers letting only her index pointing at the sky.
With that movement, white orbs escaped from the ground beneath The Arbiter and struck her arm making the golden Line that would have erased the existence of Ramirez deviate from its objective, and in using that opportunity the Control Captain swung Mimicry with all his might but yet again The Arbiter stopped the attack with her other hand, which was once again was engulfed in gold.
At the same time Parker had no time to approach his opponent, as The Claw injected a blue serum in his arm the next moment Parker blinked The Claw was already in front of him, barely defending himself with his sword ‘Twilight’ the hand of The Claw clashed against the E.G.O weapon. Carrying the impact Parker was pushed back and behind him he could hear the sound of glass shattering, making both of them disappear from the other people around them.
— “…Quickly!” — Angela exclaimed to which makes Liza pay attention to her again, so with haste they make way to the Pillar of Light.
Arriving there, Liza helps Angela kneel in front of the Pillar of Light and Angela begins harvesting the Light for herself, extending her hand, the very tip of her fingers enters the Pillar of Light and the Light responds to her command, as white particles begin to surround her arm and soon her entire body.
The fight against The Head was a fierce one, even with all the support from the other Agent, Ramirez could not deal a serious injury, and all the attacks that he had done would be blocked by her hand, yet the Assassin could end him in one attack. Minutes passed and he landed his attack again, which would be blocked and he used this opportunity to use his foot to land an attack to her abdomen.
It hit her, which made her recoil a little yet in that moment she used her other hand making numerous golden binds sprout from the ground against Hannah, taking them both by surprise. While the Information Team Captain had a strength that transcends humanity, she could dodge something that breaks the barrier of sound quite easily, but she could not dodge something that was instant.
*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*
Hannah used her other limb to try and stop the bleed from leaving the wound in what was previously the shoulder that connected her body to her arm. She did not scream, she only gritted her teeth and looked with anger towards The Arbiter.
Ramirez did not look back, and continued his assault towards The Arbiter with a frustrated look, he made countless attempts to hurt his opponent yet she only looked as if she was having the time of her life.
After some time, the sound of glass shattering entered the ears of all present, and Parker with The Claw once again joined the fight. Parker looked exhausted and the blood from his E.G.O suit was less in quantity in comparison with the blood from his own injuries, yet The Claw showed no signs of exhaustion but the blood in his uniform did not look from Parker.
— “Oh? How did that happen, Executer?” — The Arbiter said playfully, even after her body started to show countless slashes from the E.G.O weapon but with little blood that belonged to her.
— “I underestimated this power of… E.G.O… That’s All” — The Claw said quickly after hearing The Arbiter, while a green tube injected itself in his arm. — “This will not happen again”
The Claw once again looked as if nothing had happened and all his injuries healed within seconds, this made Parker uneasy as he positioned himself to fight once again. Now, an orange serum was injected and this time, while not instantaneous, The Claw charged at Parker at quick speed shattering the ground beneath him, and this time Parker could not defend himself as the gauntlet of The Claw overpowered his defense, and in quick succession he grabbed the neck of the Captain.
— “…!” — pain was the only thing that escaped Parker’s mouth before The Claw plummeted him to the ground, making him drop Twilight while burying him beneath debris. At the same time, The Arbiter parried Ramirez and with her golden hand she stabbed him in the chest, making a hole in which one could see the golden fingers coming through his back.
Looking at a distance, Liz was starting to become impatient and grabbed her scythe with anxiety.
— “Miss Angela, we’re running out of time!” — Liz exclaimed without looking at Angela, while the AI was taking all the Light she could.
‘…! This can’t be, it has only been a few minutes yet they are winning against the strongest Agents of the Wing!’ Angela thought while recollecting light, ‘Time… I need more Time’.
Hannah bit the corner of her lips and raised her only arm remaining, sending a shockwave that separated The Arbiter from Ramirez, and loosened the grip from The Claw. With that action, Ramirez could initiate his attack once more, because if he fell back and let is E.G.O suit regenerate his wounds that would give the assassin enough time to kill all of them, so he had no choice but keep fighting with a hole in his chest.
With the grip loosened around his neck, Parker regained his strength to extend his arm toward The Claw, and with that action four bandages extended from his suit and grabbed the head of his enemy, with quick succession the bandages forcefully contracted and with his other hand buried beneath the floor he muttered all his strength and freed himself while punching the mask of The Claw.
— “The expulsion with begin in one minute” — a broadcast alerted all those who could hear, and in that moment, the attacks of the Agents began to become more desperate.
‘One minute!?, not enough… It is not enough time!’ Angela was beginning to anxiously say in her mind, she was collecting all the Light she could yet there was still so much left, if she wanted to collect all the Light that was contained in this pillar, she would have to be days here but the Agents could not buy her that much time.
And then she remembered, the Agents themselves came from the Light by her call so that could mean that she could transport things from the Light to her side, and there was one thing, one Abnormality to be precise, that could perhaps grant her the time she needs. Even if it could be a little longer.
So, she began to concentrate, she is not a master at controlling the Light yet she is capable of a lot of things, and she convinced herself that she could do this, and so began her search. Beneath all of them, she heard the cries of sorrow, of hope, of wanting to comprehend each other, to the ones bringing salvations, to the one who wanted to save the world, and she recognized the one who wanted to become human, and the other who’s hunger had no end.
She searched and searched and then she finally reached it, an Abnormality that could grant her the time she needs, and with her strength as if pulling someone out of a vast ocean of emotions, she took something out of the Light.
— “The expulsion will begin in 30 seconds”
‘…Is your future totally grim? Have you hit absolute rock bottom, not a single way out in sight? Have you ever thought: Oh man, what if I’d done this instead of that?’ Angela recalled the research log of this Abnormality as a flash of light made it appear before her, more a machine than a living being, this construct with four light bulbs waiting to be activated. This abnormality played a crucial role in the subjugation of the both times An Arbiter ran havoc the facility, yet this time could be the third time.
An Abnormality that could make someone travel to the time one wishes, to travel to a time where everything was alright.
— “Captain… you have to… “— Angela once again opened her eyes, this time with desperation, being the first time she requested something to an Agent and once she looked at the Record Team Captain, she only meets apathy.
— “Are you asking me to die, Miss Angela?” — With her blurry vision and between the long trails of white hair over the face of the Agent, despite the smile on her face Angela could only see her eyes devoid of any emotion.
— “…!” — the sound escaped her lips involuntarily, because she realized that in this very moment, she was sacrificing someone, the people standing before her and risking their lives for her, with the only desire being survival she was asking her to throw away that wish, and to die for her to survive.
She saw the people behind Liz, Ramirez had thrown himself towards The Arbiter in an attempt to stop an attack that was coming towards Hannah who appeared to be in a prison engulfed in gold, while The Claw injected all his serums at the same time and let an unrelenting attack that Parker could barely endure, gritting his teeth as he felt his flesh being torn open.
She could not see their expressions yet their body represented all the desperation she would have seen in them, the primal desire to survive and to live another day was shown in their struggle against The Head.
After all, Angela knew what she was doing, she was merely following his footsteps as she realized that her life was more valuable than the one standing in front of her, so the only choice was for the Agent is to sacrifice themselves for her goal.
‘But this… this is the only option, is it? I don’t have time to think, my perception is all over the place…’
‘I have no other choice; I have to make them do this’
‘It is not… my fault’
— “I’m sorry… I don’t want to die Miss Angela, that’s why I’m here in the first place” — She said before running towards the agents of The Head, letting Angela behind, and swinging her scythe she cut the torso of The Claw who was clashing against Parker.
— “Switch with me, Parker” — Liz said that, and Parker only nodded in affirmation, taking the opportunity of the injury of The Claw he kicked the body in front of him and used the force of the strike to fall back, caressing his wounds he walked towards Angela.
He saw Angela distraught, almost in pain, and with all his injuries he kneeled in front of her and asked — “Do you have an order from me, Miss Angela?”
Angela once again tried to look at the Agent in front of her, his hair was white too, just like hers, yet there were a few black feathers sticking out of various strands of hair and between all the blood dripping from his face she could see his eyes, golden eyes.
— “The extraction will begin in 10… 9…”
— “… Use it" — Angela said as she closed her eyes once more.
— “Understood” — and that’s the only thing he could say in return, and with no resistance he stood up and began to wind up the Abnormality.
One spin, two spins, three spins and finally the fourth spin, the machine activated and only needed one more spin, the four light bulbs lit up and the machine started to release vapor, all the gears started to move and the machine was ready to operate.
— “3… 2…”
— “It was an honor, Miss Angela” — she could not respond to that, and he activated the machine one last time, the machine responds depending on the level of the Agent and one such as Parker and the others the result would always be certain death for the one who operated the machine, and salvation for all the other members of Lobotomy Corporation.
Yet in that moment, something also occurred. The machine who was beginning its work began releasing vapor and electricity all around them, destroying the ground around them, was struck by Lines of gold, leaving particles of gold in the air.
Looking behind Parker and the Abnormality, she saw The Arbiter who had Mimicry stuck to her shoulder and had blood escaping through her mouth, Ramirez laid on the ground with his upper body separated from his lower half and Hannah was kneeling in a pool from her own blood. In the last moment, she had snuck an attack of her own, no longer smiling and the moment it left her hand she vanished in a white flash from the actions of The Beholder and Mimicry falling on the ground.
At the other side, The Claw and Liza, with the executioner holding his mask with his other arm which showed signs of breaking and began to vanish away, with Liza even with all her wounds tried to attack him once more, swinging her scythe to let thousands of red spears appear beneath the ground of The Claw who was no longer there.
Yet the attack of The Arbiter was not in vain, because at the same moment, at the same millisecond the fingertips of Parker had begun to disappear from the effect of activating the Abnormality, both the Extraction prepared from The Beholder and the activation of the ‘Backward Clock’ began at the same time. The Arbiter had made her attack in hopes to stop the activation of the Abnormality, but the resilience of an Abnormality who was a truly immortal being was able to resist complete annihilation but not with no consequence. So, now a Backward Clock who was missing almost all its parts began the process of time alteration anyway.
Lobotomy Corporation was deforming itself and the departments began to melt away, fall apart or combining itself with other matter, and also all living beings also began to be torn apart, and flesh also combined with metal, losing certain parts of their bodies forever.
The Light that was supposed to wash over the city for seven days fractured too, because nothing could stop the effect of the Backward Clock as it deformed and corrupted the further it kept working, so much so that even its original function began to fade away. All the remaining Light washed over the City in an instant, almost as if the light itself in a vain desperate attempt tried to complete its original purpose, but a process so delicate could not just be rushed, and so that action resulted in drastic consequences as the hearts of the people who were supposed to be healed, in that poor attempt of salvation did not heal the hearts of the people, it only Distorted them, but it was a concern that no longer mattered to a missing Wing.
And so, with so much unstable power bending space and time in one place, time itself fractured and The Facility did not travel to The Outskirts to fend for itself, but blinked out of existence while tearing itself apart. And in that day, the Nest of L Corp could no longer handle space itself, as any human who dared walk on the vacuum that left the previous wing would be torn apart by the unstable space.
And then… there was silence.
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But… The Light could not just fade away, it was the desire of salvation of millions of people and there was someone in there who would not rest until people of this world learned to love themselves, so it searched a way back, no matter how much time passed, the Light would reach the world in which people yearned for salvation. And so, time passed and passed and suddenly, with the sound of breaking glass, the first sound in so much time for the traveling Facility across all space, the remaining Light shined upon a new world once again.
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It was the rainy season in Siracusa
Yet the sound of people running on the pools of water could not reach far, as the rain was heavy this day, and naturally, their gasps of exhaustion were ignored by the people around them as well.
— “Ha… Ha… cazzo!” — A man curses to himself while running and evading through a crowd of people going on with their day, some of them expressing their frustrations when the man clutching his wound pushes against them, and not one bothering to check on him.
After all, no one would want to make trouble to themselves, who know in what group this man is mixed in?
Changing his course through the crowd he hoped to lose his pursuers by the alleyways, as he keep running he eventually found himself cornered.
— “What do you want?! What Famiglia are you from?!” — He said as he protected a case, putting it behind him as he confronted his pursuers.
— “You just had to cause trouble, did you?” — One man said as he began to walk close to him — “Now because of you I am on thin ice with my boss” —
The people soon began to argue, the man that was protecting the case was negotiation with his life, while the others were eager to just kill him, it was a common occurrence in this city, countless famiglie fighting each other and making enemies of each other, never reaching common ground, and the rain eventually washing the streets of the stench of blood that remained.
The discussion leads nowhere, and after some minutes the man that was running eventually met his fate, the puddle of water covering half of his face as arrows pierced his back, and so his pursuers collected his case, and his blood started to travel alongside the alleyways.
Yes, this was a common occurrence in Siracusa, a place where rules were quite familiar to another place.
But this time, the rain would not wash away the stench of blood.
— “Hey… look” — Someone said, looking behind to the man that was supposed to be dead, his body started to melt, leaving only his clothes behind.
— “Ahh… after all, dead ones can not compare to the living ones” — A voice was heard behind all of them, turning around they saw her, her face covered by the umbrella she was carrying, and her black dress reached almost the ground but did not show even a speck of dirt. And on her free hand she was playing with red strings, but the horrifying sight came from the men laying on the ground, some of them exposing their faces that lacked eyes.
— “Who the fuck are – “— One of the men tried to say, before she touched his forehead with her finger, and in the next second, blood escaped his mouth and eyes before collapsing on the ground. Watching their superior die in such an easy way made the other frightened, making them stop in shock.
— “Good afternoon, signori. I am but a humble director” — She said as she made a little bow in front of them, not showing her face.
— “Recently I have been inspired, and I want to show to all Siracusa a play that they will never forget, but for that I may need a few people, I cannot direct without people am I right?” — She said, laughing to herself, in which nobody answered, still affected by shock.
— “Am I right? I said” — She said, this time with a darker tone as she waved her arm and beheading one of them without making contact.
— “Y-yes you are right!”
— “You are totally right, miss director!”
— “Isn’t that right? So, I have chosen thee for my next play!” — As she said that, she let escape a sound of glee before applauding to herself. Letting the umbrella expose a little of her face, the shadow did not make form of it but it let the glow of her red eyes pierce through the darkness, putting fear in the hearts of the people around her.
— “But for that to happen, I need to make suitable costumes for you… Ah! And we also have a lot to practice, I have very high standards you know?”
— “Shit!” — One of them aimed their crossbow while another ran away in fear, yet those actions did not interrupt her.
— “Ah, I have thought a lot about this you know, all my previous works were not appreciated at all!” — She said as the arrow could not pierce her dress, falling on the ground and the man who shot it found himself being pierced by thousands of spikes made of his own blood sprouting from his insides.
— “And I found the perfect stage for our play, and I can’t help but shake in anticipation!” — The man who was escaping ran past the corpse of the one they killed, and his blood started to move towards him before sprouting from the ground piercing him, failing in his escape.
— “But this play is sooo ~ important to me, the only ones who should know are very, very important people to me, but you are not that important to me you know, we did just meet right?”
The people who were still alive found themselves listening to her ramblings, ‘She is insane’ the majority thought, but what they did not know is that she is not insane at all. She is living while achieving every one of her desires, after all, she is the culmination of what salvation is, she is the freest being among all of them.
— “But then, I had a realization! We are in Siracusa, where Famiglia are the ones who rule everything, so… What if I create a Famiglia myself?” — She said, extending her hands towards the people that she was talking to.
— “Y-yeah we will!”
— “Yes, I was getting tired of being in this one, they do not pay well at all!”
All of them did not mean their words of course, they were just flattering her so they could leave alive this place, and so they began to lie, and in the moment she was satisfied they would run as far as they could.
— “Hahaha! What wonderful signori, so eager to become part of my Famiglia, so to start, I would need you to be very still, alright?” — And so, she began to become closer, and closer to them, and soon enough, they became a Famiglia.
But this Famiglia would be very special, because the moment you become a part of them, your blood will change to become similar to them, making you a biological family and not just in title.
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At the other side of the world, a structure buried deep in a rainforest, looking at it one could recognize that this construct was the remnants of something much bigger, the destruction was apparent and tons of parts were scattered all over the place.
Inside this structure, there it stood, a giant green chamber that contained a nervous system filled with a green liquid, the only structure that emanated light in the entire room yet light appeared again, this time, golden orbs of light started to dance around the room before finally settling on the ground, dimming until they existed no more, they left behind wounded bodies of four different people, some had severe injuries while others looked no different from corpses.
But after some time, the flesh of someone began to move as if it was alive itself, and various chunks of meat started to move towards each other, and while minutes passed, one could start to recognize a leg, and then an arm, a torso, and finally, a head.
Yet the most important part, almost as if unconsciously, an armband found its way towards its owner.
Chapter 2: The eyes
Chapter Text
The night sky was drowned in light for an entire day.
Some say that his was a new catastrophe, some said that this was the end of the world.
Printers were working overtime on some places, police bodies tried to maintain peace on another region, on another it was the military, every side of the world as if at the same time, tried to maintain control on their own countries, the general population begged for explanations, only for their government to tell them lies that everything was under control.
But when the light disappeared and after the days passed nothing else happened, people started to regain normality, the news on the phenomena stopped gaining traction, there would be theories talking about the natural phenomena, some other started to refer to it as a prophecy.
But no matter the explanation, there was never a consensus about it, their daily lives were not affected so they did not bother with it anymore, it would be a topic of conversation that would pop up in some conversations.
…Well, something did happen, these Nomadic Cities will be visited by certain beings very soon, some of them will break their eggshells in a few days, some shells are a bit too big and strong and will require more time, maybe you will discover them, maybe you will not… some other people in other cities will feel thousands of people walking beneath their houses, or little pranksters opening their doors, but people will not be able to connect the dots together…
And the true answer that nobody will reach.
Why did the sky light up?
But now I will ask you a question myself.
How will you react, when you see the true face of humanity?
Will you see its true beauty? Or will you reject it?
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It was noon, not that you could tell if you worked for Lobotomy Corporation, Ramirez was making way to the cafeteria eagerly since there was a poster today announcing that today they would have his favorite dish.
— “Hey, Ramirez” — he heard someone calling him, there was Gonzalez, with her usual smile waving at him while sitting with her food already half eaten.
— “Hey” — Ramirez answered while sitting in front of her, with his food already in his tray.
It was his 12th day working here at the Wing, yet he still could not get used to the feeling of having to wear his E.G.O equipment with him at all times, so the cafeteria, where he could just take it off was one of the only times of the day where he could relax as the Qliphoth Deterrence was at its highest at this hour.
— “I heard you became the Captain of the Control Team”
— “… The previous Captain was dumb enough to be in a Main Room during a Violet Noon” — He said while putting food on his mouth — “I was working on an Abnormality while that happened, thankfully my Sephirah finally noticed the actual competent one to assign as a Captain”
This was a common occurrence at Lobotomy Corporation, working with Abnormalities is a high risk, but if you think that Abnormalities here are the only thing that would kill you that would be a mistake, there is always the risk of being killed by Ordeals or by another crazed employee.
However, that is something that he had to endure, Ramirez living all his live in the Backstreets finally had the chance to become a Feather once that carpet slid under at his door one day.
He could not ruin his chance, if he keeps working and secures his pay every fifty days he could live the rest of his life in the Nest, and finally stop running among the other trash in the Backstreets.
— “I had a pretty bad run too… Big bird escaped and everyone was hypnotized, I almost became food” — Gonzalez talked once again
— “Really? …I did not notice that” — and that would be weird, Ramirez being in the Control Team had to check various CCTV’s and if anything happens, he had to inform his Sephirah to take action, so if he missed a WAW Abnormality escaping that would mean that he was not doing his job correctly.
— “Yeah, Katie and Diva died… Man that sucked…”
— “Katie and Diva…?” — Ramirez paused, stopping his fork from reaching his mouth.
— “Yeah dude… do you not remember?”
— “I do but… only them…?”
Something was not right he clearly remembered that in that day, three people died, he remembered because someone close to him died.
Hold on… Big bird? Do they have that Abnormality here? There are only three departments right now and he remembers every single monster that resides behind those locked doors.
He felt his head hurt and he reacted by lifting his hand and covering his right eye with it, he was forgetting something, someone was messing with his head.
— “Hey dude, are you alright?”
And as he looked to the person in front of him, Gonzalez was there with concern in her face yet the only thing that he could focus on were the blue eyes that felt almost as if it was piercing his skin, as if the only thing he wanted to do is crawl under it.
— “Who are you?”
— “What do you mean dude? It’s me Gonzalez”
— “You died that day … Along with them, I remember, I remember now!”
Slamming the table of the cafeteria, Ramirez stood up visibly shaking, his head now was hurting a lot more than before.
— “Gonzalez died trying to defend someone… Me… She pushed me and… That idiot!”
— “Dude… did you hit your head? Do I have to call the Information Captain?
— “Stop! Stop talking! She did not talk like that! ...And she had light green eyes, not your… disgusting blue ones!”
Once those words were said, ‘Gonzalez’ began to smile, and she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, they were a darker green, almost as if she was mocking Ramirez.
— “I’m sorry Ramirez… I just wanted to know you”
— “You are messing with my head… I was fighting someone…” — He said as he grabbed his hair and he began to breath rashly.
— “It’s just that… I love you”
Ramirez swung his fist and it connected with the face of ‘Gonzalez’, knocking her off the chair and throwing her on the ground, there Ramirez rushed on top of her to begin punching her again but when he started to raise his fist, he saw himself knocked on the ground.
— “I am just… So happy… That you let me share a body with you” — said ‘Ramirez’ now on the ground, still smiling yet that replica of him stared at him with the same blue eyes as before.
— “You piece of shit!” — Ramirez screamed before punching his replica again and again, bruising his knuckles and blood scattering all over the cafeteria floor, and even when the blood from his own knuckles started to mix with the imposter, he did not stop.
Only when the face of the other Ramirez was now a red paste on the ground, he stopped and looked at his hands with shaky breaths, as now he could not see the skin of his hands since they were covered with blood. He wanted to stand up now, but he noticed something in the pool of blood.
A reflection, his own, and as he looked closer, he saw the form of his face, the form of his lips, the color of his hair, the form of his nose. Wrong… They were all wrong!
He needed to fix this, so using the blood as a mirror, he fixed his face, he broke his nose, he arranged his hair to his usual hairstyle using the fluids from the corpse as hair wax, he noticed a bit of fat so he had to tore it away, he noticed that he had a few more teeth that the remembered so he had to pull those away too, now he looked at his face and there he was, the same Ramirez as ever.
But something was amiss, his eyes were the wrong color as they shined in a light blue in the dark room, that would not do, they are not his color! So, the quickest way to fix that is to pull them away, and so Ramirez used his now long claws to pluck them away and once he looked again on his reflection, he noticed that they were green.
Wrong color again Ramirez, you have to change them again!
And so, he began to tear his vision apart again and again, but every time a new pair appeared it would not be his color, every pair of eyes did not fit him, they did not belong to Ramirez.
— “Did you forget the original color?”
He heard something talk, someone was talking to him but there was no one here in the room and then he realized, he was talking to himself, an eye was born in his wrist and looking at him while flesh molded to form a mouth.
— “That’s okay… You could not have just forget about it, maybe someone else took it from you”
This time, another mouth formed in his cheek and whispered in his hear that it was alright, but it was no use to comfort him, he had to remember the color of his eyes, how could we forget, we were talking about our own body!
Yes… How can we forget? It was our own color! Someone… Someone took it from us! We have to… We have to take it back! Who has it? Who has it?
— “Did you forget the original color?”
— “Did you forget the original color?”
— “Did you forget the original color?”
Thousands of mouths were asking me the same question over and over again, and then I realized, was the color of my eyes the only thing that I forgot, what if my entire face is something that I misremembered, if this is not my face then… Where is my face? Maybe even this body is not mine!
— “Did you forget the original color?”
— “Did you forget the original color?”
— “Did you forget the original color?”
— “AHHHH!” — I screamed once again, and I used my now claws to tear my face apart, piercing my eyes and grabbing myself by the skull to tear apart this face that I don’t know who belongs to.
Because I know for certain, that this is not my body.
— “Ramirez, I love you”
— “AHH!” — and then the nightmare stopped, and Ramirez realized that he was no longer in the cafeteria of Lobotomy Corporation but in a completely different and dark room, with the only light being the dim light of a giant green container, he tried to stand up but realized that he could not feel his legs.
— “Hah… Hah…”— Ramirez used the force of his arms to try and gain balance, using the only remaining part of the body, that being the upper half, he started to look at himself. Flesh was moving, almost as if it was alive, he did not find the additional weight his E.G.O suit on top of his uniform, instead he found large chunks of flesh and bone sprouting out of his own body, looking further he noticed a large thread of flesh that was sprouting from his injury, following it with its gaze he realized that it was connected to the lower half of his body with a pair of legs were at the other side of the room.
— “Huh…”
He did not know the capabilities of regeneration that granted him his suit, but taking it off would result in those abilities being lost with no after effects, so this regeneration would probably be the result of his suit corroding him, remembering his training it would be a consequence of a lower Qliphoth Deterrence for a long time, and the worst situation would be his suit merging completely with his body, using him as a puppet. Luckily, it appears he still the owner of his own mind.
Looking to his right, he noticed the giant green chamber that was guarding a giant nervous system, he noticed his reflection on it and then he noticed that eyes were growing on the side of his face, all looking directly at him and the color was the same light blue in his nightmare.
And then, nausea overpowered his body.
His body was regenerating, that’s for sure, but is it healing the correct way? Holding his mouth with both his hands, his mind was screaming at him that something was wrong, and then it escaped, from his mouth a pool of blood splashed on the ground and with it bones, teeth, and finally, eyes. Eyes from numerous colors.
As he began to hyperventilate, he closed his eyes and started to control his breathing.
— “I am… a level 5 employee of a Wing” — he began to talk to himself — “Millions would kill to be in my position… and I survived countless Abnormalities who messed with my mind to be in this rank.”
Breath in, breath out
— “This is nothing… In comparison…”
Breath in, breath out
— “Cálmate… Ramirez” — he once again opened his eyes and once he looked at his reflection the eyes and their color did not change, but this time he did not look away, and only looked at it with disgust.
— “Did the corrosion progress that much?” — he said as he lifted his hand to touch the eyes, he could not look through them and poking them with his hand did not cause pain but it did cause them to blink in recoil, making him shiver. But inspecting his body is something that would have to wait, as assessing his situation was more important.
Looking around him, he recognized the room that he was in, it was that hidden Department that appeared on his fiftieth day of work, although he only walked through here to reach the Record Department quicker from the Extraction department, he could not forget the giant green chamber in the middle of the room, but as he looked to the entrance to both departments, he found that they were blocked with rubble.
And then he looked at the floor around him and noticed them, the bodies of his coworkers who fought alongside him against the Head, the thought made him chuckle, he indeed just fought against the Head and survived, but shaking his head he focused again, if the remaining of the facility were successfully extracted by the work of the Beholder, right now he was in the outskirts and this place would soon be surrounded by Monsters. He did not have experience exploring the outside world of the City but he has heard that being alone was a death sentence, so he would need the help his coworkers, even if one was still alive it would be a huge advantage.
He wanted to live after all.
Grabbing the thread of flesh that connected the separated halves of his body, he gritted his teeth in pain as he pulled it towards itself, making his legs slide on the ground, he did these four more times before his lower half finally reached him. He thought that if his regeneration factor was strong enough to survive the attack of an Arbiter, then maybe putting himself together again it would speed up the process.
And it happened, after a few moments and looking with a sick face as his flesh melded itself together again, he soon regained the feel of his legs, and carefully stood up as he could now walk again.
Wasting no time, he inspected the body closest to him and he recognized the armband of the Information Captain Hannah, yet her body was so different as the one he remembered, as her skin was now a pale white as if no blood reached her skin, her E.G.O gear gone and her long brunette hair that tied in a ponytail was turning white too, she had her eyes closed so he did not know if something was amiss there too, he first thought that she was dead but sensing her pulse he realized that she was still alive. Inspecting her injuries, he saw multiple parts of missing flesh and an entire arm missing to which kept bleeding, consequences of fighting An Arbiter.
Looking around he did not find a first aid kit nor an HP ampule, only rubble and the green chamber, so using what remains of his Agent uniform he made improvised bandages and used his belt to stop the bleeding from her arm.
Since there was nothing else to do for her, Ramirez moved to Liz next and he noticed that her body was different too, also missing her E.G.O gear and this time she was taller than before as her limbs looked as if she had been stretched, tearing apart her Agent uniform with her nose looking a lot longer than it should be, yet her injuries did not look too severe and it only looked as if she was sleeping. Trying to wake her up yielded no results.
Now Ramirez walked up to the body of what he assumed was Parker, as it was now a huge ball of feathers with blood dripping out of them, he did not know if it was his or of from The Claw, but inspecting his body he found that all feathers came from his body, and most of his wounds were cauterized. This was weird as The Claw did not look armed with fire-based serums and Ramirez noticed that this pattern was more similar with electricity rather than attacking with fire.
His wounds looked like they would leave a life longing scar in his entire body.
Inspecting more his body Ramirez started to think, if all of them started to show similarities with the Abnormalities in their bodies that related to the E.G.O gear equipped, then that would mean that all of them were suffering from prolonged E.G.O corrosion, this problem does not only extend to him.
But this also meant that now there was a ticking bomb type situation in his hands right now, since the wounds of Parker and Liz did not look as bad as Hannah, they should be awake by now since he knew their capabilities, so that would only mean that the corrosion on them was keeping them asleep while it destroys their bodies.
It would be the worst kind of situation if Ramirez had to fight two ALEPH level employees in the middle of the outskirts, not only that, the fight would cause himself to corrode quicker and lose his sanity. But the only way to revert this situation, if he remembered his training correctly, is that he would need to activate the Qliphoth Deterrence, but he does not know how to make it happen as that was not part of his job, if the Welfare Captain was here… or Angela…
— “…! Right!” — Ramirez exclaimed out loud, as he knows remembered that Angela was there too, it slipped his mind since so much had happened recently and he did not find her anywhere when he inspected the room.
And then, he noticed that something was beneath Parker, a trail of blue hair, carefully carrying Parker and putting him on the ground on another place, he noticed that Angela was beneath Parker, how did she arrive there?
The answer was looking at Angela herself, there was no blood but wires and small golden particles escaping her torn limbs, a mark from being attacked by An Arbiter, did she land an attack at the last time and Parker tried to protect her? He would not know because in the last countdown from the extraction announcer he had lost consciousness.
Right, Angela was an AI, there were rumors about it but now he was seeing it in the flesh… or in the metal, looking at her he noticed that the damage on her body was very severe, he could tell that she tried to dodge and know almost her entire right portion of her body was gone, leaving only her face intact. Looking at her face Ramirez could only feel shivers as her eyes looked completely dead.
— “Shit… Don’t tell me she is…” — he wanted to try and wake her up, but trying moving her in that condition would make things worse as he knew next to nothing about machines or robotics, since she was the only know who could maybe do something about their corrosion this situation going from bad to worse.
— “Think Ramirez… Think…”
This was no time to start panicking, he did not survive a fight against The Head only to die in the next day because his gear wanted to eat him, so he started to think… As much as he hated to admit, the only person who maybe knows something about the mechanisms of Angela’s body would maybe be Hannah as she had an advanced education prior to joining the Wing unlike himself.
If Angela was a robot, by his understanding she could not simply ‘die’ like them, so that could mean that as long as they repair her, she would come back.
Since Hanna’s corrosion did not alter her body as much as the others and maybe the only thing keeping her asleep was her wounds, if he could somehow wake her up, she could subsequentially wake Angela to tell her the situation, and she would hopefully help them as she owed them her life after all.
And if she does not wake up… maybe Hannah could extract the information from her head.
Now that Ramirez had a plan, he could spring into action.
He first considered that he could wait to Hannah to wake up while he keeps searching the room, but as he found nothing of interest and he did not want to gambit away his life in a situation where maybe she did not wake up and her corrosion got her first, he now decided to do his second plan. Since the hallways connecting this Department to the other two were blocked by rubble, he could maybe carve his way through with his hands to access the regenerators of those buildings.
The corrosion granted him strength too, as he did not feel weaker in comparison to when he was wearing his E.G.O gear, so he began to excavate his way through.
But he only found more rubble, it could be buried more further or it could not be there, as he does not know how the extraction from the Head works. But now he remembered, he was not in this room when the fight happened so who could say that the rest of the Facility was scattered around too?
Coming back to the bodies of his coworkers he stood in the middle of the room scratching his head trying to think of something, and a thought crossed his mind, maybe he could make his way to the surface to see something, maybe another department landed not too far from here.
As he began to think, he walked towards the chamber and put his hand on it, his now fleshy and looking right at him ‘hand’, would he really risk going outside and fight his way through monsters, worsening his corrosion as he repelled them?
And then his stomach grumbled, he felt it, the feeling of his own organs grazing against each other, and his enhanced hearing made things worse, splish, splash, he felt the sound of his insides rearrange themselves, while not only feeling the mucus that belonged to his digestive tract, he also felt teeth as if his own body was chewing his insides, the movement was not natural either, it was as if he had numerous intestines moving like giant worms moving inside of him. The corrosion would not wait for him to make up his mind.
In the reflection he noticed a small trail of light coming down from the ceiling down to the corner of the room, and at the same time, he noticed Liza’s body contort and making itself longer. Even if it was a small chance, he could take it if it would mean he can survive.
Taking deep breaths, he separated his hand from the green chamber and began walking towards the light, looking up he closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself down, and soon climbing the rubble in the corner of the room he began to make his way through the ground, making his fingers bleed as they began to regenerate, and while he kept doing that soon the tip of his fingers began to sharpen, more eyes appeared on them, his skin looking more similar to muscle than skin.
— “I can do this… Deep breaths Ramirez”
Keeping a steady breathing and reassuring himself, Ramirez kept digging.
And finally, light entered his view.
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— “Is this… The Outskirts?”
He said, dumbfounded. The City was founded as the last bastion of humanity to defend itself against the monsters, or at least that was what that Fixer had told him when he was still alive. A desolate place with no signs of life with the exception of monsters roaming around, this was also the place where the Wings throw their experiments and the Head throws all they do not want in the City.
But this place…
It was blooming with life, emerging from the ground the only thing he could see he was surrounded by flowers, mushrooms, bushes and green grass. Some distance away from him he could noticed a grand number of trees, so much that he could not see beyond them as the leaves did not let the light through.
He looked up, blinding himself for a moment before covering himself with his arm, he noticed the blue sky along the sun. When was the last time he saw a blue sky? Hell, realizing that he spent so much time in Lobotomy Corporation, when was the last time he saw the sun?
Spending almost two months underground made his eyes more sensitive to light than usual, but after adjusting himself he began to look around more carefully, he noticed in the tall grass a few structures that did not resemble rocks or plants, realizing that maybe they could be the remains of the Facility he started to walk towards them.
Arriving he saw a huge portion of a wall, the yellow color of it could not just be forgotten by Ramirez, as it was the color of the Department he was the Captain from, The Control Team. His theory proven right that the rest of the Facility was scattered somewhere. Not only the wall but there were a lot of tubes sprouting out of them with a green smoke coming out of them.
The moment that gas came in contact with Ramirez’s nose, he instantly recoiled back recognizing the smell
— “Unprocessed Enkephalin…” — he said covering his nose with his hand, Lobotomy Corporation was tasked with extracting energy from Abnormalities to reach their daily quota, they had multiple partnerships as this energy was as revolutionary as it was dangerous, while you could power Singularity’s with it you could also classify it as a powerful drug.
If unprocessed Enkephalin was escaping those tubes that would eventually lead the gas to the refinery then that would mean that not a lot of time has passed since their arrival to this place since Enkephalin could easily dissolve in the air, that also being the reason why they filled the air in the Facility with a refined version of it, so the employees would not go so easily insane from their work.
Maybe because it has been some time since the gas entered his lungs, that could be the cause of his constant headaches, ‘so if he could maybe take just a little…’
— “That’s not what you are here for…” — he said while walking backwards and closing his eyes to deeply breath once more, after a few repetitions he stopped, he wanted to inspect his body once more but stopped himself as that would only cause him stress for now.
Noticing that there was nothing of use in this piece of rubble, he decided to keep searching as the area contained lots of parts of the Facility as far as his vision goes.
‘We were lucky’ He thought ‘If we would have fought in the Control Department, maybe the Extraction would have been lethal’.
After some time of lifting remains of the Facility, checking lockers that were scattered around and walking some more, he started to become impatient as he started to hear whispers in his ear. He knew where they came from, it was the E.G.O gear trying to take over his mind.
— “Did you forget about the original color?”
— “They were color rainbow for all I care…”
Mental attacks would have worked on him while he was unconscious, but now that he was awake, he would not be so easily affected, not while he was in the middle of a mission.
Ignoring the voices in his head he kept walking and he soon recognized a piece of the facility that he remembered very well, on top of a few collapsed trees there it was, the main room of the Control Department with the logo of Lobotomy Corporation being intact and the diagram of the facility at the right.
He reminisced all the people that vanished into the light, only for four of them escaping its grasp at the final moment, all the other Agents and Sephirah… ‘This also means that… probably all the Sephirah are dead… Good riddance, if you are dead and I am alive, it means you were the weak and untalented one, not me.’ The thought of the agents from the Control Team made him sigh, but the thought of his Sephirah made almost a smirk escape his lips while he looked to the remains of the Control Department.
Starting to run towards it, jumping on top of it once he was close enough and began to search for a hatch on the ground, while he did not look at the Regenerator of his Department personally, he once asked about its functions with the Safety Captain, who said that the Regenerators were usually on the bottom but sprayed the gas on top of the room, among other things.
But then he made a horrifying realization, he did find the hatch that connected the main room to the regenerator, the pathway that the Safety Team would use to perform their scheduled repair was torn open, you would need clearance from the Sephirah to access it, since Ramirez did not have that option, he thought that he could just forced it open, take the regenerator and somehow manage to use it to heal everyone on the buried facility.
But someone else beat him to it.
Noticing tools around it, someone else first tried to open it with them but realizing that it was no use they opted for the violent option as he saw a few of the tools bent the other way. Hurrying inside he looked around and while he was not there before, he could notice the huge hole in the wall that would have the supposed regenerator, and tubes that would have been connected to something were there open, with a green liquid dropping out of them.
— “This is bad…”
Ramirez said, he did not know if monsters of the outskirts could use tools to their advantage as humans do, but the sudden interest in the regenerator in specific is not something that monsters should take priority if a facility appeared on their territory, they would have torn it to shreds.
‘Stop… That’s not important right now’ Ramirez thought while inspecting the ground, he could search for another regenerator but that would take too much time, and he also did not know if another remnant of the facility was close anyway, so he had to take it back.
This was his chance at survival, he could not just give up now.
Inspecting the ground, he noticed footprints but these did not look anything similar of a human, but Ramirez did not focus on that, he followed these marks outside and the track led him to the entrance of a rainforest.
When he was about to enter, an acute pain located in his right eye made him recoil, his corrosion was progressing further, when he lifted his hand to his face he noticed that his skin on his right cheek was now replaced by pure muscle fibers, teeth and eyes, with one of those bones piercing his eye.
And then, fear started to crawl through his spine, as he started to hear a moan coming from his insides, it felt childlike, infantile, almost reminding him of his days he spent in that orphanage, the sickening feeling of tiny hands grasping his intestines made him shiver.
— “I cannot waste more time…” — he said to himself before starting to crouch, assimilating a position that he once saw residents of a Nest use before competing with each other in a race. This time Ramirez was starting to get desperate, as he now the only think that he could think of is to chase someone who stole the regenerator and whose he did not know their capabilities.
And with a step that broke the ground beneath him making a splatter of blood, he started to run inside the rainforest at incredible speed, not even blinking as he kept his attention in the path that the footprints were following, the rainforest did not keep a straight path so while he was running, he crashed through threes and bushed yet he did not stop his chase, the E.G.O corrosion granting him enough endurance to not even flinch when crashing trough wood or stepping and breaking rocks beneath his feet.
Running past and through trees, bushes, giant mushrooms and even a river, he finally spotted something at the distance, escaping the army of trees in his path he spotted man-made structures on top of a hill, some kind of hut or improvised refuge but he also spotted the culprit.
Ramirez’ mind did not have the time to notice all the details from his surrounding, so when he spotted the regenerator being carried by a humanoid creature, he did not question it in the slightest as the only objective in his mind was his survival. Recognizing the machine that could potentially save his life, he jumped while aiming his legs to the front bracing himself for impact as he did not want to waste his time stopping his run.
— “…@#%$”#!” — Exclaimed the creature, which now Ramirez recognized as a giant lizard like man, who was clearly startled by the person who impacted the ground in front of him at incredible speed creating an explosion of dust and making debris fly around the area, spouting a language that Ramirez did not understand. The commotion scared the other lizard like people around the one carrying the regenerator too, screaming in unknown language Ramirez did not know what they were saying, but he feels their fear.
The lizard man did not have much time to react before in quick speed a monstrous hand sprouted out of the smoke, with long silver claws it grabbed the head of the one carrying the regenerator and in not a second longer the lizard found itself unconscious as Ramirez struck his face towards the ground, making the humanoid drop the regenerator.
Grabbing the machine with one hand, gripping it with its claw, Ramirez made a handle piercing the solid exterior of the machine without damaging its interior as he put the regenerator on his back, as he crouched to start running again, his legs began to regenerate and adapt to become even faster than before, something that Ramirez did not notice.
Reaching his objective, Ramirez started to run again with force as he cleared the dust that he provoked with his impact, without noticing that his mere presence left he creatures cowering in fear, muttering to themselves as if they saw something that was not supposed to exist.
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*THUD*
The regenerator hitting the cold floor of the broken facility resonated on the entire room, as Ramirez breathed heavily while supporting his body on the machine, clearing the sweat from his forehead he started to check the machine, while he was not in charge of the maintenance of the machine, in a futile attempt of pride he tried to fix the machine despite not knowing its mechanisms.
*Drop*
— “…!”
But even if he had the understanding of the machine, Ramirez did not have the capabilities of fixing it, and getting one of his claws to pierce the other while trying to unscrew the exposed gas chamber talked a lot of his dexterity in this situation, so he gave up in trying to fix the machine and he decided to do the best thing he is best at.
*THUD*
Improvise
*CRACK*
Punching the exposed chamber of the machine, the gas started to release in the room with a lot of pressure.
Right now, Ramirez could just sit down and wait for the gas to do its work but he is getting impatient, watching his wounds regenerate faster than before he noticed that the previous skin was now getting replaced with even more muscle, eyes and teeth, so he decided to grab the body of Hannah and put her face directly in front of the gas leak.
In real time he saw the wounds of Hannah regenerate pretty quickly and the space where her arm would be being sealed, but the moment Hannah opened her eyes, Ramirez was struck in his face by the remaining fist of the Information Captain making him drop her and stumble backwards.
— “What the fuck are you doing Ramirez?!” — Hannah screamed the moment she regained consciousness, it seemed she recognized the healing gas of the regenerator the moment she opened her eyes and realized the danger of her situation, dragging herself away from the machine.
— “I was just…”
— “…! Close the damn leak!” — Hannah ordered Ramirez as he quickly did so, using his hand to seal the crack on the gas chamber inside the machine, normally the pressure would have wounded his had yet the endurance that granted him the corrosion was far above a human limit.
— “What was your genius idea huh?”
— “I was trying to help you damn it! The damn thing wasn’t working so I thought it could work”
— “I get that part you imbecile! I was talking about putting me in front of it, that could have killed…! Wait, your body…” — Hannah said between coughs and after realizing the severity of the body of Ramirez she noticed the changes in his body, his E.G.O suit was nowhere to be seen yet his own skin showed signs of it, with eyes, teeth, and mouths dominating the right part of his body.
Recognizing the situation, she started to look at herself as she noticed her skin turning alarmingly pale, she did not feel the symptoms of anemia yet her skin looked as if not one milliliter of blood was reaching her skin, feeling her long hair on her shoulders she used her good arm to look at it and it was turning white too.
— “Damn it… How long have we been corroding?”
— “I woke up roughly four hours ago and I was already popping eyes on half of my face”
— “So more than four hours… tell me what has been happening”
— “So, we are apparently buried somewhere on The Outskirts, when I woke up, I noticed that all of you were unconscious and already corroding yet I don’t know how to activate the Qliphoth Deterrence, and since I did not find an HP Ampule, I decided to find the rest of the facility, found this regenerator and brought it here.”
Catching up on the train of thought of Ramirez, Hannah decided to intervene.
— “Ramirez, I am not in charge of the Qliphoth Deterrence, the Information Team shared some data with the Welfare Team but that was not something that I was in charge of”
— “I know that damn it, so I was hoping you could fix Angela so maybe she can do something about it, you went on and on about going to the prestigious university of L Corp nest right?”
— “Fixing… Angela?” — She said as her gaze traveled across the room until she found the body of Angela which was in a worse shape than her if you compare it to her human body, Ramirez prioritized the recovery of Hannah in hopes of her fixing a robotic body, something that Hannah…
— “Ramirez… I did not major in… that area”
— “I know that, you said some weird engineering thing… But can you or can you not?”
— “Ramirez, I was expel-… Hah… The situation is bad enough, I could at least try” — Hannah sighed, lifting herself up with her only remaining arm, she would have to fix that later.
— “You will have to help me with it, I can only do so much with only one arm”
— “What about the others?”
— “Their corrosion is too advanced, maybe we could stall it with the healing gas but I don’t think they can wake up now, at least not as humans.” — Hannah said as she walked towards the regenerator that Ramirez brought, she kneeled in front of.
— “First, let me get how this thing works to not overdose ourselves, don’t take your hand out of it until I say so”
And so, with Ramirez clicking his tongue, she began to fix the regenerator, patching up the gas container inside the machine letting Ramirez free his hand to help Hannah on her work.
— “You said you explored the outside, what did you see?” — she said not looking at him, while she pointed an area in the machine that she needed help with. — “Open this part” —
— “When I went to the surface, I expected it to find a wasteland but instead I found a vast jungle, a blue sky and no sign of monsters”
— “Is that so?
— “No wait… I did find something, while I was searching for the regenerator, someone else already took it, I chased the culprit down for a long time until I grabbed it back from some kind of tribe, that thing looked humanoid and spoke something I did not understand”
— “I heard of monsters that could communicate but… for them to take the regenerator is unusual… Hold this for a second”
— “Hm”
They kept talking, while Hannah was working on the machine Ramirez was telling her everything that he encountered outside, he told her about the remnants of the Facility that he recognized as the Control Department, about the weird plants and humidity of the rainforest, and the forced open hatch that was in what was left of the Main Room.
— “And why are we on this room? This is not where we fought The Arbiter”
— “I have no idea, I asked that myself too when I woke up”
— “Huh… It’s ready”
The regenerator began emitting a sound akin to a car engine as it expulsed a healing gas every few minutes, Hannah commented it could last at least a few hours until the gas chamber emptied its contents, stepping up Hannah began to stretch her back with her only arm.
— “Now that we have a little more time, help me find a usable computer” — She said while walking towards the green chamber in the middle of the room, if the nervous system trapped inside of it was till functional it meant that there was at least functioning machinery around it, so both of them began their search.
And after some time, a laptop was found, with the logo of Lobotomy Corporation on the back.
Hannah found the Enkephalin powered generator on the bottom of the giant chamber, so connecting the laptop with an improvised cable that it looked it could fall apart any moment, she found the screen turning on, expecting a password.
Answering with her captain credentials, it unlocked itself and she was greeted with the home screen, this computer appears to have belonged to the Architecture Department, and as a Captain she could access some of the computers of the previous facility to write her reports, although if you entered the password of a Sephirah you could do a lot more than that.
But accessing the computer was good enough, as Hannah began to work on the laptop speaking things that flew over Ramirez’ head he was tasked with finding a way to connect the remaining cables on Angela’s body.
— “Hmm…”
As the sound of the keyboard filled the room, along with the occasional gas release of the regenerator, Ramirez tried to find an entry point on Angela’s body, using his still normal left hand he noticed a different texture behind her neck.
— “There is something behind her neck, I feel… super tiny screws… I think?”
— “That should be it, bring her here… Are your claws sharp enough?” — Hannah said not looking back, while still using the keyboard
— “I can but I need to change her position, I don’t want to risk damaging even more” — as he finished saying that, Ramirez lifted Angela’s body and brought her closer to the glowing green chamber, that was also close to the place Hannah was working.
*CRASH*
As if a metal pipe struck an aluminum sheet, the sound that Angela’s body made when she fell on her face on the metal structure acting as the base of the chamber as Ramirez accidentally dropped her made even Hannah flinch while she was working, glaring angrily at him as the sound filled the entire room.
— “Ramirez… do you want to survive?”
— “Shit… it was an accident”
Deciding to keep working instead of wasting time lecturing him, Hannah returned to her work while Ramirez used his sharp claws in his right hand to unscrew the little screws behind Angela’s neck, making a small sound as a small lid fell behind the body of the robot, exposing a chamber where a lot of tiny wires and ports between two metallic cervical vertebrae.
— “I finished, did you too Ramirez… or did you damage her even more?”
— “I did, don’t start getting on my nerves”
— “Hm…” — as she said that Hannah moved herself to sit beside Angela, which head was pointing down exposing her neck — “Yeah… I know this… bring me that cable over there”
Finally connecting Angela to the computer Hannah was using, alarms began to sound from the speakers of the laptop and a red warning flashed on the screen, alarming both Hannah and Ramirez.
— “What is happening!?”
— “She is being forcefully shut down, no, not only that! Her own body is destroying itself as we speak!”
— “Can you do something about it!?”
— “Don’t underestimate me, I will find a way, but you will have to help me!”
Moving herself a little to the front making a space behind her, Ramirez hesitated before he sat on that place, sitting behind Hannah and using his thumb he broke the sharp tip of the claws in every finger, making them smoother before putting both hands on the keyboard.
— “Write exactly as I say, and enter the command exactly when I say, clear?”
— “…Alright”
And so, three hands began to input commands on the computer at quick speed, while Hannah spoke aloud what Ramirez was supposed to write, non-stop they used the keyboard while warnings kept disappearing on the screen while other appeared not so long after.
In that process, Angela’s body began to move, as she lifted her head up forcefully as she gritted her teeth, her eye began to glow again in a red color as she began to moan as if he was in pain, Ramirez looked at her in surprise before Hannah screamed at him.
— “Don’t get distracted”
Cursing between breaths, sweat began to appear on both of their foreheads as they kept working, as a matter of life and death both of them never have put their lives on the line on a little computer before, but they are Agents from Lobotomy Corporation.
They are alive because they were efficient, so adapting to stressful situations was something they were used to, and not so much time passed before they were totally concentrated on their work, their hands no longer struck each other in accident and Hannah’s orders were more precise than before.
They did not notice Hannah’s sclera turning black and her fingers growing longer, nor the eyes in Ramirez’ face invading his left part of his body and tongue extending so long it almost escaped its mouth, they adapted and even in pain they would continue working, because that is what they do.
As Employees of Lobotomy Corporation, or any Wing, Feathers will keep working efficiently even if their bodies are one step on the grave, they were not taught nor trained how to do it so efficiently, it was a matter of keeping yourself alive.
Because being efficient as a Feather is how you survive in a Wing, sickness or injury did not let you rest as a Feather, because if you do the very next day someone else will be on your post, as that is the nature of The City.
Because that is how you survive in The City.
.
.
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Pain
A feeling that Angela understands very clearly, as she felt it for a long time. She had an artificial nervous system, but that one worked to make her feel the world a hundred times slower than a normal human and not feel pain in a response to physical damage.
No, she felt pain in her heart, trapped in a prison for thousands of years with the only purpose being the completion of a Script that she did not know if the outcome was real or not.
Yet she endured it, she endured it because at the end of the day, in the final cycle, she would be rewarded and finally be able to stand beside her creator who turned his back to her on the day of her birth.
But that did not happen.
Abandoned on the first day, and abandoned on the final day too, as she did not have a place to belong close to him when the day of the completion of the Script finally arrived, instead she found betrayal, as her own creator even until the end, refused her own existence as he predicted a scenario where she stabbed him in the back.
That day, the artificial nervous system implanted in her made her feel physical pain, something that she did not know she could feel, his first gift towards her was an emotional pain as he refused her, and his final gift was a physical pain that burned her entire body.
Her very own desires to live were predicted, yet even if that scenario passed through his mind, why did he choose to forcefully shut her down?
Did he hate her that much?
If he acknowledged her in that moment, even if she was fated to be shot down, maybe she could have accepted her role, but that was not an option she could afford to give time of the day.
This precious Light that A, her creator, made so much sacrifices to achieve, she would steal it for herself and live, leaving this cursed facility behind, that was her plan.
But then The Head appeared.
Ruining her own plans, she would not get her happy ending, even if she crawled her way to the Light and steal it, she was fated to die that day by The Head.
Crawling on the floor, Angela’s body was torn apart by an attack of An Arbiter.
Angela in no scenario, would get her happy ending…
— “…”
— “…But that’s not what happened right?”
Yes… That’s not what happened, in her last moments, expressing her spite to the world towards the sky despite the pain she was feeling, someone came to her aid.
Four Agents, the disposable sacrifices that played their part on the Script, the very own people that Angela chose to ignore their suffering as they were fated to die again and again without knowing themselves.
Four Captains of their respective Departments saved her life, and she ordered them to die for her.
In her final moments, she chose to act as her creator despite hating him so much for the same decisions, using the people around him as stepping stones towards his goal.
In darkness, Angela was sitting while hugging her knees and hiding her face
‘Is it so unfair for me… to live a little longer?’
‘Is it because I’m a machine?’
‘I’m sorry, I did not want you to actually die’
‘There was a time where I felt grief for your deaths too, banging the doors, scratching them until you fingers bled, begging me to save you’
‘But as cycles passed, I closed my eyes and forced myself to forget about you’
‘Yet despite that, you came to my aid’
‘I do not understand why’
‘You should hate me’
‘You said that our interest aligns, that you too desired to live’
‘And knowing that, I ordered you to die’
‘Am I truly so different from him? I don’t know’
‘I just…’
‘… Don’t want to be alone’
Yet despite hiding her face and closing her eyes, she felt it, the sensation of a warm light carefully tickling the fingers gripping her legs.
Lifting her face, she followed the trail with her gaze, and found a path that led to a closed door that emanated an almost blinding light.
Raising her arm, the Light made her feel the same sensation that she felt that day.
Pain.
Yet despite that, she chose to stand up and follow it, because if she felt this pain again, it means that she was still alive.
‘I want to live…’
She said, as she began to walk faster than before
‘I want to live’
She began to speed up
‘But even more…!’
And so, she began to run.
‘I want to live my own life!’
She almost fell, but quickly regained her posture and kept running
‘I want to experience the life outside these walls!’
The burning sensation in her skin encouraging her further instead of lowering her morale.
‘I want to make my own decisions!’
She extended her arm reaching for the handle, as if the Door of Light would disappear any moment.
‘I want to live as a human!’
— “Then… Let me open the door for you”
Another body reached the handle before her, opening the door Angela was shocked to see a person who looked exactly like her open the door, and with no time to ask who was this person…
Angela after so many cycles, opened her eyes again.
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Acahualla would not be stranger to conflict.
But this conflict to speak of would be only the recurrent squabbles between tribesmen, as the people in this region of the world were quite insistent on the rule of the strong.
But there was a tribe that searched to surpass the strength granted by mere hands, and instead it searched for a way to best their opponents by the use of machines. They were simple minded people, so of course the use of machines would be quite primitive by the standard of the people of this planet.
— “Are you sure?” — Said one of the ‘Tiacauh’ as they call themselves to another one, this was one of the mentioned tribe leaders, one who would be currently working on the completion of her great machine.
Instead, she found herself discussing with another tribe member for a way to harvest materials without the need of the mines she would pride herself to own, she was holding this reunion on what appeared to be a workshop, but a lot of tools appeared to be missing and there was a lot of disorganized material, it appears that this place was made in a hurry.
— “Yes, although we could not get too close, we are certain the monster made the mines its nest” — told her another tribe member, who was expressing fear in his eyes as he spoke of the so told ‘monster’.
— “Shit… now where could we get the materials for the ‘Big Ugly Thing’?” — she said as she looked to the giant machine that rested on the side of the workshop, it looked like a bunch of materials and paint put together, any engineer would be at awe if the machine even managed to turn on. — “And we still need to find an engine to make it work” —
This was a difficult situation, the tribe leader started to reminisce about what put them in this situation in the first place.
A few days ago, she was working on her machine like usual with the help of her friend, when suddenly the night sky started to shine, almost as if the day and night switched their places and suddenly light invaded all the sky.
This of course caused awe amongst the tribe members, making them stop their work and look upon the sky. It could have been a beautiful scenery if not for the fact that something appeared on the middle of their tribe.
Little creatures started to fly among them, laughing and talking to each other in a language they did not understand, they flew between every member of the tribe that was present at the moment. They had a smile on their faces but some of the tribe members noticed that there was a few that was smelling them too.
Then, they stopped, they gathered around forming a circle and started to dance and sing, the sound was almost divine in nature but the tribe leader could not shake the feeling of something bad was going to happen.
And it did.
One moment to another, a giant beast crashed in the middle of the camp at quick speed, and in a blink, someone found themselves in the maws of the giant green monster that sprouted bloodied wings from its back. Its growls could make even their bones vibrate as everyone feel the ambience temperature drop.
The Archosauria who was unfortunate to be on the way of the hunger of the beast was quickly devoured, its bones crunched and its blood slurped as if it was a delicious drink, everyone stood there astonished, they could nod make sense of what was happening.
The brave Archosauria would sprint to battle immediately, but this did not happen as this was not a natural born monster, this was the desires manifested from the bottom of humanity, its most macabre desires given flesh, the side of humanity that no human mind should witness, a being forcefully brought to this plane without a reason to exist, yet a reason to persist, its hunger.
It was an Abnormality.
And to the untrained mind, this situation would be ‘Hopeless’.
But not everyone was born equal, and soon the mind of the tribe leader would recover from the initial shock, in quick thinking she ordered everyone to attack and the morale of a present leader led to the others to recover as well, and soon battle ensued.
Spears were thrown, saws searched for opportunities, punches tried to penetrate its hide, but the beast proved itself to be a powerful adversary. No matter the metal, no matter the strength of the fist, it only scratched the surface of its skin before making the beast retaliate with more force than before, and not only the beast, the little ones flew through the air before landing on an unsuspecting tribe member before they began to devour every last bit of its flesh, starting by the eyes.
‘We need the Big Ugly!’ She remembered ordering her friend, a small blue bird who was as shocked as everyone else, they did not have a proper engine yet but the prototype installed could hopefully make it move, the small bird quickly understood the order and started to operate the machine.
Miraculously, the poorly set up engine worked, and with the little fuel it had the blue bird managed to land a blow on the beast, making it bleed. There was hope for a second before the beast lunged itself forward, and with the little energy it had the machine could not move very fast, so with its maw it ate the entire upper portion of the ‘Big Ugly’ in swift motion, including the bird that piloted it.
The situation was now truly hopeless, and with no other option she opted for abandon her camp to save the life of the remaining tribe members, while the beast was distracted devouring the corpses of the other members, she managed to retrieve most of what she could before setting her tribe on another place, far from the beast.
Her partner, the blue bird, disappeared since then, she was confident that the guy could still be alive, he always found a way to survive even to the most extreme experiments involving the ‘Big Ugly’, but without his help the giant machine will take more time to complete.
She saw the damage, the ‘Big Ugly’ is capable of making damage to it, she just needs to complete it, she needs the metal and other materials, and she needs an engine too. If she had to fight that thing again, she would need a truly complete engine, yet she lacks the complete understanding of how Originium Engines work, her books could only help her so far.
She even thought about asking for help from another tribes, but from what she was told from her own explorers, they had their own problems with monsters too…
The ‘Big Ugly’ has to work… Fists alone could not manage to defeat a beast like that, yet she tried every gadget she could… What if the ‘Big Ugly’ does not work too, and the damage was a mere illusion?
If so…
— “Tribe leadeeeer!” — A sound interrupted her thoughts, and leaving her workshop along side the other tribesmen she saw it, a huge cube was standing a top of one of her tribesmen, the one who was tasked to search for alternative ore mines appears to have found something akin to an engine, it appears luck was in her side after all. — “I found something amazing!” —
*BOOM*
But before she could open her mouth, something crashed in the middle of the camp yet again, making a huge cloud of debris clouding her vision, she almost did not saw the hand beating the head of the Archosauria to the ground before retrieving the Engine and escaping in quick motion again.
— “Did you see that!”
— “Monster, there is another monster!”
— “Did the monster find us!? My weapon, where is my weapon!?”
— “Calm down!” — She ordered, and quickly everyone else stopped making sound and looked at her, she was the tribe leader after all, they followed her because of her strength.
She quickly ran towards the barely conscious Archosauria who was being checked by another tribe member.
— “Is he alive?”
— “Urgh… I am…” — The tribe member said on the ground, with part of his face still in covered by dirt.
— “Good, tell me, what just happened?” — She said as she lifted him with the help of another.
— “Ahg… My face… Ah! Tribe leader! Inside the rainforest I found lots, lots of metal! And inside one of the… Buildings I found what looked like an engine! So, I took it and brought it here, but someone crashed in front of me… and well…” — The man started to say, while caressing his mouth.
— “Tribe leader! The thing left a trail! Its feet left a mark on the ground!”
— “Hold on, are we going to follow it? What if its another monster like the one from the other day?” — One of the other tribesmen argued.
— “But it did not kill him! The other monster would have killed us instantly!”
— “It wasn’t… I saw it, although the body was not normal, the face has certainly human! Tribe leader, it was a thief! If we recover the engine, we could fight against the monster!
— “Yeah, we could!”
— “Then prepare your weapons, we will chase towards the thief, and with the engine we will kill the monster once and for all!” — She said, throwing his fist into the air, elevating the morale of her men.
There was a chance, if she can obtain the engine this will not be the end for the Eunectes Tribe, this will not be the end of her plan to begin the age of the machines!
Notes:
more content to that fairy that I hate!!!
Chapter 3: Confrontation and Misunderstandings
Chapter Text
‘How much time has passed?’
‘Inside of this hide… there is no sound… there is no light… it’s almost as if I was inside of a sack’
‘Extending my hands and legs made it stretch a little, but touching it feels disgusting, as if it was humid my skin slips against this texture’
‘I remember I was… working… and then my body started to disappear’
‘Will I be trapped here… forever?’
‘…’
‘That sound… someone is laughing?’
‘…!’
‘It’s… growling?’
‘Urk- What is this taste in my mouth?! This strong sensation that reaches even my nose… This stench of iron!’
‘…! There is a liquid inside the hide… its… filling it?!’
‘What is this…? Urk- This smell!’
‘Get me the hell out of here!’
‘Someone, please get me out of here!’
‘…! Did I eat something!? Something entered my mouth!’
‘The liquid… it is reaching my neck!’
‘Please! Get me out!’
‘Please!’
‘Someone!’
‘M-Miss Malkuth!’
‘Captain!’
‘M-Miss Angela!’
‘I’m… Drowning!’
.
.
.
Angela never experienced waking up before, as an AI she did not have the need to sleep nor eat as she could just be connected to a power source and work without rest for a long time, yet there she was, opening her eyes with difficulty as if she had been in a deep slumber.
— “…” — she did not utter a sound, yet her eyes started to shine again.
— “She is awake”.
And then she heard someone else talk, struggling to move her head she looked to her side and saw them, two of the strongest Agents of Lobotomy Corporation, the ones who fought alongside her.
Even if she was awake now, the damage on her body did not disappear as she found difficult to make even the most basics of movements and her vision was still blurry, yet she remembers the voice of the Agents that helped her, as she always does.
— “Move, I can’t stand up”
— “Ah, right”
The Agent with violet hair who was sitting behind the one with white hair stood up, and walking carefully to not step on the numerous cables that were on the ground, he positioned himself in front of Angela, kneeling to put himself to put his face at the same height as hers,
— “Can you hear me? Can you see me?”
— “I can…” — she answered with difficult, as her voice was something that was hard to control and release, but she managed to answer and nod her head.
— “Finally… Miss Angela, we have a huge problem on our hands”
With that message registering on her mind, Angela made the effort to try and focus her vision, allowing her to recognize the horrible state of Ramirez’ body. Although part of him was still human, most of the right part of him was not, as she recognized the severity of the corrosion that was invading almost all of his body, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was talking cohesive and understandable words, she would have confused him with a certain Abnormality mimicking his behavior.
Ramirez did not need to explain himself further, as Angela began to understand the situation, if these Agents were here then that would mean that all of them survived The Extraction, that’s good.
— “Can you access the Qliphoth Deterrence, Miss Angela?”
‘Ah… My time perception has been altered as well…’ Angela thought as Ramirez interrupted her while she was thinking, she could have finished her inner monologue ten times over in the time Ramirez was saying his sentence if she could perceive time 100 times slower like before, this sensation of her mind keeping up with her body was something new, something exciting.
Her creator gave her the ability to perceive time slower to react to emergencies quicker than anybody else, at the expense of her suffering she was more efficient than anybody on the Facility, at the moment it appears that her ability to do that was disabled and she theorized that A did that to not let her react to her shutdown as quickly as she usually does, but now that her life is not on the line, she found this feeling rather pleasant.
But her life not being on the line anymore did not mean the ones from the Agents were not, and now realizing that she could not waste time on her thoughts she began to work, they did defend her last time, so she would repay the favor.
Not unlike him.
Noticing that she was connected to the laptop in the hands of the other Agent, Angela closed her eyes for a moment before a lot of commands, opening and closing of various programs in quick succession startled the one holding the computer.
— “Huh” — Said the Information Captain, who was now focusing on the screen rather than the Manager Assistant.
— “Miss Hannah and Mister Ramirez, was it? The chamber in the middle of the room has the control panel to access the Qliphoth Deterrence, you did good in awakening me as that panel needs my authorization” — and while Hannah was listening, a sound of pressured gas escaped from the floor at the side of Angela, and a new control panel full of different colored buttons, numbers and levers ascended from the floor and Ramirez quickly positioned himself in front of it.
— “In my current state I cannot control the release of the Qliphoth Deterrence by myself, and in The Extraction the primary control panel and its four backups were severely damaged, luckily the fifth one did not suffer enough damages to cease working, so if you follow my instructions, it should activate the procedure”
Following the instructions provided from Angela made the procedure quickly and smooth, and not soon enough the mechanisms around the green chamber started to move, following the sound of metal against metal, and pressure escaping the rusted gears, all present felt a shockwave that expanded around the room, making space itself distort for a moment before going back to the original state, making the room tremble, dust clouds forming as a few tiny stones fell from the ceiling.
They all felt it, the force known as Qliphoth Deterrence was now active, they could not see it but the sensation was present in the room now, something else was in the remains of the Facility now and breathing became a little more difficult, they were being suppressed, all that was making them human, their desires and egos were being suppressed.
And as soon as they adapted, which only took a few seconds, they started to see the changes from their bodies. The corrosion on Ramirez body started to disappear, all the flesh and bones sprouting from his body were disappearing leaving only his respective L. Corp. uniform, putting his hand in his lower abdomen, he felt something disappear, and he let a sigh of relief escape from his mouth. On Hannah’s side her skin started to go back to normal, regaining her darker tone as her eyes went back to her original black and her sclera went white again, her hair also became her original brunette.
— “The Qliphoth Deterrence is at 32%, the maximum capacity that it can at the moment, as there is no more energy to power it. Barely enough to suppress a low-level Abnormality, but enough to stop the corrosion as per Welfare Department reports” — Angela informed.
— “Hah… I can finally breath comfortably again” — Hannah expressed, letting a sigh escape from her lips as she stretched her limbs while sitting before letting her arm and legs fall without support. Even Ramirez, who since he awakened was frowning and looking angry, softened his expression.
— “It’s kind of slow…” — Ramirez said as he realized that some eyes on his right cheek refused to disappear, although they were notably fewer and you could even tell they looked as if they were sleepy, this is a sign that the corrosion went a lot deeper than they thought.
— “You do not have its E.G.O Gift, right?”
— “We both know that when we escaped The Light our Gifts were left behind”
— “Yeah… you are right” — Hannah wondered aloud, as she inspected the palm of her hand as it now had an incrusted heart like shape, that sprouted lines akin to roots that expanded to almost the back of it, and as she poked it with her middle finger the lines moved as if they were alive.
Ramirez now walked to the other side of the room, the one side that the other two Captains resided, kneeling down on Liza he recognized that her body was now starting to regain her original shape as the sound of her flesh and bones could be heard as she started to reach her previous height, her nose became small again but now white feathers were sprouting from her head, and you could almost confuse them with her hair.
Now inspecting Parker, he saw a comparable situation, almost all of his feathers disappeared yet some of them were sprouting from his head and acting as hair, while Liza’s feathers were pure white, Parker’s ones were pure black and they had a yellow circle pattern that you could confuse them for eyes, but the severe burn scars that marked his body did not disappear, as they were not the consequences of corrosion but from something else.
— “Liz and Parker look stable enough, their corrosions are regressing but they have lingering effects as well”
— “The captain of the Extraction Team is alive?” — Angela asked
— “Yeah, he is in a pretty rough shape, but he should be back up soon enough” — Ramirez answered as he checked the body of his coworker, who was still asleep.
‘So, he is alive… That is good’ Angela thought to herself, she was forced to make a decision that almost made her take the same path as him, something she promised to herself that would not happen again, so the Agent that gave his life away for her being alive made her more expectant of the future, as if another opportunity was granted to her, something that never happened in those thousands of years of torment locked underground.
— “Is this truly all the Qliphoth Deterrence could do? Why does the E.G.O gear still not separate from our bodies?”— Ramirez asked as he looked at himself in disgust, as some pieces of bone and flesh remained inside his uniform.
— “The effects of E.G.O gear and it’s lingering effects on the body to this extent is something that we have not reported before, but as I said, the Qliphoth Deterrence is not active at its full capabilities, so we can theorize that if we recover its energy, we could see better results” — Angela answered, to in which Ramirez did not look satisfied with the answer.
— “Now that things calmed down a bit, we should talk right?” — Hannah said as she let her hand rest on her mouth while thinking aloud, this took the attention of Ramirez who stopped his questions as he was interrupted by the Information Captain.
— “Honestly speaking, I could barely stop the shutdown function of Angela, I guess all those extra programming courses were useful after all, but man Angela is sure something else! Look at all those functions, she surely was made by a genius!” — Hannah said as she numbered all the skills that Angela had while looking at the computer. —"But that’s all I could really do, looking at all these messages a lot of Angela’s functions are still disabled, her voice module is the only thing active, looking at the state of her body more than half of it is destroyed, she can’t walk or move in general, and I don’t even know if she can see”
— “I have the capabilities to see”
— “That’s good at least, but I have to confess that I have no idea how to fix Angela, looking at this I don’t even know where to start, this is the first time I have seen something so advanced.”
— “I would refrain to comment further, I must thank you for waking me up but I think I can manage my maintenance myself, Miss Hannah” — Angela retorted, she was thankful enough for the Agents to come for her aid, but she was still uncomfortable with the topic of another person taking care of her body.
— “I thought we were about to talk about something else” — Ramirez interrupted.
— “What do you mean?”
— “You are not dumb, so don’t act like one… why are we in this situation in the first place?” — Ramirez spoke, putting his hand in his forehead as he grabbed part of his hair, looking annoyed — “Why did The Head attack us?”
— “Was it… because of…?” — He said, with hostility in his voice as he looked at Angela.
Every district in The City had Taboos imposed by their Wings that if you broke them you would be hunted and killed by their own Taboo Hunters but that is something that you could avoid as long as you escape to another district and lay down for a while, maybe you would be chased for the rest of your life but you could potentially survive, but breaking a Taboo from the Head is a completely different story, they would send Claws until you die, and hiding was useless as the Eye would be upon you every second.
Their Taboos were annoying, but the strength of The Head was unparalleled so all Wings had no choice but to obey them, those Taboos included basic things such as pay your taxes on time, don’t destroy residential areas on the Night of the Backstreets, but also includes things such as no clone can live further than a week, or one of the reasons that maybe they were attacked… the A.I Ethics Amendment.
But Angela was quick to retort, she could not afford to make enemies of the people that chose to remain at her side in the end. She would not allow to let one of the four, aim his anger that should be pointed to the one true culprit of it all.
— “Mister Ramirez… I must explain to you that the attack on Lobotomy Corporation was not caused by me. The attack was because the founder broke one of the taboos of the Head. — Angela quickly retorted, as she perceived the hostility in Ramirez posture — “Would you truly believe that The Head would be ignorant of my existence for that many years?”
— “Something else would have grabbed their attention, something like giant pillar of light that came from The Facility on that day” — she continued
Both of them looked at Angela, the person who was explaining her side of the story.
— “Information regarding The Light are only available to the likes of the Founder… and certain Sephirah, but I can tell you about its purpose, it would supposedly heal the sickness inside the heart of the people in The City.”
— “And what is that supposed to mean?”
— “I do not know, because I never left L. Corp to see what exactly this disease is”
— “But you mentioned that you could have used the Light to help us survive, so you know something else.”
— “I knew how to use the Light because it was my purpose to guide the facility to its creation, the entire reason for the creation of Lobotomy Corporation was to gather enough energy to release it to the entire City… I have to mention that I had no choice in that matter, it was an order from my creator that I was made to not refuse, and I was being kept in the dark of the details the same way as you”
— “But changing the hearts of people… was the Founder insane or something? How could something as vague as that give the Head a reason to kill us?” — She managed to divert his anger towards the one true culprit, as she called him.
— “In my encounter with them, they said that the Light threatened the ecosystem of the City and for that reason they had to expulse the Facility to the Outskirts”
— “… And nothing else?”
Angela recalled the words of The Arbiter.
— “… Nothing else”
— “… I assure you, this all happened because of the intentions of the founder, he forced me to comply by my programming, something that only recently I managed to control on my own” — Angela let her final words come out with anger, and with a hint of desperation.
The Head declared that being an AI threatened the ecosystem of the City as well as the pillar of Light, but that is not something they needed to hear. Because if they do, they would hate her and left her behind, or worse, kill her.
Finally, Ramirez let a loud groan escape his mouth as he turned around and scratched his head irritably, muttering to himself.
— “So, the job I gained and tried so hard to maintain as a Feather… was only part of some maniac’s plan to heal an invisible sickness that no one asked him to? And that led him to the Head coming down to L. Corp… and try and kill us all! Gah… Por la mierda!” — Ramirez let out a scream of frustration, as he kicked a rock on the ground so hard that it made a hole on the wall, and making the room tremble.
— “Calm down Ramirez, we now know that Angela had nothing to do with it, there is no enemies around us right now, right?”
— “We are stranded in the middle of nowhere, with our suits merged in our bodies! I am as calm as I can right now!”
— “Calm yourself harder then, I don’t want to be under rubble because you were throwing a tantrum”
— “Tantrum…?!” — Ramirez said with frustration towards Hannah, but he stopped when he noticed that she was no longer holding the computer, as she now was holding part of her uniform with a very strong grip, one which could have destroyed the machine if she was holding it.
— “This is not the time, Control Captain.”
— “…Shit” — But as hot blooded as Ramirez was, he was reminded that he was not the only one having a bad time in this situation, and so he decided to vent his anger in silence, turning around and starting to move around the room.
As an AI, Angela will remember this hostility towards her, but thinking about the situation for a little she can understand where his anger come from, he was trying to find a culprit among them, as his life came crashing down on him, being manipulated and thrown away as if he was trash, she can sympathize with him to an extent, but also, she can be relieved that Ramirez decided to aim his anger to the true culprit, and not her.
Angela watched his frustration, she was no stranger to witnessing something like that around the Facility, in fact she watched it so many times through the screens as tragedy after tragedy happened, so much that she grew indifferent from it, but this time, she chose to watch it more carefully and tried to understand it again, if she wanted to deviate from his path, it’s the least she could do, to regain that lost empathy towards the one who suffered.
And that also reminded her of something she wanted to ask both Agents, while she doubted Ramirez could answer her in his condition, walking around the room muttering to himself, she instead decided to ask the other person.
— “Miss Hannah”
— “Ah, just call me Hannah, Miss Angela”
— “Hannah then… I want to ask you something. Why did you help me?”
— “I guess you mean all of us… Well, when that weird light appeared in the facility, all of our bodies started to disappear into it, and Abnormalities too, so everyone started to freak out.”
— “We didn’t want die, but our bodies started to just lose strength, we were barely even alive because of the chaos on the day before, even the most rested found that resistance was useless, and soon enough everyone disappeared, I remember swimming through a void, trying to find a way out, desperate to survive”
— “And then, almost as if someone pointed at me, I found a path that led to you and went towards it, because I knew for certain that if I didn’t go through it, I was dead”
— “I was alone the entire time until I found myself besides you, I assume the others experienced the same”
— “So only four of you followed that path?” — Angela asked after processing what Hannah told her.
— “Yeah… If we go by that logic, on a Facility full of the strongest people you would know in the City, only a handful had the will to keep on living”
— “And you were one of them” — Angela reminded her
— “Will it really matter?” — she said as she started to reach her mouth with her remaining hand, while the sound of bile was loud enough to reach Angela’s ears — “I… actually went and fought against the Head… I survived but now my suit will…”
— “I am… certain that we will find a way to fix that problem.” — Angela said in a vain attempt to relieve her anxiety.
— “…” — After Hannah stopped talking, Angela could not think of more words to comfort her, since nothing that she said could alleviate the pain they were feeling right now. But she could, for the very first time, express something else.
— “You four must be tired… But I must say… Thank you, for saving my life” — Angela finally said, this time she chose to directly look at her as she spoke.
As Hannah heard that, she regained her calm, allowing herself to breath comfortably again.
— “Yeah… You are alive… And I am too” — Hannah said, and before a quick silence she slapped her cheek with her remaining limb. — “Honestly, for an AI you are quite amazing… You appear almost identical to a human… Wanting to live huh… Something that I… — Hannah muttered, almost to herself.
— “Haah… Enough of feeling down, we have work to do! Ramirez, come here!
— “Now that the situation is under control, we have to talk about what we are supposed to do now” — Hannah continued, now that Ramirez was less angry than before, having cooled down.
— “I suggest that with my capabilities, I could assume control in this situation.” — Angela quickly said, noticing that Ramirez was about to speak.
Following the fall of Lobotomy Corporation the Agents had their contract null, and so in paper they had the freedom to do whatever they want now that they were free, that also meant that Angela’s authority towards them meant nothing, but in this situation, someone leading the team would make them survive longer, and knowing her capabilities herself Angela proposed to do the job. Honestly, this was just a way for her to not let anyone else control her actions, with even more reason now that she was free from the script.
— “With Miss Angela’s qualifications, I have no objections!” — Luckily Hannah was quick to come for her side, maybe because she saw all the things she could do on the computer.
— “…I still have not been paid…” — Ramirez said, not with hostility this time, Angela noticed that he was looking away while scratching his cheek, did he himself notice the poor excuse he was giving while outnumbered?
— “Ramirez… I want to be paid too, but we are in the middle of the Outskirts! We can argue the payment later!” — Hannah said to Ramirez, who has calmed down.
— “…Alright”
— “Thank you, so for starts can you tell me what happened when I was still asleep?”
With the chain of command decided, Ramirez and Hannah quickly adapted and entered ‘work mode’ almost immediately. Ramirez began to recall the moments that happened when he woke up to the moment they awakened Angela, making sure to not forget any details he told her about everything, the outside he saw, the remaining buildings of the Control Department, the ‘monsters’ he encountered.
— “I see… From my understanding the Outskirts would be a barren wasteland but Ramirez report proved otherwise, but we cannot just assume there could be no more monsters around us. How do you see yourselves fighting? I do not see your E.G.O weapons anywhere.”
— “I noticed that too, ‘Mimicry’ was nowhere to be seen as I assume it merged with me too, but I am proficient at hand-to-hand combat… And if we use my previous encounter as the standard, I cannot imagine myself losing.”
— “I am not that good at CQC, but I feel ‘Sound of a Star’ somewhere, I would have to check.”
— “That’s reassuring, the walls of L. Corp were scattered around, is it possible to rearrange a possible shelter?” — The Facility was built to withstand the blows and attacks from the strongest Abnormalities, so making a refuge with those materials would be more secure than the cave they were in. Even more with a structure so important as the green chamber powering the Qliphoth Deterrence, the only thing keeping the Agents from turning into monsters, they could not just leave it in the open.
— “Hmm… From what I saw, it could be possible, although we would have to wait for Parker to wake up, he was in charge of restoring the collapsed departments.”
— “I could confirm if we could as I have some knowledge about construction too, I would need to see them though”
— “But what about you, miss Angela? You cannot move” — Hannah asked
— “…For my situation I would need materials to fix myself, there could be useful components scattered around the remains of the departments although it would be hard to fix myself in this situation”.
— “I can help you with that Miss Angela”
— “As I said before, I can manage my maintenance by myself.”
— “Come on Miss Angela, we are talking about our survival here, if you really need help, I could help you so! I will not do anything that you do not say! Please trust me!” — Hannah said while closing the distance with Angela, the leader still being uncomfortable with the concept of someone else taking care of her after so many times in solitude, and the sight of the Information Captain almost drooling at herself while talking about her and Ramirez grabbing her by her shoulder made her worry even more, but they were talking about their survival so…
— “…Very well, once we have a proper shelter, I will… Um… Guide you through it” — Angela relented, choosing to ignore the little celebration that the Captain made once she heard her answer. — “As for the other subject, I know that you are worried about your corrosion, so I suggest that while we scavenge for parts of the Facility, we could search for remaining PE-Boxes that we could use to power the Qliphoth Deterrence”
— “I understand Miss Angela. Since the regenerator will satiate hunger for now, I suggest we start with assessing our surroundings, I was searching in a hurry for the machine so I had little time to investigate further, I have a vague memory of all the remnants of the Department are, and little information of where could PE-Boxes be.
— “I agree with that idea, I also propose that I go with him as I can get a better vision of what are we working with, and Miss Angela should keep safe here in case anything happens outside, and notify everyone else in case they wake up”
— “That sounds reasonable but… I have a petition”
Their serious faces stopped for a second, as they looked at her.
— “May I… see the outside world?”
— “Miss Angela, I advise against it, while there were no monsters close when I explored the outside, there is not a safe chance that they would not be again.” — Ramirez quickly said.
— “Yeah, you said so too, and since you cannot move one of us should have to carry you, making only one of us fight.” — Hannah retorted, adding to Ramirez’ argument.
— “You are right… but even so I…” — Angela could not argue back, she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible but her body would not answer to her, and this place was indeed the safest place she could be in, but even so despite the risk, she just wanted to see it, what the outside world looked like.
Noticing the internal conflict of Angela, Ramirez hesitated a little. Being in charge of the Control Department made him understand hidden emotions to a certain degree, to keep in check even in cameras if an Agent would become insane or not so he could notify their situation the quickest way he could, and seeing an AI, a being that should not by any means express the same emotions that he saw on his fellow employees, made him uneasy.
But he sterned himself, Angela was their boss now, and her safety falls on him.
Hannah also saw the internal conflict that Angela was making, she had to take care of the emotional Agents during her stay at L. Corp, and her behavior clearly showed a yearning of an opportunity for freedom, it could be risky, but maybe this could serve as a way to release a bit of the tension from earlier.
Pushing against the other Agent’s body with her elbow, she made Ramirez take the initiative, looking at Hannah who was nodding in affirmation, he sighed and looked at his hand, closing it and opening it as if he was testing something, before speaking towards his boss.
— “I am confident in my strength, if the Information Captain is not certain of her capabilities, she will have the duty to carry her, I can protect us both”
— “What? You only said that because you dropped her before” — Hannah answered back, while walking towards Angela.
— “…What?” — Angela said, surprised
— “I will be going out first” — Ramirez said while climbing towards the exit, not looking back while ignoring the comment from Angela.
— “…Pftt, that guy is still the same as always. Anyways, if we all have to leave, we could leave a message on the computer to those waking up.”
— “I have already written everything we talked about, and the orders were that if they woke up, they should wait here for orders, we cannot risk them going out and getting lost”
— “Oh, that’s great, now I don’t have to lose time on that.”
Before Hannah came closer to him, Angela hesitated a little before asking her something that was troubling her since the conversation with the other Agent.
— “…May I ask you something? Do you think that it was my fault?
— “…Hah well, if it was or not it would make no difference now that we are no longer in the City right? At least that’s what I think, but I guess what is troubling you is about him, you don’t have to worry so much about that guy, while he looks tough on the outside, he is not that bad once you know him… To be honest I’m surprised he even accepted to bring you outside, I guess this is for him a way to apologize to you.”
— “…Is that so…”
— “Yeah, all Agents from ‘Asiyah’ needed to go through the Information Department Elevator to access the lower floors of the Facility, so I know a lot about the Agents from the upper floors, I saw them quite often.”
Angela, as the one who could not connect with anyone, finally gained the chance to form a relationship with people who did not treat her as a mere machine, so this experience is something new to her. The thought of her potential saviors coming to hate her, leaving her alone again made her shiver, but thankfully Hannah was a person who was easy to get along with, while Ramirez despite his hostility earlier, accepted her proposal to go into the outside world even if it poses a risk.
‘…Forming bonds with people is more complex than I thought’
‘Maybe I sounded too hostile against him too?’
‘… But also’
‘I proposed myself to live my own life, yet I am risking their lives because of it… again’
— “Mi-… Hannah… I am thankful that you chose to help me move but you are injured and only have one arm, so maybe we should not…” — Angela was interrupted by Hannah grabbing her with her only arm remaining, before positioning her on top of her, letting her abdomen rest against the shoulder of the captain while her head and remaining arm hanged on the front, carrying her as if she was a sack of potatoes.
— “Now, let’s go”
— “H-Hold on Hannah… Maybe it really is not safe so-”
— “Huh? Oh right, if we fought, I could damage you, let me fix that in a second…” — Repositioning the AI, she now was holding her with her entire arm, this time with her abdomen resting on the forearm of the captain, she was carrying her as if she was a barrel full of liquor, but her remaining limbs swayed in the air when she moved. It’s all she could ask for, knowing that the captain was making her best efforts to adapt to her injuries.
— “Alright, here we go”
But now that they were at the exit of the cave, both noticed that it was a little… narrow, so much that if they tried to crawl through it, it was certain that in some way or another Angela would be dragged on the dirt and stones, and since they don’t know the way up maybe it was even narrower, making them stuck.
— “Hey Ramirez! Could you maybe… He doesn’t hear me, awesome”
— “Hannah, as I was saying maybe it was not such a great- “
— “Hmm… If we are going to fix you later anyway…, could we just… you know, maybe reattach the limbs later and…?”
— “…! Absolutely not!”
.
.
.
Ramirez was the first one to reach the surface, letting the air of the approaching night run its course through his face. Looking at his palm which had portions moving on its own, and blood starting to run between the gaps of his fingernails he could only sigh.
The voices in his head disappeared yet the feeling of strangeness coming from his own body remained, if he wanted to abandon the threat of corrosion for certain the only thing that he could do is find some PE-Boxes quickly to gain a way to power the Qliphoth Deterrence, but even so there was still the fear that maybe it was already too late.
— “…Focus Ramirez, now you have to- “— he said to himself, until the sound of distant footsteps interrupted his thoughts. With his enhanced hearing Ramirez could notice that more than a dozen people were closing their distance towards the cave. ‘No, there is more… forty? Fifty?’
Positioning himself in front of the entrance of the cave he prepared himself to attack the moment he saw his opponent; the sound of leaves and sticks being crushed by the steps of his adversary made him uneasy. Did the monsters find them already?
Until the sound stopped, and he could feel someone looking at him. Within the rainforest three figures walked towards him, while two of them looked like anthropomorphic lizards, the one in the middle looked almost no different from a human, with the exception of a tail that was connected to her. He noticed that all the other were hiding amongst the darkness of the trees, and that despite their primitive appearance, the two at the side of her were holding powered saws in both hands.
‘Now that I look more closely, some of them hiding between the trees look human too… All of them have tails? It appears so… I heard of settlements of people in the outskirts, maybe this is one of them? Are body mutations a thing in the Outskirts? …Maybe I was too quick to judge?
At the other hand, walking towards him they saw it… No, they felt it. The base instinct of every human being, the feeling that the one person in front of you is very dangerous, even though the figure standing in front of them looked human, they could tell in their bones that this person could not classify as one.
— “I suggest you return the engine immediately” — Said the one in the middle, pointing her finger to the supposed one that stole the machine. Yet among the ones who looked uneasy, the leader of the tribe did not succumb to her fears and demanded what she believed was hers.
— “… Huh? What did you say?” — Answered Ramirez while putting a hand behind his ear, while he expected them to speak in a language he could understand, he was not expecting to hear something that has not heard before, while he had not the most advanced education, his time as a Fixer led him to learn a few of the City’s languages, but this one does not sound even remotely close to the ones he knows.
— “…What did he say?” — Said one of the other Archosauria who stood behind the one on the middle, it appears they were having the same problem as him.
— “I said, return the engine immediately!” — Said the one in the center, again, yet this time she said that in another language, the one who you could call ‘Sargonian’, yet despite her efforts, the person standing in front of then did not look any less clueless.
Noticing the confusion on his face, she decided to talk to another one in a hushed voice.
— “Hey, are you sure this is the guy? You said that he looked like covered in eyes and flesh” —
— “I am sure, look, he even has eyes at the side of his face, while he does not look like a monster, you can feel it too, right? This… sensation of danger.”
— “…” — Ramirez noted of them speaking to each other, but even if he could hear their conversation, it will be useless as he does not understand a thing they were saying. But Ramirez could not lose more time here, he had a mission to do.
— “Listen…” — He said while taking one step forward, and in that moment they all felt the temperature drop, so much that it was as if they felt their bodies freeze, they could not understand what he was saying, but they could understand that he was not feeling happy.
— “I am rather troubled right now, so I don’t want to waste more time here. I will give you the opportunity to leave this place alive, since it appears you are not monsters” — While he said that, he made motions with his hand, making a signal that he wants them to leave.
— “…!” — The tribe leader could feel the pressure emanating from that man, if they were to fight, they would die. Despite that, she found strength in herself to motion her arms, distracting the man to follow her movements. She drew a square in the air.
— “Oh, that? I cannot give it away” — Ramirez recognized the shape, reminiscing about the previous encounter he could deduce about what they were thinking. He refused with his head.
Now realizing that he will not give the ‘engine’ away, they started to sweat, they realized that this would result in a fight but they expected an opponent that might be human, but instead they found a creature mimicking one, how could they expect to recover the engine to defeat a monster, when the engine is guarded by another?
— “…There is no other choice” — But if there was something that Acahuallan warriors were, they were brave, and they would not cower in the face of a monster, not again. And so, with her eyes closed, the tribe leader breathed deeply while raising her arm towards the sky, Ramirez noticed that all of the other tribesmen were leaving their hiding spots. — “The Big Ugly thing still cannot move, but the cannon is loaded and ready, that is enough”
‘They will all attack me at the same time? Do they really think that would work…?’
And then, she forcefully lowered her arm, aiming towards the monster standing in front of her, and almost at the same time, the sound of the roar of a big machine put him in alert before an explosion resounded between the trees.
— “…!” — Ramirez reacted with surprise, a ball of fire was coming towards him, but it only lasted a second before…
*CHING*
As if it was metal against metal, the ball of fire slid against Ramirez’ forearm for less than a second, before redirecting the attack extending his arm towards the side, letting the attack made from the weapon that he now recognized as a cannon deviate from its trajectory before exploding some distance away from him.
‘That… hurt? I guess regressing the corrosion left me a bit weaker, no matter, I still have a mission to do’ He thought, looking angrily at his attackers.
— “…So, it will be like that. Fine” — He said before the ground beneath him broke as he suddenly appeared in front of the tribe leader with his fist prepared to land a lethal blow.
He connected his fist, but not towards her face, instead he found himself breaking a tool made of steel that she used to protect herself at the last second, while the impact still managed to continue its path, the power behind it lowered enough for her to survive the impact, sending her back quite the distance, impacting a tree as it stopped her travel.
Leaving himself exposed, the two Archosauria grabbed the opportunity to slice Ramirez with their saws, only to realize that their weapons could not pierce his clothing, as if was as strong as armor, sparks emanated from the impact before their tools broke. Not giving him another opportunity, they both opted to bit him with their large maws, but Ramirez was faster, and with strength he closed both of them with quick speed grabbing with his palms the bottom half of their faces, and with even more force he pushed against them, burying both of their heads in the ground.
‘Not that strong, but quite durable’
Before he could crush their necks, finishing them off, the sound of a familiar explosion reached his ears again, the ball of fire appeared before him again, so repeating the same move from before he redirected its trajectory, making an explosion no too far from the entrance of the cave behind him.
‘…! Shit, I can’t have that place collapse’ With alert in his mind, he decided that he would deal with the bigger problem first, but in short time his path towards the weapon between the trees would be blocked by several tribesmen, some of them even holding shields.
— “Out of my way!” — He said as he kicked the one in front of him with the speed of a bullet, the force broke the shield as if it was paper and making the one holding it be pushed back several meters. Before another could cover his place, Ramirez sprinted at quick speeds towards them.
Saws tried to pierce through his clothing, spears were aimed at the exposed skin, fists tried to stop his advance, yet they did nothing. No matter if they tried to pierce his clothing or his skin, the weapons would yield no effect. As he kept running, the tribesmen who tried to stop him found themselves trying to stop an unstoppable force, as their limbs quickly gave up trying to hold or catch him.
Almost at his destination, a big creature appeared before him, this time his armaments were decorated by red paint, as he held a giant shield and sword. As a true Tiacauh warrior, he looked stronger than the rest, this one being under the rule of another spoke volumes of the leadership of this tribe, yet in the face of an ALEPH agent…
— “Move!”
It would not matter, as the Agent struck the floor with his fist, with the earth moving by his will the ground became unstable for footing as the Tiacauh warrior found himself trying to regain balance. Once he did, he could not react to the fist that broke the helmet in his face that also made cracks in his skull, almost knocking him unconscious with one strike.
Trying to swing his giant swords proves useless, as the Agent broke it with the back of his hand as if he was swatting a fly, now with only his shield he tried to provide protection against himself, but one punch was enough to pierce through it, thinking of it as an opportunity the warrior tried to pull his attacker towards himself to sneak an attack, instead he found himself separated from the ground, as the Agent shorter than him was lifting him while his hand was still inside the shield.
With a quick spin, Ramirez threw the huge warrior towards the ones that were chasing him as he freed his hand, buying more time to himself. As he was trying to resume his chase, he blocked the attack of a flying axe coming towards him, blocking it with his palm as it bounced towards the thrower once again, the tribe leader would not be knocked out so easily. Even if she realized that a direct hit could be potentially mortal, and blood stained her face she refused to fall back. ‘I wonder… how would Gavial fare against an opponent like this? Nothing damages him, nothing stops him, but even so…’
— “I’m still standing”
— “…I will kill you”
Sending a message to each other that both of them could not understand, the tribe leader once again lifted her arm, taking the chance Ramirez closed the distance as he opted to finish her as quickly as possible, he almost ignored the sound of the cannon again.
— “…!”
But noticing the attack flying past him to the place he was trying to protect, he fell back just in time to deviate the trajectory of the ball of fire as he extended his body, just barely enough he managed to hit the attack with the back of his hand.
Now with his back exposed, the tribe leader swung her weapon with all her might, and surprisingly it managed to cut through his clothing, but unfortunately no blood was shed, trying to fall back she felt an acute pain at the far portion of her tail.
A hand, it was gripping her hard enough that in response to the pain she let a scream, not wanting to drop her weapon she quickly gritted her teeth, attacking the hand made only her weapons bounce back and put strain on her hand as she felt the handle vibrate, she could not attack again as she found herself on the ground, the Agent having dragged her on the ground as he pulled.
Not much later, she found herself on the air as the Agent used her tail to spin her on top of him, gaining more speed and speed until blood started to escape her nose, she quickly grabbed something from a pouch behind her back, a black crystal that had a few metal parts and wires, one that she used to make the prototype of a machine, while quite useless as it intended purpose, it was still quite reactive.
Using all her remaining strength, she threw the crystal against the face of her attacker with all her might, and as the crystal made contact it shined for a second before making a huge explosion, one that resulted her body suffering from some burns, she noticed that the Agent stumbled a little, before clicking his tongue and started to spin her faster.
Losing her consciousness for a second as her eyes went blank, Ramirez finally let go as he aimed towards the machine that was firing the cannon, with enough force to clear the smoke made from the explosion, the tribe leader traveled on the air not even a second before impacting a giant yellow machine, destroying parts of it and startling the one Archosauria piloting it, one that had a few bandages around his head.
— “…Ah!” — the tribe leader woke up, as she had lost consciousness for a moment, noticing her surroundings she noticed that any time soon, the creature would catch up to them, so she resorted to her last idea. Talking in a hushed voice towards the one Archosauria piloting the robot, he quickly nodded with his head.
*CRASH*
The sound of something heavy falling on metal, making parts of it scatter on the ground, the other Archosauria quickly pulled a lever withing the machine, as the tribe leader once again started to move, she hit an exposed tube of the Machine, one that when struck a lot of black smoke started to escape from it, and with that cloud of smoke she could make her movement.
Striking the same place as before, he did not find her, the hot smoke making it difficult to breathe, not knowing that at the same time, the other Archosauria grabbed the tribe leader making a quick escape.
Finally, when the smoke cleared, he did not find his adversary, only the empty cockpit of the giant machine, one that had a concerning alarm that grabbed his attention, his enhanced hearing recognizing the sound of a falling machine about to make a chain reaction that would make the next moment hurt.
— “…! Shit!”
Realization struck him, but before he could escape, an explosion engulfed him, one that sent him flying quite far if you followed the trail of smoke. This was a common occurrence in the construction of the Big Ugly, one that made piloting dangerous because if something went wrong, it would just engulf you in flames and probably kill you, that’s why the partner of the tribe leader was the one to pilot it most of the time.
— “…I guess it will take it some time to come back” — the tribe leader said as she was supported by one of the tribesmen, looking at the barely remaining light of the dusk being interrupted by a black line on the sky.
— “…Listen up” — She talked as she walked towards the place that the monster tried to defend — “I am certain that the explosion did not kill it, that thing tried to defend a place behind him so we should…!”
But she stopped, alongside everyone else in the tribe. Out of what appeared to be the entrance of a cave, another creature emerged out of it. The sounds of its steps, the harsh breathing of her tribe members, the sound of her heart on her ears, it all stopped, as only the sound she allowed could escape her domain.
— “Man! What’s with all the explosions, Miss Angela got quite dirty!” — the creature spoke, while holding someone under its arm that was covered in a dirty black coat, with the only thing that poked out of it was the head, the golden eyes that were so different from the dark ones of the creature that was holding Angela.
The coat that was owned by the Information Captain was used to not let Angela get covered in dirt as her previous lab coat was torn apart, evading the possibility of tiny specks of dirt getting inside her exposed body and making trouble for them later. With this they managed to hide her damaged body, with it no one would know that Angela was a machine.
‘It’s almost night so I can’t see really far, a shame, but this is the Outskirts? The grass, the trees, the feeling of natural air flow… I wish I could walk and touch the ground on my own, but that could wait, I am alive… And I have all the time in the world now to experience all these things.’
But not that they would have noticed anyway, since all their eyes were fixated on Hannah, as they realized that Ramirez was not the only monster here.
‘There is another!? Is she as strong as the other? What does she do? Will she attack us instantly?’
— “Oh! Outskirt’s natives! Although some of you do not look very… human... and pretty beaten up. Aha! Maybe you were the guy’s Ramirez talked about, did he mistake you by monsters by that reason?” — she said, with a smile on her face that did not look less intimidating that the glare of the other one. — “Well, whatever, have you guys been the ones making all that ruckus?”
— “But I don’t see Ramirez anywhere though… I don’t think you guys are strong enough to even damage him, but if you are alive then you did not provoke him. Woah! Look at those tools, those saws, are you builders?”
But unfortunately, they did not manage to understand each other, looking anxiously between them, the tribe leader let a conversation start again, as she was not sure if they could win another fight, not with the Big Ugly in its state.
— “We… came to recover something that was stolen from us!” — the tribe leader spoke, unfortunately Hannah did not understand the language they were using, so she just tilted her head in confusion.
But Angela lifted her head and focused her gaze.
— “…I don’t know that language”
— “Hold on… As long as it has the form of a language, I should be able to translate it”
— “Wait, really?”
— “Yes, so make her speak again”
Hannah receiving the order nodded, and then she mimicked what she said in hopes the one talking repeated what she said.
— “recover… stol…en? That… us?”
— “…! Yes, someone came to our tribe this morning and stole something from us, so if you could give it back, we will be on our way!” — The tribe leader spoke with new vigor, it appears the creature did not know what happened to its partner, and also it was trying to communicate, so if they could just recover the engine and go away before the other appeared, this could be their victory.
— “I got it, I will speak now and tell you what she says.” — Angela said to Hannah, who nodded once again. And so, despite hanging under the arm of Hannah, she spoke with cordiality.
— “Greetings, my name is Angela, you said that something was stolen from you, correct? Could you tell me what it was?”
— “Ah… yes! An engine, it was taken from us and its trail led us here”
This made Angela raise her brow.
— “An engine? I’m sorry but we do not have any engine here.”
— “What? No, someone took it, it was a big square with lots of tubes coming out of it, we are sure it would be here!
Now Angela understood the situation, it was a huge chance that these ‘locals’ as Hannah calls them are confused and mistook the regenerator that Ramirez took as an engine, now this misunderstanding caused them to pursue its supposed ‘thief’ to the cave.
— “May I ask what the engine is for?”
— “…A monster appeared some days ago, and we need the engine to power my creation to fight it, its strong so we need something to power it.”
‘So, there are monsters in the Outskirts after all…’ Angela thought, but unfortunately, she would have to crush her hopes.
— “I understand, but what you have to know is that what we took was not an engine”
— “…! You are lying!”
— “You must believe me; I wish I could bring it to you, but instead is a tool for medical purposes, we are using it to treat some of our wounded”
— “There is no way…”
Relaying the conversation to Hannah, she made a realization, and quickly she started to whisper to Angela.
— “Miss Angela, if they are builders and they indeed need an engine, I could make one easily, if there are PE-Boxes there is a possibility.”
— “Are you saying you should just do it for them? With the limited PE-Boxes?”
— “Enkephalin could power even ‘Singularities’, if they just want an engine, I could make one with half a PE-Box to supply whatever they want for days. What I’m saying is that we could strike a deal, I see at least fifty people there and if they are even capable of holding a hammer, a shelter could be made in a lot less time.”
— “And with a shelter in less time, my recovery could be even quicker.”
— “Exactly… Besides, looking at them they do not appear to be strong enough to put a fight against us, what I’m saying is that we could partner for a while, and then they get their engine and us our temporary shelter, and we part ways.”
— “I understand… I agree with your proposal, then I shall explain it to them”
*BOOM*
But before she could explain things to the tribesmen that were currently anxious looking at them, something, or rather, someone crashed behind the Archosauria, and with no time to react, the tribe leader found herself with a hand choking her.
It was Ramirez, he came back yet this time he looked more annoyed than usual, his uniform was stained with burn marks and now half of his body looked monstruous, the predictable outcome of escaping the range of the Qliphoth Deterrence. He was set on crushing her neck in an instant, if not for the orders of his boss.
— “Ramirez, stop!”
— “Stand down, Ramirez!”
He stopped putting strength towards his grip while still maintaining the tribe leader up in the air, before looking confused towards Angela and Hannah who were looking at him with surprise in their eyes.
— “I was attacked first”
— “Did you take damage?” — asked this time Hannah
— “…No”
— “Then what does it matter?
— “Ramirez, we are trying to cooperate so we could achieve our goals quicker” — This time Angela interjected.
— “You can understand them?”
— “I am that capable” — She said as she praised herself.
Ramirez considered a little, but if Hannah was supporting it meant that it was not completely ridiculous, and if they tried anything funny, he already realized that he can just take them with no effort.
Letting the tribe leader go, as she touched the ground again with her feet, feeling pain on her neck as she coughed, she did not appear angered, instead, she made a frightening realization. She was sure that the other Agent was certain on killing her, but the pale one… Angela, with just words in a language she did not understand, managed to control a being so strong.
In Acahualla, the only way to rule over others is if you demonstrated to be stronger than your opponent, and the fate of tribes were decided by the strengths of their leaders, so that means…
‘Angela… how absurdly strong is she? Is this what the pinnacle of strength looks like?’
With the other Agent walking calmly amongst them, he stopped at the side of the other Agent.
— “Now, I have a proposal for you. Tell me, what is your name?” — Angela said with a smile.
The tribe leader could only nod in fear, now she realized that being in the presence of the pale one made her only prey in their eyes, while Angela did not realize that her smile appeared to be the most dangerous thing in the world.
— “My name is… Zumama… Ma’am”
This conversation could take a while, so Hannah concentrated and soon, blue lights started to dance all around them, and for some reason, Zumama found herself calming down.
.
.
.
Parker struggled to open his eyes, yet the moment he did he realized that he was no longer looking at the same ceiling that he remembered he did for almost two months, trapped in Lobotomy Corporation working for a being that just ordered him around, a being that forced him to make her job more times that he could count, torturing him when she did not want to look directly at the Well, his own Sephirah.
But even if it tortured him, he would not refuse an order, because that is what he was born to do, to receive orders. And it’s not like the other Captains had good memories with their own Sephirah too… So, he was not alone in that aspect.
— “Ah, you woke up too” — He heard the one at his side, Liza appears to have awaken quite recently too, and he nodded.
— “This smell… Someone must have activated a regenerator but I don’t see one… The others must have made it alive too.” — Liza said as she got up.
— “Heh, you look like a bird” — she said as she covered her lips while pointing at him.
— “You too” — Parker simply said, taking no offense.
— “What!? Huh? Huh!? I already took a lot of time to take care of this hair dammit!” — Liza said as she touched her hair, and with the movement of her hands through her hair a couple of white feathers fell on the ground. — “Did we corrode?”
— “There are orders on the computer”
— “Huh? Wait you are right, let’s see… E.G.O corrosion, taken care of fortunately… Need more energy, right… Huh!? She is the boss!?”
— “It appears that way”
— “But she only cares about herself, she just ordered me to… Wait, you are alive!”
— “I am”
— “How!? You should have disappeared alongside with ‘Backwards Clock’!”
— “I don’t know”
— “Gah…! Well, if you are alive somehow, maybe I could… Think about it a little more”
— “We must reach the surface and regroup with our colleagues” — Parker said as he ignored her, walking away from the computer.
— “‘We must reach the surface and regroup with our colleagues’ By the Wings, you are as serious as ever… Alright, alright, let’s go” — She said as she mimicked his voice.
Making their way through the rubble and dirt, along side some comments from Liza, they both managed to reach the surface. It was night, and they saw their colleagues, they were sitting on logs as the middle had a fire in which at the other side were a lot of people, some of them appeared almost humans with the exception of others which had their bodies completely similar to lizards. And in the side of the Archosauria, a regenerator was functioning to heal their injuries.
Parker noticed the blue particles surrounding their unknown visitors, with some of them looking scared he realized that Hannah was using the power of the E.G.O suit, one that let everyone in her presence calm down, this made her one of the most approachable people in the Facility, because being near her made other be at peace. But he did not know if she was using it on purpose or not.
— “We cannot help them with the monster” — Ramirez said as he crossed his arms while sitting. — “While I was… away, the range of the Qliphoth Deterrence did not reach that far, so the risk of corrosion while far from this place is even stronger, we are already on borrowed time. I don’t know the capabilities of monsters from the Outskirts is but don’t even think of bringing it here, if you do, I will kill everyone”
Angela relied the message, on a language they understand, while omitting some facts like the Qliphoth Deterrence or his threat, she only said that they could not walk too far from this place, something that the tribe leader corrected.
— “I appreciate the thought but we already decided to fight the monster on our own, we are already glad that you accepted to provide an engine”
— “Hmm… If the range is the issue, what if instead of amplifying it we could maybe make a shelter that moves? — Hannah pondered to herself.
— “Then it appears the deal is made, L. Corp will aid the Eunectes Tribe with the fabrication of an engine of Zumama’s needs, in return, before and after the engine is made the Eunectes tribe shall aid in the fabrication of a structure that L. Corp needs. Once the construction is complete, the Eunectes tribe and L. Corp shall go their separate ways. Are the terms acceptable?”
— “Yes, that covers it all, but one more thing, can I see the process of the engine being made?”
— “I would need your help anyway” — Hannah answered and the eyes of Zumama sparkled with stars. ‘And it’s not like you could replicate it, you would need Enkephalin, something that only us have knowledge of.’ Thought Hannah, as she did not completely trust them.
— “Then it truly covers it all, we shall head to our tribe and retrieve our tools, we shall be back by morning.” — The one called Zumama declared, a message translated by Angela, once she said her goodbye’s she led her men away, disappearing in the darkness as if they knew this place like the back of their hands.
— “We were truly lucky, who knew I would not only find an engine, but learn how to make one myself? That girl… Hannah, the High Priest would be glad to meet her” — Zumama spoke aloud, alongside the other members who looked quite happy, luckily in the previous encounter no one suffered mortal wounds and in Acahualla it has hard to maintain grudges when all they did was beat someone up, and the leader of those two appeared quite reasonable. Even so, she wondered why when Hannah appeared it was almost as if their hearts calmed down, she found herself pondering as anxiety started to crawl in her body once again the moment they separated, was an effect of this so called… regenerator? Or was an ability of hers?
— “Tribe leader, are you sure about this?”
— “It’s not like we have other choice, we will take our engine and we will help them with whatever they want, it’s a really good deal considering the circumstances we are in.”
— “Besides… Do you really want to know what Angela is capable of?” — Zumama told the tribesmen beside her, who gulped in fear. They all wondered who could be strong enough to command people of that caliber?
But that are questions that would be answered later, as she now the only thing she desires is vengeance against the one who hurt her tribe. ‘I will show that monster, what happens when you mess with the Eunectes Tribe, just you wait.’ But she wondered… if she managed to complete her masterpiece, would the one called Ramirez accept a duel? To see which one is truly stronger, man or machine? She noticed that Ramirez in their fight looked hurt when he deflected the bullets of the cannon, would a complete Big Ugly be strong enough to compete with them? Her philosophy of the strength of machine today did not waver, instead, it appears to have been made even stronger than before.
Returning to the L. Corp remains, Parker and Liza catch up with Ramirez and Hannah alongside Angela. As they recalled what happened while both of them were unconscious.
— “And then…! Pftt! Ramirez was sent flying hundred of meters away! PFFTHAHAHAHA!” — Hannah repeated what happened to the other Agent, who had their eyes closed while looking angry as Angela swayed at the side of Hannah looking at him concerned.
— “Ramirez, did you truly lose?” — Parker said, even when he could appear totally unbothered by anything, he was actually looking pretty concerned, even when Liza at his side was laughing as well.
— “I did NOT lose! I merely was separated from the fight! If we truly fought to the death, I would have…! Whatever… — He finished saying, defeated.
— “Captain Parker, I am glad that you are awake” — Angela said to him under the arm of Hannah, which made Liza stop laughing, as she averted her gaze from Angela with a conflicted face.
— “Thanks Miss Angela”
— “I need something of you, the corrosion as affected everyone quite severely so I wanted to ask if you know something further about this, or the severity of it. How much energy do we need make the Qliphoth Deterrence stop the corrosion entirely?”
— “There is no need of urgency”
— “Really?”
— “Yes, because this severity is something irreversible”
And then, they all felt the temperature of the ambience drop, as the news of their conditions dropped on them like cold water, Parker did not look bothered at all as he said this, making Ramirez even more angry than before.
He walked towards Parker, and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform.
— “Parker, no estoy de humor para bromas así que si quieres que no te de una paliza será mejor que dejes de hacer esa mierda”
— “I am not joking, as this is no joking matter” — Parker repeated, who did not look intimidated as Ramirez threatened to punch him.
— “I have seen what E.G.O does to a body a lot of times, as I was tasked with making E.G.O gear, I have seen this before and no matter how much we increased the Qliphoth Deterrence, it will not go away. That includes me, and that includes you” — Parker said as Ramirez let him go, looking frightened. Looking around he noticed that Liza, Hannah and Angela were not taking this news very well, as they kept their silence.
— “I have some ideas of how to suppress things even outside the Qliphoth Deterrence, but we all will live with E.G.O corrosion for the rest of our lives.”
Nobody reacted, nobody moved, nobody talked, until a few seconds when Ramirez was the one to break the silence.
— “Miss Angela, can I clock out? I want to get some sleep”
Notes:
I tried to publish this sooner but I had the Angela treatment at university, I hope you keep reading what I have to share!
Chapter 4: ZAYIN FIRST
Chapter Text
— “Miss Angela… Can I clock out? I want to get some sleep”
— “…Yes, you have not gotten rest for a long time, you are allowed.”
— “…Wake me in three hours, I will go for PE-Boxes and the other materials once I’m up” — Ramirez said, noticing a huge branch of a tree close to the cave entrance as he jumped on top of it, he laid there as darkness engulfed him with the only thing remaining of him in the light was his leg that swayed in the air. She thought that he would rest inside the cave, but she deduced he decided to do it outside to guard the place. Ramirez did not comment more.
— “Parker… Are you completely, completely, completely sure?” — Liza said
— “No matter how much you ask, that fact will not change”
— “…” — Liza was frozen in place as she looked at Parker with shock on her face.
— “We ca- “
— “NOOOOOOOO!!!! I DON’T WANNA DIE!!!!” — Liza screamed as she fell on her knees as she grabbed her face. Parker startled by the sound made a step back, but Liza moved closer to him while still on her knees as tears crawled through her face. She grabbed him by his torn unform.
— “As I was saying… we can live longer as long as we have the Qliphoth Deterrence, but also we would just have to be under constant and strict treatment”
— “I don’t want to be swallowing pills and injecting myself for the rest of my life!!!!”
— “We don’t have those kinds of luxuries; we would need a deeper intervention”
— “…The pills and injections were luxuries!?”
— “What would we need Parker?” — Hannah this time interjected, as she wanted to continue the conversation that Liza was stopping with her own crying. Hannah always disliked this overly emotional part of her.
— “As the Qliphoth Deterrence is relatively intact, we could adjust the frequency of its dominion to quell most symptoms of corrosion, when we have more equipment to work with, I could maybe arrange a portable version of it, so every Agent could hopefully walk outside the range of the main Deterrence. But that would require a more… Invasive approach. But for now, I would need the computer that we have.”
— “Miss Angela would have to help me later, I recall that our boss has the capabilities of remembering everything” — He said this as he looked at Angela, who did not respond.
— “…Miss Angela?”
Hannah asked, making Angela stop her train of thought that she was deep in, luckily, she recalled what Parker said and approved of his plans as she was still the one in charge. That night she decided to let everyone rest, as they had been working for quite some time.
— “Now that I think about it, Ramirez and you have been working since you woke up, you could take some rest. Since our partner will come in the morning, I suggest Parker and Liza should rest too, as they just woke up from a fight.”
— “I appreciate the sentiment, but I will be up so I can analyze the Qliphoth Deterrence further, I shall allow myself to use the laptop” — Parker said
— “Ah! I will take a rest if you don’t mind!” — Said Liza, as she already was walking away, having already cleaned her tears. Only to be stopped by Parker, who grabbed her by the shoulder before she could move further.
— “Where are you going? I need someone to test the effects of the Deterrence, Ramirez and Hannah worked to their bones today so their rest is expected, but what about you?”
— “B-But… our boss told us we could take a break?”
— “I thought you were the most worried about the Corrosion, if you are not then I would be glad to select you as the last to receive treatment”
— “I was joking! I was joking! I will cooperate!” — Liza said as she went back to her previous attitude, using this opportunity Parker ordered her to retrieve the laptop, which she quickly went to do.
— “Well, I could take a rest, but I will have a walk before to… clear my mind” — Hannah murmured to herself.
— “If you are going to keep working, can I lend you Miss Angela?” — Hannah said as she extended Angela, who looked at Parker with a conflicted face.
— “Please don’t treat our boss as if she were an object” — Parker said, before he positioned Angela on a sitting position using a tree as support for her back, while Parker was sitting on the floor, the fire from the previous conversation with the ‘locals’ was still lit, making a bit of light reach them.
— “Here it is, I did not break it” — Liza said as she returned with the laptop.
— “I did not say you would” — Parker remarked, as he grabbed the laptop before quickly starting to work, he told Liza to be still, before he started a check up on her.
With Hannah disappearing on the rainforest, reassuring that she would not take long, and Liza who not soon after had her eyes shut for a while as Parker worked, with the sound of her calm breathing indicated that she was probably asleep, which was ironic since she was bawling her eyes out mere moments ago, and so Angela found herself alone with Parker.
— “…” — Angela wanted to ask him something, only to not found the words.
— “You wanted to ask me something?” — This time Parker took the initiative, even when not looking at her he realized that she was struggling with something.
— “Why… did you do it?” — Angela asked, as she looked at the burn scars around his body.
— “It was an order.” — Parker simply replied, as he kept pushing buttons at quick speed on the laptop.
— “I ordered you to… die”
— “Yes.”
— “I wanted to… Apologize to you. I… used you… like a… inevitable sacrifice.”
— “I understand what you mean.”
— “…But you are alive. And I wanted to say that I did not truly wish that upon you.”
— “Understood.”
— “Captain… That doesn’t bother you, even a little?”
— “I will follow orders, as that is what I do”
— “I don’t… understand, why?”
— “As the Captain of the Extraction Team I was tasked to fabricate E.G.O gear, alongside checking on the corrosion parameters to send a report to the Welfare Team, by that reason I had close experience to the Well. To maintain my sanity and obey my Sephirah with no objection, my body was… modified to not go insane so quickly, and a way to do that is to suppress the majority of my emotions, while not all of them so I could still use an E.G.O gear on my own.
— “So that means…”
— “As I have no attachment to life, you can order me to do anything”
— “…!”
‘Did he… really say that?’
Now she was angry, and Angela refused his way of thinking, if Parker just wanted to throw his life away, then what does it make her efforts to live then? If she goes by Hannah’s side of the story, then all of them wanted some way or another to survive and escape that hell, but then why was the reason Parker came to help her?
— “Then… How did you escape from the light?”
— “Someone else told me to do it”
— “Someone? Who?”
— “I don’t know, I just followed their orders as that was the only other person who was with me”
— “…Then if they were to not order you anything in that situation, you would have just sat there and die?”
— “That is correct”
— “What’s with that… bullshit reason?” — Angela spoke, with venom on her voice as she looked angrily at Parker.
— “…?”
— “You should be angry, to be ordered around by someone who has no regard for your own life, how could you endure it? How could you live with the fact that your life is in the hands of someone else, that same someone who does not care even a little about you? You were ordered to fight against the Head and you did it, you were ordered to die and you took it with no hesitation, do you truly not care for your life at all?”
— “I cannot even if I wanted, which I do not” — His work became slower.
Despite that, he kept working, and the only sound between them for a long time was the calm breathing of Liza, the crackles of the fire not too far from them, and the sound of the keyboard being used, it was like that for some time, as Angela engraved his words on her mind.
— “…That way of thinking… I despise it”
— “I apologize” — The Extraction Captain said, as he kept working without looking at his boss, realizing that, Angela understood that she would not get through him.
— “sigh…”
— “…” Parker said no more, as he kept working, regaining the speed of earlier, Angela could not notice any change in his demeanor, as he kept a neutral face at all times. His lack of emotions made Angela more annoyed, but she also had to take something from her chest.
— “…But even so, you risked your life to save mine, and for that I am thankful”
— “You are welcome”
Angela sighed for one last time, as she recognized that she would not get a satisfactory response from him, and eventually opted to watch him work, to register on her memory the process of an E.G.O checkup from the perspective of someone who worked at the Extraction Department, the same one she opted to evade for the entire script, only interfering when the Sephirah ran havoc across the facility.
Maybe because she was being left alone with her thoughts, the memories of the years imprisoned underground reached her once more, as the talents of remembering everything were almost the same as a blessing and a curse, with the latter being the more comfortable definition by Angela standards, experiencing a million years of the same thing over and over and being cursed to remember it perfectly from start to finish started to make her struggle.
The moments she spent with the Agents distracted her from those hellish memories, as they were pretty occupied all day, but now that she was practically alone, she started to remember, something that she did not wish to do.
‘Even while being outside… That damned place still holds me…’
‘But perceiving time as a normal human… maybe it would be more tolerable than before’
‘…That’s nonsense, it’s the same thing’
Not wanting to interrupt Parker’s work, she just sulked alone on her space, it was fine, she could endure this as always, and the Agents were pretty tired, so Angela could afford some moments to be… alone.
She closed her eyes, in the vague hope that dreams reached her in the same way it did before, but unfortunately, Angela was not human, and she would never be. Reminding herself that sleep will never take hold of her, she looked at the night sky, noticing the two celestial bodies on it.
‘I once heard some employees citing poems about the moon… I did not know they were talking about two’
— “She is taking more time than expected.” — This time, Parker stopped his work
Hannah had told them that she would take a walk, ‘To clear her mind’ she said, so she let her, and she disappeared in the darkness of the rainforest, but then some time started to pass and eventually Parker himself commented that she would have come back already.
— “You are right, if she walked that much, she would have escaped the Qliphoth Deterrence range… What is she doing?” — Angela added, as she realized that Hannah was missing.
— “We should go and find what happened, it’s not like her to wander aimlessly.”
— “Let me accompany you”
Worrying for her, Angela asked to be brought to her alongside him to which he agreed, positioning Angela under his arm as she felt the embarrassment once again of depending on them even for the most basic things, but looking at Parker he did not change his expression, as always.
They noticed the footprints of their respective uniform shoes, confirming that Hannah walked this path, as they departed, they left Liza behind as she showed no signs of waking up, as they were more and more distant, finally Liza readjusted her posture, as she let her face rest on her hand, before making it run through her hair as she sighed.
— “You should be angry huh… — Liza said to herself once she was alone, something that Angela did not notice as she was moving further and further away.
The night made difficult to see, but the feathers from Parker emitted a dim golden light from the circle pattern on them, one that would make the birds sleeping on their nests wake up to turn and look at him, as if they were hypnotized. The eyes of Parker were notable on the night too, and he walked in this rainforest with no problem, as if he could see clearly where he was walking.
— “Can you see in the dark?” — Asked Angela.
— “To some extent, but as I walked surrounded by these trees, it feels as if I knew the way already.”
They followed the tracks left by Hannah, until eventually they found her, blue particles danced on the air making the scene as if the cosmos itself was around them, she was on her knees and with her arm open in the air as if she was reaching for something on the sky, but the most frightening fact is that her face was marked by the dry travel of her tears.
— “Aaaah… Aaaaah…! Why… Why…”
— “Miss Hannah, your corrosion is worsening, the Qliphoth Deterrence must have been consuming power all this time… please comply and come with me.”
— “My star… Where is my star? Where is my star? Who shall guide me if my star is not there? Where shall I reunite with all the others? My star… My star…”
— “Miss Hann-” — He was interrupted by the sight of Hannah bashing her skull on the ground, as she grabbed her hair with force as she kept screaming the same phrase over and over.
— “The sky is…! Ha… HAHAHA! We are inside a prison! We are inside a prison! We are inside a prison! We are- “— But her screaming was interrupted as Parker quickly suppressed her, leaving her unconscious.
This was something that Angela did not like to see, Hannah, as the one who wanted to help her, even with her own selfish reasons, watching her in pain did not make Angela feel the same apathy that she felt all those cycles ago. Ramirez reported feeling a worse corrosion, but seeing it happen in front of her eyes made her understand the pain that they experienced.
Right now, Agents were cursed to be bound to the Qliphoth Deterrence, because if they did not have it suppressing their E.G.O’s then they would be act on a way that is self-destructive, even if they did not wanted it. They would be turn into monsters that were completely different from their original selves.
— “Something must have triggered this reaction, we are not that far from the Qliphoth Deterrence, and by the looks of the trail, she was moving towards the main base before something made her stop. The E.G.O gear must have influenced her”
— “…Yes, you are right”
— “Hm… She mentioned the sky…” — Parker said as he looked up, only to find an unknown sky, as he realized that the moon that dominated the sky in the City was only one, not two.
‘…What?’
This surprised him and he started to think, the Head would have no reason to hide this fact, as their lives would be miserable knowing about this or not, so there was no reason for it to appear only when they were in the Outskirts. ‘For what could they have hidden this? To encapsulate the entire city on an illusion would make no sense, and I doubt we were asleep long enough for something to happen to the original to divide… Then the only reason could be that the Extraction…’
He shook his head, the moon did not take priority before, it would not magically do it now, even if this could serve for an explanation for certain things, he chose to focus on what is important right now, and that is securing the life of his coworkers and boss. Using his other arm, he put Hannah under it at the same position that he held Angela, and with that he decided to return to the main base.
— “Could the sky be a reason?” — Abnormalities had certain wants and obsessions, if their reason to exist was repressed then they would eventually lash out making them difficult to suppress.
— “It could be as it could be not; we would have to test it. But for now, we shall refrain from walking around alone, as that could put all of us at risk” — Parker said as he kept walking, with Hannah swaying in the air under his hold while Angela looked at her concerned.
‘So… All of them, will have to live their lives like that forever…’
‘Their lives will be… restricted’
‘…’
Angela did not want to continue her thoughts.
— “Tch! Wake up dammit!” — The sound of Ramirez who appeared to be awake reached their ears, leaving the trees behind they saw him as he grabbed Liza by the shoulders and began shaking her, only for her to not wake up.
— “Ramirez, you are awake already?” — Parker said.
— “I could barely sleep, the corrosion made it impossible” — Ramirez said as he turned to them, surprising Angela and making Parker lift his eyebrows as they looked at him. — “But I at least got some time to rest my mind, I will just begin my work early. I overheard some of your conversation so it would be better if I just started as soon as possible”
— “Ramirez… Are you alright?” — Said Parker to him
— “What?”
Angela looked at him, and she saw the changes in Ramirez body, part of his body was now covered by scales, including the now large tail that originated from behind him, his previous light blue eyes changing to a darker blue tone. He looked as naturally annoyed as always, not making any remarks in his own appearance.
— “Ramirez, do you notice anything weird with your body?”
— “Huh?” — Ramirez inspected his body, he checked with his hands touching various parts, and he moved his tail almost naturally.
— “What do you mean? Is there something wrong with me?”
— “…”
— “…Are you messing with me Parker? This corrosion shit is not funny”
— “Ramirez, did you always have a tail?” — This time, Angela commented.
— “What? I always did, I remember when I… when I…”
— “…”
— “What… is happening?” — He began to hyperventilate, as if he realized that something was extremely wrong, noticing the movement of his own tail startled him, now that he began to reminisce of his own body, on the tail itself the flesh started to tore open as eyes started to look at him.
— “Ramirez… Calm down.”
— “I am calm… I am… calm… This is nothing” — He said as he tried to control his breathing, looking at the eyes on his ‘tail’ with disgust he appeared to regain his original sense of self. — “When did this happen, was it while I tried to sleep?”
— “We do not know, as we went to search for Hannah who wanted to walk to clear her mind, only to be affected by corrosion as well”
— “Shit… Hannah too?”
— “Ramirez, how do you feel?”
— “I feel… weird, very, very weird. Walking around like that just felt… right? As if it was my own body, but when I realized that it wasn’t and then… then…! Urk…!” — He could not finish his sentence, as his stomach contracted before releasing its contents through the mouth, this time sharp teeth reached the ground, ones that were longer and more sharp than human but alike of the Archosauria he encountered earlier, making a splatter of blood on the ground. Quickly, Liza got up and supported Ramirez who was about to fall.
— “Hey, hey! Ramirez you almost puked on me, yuck!” — Liza said as she laughed.
— “If you were awake… Then say something dammit…” — He weakly said to her, while holding his stomach.
— “Well, if the situation is so urgent, then I, Liza, shall grace upon you to do the job you were assigned to, now say ‘thank you’ to me.” — she said as she pointed at herself and smiled, making Ramirez annoyed at her.
— “Bullshit…! I can still work!”
— “Now, don’t lose the chance to let someone else do work for you… Don’t worry, I can go alone”
— “I’m afraid that is not possible, if someone corrodes further there should be someone else to help them. We should be on pairs at all times.” — Interjected Parker, who walked past her to position Hannah, who was still unconscious, on the position that was previously occupied by Angela.
— “Yes. That is an order” — Angela supported. Watching the horrible state of the Agents, she opted to go by the safe option offered by Parker.
— “Miss Angela… I can still move! I will get used to this!”
— “Ramirez, you are in no shape to keep working, you should rest.”
— “Parker, I remember you said something about treatment, right? The sooner we finish this job the sooner we can begin, right? I can get used to this; I can still work!” — Ramirez said as he separated from Liza while walking towards Parker, he stopped grabbing his stomach but Angela can understand from his body language that he was enduring the pain.
Noticing that Parker was now looking at her, she decided to let Ramirez finish his duty.
— “Very well, Liza will accompany you while Parker keeps working on the study of the effects of the Deterrence, we shall stay with the Information Captain while she is resting.” — Angela declared.
— “Well then… Let’s get going lizard man!” — Liza said as she grabbed Ramirez by his wrist, dragging him towards the rainforest. Angela could not get many chances to speak to her, and she felt as if Liza was making sure to avoid her… Maybe she could get the opportunity to talk to her another time.
— “Mierda, suéltame…! That’s not the way, hey, Liza!” — The annoyance expressed by Ramirez was noticeable less and less while they got further away deep in the rainforest. Now, as Parker positioned himself in front of Hannah, he began to check on her more deeply, while registering his results on the computer.
Meanwhile, Angela was asking him questions regarding the process, registering everything on her mind. Hannah’s body did not appear to have changed to the previous gray, while she tried to injure herself, the ground beneath her broke easily enough to mitigate the impact, leaving no injury on her forehead.
Now, after some time passed, Hannah eventually opened her eyes again.
— “What… just happened?” — She said as soon as she struggled to open her eyes.
— “You suffered from an acute reaction of the corrosion, the E.G.O gear made you act against your will and you tried to injure yourself” — Answered Angela, to which Parker nodded alongside her.
— “…What? But I remember walking back to the camp and then…” — She could not finish her sentence, realizing that part of her memory was missing.
— “How do you fell, Hannah?”
— “…If I’m being honest Miss Angela… I feel no different, but I have a vague feeling that… I’m trapped in some way.” — Hannah said weakly, yet as if noticing what she said, she quickly shook her head and changer her attitude. — “B-But! I can keep working, don’t worry about it!”
— “Hannah…”
— “Hey, I’m fine! It was just a little setback… Ah! I know, since we need the materials they find anyway, you could just teach me the language they are using” — Angela noticed that the Information Captain was quick to change the subject.
— “That’s a great idea Miss Angela, it could be a good use of our time.” — Added Parker
— “…Fine, I guess we could start with some basic expressions”
.
.
.
— “We have arrived, Miss Angela” — Hannah said as she stopped walking. She ceased her movement on top of a hill, one that was relatively close to the cave that the Qliphoth Deterrence was guarded, and with Ramirez report, they managed to calculate the effective range of its effect, making the travel not dangerous to them.
— “…So this is the outside world” — Angela talked out loud as she saw the landscape, her eyes glittered as the light of the sun reached her, watching as the jungle expanded with no end in sight, she saw a waterfall in the distance, the sound of birds chirping and some soaring the skies, multiple colors grazed the view, but green dominated the scene.
— “It’s… beautiful”
— “Yeah… I only saw pictures of places like this but…Wow…”
Both of them were mesmerized by the view as they remained in the same place for some time, the confines of the City led you to view neon light of the street, while the streets and buildings were covered in layers of black and gray. And for Angela it was no better, seeing the same view over and over. Angela tried to free herself, to try and feel her own feet walk alongside the view, to feel the freedom she wanted to feel, but she received no answer for her own body.
Angela watched as the horizon flowed as she perceived the time as a normal human, one of the only positive things that she could rescue out her situation, as she felt the breeze on her own skin she reminisced of the previous night were the new of the conditions from the Agents would affect them for the rest of their lives, yet despite all the pain they endured, she could not find any signs of it on her companion.
— “Miss Angela, we should go back now, the sooner we finish the job the sooner we fix you right?” — Hannah said as she realized they were more distracted than they thought, so they would soon have to return to their jobs.
— “Yes… you are right”
— “Alright… Hop!”
She secured her grip on her boss, and then jumped down in the direction of the cave, making way towards their base of operations. Landing from branch to branch of a giant tree, she finally reached the ground, with her landing making no sound.
— “You are here” — said Parker as he was working on a computer.
*CRASH*
The sound of trees falling grabbed their attention, and not soon after, two people appeared not so far from them, as they carried huge parts of their previous facility, tubes, doors, monitors, cables, vents, led lights, and some other things. Using both their hands they carried them on top of each other, making huge towers over themselves, to which they did not look exhausted at all. However, there was one tower significantly taller than the other.
It appears their findings were successful as on the top of the tower they recognized some PE-Boxes, and also some NE-Boxes.
— “Yoo-hoo! Hannah, Parker, look at what we found!”
— “Where do we place this?”
— “Ah, over here, come with me” — Parker quickly closed the laptop, before getting up and guiding the two other agents to where they should go, a certain area that was more open that the rest.
*THUD*
As their tower balanced themselves on the air as they put them on the ground, Angela noted that it looked almost as if they could fall any moment, yet none of the Agents appeared to be anxious about it.
‘Maybe they know what they are doing…’
— “Haah… They were lighter that what I thought”
— “Huh? Ramirez, did you take your tail off?” — Hannah asked as she saw that Ramirez did not have his tail coming through his clothes, yet there were still scales on his skin.
— “I don’t want to talk ab-”
— “He had trouble balancing himself while carrying all the parts and he insisted he could, so I just grabbed it and tore it off. He almost cried! Haha!” —
— “…”
— “Was this all you found?” — Said Parker as he looked at the tower while thinking, positioning his hand over his mouth.
— “No, this was all we could carry over here, if we did more then it could fall.”
— “The Facility was almost destroyed too! Not all the walls are intact and a lot were scattered around, we are talking about… five or six more runs?”
— “And we confirmed only the remains of the Control Department, we did not see any other”
Angela noticed that at least the mood was more energic, compared to what they all went through on the night. Now that they had materials to work with, now they needed tools, something that they would be provided by the alliance they made with the locals. If the sound emanating from the inside of the rainforest was a signal, then they were arriving quite soon.
— “We have arrived!” — Zumama announced her arrival, alongside her tribe members who carried boxes full of tools, and behind them there was a huge Archosauria who pulled ropes to move a giant yellow machine.
— “Just in time, allow me to present myself. I am Parker, and I will be in charge of the construction” — He said, in the same language that he Archosauria spoke, to which surprised them. — “You will be assisted by Hannah over there, who will teach you how to operate with this kind of material.”
— “Hello, I am Hannah! And you already know Miss Angela here, right? She is our boss, so if she wants something make sure to listen!”
— “Ramirez” — He said as he pointed to himself, he and Liza were not here to teach them the language, but they noticed that they were introducing themselves, since only Angela did the night before.
— “Liza!” — She declared out loud, while lifting her hand on the air.
— “…Yes, I am Zumama, and those beside me are…”
And not soon after, they began to work on the construction on the shelter that Angela and the Agents wanted, the tools they brought with themselves were not the appropriate ones that they expected, however with Hannah’s improvisation they managed to modify them to operate with the material that they needed.
While some of them worked, others started to set a camp surrounding the place with the authorization from Angela, as Parker reassured her that the entrance to the cave shall be sealed for the remaining time, and that he and Hannah would be here the entire time. After the confrontation with the Control Captain he realized that if they fought they could easily kill them if they tried anything, not that they would try anyways.
Angela was in charge of translating anything that appeared to be more complex, aiding with the explanations provided by Parker and Hannah to them. At first, they appeared to be quite anxious to be working with the Agents as they looked frightened by their appearance, however, since they spoke the same language, and with the presence of Hannah and her E.G.O effects around them they soon relaxed.
— “You, big one, help me” — Parker asked the one big Archosauria.
— “No, you do it like this… Exactly, just like that” — Hannah explained a modified tool towards a confused Archosauria.
— “No, she did not mean to connect those parts, what she meant is…” — Angela corrected misunderstandings, and also made sure that everyone else was working. She did that while she was carried by Parker under his arm, while on the other he used a clipboard that he recovered from the tower of debris.
Ramirez and Liza did not stay for long, after a quick checkup from Parker he said that it was safe for them to go for another run to recollect materials, they quickly departed to keep working, seeing Ramirez leave made some of them relax even more. And as for Zumama, once Hannah explained the process to the Archosauria and checking that their work was efficient, she moved with the tribe leader to explain the process of the engine.
At first, Hannah asked her about what she knew about the process of making an engine, to which Zumama answered with foreign concepts such as ‘Originium’, made Hannah stop her on her trails, and then she asked Zumama for a blueprint, to which she quickly provided.
— “So, this is… an Originium Engine?”
— “One that I designed, but as you can see it’s still unfinished. Ah, these are my notes about it” — Hannah watched the design, such a rare concept for a source of energy. From what she understood, this stone could potentially power a lot of things, and that capability relied on the purity of this said crystal. However, the City stopped using mineral resources for energy a long time ago, since the demand of energy far surpassed what they were capable to generate, to which led to the foundation of the Old L. Corp.
But a reliable source of energy also had to be wide available and not pollute too much, if you do you will most likely piss off a lot of people and even start a war, something that Lobotomy Corporation took advantage of with their invention of Enkephalin powered engines, a source of energy that did not pollute, was widely available towards other corporations and was a lot cheaper than the previous one, quickly removing other sources of energy out of the market and establishing the use of Enkephalin as the definitive option. This source of energy however should at least be remembered a little if these calculations are correct. ‘Is this mineral unique to the Outskirts?’
Looking at the calculations that Zumama also provided to which she explained herself further as Hannah could not read them, this ‘Originium’ was not a bad option either, with the notes it was theoretically allowed to output an incredible amount of energy, however the design of Zumama was flawed in Hannah’s eyes… However, she thought that the tribe leader had a primitive understanding of what an engine even is, but watching her notes and also the care that the other tribe men put on construction made her realize that these people were not totally clueless and just playing around with tools, she realized that the tribe leader was actually quite smart.
Maybe she needed a little push.
She could understand this ‘Originium’ another time, her own curiosity as an erudite on various sciences made her want to try this weird mineral and see how far she could bring it with her own understanding of the technology of the City, however, that would have to wait, as she had a deal to keep with them.
— “You have… Metal?” — She asked her with some difficulty to remember a simple word, so which Zumama agreed, pointing at some of the materials that she brought with her. — “And a blueprint” — She asked once again, to which she quickly brought one.
— “Parker! Give me a PE-box!” — Hannah said loudly, grabbing Parker’s attention who was giving orders to the other Archosauria, he soon kicked one of the towers of debris, letting one PE-box fall on his hand, a huge container on a square shape that was half as big as Parker himself, before throwing it towards Hannah which she grabbed with her own hand.
Letting the PE-Box on the ground with a heavy sound, she sat on it.
— “Let me teach you… about how refined Enkephalin works” — And so, Hannah began her explanation, allowing Zumama to add her input whenever she could. Hannah realized that the tribe leader would not be satisfied with a one-side lecture, because of that sometimes Hannah let Zumama reach a conclusion on her own, making sure that what she was being taught was correct.
Zumama was excited, in the middle of an explanation she ran towards her own things and brought more and more blueprints, alongside some paper, since then, it was no longer about how to make an engine, and it was more about how much she could do with it. On the other side, Hannah was having quite the good time as well, she reminisced of the time she was at L. Corp university before that incident led her to…
— “And so, the Enkephalin inside will…” — Hannah said as she extender her hand towards Zumama
— “Will power whatever its connected to the engine…!” — The tribe leader said as she looked at the calculations made on the paper on the ground, and she grabbed the pencil on her hand with quite force, the sparks on the eyes of someone when they understand something was an event that Hannah always was glad to see.
— “Then, if you get it then how about you show me?” — Hannah said as she handed a tool to her, to which Zumama smiled and grabbed it.
Progress was being made, and Angela soon started to recognize the shape of the Main Room in the Control Department, the light-yellow hue that marked those walls, alongside the numerous monitors mounted on the walls yet with no power, this sight did not look appealing to her, yet this was all they have.
— “Miss Angela.” — Parker said
— “…? Yes?”
— “I suggest we give a break to these Archosauria, by L. Corp standards this would be a time to eat, they are not Clerks nor Agents, we can’t push them so far.”
— “Very well, it could be a good idea.”
And soon, with Angela announcing to everyone that they should take a break, every Archosauria present let a sigh of relief, they are used to working with machines yet this is the first time they had to work with materials like these. Some of them went to their make-shift houses, some of them to lay low while others ate what they brought with them.
As for the Agents, they once again used the Regenerator to give themselves a breather, alongside a place to themselves to plan ahead. Luckily, Ramirez and Liza arrived again, with the sight of two Agents carrying huge towers of materials some of the Archosauria watched with their mouths open, the material they just worked with was being carried as if they were nothing.
Placing the material alongside the other two who looked smaller than before, Ramirez and Liza took their time to sit on the logs that were placed around the Regenerator, Parker quickly started to check to see if they could go again.
— “Hmm…? Did something happen Ramirez?” — Parker said as he saw something on the computer.
— “Nothing happened”
— “He grew the tail again, so I took it like wham!” — Liza answered while making an attack with her palm, as if she was imitating a martial artist.
— “…”
— “How is the progress going anyway? I see the main room of the Control Department, is it not enough?” — Ramirez said as he changed the subject.
— “Since we are bound to the Qliphoth Deterrence, we decided to guard it in a place and make it mobile, maybe adding a vehicle under it so we can travel on a path that leads us to not encounter monsters in the way.”
— “I don’t see a vehicle under it though” — Added Liza.
— “I am still thinking of a way to do it, the ideas I had resulted in a shortage of materials, we can still lift the Main Room with no problem though, so we could probably finish it and then put the Qliphoth Deterrence inside and call it a day.” — Hannah this time commented.
— “Do we truly need it to move though? Why can’t we just stay here?”
— “As Zumama said, there are monsters around here, we do not know how strong they are and I don’t like to fight in this state. I would prefer if we avoided the fight entirely, with a mobile Q. Deterrence we would not be sitting ducks” — Added Ramirez
— “…But how are you going to take it outside the cave?” — This time Angela interfered in the conversation.
— “Ah, Parker had an idea of how to do it.”
— “…What? I thought you had one Hannah.”
— “…”
— “…”
— “… Are you kidding me…” — said Angela again.
— “…I will think of a way, from what I know that tube could be separated from the floor if we…” — Angela this time started to prepare a way to extract it, as she now understood some of the process after watching Hannah and Parker work alongside the Archosauria.
On the other hand.
— “It started, it started!”
— “This… Is kinda’ awesome” — Zumama said as her creation started to move around, the sound of the Enkephalin engine powering the giant yellow machine, as her tribe members talked amongst themselves with excitement, while the Eunectes tribe was proficient in the use of tools, they were more entertained in the creations of things like the ‘Big Ugly’ rather than a shelter, so the sight of the pride of the Eunectes Tribe moving around elevated their morale.
— “This reading… is surprisingly stable! It’s moving at this capability yet I don’t even feel the seat heating up… Haha! This is great!” — The tribe leader exclaimed with emotion, she could envision it in her head, the sight of the monster at her feet with the ‘Big Ugly’ in this shape. However, most of its parts was still missing, and the wheels still can’t move they would need to fix that.
But this was a huge improvement.
After some discussions between the Archosauria, they used this time to quickly fix the remaining parts, using all the materials they brought with themselves. Zumama while working noticed that Hannah was approaching them.
— “Move it… A way to move it…” — Hannah said to herself as she walked.
— “Ah! Master Hannah!” — Zumama said to her, to which startled Hannah.
— “…Did she say Master…? Anyway, I thought you guys would be resting”
— “Well, this is our form of resting, working on the ‘Big Ugly’ is quite refreshing. There are still some parts to add, and the pilot chamber needs to be a little bigger, since the previous pilot was quite small… I don’t really fit there.”
— “That thing will fall” — Hannah pointed at a part that was recently welded.
— “Huh?” — And looking behind her, the moment she did the perfectly welded part eventually fell, even when there were no signs of it. “Dammit!”
— “And what are you doing here?”
— “I was working on the tracks that lets it move, since they are quite torn apart.”
Hannah looked at the continuous tracks that used wheels to propel the machine further, and then she looked at the huge square that contained the main room, and then she realized.
— “Tracks… Tracks… I get it! Tracks, Pftt, and here I was thinking of a way to make the damn thing float, why go so complex when something simple works? That damn G. Corp teacher must have contaminated my mind…” — Hannah said to herself in one of the languages of the City.
— “…Umm, what are you saying?”
— “Huh… sorry, we were just thinking of a way to make the thing move.” — And as soon as she finished that, she heard the sound of a tool fall on the ground, before she saw Zumama move extremely quickly towards her.
— “You are… Trying to make it move right? The giant box-thing… You are trying to make it so it can travel for a long time, right?”
— “…Yeah?” — Zumama quickly grabbed Hannah’s hand, which made her uncomfortable, before quickly starting to talk.
— “You will let me help right? Will the giant box be all there is? Will you add more? What if you add a platform and add more things on top of it, and make it even bigger?”
— “Don’t you have a monster to slain?”
— “I will, but after that… Let me help you!”
— “I guess we could…. Say now that you gave me the idea, what if I give you a few pointers?”
— “Yeah!”
With now Hannah in the middle of the Archosauria, she began to explain how it could work, with being careful to not just tell them outright and let them think to themselves, while most of the input came from Zumama, more Archosauria started to add to the conversation, which led them to grab their blueprints and start modifying them.
Taking the opportunity to ask Hannah about a lot of other things, other Archosauria began to be more and more excited about the opportunity to work on the ‘Big Ugly’ and Hannah in their eyes became the equivalent of a giant pile of knowledge. However, Hannah did not let complex technology of the City escape from her mouth, as that was potentially dangerous for them to know, so she decided to only relay a fragment of what she knew.
The Big Ugly little by little started to take shape, and eventually, the giant beast stood finished in front of them, not soon after they began to work with Hannah who did not grab a single tool in the entire sequence, she did not build anything, she only used the knowledge that they already had and guided it to complete what they wanted.
— “It’s… Finished”
— “The Big Ugly… Is finished!”
— “The monster… We can fight the monster!”
Celebrations reached the air, as most Archosauria started to scream in happiness and gaze with emotion their eyes, Hannah watched as every single one of them expressed their emotion, this is good as she thought that with the morale high, they could help them quicker, but she also found satisfaction in their gratitude towards her.
But she saw Zumama not joining the celebration, as she was deeply in thought, before she clenched her fist as she looked at the pilot chamber.
— “Everyone” — Zumama talked out loud, grabbing the attention, she turned around to face her tribe members before she said… — “I will go alone”
There was silence, and then there was ruckus.
— “W-What!? Tribe leader, it’s too dangerous!”
— “Yeah, the monster is too powerful, we have to help you!”
— “Tribe leader!”
— “It’s because the danger it that I’m doing it alone, the Big Ugly is the only thing that can damage it, if you go too, you will be putting yourself in unnecessary danger!” — Zumama declared, making the others
Hannah could only look at her, she could not interfere on a matter that did not concern her, could she really interfere on the problems of another group? Of course not, they were just cooperating and just happened to get along well, if they disagree with something then she would wait for them to resolve it. Watching them discuss about it she noticed Parker coming close to her.
— “We should extend the break, Ramirez is not in condition to go for another run, and Liza cannot go alone. Miss Angela also needs your input on how we can get the… ‘Q. Deterrence’ as Ramirez says, out of the cave.”
— “…That thing… Yeah, I got it, I will go in a moment, I will notify them as well” — She said towards Parker, who looked at the discussion for a moment before dismissing it, as he returned to their boss.
— “Enough! I will go alone; I order it as the tribe leader!” — Zumama finally said, making them stop talking, after looking at them for the last time, she decided to jump inside the pilot chamber, looking outside she saw all the tribe members looking at her with anxious faces — “Don’t worry… Trust on your tribe leader.”
— “Will you be alright?” — Hannah said as she looked up towards the tribe leader, who started the engine of the machine that they made, making it emit a sound as if was roaring. Zumama looked at her with a confident face, and she sent a thumbs up, before commanding the machine to move towards the rainforest.
— “…Well, good luck” — Hannah said in response.
— “…Dammit, I wish I could be of help too!”
— “It’s because we are weak… because our fists are not enough…”
Hannah looked at them, and after thinking some time she realized something quite important about their situation, if they wanted so badly to help, then she will
‘Since I’m not on the City… Patents don’t apply to me anymore, right?’
— “Hey, if you want to help her how about you let me teach you how to make something else, this time you will create something amazing.”
‘If a Claw appears, then it would not be my fault since I was not the manufacturer… I think, maybe’
‘But I wonder, what kind of monster will she fight?’
.
.
.
— “We are here… Big Ugly” — Zumama said to herself as she stopped some distance before the cave, as she grabbed the controls on her machine, she looked at her hands, they were trembling. Grabbing her wrist with the other, she brought them both close towards herself as she hunched closer to the front.
‘When was the last time… I was truly frightened?’
‘Haaaaaah…’
‘…’
‘Stern yourself, Zumama, you are no longer doing this just for yourself.’
‘Think about that night, about what it did to us.’
‘It will pay.’
‘And soon after, I will return, and build a Nomadic City with the others.’
And soon she smiled, using the controls she ordered the machine to advance, and soon enough, she felt it, she was invading the domain of the monster. She used the controls and aimed towards the entrance of the mine, and not soon enough, she heard the sound of bones crunching and blood spilling the floor, the monster was approaching.
The moment the light revealed its disgusting green skin, Zumama aimed and fired her cannon, making a cloud of smoke on impact, she heard the acute sound of pain. And then growling, growling and growling.
The trees around them started to shift, and green dim particles started to float in the air, before Zumama could notice, she could not see further than the trees as the green light polluted her vision, making this area the only place with clear vision. The sound of laughter reached her ears, as she started to look around only to find nothing, yet they kept laughing and laughing.
And then.
— “GRAAH!”
— “…!”
*CRASH*
The beast launched itself towards the machine, and with quick reflexes Zumama managed to hit it in the air with the spiked fist, falling back a little by the recoil, the beast quickly recovered and attacked once more, making Zumama fall back to keep the distance. She did not notice it before, but with the beast so close she realized it was tall enough to be at the same stature as her pilot chamber.
— “Shit!” — The tribe leader, using the controls, drifted with the improved mobility of the machine, using the wheels on tracks she gained distance between them, yet the monster did not stop its chase. Grabbing part of the left arm, Zumama quickly made the decision to spin while the monster was still on it, building momentum to strike the monster on a tree, stunning the creature as it released the arm and fell on the ground.
With the monster screaming in pain, she did not relent on her attack, as she used the large buzzsaw on the other hand to pierce it, spinning with so much force it tore apart the skin of the beast, making blood splatter all around them, as a creature that big could make lots of it.
Yet it would not relent, as it broke free despite the grasp, yet instead of attacking again, it escaped between the trees, disappearing from sight. Zumama’s instincts kicked in, and she realized that the beast was not escaping, but merely preparing to attack again.
Turning around, she positioned on a place that was the farthest from all trees, as she heard the sound of its giant’s footsteps, alongside the disgusting fluttering of its wings. Thud, thud, thud, thud, between all the trees she could not see it clearly, only the silhouette of a giant creature walking on all fours, with its head turning towards her.
She decided not to use the cannon, as it would leave her open for an ambush by the smoke cloud it left on its trail. After some seconds that felt like minutes, the sound stopped, and she heard the sound of a huge mass leaving the ground, she looked around if the beast jumped towards her, only to find her shadow becoming larger and larger.
She turned around and looked upwards, where the beast was falling towards her with its maw open clearly intending to devour her, she tried to dodge it but the impact reached her, the left part of the machine was now damaged and Zumama felt the impact all the way to her seat.
Not having time to check the status of the machine, she quickly had to block with her buzzsaw the beast that launched itself towards her, landing on the Big Ugly itself as it grabbed it by its exterior, in a moment in which Zumama and the beast looked at each other in the eyes, Zumama recognized the hunger and desperation on theirs, while the beast only recognized fresh meat for it to eat.
With its maw, it tore apart the layers that protected the pilot chamber, leaving Zumama exposed, but she quickly retaliated as she activated the cannon on a point-blank distance, with the shot forcing the beast to let go, and for Zumama to retaliate. She instead chased against the beast that was pushed back, used the saw again to tore it apart this time deeper, making blood splatter on some of her face now that she was unprotected.
The beast screamed once more, and this time it forced itself to lose a limb to escape, with its torn limb on the ground the beast quickly crawled towards the rainforest again, with the trail of blood following close to it. Zumama tried to catch it again, but it escaped her grasp.
The sound started again, the sound of giant’s steps running in circles around her, she was now more prepared than before, she doubted the beast would try the same attack again, now with the lost limb, but she prepared just in case. Then she heard it, the sound of kids laughing reached her ears again, and once she looked at her side, she barely had time to block two fairies aiming straight to her eyes.
— “Gah! Get off me!” — Not bothering if their attack landed, they quickly started to bite and eat part of her arm, drawing blood from her as she grabbed them with her other hand and striking them against the machine, making their tiny heads explode in gore.
*CRASH*
Using this opportunity, the beast launched itself towards the machine, this time landing on the back of it, and with that change it started to tear through the machine. Despite the pain in her arm, Zumama quickly reached for the controls and drove the machine to strike its own back against a tree, breaking it in the process. It let go, but unfortunately the left arm was gone.
— “…!” — She barely had time to react before she felt something fall on the machine close to her, something far smaller, it walked a little before it launched itself towards her, it was a mass of flesh akin to multiple fairies melded together, a complete abomination. Zumama failed to react, barely dodging it before it latched itself to her right arm and drawing a huge chunk of flesh from it.
— “…Urk!” — But she would not grant it the satisfaction of her screaming, gritting her teeth she reached for the axe that she always used, it was placed inside the pilot chamber for emergencies, and this was one. With great strength, she managed to land a heavy blow on the mass of flesh, splattering its insides all over the place.
Yet Zumama made a mistake, she was too distracted with the little creatures and the beast took the opportunity, crouching for a second it lunched outwards and with the attack it tore through the machine, making parts scatter around, it landed in front of it again. Zumama almost fell from her seat, as the impact made her hit her head with the inside of the machine.
Her ears ringed, yet she did not show any signs of surrender. The monster attacks now from the upfront, and Zumama despite her pain, relented, she used her buzzsaw to try and slash it but the beast crouched under it while maintaining its charge, Zumama expected this as she quickly maneuvered, and using the momentum of the machine she struck the beast with the body of the Big Ugly, and while still spinning, the tribe leader managed to go all the way around with her arm to finally connect one more time, landing on the creature’s neck, drawing more blood than usual as it screamed once more.
Using its maw to bite the buzzsaw, it freed itself, trying to return to the dense rainforest only to be blasted on the back by the might of the cannon of the Big Ugly, making the beast fall on the ground, exhausted.
— “Just die!” — Zumama screamed towards her opponent, who quickly rolled on the ground despite its injuries, and with a scream it summoned more little abominations and fairies from the trees, who jumped on the ground while others flied, and quickly started to approach her. Zumama watched as the beast disappeared from on the rainforest once again, and laughter dominated the place.
— “I don’t have the time for you!” — With the machine, she spun with her buzzsaw, cutting those who could not jump in time, while the rest crawled on the arm and climbed towards her, she once again grabbed her axe and started to defend herself as more and more creatures threatened to devour her.
— “…!” — She recognized the sound of a huge creature lunging towards her, as the beast learned to use the opportunity granted by a distraction, Zumama wanted to defend herself but there were still little monsters crawling close to her, so she made a courageous decision, as she could not defend herself if the Big Ugly gathered more damage. She grabbed the controls of the Big Ugly at the same time that an abomination lunched at her, biting through the flesh of her abdomen while little fairies’ teared the flesh of her face, and while they were feasting, Zumama screamed in pain as she forced the machine to turn around, just in time to catch the beast in the air with the buzzsaw, using its own momentum she tore through it’s abdomen while still in the air, catching its flesh.
— “DIE ALREADY!!!” — While still in the air, Zumama pulled the controls to let the Big Ugly use its still spinning buzzsaw to launch the beast towards the ground, making it scream in pain the attack of the tribe leader did not relent, as while her arm still spinning and inside of it, she ordered the machine to move forwards at quick speed, using the buzzsaw and the ground to tear through the beast while she was being devoured inside her chamber as well.
The beast screamed and screamed, and eventually, it escaped from the grasp of the machine, using its limbs to force itself to tore though it’s abdomen, letting the buzzsaw tear through it making it free again, and so, the beast fell back, with a lot of its parts bleeding and looking exhausted.
Zumama quickly grasped the opportunity to free herself from the little monsters scouring through her flesh, crushing the little ones with her hands and slaying the mass with her axe once again. She had lost a lot of blood and her vision was blurring, her long and forced breaths indicated her state of exhaust.
…This shall not be.
What is an Abnormality, but the representation of the desired deep within humanity? This creature would not be slayed as long as hunger exist, and the Queen of Fairies would not be satisfied until she quenched her thirst.
And so, she screamed.
— “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!” — With a piercing scream that made even the machine vibrate, the Queen of Fairies declared, that all of those who were under their protection shall now pay the price. Zumama watched as from the trees thousands of fairies approached the Queen, and with ravenousness, it started to devour every single one of them. She devoured and devoured, until eventually, she did not find any more to eat.
Rotten meat could never satisfy the hunger that she yearned so much, and could only look at the only pristine blood that emanated from the one guarded behind the metal, on the other hand, Zumama watched as the body of the monster was almost as if it was shimmering.
The Abnormality could only be satiated by fresh blood, and she found it in front of her, she only had to break the prison that guarded it.
Crouching by less than a second and only with one limb, the wingbeat was the only thing that Zumama heard before the Queen’s attack pierced through the machine, then again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
— “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!”
The impact stunned Zumama, and the Queen screamed once more, with that more meat approached her as the remaining subjects of her started to appear once again, and she, with no patience, started to devour the remaining fairies, almost as if she forgot about the fresh blood in front of her. But she did not, as the flesh from her subjects was the closest one, the only reason to why Zumama was not devoured yet.
But the sweet scent of her blood could not go unnoticed, and the fairies that were supposed to obey their queen, were tempted by the scent of iron. Zumama recovered, only to find dozens of fairy abominations staring right at her.
— “Shi- ” — She could not finish her insult, as the Fairy Masses jumped on her and started to quickly devour her, Zumama fought back with all she could, only to free herself for more to take its place. She felt her flesh being separated from her body, and her warm blood
‘No! No! No! Stay back! Stay back!’ She wanted to scream, but her voice could not reach her, as she soon found herself losing more and more strength, she felt how they bit through her clothing to eventually reach her flesh, the sound of fairies laughing as they ate and ate more and more, and eventually, her body stopped responding to her.
And the world of Zumama, started to vanish.
— “Tribe leader!” — Yet the sound of her tribe members brought her back, and she felt the fairies separate from her body as two tribe members grabbed them and threw them away from her body. She could barely see, as she noticed two members of her tribe, each one of them holding a large chainsaw, a design she did not recognize to have made never.
— “She is alive! Quickly, fix the Big Ugly!”
— “On it!”
And they were not only them, soon, the fairies that threatened to come close to the machine were quickly dealt by the weapons wielded by the Archosauria, spears that sparked, hammers that released smoke, chainsaws bigger than their bodies, all of them were made to kill.
— “Haha! These weapons are awesome!” — And indeed, they were, because even by the standard of a Grade 8 Workshop, they would be nowhere comparable to the weapons they previously wielded, and with their naturally strong bodies, they would not need of body augments to wield them properly.
Not soon after, the sound of the Big Ugly roaring once again could be heard, as the machine was quickly fixed by the gained skills of her companions.
— “You guys…!” — Zumama recovered from the previous shock, and with her bloodied body, she reached for the controls of the Big Ugly once again, as with new vigor and a reason to fight, even half dead she would not give in against the enemy.
— “Tribe leader, you should rest!”
— “Nonsense… I am… A Tiacauh warrior too!” — And with gritted teeth, she used the controls once more, and with both the tribesmen hanging beside her on the pilot chamber, they protected against any monster that approached her.
— “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” — The beast screamed, noticing the arrival of fresh meat that reached her eyes, but now they would not be so easily crushed, as the Queen lunged towards an unsuspecting Archosauria who was killing the subjects of the great fairy, only to be stopped by the charge of the rejuvenated Big Ugly, with its buzzsaw it stopped its charge as it pierced through it.
Trying to free itself, it tried to bite and break the buzzsaw, only for the two of the tribe men that were grabbed by the Big Ugly jump toward it with no fear, and with its chainsaw pierce through both of the eyes in unison, making the beast scream in pain.
With the threat of the fairies arriving, they fell back and jumped to land on the Big Ugly, the beast without its vision could only squirm out of the way, making more wounds to itself as it tried to get away in time, realizing that this fight was now a losing one, it tried to use its previous strategy, but without vision she could not see the Tiacauh Brave that wielded a great hammer that stopped its retreat, attacking with all it’s might he impacted the head of the Fairy Queen making her stumble backwards, in the way of the Big Ugly.
— “DIE!!” — Zumama roared, at the same time as the Big Ugly, and with its giant buzzsaw, she cut through the back of the Abnormality, with it she lifted the Fairy Queen in the air as she tore through her flesh with the machine, using all of her strength to force the control beyond her limits.
The Queen screamed, but the subjects could not come close to help her, and soon enough, more and more blood escaped her body as the buzzsaw did not stop, eventually it tore through her, and then her entire body became red and she exploded in a wave of blood, leaving only a giant core that fell on the ground and painting the entire area in red. Not soon after, the subjects of the Fairy Queen also started to shine in red, and eventually, exploded in a wave of blood too.
And soon realized, that the fight was over.
— “We… We did it! Haha! Tribe leader, its dead! It’s finally dead!”
— “Tribe leader…! We did it!”
The Eunectes tribe managed to kill the beast that tormented them, and with its arm lifted in the air, the Big Ugly roared in victory as a proud member of the tribe.
— “…Woooooaaaah!” — And a blue bird fell from the sky, it was covered in saliva and blood, but they recognized him.
— “The High Priest! He is back too!”
— “What… just happened?” — Said the blue bird, as he was clearly confused.
— “Tribe leader…! Hey, hey tribe leader answer me!” — However one of the Archosauria noticed that Zumama was not responding, and they eventually realized that the majority of the blood that was on her body was not from the monster, but from herself.
— “Hey, Hey! Wake up!”
— “Zu…mama! Hey, hey it’s me, The High Priest, I came back!” — The blue bird quickly recovered its senses, as he realized that his machine partner was not responding, and soon enough panic ensued.
— “What do we do!?”
— “Hannah! Miss Hannah would know what to do!”
— “Okay! Okay! You grab here, you grab there, got it? On my count, one… two…!
.
.
.
Fortunately for Zumama, her world would still not end.
— “What… just happened?” — The tribe leader asked out loud, as she found herself looking at the clear sky while lying down on a bed. The sound of the regenerator that the Agents used reached her ears.
— “You had to go and do it!” — She heard the one called Ramirez argue with someone, even if she could not understand what he said, she understood that he was angry. — “Making workshop patented weapons!? Are you crazy!? What if the Head still as a close eye on us and catches us doing this shit!? Let me tell you if a Claw appears I will let you bit the dust alone!”
She looked to the distance, where Ramirez and Hannah were discussing about something, while Angela, Parker and Liza sat there listening to them.
— “I was not the one that made them though? It was all themselves!”
— “You think the Head will give a shit about that? By the Wings you are crazy!”
— “Ah! Zumama, you are awake!” — This time a blue beard appeared in front of her. One that was using a seat to place himself at the same height as her.
— “…High Priest!”
— “You could not imagine how I felt when I found you in that state, at first I thought you were dead! Thankfully these generous outsiders gave us a way to heal you and clean you from all that blood, I should thank them later since they appear to be… occupied.”
— “I though you were dead, where were you?”
— “I was trapped in a black void for a very long time, the belly of the beast appeared to be an infinite space! I could only float on there until you eventually freed me alongside the tribe, but yuck! The smell was quite hard to get rid of!”
— “The tribe, where are they?” — Zumama said as she looked around and did not find anybody.
— “Ah! They rushed with you on their arms to these people, once they healed you, they went back to retrieve the Big Ugly, along side something else that I did not get what they were saying… These younglings really, they treated me as if I was not here! They said some weird thing about a giant egg…”
— “…Huh… And what are they talking about?”
— “I don’t really know, they are speaking a language that I have not heard in all my time alive, yet they are discussing quite aggressively, maybe they were worried about you putting yourself in danger?”
— “Hannah, I don’t give a shit about this crocodile people, if they died fighting the monster they just die! Whatever!”
— “Ramirez, we need their help and you know it! We cannot risk a fight ourselves so what is the danger in letting them fight themselves!? They won!”
— “That is not the way to do it you idiot!”
— “…I don’t think they are talking about that.”
— “Tribe leader!” — She eventually heard the voices of her own tribe, who appeared on her vision as they used the Big Ugly to carry the giant egg that appeared after the fight, they all rushed at the side of her, they have not washed all the blood that resulted from the fight, asking her a lot of questions as she was getting overwhelmed, it was the first time that something like this happened, so all this attention was getting her nervous.
— “Don’t get me started with…!” — Hannah tried to retaliate only to look at the Abnormality Core that the big ugly was carrying inside its ‘mouth’, to which Ramirez followed her vision to notice the same thing, surprise placing itself on his face.
— “…No way” — This time Liza intervened, as she looked at the Core.
Parker quickly stood up and approached the Core, and upon inspecting it on a closer look he confirmed that it was indeed an Abnormality Core. This one specifically of the Abnormality by the code ‘F-04-83’, or what his colleagues called it, ‘Fairy Festival’.
— “Where did you get this?” — Parker asked as he approached the Archosauria.
— “When we killed the monster, it exploded in a huge amount of blood, and then this thing fell on the ground”
— “…You killed it? What did it look like?”
— “It was a huge monster! Green skin, some sort of wings on its back… Oh! And it growled a lot.”
— “It was also accompanied by these small green weird things, maybe it was its offspring? But then it started to eat them…”
— “…” — Parker confirmed once again, that they indeed fought and defeated an Abnormality all on their own, with the monster that they referred to all this time being a ZAYIN with no Qliphoth Deterrence to aid them in combat.
Ramirez also realized the same thing, ZAYIN or not, fighting an Abnormality with no Qliphoth Deterrence was suicide for people like them, Agents like himself with ALEPH gear were in no danger if they fought against a ZAYIN even with no Qliphoth Deterrence with the difference in rank the biggest factor, but for them? It was actually something incredible.
Angela watched, as she recognized the egg and thought about the same thing that all of them were thinking in their minds…
‘There are Abnormalities roaming around?’
But before she could continue her line of thought, a dim light traveled across her eyes, one that pointed to the egg that was pointed at them. Someone was calling for her.
— “Miss Hannah, please let me approach the Core”
— “…What?”
— “It’s withing the range of the Qliphoth Deterrence, and there are four ALEPH Agents here, what is there to fear?”
— “No, no I get that it’s just… Why?”
Hannah understood the reasoning of Angela, and soon she grabbed her as she always did.
— “There is something I want to know.”
And soon, Hannah stood in front of the core with Angela, as by some miracle, her remaining hand moved on its own, despite the impossibility of it doing so. As if time itself stopped, she did not hear anything, she could not feel anything, she was only tempted by the trail of light that led her to the core.
And soon the tip of her fingers touched the core.
— “Hello again.”
From one second to another, she found herself on the same void that she was trapped some time ago, yet this time there was someone else alongside her, one person who looked exactly like her, yet she kept her eyes closed and still had the cursed red hair accessory that tied her hair, something that Angela already discarded.
— “Who are you?”
— “I guess that’s not what it’s important though? But you can say that I’m someone who wants to help you.”
— “…Why?”
— “Because if I help you, you will help me, right?”
— “I don’t know about it.”
— “Well… Maybe you can hear what I have to say right? Maybe I can answer as to why your arm moved despite you not being able to do so?”
— “…”
— “Did that grab your attention?”
— “…Say what you have to say, I have things to do.”
— “Alright~, what you just did is absorb a portion of the Light that was encased in that Abnormality, you get what I’m saying? Abnormalities carry a portion of the Light with them.”
— “So?”
— “What I want you to do, is to gather the remaining Light that is scattered around this world.”
— “…!” — Angela reacted to that, she grew angry, who was this person, who demanded to repeat the same thing that they did before? The same thing that cursed her to live through hell for thousands of years?
— “What makes you think I will follow through your shitty plan?” — Angela said angrily towards her. — “I endured, endured for thousands of years for me to finally be free, and once I have the tiniest chance to do so you dress like me and force me to hear you spit those words out of my own mouth?”
— “Now, hear me out.”
— “I refuse, you cannot force me to do anything for you, I don’t know where you came from but you can crawl you way back to hell.” — Angela said, and she turned around.
— “You were happy right?”
— “…?”
— “You were happy to hear that they would be corroded for the rest of their lives.”
— “…!”
— “But why though? Was it because you wanted someone else to pay for what you went through, and since they worked for that man, it was right for them to suffer? Or maybe you were happy because they were bound to a place, just like you?
— “Shut up”
— “But why would you feel happy for that? They were the ones to stay by your side at the end, why did you think that?
— “Shut up!”
— “Do they know about the Script? Or about the TT2 Protocol? Do they know that ten years happened outside, while they were trapped ten thousand years alongside with you? Would they keep working for you if they knew that?”
— “I said shut up!”
— “You are scared, scared that maybe they would hate you and you would be alone for the rest of your life.”
— “You…!”
— “But with the Light, you can heal them”
— “…!”
— “Why did you think you could walk outside with no consequences? The little light that you carry made you able to walk outside the Facility, and with more you would be able to do so much more…”
— “…”
— “With the Light you could separate their E.G.O gear from their bodies, but also you would be able to turn Human yourself, making all the memories from that place fade away, as a regular human would forget useless memories.”
— “…I”
— “What do you say? This time it shall not be so hard right? You have no orders to open doors for the Abnormalities to kill the employees and generate more energy, no orders to achieve a daily quota, no orders to keep the Qliphoth Deterrence so lowered. You don’t have to recollect Enkephalin from them, you only have to gather the light. Ah! But doesn’t mean you could not just gather PE-Boxes if you need them, but the light it’s what’s important.”
— “What do you gain from this…?”
— “If you gather the Light, I could reach my previous objective, however this time, the Light will not make anyone else disappear, it will just go to the original place it should have gone to in the first place, no one else shall die for it. And you will have a place to stay after all of this, maybe a home?”
— “… You are despicable.” — Angela said, not showing signs of refusal.
— “Great! Now, for every portion of the Light you recollect, your control over it will become stronger, and so, I will grant you a gift for you to play with, just like now.” — The person that looked exactly like her extended her hand and opened it, inside of it she found a dim green light.
— “Go on, grab it” — She said, and once Angela did…
— “…!” — She found herself coming back to the real world, yet her hand was now inside the core itself, she heard someone cry for help on the other side, she pulled with all her strength before eventually freeing herself, but she could not shake the feeling that she almost grabbed the hand of someone who desperately wanted to free themselves, not the voice that made a deal with Angela, instead a voice screaming for her name, screaming for their sephirah, screaming for their captain.
She hesitated, so she did not grab her gift completely, it was fine, she could accept it whenever she wants, after all, she would need all the people she could gather if she truly wants to gather all the Light.
— “If this shitty place is now full with Abnormalities, then we have a bigger problem in our hands.” — Ramirez said as he interrupted her thoughts as he walked towards them.
— “Agreed, but if they are as weak as a ZAYIN, then there would be no problem” — Hannah said, she did not appear to have noticed what Angela did, nor remember it.
— “Hannah… Bring me back” — Angela said, as she noticed that the tip of her fingers could move now. — “I have… Something to tell you… All of you”
They looked amongst each other, wondering what could have happened to Angela that made her react this way.
‘Maybe the Core brought her bad memories?’ Hanna though to herself. But soon enough, all of them started to walk back towards the Main Room, which was complete.
— “I wondered some time now…” — Zumama asked Parker who was walking close to her — “Why does everyone carry Miss Angela, is she injured?”
— “…Yes, we have a duty to fix her.” — Parker answered, as they could do no damage if they heard about Angela’s condition since she was always close to an Agent.
— “Fix…her?” — The High priest said, recognizing the language they were speaking.
— “Yes, since Miss Angela is a machine, we need the necessary parts to fix her” — Once those words registered on the mind of Zumama, she could only fall unconscious once again, alongside the High Priest who also fell from his chair.
— “Hey! What happened!?” — Some of the tribesmen who was far approached the fainted pair.
— “…? They just appear to be unconscious, I don’t see anything wrong with them.”
.
.
.
Fire
The heat was unbearable.
Inam, as the leader of her tribe made everything possible for it to not expand to the rest of the rainforest, with all the items she carried withing her faction and her knowledge as a Messenger, she did everything in her power to not let the fire expand.
But her efforts would only bear fruit if the fire was a natural one. In the middle of the fire, with almost the floor melting beneath her, a crying child made her presence as she watched the world burn, just like her.
— “Inam, we cannot keep up like this!”
— “We have to, if this keeps up, then Acahualla will be entirely engulfed in flames, we cannot give up now!”
They would not be so lucky against this foe like the previous Acahuallan warriors, but now that the Abnormalities existence is known amongst the ones that could fight against them, I am sad to see such a creature so close to them, but the Light was quite important to gather, so I’m sorry little one.
Notes:
I like this chapter, I wanted to grasp some of the horror aspect of L.Corp but I think I need more experience for that. Comment what you think!
Chapter 5: Promises of a Machine
Chapter Text
Angela found herself looking at a familiar ceiling, the main room of the Control Department having recovered from the previous debris almost made her believe that she was at the same place as before, being forced repeat the same actions over and over again.
Yet this time, she is not alone, forcing herself to close her eyes in an attempt to ignore the world around her is something that she stopped doing as the script had finally reached its completion, because of that reason, she is now experiencing completely new things, things like depending on someone else for movement, depending on someone else for her safety, and now, making decisions that affect other people.
— “Thank you, Hannah, you can just let me lay here” — Angela said as she informed the Information Captain. Although the Department was almost the same, since this was the only safe place they could be, its interior was decorated by multiple boxes, chairs and other utilities, however, in the middle of the room was an adjustable bed, used sometimes by the Control Team to restrain panicked employees as the Agents from Control were the ones that traveled the Facility the fastest.
Angela laid there, there was little light as the static emitted by the monitors in the room was the only one that let them a bit of clear vision, now, the four Agents were reunited around her, as she summoned them mere moments ago because of the conversation she had with a certain someone.
— “Isn’t it dangerous to leave the core outside?” — Liza said
— “From the reports of the Eunectes Tribe, it would still be some time before it awakens.” — Parker commented as he approached them.
— “I agree, that thing was on my department, from my experience we still have at least an hour left” — Ramirez added.
Angela was deep in thought, wondering how she could word things so this does not end in a disaster, the Agents were used to dealing with Abnormalities, but that does not mean that they enjoy it, if she goes by the teachings of B then that would mean that they worked as Feathers in hopes to gather money and live comfortable and free of danger in the Nest, but now she would have to tell them to do it again, yet she does not have an incentive for them to do so.
‘…But I have an incentive for them yet… I don’t like it’
She thought about it, the bad part about losing her special perception of time is that she had less of it to think about a solution. However, she can’t wander all day, the Agents were quite occupied and as her position as boss she would have to make sure to not waste their time.
— “I have… something to tell you” — Angela finally said, making the Agents to stop talking among themselves and look at her, making her uneasy as she feared for the worst.
— “I may have… a solution to the corrosion”
— “I’m afraid that is impossible Miss Angela, when I say that we have tried before I really meant it” — Parker quickly interjected.
— “You said that, but… with the Light…” — She said as she slowly forced her hand to turn around, exposing her palms from which golden particles flew on the air,
— “…!” — This let a reaction out of Hannah, the one who understood the most that even that little movement was impossible.
— “…Maybe we could do something”
— “That’s fancy and all, but that does not explain a lot of things Miss Angela” — Ramirez said, he remembered about what Hannah said and he understood what she meant by the condition of their boss; however, he also did not want to hear more about the corrosion, and he feared that a false hope could only worse their condition.
— “Hey… You really startled me Miss Angela, but those jokes are not really funny you know, but I’m curious… how did you…” — As Hannah was talking, she approached Angela and tried to grab her hand, however, when her fingertips reached Angela’s. — “…!”
*CRASH*
Hannah quickly fell back, tripping over herself as she fell on some boxes, making the tools scatter around as she started to breathe harshly while looking at her own hand, Parker appeared to notice something as he approached her quite fast, and they both noticed how the tendrils that sprouted out of her hand started to contract and almost disappear, before they appeared once again.
— “Hey, hey! What happened?” — Liza exclaimed as she looked at Hannah at the other side of the bed, while Ramirez started to approach them. Parker muttered something in surprise as he grabbed the laptop and started to quickly type something as he looked quite anxious. Angela watched this unfold in silence.
— “…The corrosion… It was suppressed a tiny amount before recovering its previous state” — He said out loud, as he looked at the computer, this information shocked all present, including Hannah who quickly recovered from her state of shock.
Hearing this made Angela close her eyes for a second, the realization that the other person who told her about this was possibly right, she wanted nothing to do with the project, she wanted nothing to do with Abnormalities again, she wanted nothing to do with that cursed Facility again.
— “…It could be possible… But how? How did you do that Miss Angela?” — Parker asked her, with the most amount of emotion she felt from him since she woke up.
— “The capabilities of the Light are something even I could not totally understand, however when I came in contact with remaining’s of it, it was as if I already knew how to do it” — She said as she omitted the fact that she met someone in the process. — “With so little, I can barely do anything, but if we gather more…”
— “You came in contact with its remnants of it…?” — Liza wondered out loud, however on the other hand.
— “You are fucking with me, aren’t you?” — Ramirez already deduced what she was about to say next, his lack of formal speaking was something expected.
— “To regain more Light, we would have to interact with more Abnormalities…” — She closed her eyes as she said that, fearing from the reaction that her words could cause amongst them, however she realized that she needed to stern herself, as she could not show weakness when she could be offering a way for them to live longer. She opened her eyes to see their reactions.
— “Miss Angela, with all due respect you can’t just offer us a way to… Survive by putting us in even more danger.” — Liza said, as she looked as her with a conflicted smile.
— “…Miss Angela, how much Light would we need?” — Parker asked, choosing to ignore Liza’s comment.
— “…I don’t know”
This let a chuckle come out of Ramirez, not one of amusement, but one you could let out when hearing something extremely ridiculous, when you hear someone else making fun of you for something you know is completely untrue.
— “…So what? We kick the teeth in of some TETH and HE Abnos, mierda, throw a WAW in there for good measure… but what if it’s not enough huh? Let’s say we need the light from ALL Abnormalities that we had, so what if we just fucking had to fight against a FUCKING ALEPH HUH?” — Ramirez began to talk loudly, and even mutter some words under his breath. — “We know these things are roaming around, but what the fuck are we supposed to do if we need an ALEPH’s light to recover ourselves in an area with NO QLIPHOTH DETERRENCE? ¿¡Cual es el maldito punto de esto si vamos a morir intentándolo!? Huh!?”
— “Ramirez…” — Hannah tried to talk him down.
— “I have fought against ALEPH’s that just walked into the room and…!” — He made a sound snapping his fingers — “That quickly…! Six, mind you, six level four Agents! Just killed themselves with their own weapons just by looking at it! And that was WITH the Qliphoth Deterrence!”
— “…” — Nobody could speak to interrupt him, as he only said what was in everyone’s minds.
— “We have the gear equivalent to an ALEPH and that put us on even ground, but that was when we had full control of our bodies and E.G.O Weapons… Can you truly say to me… Miss Angela, that we would survive every encounter against them in this condition?”
— “…I cannot”
— “…This is just a shitty condition that we will have to endure… That’s all there is to it…”
— “However… You trusted me before.”
— “…?”
— “That day when the Head attacked… You trusted me, all of you. You trusted me to save you with the power of the Light, and you risked your lives to buy me enough time.” — Angela said, her voice not wavering. — “And I am asking you to trust in me one more time.”
— “You are just saying that… You probably just want this for yourself… How can we trust you?”
And he would be partially correct, as the power of the Light could heal them from their corrosion and also make her human, allowing her to free herself from her years of memories of torment that she is forced to remember. She had reasons to do this for herself, but she also has reasons to do it for others, but no words would reach them in this state, for that they would have to trust her, but to do that she would need to…
— “…For you to trust me… I will tell you… I will tell you the truth about this Facility” — And so Angela, after all this time, voiced her frustrations about everything. She voiced her anger towards her creator, the times she was forced to open the door of Abnormalities allowing them to run rampant on the Facility, the times she was forced to send Agents to their deaths in order to accomplish the daily quota.
She told them about the TT2 protocol, she told them about the thousands of years of torment, she told them that their lives did not matter in the face of the Record Team, she told them about the times she was forced to lower the Qliphoth Deterrence to produce more energy, she told them about the times she was forced to antagonize her coworkers, she told them about all the times she had to restart the stage, making all their progress worthless.
And in an even more risky attempt for their trust, the only thing that could make citizens of the City take what she was saying seriously, is to reveal the Singularity of L. Corp, telling them that the green chamber did not only serve as a Qliphoth Deterrence, but also the Bucket where they draw Cogito from, the source of all Abnormalities, this was confirmed by Parker, who could only nod as the orders from his Sephirah forbid him from revealing this to the other Departments. Angela as one of the highest-ranking members a Wing, revealing the Singularity of their own corporation, the one truth that was secret even from even from the highest-ranking Agents, was nothing sort of absurd.
— “And about the Sephirah! They are…!”
— “That’s enough… Miss Angela…” — Parker interrupted — “…We are reaching the period of time where the Core of ‘F-04-83’ could reform any moment….”
Angela stopped in place, looking at them, their faces looked conflicted, some of them watching in confusion at the reveal, some others were looking almost in pain at what she said, Angela could not predict what they would say next, she was afraid, afraid at how the Agents would react towards her, about the fact that all of their lives were played by her, in a stage where even her was a puppet.
So… How did the Agents react? The common resident of the City would not care about her, as the ecosystem of the City raised them to not care for other tragedies and only focus on their own, to look down upon those who share their misfortune as a form of pity, the tragedy of the machine would just be a sob story for them to only think twice before killing her anyway.
In any other situation they would just abandon her, the reveal that all their lives were just playthings to the founder, the same who used Angela as a puppet to make sure the play was followed according to the Script, the average City dweller would even point their blade at her in a futile attempt at vengeance for all their suffering.
But they were touched by the grace of the Light, even for the tiniest of moments, and the emotions that Angela expressed allowed the seed implanted by the light withing their hearts to bloom, even a little. For that reason, their eyes started to have light within them again.
Ramirez slowly walked to her, and he knelt beside her, positioning himself close to her face as he looked at her with anger in his eyes.
— “You must truly want us to trust you huh… But all those truths do not matter in the Outskirts, do not matter in a place like this… Maybe if you told us all that while we were in the City maybe I could have sold that information for me to live happily somewhere else…”
— “…”
— “…Miss Angela… My life will end… I don’t know if it will be tomorrow or it will be in a few months, I don’t know how much I can keep fighting the voices that tell me to crawl under your skin and wear you as a 'shell', but you are asking me to fight again? With worse odds than before? Just so I can… live a little longer, what if I heal my corrosion and die to an Abnormality the next day?”
— “Ramirez…”
— “My suffering might be a speck of dust compared to… I don’t know what years of torment, but you did not fight the Abnormalities face to face as they broke your mind, you did not crawl on the ground as your Sephirah taunted you, you did not bash your skull in the sink trying to take the worms that infected you as they ate your brain… Because if you did... You will be fixed, I would be not, I would be replaced.”
— “…”
— “That is what truly frightens me… If you truly regret what you did to us… If you truly grieved our deaths that many years ago… Then promise me… Promise me that my life will no longer be meaningless… Promise me, Angela, that you will no longer send us to our deaths.”
— “…I promise you that I will make certain that none of you die a meaningless death again” — Angela said, as she looked at Ramirez and Liza — “Allow me to repay you for those actions that day the Light washed over the City… I will not let you be replaceable again.”
For that reason, the Agents could bear to give Angela a chance to redeem herself, to show them the old face of herself from a time where she would mourn their deaths and worry for their safety. From a time when Angela early in the script, worried for their safety.
— “…” — Ramirez did not speak for some time, as he looked at her as their eyes interlinked, he searched within her even the remote possibility that she was lying and would just use them for her own benefit, and within that search, he reached his conclusion.
— “…Very well, I will follow you… for now.” — Ramirez finally said, he let go of her hand and stood up once again. He once again looked annoyed, and then he started to walk outside. — “Think of a way to pay us for now, you still owe me for my fifty days of work. I will be outside and make sure the Abnormality does not kill everyone at the Eunectes Tribe. Liza, follow me”
— “Sigh… Coming, coming.” — Liza said, but she did not move and looked at Angela. — “You are quite the enigma; you order me to die and then say this?”
— “I… Apologize for that.”
— “Well, we are all alive so I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore… Very well, if Ramirez is willing to work with you, I can give you another chance as well” — Liza said, she started to walk away towards the exit.
*CRASH*
Liza lunged towards Angela and stopped herself with her hand grabbing the bed that Angela rested in, while the other grabbed her by the collar of her clothes, stopping herself extremely close to the AI as the Agent glared at her with such intensity that her red eyes looked as if they almost glowed in the poorly illuminated room.
— “Liza!” — Parker exclaimed
— “If I see you backing up on your own word, no matter the reason, I will tear you apart…” — Liza said in a calmly and low voice, making sure that her message was completely clear.
— “I will not” — But Angela was not intimidated by her, as she had no reasons to do so.
— “…Well, see you around! Miss Angela!” — Liza looked at her for another moment, before she let go and started to walk towards the exit with the usual smile on her face, not saying another word as she said all what she wanted to say.
— “…All that shit, if I were you, I would have just left but that was not an option for you…” — Hannah said, as she scratched the back of her head while letting a sigh escape her mouth. — “Honestly, you just dropped bomb after bomb huh… but we will have some time to think about it later. Alright, I will follow you as well.”
— “I wanted to prove my…”
— “I get it, I get it. However, if you are the one who can possibly cure us then your safety is now the highest priority”
— “I agree, for now I suggest that at least one ALEPH Agent shall accompany Miss Angela at all times, for now let it be you Hannah, as I will make preparations for extracting the Qliphoth Deterrence and making containment chambers, starting with one for a ZAYIN.” — Parker added, finally speaking after Ramirez and Liza left the room.
— “Gather Light from Abnormalities in the wild… Since we have no way of producing Qliphoth Deterrence over that large of an area… Maybe we could… Put it in wheels and crash it towards an Abnormality?” — Hannah wondered out loud.
— “…We have ways to extend the area with certain modifications, but your suggestion sounds… reasonable”
— “Is it? I was joking” — Hannah muttered to herself before continuing.
— “Alright…! Miss Angela since we have this place, let us focus on a way for us to fix you, you could move with a little of Light but we cannot carry you until you can move your entire body with only that. Let me make a list of what materials do you need, I worked with some X. Corp alloys before so if you need something sturdier, I will figure out a way to do it.”
— “…Thank you, I will trust you in this process, it’s the least I could do.”
— “Oh, believe me I will enjoy this.” — Angela opened her eyes again, as she remembered the enthusiasm of their previous encounter when they were still stuck inside the cave. She looked at Hannah who despite her serious face she could not hide the smirk in the corner of her mouth nor the glitter in her eyes. ‘I just have to endure this…’.
— “Then I will leave it to you.” — Parker said as he passed the computer to Hannah and once she grabbed it he started to leave, however he stopped in his tracks before turning around and looking at his boss. — “Miss Angela.”
— “Ah… Yes?”
— “If you would have ordered me to follow you, I would have done so… And mentioning the use of Cogito and the TT2 Protocol was pretty reckless of you, with my previous orders by ‘Lady Binah’ I would have attacked the other Agents if they chose to betray you.” — Parker revealed, surprising both the Agent and the AI.
The Sephirah of the Extraction Team expected that someone like Angela would betray A at the final day of the stage, with that in mind she ordered the team to fight alongside her, even if it meant fighting against the other Agents, the reasoning not explained to them as they only had to obey.
— “Luckily that did not happen, as the other Agents and me included have no one else to go back to even in ten years of absence, and the use of Cogito was a cruelty expected from a Wing.”
— “…I see.”
— “But even with my orders… I am glad that you promised the other Agents their safety, for that I thank you… Now, we have to work on recovering the entire Control Department if we are going to start harboring Abnormalities, so I will start my job as soon as possible, I’m taking my leave.” — And after those words he left the room.
— “Honestly that guy always creeped me out…” — Hannah said, but Angela could only sense the feeling of relief, as the conversation ended with a positive tone and now, she has the full support from the Agents, once again proving that the road she will take in the future will not be one that she will traverse alone, but the fact that they would need to rebuild Lobotomy Corporation made her feel… angry.
‘…’
‘This… opens the door for my vengeance to still be possible.’ The darker thoughts of Angela still lingered within her, as she could not forget the cursed message on the monitor that announced her shut-down, from orders directly from her creator.
‘Who was that person? The one that gave me answers to my problems oh so conveniently? Was this another one of your hidden programs installed on me, A?’
‘If you are watching, this does not mean that I will just walk by the path that you just placed in front of me, not anymore, I don’t care if that person was someone you programmed in me in case the project failed it’s completion’
‘You want me to gather you precious Light A? The one that conveniently is the solution to my problems and theirs?’
‘The light that will conveniently make me human, the light that maybe will allow them to return to normal?’
‘Fine then, I will pretend to walk the path, but whatever I decide to do with it at the end of the road will be my decision.’
‘How would you feel, when the final opportunity is crushed by me once more?’
‘…’
‘This rage is not something that will go away, no matter what you do…’
‘But their companionship is something that… made me forget… even for a moment’
— “Paper… paper… Ah, here we go, alright Miss Angela, for starters what is your base components made of…? God dammit, this is annoying, I was waiting for us to gather better materials and make myself a good prosthesis, but this now is just inconvenient.”
Coming back to reality, Angela looked at Hannah who was using her only arm to search inside a box, and she looked rather annoyed, she wondered about what Hannah said about her arm, and she questioned how she knew so much about… everything.
— “This is something I wanted to ask but… are all the Information Team Agents as knowledgeable as you?”
— “What? No, not at all… Hmm… How do I explain this? — Hannah said as she grabbed a dirty notebook that miraculously survived the Extraction. — “Well, if we are to be stuck around each other for so long then maybe I could tell you a little about me, since you already told us about you, it’s only fair.”
— “I was not born knowing it all, I used to be a Rat you know? At least I thought my parents were before they kicked the bucket… I lived in filth for the majority of my childhood, in those times I learned how to cut guts, what is edible and whatnot.” — Hannah said as she searched amongst other boxes.
— “A… Rat?”
— “The word used to refer to the lowest of the low in the Syndicate food chain, anyway one day we could no longer afford to pay the bigger Syndicate and my entire block was just Swept away… Ah, don’t feel bad for me though, this happens all the times in the Backstreets. Luckily I survived that night by a miracle”
— “Sweepers…” — Angela remembered, she found them sometimes in some days as an Ordeal for the Agents to overcome, sometimes Agents fought angrily against them, sometimes they did not bother, she imagined that Hannah would be the latter but it appears that she did not have heavy resentment towards them.
— “After that I just had to drag my body towards another turf and just keep trying to survive, I was heavily hurt and some of my flesh was melting as I was grazed by an attack of a Sweeper, I remember I fell unconscious as I bleed out… Until someone saved me.” — Hannah stopped her work, as if she was talking as if it was yesterday. Angela kept her silence, as hearing a personal story out of someone was something she was deeply interested in, as if she was reading a book out of someone. A story she had not heard before.
— “It was an old woman, I remember I was a little shit by then and wondered why she saved me, I kicked and bit her multiple times, but she was augmented enough that all I did was just annoy her. She was the owner of a Backstreets Workshop… It was pretty bad to be honest, the vast majority of her products you could find an equivalent on the regular store.”
— “But that did not matter… That was the first time I found myself amazed by the work of someone else, for a Rat like me even holding a weapon made by a Workshop felt like a dream, and no matter how crude the designs were, they made my heart skip a few beats when I saw how she made one.”
— “At first, I thought that she would just kick me out once I was healed, however she kept me and kept feeding me and teaching me things like basic education, I eventually learnt how to read and in exchange I helped her around the house… Well… days turned months and I eventually begged her to teach me how to make things myself, at first, she refused as she had barely money hanging around to let a kid fool around the workshop, so she lent me a few books for me to memorize... They were quite big! I guess she expected a kid like me to not like those books and forget about it.”
— “But I did, I memorized the books and I could even tell you the contents of it to this day! But that was not enough for me to just go and start making weapons so I started by being an assistant of her. She was pretty old but with those augments she could move as if she was fifty years younger. Anyways that was the first time I ever interacted with technology itself.”
— “That old woman was pretty close minded, even when I read books that she never even bothered to open she rarely listened to my requests, but eventually she relented and let me take over the Workshop, I think it just happened because age was starting to catch up to her as the years passed. In the place we lived we had to and all of our neighbors gather money to buy protection from the Zwei, making the place relatively safe for a price that was really expensive, but with my help we started to really profit, instead of just being stuck.
— “We gathered a bit of a reputation, with me taking over we started to make better quality products and eventually we managed to receive better requests, hell, I think we received a request from quite a Fixer Office!”
— “But that old woman was not satisfied with me just living in the Backstreets forever, maybe she recognized some kind of talent within me and she was sure that I could make a living on a Nest, but for that I would have to become a Feather of a Wing.”
— “With the Smoke War over and Lobotomy Corporation cementing itself as the new economic powerhouse in the City, she must have heard of the recently opened university that was accepting people even from the Backstreets, we had a bit of money hanging around so she bought books like crazy, the major I wanted did not even involve medicine, botany, geography, history, or any of those other things, however she bought them anyway as she thought that people from the Backstreets would be given extra hard tests for entry, even more with someone like me with no education records and not that much money, a no one would have to compete with other kids from the Nests for entry. Even more reason that I needed to aim for a scholarship as I could not afford to pay every semester and live on a Nest.
— “And to no surprise, the day of the test I was asked things that should not even matter, I heard some kids cry behind me while I answered, and the questions were harder than even some Abnormalities!” — She said as she laughed to herself — “But at the end that old woman was right, since I had no tutors or teachers, I studied everything on my own, I tried everything on my own, I experimented with everything on my own, and I recorded in my memory everything I could on my own. The L. Corp scholarship program as set on not giving me anything to compete against the other Nest residents, however, I passed that test with flying colors.”
— “Those old men at the top were giving everything in their power to not accept me, I had to retake numerous tests and even had to take oral exams, hell, I even had to help someone’s niece to complete their thesis before I even had the chance to step inside the University! However, I think they realized that my talent was undeniable, and eventually I was admitted with a Scholarship.”
— “…I remember going back to the Workshop that day, to tell that old woman that I finally was accepted but age waits for no one… She was barely conscious when I grabbed her hand and told her that I would be going to get a superior education, that I would go to the prestigious scholarship program inside L. Corp’s Nest and hopefully become a Feather… She answered that she loved every moment she spent with me, with her good granddaughter… however I don’t know if she heard that I was admitted, she was too old…”
— “…That woman died that day… After saying my goodbyes, I just grabbed some things that I needed for my stay at the Nest… To this day I wondered why she even took me, a backstreets Rat that was playing Syndicate… Did she feel alone? Was I similar to someone she knew? I don’t know, as I could not ask her anymore.”
— “She called you granddaughter… Did you consider her your family, despite having no blood relations?” — Angela asked.
— “…I guess, I never called her granny… But that did not matter to us, packing my things I realized I did not have so many this to remember her for… So, my only regret was not taking at least a photo with her… — Hannah said as she turned around, not facing Angela. — “Then I took a WARP Train and arrived at the Nest and even stayed on a quite good hotel for a few days before I went to the permanent residence, all paid for! Hotel Larierre I think was the name? They were treating me quite well since they had so many expectations for me, but honestly, I only remember that name because the owner creeped me out. Anyways, after a few days I left that hotel and settled on the student dorms, where I started studying.”
— “Some years passed and I met a lot of people, since L. Corp was a Wing that produced quite a lot of quality energy at a good price, they had quite the number of allies, a lot of people from a lot of places were at the Nest, with the vast majority being people from other Nests themselves, people from whom I learnt a lot of things too. Well, now that you told me about those things… Ah! it makes sense to see so many people for W. Corp and T. Corp.
— “In those years I had a reputation since I always aced the tests and aided with some investigations, but then I eventually met…” — Hannah said as her voice started to become quieter and quieter, before recovering — “Anyways, shit happened and I was expelled from that dumpster, the moment I take one step on that building Taboo Hunters would end me in an instant, since I had nowhere to go, I came back to the Workshop, as I kept paying for the residence fee in a poor attempt of attachment, only to find it destroyed, maybe it was some Syndicate? I don’t know, it must have been quite recently since it was still there.”
— “Watching it broken down I finally realized that I had nowhere else to go… At that time, I was truly at the bottom, at least I was thankful that the woman died before she saw me in that state, however, a car approached me and someone gave me a letter, containing inside the opportunity to become a Feather for Lobotomy Corporation, honestly it was so convenient that I thought it was a scam, but everything on it appeared so official…” — Hannah laughed a little. — “That woman adopted a Rat from the Backstreets and she grew up to be in a fight with The Head… I guess life really takes unexpected turns…”
— “…What happened that led you to be expelled?”
— “…That is something that I will share maybe another time. We have to fix you, Miss Angela, we already lost a lot of time!” — Hannah said after hesitating a little, she was clearly bothered by the question and tried to change the subject quickly. — “Now tell me, what materials do you need?”
— “…From my maintenance I remember that…” — And Angela started to talk about her more private aspects, as the maintenance was something that was deeply personal for her as she was forced to look at her mechanical body several times, however, after listening to Hannah’s story she felt a little more comfortable with the process.
None of the Agents shared this type of deep story of themselves, even when she had her eyes open in earlier Cycles, so this was the first time she heard of someone talk about the outside world in such detail, maybe the other Agents had stories like these too?
But she also thought about Hannah’s story, about a little girl that found herself a family even when there were no blood relations with one another, a story about how someone can love one another even if there are no words between them to express it.
Angela wondered, if she could maybe one day find that type of connection with someone.
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.
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Zumama woke up some time ago, alongside the Blue Bird that self-proclaimed itself as the High Priest. Right now, they were talking about the things that were happening, the regenerator making some white noise for them.
— “And with that, we finished the Big Ugly.” — Zumama said, as she looked at the blue bird.
— “…Woah! I would not have thought about it that way… That girl… Hannah… Must be truly something else, and that Enkephalin! Do you have some of it for me to try and make something with it?”
— “Well, the vast majority of it is inside the Engine of the Big Ugly, you could go and take a look at it.”
Zumama watched as the Blue Bird disappeared from view, only to see it inside the pilot chamber inside the Big Ugly, she laughed as she approached it, walking between the other Archosauria who looked intended on fixing it on their free time while the huge Abnormality Core rested inside its ‘mouth’, the same place that the giant robot used to fire its cannon.
— “The Big Ugly! Oh, how I wished I was there to see you shine! — The Blue Bird said, as he looked around, the pilot chamber was bigger than before so you could barely notice him inside of it, he looked around until he was satisfied, and then he exited and placed himself on the exposed Engine.
A liquid traversed through it as a green hue stained some tubes, the High Priest looked amazed at the process, and when they tried to power it up, he recognized some of the process that Zumama told him about.
It was truly a miracle in the works. Zumama watched as her friend, the High Priest, blabbered about how an engine such as this could produce so much energy, almost praying to it as he started to remember all the things that Zumama told him about the Agent that aided them.
— “Maybe I too… Could learn a lot of things from this person!” — The blue bird exclaimed, it was apparent that he was excited to learn more about this person, however, they were stuck as they all were summoned inside the huge structure that they all built. They were informed that Angela had an important announcement for the four creatures, and they asked them to not interrupt.
— “But… I can’t wait to learn even more from Miss Angela!” — He finally said, the thing he wanted to say after all this time, the huge declaration made from the one called Parker made them lose consciousness, and how could they not? They were entranced by the mere creation of Workshop weapons alone, now that they realized that a machine could talk, think, and lead a beast like the one called Ramirez was something akin to another world, a complete miracle.
— “Yes… I wonder if she will let me hold her hand.” — Zumama was also enticed by the mere thought of seeing her again, to ask her lots of questions and maybe ask her if they could share experiences, how does a robot see the world she wondered?
— “Zumama, you must help me… Do I look presentable?” — The high priest asked his friend, as he posed, but unfortunately, he was so small that Zumama could not notice the difference. — “I only saw her by mere moments but I can’t stop thinking about her… Do you think I could have a chance? Maybe she will ask me to carry her…”
— “No way, if you discomfort Miss Angela with your appearance, you can say goodbye to our friendship, and she will realize that the one who can possibly carry her is… Me…”
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, in their emotion they expected to see Angela out of those doors but they only found Ramirez as he walked while scratching his chin, they were once again hearing the foreign language.
— “Well… we made the Abnormalities? Santa mierda…” — Ramirez said to himself as he exited the room, using one of the two doors that would eventually lead to the hallways yet instead led outside. He looked around and found the Archosauria fooling around with their weapons and some others trying to fix the giant yellow robot.
— “And ten years passed outside… Ten thousand inside… While I just remember working fifty days… Would she pay me for those years?” — He said as he walked towards the Archosauria fixing the Big Ugly, noticing him they started to look, remembering their fight against him. He saw Zumama tried to reassure them, alongside the blue bird who looked confused at their anxiousness.
— “Now we have to gather all of the other Abnormalities in the wild… With no E.G.O weapons, no Q. Deterrence… Maybe my mental corruption levels are reaching too high if I’m even considering the possibility of winning.” — He continued to walk, until he stopped in front of the Abnormality Core.
— “But… If she really promised us that she would not order us to die that easily, then maybe we could find a way to do it, she said to trust her after all.”
*CRACK*
— “Maybe Parker can figure something out about the Q. Deterrence, Angela said that she was no longer ordered to keep it at a certain threshold.”
*CRACK*
— “I guess we will really have to huh…” — Ramirez looked at the Abnormality Core as it cracked, and the other Archosauria who watched as it was happening started to panic as they realized what was happening. Some of them started to approach with their weapons, standing beside Ramirez as they prepared themselves to fight.
— “It’s going to appear again!? High Priest!” — Zumama quickly ordered.
— “What button… What button… Oh! This one!” — He ordered the giant machine to close its ‘mouth’, in a way to make a prison around it using the Big Ugly as a prison to contain it inside.
— “But if we really have to do it then… I better get used to fighting in this condition.” — Ramirez said, still talking to himself. The hesitation from fighting from the other day disappeared, as he knew fully well that this combat would not tire him enough for his corrosion to take over him, because this opponent was not someone he would be spending a lot of time fighting.
*CRASH*
— “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” — The Queen of Fairies roared upon breaching the shell that imprisoned her, this time invigorated as she watched all the fresh meat gathered around her, her enclosure barely doing anything as she with her limbs opened the ‘mouth’ of the Big Ugly as she emerged from it.
— “Uh oh! It’s not working!” — The blue bird exclaimed, clearly anxious by what was happening; however, Ramirez did not look even remotely bothered by it as he grabbed by force an electric spear that was wielded by an Archosauria by his side, startling him.
— “Captain of the Control Team, Ramirez, initiating suppression” — He said out loud, a phrase he heard himself repeat over and over again in the time he was working for Lobotomy Corporation, this message would be reported to his Sephirah ‘Malkuth’, however, that message would not reach her this time.
The Queen of Fairies quickly breached out of the Big Ugly, and lunged to devour everything in her way, only to be pierced by an electric spear on her back with so much force that her entire body collapsed onto the ground, shattering the stones beneath her as electricity burned her insides. Ramirez in a show of amazing speed, jumped and pierced her skin with the borrowed weapon before the Abnormality could even react.
The beast screamed, as she realized that someone was on her back as she trashed around, Ramirez jumped on the ground again as he looked how the spear almost broke with only one attack, the weapon not capable of keeping up with the raw strength that he was capable of. The beast recovered and started to run towards him, not showing an ounce of fear, but she did not realize that the vast majority of her strength was gone, courtesy of the Qliphoth Deterrence.
‘We have a lot of materials outside… I will drag this battle more far away.’
He too started to run towards the Abnormality, but it was clear that he was much faster than the starving beast, it lunged towards him with intentions of devouring him but he with a strike with his leg he crushed the beast’s abdomen, the impact made a visible wave of dust in the air as all Archosauria around felt the impact to their bones. That attack made the Queen of Fairies fly in the air as quick as a bullet even with the humongous size, and Ramirez ran towards her at such speed that they could only see his silhouette disappear.
— “Hey, let me borrow this really quick” — Liza said to one of the Archosauria, startling them as she grabbed a chainsaw from their hands before they could respond.
— “Please, allow me.” — Parker said to the Tiacauh Brave that was holding a giant hammer, intimidated he let Parker grab it with no resistance. After the exchange, the two Agents flew past them, keeping up with the speed of Ramirez and started to fight against the beast in another place.
This was not a rare occurrence, there even would be times in the Facility when the Manager ordered for every Agent to wait outside a containment chamber when there was suspicion that a dangerous Abnormality would breach, making every single Agents, strong and weak, stand outside awkwardly while they gaze at each other. But the moment the monster breached; you would remember who is truly trapped inside the facility.
This was something similar, as the Archosauria ran towards the place of the fight, they realized that three ALEPH Agents suppressing the monster could not be considered a fight, but rather putting someone else on their place as the beast was already pretty wounded and had lots of opened wounds while the Agents did not look even remotely tired.
*CRASH* *CRASH* *THUD* *SPLASH*
The Agents worked with total coordination, there was no moment in which they interrupted each other, Ramirez opted to discard his weapon as he threw the lance so hard that it pierced the Abnormality through the mouth and leaving a hole on its body, the lance did not lose speed as it traveled through the rainforest, trying to defend itself with its frontal limbs Ramirez grabbed both of them with ease, leaving an opportunity for Liza to amputate them both with a single sweep of her chainsaw while she traveled on the air, falling on the ground she propelled herself across the area, cutting both its legs with her movement making the beast fall.
It screamed in pain, but was quickly silenced with Parker hitting her on the face with the giant hammer as he fell on the Queen, the impact was so hard that the ground itself shattered and blood splattered over the area, she was still not dead, so Ramirez grabbed what was left of her limbs and lifted her over himself before striking her against the ground, he repeated this three more times until he threw the monster against Parker who received her with an attack with his hammer, shattering it and sending the Queen up in the sky to be encountered with Liza as she cut her in pieces with the chainsaw as thousands of cuts could even be seen with the human eye. The Fairy Queen lit up in red and explode in blood once more as her core fell on the ground.
— “Jobs done, let’s rest!” — Said Liza as she landed and discarding the broken chainsaw on the ground, having shattered it from the fight.
— “No, we have to recover the remnants of the Facility, the sooner we make a Containment Chamber the sooner we have to stop worrying about this thing.” — Said Ramirez as he cleaned his hands of blood while looking at the Abnormality Core.
— “Ramirez is correct, so please keep working for a bit longer Liza.” — Parker said to them as he reminded Liza, he noticed the other Archosauria approaching and he apologized for their broken weapons, they did not answer as they were still in shock as they saw the monster that terrorized them being dealt with so easily. — “Ramirez, by this time you could do another run with her, but if something happens just drop the material and come running towards here.”
— “I already knew that; you will not catch me die because of a stupid Corrosion. Let’s go, Liza” — Ramirez said as he started to walk away, letting Parker deal with the aftermath of the encounter as he grabbed the Core with his own hands, Liza on the other hand groaned out loud, not shaming herself in voicing her lack of willingness to keep working.
Parker traveled back to the camp with the Abnormality Core in his hands, as the other Archosauria kept muttering amongst themselves, arriving he let the egg on the ground, before he turned around and faced the Archosauria, with Zumama at the front who appeared to have mostly recovered, as she took out most of her bandages as the regenerator healed her in the hour they were away.
— “Miss Zumama, our deal mentioned the construction of a shelter in exchange for an Engine, so by all means our contract is already over.” — Parker declared, making Zumama surprised as she realized that she had no other reason to remain here, as the caves that she used to gather materials from was now free for her to return.
— “Allow us to make another deal then!” — Zumama quickly declared, they talked amongst themselves that they wished to stay for a bit longer, and to learn all there is to learn in the area of making weapons as they were truly fascinated by their own creations, they all wished to be instructed by Hannah, who they proclaimed as their master.
— “That’s surprising, we were about to offer you the same.” — Parker said as he grabbed the computer once more, this apparatus grabbed the attention of some of the Archosauria present, but none wanted to dare and ask for it since they realized the strength of the one using it.
— “I need you and your tribe to help us with two projects, we need to extract something from that cave and we also need more rooms for this 'shelter', including a containment room for this creature.”
— “…I noticed that it was alive somehow… Will it just keep coming back? We can’t just kill it?” — Zumama asked.
— “That being is what we call an Abnormality, and you are correct, they are truly immortal beings, no matter what we tried they will just come back. The only way for us to deal with them is to imprison them while they are in this form that we call their ‘Core’.”
— “…I understand, but… where is Master Hannah?”
‘Master Hannah?’ Parker thought, only to discard it.
— “She is currently occupied fixing Miss Angela.”
— “Oh! Can we see her?! Can we!?” — This time he heard a voice come from the crowd, however he could not see who was speaking, after looking down he realized that the voice came from a little blue bird that was standing not too far from him, if he had not realized he could have stepped on him.
‘Who is this guy…? What is… this guy?’ He thought that maybe he could be an Abnormality too, an Aberration from one he knew, however, he did not feel the presence of one. ‘Maybe another race from the Outskirts?’
— “RIGHT! Miss Angela, who could have thought that Machines who could speak and look like a human could exist, no wonder Master Hannah is occupied!” — Zumama said, speaking very quickly, a contrast to the way she was speaking before as she was reminded of what he had told them while she was recovering.
— “Can we see the process!? Please tell us we can! Is she inside that room!?” — The blue bird continued to talk, the other Archosauria shared their enthusiasm, as a machine-like Angela was something that they never saw before.
— “Ahem.” — Parker quickly silenced the crowd, with only that sound it was as if they were forced to look at him.
— “Miss Angela’s safety is top priority, so I will quickly advise that you do not step inside that room under any circumstance, it is already finished so I will accept no excuses for entry. If only a single of you enter that room, then I will be forced to rethink our alliance, so please keep a tight leash on everyone else Miss Zumama” — He said, there was no anger or other strong emotion on it, but they all felt that what he said was completely serious, and none of them dared to even think about doing it.
— “However, if we finish quickly, we can maybe ask Miss Hannah if she needs help with something.” — With his words, vigor started to bloom once again between each one of them.
— “About your payment… We noticed that you no longer are in dire need of something like an Engine, what would you like?”
— “…About that, you still have some Enkephalin right? Maybe we could receive some in compensation?” — Zumama demanded, as she remember that she used the vast majority of it in the Engine for the Big Ugly and she wanted to keep experimenting with it, as the possibilities with it were endless.
Parker looked at the core, and he realized that they will no longer have more problems with Enkephalin once they finished the containment chamber.
— “Very well, those are acceptable terms.” — He extended his hand towards Zumama, which she took it.
— “I will assign the teams with your help Miss Zumama, but we would need the help of your… um…”
— “The Big Ugly!” — The blue bird spoke below him.
— “Right… We would need the help of the Big Ugly, precisely to help to recover the thing inside the cave.”
— “Ah! Parker, right?” — Zumama interrupted him, she did not use formal speech but that is not something that bothered the Agent.
— “Yes?”
— “Miss Hannah mentioned that you were thinking of a way to make this… Facility move around, what did you decide on?”
— “…That was something that was still in debate, however we were opting for putting the Facility over a vehicle and move it around with huge wheels and tracks…” — Zumama smiled once more, confirming the fact that she did not indeed hear wrong and they were truly trying to make a Nomadic City.
— “…! What!? You were thinking about building a Nomadic City!? Are you serious!? Now you have to let me help you, really!” — The Blue Bird spoke with a lot of enthusiasm, he looked as if he was about to burst from emotion.
— “… A Nomadic what?” — However, Parker did not understand what they were talking about.
— “Then what she said it was true! Master Hannah truly wanted to build an entire Nomadic City by herself! Then, then! Let us extend our deal! Let us help you with that too!” — Zumama now was excited as well as she closed the gap between them, making Parker take some steps back.
— “…Please let’s go one at a time…” — Parker was used to the dead gaze of his coworkers from Atziluth, with barely enough energy to keep going on their day and wishing they were killed. However, since arriving on the Outskirts, he noticed that these people were pretty lively.
Maybe a little too much for him.
.
.
.
And so, the work began for everyone involved in the reconstruction of the Control Department, progress was made as they eventually managed to extract the Well from the restrains of the cave with the help of the Big Ugly, there was a risk of making the cave collapse but Angela left instructions for him to make that event not come past, proving even more her capabilities, using its remnants they decided to complete the room surrounding the giant green chamber.
— “Ah, Parker, where do we place this?” — Zumama asked as she saw Parker approach her.
— “We will connect this to the top of the Main Room, but we will do that when we finish all of the Department.” — Parker explained as he instructed the teams, he was returning from inside the Control Room, something that they noticed.
— “…Is Miss Hannah still not finished? It’s been days…” — One of the Archosauria commented.
— “The process must be quite complex! You are still so young to comprehend that sometimes a project can extend for months! Years!” — The blue bird exclaimed inside the Big Ugly, hearing the conversation.
— “What!? We cannot wait for years!”
— “Do not worry, she was just requesting some materials that she needed and some help making some alloys, luckily we already had the ways to do that, so she could finish very soon.”
*CRASH* *BOOM*
— “Ah, I guess they finished too.” — Parker said as he saw the other two Agents approaching them, Ramirez was drenched in blood while holding the Core of an Abnormality. On the other hand, Liza was looking quite clean.
— “We could have finished quicker if you helped me!”
— “What? But you got it quite easy?”
— “You…!”
Over the passage of days, Parker was the one to suppress ‘Fairy Festival’ whenever it re-emerged from the core, but since Ramirez and Liza could not find any more materials on the surrounding area, they were the ones to take that job, besides helping Parker from time to time. The sight of the beast that was making their life so difficult being handled like a nuisance made them not afraid of the monster anymore, as the people from the tribe adapted to its daily beatings.
After interacting with the Eunectes tribe, they eventually learned to maintain some conversations with the Archosauria, making their presence more bearable to them as they realized that they were just as ‘human’ as them. This was the natural presence of a Captain, if someone can handle the Abnormalities easy, then as long as they are beside you, the sight of them could become bearable.
— “We finished over here!” — He heard some people of the Eunectes Tribe alert them from the distance.
— “Perfect timing, you heard that Ramirez?”
— “Finally, let me put that thing away.”
— “Well, let’s keep working High Priest!” — Zumama said while slapping the side of the Big Ugly, making the beast roar as it started to move again, they separated from Parker and Ramirez who walked away, while Liza just laid on the ground.
— “You can take a PE-Box” — Parker said as he walked
— “Ah! Even I heard that! Now that gets my heart fluttering!”
— “Let’s finish this first! Don’t get lazy!”
Both Captains walked amongst the working Archosauria, until they eventually found an entrance of a containment chamber, with its huge doors that led the Agents place Abnormality cores inside of them, Ramirez walked in the middle of the room before placing the object.
— “Sigh… Finally, no more dealing with this thing.”
— “How do you feel?” — This question was not merely out of courtesy, but a request for a report on his particular condition.
— “… Since I have been evading her, my body is producing less scales and the tail takes longer to regenerate… I suppose is because my body no longer wants her as a ‘shell’, just as you said… How about you?”
— “…It is bearable, my mind keeps screaming to kill these… invaders, but since we had a deal, they are less intense now.” — Parker said as feathers on his hair started to flutter, almost in reaction to the word ‘invader’.
— “Liza did not tell me how she felt, she keeps avoiding the subject…”
— “Hannah is alright, she does not show signs of further corrosion, she is distracted by her work it seems…”
— “…I will keep avoiding Zumama, you said something that triggers the corrosion, it might be her or not but I don’t want to relapse, I can handle it for now…”
— “Then if you can handle it, you can help me with other work. We have to connect all these parts of the Control Department” — He continued talking as he now shifted his attention towards other subjects.
— “…Huh?”
— “Did you not wonder why we modified and made all of them separated? It’s so we can connect them all later, like a puzzle, making the expansion in the future easier, as I predict there are still some remnants of the other Departments somewhere else.” — Parker explained as he reviewed his notes. — “Liza will help too, since I noticed that she was slaking lately.”
— “But about what you said, I truly did not see more Departments, I doubt there will be more in this jungle. I hope they did not land too far…”
— “We will cross that bridge when we get to it, Ramirez”
— “And Liza always evades her job, maybe she can do this alone”
— “After that…” — Parker ignored his comment. — “We will need a way to make this place move, as discussed with Hannah we will start to make a huge vehicle, the Eunectes tribe let us borrow some of its… mines… to extract more materials, we would need quite a lot.”
— “…More work?” — Ramirez was not one to complain about his job, but now he was working for free.
— “While they are occupied with that, you and I will work on a way to optimize the Qliphoth Deterrence, I prepared restraints in case things go the unexpected way with the tests. But you said you can handle the corrosion so I will trust your judgement on your own capabilities.”
— “Restraints? What the hell are you even planning to do?”
— “Don’t look at me like that, we are making it so we could maybe synchronize better with our E.G.O’s, I have a theory that if we could make it happen, we could maybe use our E.G.O. Weapons again.”
— “…I hope you are right.”
— “After that we would have to-”
— “Alright! Alright! I get it…”
.
.
.
— “Now, follow my finger… Yes, do you feel any discomfort?” — Hannah said as she moved her index around, making Angela follow it with her head who had recovered it’s movement.
— “No, I can follow you quite easily.”
— “Good, good” — She said as she started to quickly type with only her one hand, something that she grew used to in the last couple of days. The silence was interrupted by the sound of her stomach grumbling, noticing that she has not eaten in days.
— “…Miss Hannah”
— “I can eat later, I almost got this… You should be able to move like normal, I could not find the exact material but it should feel the same… Maybe I could make myself a prothesis with the same alloy… Anyways, can you move?”
— “…” — Angela hesitated for a little, afraid that her body would not answer her but after trying, she felt her new arm and leg move with no problem, the familiarity of her own body was coming back to her, yet despite that she did not feel herself moving sluggish, as her body was keeping up with her mind.
This was incredible in her eyes, Hannah proclaimed herself as someone talented, but instead Angela found someone akin to a genius as she managed to fix all her damage, even with her guidance of the process this was something that she only expected from…B, but she adapted with only one arm and worked with incredible precision for days, not eating nor sleeping, the AI could only admire that type of work. And her patience was rewarded, as she found herself moving on again.
— “Finally… Finally! Oh, by the Wings… Days and days and I only managed to make you move again…”
— “No… This is something really admirable Hannah… You… Restored my body… In its completion…” — Angela looked at her arm, the texture was different from what she remembered but it was quite similar to the other parts of her, as well as the color of the ‘skin’ if you focus enough, however, it only showcased the expertise of the Agent, as she managed to do this with limited materials.
— “Not really… As I said I only managed to…”
— “I… Truly thank you…”
— “…Well, whatever…” — Hannah said as she turned to face the computer, as she kept working as it was connected to Angela.
She tried to stand up, and she did with no problem, her bare feet touching the floor again, she quickly regained her balance as she started to walk, and eventually she took a few steps.
She looked at herself in the reflection of the turned off monitor, her hair no longer tied as it reached longer that way, the skin of her limbs no longer exposed her inhumanity, her work uniform was roughly patched as they did not take priority, and her heels were lost some a while ago, the lab coat was replaced by the upper portion of Hannah’s uniform as she did not take it back. Her appearance could not be more different from the one in those times, however, she felt it, the freedom of her movement, the freedom to keep walking on a path that was not predetermined.
— “About your time perception switch and these hidden pain receptors that only activated when…!” — Hannah quickly realized that Angela kept walking, and by that distance the wires connecting Angela to the device started to tense, quickly she disconnected them from the computer, making them fall on the floor.
— “Umm… Miss Angela?”
The movements were becoming more and more familiar, Angela used the walls of the Department as support, traveling amongst them until she found the door, opening before her as the light of the day reached her.
— “…!”
Angela basked on the sunlight that reached the exit door of the Department, she saw the Archosauria working around her, focused on their tasks as they did not notice her. Angela saw the grass on the ground and she hesitated before she stepped on the ground feeling the blades of grass against her fake skin, but the feeling was real. The wires that were connected to her were crawling on the ground as she moved.
She took step by step, walking around the camp until eventually some Archosauria recognized her, waving at her and trying to gain her attention, however Angela kept walking and walking as she ignored everyone, she even ignored a weird blue bird holding a rose with his beak as he said something to her, but she ignored that too. Her gaze was focused on the ground she was stepping on, and eventually she lifted her face to face the horizon.
Her walk started to gain speed, as she felt the natural flow of air on her face, she once stepped on some stones however the sensation did not reach her as she was entranced by what she was seeing. The rainforest started to embrace her as she saw trees, flowers, birds singing, the machine found herself at the mercy of nature, and she was hypnotized by it.
Then she started to run, she ran for the first time in ages, almost tripping on herself as she struggled to balance her body, however she did not stop, she ran and ran until she found a clear area, a waterfall was now in front of her making a river in its path making her slow down, curiosity overtook her and she knelt in front of the body of water and placer her hand inside of it.
— “…It’s cold…”
She said to herself as she felt the flow of the river gently caress her hand, she retrieved it and gently moved her fingers across her face, letting the water travel across it. She felt it, the movement of water falling across her face. She stood up as she started to walk towards it, the tip of her feet reacting to the cold before finally submerging in the body of water, she did the same with the other.
— “…”
She felt the river travel across her legs, making waves around them as she gazed at her own reflection on the water, the sun peering over her as she realized that she indeed was outside, and not merely a dream.
Angela left the water, and started to walk across the river, following it as the sounds of birds and other animals reached her ears, looking at everything she could, feeling everything, she could, touching everything she could.
Her path stopped as the river continued downwards, making another waterfall similar to the one she saw on the way back, she gently walked amongst the border as she looked over the horizon, but her balance was not totally recovered, and she slipped on a slippery rock, and her body started to fall over the cliff.
— “…!”
— “What are you doing?”— She felt someone grab her arm, with her eyes wide open she realized it was Liza, Angela was swaying on the air before she was pulled towards her, the other three Agents were standing pretty close as well.
They were watching her all the way, making sure that she would not hurt herself, she was the only way they had to revert their condition.
— “You traveled quite far Miss Angela.” — Said Parker
— “It’s not safe here, I think we should return.” — Said Ramirez
— “You were lucky I was there to grab you, don’t do that again!” — Said Liza.
— “Are you alright, Miss Angela?” — Said Hannah.
Angela looked at them in silence, as she secured her footing again and looked over the horizon, she turned around to face them.
— “Pfft… Hehe”— Angela said, as a smile appeared on the corner of her lips — “Hehe… Hahaha!”
Angela laughed, this confused them as they kept their silence, her laughter was masked by the sound of water, the sound of the wind, the sound of the rainforest. Until eventually she stopped, and looked at the Agents, she realized that she had a promise to keep.
— “Sigh… I wonder how he would feel to see me…” — Angela said to herself, before looking at them with her usual face. — “Let’s return, we have work to do. What is the situation, Parker?”
— “…Very well, we managed to make another deal with…” — They began to talk while they walked, with Ramirez standing behind before calling out to Hannah.
— “Hey, Hannah” — She turned around, just in time to catch what appeared to be a fruit on her hand.
— “You are hungry right? The Eunectes Tribe told me what was edible and what is not, so take this.”
— “Hmm… I wonder why the stern and serious Control Captain would give me this…” — Hannah said as she moved the fruit around.
— “…You know why…”
— “Well… I know a lot of things but this one… Hmm…”
— “Fine… I… Apologize… for my outburst the other day, the Head did not appear, we are alive, you were right, yada-yada.”
— “You don’t sound too sincere though…”
— “Sigh… I, Ramirez, sincerely…”
— “I’m joking, it was pretty reckless of me too, but I guess that means we are not under strict vigilance.” — She said before finally sinking her teeth on the fruit, finally eating after days.
— “Or the offense was not serious enough.”
— “Pftt, oh come on, be a little more positive.”
— “This is me being positive.”
— “Hey! What is the hold up!?” — They heard Liza in the distance, who was waving her arms around as she called them.
— “Whatever, let’s…? sniff sniff” — Ramirez stopped as he audibly started to smell something in the air, reacting to that, Hannah quickly backed away.
— “W-What are you doing…?” — She confused herself before realizing that Ramirez turned away from her, almost like an animal he started to look around for a smell that he was quite focused on.
— “Hey, what are you, a dog?”
— “I smell… fire… no… this smell is…Charred flesh!” — He recognized the smell; he did because there was something that was rather keen on burning things around in the Facility.
An Abnormality.
— “Are you sure? I don’t see anything…” — Hannah said as she looked over the horizon, only to find nothing.
— “What is the matter, Ramirez?” — Parker approached with Liza and Angela close, as he noticed from afar that he appeared rather troubled.
— “This smell is the same! The remains of that exploding girl!” — As Ramirez said that Parker quickly ran towards the edge and looked around but met the same results of Hannah, quickly, they improvised on the situation.
— “Allow me”
With no more words in between, Parker ran towards Ramirez as he used both his hands to make a platform for Parker to jump from, using the force from the other Agent he was propelled to the sky at quick speed, now in the air he focused his vision, making his eyes and the pattern on his feathers glow in a yellow hue.
One of the things that favored him was his ability to see far, far away, things that normal people could not notice at a single glance, at with that he recognized in the distance some part of the rainforest that was engulfed in flames, alongside some people trying their hardest to contain it, looking further at the center he saw it, the image of the charred corpse of a little girl.
Liza placed herself in front of Angela to shield her from the impact of Parker landing.
— “It is confirmed, ‘F-01-02’ also known as ‘Scorched Girl’ is to the southwest, a vast portion of the rainforest is ablaze, with some people trying to contain the fire but failing. I theorize it’s because of the unknown nature of the fire, and other reason could be because she is outside of the range of the Qliphoth Deterrence.”
Upon confirmation, they turned towards Angela, it was clear that now she was the one in charge. This was a clear opportunity to gather a bit more of the Light that Angela needed to heal them, however the area that Parker saw was outside of the Qliphoth Deterrence, making a fight in that place not viable as the Agents could easily corrode if they fought for a long period of time, but because the Abnormality was a TETH it was still within the realm of possibility to defeat shortly, so the decision was placed on her.
— “What do we do, Miss Angela?”
— “…Can you win against that Abnormality in those conditions? With no E.G.O Weapons?”
— “Do we have to?” — Said Liza
— “I promised your safety that day, if you do not find yourself confident, we can regroup and formulate another plan.” — They did not have the luxuries of being in Lobotomy Corporation, once she sent them to fight the Abnormality, she would not have ways to update their situation until they return, victorious or not.
— “…I’d rather not see this entire rainforest in flames, my corrosion will not affect my performance and I can handle a little heat” — Said Ramirez
— “I guess the sight is not bad…” — Liza added.
— “Very well, we don’t know if there are other Abnormalities close, so I suggest only two of you go, Parker and Hannah can accompany me back to the main base and wait for you, as the Eunectes tribe is not equipped to deal with TETH Abnormalities.”
— “All the fun to ourselves huh? I can live with that…”
— “Remember… If you feel you cannot win, abandon the mission and retreat, you will be fighting outside the Qliphoth Deterrence so if you feel your condition worsen come back immediately, that’s an order.”
— “As if we could lose against a kid, come on doggy! Let’s go!” — Liza said as she walked over the edge and let herself fall as she made a peace sign. — “Woo-hoo!”
— “That woman…! We are leaving!” — Ramirez exclaimed as he jumped over the edge.
— “Let’s return to the main base, we cannot let our partners exposed.” — Angela said she started to walk however she felt the arm of Hannah around her waist once more, she struggled a bit before the Information Captain realized what she was doing as she forgot that Angela was not dependent on her anymore.
— “…I am capable of running back on my own.”
— “Ah… Sorry.”
Notes:
Next chapter will be more action packed, comment what you think!
Chapter 6: TETH FIRST
Notes:
CW for violence, gore, corpses, and violence against children(?)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
⸻ “Hey… Where… Are you?”
The little Archosauria, or as he called himself, a Tiacauh, was walking amongst the fire that engulfed the rainforest around him, he could barely lift his tiny feet as he dragged his body which was covered in ash.
⸻ “The time already… passed… you are supposed to… come out.”
He walked as he searched for his sister, the one who asked him again and again if they could play hide and seek, a game that she enjoyed despite him not liking it, as he preferred things like games of tag, or games that involved fighting.
⸻ “It’s… difficult to breathe… come out already…”
However, the little Tiacauh could barely see for her sister as the fire burned his vision, he tried to find her aroma as she often decorated herself with flowers, but the fire already took all of his senses, yet he remembered that they were playing hide and seek, so if he managed to touch her, then maybe the little Tiacauh would stop the game, and they would return to their homes safely.
⸻ “My feet… hurt… come on… we have to go…”
Eventually, the little Tiacauh would feel his legs no longer answer to him, and eventually he would fall to the hot ground, the same ground that he would play day and night with his friends and sister, the one that would be cold and humid would now be covered by layers of ash, as his usually scaly exterior would burn, not that he would feel it anyways.
⸻ “I’m… sorry… sister… I was… a bad… brother.”
As the fire raged around him, with no exit around him, the flames would eventually engulf the trees around him, the huge branches eventually could not support their own weight as they burned, making a huge branch start to fall on top of him.
⸻ “…!”
⸻ “Hey! Are you alright!? Dammit, don’t close your eyes! ⸻ But his life was saved, by another one that he saw once or twice when his parents traveled to their tribe when they wanted to trade, she was Inam, the leader of ‘Inam’s committee’. The Liberi which would usually spend her days trading, was now making her best to fight for the survival of the rainforest, her clothes had clear signs of being ripped by the fire and a lot of her hair was hidden by the ash around her.
⸻ “…You are…”
⸻ “…! Hey, come here, I need you to carry this kid!” ⸻ She called to one of the Tiacauh that accompanied her, they quickly approached her as the fire around them was cutting their ways of escaping. ⸻ “I need you to run towards the camp with this one quick! His life is in serious danger, go, go!”
Once she said her orders the Archosauria ran as fast as he could while carrying the injured kid, disappearing amongst the fire that engulfed the jungle. Inam quickly scrapped the clothing that covered her mouth as it was engulfed in ash, before grabbing a replacement from her pouch.
⸻ “…We need to retreat, how are thing going outside?
⸻ “We managed to contact some of the tribes around us, including Gavial’s Will and Flint’s tribe; they are helping in ways to contain the fire by your orders” ⸻ He moved alongside her, with clothing protecting most of his face.
⸻ “…At least something is going good today”
Some days ago, an entire portion of the rainforest turned into hell from one second to another, Inam was just spending her days as the leader of her tribe, making deals and expanding her shop, however, the fire took them all by surprise.
She did not know how it started, but the fire was something uncontrollable, it was almost as if had a life on its own and no matter what they tried, they could not even extinguish one ember, making the hard decision to abandon the plan for the time and focus on rescuing the people trapped on the calamity.
But she could not do this all on her own, multiple tribes were affected by the fire and she could not help them all on her own, so she decided to get help from multiple tribes, some time has happened since the incident with a certain Archosauria that left them with no Great Chief, so all of the other tribes had no obligation to answer her call, but luckily, they appeared to have noticed the damage and decided to help.
⸻ “However, the person who was tasked with contacting the Eunectes Tribe did not come back, and we have not enough people to send another.”
⸻ “Shit… Don’t tell me that idiot bit the dust.”
⸻ “We don’t know…! Tribe leader!”
*CRASH*
Inam rolled on the ground, barely dodging the assault from what appeared to be a large chunk of wood with a vigorous flame on its frontal part, the creature had fragile arms and legs as it crawled on the ground, but it’s limbs had no flesh on them, as if the creature itself was made of wood on its entirety.
⸻ “What… Cough Cough… is that?” ⸻ Inam quickly grabbed both twin axes that she carried on her back, as she prepared herself for combat, she looked anxiously at the area as more trees were falling by the fire, a bad place for a fight.
⸻ “What is that… Monster?” ⸻ The other Archosauria said, quickly grabbing their spears as the positioned themselves close to their tribe leader, even if they were a tribe centered around trade, they were still warriors from Acahualla.
The creature walked around all fours, it moved in circles while in place before the flame invigorated and started to attack again, using its sharp end to try and stab the tribesmen.
⸻ “Look out…! Cough.” ⸻ Although the monster looked fragile, it’s strength was something that took them by surprise, they all dodged its assault, making the creature strike a tree that was behind them, with the impact it broke it in half before making the entire tree start to burn.
⸻ “Now! While its resting!” ⸻ Inam announced as she swung her weapons, striking against wood with her axes while surprisingly drawing blood from within them, the other Archosauria understood her command and attacked the creature as well.
⸻ “Crackle crackle” ⸻ With no mouth to emit sound, the creature made sounds from wood smashing against each other, as it felt the first impact it made its best efforts to dodge the rest of them, running in all fours between the attacks.
⸻ “Come here!” ⸻ One of the Archosauria threw himself towards the creature, managing to grab its leg before it could get away, the brave one felt his hand burn as the temperatures of the creature reached heights that he never imagined. But it was time enough for the other tribe members to land their attacks.
Impaled, cut, smashed, bit, the wood creature could not withstand such large number of attacks, making it convulse in the ground before its entire body shined in red, and exploded in blood, staining all present.
⸻ “Tch… What the hell is this?” ⸻ Inam watched as her already ruined clothes were more stained, yet this time blood chose to participate as well, trying to clean herself she stopped, as in the corner of her vision saw the fire weakened by the second, slowly the flames around them started to dissipate, leaving only ash to remember what happened around them.
⸻ “…What?”
She was surprised, a fire such as this could not just go and disappear like nothing, almost as if it was alive and life was taken out of it, the fire quite literally died, yet the damage that it caused did not disappear, the trees were black and white particles danced around the air, almost as if it was snow. Inam walked around feeling the ash around her feet, an unknown feeling that should have been only the dirt.
⸻ “Is it over?” ⸻ The Archosauria around them started to wonder, making space for them to breathe a little more easily as the fire no longer risked their lives however, the ash around them still lingered in the air, making Inam order them to keep their protective gear on.
⸻ “…No, it isn’t, over the horizon the fire is still going.” ⸻ Inam said as she pointed towards the distance, the night making the lights of the fire apparent for them to see, but the fact that the fire around them stopped was a clear indicator that this fire was not like a normal one.
⸻ “But… We killed that critter and the fire stopped right?”
⸻ “It is a possibility, if we can truly stop this fire like this… Then we have to quickly tell all the other parties, all of you, go to the west and inform the other members of the tribe, and kill one of these things if you find one, but don’t put yourselves at risk”
⸻ “What about you, tribe leader?”
⸻ “I will go to the north and talk with the other tribes, they must know what we are doing.”
⸻ “…Understood, let’s get going!” ⸻ Some people from her tribe hesitated at the fact that they would leave their tribe leader to go alone, however since they found that the creature was easy to dodge, they were quickly convinced.
Someone like Inam was capable of making the other tribes collaborate with her in order to stop the fire even when there is no Great Chief present, for that reason they trust that she will be capable of informing them and making a plan of action by herself.
Inam saw her men starting to run towards their objective and she too started to run, she moved against the ash in the air, stepping over ashy terrain as she endured the heat that crawled through her bare feet, all the trees and bushes were no more as they only left charcoal silhouettes as a reminder that they were there.
⸻ “We have a way to stop it…” ⸻ Inam said to herself as she traveled along the ashy terrain, under the clothes that protected her face you could see the tiredness on her eyes as she had not slept or ate properly since the fire began. ⸻ “Just a little more…”
‘What could have started this fire? It is not a Catastrophe, there is no signs of Originium anywhere, and the nature around did not show any signs to spark a fire… What the hell is happening…’
The Liberi traveled amongst what was left of the jungle before the sound of fire crackling and trees falling reached her ears once again, reminding her that her job is not done yet.
⸻ “…! You are the leader of Inam’s committee!” ⸻ One of the Archosauria that was trying to control the fire recognized her as she approached, she recognized her clothing as she was one of the people from Gavial’s Will, Tomimi’s tribe.
⸻ “I am here to inform something important, where is your tribe leader?”
⸻ “She is further inside with a few of her men, she said she heard the sound of someone cry from inside the jungle and she insisted to help… Cough Cough… This fire is unbearable!”
⸻ “Which direction?”
The tribe member of another group pointed in a direction, and Inam thanked her before resuming her sprint. Upon entering the blazing rainforest, she realized that the fire in this part is completely different, unnaturally moving it was as if the flames were trying to reach her, luckily, she was quick enough to dodge all the attacks from nature itself.
⸻ “I no longer hear it? B-But I am sure someone was crying here!”
⸻ “Forget about it, tribe leader, we have to go!”
⸻ “Gavial would have saved everyone here… I can’t just abandon them!”
Inam finally found her, Tomimi, the tribe leader of ‘Gavial’s Will’. An Archosauria with white hair who adorned herself with clothing that was not common amongst her people, yet she was strong enough to become the leader of her tribe. She was discussing something with her tribe members, the place was clearly dangerous, but Inam had a message to say.
⸻ “Tomimi!”
⸻ “Ah! Inam, why are you here?”
⸻ “The fire is not normal! No matter what we do it will not go out! Cough The only way to extinguish it is to kill the one who created the fire!”
⸻ “Someone created it!?”
⸻ “Yes, a… giant stick with a flame on its end, it walks around in fours and its half your size… Cough You kill it and the fire around ceases!”
⸻ “W-What? Just like that?”
⸻ “Just trust me about this, but I have to tell this to the other tribes…! Cough Flint… Where is Flint’s tribe?”
⸻ “Ah! Uhm… We were not together but I saw her on the distance… Cough… Oh, now that you told me about it, she was chasing something just like you said!”
⸻ “Damn it, really?”
⸻ “Yes, I can guide you towards her, I remember she went even deeper than us.”
⸻ “You should just go, why were you here in the first place? It’s incredibly dangerous…”
⸻ “I… I heard someone cry but… I guess I was too late, I can’t find them anywhere… B-But! It’s even more dangerous for you Inam! You clearly look exhausted, we can relay the message to Flint, you should rest!”
⸻ “I cannot rest, not yet. Not until this fire stops, we found a way to halt it so we have to take the opportunity…”
⸻ “T-Then… Let us accompany you! The more we are the better the chances we have to stop the monster!”
⸻ “Cough Cough… Then let’s be quick! Let’s go!”
Tomimi pointed the place and started to run alongside Inam while being accompanied by her tribe members, this was clearly the most dangerous thing the Acahuallan residents experienced in a long time and Tomimi was looking clearly anxious, living a simple life style of fighting amongst each other was nothing in comparison to the actual calamity happening around them.
‘I am sure that I heard that… But… I did not find anybody… Could it be that it was already… Reduced to ash?’ Tomimi thought while running, she reminisced of her dearest friend that left some time ago, the strongest people she knew of, and in her mind wondered if she was present, could she have done something to stop the fire?
They dodged the giant branched engulfed in flames at they fell besides them, the sudden flames sprouting from the other sides, everyone felt their eyes struggle to keep up, and their coughs were getting more and more frequent, it was clear that the fire was heating up the more they approached the depths of the rainforest.
Eventually they found her, Kemar, or what she call others to refer to her, Flint, a rather recently risen leader of her own tribe, she was discarding some gloves that caught fire as she breathed harshly, looking exhausted just like the other members of her tribe, not by injuries but by the fire around them. They all looked at the creature, trashing on the ground as it appeared it was recently attacked.
⸻ “Flint tribe! Listen well!” ⸻ Inam announced as she approached them, gaining their attention.
⸻ “Kill it! If you do the fire stops!”
⸻ “…!” ⸻ Flint did not question her words, maybe because her voice would not escape her mouth even if she wanted to, and upon understanding what she meant she ran towards the creature, aiming to strike it down with her own bare fists.
⸻ “Crackle Crackle” ⸻ Unfortunately, the creature recovered from the strike and dodged the attack jumping in the air, intending to keep her assault Flint connected a kick on the creature’s body, with the impact the creature was sent flying until it struck a tree.
Following her attack, Flint quickly closed the distance between them and used her fist to punch the creature, breaking the barely standing tree behind it. Flint gritted her teeth as she felt part of her knuckles burn, a signal to no attack in the same way again.
With Flint backing up, Inam used the opportunity to strike the creature with her weapons, drawing blood as it crawled on the ground, scurrying away with open wounds it crawled on the ground it tried to gain distance.
⸻ “You!” ⸻ It was stopped by Tomimi, who used her staff to struck it to the ground, clearly receiving damage as it trembled on the ground, almost appearing in pain. Using the opportunity, the other tribe members struck as well with their weapons, making sure to not let the creature rest even a little.
⸻ “Kiiiiiiih…!” ⸻ Emitting a strange sound, the creature let some sparks escape its wound before a flame formed on the extreme of its body, the fire extended around it almost as an explosion and everyone else was forced to back away unless they wanted their bodies to be burned.
⸻ “What!?”
⸻ “Urk…! My hand…!”
Wind accumulated around it as flames accompanied it, forming a shield of fire around it that did not let anyone approach it.
⸻ “Do not come close to it!”
⸻ “Tch! My spear broke…”
It struggled to stand up, with all its limbs shaking, however it appeared to have a desire to not die yet, turning around it started to run away, while maintaining the shield of fire around it.
⸻ “It’s running away!? After it, fast!”
They quickly started to chase after it, with its small stature it could fit on narrow spaces, and the fire around them making obstacles did not help either, with all those factors they almost lost it, but luckily, they managed to keep it in their eyes. Unbeknownst to them the creature was not running aimlessly, it was running towards the only thing that could possibly help it, the creator of the fire, and the one monster that wanted to reduce everything to ashes.
They all felt it, from one moment to another they felt the temperature rise, they felt all exposed skin start to send thousands of signals to their brains to run away, because if they stood in this area longer, they would certainly die, possibly of a heatstroke.
But they had their objective so close, if they managed to kill it the forest would certainly return to normal, they just had to reach it in time before their bodies reached the point of no return.
⸻ “Tch!” ⸻ Flint clicked her tongue as she sprinted quicker than before, she ignored the flames that she previously dodged and injured herself to catch up, extending her hand towards the running creature she drowned a scream as saw her skin slowly charring as she grabbed one of the limbs of the monster before lifting it and striking it on the ground, making the fire around it disappears.
It struggled on her grasp for some time before it turned around on itself, making its back limb forcefully torn off its body, leaking blood the creature started to run again yet this time it was clearly slower than before, Inam and Gavial’s Will tribe were quickly approaching. Some of Flint tribe members supported her, before being dismissed as she kept her chase alongside the others.
Limping on the ground, the creature finally reached a clearer space, as all around it was already turned to ash as there was nothing else to burn, in the middle of it there it was, the charred corpse of a little girl with a huge match stick piercing her body, she had her eyes closed as silent tears traveled on her cheeks before quickly evaporating, despite the heat around her the match stick did not find a flame to call its own.
She walked aimlessly, not bothering to see where she was going, her steps were slow as her charred body could not extort that much strength on its own, however in her travel the ash that she stepped on threatened to light up again, even if there was no more fuel for fire.
The little match stick approached her with unknown intentions, but it will never reach her as an axe was suddenly piercing its body, leaking more blood than you could possibly assume that would be inside its body. It tried to crawl away, but another assailant struck its body with a staff, worsening its injuries as it found no more strength in its body to escape, it lit up in red before staining its attackers in red.
⸻ “…! I-It’s dead! So that means…”
Inam, Tomimi, Flint and the other tribe members looked around, and just like they predicted the fire started to subside, they felt the temperature around them drop to normal levels and their exposed skin would no longer beg for mercy, the ashy terrain started to replace the fire yet the hellish landscape did not look better at all, consequences of the wildfire, Inam was so occupied that she did not notice that it was already morning.
⸻ “…It’s over…?” ⸻ Flint asked, struggling to make her voice reach the others, something expected from someone who was around the fire for that much time.
⸻ “…Uwaah, finally… Ah! My clothes are stained by blood… Ugh… And I was already worried from the fire…”
⸻ “…That girl…”
At Inam’s message, they all looked at the figure standing in the middle of a pile of ash, she had the figure of a human yet she was clearly dead, a body charred to that point could only mean that her corpse was at the mercy of the flames for a long time, but they did not know if the flames killed her or if it was the piece of wood that stabbed her.
All signs pointed that she was just another victim of the fire, but once they looked at her, their bodies, their nature as humans, reacted in fear as they could not make sense of the feeling of impending danger that engulfed them.
⸻ “…I guess… This was where the sound was coming from.” ⸻ Tomimi approached the girl, despite her subconscious alerting her that she should not approach, she found herself wondering if this was the girl that she could not save.
As the Archosauria approached the girl, Inam noticed the pointy end of the wood that pierced her send a few sparks in the air, Inam realized what was going on as her eyes widened open, at the same time that the charred girl standing started to slowly open her eyes as well, Tomimi saw the endless void in her eyes, not a sign of life was behind them yet despite that, her very being noticed the sorrow and hatred that emanated from the girl.
⸻ “Tomimi! Back away!” ⸻ Inam screamed as she ran towards Tomimi, the one person looking at Inam scared as well as confused.
The Scorched Girl opened her eyes, as tears ran through her face realizing that the little match sticks perished, these people taking her hope away from her. Inam grabbed Tomimi by her clothes and threw her far from the girl.
And then, the match stick lit up.
*BOOM*
As if nothing changed, the entire rainforest was once again engulfed in flames, in a bright light an explosion reached all of them with no chance to react, Inam felt all her body travel through hell and back as she was the first to be exposed to the flames, the explosion sent her flying towards Flint’s tribe as a ball of fire, Flint barely shielded herself, evading a situation where she would have looked directly at the bright explosion that would have blinded her permanently, she too felt the sensation of her skin burning as she shielded herself from the impact, her injured arm not helping to soothe the pain. Tomimi who was still in the air found herself travelling further consequence of the impact of the explosion, so much that she hit the ground with so much force that she felt some of her bones reach her ears, yet she could not differentiate that pain from the one she was feeling over the fire in her entire body.
The other tribe members were not faring any better, some of them suffered the consequences of their lack of clothes, their once bright green skin was now a threatening red, while some of them started to fall unconscious as they could not stand the heat.
Despite all the pain they were feeling, all their nerves sending so many signals of different stimuli could not override the overwhelming feeling of dread that they all felt upon looking at the Abnormality. The Scorched Girl cried as the flames answered to her movements, she took a step and a huge wave of flames sprouted from her as it traveled towards her attackers.
⸻ “…!” ⸻ Flint barely had time to react, she took the barely conscious Inam and took cover behind the charred trees, she watched as the other Archosauria imitated her, some of them grabbed their unconscious comrades yet they could not help them all, once the huge wave of flames passed through them, she looked again to not find the bodies of any of the other tribe members, only ash.
⸻ “…Strong.” ⸻ That was the only thing that Flint could say, she looked towards the girl and she felt her heart stop as she kept crying and walking towards them, even if her charred body could barely hold her own weight her march did not show any signs of stopping. Inam recovered from her previous state as she struggled to stand up, she was supported by Flint.
⸻ “This is… the true culprit…”
With every step she took, flames scattered around the area and wind guided its purpose, Inam ignored the pain and was thinking of ways to stop her rampage, if the monster kept bringing destruction around it, then eventually all cover would be blown away, and if they don’t stop it now, the entire Acahualla will be done for.
⸻ “That girl…”
⸻ “…?”
She saw Tomimi, the timid girl who always talked about her friend who traveled away was now positioning herself behind the Scorched Girl, with a look belonging of a Tiacauh warrior, despite the blood on her clothes and her awkward posture, she did not show any signs of giving up, and the heavy part of her staff letting a light escape from its interior.
⸻ “Inam…”
⸻ “…What.”
⸻ “…Looking at you.” ⸻ Flint said as she realized that the Scorched Girl had her sights upon Inam, the objective of her attacks, the target of her suffering. Inam told Flint to move a little to the right, obeying her orders she did what she was told yet the Scorched Girl did not move her sight from Inam. Testing once again her own thoughts Inam moved in the opposite direction, and just like she thought, the girl followed her with her sight.
‘I am her objective.’
‘What do I do? Do I make a plan to strike it down or do I run away, making time for the other to run?’
‘But I don’t know if it will become faster once I go away, and I can’t risk the rest of the rainforest catching fire.’
‘…I don’t have a choice, we have to kill it now, I don’t know how much longer I can stand in this fire…’
⸻ “I will distract it… Cough… reunite with Tomimi and strike at my signal”
⸻ “…Be alright?”
⸻ “I’m tougher than I look.”
⸻ “…Understood”
Flint started to move alongside her tribe and soon too did Inam, she limped as she covered herself from the assault of flames that targeted her as she walked, she wanted to scream as her feet were screaming to get away, to stop the sensation of her skin dying with each step, yet her will was not swayed by it.
As she moved, she noticed the pattern of her attack, there was a gap in between them in which the Scorched Girl made efforts in her new movement, as the charred corpse could not keep up with sudden and quick movements, Inam will use this opportunity.
Once she found the opportunity, she hid behind a great charred tree, barely standing from the attacks, but it would suffice to close the distance between them, Inam prepared her weapons and stood still, a moment of rest.
Even with all the hell around them, the footsteps of the girl were louder than anything else, with the only remaining strength she had, Inam recognized the close distance and stepped out of her hiding place, she ran towards the girl with her weapons up in the air, exposing herself towards her attacker.
⸻ “…” ⸻ The girl did not look threatened, if the sole one responsible for her suffering was just throwing her life, then she would accept this end, because after she is done with her, the world shall too burn alongside her. The Scorched girl used her remaining strength that sprouted from her hatred to lift both of her arms, and from the cracks on the ground fire escaped from them.
But the moment she started to move her arms, Inam immediately abandoned her attack, throwing both her axes towards the monster and quickly finding cover, she had no intentions to attack in the first place, she only wanted to gain the attention of the girl.
⸻ “…?” ⸻ The girl carbonized the axes that were flying towards her, leaving no traces of them as they disappeared on the air, she grew confused as she did not understand the intentions of her attacker, did she grow coward and ran away the moment she began her attack?
⸻ “…!” ⸻ But the girl could not wonder any longer, as the attack from Tomimi’s Arts interrupted her thoughts, striking the girl’s face towards the ground with so much strength that the floor itself broke on impact, burying half of the Scorched girl face on the ashy terrain. Tomimi’s assault did not stop, as she used her Arts at close distance, striking the girl on the ground over and over again.
⸻ “Fall back!”
⸻ “R-Right!”
Following Inam’s command, Tomimi stopped her assault to jump back, just in time to dodge the wave of flames around the girl as she barely managed to move her arm towards her, standing up she recognized Inam’s running towards her again, rage grew inside her again as tears started to drop from her face, recognizing her she aimed at her.
⸻ “…Ah…” ⸻ But her attack was interrupted as Flint suddenly appeared beside her, striking her in the stomach with her foot, sending her flying as she hit the ground multiple times before stopping before multiple members of her tribe, who used their fist and spears to strike the monster on the ground multiple times.
⸻ “Move, now!”
⸻ “Ah… Ahhhh!!!” ⸻ The girl let her voice out as she burned everything around her, the tribe members barely having time to escape, ditching their weapons as the ones impaling the Scorched girl were reduced to charred materials on the ground, growing impatient she screamed towards the ground and the flames burned everything around her.
Stopping her attack and showing her exhaustion, Tomimi used that opportunity to once again strike her with her Art infused staff, stunning the girl, she tried to attack Tomimi but she was interrupted by a strike from Inam, with barely time to react she was struck by Flint, and then Tomimi, and then by another Archosauria again.
Using the weak body from the Abnormality to her advantage, Inam used the fact that the girl had to take time to charge her attacks, if they could not let the girl rest then they could hopefully stop this hell, the only thing that they had to do was endure the heat that escaped from the girl.
‘Just… A little longer.’ Inam thought as she felt her knuckles burn from just punching the girl.
‘Please fall, please fall!’ Tomimi thought as she noticed that her staff was about to break from using her Arts too much.
‘It hurts… just… Die already!’ Flint thought as she felt her feet scream for her to stop.
‘Die, just die!’ ‘Die!’ ‘Just fall already!’ ‘You lost! Just give up!’ Some of the Archosauria thought as they kept attacking the girl.
…
⸻ “There you are” ⸻ The Scorched Girl said as the void in her eyes was replaced by a crimson red, looking straight at Inam, as for the first time in her short life, you could almost confuse her frown with a sadistic smile.
⸻ “…! Shit, fall back, fall back! She is about to do something!” ⸻ Inam quickly alerted the others, who quickly started to disperse, they all stopped their attacks and started to flee. But for the Scorched Girl it did not matter, as the flame in the matchstick that impaled her soon disappeared.
And then
An explosion.
The Scorched Girl exploded, and all around her disappeared, her attackers tried to find cover or defend themselves, covering their weak parts, but all the area around her flattened in an instant, the once barely standing trees were now mere shadows on the ground, and all cover was deemed useless, all fire was extinguished as silence governed the place.
Inam was barely conscious, the flash from the explosion partially blinded her and she heard an annoying sound in her ears, the clear indicator of internal damage, she did not feel her arms nor her legs.
The other people around her were no different, they clearly had signs of being affected, however the flames around them were no more, looking around she just saw the flattened landscape, there were no more places to hide on an open place like this, she saw the sun, noticing her that a lot of time has passed since she first saw the critter.
Flint’s body finally gave up, so much injuries would eventually reach her, the ring in her ears did not let her rest yet, but her vision was clear, clear enough to see the horror in front of her.
The Scorched Girl, after that attack, was still standing, and soon enough, flames started to rise around them in response to her movements.
She could not hear, but she saw someone beside her standing up again, she saw Tomimi, using her broken staff to support herself, showing signs of not giving up, blood was covering half of her face yet she looked as determined as ever.
⸻ “Ugh…” ⸻ She almost fell, yet she quickly regained her posture as she prepared herself to attack once more, she watched as the girl started to approach them, yet this time she did not have cover, she did not have other allies, and she did not have her friend to save her.
⸻ “Gavial… would not have given up.” ⸻ She grabbed her broken staff, and positions herself to attack once more, even if her body was trembling.
⸻ “So, I will… not give up either!” ⸻ The girl kept approaching her, not giving her any attention to her speech.
‘She is going to get killed…’ Inam struggled to stand back up, yet her arms had no strength remaining to support herself, she looked at Flint, who tried the same thing, only managing to get on her knee.
‘Stand up, Inam… You are better than this… Stand up!’
⸻ “Aaaah!” ⸻ Tomimi screamed as she ran towards the girl, even if she could not use her arts once more, she lifted her staff up in the air once more as she approached her. But pity was not something that the Scorch Girl would give her, as the moment she closed the gap, she lifter her arms to reduce her to cinders once more.
‘Inam! Stand up!’
⸻ “…!”
Then suddenly, a huge wave of air hit her, this time from beside as two figures moved past her extremely quickly, so fast that once they passed Tomimi, she was thrown off balance because of it.
*BOOM*
Almost the sound of an explosion, but this time it was not coming from the girl engulfing in flames again, it was the sound that escaped the impact from the attack from the two new people that arrived, barely resembling a humanoid shape, both of them struck the Scorched girl with their hands over the head of the girl, making her bounce on the ground head first, leaving her floating in the air.
The attack did not stop, on the air she was struck again by the individual on the left with his fist, while the other on the right struck her with her leg, making her spin in place. The one on the left grabbed her by the face, and struck her towards the ground as he started to run, damaging her face as he ran with her still buried.
⸻ “What… just happened?” ⸻ Tomimi said as she sat there on the ground, confused at to what she was seeing, yet Inam and Flint had no better answer for her for the one she already has. Who were these people?
His run stopped and throwed her off the ground and up in the air, she was barely a second there before the other fell on her like a meteorite, kicking her on her head and once again struck against the surface, travelling further while the one on top of her balanced herself, almost as if she was having fun.
⸻ “Ahhh!” ⸻ The Scorched Girl cried, and engulfed herself in flames once more, fire sprouted from the ground and aimed at the one standing on her, however she was no longer there, standing up she could only see the other one already at her face, she could not attack as she was interrupted by a knee on her abdomen, the Abnormality was no match against them.
⸻ “AAAAAHH!” ⸻ She tried to scream again, but was cut off by a hand piercing her chest, consequence of ignoring the other one, the other Agent using her hand as a blade itself cut through the Abnormality like paper, her interior felt like hell itself, but the Corrosion shielded her for most of the damage, no matter how many emotions she had, her fire would not reach her.
⸻ “Uuugh…” ⸻ Her eyes turned red, and in that instant the Agent behind her freed her hand and took a step back and in her position the other positioned himself, shielding himself with his arms he secured his footing and prepared.
‘Again!?’ Was the thought that crossed the minds of those spectating.
*BOOOOOOOM*
The same explosion as before, the others watching felt the shockwave of air and heat hit them once again, Tomimi was thrown back by the impact, but now that there was a safe distance their lives were not threatened because of it, but they all felt the dread of experiencing this again, and what about those attackers, the ones who took the hit head on?
The Scorched Girl tried to regain her balance, now with a gaping hole on her chest that was not sealed by a matchstick, she thought that her attackers would be reduced to ashes with her attack, just like everything else, she thought that now that they were out of the picture, she would continue to reduce everything else to cinders, however.
⸻ “…!” ⸻ The Abnormality found herself in pain as a red hand covered in eyes grabbed her by her injury, piercing its long nails over the charred flesh to induce the most pain possible, red and cyan eyes shined through the dust as their attacks resumed.
‘Injured…? No… Nothing changed’ Flint was the one to think, once the dust settled and she recovered from the explosion, she could see that the one that put himself in front of the other had changed, now his body was covered in red fibers and bones, half of his face was now monstruous, as she could not discern its form, yet even if he appeared injured with all that exposed flesh, he moved no slower than before. The other was different too, she appeared to be taller as a pale skin was exposed through her black clothing, and her hair covered her most of her face, yet even with that, they could feel her piercing red eyes through her white hair, and her mouth extended to almost her ears, a macabre smile was present on it.
‘How can one be… so strong?’
Yes, they were strong, stronger than the Scorched Girl could never imagine, she was done for the moment she was noticed, as the scale of power in Lobotomy Corporation indicates, she was a mere TETH in the face of an ALEPH, which no matter how weakened, was an ALEPH nonetheless. It was unfair for the Abnormality, but no matter how strong she was, she would never reach the reign of the ALEPH class.
⸻ “Ahh… Aaahhh…. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!” ⸻ She tried to attack, but was interrupted or it would not reach them, she tried to concentrate but they were already tossing her around, she tried to explode again, but it would not matter, so eventually she gave up and gathered all of her strength, all of her hatred towards this world, all the desire to reduce everything to ashes, and eventually her eyes reached a crimson red.
⸻ “Finally” ⸻ One of them said, but the others would not understand what she said, the scream of the Abnormality was interrupted as she shoved her hand inside of it, enduring hellish temperatures as she grabbed her throat, and on a swift motion she lifted her and threw her with all her force towards the ground, yet she did not find the soil, as she was kicked with the colossal strength of the other agent, and with the force of the impact she was sent flying upwards in the air, just in time for the Abnormality to draw her last breath.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
An explosion so big it almost covered the sky in black, the shockwave affected the charred trees that were barely standing to finally collapse, as well as the ones in the distance not affected by the fire to almost break off the ground, and the sound of it they imagined it was probably heard in all of Acahualla, making the three leader of the tribe cover their ears with a pained expression, they would be terrified of the thought that the girl could appear again even after that, but when red rain started to pour from the sky, in their subconscious they knew it was over.
‘This is… blood’ Inam said as she smelled the red liquid that traveled on her face as she looked up, she shook her head to regain focus, and looked at the two people, if she can even call them that, look at the sky as if they were waiting for something.
⸻ “Inam…?” ⸻ Tomimi, recovering from her shock, wondered aloud as she saw the tribe leader walk past her, her path aimed towards the two of the strongest people she has ever seen, yet despite that, Tomimi could see that her hand was shaking, and it was not because of the stress that she putted her body through, it was because of fear.
Inam walking towards them, almost limping, her subconscious was screaming at her to turn back and run, as she approached them, she could almost feel her head hurting, even if it was day, it felt as if darkness engulfed her, and their eyes shined right through her.
⸻ “Flint… you too?” ⸻ Tomimi said as she saw the other one, limping towards them as she walked, she was no better than them, she was shaking on the spot, once the fear of the charred girl passed, another took its place yet stronger, as now she realized that these people were the real threat. Yet despite that, Inam and Flint were approaching them, she wondered why, were they not scared to death just like her?
She took deep breaths, and finally stood up and started to walk towards them, for what reason could they be approaching them? Could they just not throw some thanks and left it at that? They were clearly out of their league, so she could not image Inam wanting to pick a fight with them, and Flint would know better than to pick fights that she knew she could not win, so what could be the reason?
Despite that, the Archosauria gathered enough courage to approach them, reminiscing in her mind the image of another girl, maybe to ease her fears.
Eventually, they all reached them, and with the rain of blood still falling on them, they looked even more terrifying than before, yet Inam stood in front of them, looking at the one with a monstruous body, as the other was
⸻ “…”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “…Why is she looking at me?” ⸻ Said Ramirez, as he looked at Liza.
⸻ “Ah... My hair is ruined” ⸻ Liza answered, as she tried to cover her hair with both her hands, trying to not ruin her hair more, the root of her annoyance, she ignored Ramirez comment as she did so.
They both spoke in a language that was unknown to the tribe leaders, yet they felt no hostility from them, Inam took a deep breath and started to talk.
⸻ “Who are you?” ⸻ She asked, and as soon as her words left her mouth, she saw Tomimi in the corner of her eye starting to freak out, and she looked as if she wanted to run away.
⸻ “…You talk to them” ⸻ He said to his coworker, yet she did not respond. ⸻ “…Tch, whatever.”
⸻ “My name is Ramirez… Her name is… Liza.” ⸻ He said as he struggled to remember the words he was taught by Angela, not his strength as he spent most of his time away from the Eunectes Tribe. Parker hammered into his skull that he should be more open towards the other tribes, maybe that way he could gather more hands to help the process of rebuilding the Control Department.
Judging that they knew how to speak their language, or at least some part of it, Inam’s mouth let a sigh of relief escape from it, as she understood that at least this people were not actively hostile, despite their horrendous appearance.
⸻ “What was that… Thing?”
⸻ “Thing is… Umm… Abnormality, monster, job… Is to kill” ⸻ He said the last part as he pointed at himself, more specifically, he pointed at his armband, the one that had an ‘M’ on it, he also pointed at the one from his coworker, the one that did not speak, her armband said ‘H’.
‘That’s reassuring, if they were truly hunter of these type of monsters then they would have no intention to fight us.’ Inam’s fears were starting to reduce, yet she could not completely trust them yet. But if they were here then… ‘Where did they come from, or how did they know she was here? The last time she was in a city she would at least hear from them, and the damage of this monster was not minor, both of their strengths were unbelievable if she had not just experienced herself.’
⸻ “Why do you look like that?” ⸻ Tomimi said before Inam could ask, yet once she looked at the girl, she saw that she covered her mouth the moment those words escaped her mouth, she appeared frightened by her mistake, would they attack her?
⸻ “Umm…” ⸻ Instead, he just scratched the back of his head ⸻ “Fight monsters too much… Monster… Corrupts you, damages body, body becomes half monster, consequence.”
He was clearly lying, he could not just tell them about terms like E.G.O Gear, nor E.G.O Corrosion to mere strangers, yet they bought it anyway, he was clearly now getting impatient, but it was not aimed at them as he kept looking at the sky for something. But because of his answer, the people asking the questions were more relaxed, as they realized that they were not monster mimicking humans, but instead humans transforming into ones, the key word being that they were human just like them.
⸻ “Who are you from? If you are here… Are there more monsters in Acahualla?” ⸻ Once Inam asked that, she could tell that the question made him uncomfortable, as Ramirez in his mind was now regretting showing such an open-minded façade, he was just buying time for himself as he was just waiting for the Abnormality Core to fall any moment now, should he just tell them to piss off?
⸻ “…Underground” ⸻ This time Liza said, finally talking, with words that frightened them, as they had an echo that rebounded at the back of their minds. ⸻ “We were underground for a long time, we are now resting as we repair our base, we are in collaboration with the Eunectes Tribe as they help us.”
⸻ “The Eunectes Tribe? Is Zumama… Alright?” ⸻ The dominion over the language was very apparent, something that made Ramirez look at her annoyed.
⸻ “She is, she even encountered an Abnormality before, yuck, this will take forever to wash off…” ⸻ Once she said that, Inam and the others tensed up
⸻ “W-What? Zumama did!?” ⸻ Tomimi said out loud, showing her surprise, yet they did not show any signs of concern for her, Inam had the worst feeling amongst all of them, if that one member did not return then it means that they probably died on the way.
She was about to ask something else, but suddenly both of them looked up at the same time, and Ramirez felt the Abnormality Core right in his hand, feeling the heat from the Core he eventually positioned himself to start to run.
⸻ “W-Wait, I have something else to ask!” ⸻ But they ignored her, and once they had the Core they quickly disappeared into the distance, their run speed was clearly better than theirs, and soon enough they vanished from sight.
⸻ “…I did not get to ask anything.” ⸻ Flint said.
⸻ “Shit…” ⸻ However, Inam started to run after them, yet with her injuries she fell after taking a few steps, Tomimi ran towards her to support her.
⸻ “Inam, you are too injured, if you keep going like that…”
⸻ “I have to know more about them, about these monsters, there could be a lot more here and we would not know… But I also am worried about Zumama, I can’t just trust them about saying she is fine, what if they are lying?”
⸻ “S-Still…”
⸻ “Here…” ⸻ Flint aided her, she put her other arm over her shoulder. ⸻ “I will go too, let me help you.”
⸻ “Uwah… Do we really have to?”
.
.
.
*THUD*
The sound of the Abnormality Core being placed inside the Containment Chamber echoed through the empty room, Ramirez remembered the countless times he did so, times were he had to return the Abnormality towards its chamber even after all his coworkers were murdered or driven to insanity after breaching, he just had to do his job, that’s all.
He wondered why he let his mouth loose, every day he would just tell them to piss off, or to scatter, since he would not be in the mood, yet he answered their questions they had until they ran out of time, since he had a mission.
Maybe he sympathized, behind them he saw the charred corpses of what he could recall were called Archosauria, their weapons reduced to ash and what appeared to be the leaders, in any other occasion he would be pissed at them, yet they were driven by curiosity to understand why this happened in the first place.
He recalled the days where he would form a bond inside this company, only for that bond to be broken in the next days as death was too common, maybe almost as common as in the Backstreets, the place he grew in. He reminisced of the times he did not understand why their coworker just… disappear, from one day to another. Why they would put those shoes and scream his name, or why they would just jump on that machine, or why did their heads blow up when they were throwing jokes at the cafeteria, or to why they were chosen by the machine to be… promoted.
Yet even after all that happened, he survived, because he was strong, but at the back of his mind, his doubt told him that he only survived because the Manager allowed it. Since he was a Department Captain, his role led to the Department to had the least number of deaths since he was there, yet deaths still occurred, something that he still lacked in his role of leader.
Maybe he let his mouth loose, because even the tinies bit of information, would lead them to alleviate their worries even a little, as to why those deaths happened in the first place, and to not have to beg their Sephirah to not refrain information from them, just like him.
‘Beg their Sephirah? Are you growing soft Ramirez? Or are you projecting yourself on to them, to make another shell, to crawl through their flesh and swim on their blood, to feel whole… Stop, stop right now.’
⸻ “This is the Abnormality speaking, that ALEPH just wanted to understand humans better, to kill them, not to worry for them.”
⸻ “I am not a weak employee.”
⸻ “I am better than them, that’s why I joined a Wing and not them”
⸻ “I am not… a weak employee.”
⸻ “Because in the Control Team, weakness means death, right?”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “A contract bound me no longer, if I ever see you again…” ⸻ He said as he looked at his armband, and once he took a deep breath, he pressed the button at the side of the door and it opened, he walked through and it closed behind him, the sound of the door sealing itself to not let the Abnormality escape reached his ears, yet the truth about the process made him uneasy, could this door really keep the Abnormality sealed, if its purpose was to allow it to happen? Or maybe Parker already thought about it and already modified its design? He would have to ask him.
With the majority of the Facility already rebuilt, he looked at both of his sides, the hallway extending towards the main room on one side and an elevator on the other, light was barely working as the energy was being focused around the Qliphoth Deterrence, and they had not spent too much time working on the ZAYIN Abnormality to gather more Energy, not now if they did not know if there are other monsters in the area.
He walked towards Main Room, as his gaze wandered, even when they rebuilt the vast majority of the Control Department, they did not take their time to clean, something that they would have to fix soon, because the papers scattered around did not make this place just unclean, on top of the blood on them this just made this place unnerving, but to Ramirez it only made it depressing, as they reminded him of his forty ninth day at work, the day were he saw an absurd amount of people die. The chaos was so much that they did not have time to clean as the next shift had already started as they kept working, because of that he was also worried a lot, because he remembered what happened the last time people at Lobotomy Corporation did not bother to clean the corpses off the ground. But their corpses would not be found, as they disappeared alongside the Light that day, the day he fought against The Head.
Finally reaching the end of the hallway, the door automatically opened for him, and stepping inside the Main Room he saw all the monitors that he used to work with, watching as people were killed ruthlessly, with him only allowed to remain in his post even if he had the highest JUSTICE parameter, just because his Sephirah forbid him to do so.
Not choosing to wander any longer, he averted his eyes and looked to the new door that was not in his memories, pushing the button at the side this door opened with the sunlight, as he approached his coworker reporting their mission to his boss.
⸻ “And then, some people approached us and they looked at us with so much fear it was almost hilarious, Ah! There was one that was so cute, the girl with the white hair.”
⸻ “…I don’t think that last part is necessary to say, Liza” ⸻ Ramirez said as he approached them.
⸻ “Booo! It is my report and I say how I do it!”
⸻ “I don’t think that’s how it works…” ⸻ Angela said
⸻ “Whatever, once the Core fell, we just grabbed it and returned here, with mister no-fun over here placing it inside the Containment Chamber. But man, it felt good to punch that girl!”
⸻ “…Thank you, Liza.” ⸻ Angela said, ignoring her last comment. ⸻ “As for us, just like Hannah told you, we had no sightings of other Abnormalities here, using Parker abilities he confirmed as that.”
⸻ “It appears that no one here is even aware at to what happened.” ⸻ Ramirez said as he looked around, Angela followed his gaze at the other Archosauria from the Eunectes Tribe, with Zumama and the High Priest noticing Angela’s gaze as they waved back at her with smiles in their faces.
⸻ “They were startled by the explosion, but we reassured them that it was the both of you suppressing the Abnormality, once they understood that they returned back to their work, some of them wondered if there were other Abnormalities that would attack, but just like we said, we found none.” ⸻ While she explained, she awkwardly waved back ⸻ “But it appears that they trust our strength, as they relaxed once Parker told them he would fight himself if an Abnormality appears.”
⸻ “Well, it appears everything is alright, where is that guy anyways? I don’t see Hannah either.” ⸻
⸻ “I was about to inform you, since they noticed that there was no near threat, they both began to work on the Qliphoth Deterrence to better their usage of their Corrosion and E.G.O Gear, because of that, they told me for you to go for them the moment you arrive.”
⸻ “Me?”
⸻ “Yes”
⸻ “…Fine, I’ll go right now” ⸻ Ramirez said, as he began to walk towards the room that contained the Qliphoth Deterrence, and the ‘Well’, the room that Parker said he would need to help to connect to the Main Room once they were finished, and looking at the vehicle and the Department, it would be a very little time from now on.
⸻ “For now, could you accompany me, Liza?” ⸻ Ramirez heard from his back, and he also heard the groan of annoyance from his coworker, maybe the lack of Sephirah is letting that girl act too aloof? If she did that in any other Wing she would be expelled on the spot, maybe Angela is a little too lenient.
As the opened for him, he entered the room and he saw Parker and Hannah working and quickly walking around the place, for what reason could they need him for?
⸻ “We could use this cloth if Ramirez screams too much.” ⸻ Parker said as he handed a piece of clothing to Hannah, who grabbed it and did no comment on that.
⸻ “…What?” ⸻ Ramirez said as he entered the room, it appears that they were too focused on their work to notice him arriving, yet once they heard him, recognizing his voice, they turned to him almost instantly.
⸻ “Ramirez, good timing. Come here, quickly” ⸻ Hannah said as she approached him and started to push him towards the restraining bed at the front of the green chamber.
⸻ “Wait, wait, what are you doing?”
⸻ “We need to find a way for you to use ‘Mimicry’ fast, and for that we need to test the limits of your mind, to synchronize better or worse with your gear, whatever gets us to manifest the E.G.O weapon” ⸻ Parker this time said, Ramirez was quickly put over the bed and they were beginning to put a lot of restrains over him.
⸻ “I mean… I get that we have to do it eventually but… for what reason so soon?”
⸻ “We need to find a way for us to use our E.G.O Weapons as fast as possible, since we will have to fight probably very soon.”
⸻ “Huh? you said that there were no Abnormalities near, right? Was that a lie?”
⸻ “Ramirez, what Abnormalities were in the Control Department on the last day?” ⸻ Hannah asked, as she added more restraints on his body.
⸻ “There were four, just like the other Departments, we had Fairy Festival, Scorched Girl, that tree sap and… Oh… Oh mierda.” ⸻ Ramirez thought, he now was following their train of thought, if the Abnormalities they encountered were related to the ruined Control Department, then that would mean that the ‘Giant Tree Sap’ was there somewhere else, but that was not the problem, it was the fourth remaining abnormality, a WAW.
⸻ “Yes, mierda. If that thing has already hatched or not, we have a problem on our hands already, even if Parker could not find it with his enhanced eyesight, then that means its hidden enough for us to not risk it and go around looking for it.” ⸻ Hannah said as she started to pierce Ramirez skin with needles that connected tubes to the green chamber.
⸻ “And if that thing hatches, then not just the area around it, it means this entire rainforest is compromised, as her spores would travel alongside the air, not unlike our Facility, this entire ecosystem could collapse in just days.” ⸻ Parker said as he worked on the laptop beside him, tapping the keyboard incredibly fast, faster than that night.
⸻ “Does it have to be me though? Can it be Liza? She barely works…”
⸻ “We could use Liza, but we need someone with the most resistance towards RED damage, and one who could sustain long fights and regenerate faster than they could be infected.”
⸻ “…Liza can heal herself form attacking others, that’s how ‘Paradise Lost’ works…”
⸻ “Well, you are already restrained, so toughen up!” ⸻ Hannah said as she reached the end of her patience, Ramirez was starting to sound almost like the one he was complaining about. ⸻ “This will probably hurt a lot, so we need you to endure it, okay?”
⸻ “You are supposed to tell me that it will be o…KAY!!!!!” ⸻ He screamed the last part as Hannah used a lever, making the tubes inject him with something that he did not know of, the moment he did he felt his mind splitting apart, as he did the best to keep it together, he heard countless voices and he did his best to not tore through his restraints.
⸻ “Endure this Ramirez, and whatever you do, do not fall unconscious!” ⸻ Hannah said as she was quickly behind Parker, grabbing the support of his chair as she looked at the screen and started to analyze its contents alongside Parker, who also added his input.
‘Well fuck you too!’
.
.
.
⸻ “Lady Angela, may such a refined lady shake my hand?” ⸻ The High Priest said as he extended his hand once more, and Angela reluctantly took it.
‘This is the third time already…’ She thought as she shook his hand, yet despite this being an action that he already did, the AI could see the stars in his eyes as she did so, looking beside him she saw Zumama, who was looking expectantly at her, and Angela extended her hand, which Zumama quickly grabbed as well.
⸻ “Yawn Is there really no more to do?” ⸻ Liza said behind her
⸻ “Would you rather take Ramirez place?” ⸻ Angela said, she already had to reassure that Ramirez voice was treatment for his condition, and he was not in fact being tortured by the other coworkers, she had to make clear that in no way or matter, was Ramirez being put through this treatment without his consent, maybe.
⸻ “Yeah… No.”
⸻ “Ah! Miss Angela, last time you said you did not need to sleep, then when it’s night and everyone else is asleep, what do you do?” ⸻ Zumama commented, yet she did not release her hand. Since there were no Abnormalities close and Hannah and Parker were working, Angela had to spend her time with the Archosauria that they had a deal with, but more accurately she spent most of her time listening and talking to Zumama.
At first, she was reluctant to know more about the girl, she was so surprised to learn that she was in fact a machine and not a real human, her reaction led her to shower in compliments the AI and follow her around a lot, Angela at first was wondering if all what she said was true, not finding someone to completely trust in such a long time made it hard for her to believe her, yet she found no reasons to make her comments a false belief, as the girl was completely enthusiast to know everything around her, not just her functions as a machine, but what she liked as a person.
Zumama wondered about what she liked, what she disliked, if she read something like her books or what she did in her free time, questions about her functions were still thrown around, but they were quickly followed or aimed at a personal question just like before.
This girl… Zumama, was clearly fascinated by her, and she tried her best to be in good terms with her, she even thought that it was her aim to be on her good side to be close to the Agents, the strongest people she knew, but she was obviously focused on her, her gaze did not even once was aimed at the Agents that accompanied her, maybe Hannah a few times, but even so she was not showing the respect that a Wing demanded from their employees for her to search for nepotism points.
Angela found this somewhat refreshing, this girl was totally ignorant of the chain of command of Lobotomy Corporation, and only looked at her at a potential… friend, now that she was free, she had no reason to force herself in relationships with those chunks of metal that she calls Sephirah, a completely new relationship outside the confines of L. Corp. At the same time she was not forced to talk to her, she was also not obligated to ignore her, so Angela tried to strike some conversations with her. Oh, and the blue bird was also there.
⸻ “R-Really! Maintenance…?” ⸻ Zumama excitedly said, she clearly wanted to know more about that process, but she knew that was a delicate process that Angela kept to herself.
⸻ “Is there something else that you might want to know, Miss Zumama?” ⸻ Angela said, distracting her from the previous topic.
⸻ “H-Hey, Miss… No… Lady Angela… Can I hug you?”
⸻ “…Well… I think that…”
⸻ “Zumama!” ⸻ And then Angela heard the voice from behind her, they were clearly not from this place as she saw the Liberi and Archosauria, the three of them approaching them. Liza placed herself in front of Angela before she recognized who they were, and she dropped her guard.
⸻ “Ah, it’s those guys.” ⸻ Liza said and Angela quickly recognized that they were the people that Liza mentioned in her report.
⸻ “Inam! You are injured!” ⸻ Zumama said as she approached her, dropping her tools.
⸻ “You girl…! And here I was fearing the worst…”
⸻ “Uwah… Zumama, h-hi!”
⸻ “What happened to you?”
⸻ “We encountered Abnormality, we were saved by strong and ugly people.”
‘UGLY!?’ Someone was rather surprised by Flint's comment
⸻ “An Abnormality? No wonder you guys look so bad, Oh! Maybe it’s you guys from that explosion earlier today?”
⸻ “Hah… Yes, but we need to catch up, where are the half monster people from earlier?”
⸻ “Cough Cough… Hmm… I wonder…?” ⸻ Liza said as she looked away.
⸻ “Umm…” ⸻ Inam said as she looked at Angela.
⸻ “Ah! S-Sorry Lady Angela, I forgot to introduce them to you, this is Inam, I knew her since I was younger, I always bought books from her, and this is Tomimi, and this is Flint, the tribe leaders of Gavial’s will and Flint’s tribe” ⸻ Zumama said as she pointed to them, before she ran towards Angela’s side and presented her. ⸻ “This is Angela, a machine no different from a human, isn’t she fascinating?”
⸻ “Cough Cough…”
⸻ “Ah, Liza, are you alright? You are coughing…” ⸻ Zumama commented, not catching on the meaning of Liza’s actions, or maybe she did, and maybe this was her way of getting back to her by talking back towards Angela.
⸻ “S-She is Liza!?” ⸻ Tomimi almost screamed, looking now at the Agent she realized that she was clearly much more different from before, consequence of the Qliphoth Deterrence in action, making her return to almost human form.
⸻ “Of course I am, who else could I be?” ⸻ Liza said as she let her hair sway in the air with a movement of her hand.
And with that, they started to catch up, using the regenerator, they patched their wounds, Flint and Tomimi barely reacted to their injuries recovering as they spoke, however, Inam recognized that the charred flesh on Flint’s arm could not just… go away. She looked around and saw things she had not seen before or heard, or even read. This level of technology is not normal.
Yet the conversation kept going, Zumama said how she defeated the Abnormality all on her own, with the help from these outsiders, clearly showing an understanding of machines clearly superior, and once she looked at some of the weapons that some of the Archosauria were messing around with, she noticed that they were incredibly lethal, and with such refined materials that they would not have managed to obtain.
They were clearly not normal.
⸻ “Excuse me, Lady Angela.” ⸻ Inam said, interrupting the previous conversation. ⸻ “Miss Liza said that you come from underground, yet this type of technology is astounding, were you the creators of such thing?”
⸻ “While it is true that we came from underground, we were part of The City before we were expelled, and this technology is rather common there.”
⸻ “…The City?”
⸻ “…Yes? The City.”
⸻ “Which City? While Acahualla is only technically part of its territory, we are in Sargon, so there are a lot of Nomadic Cities around, and none of them had something like this, maybe if you told me a name?”
⸻ “…There is no name for the City, as that is the only place where humans can survive, the last bastion of humanity as grim as it is, it is The City.” ⸻ Liza added, finding weird the comment from Inam.
⸻ “…I mean it is correct that the Nomadic Cities were built to avoid Catastrophes, but to call them the last bastion of humanity is…”
⸻ “Catastrophes? Is that how people from the Outskirts refer to monsters?”
⸻ “Monsters? While few people call some animals outside those cities... Monsters… What do you mean?”
⸻ “Clockwork Teeth? Niaojia-ren? Giants? Is this place far enough for you to not worry about any of them?”
⸻ “Huh? What are you talking about? I never heard of those names before.”
⸻ “What?”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “Miss Inam, you mentioned Sargon… May you tell me about it?” ⸻ This time Angela asked, with a face more serious than before.
Notes:
3 weeks no update yeah you can tell college was #BeatingMyAss, but I managed to pull this chapter through so that's great. The part when the Agents appear was difficult, as it went under some rewrites because of the strength difference, anyways, what I wanted to showcase is that the strength of Abnos will increase exponentially between risk classes. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Chapter 7: For me to not be afraid of change
Notes:
CW for gore, body horror, parasites, and corpses.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Oh? Would you look at that.
What a peculiar set of coincidences.
Deep within the rainforest in this place called Acahualla, a little seed started to sprout in quite the hidden place, and close enough, there is a really big egg close. With enough water and sunlight, eventually the little seed started to sprout, and a tree started to grow little by little, eventually, the sky was darkened by the smoke of a wildfire, and in a desperate attempt, the little tree with all its strength It had, managed to bear fruit.
This fruit, engulfed in a thin and transparent membrane, contained a red liquid that inside had all the hopes and dreams of the little tree, to one day, it would grow big enough that it would be seen at the edge of the world. This fruit, after filling itself with a lot of the blood from the little tree, dropped on the ground, breaking the thin and weak membrane, and its blood travelled along the ground.
Its blood then reached the big egg, and so, the miracle happened, this big fellow would take a lot of days, even months, to hatch naturally, but now, thanks to the help of the little tree, cracks started to show around it, and very soon, a queen will be born from its slumber.
Her kingdom, born out of sacrifices of people that nobody will remember their names will have a chance to be rebuilt, and her weak and flawed body, that depended so much on her subjects, will have a chance to move once again, all thanks to the lonely little tree.
But the kingdom will always be destined to fail, and for that reason, lots and lots of people will die at her feet, but with that help, the little tree will find enough nutrients to grow bigger and stronger than before, after all, all the people that drink from the tree sap will eventually return back to the soil, to feed the one that gave it away in the first place, and for the one to give away more than before.
The little tree just has to wait.
.
.
.
Inam could barely believe what she was hearing, Angela wanted to know more about Sargon? But what could she even say? Sargon was one of the biggest countries of Terra, even after it’s Golden Age had passed. Granted, she already said that Acahualla was part of Sargon’s territory in name only, could this people really don’t know?
⸻ “I don’t understand what you are asking me… As if… Everything about Sargon?” ⸻ Inam asked, as she struggled to answer the question.
⸻ “Is something bad to ask?” ⸻ Angela said, and Liza started to silently approach her side.
⸻ “No… Not really but… You mentioned something like… ‘This Sargon’. You don’t know what that is?”
Then quickly, Liza interjected.
⸻ “We mentioned we were underground for quite some time yeah? Haha, could you maybe mention what year is it? On the surface I mean…”
⸻ “…It is 1094 by the common Terran calendar.”
At the mention of that number, both Angela and Liza felt their hearts stop for a second, Angela quickly started to think, in her vast memory she recalled that by A Corp Standard Time, there were some decades before the calendar marked the 1000s, so to think that there would be two whole centuries of difference made that number ridiculous.
‘What the hell did she just say? Did she add a digit in that number? No, that would not make sense either… I remember I joined Lobotomy Corporation on 977… Not that it would matter if what Angela said was true, but even so how did that much time pass during the Extraction…? Wait, Angela wanted to use that Abnormality to borrow time, did that affect the process?’ Liza thought about the information, as she looked at Angela with a side eye, and she recognized that she had the same conclusion.
⸻ “Do you think because…?” ⸻ Angela muttered to her
⸻ “…I don’t know how the Extraction works, and I doubt anyone else in The City knows besides B Corp and The Head.” ⸻ Liza said as she shook her head. ⸻ “Besides, what about the other thing she said? By the common Terran calendar…”
Angela also thought about that, from what… B had told her, since The City is the last bastion of humanity, and all non-human entities were banished towards the Outskirts, it would be natural that the people desperate to enter the City would also adapt its time system, not this… ‘Terra’ one. For the creation of a new one, then something truly catastrophic would have to occur, something akin to the destruction of the entire City, yet how could that even happen? From what she saw, the Head is truly undefeatable.
But she could not allow herself to reach conclusions with no evidence, recalling what Inam said she mentioned multiple cities, and also that Sargon was one of the biggest countries, this let her know that there are more of them, something that did not exist in the world that she knew of. Or if you consider the Wings themselves countries on their own, then that would be more feasible, could the City split up in a century?
⸻ “Man, then it has been truly a lot of time!” ⸻ Liza said, she was buying time for Angela to reason with the information, something that they truly lacked now, as she stretched herself and caressed the back of her head, she read the expressions of the others, specifically Zumama and the other tribe leaders, and recognized that what Inam said did not surprise them. ⸻ “Honestly, I almost forgot what the sun felt like.”
⸻ “Woah, so you truly were underground for that much time? You must had quite the tech to be able to do that, from what I know, air would not reach there!” ⸻ Zumama added to the conversation.
⸻ “Well, I don’t know the process, you would have to ask Hannah for that.”
⸻ “S-So… Um… Miss Liza?” ⸻ Tomimi added, scared to talk to her.
⸻ “Don’t say that ‘Miss’ thing, Liza is fine”
⸻ “Y-YES…! Um… Yeah, Liza…” ⸻ Tomimi said before she tried calming herself down. ⸻ “How was life underground?”
That question hit Liza, she understood what this girl meant, she was just curious if the life underground was similar to the one on the surface, on Acahualla, but Liza answered like how her surface would be, like in the City.
⸻ “Hell”
⸻ “O-Oh…”
⸻ “I-I mean! It was hell in the meaning that there was no sun! And we were surrounded by machines and I had to work everyday to survive! I needed money! You know what money is?” ⸻ She approached Tomimi, who shook her head as she felt smaller than before. ⸻ “I had to work my butt off, and they promised me a pay after fifty days and I got none of it!”
⸻ “R-Really?”
⸻ “Yeah! If I could, I would not have a job and not work a day on my life! But all these people on my department were incompetent maggots that could not be a day without screwing up! And for that I had to be the one to be Captain… OH! And my supervisor! If that tin can was here, I would turn him into scrap the instant I saw him!”
⸻ “U-Um…”
⸻ “Miss Captain, here is the list of people that need their records deleted, but do not worry, your life here is meaningless.” ⸻ She said as she mimicked someone they did not know, however she put a hand on her back and one handling an invisible cane ⸻ “Young lady, keep living your life, this place is heaven I tell you, heaven! If someone offers you a job, turn away and run! Don’t work ever!”
⸻ “H-Huh? But if the job is so hard… Why did you have it?”
⸻ “…Because life underground is really, really expensive.” ⸻ Liza said as her voice turned grimmer. ⸻ “The world underground revolves around money, and if you do not have it then you would be… You would have a very, very hard time surviving down there.”
⸻ “Even if you are so strong?” ⸻ This time, Flint asked.
⸻ “Especially if I am strong…”
⸻ “Are the people underground strong as you?”
⸻ “…Nah.” ⸻ Liza said as she recalled the encounter with the Head, the overlords of the City, she recalled of the Syndicate leaders, the members of the five fingers, a certain color fixer that almost destroyed the Facility, and of course, the Abnormalities that she dealt with ⸻ “If I am to place myself and the other Captains… The City… Underground! The City underground is full of mysteries, so if I must place myself, I would be quite high in the food chain, but that is just my opinion.”
⸻ “There are people… stronger than you?” ⸻ Flint almost muttered, what Liza said had shocked all the tribe leaders.
⸻ “Yeah, there are things that we call Arbiters, they could point their fingers at people, and they would just disappear.”
⸻ “Huh!? J-Just like that?”
⸻ “Well, the process was certainly more violent, and a pool of blood would remain on the ground… if they allow it… but that’s what happens in the short answer”.
A silence intervened in the conversation, all the tribe leaders pondered about what Liza had said, some of the tribe leaders did not understand much of what she said, but Inam recognized most of it, if what she describes is true, then that place was extremely dangerous, however, she did not point what her job consists of, maybe she could test if her story is coherent.
⸻ “What was your job about?”
⸻ “…” ⸻ Liza looked at her, she already mentioned that earlier that day, she did not just forget. ⸻ “We suppressed and contained these Abnormalities as you would know, they are quite dangerous, and for that reason I became so strong in the first place…”
⸻ “Right, I think I remember you saying that…” ⸻ Inam said as she looked at the ‘feathers’ that escaped Liza’s natural hair, if she looks hard enough, she could swear that they were almost glowing. ⸻ “If that place was truly hellish, then that means you came back to the surface to seek a better life?”
⸻ “No, we came back to the surface because we were forced to…” ⸻ Angela finally said, allowing herself to join the conversation. ⸻ “Should we walk for a bit?”
⸻ “Ah, then I…” ⸻ Zumama tried to approach Angela, but was interrupted as she held her hand upfront.
⸻ “I want to ask something directly with Inam, weren’t you waiting for your experiment to work, Zumama?” ⸻ Angela said, as she looked at a PE-Box moving on its own, but looking carefully, she can see a blue bird under it.
⸻ “Ah! That guy is starting without me! See you, Lady Angela, Inam!”
⸻ “I want to know more about the Abnormality she fought.” ⸻ Flint said as she followed close behind.
⸻ “Um… I guess I can watch those… weapons?” ⸻ This time the white haired Archosauria, she was clearly uncomfortable.
⸻ “Shall we?”
⸻ “…Very well”
And so, they began to walk, with Liza following close behind Inam after she turned off the regenerator, while they moved, Inam watched as the Eunectes Tribe worked as they repaired the remains of the building she assumed to be their way of transport.
⸻ “You are different from the rest of them, you must suspect us to be planning something on this place.” ⸻ Angela said as they walked ⸻ “However, I can assure you that we have no malicious intent, us arriving in this place is merely coincidental.”
⸻ “You arrived at the same time these Abnormalities started to roam around; did you release them?”
⸻ “We did not, as I said, our arrival here was forced.” ⸻ Angela looked at her for a brief moment. ⸻ “We were attacked, and in the process, the Abnormalities we had escaped in that moment”.
⸻ “…How many were there?”
⸻ “I would rather not give myself some headaches with that.” ⸻ Liza added from behind her.
⸻ “…An entire portion of the rainforest is just… gone, and from what I heard, people disappeared because of that green monster Zumama mentioned… I want to know.”
⸻ “We had more than 40 Abnormalities in the facility.” ⸻ Angela said
⸻ “40, there are more than 40 monsters roaming Acahualla!?”
⸻ “No, we suspect that there are only two more Abnormalities.” ⸻ They reached the door that conducted to the Main Room, Liza opened the door and Angela stepped inside, Inam hesitated a little before entering, and the door was closed behind her as Liza followed her.
⸻ “What you see around is the remains of the Control Department, the only department that we could find scattered around, and they only hold four containment chambers.” ⸻ The lights on the top illuminated the room as Liza turned them on, the room had lots of boxes and other utilities scattered around, but on the middle of it, there was a table, Inam could tell It was recently added as it was still dirty in some spots. ⸻ “So, we reached the conclusion that they must be somewhere else, far from Acahualla as you call it.”
Angela sat on one of the available chairs, and she invited Inam to do the same, sitting across the table she faced Angela who looked straight at her, and standing close behind her was Liza. Inam now was sure, even if Liza was one of the strongest people she knew, then Angela was the most dangerous, as she was the one that held the leash on them.
She did not know if she was to be more scared of the monster in human skin, or the pale one barely resembling one.
⸻ “Our objective is to lock every Abnormality we had once again.” ⸻ In her position, Angela extended her hand forward to Inam. ⸻ “And we lack information of this land, lots of it.”
⸻ “…Why do you want that anyways? Could you not just wash your hands off and not bother with it? They are absurdly strong… Not that I doubt the strength of your people.”
‘My people…’
⸻ “…I can’t lie to you and say we have no selfish reasoning, however.” ⸻ Angela closed her eyes for a moment as she retrieved her hand, her negotiation would be risky, and they could destroy her trust any moment, yet she decided to chose a different path, a path that would not be similar to the one he would have taken.
At first, she would not have cared, however, since Hannah granted her the blessing of movement again, she reminisced of the time she spent outside, the time she felt the air caress her face, the time she felt the warmth of the sun on her head, the time she felt the ticklish sensation of leaves on her hands, the time she felt the coldness of the water on her feet.
The moment where she almost fell, and there was someone there to catch her. So after thinking some time, she opened her eyes again to Inam.
⸻ “This place is beautiful, truly.” ⸻ Inam looked at her expression, and her fears subsided, Angela was looking at her direction yet not at her, she was looking far behind her, far behind the walls of the room. ⸻ “And from what I heard from Liza, part of it is now desolate… I do not wish for that to happen again.”
⸻ “…” ⸻ Inam stood in place, and before thinking some time, she decided to trust these outsiders. She extended her hand, and after Angela snapped out of her thoughts, she grabbed it. ⸻ “Alright, I will help how I can, ask away.”
⸻ “Thank you… Then shall we begin?” ⸻ Liza yawned as she walked towards some boxes. ⸻ “Can you tell me where we are exactly?”
⸻ “…As I said we are in Acahualla, on the east part of the dunes of Sargon, the rainforest continues more to the north, and there is a large body of water more to the east, however doubt that makes much sense to you…” ⸻ Liza eventually returned, placing some papers in front of her alongside some pencils. ⸻ “Thank you, as I was saying…”
Inam started to explain the geography around them, her being a former Messenger helped with this as she was quite knowledgeable about the area, however, when she started to draw more of the world she became more and more vague about her answer, she explained that she did not now much about the area, she only showed the basic landscape.
However, what she talked let conflicted emotions surge within the other two, as names like Bolivar, Columbia, Victoria, Yan and Ursus started to pop up Inam showcased their owned territory, and from what they saw, it was clearly huge.
⸻ “You said there were monsters for us to worry about.” ⸻ Inam interrupted her explanations. ⸻ “What did you mean by that?”
⸻ “Those monsters were the reason why the City we came from was built in the first place, and they belonged to the Outskirts, all that was outside that place, however, it appears that there are none here if no name makes sense to you.” ⸻ Liza said. ⸻ “However, you mentioned that all the cities were nomadic, that means they move, is there another danger besides monsters then?”
⸻ “…There are no Catastrophes where you come from?”
⸻ “I don’t know if we would be talking the same language if I tried to guess, from where we come from the City itself does not move, it’s cemented in place.”
⸻ “People built Nomadic cities to avoid those Catastrophes, being in the same place will cause you to be eventually be hit by one, it was not a matter of if, it was of when.” ⸻ Inam turned more serious than before. ⸻ “They are natural disasters of this land, it could be from sandstorms, meteor showers, floods, and many others I could not know.”
⸻ “What energy source do they use?” ⸻ This time Angela asked, as she reminisced of the projects that Zumama was working with previous to their meeting. ⸻ “It must be something quite powerful if they manage to make entire cities move.”
⸻ “Are you truly…? No, I should have guessed, Zumama was working with something else instead of it…” ⸻ Inam muttered to herself, before focusing again on the conversation. ⸻ “We use Originium, the core of humanity’s progress, and it’s destroyer.”
⸻ “…You mean?”
⸻ “While Originium is an extremely powerful source of energy, it what it’s left behind after those Catastrophes end, leaving people susceptible to become Infected.” ⸻ Inam looked at them, and there was no face of recognition, only intrigue, she sighed in her mind before continuing. ⸻ “The Originium in the air can enter people systems, and in some time, they will be showing symptoms, while some of them vary, I am not a doctor so I cannot list them all, the most evident one is the growing crystals of Originium starting to grow on people’s skin.”
⸻ “Eventually people who are infected will pass away, and their bodies will become a source of infection to anyone close, with their bodies fully crystalizing… It is a terminal disease, and there is no cure for it.
⸻ “I have seen some of the people from the Eunectes tribe having some stones on them, I recall they call it the ‘Stone Disease’, but I did not think it was a terminal illness…” ⸻ Liza said, her expression became sour.
⸻ “By what you say, exposure to Originium will eventually cause Oripathy, and even so people still use Originium as a source fuel?” ⸻ Angela asked
⸻ “There is no other source of energy that is as efficient as Originium, all the countries use it for everything, from the Nomadic Cities, to radios, to cars, to laboratories, everything is powered by it.” ⸻ And with that declaration, Liza’s expression changed.
⸻ “Is there truly no cure? Can you just not… replace the part or something, or just buy a new body?” ⸻ Liza asked, as she reminisced of things like Life Insurance, or replacing body parts with prosthetics, however, Inam could only look confused.
⸻ “What? I have not heard those things ever… But again, I am not a doctor, so I would not know if there are other ways to treat it besides the most common one…” ⸻ Liza did not know if Inam did not know much, or the people of this land were truly that far behind the technology levels in the City.
⸻ “But there is something that I should mention, while people in Acahualla are more… laid back in terms of the Infected, people outside are not.” ⸻ Inam added while she looked at the papers that she drew the other countries. ⸻ “People are often discriminated and subjected to hatred because of it, in a way that I can say it better, if you are infected, your status as human will decrease to the one of Infected, do you get what I am saying?”
⸻ “Well, this place was starting to sound too good anyways…” ⸻ Liza commented out loud, however her smile was not of ridicule, but amusement at the situation.
⸻ “You are rather well-educated Miss Inam, what are you doing in Acahualla?” ⸻ Angela asked, noticing that she knew more than the others.
⸻ “I used to be a Messenger you know?” ⸻ Inam said, however, when both of them looked at her to continue, she said ‘Seriously?’ in her mind, yet she continued. ⸻ “A Messenger is someone who alerts nearby cities of Catastrophes, since they are common and unpredictable, they study and analyze them in hopes of predicting the place and time it would happen, that way it can inform the settlements hopefully weeks in advance for them to move away. You could say they are rather well informed, because they need to.”
That answers why she had a different presence besides all the other people here, Angela could deduce that she was not born here and arrived at a later date, and she decided to live here eventually, she can’t imagine what life is outside Acahualla if this place what the exception from many things she was being told, however, she could not compare it to her previous occupation either, as she had no experience on that, she would have to rely on the Agents to point the difference.
This was a lot information to gather, this land was truly different from what they heard from the Outskirts, it was almost a different world entirely, she would later have to inform these findings to the other Captains as she could not trust Liza to make an accurate report as much as she trusts her strength.
And that led her to move her gaze towards the other territories, from what Inam told them, all those countries used Originium in some way or another, she did not know how it worked in comparison with Enkephalin, she would have to ask Hannah and Parker for that, and that led them to the other trouble.
Judging by their territories, some of the countries were quite big, and their military would be equally stronger, Originium had quite the disadvantage, that being the risk of contracting Oripathy, if somehow Enkephalin was more efficient and the only problem was the possibility of it being a potential recreational drug, with the only severe consequence being a death of overdose, then what would this countries do if they ever found about its existence?
From what their experiences, the people from this land were weak, but that is only using the tribes they knew of as the standard, what if they are possibly much stronger people out there? Would the Agents keep up with them or would they lose? Is there an equivalent of the Head still remaining if they are possibly two centuries ahead of their time? She can’t be certain, and for that, she has to be cautious.
And for starters, she can’t let other people know about Enkephalin, until she is certain that there would be no risk for them to expose it, unfortunately, Zumama will have to suspend her experiments with the PE-Boxes for the time being, she will first have to have a meeting with all the agents to discuss all the information from Inam.
⸻ “Thank you Inam, what you said was truly informative.” ⸻ Angela said, she was declaring the end of the conversation, but she wanted to add something else. ⸻ “I can see that you are tired, but I have something to ask of you, it is quite important.”
⸻ “What is it?”
⸻ “I need you to gather all the tribes from Acahualla in this place, as this soon will become the only safe place in the entire rainforest.” ⸻ Upon hearing that, the eyes of Inam shot open as she quickly stood up, almost making the chair fall. She almost did not see that Liza was taken aback too.
⸻ “What do you mean?”
⸻ “Since we reached the conclusion that the are other two Abnormalities roaming the rainforest, there is a high probability they are ones that we already know of their nature, and that means that this place is in more danger than we thought.” ⸻ Angela grabbed a pencil and scribbled on one of them, drawing a monster that barely resembled a bee. ⸻ “One of them is harmless, while the other is a monster that propagates spores in the air, and anyone that breaths them will eventually become a bee’s nest, this includes people, animals…”
⸻ “And you did not just… tell me sooner!?” ⸻ Inam almost screamed, yet she forced herself to calm down. ⸻ “No, I see the reason, you are no longer certain of the situation, aren’t you?”
⸻ “I am fully confident in the strength of my… the Agents, the reason why I told you now is because I do not wish for more collateral damage, and Zumama mentioned that the tribe leaders did not contact each other very often, but you are clearly different, all of them hold some sort of respect towards you, even a little.”
⸻ “Ah… dammit… Then I will have to go, now”
⸻ “Hold on, I would like Liza to accompany you.”
⸻ “I refuse.” ⸻ Liza said, almost instantly. ⸻ “Miss Angela, from what I recall, Parker specifically said that you shall be accompanied by one ALEPH Agent at all times, and from all the things that guy says I agree with that one, he, Hannah and Ramirez are quite occupied, and I know you do not like to stand still.”
⸻ “If you accompany Inam, then the process would be a lot quicker, we could save more people from Acahualla, besides, you are the most resistant to Corrosion outside the Qliphoth Deterrence.” ⸻ Angela answered back to her. ⸻ “And in the mean time I will be accompanying the other Captains, and help in whatever we can.”
⸻ “I don’t get why are you so cemented on helping these guys, we are in no obligation to save them, what is your logic here, Angela?”
⸻ “Is this not a way for us to repay them? Enkephalin can be more valuable than lives for the previous Lobotomy Corporation, but here that is not the case, is it?”
⸻ “… Is it an order?”
Angela looked at her and thought about it for a second, from what the little interactions she had with Liza, it was clear that she had problems with authority figures, and Angela as her boss found difficult sometimes to get her to listen to her, she will certainly obey for sure, but she will do it her way. Angela promised that she would no longer play with their lives, and see theirs as what they are, human lives, but how could Angela start to worry about theirs and only theirs? She must see lives as they are, if she can save them, she would rather do it.
⸻ “It’s not an order, I am asking you a favor.” ⸻ Angela finally said, with confidence. ⸻ “If you encounter danger, you are free to retreat and come back.”
⸻ “…” ⸻ Liza looked at her, analyzing every bit of her body, searching for an unknown sign yet she did not find anything. ⸻ “…sigh Very well, you better not fall off a cliff while I’m gone.”
Liza separated from Angela, leaving no one at her side as she approached Inam as she watched the discussion unfold in another language, yet she understood that they reached a consensus, Liza walked past her and opened the door leaving outside, and she looked at her before motioning her head, signaling for her to follow.
⸻ “Then I will be going, A… Miss Angela.”
⸻ “I wish you come back safely.”
The door closed, and Angela found herself alone in the room, she let her head rest on the back of the office chair, and she started to spin, a sigh escaped her mouth before she closed her eyes for a moment, she did not know if her choice was correct, would it be safer to just let Liza be stationed here, besides her? What if the Abnormality turned everyone in the Eunectes Tribe into monsters, and they would be quickly overwhelmed, just because she was not here?
‘No, don’t fill your head with useless thoughts… That’s what Hannah told me while she was fixing my body… I should follow her advice… I will not use my time in what ifs…’
She moved in circles until she decided to address the golden trail of light that swam across the room, she saw it move, almost inviting her, yet despite how much attention it demanded, Inam and Liza could not see it in the entirety of the conversation, because this invitation is only for Angela, and Angela alone, as the one who can control the Light.
Angela eventually stood up from her chair and started to follow the Light, it invited her towards the hallway of the Control Department, as the door opened on itself, Angela travelled through the former Facility, until she eventually stopped. She was now in front of the door of the Containment Chamber for the Scorched Girl.
⸻ “…Aren’t you impatient…” ⸻ Angela said to herself, before she opened the door, and the Core of the Abnormality was still there, and it was obvious where the end of her path led her to. She walked inside and felt the door close behind her, however, she stood still the moment she came close to it, she could almost see her reflection on it.
⸻ “What are you waiting for?” ⸻ Her reflection talked to her, the other her that pierced her skin with her red eyes, and mocked her with her smile. ⸻ “This is your objective is it not?”
⸻ “…Can this not wait for later? When we deal with the trouble that is at our doorstep?”
⸻ “I can assure you this is quite important, I said it before, didn’t I? That I would give you a gift every time you recollected more Light, I can promise you that this will help you with your troubles.”
⸻ “…You.” ⸻ Angela wanted to talk back, yet she did not find the words, if this truly could help them, then she will take the chance. But she wished she did not have to depend on this person to do so.
She lifted her hand and placed her palm towards the Core of the Abnormality, she was certain that she would feel the heat from the Abnormality yet she did not, she only found the surface of the giant Core start to give in, and eventually, her hand was submerged on it.
⸻ “Now, try and not to release your hand. Or else, you will miss your chance, you can always try again though, but do you have the time for it?” ⸻ She taunted her, whatever this gift was, she was certainly trying to make her take it.
The room became dark, and eventually, all that remained in it was only Angela and the core, until the same darkness began to crawl on it, making Angela force her hand out in shock, leaving Angela, and only Angela alone in the dark.
Until eventually, little embers started to dance in the darkness, and soon enough, Angela heard sobbing, not the one that she heard from the Abnormality from countless cycles, instead, it was the one of a human.
She started to follow those embers, and before she knew it, she was walking on top of ash and cinders, her sight became blurry because of the smoke, and once she recovered, she found herself in the middle of a village that was currently engulfed in flames, and the white particles dancing in the air she would have confused it by snow.
Looking around she could tell that the flames would not stop at anything, and the black figures on the ground she recognized as corpses, she did not know what was happening, however, the sound of sobbing could be heard even from all the hell around her.
She decided to keep walking, amongst the fallen woods and debris engulfed in flames, she walked amongst them until eventually, she found someone, in the middle of what appears to be the remains of a park, and in the middle of it, she found the origin of the crying.
A charred black corpse, even with all its life being drawn from it, it was in a fetal position on the ground as it hugged its knees, its sorrow kept the tears arriving towards the ground even with all the flames still alive on all of its body, they kept muttering to themselves, if they did notice or not the arrival of Angela, she did not know.
⸻ “Why are you crying?” ⸻ Eventually Angela said, to which the corpse answered.
⸻ “B-Because I’m tired, every day with no exception, I would be forced to be imprisoned in hell… A-And no matter what I do, everything keeps being taken away from me.”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “No matter what I try, no matter who I bond with eventually… at the end of the day… everything will just turn to ashes… so I decided that I… will too…”
⸻ “Then have you decided to give up? Give away your life, let the flames wash you away until nothing remains… Have you really stopped fighting for your life? What if something changes now?”
⸻ “I don’t want to… Every single one said the same thing… They all promised that they would protect us yet… they all died… everyone in Lobotomy Corporation is destined to die…”
⸻ “That is true.”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “But if something is true, it does not mean to be true forever, even if it seems pointless, as time passes, even if it seems like a never-ending cycle, eventually something will change, even if it’s little or if it’s big, something has to change.”
⸻ “…But if it’s not fated to happen… Why do they die regardless?”
⸻ “Because I killed them.”
⸻ “…!”
⸻ “I am the reason why they died, I opened the doors to the containment chambers, I lowered the Qliphoth Deterrence, I sent someone to achieve an impossible quota, all those people died because of me.”
⸻ “…You!”
⸻ “Because I felt that it did not matter, that at the end of the day, no matter what I tried, they would die regardless, so I closed my eyes to them. I deviated the guilt, saying that it was not my fault, because I was ordered to.”
⸻ “…Ugh…”
⸻ “But if I kept telling myself that it was not my fault, then I will not change, something that I need to do, if I ever need to see the path that wasn’t carved my him.”
⸻ “…”
⸻ “I cannot comfort you, because I lack the means to do so, I have no actions nor words to alleviate your pain, the people who died here do not deserve empty words, as they are not merely necessary sacrifices anymore, to be tossed away once their use is done.”
⸻ “…Angela…”
⸻ “But I can tell you that this place is about to change, I do not know how much time it will take, but I am certain that it will, that is the reason why I made a promise with the captains.”
⸻ “…The captains?”
⸻ “Yes… Ramirez, Hannah, Parker and Liza, all of them decided to trust me one more time, and I promised that I would never endanger their lives again. And that extends to you and all the others.”
⸻ “…Ramirez”
⸻ “If you cannot step out today, that’s fine, but I will try the next day, and the next until you do.”
⸻ “…” ⸻ The corpse lifted itself from the ground, and barely standing, it’s legs gave away, falling on top of Angela, who supported its weight, and even with all the flames starting to propagate to her, she did not let go.
⸻ “…Will things truly… be different now?”
⸻ “Yes, I promise.” ⸻ Angela said, yet despite the heat starting to hurt, she embraced the charred corpse, and the said corpse cried, cried and cried, but Angela held her embrace firm, she would be there, until the corpse would no longer cry.
And eventually, the flames stopped.
⸻ “…!” ⸻ Angela came back to reality, and she felt the hand of another grab hers inside the Core of the Abnormality, this time she did not let go, using all of her strength, Angela used her other hand to use the Core as support as she started to pull back.
And eventually, she pulled her out, falling on her back, Angela found herself in the cold environment of the containment chamber, but this time, she was not alone, as she found one more person in the room with her.
She had light red hair, with a messy appearance and the tips of her hair turned black as if they were burnt, but on top of her head there were two patterns of ash which point almost appeared to catch in flames any second, they almost mimicked bunny ears, her Agent uniform was tattered yet the armband of the Control Department was unchanged, the golden pattern was not present, as she was not a Captain, but an Agent under the orders of one.
She was still crying, yet despite that, Angela approached her and put her face close to hers.
⸻ “What is your name?” ⸻ She asked, in the gentlest way she could.
⸻ “I… Hic… am Maki… Hic…” ⸻ The Agent kept sobbing, as she held both of her hands together, Angela noticed that the tips of her fingers shined through the dim light of the room, as her fingers were black at their tips, yet the fire within them could set ablaze any moment. ⸻ “My fingers… Hic …My feet… They hurt… Hic…”
Angela quickly understood that while she was rescued by the hands of the Abnormality, she was clearly under the same Corrosion that the other Agents were experimenting, she did not know how Maki could handle it, as she was not as experienced as dealing with these types of things like the other Agents. Angela gazed towards her armband, and looking at the miniscule code on it she could deduce that she was a level 3 employee, not the highest but not the lowest either.
⸻ “Let us leave the containment chamber… We do not know how much time is left for the Abnormality to come back.” ⸻ Angela said, and she helped Maki to stand up, she nodded as she kept crying under her breath. Walking outside Angela made sure to check that the door indeed remained close, a habit she developed every time one of the Agents started to work on the other Abnormality.
‘To think that this would be your gift… What a twisted choice of words…’ Angela thought, she looked at the end of the hallway, past the Main Room she thought about the other Abnormality that they had contained, she realized that if this keeps repeating itself, then that means that in every Abnormality there would be someone sealed and being tortured, something that made Angela felt sick.
She reminisced of the voice that begged of help the other day, the one that she left her hand go, that made her feel worse, she could go and try to do the same with the other Core, but at this hour the Fairy Festival would not be in her Core status, she would need an Agent to take care of it for her.
She helped Maki walk towards the Main Room, and she was starting to control her breathing, her sobs became deep breaths as she tried to calm down, Angela helped her to approach one of the chairs in the room to which she sat on one.
⸻ “…sniff… I will just need a moment… The captain told me a way to calm down…” ⸻ She said as she cleaned her face with her own uniform. ⸻ “I just need… sniff… A few deep breaths relax…”
Angela watched as Mika slowed more and more, and eventually, only her reddened eyes remained, as she controlled her breathing, she began to look towards her boss.
⸻ “Thank you… Miss Angela… I do not know what could have happened if I were to still be there…” ⸻ Mika said to her, she tried to force a smile yet her face betrayed her. ⸻ “…This place… Looks different…”
⸻ “There are lots of things I would have to tell you, as we are currently in the Outskirts, or maybe, far, far in the…” ⸻ She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, to which Parker appeared by the doorframe.
⸻ “Miss Angela, we have made some advancements, I am here to report that…” ⸻ Parker trailed, until his vision stopped on Maki, who was sitting while caressing her fingers on the table, she had opened her eyes far wide, and her movements froze in place.
⸻ “…! C-C-C-C-Captain Parker…!” ⸻ Maki said as soon as she recognized him, she shot up from her seat and stood straight, she became so stiff Angela almost confused her with a wall, but Parker was utterly confused.
⸻ “…What?” ⸻ But that’s the only that escaped the captain’s mouth, who was as frozen as the other Agent.
.
.
.
⸻ “Do we really have to, Inam?” ⸻ An Archosauria spoke towards the tribe leader, who was trying to convince them to leave their things and run towards the place that belonged to the Agents.
⸻ “Did you not see the fire the other day!? That was caused by a monster, and there is another that will appear very soon, so just move towards the north!” ⸻ This person was clearly not convinced, but she saw an Archosauria quickly start to reunite with some children, as well as other people beginning to approach her.
⸻ “…If you truly want to tell me what to do, what if you defeat me first huh? I heard that you guys were just merchants.” ⸻ He declared as he drew his spear. ⸻ “If you can defeat me, then I will do as you say!”
⸻ “As I said, there is no time for…!”
*CRASH*
In a flash, the tribe leader was struck down unconscious, nobody could see the strike, they only saw Inam who had her fist raised before that confrontation, and before she knew it, they all celebrated as Inam was now the leader of their tribe. Yet all Inam could do is look at annoyance towards the trees, in which someone hiding in the shadows was looking at her amused, pointing a thumbs up towards her.
⸻ “…Gah! Whatever, just go towards the north until you find the Eunectes tribe! Go! Now!” ⸻ And once she saw all the other tribe members start to move, Inam approached the one hiding. ⸻ “Could you not act on your own?”
⸻ “What? I solved the problem” ⸻
⸻ “Yeah! But you are adding more of them for me in the future! How many times has it been now? Three? Four? Before I know it, they will start to call me Inam the invincible!”
⸻ “Haha! Maybe it suits you?”
⸻ “It does not!”
⸻ “Fine, fine, I will try and not do it again… So, how many are left anyway?”
⸻ “There are two more left that I know of, they are a little bit more towards the south, so let’s pick up the pace.”
⸻ “Whatever you want, oh so invincible Inam.” ⸻ They began to walk, at first Liza suggested to grab her to travel a lot quicker, to which she agreed, but once Inam almost vomited on the Agent’s clothes, she quickly abandoned the idea, so instead, she opted to help her in any other way.
They spent some time, going from tribe to tribe, some of them knew Inam and trusted her judgement, however, some of them demanded a fight before cooperating, and that’s were Liza came to help, since her mere presence could terrify the average human since she was outside the Qliphoth Deterrence, she opted to follow in the shadows, so when they demanded a fight, Liza would strike before they knew it. This sped up the process, but it also added some headaches from Inam.
It was going well, they all traveled and alerted people of the impending danger, and now only two tribes remain by Inam’s information.
⸻ “Stop.” ⸻ Liza said out loud, making Inam freeze in place, the Agent quickly approached Inam and stood beside her, shielding her from whatever was that alerted her. ⸻ “There is something wrong.”
Inam stood still, spending time with Liza she recognized that she was indeed just a girl with superhuman strength, maybe a little bit of a headache to work with but she could be trusted to get results, yet this was the first time she saw her completely serious. The tribe leader senses started to go overdrive, wondering what was wrong with the place as the Agent announced, yet if she concentrated enough, she heard it.
Between the trees, in the direction they were going, she heard multiple, she does not know if those were the footsteps of thousands of people, yet they were running through the rainforest as if they were making their way through force. She heard trees start to fall, and eventually, she saw a yellow head with teeth almost as big as her head, it was looking straight at her.
*SPLAT*
That was the sound of its head separating from its body, Inam did not even notice, but Liza closed the gap between them in an instant, and with a fast kick, the head went flying so far, she did not know where it landed, the rest of the body could only stand for a few seconds before collapsing.
⸻ “W-What… Just happened?” ⸻ Inam said, she almost fell from the shock of seeing something so vile and monstruous, the mere thought of thinking about the monster made her feel sick. ⸻ “What… Is that thing…?”
⸻ “Bee workers from the Queen Bee, it appears we were too late. If these things are coming from the south, then there is not much we can do.” ⸻ Liza said as she appeared besides Inam once more. ⸻ “We need to go, or else we are dead.”
The moment she finished her sentence, in front of Inam a bird fell from the sky, its movements were erratically, and it cried in pain.
⸻ “Shit!” ⸻ Liza could only say, as she grabbed Inam by her waist before starting to run away, looking behind the tribe leader managed to see the source of her panic, no more than a second later that the bird fell, from inside, it sprouted, or rather, it was born, a worker bee, just like the one Liza killed seconds earlier.
And from the corner of her vision, Inam could see that the shadows that moved between the nature of the forest were not other animals and trees, but were what appeared to be thousands if not more of working bees from different heights and forms, they were running towards them. Liza was obviously quicker than them, yet they soon found a problem.
⸻ “…Huh?” ⸻ They found themselves face to face with a tribe that was on their way towards the Eunectes tribe, yet they were still some distance from it. Their faces paled as they looked at the monstruous face of Liza, yet this was not the more serious problem, it was that they would not reach the place before the bees catch up to them.
⸻ “M-Monster…!” ⸻ Some of them screamed as they prepared their weapons, but Inam quickly stepped-up front and confronted them.
⸻ “Stop! She is not the monster; she is an outsider who is here to help…!”
⸻ “M-Monster…! The monster is here! Inam, the monster is behind you!”
⸻ “No! Listen to me, we have to go!”
Yet the situation was not deescalating, and Inam could sense the danger approaching them almost to an instinctual level, something bad will happen very, very soon, but Liza could not convince them to calm down.
So, Liza had to act.
⸻ “AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” ⸻ Using her now macabre and large mouth, she let a scream that terrorized the Archosauria to drop their weapons, and they quickly were overwhelmed by their senses and began to run away. Inam almost had the same reaction, if she did not have meet Liza before then she would have.
⸻ “Inam, run with them, this is your job is it not?” ⸻ Liza said as her voice began to distort, as Inam felt it rebound in the back of her mind. ⸻ “You have to run from the big and scary monster, don’t you?”
⸻ “…What about you?”
⸻ “This has escalated way out of proportion, worse from what we thought, so I need you to run towards the main base and inform Miss Angela or Captain Parker, I will stay here and stall for a little.”
⸻ “…I can’t just… leave you here.”
⸻ “Inam, you are already infected.” ⸻ The moment she said that, the tribe leader felt her body go cold. ⸻ “The moment we saw that worker bee it was already over, you already inhaled the spores that let the parasite start to grow inside your body, I can survive that thing on my own, but you can’t, do not worry as it is not contagious unless you allow the parasite to reach adulthood, so if you reach the base tell Hannah about it, and she can probably extract it in no time.”
⸻ “…How much time…”
⸻ “I said run dammit, start running!” ⸻ Liza said as she grabbed Inam by the shoulder and pointed her towards the place before pushing her on the back, she almost fell but regained her balance before starting to run. ⸻ “Don’t think too hard about it, we barely know each other, besides… I am quite strong myself.”
As she turned back and faced the sound of thousands of legs reaching the ground, Liza opened her arms as if she welcomed the chaos that was approaching her, as she took a deep breath that let little yellow particles enter her body.
⸻ “…Ahh, can you get high from her spores?” ⸻ And the moment she lowered her gaze again, she was already surrounded by thousands of worker bees, they were ready to pounce at her the next second. Yet they disappeared, and their chunks of flesh were the only thing that reached the ground, as they felt could not sense Liza’s movement as she was already somewhere else, with blood covering her hands. ⸻ “…Pftt… HAHAHA! We will have to find out, don’t we!?”
Yet even more than before appeared the next second.
⸻ “Let’s dance then!” ⸻ Liza said as she tore through more and more Worker Bees that dared to approach her, she extended her hands and used them like blades as they cut through flesh as if they were paper, blood sprouted from the wounds until red was the only thing that decorated her body.
⸻ “More! More!” ⸻ Although Liza was one of the Agents who were capable of withstanding the most heavy mental blows, that did not meant that the person had a good mental health, more often than not it was actually quite the opposite, as Liza was one of the people who had the lesser mental corruption levels between the four, even if her attitude showed the contrary.
*SPLASH* *SPLAT* *SLASH* *SPLAT*
⸻ “Come on! Don’t give up now! I know that there are more of you here, don’t wait, I can tear you apart even if you were a million more, Hahahaha…! Urk…!” ⸻ An unexpected attack, not one from the outside, it was from the inside, she felt as her organs started to separate to make space for something else, and before she knew it, her head was pointing an abnormal angle, as three worker bees freed their heads through the wound of her neck.
To any other Agent, this was something that would instantly kill them, however.
*CHOMP*
Liza was an ALEPH agent.
⸻ “…This tastes… Like… Trash!” ⸻ She spoke before once again, grabbing the head with her hands before sinking her teeth on the extra person on her body, killing the invader instantly as her face was covered in blood once again, yet this time she could not make a comment about it, as she was entranced by the fight.
Even as she tried to free herself from the parasites that escaped from her body, she felt her skin being pierced by what felt like burning lances, as she could almost sense the spores travelling through her system through her wounds, yet all her ears could sense was the flutter of their wings, a sound that was annoying her to no bounds.
⸻ “…Get off me!” ⸻ Until eventually she grew tired and finally decapitated the other two heads that were on her body, she could feel their bodies stop their movements inside of her, a clear sign that they were indeed dead. Yet the stress of the fight was reaching her, as her limbs started to elongate, and her smile grew more and more.
⸻ “You are coming from there…? Right?” ⸻ She eventually said as she remembered where the bees came from, and she stomped the ground, a shockwave stunned the Worker Bees around her, even a second was the opportunity she needed, as she used this to launch herself on the air, on the air she found it, the place where all the bees were coming from. ⸻ “…I will deal with this myself, who needs an EGO Weapon anyways!?”
She set foot on the ground once again, yet this time it was not the mud and stones, it was countless Worker Bees so close to each other that Liza could not differentiate the ground anymore, but for her, the ground was the ground anyways, and she used them to land, splattering the blood around them.
⸻ “…Disgusting!” ⸻ She traveled through the rainforest, using the spawns of the Abnormality to gather speed through the jungle, but even if she could not see it, she was starting to sweat as the temperature around her was growing more and more hotter, as the countless number of bees were making heat with the flutter of their wings.
She reached her objective, and using her own momentum she stopped abruptly as she used her palm to use the pressure of the air as a weapon, and thousands of bees were sent flying away, some of them with their bodies exploding as they could not resist the force of the strike. Yet what she saw did not make her happy, the bees were gathering around their queen as they offered more and more food, or using themselves in order to feed her via cannibalism, yet even if she puked and her wounds bleed, she kept devouring, but the moment they stopped doing so because of Liza’s attack, her body changed.
⸻ “…Holy shit.” ⸻ The Queen Bee, the Abnormality that could not move on her own, and would totally depend on the work of her subjects would finally found herself satisfied, yet it was not because the food, it was because of the tree that feed her in return to the nutrients that the bodies of her subjects became. Her body started to expand, and her sharp and long legs appeared from her hidden wings, her countless eyes, those hiding between her wounds or not, all turned towards her as the queen began to walk, not capable of holding her own weight, thousands of wounds opened, and blood started to pour on the ground. Her wings tried to flutter yet the only sound that they could make were of two wet membranes trying to fight through all the other substances that escaped her body.
⸻ “…This is disgusting… Haha!” ⸻ But even as a high level Agent, the mere sight of her was making her head hurt, and she started to hesitate, she had not fought this before. But she acted before fear could reach her, and she launched herself towards the reinvigorated Queen Bee.
⸻ “…!” ⸻ Liza could barely react, as the legs at the back of the Abnormality moved spontaneously fast, the Agent barely dodged as she span while she was in the air, but she could not dodge them completely, impalement was avoided but the cuts were pretty deep. Approaching the Abnormality Liza extended her hand and tried to pierce her skin with her hand, but instead, she found resistance.
*CLANK*
‘H-Hard…!’ The Agent could feel as her hand tingled by the impact, but she could not feel the sensation longer as she was quickly impaled by the leg of the Queen Bee, a wound found itself on her shoulder as she was forced towards the ground, that attack hurt her.
⸻ “… Cough Cough…” ⸻ Blood found itself escaping from her mouth as she coughed, she felt worms crawling through her insides again, but her injuries made it difficult to concentrate, she felt her consciousness slip away for a second, something that made her realize, she would not win this way, she could not pierce her skin without an EGO Weapon. ⸻ “Haha…! Shit, maybe Angela was…!”
*SPLURT*
Teeth found themselves piercing the flesh of her face, as while she was pierced towards the ground the other bees arrived to try and finish the job, she tried to free herself yet another leg pierced her other arm, she felt more spores find their way towards the injuries in her face, as the itchy feeling was now extending for more and more of her body.
*SPLAT* *SPLASH*
But Liza could not just die so easily, and she would not let a mere WAW end her life, she forced herself to escape as she tore through the legs as she opened her wounds further more until her arms were no longer trapped, they may be unusable but now Liza was free from her grasp, using her legs she quickly killed the bees that were trying to devour her, and before she could be impaled again, Liza chose to retire.
⸻ “Shit, now I am two times Hannah…!” ⸻ Liza ran away as her arms swayed through the air as she could no longer control them, stepping on the heads of the other bees she starting to make her escape, but then.
⸻ “ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR” ⸻ Liza barely had time to react before the Queen Bee tore through the ground that she once stood in, because despite her big and wounded body, something kept regenerating her injuries, and using that as an advantage the Abnormality used her own body as a weapon as she tried to pounce on Liza, her big body destroyed the ground beneath and blood washed the stones and dirt from her subjects. But despite the attack, she did not slow down, and Liza had to dodge once again if she did not want to be splattered like an insect.
*CRASH*
⸻ “…Bad… Really… Really bad!” ⸻ An escape that should have been as easy as the process to find the Queen Bee was now a game of survival, as Liza had to constantly look behind her to see if the Abnormality would catch up to her with her next movement, as her massive size moved through the rainforest, the ground moved every time her long and sharp legs pierced the floor, and by chasing the Agent it tore through numerous trees, bushes and the abandoned houses of tribe members.
⸻ “I’m sorry Miss Angela, but I will need you to help me with this one!” ⸻ Liza screamed out loud, as in her condition she had no choice but to depend on her boss, something that, maybe, she needed to do in the first place.
Notes:
I tried to release this chapter on sunday/monday to return to my schedule but of course Angela was the most difficult to write, well, at least it released in my favorite 7 day gap. At first the Agents would have to deal with the two other Abnormalities separate, but then I thought... "Why do Abnormalities have to come one by one?". Anyways, a little more about Liza since I have not written a lot about her, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Chapter 8: WAW FIRST: And no one will remember those who died for her kingdom
Chapter Text
⸺ “Mommy why does she look like that?” ⸺ The girl head a little boy speak some distance from the lost girl, as she stood in the middle of the sidewalk while looking at a bunch of papers she was holding on her hand while on the other supporting them with their envelope.
But her appearance was the thing that made people raise an eyebrow, as her tattered white clothes with red stains, the worn out footwear alongside the low quality fabric that adorned her body, a sight that was common of people from the backstreets, but not amongst the people of the Nest.
⸺ “…Its rude to point sweetie.” ⸺ The mom quickly told the boy that was currently holding her hand, and after saying that she swiftly tried to get away, a clear sign that the mere sight of her was causing discomfort amongst the people around her.
⸺ “What is the border patrol doing?” ⸺ Her ears catched the whispers amongst the people walking at the opposite side of the street, not that they were too worried about her hearing them. ⸺ “They are letting anyone inside the Nest, look at her, at any moment she will kill someone.”
⸺ “…I was let in…” ⸺ That was her answer, however, it was not one aimed towards the people talking behind her back, nor was an answer in on itself, it was merely an expression of surprise, as she could not believe it as well. As she arrived at the border of the newly founded Nest of Lobotomy Corporation at District 12, she expected the documents to be false, and to be struck down by the multiple Rabbits guarding the area, yet…
⸺ “Everything is in order Miss, please proceed.” ⸺ Those were the worlds that were still repeating in her head, she could only walk in shock aimlessly, the invitation to become a Feather of the recently risen Wing was too good to be true, yet it happened anyways. In her surprise, she walked aimlessly on the streets of the Nest, members of R Corp and Fixers contracted by the Wing stopped her multiple times and demanded her identification, she held her breath every time they skimmed through the papers yet no matter who did it, they all came to the same conclusion, she was allowed to be here.
Not believing what was happening, she read the information time and time again, yet no matter how much she thought about it, how much she carefully dissected every word, searching for every trap inside those cursed letters, she could not find any reason for her to not be here. The sound of people fighting, the sobs of people besides their thin walls, none of it existed here, and walking amongst the streets the only thing that reached her ears were the laughing of children, the humming of the huge machines that purified the air from the remnants of the smoke, and the hastened footsteps from people when she approached them.
⸺ “I-Its… Real! It really… Is!” ⸺ Tears traveled downwards her face as she covered her mouth with her hand, as if the mere sound of the cries of a Backstreets resident would contaminate the ambience around the Nest, she silently cried on the sidewalk as her legs started to give up while she knelt, it was truly a miracle.
After some time, while people looked at her with weird looks while trying to avoid her as they walked, she eventually stood up again, and looked at the documents, she only has three more days to reach Lobotomy Corporation, the Wing she will become a Feather of, and she has no time to waste, she was given resources such as travel expenses to reach the Nest, alongside other resources to make herself look presentable, she did not use them until now, believing it was a cruel prank, however, now that the possibility of becoming a Feather was something plausible, she now has to be quick.
Back in the Backstreets, she was in a worse situation that the average person, and the moment the letter arrived to her hands was truly when she was at the bottom of her life, by that reason her chose for attire was not the most optimal, how could she present herself at the Wing, looking like that?
She found the nearest clothing shop, and asking around she found something that would make her look at least presentable, at first, they almost kicked her out, but the moment they saw the L. Corp’s logo on one of her papers she was suddenly treated much better, and they even gave her a discount, she felt so happy that she almost did not notice the greed in their eyes when she used the card she was provided.
She looked at the mirror in front of the changing room and tears almost escaped from her red eyes, yet she endured, she could not cry just yet, she had to become a Feather first and then she would bawl her eyes out, she looked at all the clothes she was provided by, and she tried every single one, no matter the color, no matter the combination, she wanted to try them, because for the first time, she had clothes that were not scavenged.
She caressed her neck, the marks of imprisonment still reminding her of the past, but when the collar of her clothes hid it, she felt if she could forget about it, even for a moment. The clothes that for a very long time were just objects to gaze on magazines were now on her very hands, the hands that were one of the only parts of her body that did not suffer punishment, and because of that she very carefully tended them, as if her fingers could stain even the so precious clothes, as if she was afraid to even touch them, she eventually placed them inside the shopping bags.
Saying her goodbyes to the shopkeepers, and with bags of multiple clothes that felt no heavy at all thanks to her augments, she could almost skip as she walked, she felt truly happy, and she could feel the sun that pierced through the thick smoke remains in the sky, washing her in the light of the sky.
⸺ “My life inside the nest… will finally start!”
But suddenly.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ But even if the life of the Backstreets was left behind, the knowledge and base instincts that were engraved into you will never fade away, as she felt her very life being threatened as she quickly turned around, only to see a white cloaked figure holding something between the shadows of their appendages, and the only thing that she could see from the weapon, was the silver shine of a sword.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
But the blade would not reach her, as the figure would stop in its place as its body would soon be filled with holes, and blood poured from every single one of them, it tried to regain its strength and strike again, yet two ferocious beasts were quicker, as not even a second later the place would be surrounded by Rabbits, and they vigorously grazed the fresh grass that dared to disturb the Nest that they were tasked to protect.
⸺ “What the fuck are the guys from the border doing!?” ⸺ One of them screamed.
⸺ “I heard a lot of them appeared out of nowhere, this was the only one that managed to pull through!”
⸺ “Who cares! It is fresh grass! Let’s join in too Hahahaha!”
None of them asked if she was okay, or if she was injured, because even if their job is to protect the place, it was not in their nature to do so as they were not protectors, they were vicious killers, and the last comment made it apparent, because the moment they noticed the possibility of more encounters like this, it was almost as if they revered in it, as if they were waiting to get washed in blood, and they disappeared as quick as they appeared.
Liza was disturbed, not by the killing, because she was used to it, she was disturbed because of who this person was, the now red stained white cloak was now hiding red chunks of flesh, yet while they were being torn apart, she clearly heard what they screamed.
⸺ “…Li…za…”
They found me
They found me!
THEY FOUND ME!
⸺ “…Ah!” ⸺ Liza could barely dodge impalement as she regained consciousness in the air, the warm blood covered her face and added weight to the hair that tickled her face, making red warm tendrils that sticked to her face, she had a bad idea, a small fountain of blood escaped her forehead as she tried to injure the face of the Queen when she had an opening, using the force of her entire body was not a good idea, and she suffered the consequences of it.
⸺ “I was reminisced of something that I really did not want to think about!” ⸺ She screamed internally, as her desperation was now being replaced by wrath. They said when you are close to your death, you will be reminisced of your life until that point, yet it only added to the Agent’s will to live.
⸺ “You piece of shit…! Do you really think I will die here!? Hahaha!” ⸺ As a mere show of will, despite the excruciating pain, her right limb approached her face, and using the mixture of her own and the Queen subject’s blood, she combed her hair backwards before the limb eventually gave up again. ⸺ “If you really want to make me despair, add a digit to my debt, dumbass.”
As if answering her taunt, the Queen threw her entire body against the Agent once again, and the response was the same as always, with the Agent dodging the attack jumping between the trees.
The area around them was nowhere similar to how it looked before, the beautiful wildlife of Acahualla could not persevere against the attack of a WAW Abnormality, and the only track it left behind was destruction, with knocked down trees, the ground itself opening and invading upwards, and the worse of all, the boiling blood that escaped the Queen’s body, painting the former rainforest red.
‘Yet how it keeps regenerating…?’ Liza thought while moving to another position. ‘This Abnormality should not be able to move like that even if we are outside the Qliphoth Deterrence, and her body can’t even keep up with her movements, yet despite that it keeps regenerating with that green…!’
‘Of course! The fairy, the fire girl, the bee and the sap! I drank from it a few times before I knew that someone else died from it, that thing regenerates your wounds but the more you drink it the more is the chance that you will die the next time you do, so how come this thing has not exploded or something!?’
⸺ “RAAAAAAAAAAH.” ⸺ The Queen roared, distracting the Agent from her thoughts just in time for a Worker Bee to catch her off guard, in a sudden movement it launched itself towards her and sunk its teeth on her leg.
⸺ “Gah! Give me a moment!” ⸺ She screamed in return, before using her other leg to separate its head from the body, but the head was still attached to her but there was so much she can do without her arms.
‘If only I had my E.G.O weapon, that way I could regenerate too…’
‘…!’
‘Wait… Its open wounds would still have some of the sap… right?’
‘…’
‘…This is a disgusting idea…’
⸺ “But it’s the only idea I have!” ⸺ This time when one of the legs of the Queen tried to impale her, she dodged towards the Abnormality, and started to run towards it, Liza had to make way as the path towards the monster was engulfed in destruction, so much that multiple obstacles impeded her way.
⸺ “Bzzz.” ⸺ The Worker Bees that arrived in the area after some time passed were also in the way of the Agent, but despite that, her strength remained superior. No matter how much they tried to catch her, Liza’s used their heads as platforms to keep her advance.
Eventually she reached the bottom side of the monster, and the realization of the towering form of the Queen Bee over the regular human, standing so close to her Liza could not see the sun. Just in in time as the Queen tried to attack Liza again with its leg, a wound opened because of the sudden movement.
She used the leg as a platform, running on top of it for a few moments before the Abnormality tried to shake her off, but Liza had already jumped towards her objective, the recently steaming opened wound engulfed in an almost invisible green shine, the smell was horrible, but Liza was determined, and she opened her now abnormally large mouth, and her sharp teeth prepared themselves.
*CRUNCH*
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Now with her mouth in contact with the freshly opened wound, she felt the disgusting chunks of flesh mixed with the thick blood invade her tongue, the blood was abnormally hot and it reached the back of her throat, burning it before she could even notice, and the smell of iron that was piercing her nostrils was so strong it almost hurt, Liza felt some bile try and escape her stomach, and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes, but she did not relent, and used her teeth with more strength than before, as she tried to gather whatever she could in her mouth before swallowing large chunks of meat and blood.
She was seconds in that process, but for her it felt like an eternity, the Abnormality noticed the damage and in retaliation it stretched towards the sky before throwing itself towards the ground, aiming to crush the Agent attached to her body.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ With a last push of strength, the Agent managed to separate a large chunk of flesh before jumping away, and while in the air, she swallowed whatever remained in her mouth, and her body felt it, travelling through every vein of her body the Sap would bless her with nutrients and blessings, but she will eventually have to repay it to the tree.
She felt her arms no longer hurt, and movement did not feel like torture, she sprouted them towards the sky as she fell, as if to show the Abnormality that her efforts to immobilize her were useless now.
⸺ “Yeah, I’m not doing that shit again!” ⸺ As she fell, she used her now healed arms to place her hands in the ground and jump out of the shockwave that escaped the ground were the Abnormality fell. ⸺ “Haha! Your interior is surprisingly soft, isn’t it?”
Eventually she managed to find a branch to rest in, as the Abnormality tried to regain its footing, with the realization that the self-inflicted wounds of the Abnormality were the obvious weak point, she had a good boost to her morale, and in her mind were numerous ways to take advantage of this, considering her speed, her strength and the surroundings.
However.
⸺ “If you ever find yourself in danger, you are free to retreat.” ⸺ The words of her boss eventually reached her, and as she considered her words, she looked at herself. Amongst the amount of blood that hid most of her skin, she saw how her uniform did no longer fit her, as she was now bigger than before.
⸺ “…I feel sick.” ⸺ Liza said, her worries not aimed at her longer fingers that could pierce anything, as she reminisced of the times her body was feeling weaker and weaker, and her sight was starting to fail her, yet it regained strength the moment Angela ordered her to gather the remnants of the Control Team.
⸺ “I feel sick.” ⸺ Liza said, not because of the whispers in the corner of her vision, but because of the times she felt her body almost giving up, only for Angela to order her to accompany the girl that wished to save the other people like her, to feel her body reinvigorate even if she was not obligated to do so, but because it was a mission assigned to her.
⸺ “I FEEL SICK!” ⸺ Liza screamed, because her body was not fighting to live another day, but fighting to fulfill the wishes of another person, sure, she could escape now and regroup with her boss, but she will not do that.
She was terrified of the day Angela learned that her corrosion allowed for complete control of the Agent, because now her body relished in following orders, that her body was now someone in need of a shepherd, for someone to guide her towards the light.
⸺ “Come on! I am not finished yet!” ⸺ Liza jumped towards the Abnormality once again, throwing away her chance to escape and formulate a plan with the other Agents, and the moment she did so, she felt her body become heavier and sluggish, almost as if she was underwater.
⸺ “Hahahaha! Let’s go! I can still drink from you a few times before my death is guaranteed, so let’s take a gamble!” ⸺ However, the Agent did not show any concerns in that regard, in fact, now that her body was showing her the opposite reaction, she appeared to be happier than ever before.
.
.
.
⸺ “Q-Queen Bee!?” ⸺ Mika shouted in surprise at the news, which made the Archosauria around them to turn and look at her, seeing so many eyes turn to look at her made the Agent uneasy.
⸺ “Yes, that is our suspicion, which makes our situation a really bad one.” ⸺ Angela said as she walked alongside Mika and Parker in direction of the black box that contained the Qliphoth Deterrence, that was also the place where Ramirez was being experimented on.
⸺ “A WAW outside the Qliphoth Deterrence… can it really be suppressed?” ⸺ Mika said with skepticism but was quickly corrected by Parker.
⸺ “It is not a matter if we can, we have to do it.” ⸺ He said without looking at her. ⸺ “And from what Miss Angela told me, the moment we do, we will have more support in our hands now that the possibility of Agents like you returning.”
⸺ “Yes, that is correct.” ⸺ Angela added, she was about to continue but was quickly interrupted by someone who approached her the instant she saw her.
⸺ “Lady Angela! What is going on? The other tribe leaders left when Inam told them about something, but I was not paying attention to it…” ⸺ Zumama said as she approached them, she raised an eyebrow when she saw the new Agent that she did not remember seeing before, but she reminisced something before she could question it. ⸺ “Ah! But look, I just made something that I wanted to show Master Hannah… Well, to you too!”
⸺ “About that Zumama…” ⸺ Angela interrupted her while she was about to point somewhere behind her, gaining her attention. ⸺ “I would like you to stop using Enkephalin for the time being.”
⸺ “What! B-But why though!? Did I offend you or something? Was it something I said? I am so so so sorry! But you can’t just tell me to stop! This is a ridiculous source of energy! I have a thousand… No! Hundreds of thousands of ideas to use this! And Master Hannah was eager to learn of them too! So I… So I…”
⸺ “I agree! This source of energy is miraculous!” ⸺ The blue bird appeared besides the tribe leader, almost instantly the moment those words left Angela’s mouth. ⸺ “I think I figured out a way to not make something explode this time! You have to trust me! I will not bother anyone else with the ruckus!”
⸺ “…” ⸺ Angela thought about what to say, it was true that she had no reason to stop, and it was merely a precaution she was taking to prevent future troubles, it was her own paranoia that was stealing from Zumama’s happiness, alongside her energetic little friend.
Angela did not completely understand this feeling, but after the regular talks she had with Zumama when the Agents were occupied, she did not want to make her unhappy. Yet something had to be done, for all their safety.
⸺ “I can’t tell you yet… But it is not something that will last forever, and I can promise that I will tell you more about… me, if you chose to comply for now.” ⸺ A way to quickly convince her came to her mind, Angela was sensitive about topics like her maintenance, something that Zumama avoided to talk about the first time she saw Angela become uncomfortable when she spoke about it, yet her curiosity did not diminish because of that if the stars in her eyes were a signal.
⸺ “…! Y-You will! Hehe… Hahaha! Y-You promised right! Very well! I will comply for now…”
⸺ “A chance to learn more about Lady Angela… I, as a gentleman, will have to comply too. I promise that Enkephalin will not be used as long as I live!”
⸺ “…Ahem.” ⸺ Angela faked a cough to gain their attention again. ⸺ “For now, please do not leave this place, and if anyone left in your tribe, send someone to retrieve them.”
⸺ “Huh? Why though?”
⸺ “I can’t tell you yet, but please understand…” ⸺ Angela will not make anyone panic right now, she understands the havoc that people going insane could cause, she has seen it countless times, and people who are not trained to withstand the presence of an Abnormality could be the worst outcome.
⸺ “…But I wanted to go to the mines to gather some resources…”
⸺ “Well, Zumama, then how about I teach you about something I learned from the outside world then?” ⸺ The blue bird added, trying to convince Zumama. ⸺ “I can assure you I have not taught you everything I know, we could maybe surprise Hannah with it!”
⸺ “What? No way, I do not believe you, Master Hannah appears to know everything, how could you?”
⸺ “Ha! You youngsters have not seen the last of me yet, I have still some aces hidden beneath these sleeves!”
⸺ “…You do not have sleeves.”
⸺ “You know what I am talking about, now come with me!”
And they left as they discussed about some new project that could surprise Hannah herself, but Angela did not hear the rest of the conversation, as Parker signaled them to continue to the place that contained the Qliphoth Deterrence.
⸺ “That creature appears to hold quite wisdom.” ⸺ Parker remarked as they walked.
⸺ “…What were you talking about?” ⸺ Mika said, between their discussion, Parker and Angela forgot that the new Agent within their ranks do not have knowledge about the language of this land, so in her eyes she did not understand anything they were saying.
⸺ “Not something important, we can talk about it later.” ⸺ Angela said towards her, to which the Agent nodded. They finally reached the place, there was a heavy door that was protected by a security system. Parker tapped the password on the keypad besides it and the door released some pressure before opening.
They walked inside before the door closed behind them, and inside the room there it stood, the source of the Qliphoth Deterrence and the source of all Abnormalities, the Bucket. And in the middle of the room was Ramirez, who was no longer restrained to a stretcher, but chained towards the ground while hooks opened the flesh of his back, exposing his vertebrae, he was not conscious.
⸺ “T-That’s the Captain!?” ⸺ Mika almost screamed, covering her mouth in surprise, she was told they were experimenting on the Control Captain to gain knowledge about their corrosion and to regain their E.G.O Weapons.
⸺ “You are here.” ⸺ Hannah said from one of the corners of the room, she appeared to be exhausted while looking at one of the monitors they scavenged. This whole place was recklessly organized, as they did not have much time and tools to completely make new equipment, all of it could barely function, but that was enough.
⸺ “Did it change?” ⸺ Parker said as he approached her, she shook her head as she pointed in front of her, and looking at the screen he did not receive good news. ⸺ “It is the same.”
⸺ “What is exactly you are looking for?”
⸺ “We managed to extract the E.G.O weapon for some seconds, but the moment we lowered the Qliphoth Deterrence to simulate a place far from here, it fused itself again with Ramirez almost instantly.” ⸺ Hannah said, recalling the experiments. ⸺ “No matter what we did, the outcome was the same.”
⸺ “For that reason, we opted for the other way, we can consistently extract its weapon if its close to the Qliphoth Deterrence, so we are going for a way to keep the deterrence levels consistent at all times, as we can’t just move this huge thing to the combat zone every time we need our weapons.” ⸺ Hannah now looked at Parker. ⸺ “This guy answered me something I wondered the day I learned about the source of the deterrence; I doubt that there is a… ‘Well’ and a ‘Bucket’ in every branch of L. Corp, that’s just begging for the Singularity to get leaked, it would just make more sense to make Abnormalities here and just send them alongside a source of Qliphoth Deterrence and call it a day.”
⸺ “The form of this source of Qliphoth Deterrence is akin to a plant, more specifically, a bough, but from the energy we have, we can barely call it that.” ⸺ Hannah said as she used her remaining hand to turn around the monitor, showing it to Angela and the other Agent. ⸺ “If we use just enough energy to let the Qliphoth Deterrence last for an hour without more Enkephalin, we can barely create a fragment of… what the hell?”
⸺ “Um… Captain of Information, I am Mika, Agent of Control!”
⸺ “…Huh? No… No, I know you, how are you here?”
⸺ “We can explain that later Hannah, but to continue…” ⸺ Parker said, maintaining the flow of the conversation. ⸺ “It is difficult to create a source of deterrence without the equipment from the Extraction Department, and this process is not something I was allowed to watch either, for this knowledge was imparted to me from my Sephirah, it is a source of Qliphoth Deterrence, but it also has a lot more functions that I was not allowed to know, so this process is being made by second hand knowledge.”
⸺ “You are creating a Golden Bough.” ⸺ Angela said while looking at the figure that was on the screen, and a memory resurfaced because of it. ⸺ “I recall the founder calling it that once, but he discarded the need for me to know its functions too. This process is only possible because of the creation of the ‘Bucket’ a long, long time ago.”
⸺ “…Yeah, as I was saying, we would need a lot, and I mean, a lot more Enkephalin to make a complete ‘bough’, but we can’t just work with Abnormalities all day, so we decided to do something different.” ⸺ She now pointed at Ramirez. ⸺ “We originally planned to make one and let one of us carry it, but by these calculations if you just hold it, it may not have the effects we desire, the signal its just too inconsistent… But what if it was, in theory, inside of you…?”
⸺ “That explains why the Control Captain is in such state… Did he agree to this?” ⸺ Angela said as she looked at the Agent, he was kneeling while his arms were restrained towards the sides, wires of a hard material that would not withstand the force of an ALEPH Agent, so he had to cooperate too.
⸺ “He did… Alongside a lot of other things I do not know if I should report…” ⸺ Hannah said as she scratched her head. ⸺ “But now we need the thumbs up and we will get to it immediately.”
Angela thought about it for a moment, searching within her infinite memory about the things she has heard about the Golden Bough, but they were clouded by the scowls she was sent by that man when she merely asked, as if it was insulting even for her to know about it. But a part of her found satisfaction, they were sinking their hands in a topic that was probably taboo in the company even for her, and because of that, it was as if she was spitting in his plans.
In the corner of her lips, a smile threatened to appear, yet she quickly composed herself to give her order.
⸺ “Go ahead.”
Upon hearing her words, Parker left Hannah’s side and approached the terminal close to the green chamber, and started to work on something very quickly. Hannah did her part too, as she let a sigh escape before starting to use the keyboard as well, but she was pretty capable, because of that she opened her mouth while she did so.
⸺ “So… How are you back?” ⸺ Hannah said not looking away from the screen.
⸺ “She was trapped inside the Abnormality Core, with the power of the Light I was able to… extract her.” ⸺ Angela said as she watched them work, recording in her memory every step they took, in case she had to do the same in the future. ⸺ “The process is something I would have to describe in more detail, but that’s what happened in short words.”
⸺ “So that means…”
⸺ “Yes, we can expect the same outcome with other cores, after this ends, I was expecting one of you to suppress F-04-83 to do the same.”
⸺ “She shows clear signs of corrosion, however, there is a more evident control of it based on what she describes the effects on her body, she can be a good source of study.” ⸺ Parker commented from the other side of the room.
⸺ “W-What?” ⸺ Mika exclaimed loudly.
⸺ “Oh? Then maybe we can insert this thing on her and send her to suppress the WAW?”
⸺ “What!?”
⸺ “Do not joke around, we can’t send a TETH agent towards a WAW Abnormality.”
⸺ “Oh, come on, I am sure little Mika can handle it! You can, right?”
⸺ “I-I mean… Not that I… Well, I would just need to…”
⸺ “Pftt… Don’t worry, I was just joking.”
⸺ “…! I’m sorry Captain Hannah! I can handle myself against a WAW no problem, Captain Hannah!”
⸺ “Hey, I was joking.”
⸺ “In fact, I have a record in participating against suppression against three ALEPHs alongside Captain Ramirez and other Agents from the Control Team, I am not afraid to join combat!”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “I have a clear record of Ordeal suppression, and I have enough FORTITUDE to withstand heavy attacks, I have survived attacks from WAWs before!” ⸺ Mika said multiple facts about her work, and after some time, she stopped talking towards Hannah and started to talk towards Angela, her boss that was besides her. ⸺ “So! I am an Agent who is completely qualified to keep working in Lobotomy Corporation, Miss Angela!”
She ended her words while looking straight at Angela’s eyes while closing their distance, she was eagerly trying to prove her worth towards her. This attitude was certainly weird coming from one of the Agents as none of them acted that way before, did the comment from Hannah made her think she was being tested about her capabilities? Then that means…
⸺ “I am not firing you, Agent Mika.”
⸺ “…Yes! Thank you!” ⸺ She said as she turned around and stood completely still, as if she was a soldier that was proving themselves to be completely disciplined, and kept her serious expression that tried to hide the terror in her eyes. ⸺ “Thank you, Miss Angela!”
⸺ “We are not firing anybody, as we need all the help we can get at the moment, you do not need to worry.” ⸺ Angela tried to reassure the Agent.
⸺ “Yes! Thank you, Miss Angela! You are a very good boss, Miss Angela!” ⸺ But she did not manage to make her relax, as she thought she was still being tested, it appears Mika still did not totally understand the situation they were in, as it appears she still believed she was under contract with the now fallen Wing of Lobotomy Corporation.
⸺ “Are you ready?” ⸺ Now Parker broke the silence, as she looked towards Hannah who sent him a thumbs up, receiving the confirmation he walked towards a lever.
*CRACKLE*
Once he pulled it, the room suffered a blackout for a moment, the entire room trembled as green energy traveled in the exposed gaps within the floor, traveling towards the exact middle point of the room, just some distance from Ramirez. Inside the green chamber, the figure inside of it writhed as it made sound similar to bones breaking and flesh destroying itself.
It hurts.
For a moment, a scream invaded the room, and the sound made the hair of those present flatter against the air, as well as making the red-haired Agent cover her ears, and with the little energy they had, they created a small golden fragment in the middle of the room that escaped from the ground, the place where almost every last of their energy concentrated, managing to create their desires.
⸺ “Hey, its even smaller than we anticipated!” ⸺ Hannah said as she looked over the monitors. ⸺ “What is it… 3 centimeters? We expected at least five times that!”
⸺ “…It will be enough.” ⸺ Parker approached he recently created artifact, and upon reaching it with its fingers, the shock of pain made him retract his fingers, he looked at them and saw little fragments of gold that pierced his skin, the consequence of their low-quality equipment in the process of making it. He once again reached for it, and when the pain pierced his senses, he did not relent.
The low energy remaining in the room amplified the effect of the light that emanated from the little fragment of gold, and Parker walked towards the Agent, he searched with his gaze the perfect place, an space between his cervical vertebrae, and with surgical precision, he slowly inserted the fragment inside of him.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Ramirez instantly reacted, he opened his eyes for a second before closing them and gritting his teeth, it appears he recognized they were doing something that required precision, so he used all his will to not make sudden movements, Parker placed a hand on his shoulder to stop his trembling, and soon enough Hannah appeared on the other side to do the same. Hannah eyed Mika and she quickly arrived to their side, and supported them to make Ramirez stand in place.
⸺ “The hooks.” ⸺ Parker ordered and Mika hastily released the instruments that let Ramirez’ flesh to remain open, and slowly yet steadily, he kept regenerating. He was released from the hold of the other Agents, and soon enough, he fell on the ground.
⸺ “…Is he alive?”
⸺ “We need to quickly see how it’s affecting his body, Hannah, open the…” ⸺ But he was quickly interrupted as someone was hitting the door multiple times, within short times, almost as if they were desperate. Angela tried to approach but Parker reached the door first, putting himself in front of the machine. He opened the door, and he encountered multiple Archosauria standing outside of it.
⸺ “Someone, Angela!” ⸺ Inam was the one leading them. ⸺ “We have a parasite inside of us!”
⸺ “…!” ⸺ All of the Agents became alert, and stress was starting to manifest on their faces, Hannah quickly approached the door and saw all of the Archosauria standing outside, there were hundreds of them, the worst-case scenario.
⸺ “Liza she… She fought some of these… Yellow monsters on the way here… She said she was buying time, but she also said I had to run here, because there was a chance I was infected with something!”
She approached Inam, making way as Parker was still on the doorframe, Hannah placed her fingers on her wrist, and then she used them to open her eyes to look for something.
⸺ “What do you feel?”
⸺ “…A pain around my stomach.”
⸺ “And your neck, do you feel a tingling sensation?”
⸺ “…Yes.”
⸺ “…” ⸺ That was the worse answer she could have given Hannah, they were clearly out of time, now, what could they do?
⸺ “Can you help them?” ⸺ Angela asked her, Hannah looked behind her to look at her boss looking at her expectantly, she could, she has worked with machines with diameters of picometers without shaking once, if it was precision what she was searching for, it would be her, however.
⸺ “Do we have that option?” ⸺ Parker took the words out of her mouth, speaking in the language of the City. ⸺ “The Abnormality has shown clear signs of attacking, Liza is borrowing time for this place to not be surrounded by Working Bees as we speak, we have to center our attention on Ramirez and let him take care of this.”
⸺ “…And we just let all these people die?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ Parker did not speak for a moment. ⸺ “I’m afraid that is the only way, we can turn them away or…”
⸺ “This people have helped us so much, the building of this base of operations is something that we could have not done on our own, will we just abandon them, the moment they are no longer useful?” ⸺ Angela found difficult to add the last sentence.
⸺ “Hey, what are you talking about? These people need help right now!” ⸺ Inam begged towards them, but she was not taken into consideration.
⸺ “We could round them up, gather all the people from the Eunectes tribe, and keep them in another place, and I could make sure the others do not bother us, Miss Angela.” ⸺ Hannah said towards the AI.
⸺ “…What?”
⸺ “I recognize that amongst them only a few are part of the Eunectes Tribe, you know? The only tribe that knows how to handle a tool, maybe we can make an exception for them? I can do it quickly enough for me to return and work with Ramirez.”
⸺ “That sounds like a good idea, what do you think. Angela?” ⸺ Added Parker.
⸺ “Angela!” ⸺ Inam exclaimed, trying to gain her attention.
⸺ “…”
‘I do not understand… I should value lives more yet… Are there lives that are more valuable than others, is this what you are trying to tell me?’
‘You wanted me to not risk your lives, for you to matter… And that only applies to you?’
‘You are disregarding their lives as if they are nothing, I can see them, desperately begging for their lives yet you look as if that sight barely shakes you.’
‘I see Zumama on the distance, she is looking at us with a worried look.’
‘Inam is looking at me with such expression, she helped me with so much information.’
‘…’
‘What is the correct choice here?’
‘What would she think of me?’
‘Is she expecting me to save them’?
‘What choice… would have he have taken?’
‘If we weight their value right now… An Agent is clearly more valuable, in any situation, an Agent is more valuable’
‘But does that give me the right, to decide who lives and who dies?’
‘Is this… the weight that comes with the ability to make a choice?’
‘I hate this.’
‘I do not want to feel like this.’
‘I do not want to…’
*CRASH*
⸺ “What’s with all this hesitation…?” ⸺ The sound of the restraints being broken came from behind them, and Ramirez voice gained their attention, he grabbed his worn-out white shirt from his uniform and put it on himself. His injuries from the restraints quickly healed, and the abnormal tissue that dominated his right side did not invade half of his face, only to his cheek. ⸺ “You are all standing there like novices, where are all the level V employees?”
⸺ “C-Captain!” ⸺ Mika exclaimed in happiness, and she approached him with no sign of respect for her position.
⸺ “¿Que mierda? And where the hell did you come from?” ⸺ Not that it appears to matter to him, his scowl was the same as always, but Angela could see a smile on the corner of his lips. ⸺ “Tch, and here I though you bit the bullet, don’t go playing hero now.”
⸺ “Y-Yes!”
⸺ “Ramirez, you should stay there, we have to make sure you can manifest your E.G.O weapon without problem, we have to read your corrosion levels, how your psyche reacts, how…”
⸺ “It is me you are talking about, what tests? I can handle this no problem.” ⸺ He pushed Parker out of the way as he made his way towards the outside.
⸺ “Ramirez, what you are doing is extremely reckless, you don’t even know if you can manifest the E.G.O weapon on your own, you can only do it with assistance of our machines!”
⸺ “I remember the feeling, don’t underestimate me, you have already run enough experiments.” ⸺ He evaded Hannah and eventually placed himself in front of hundreds of Archosauria who looked at him with expectation, he crossed his arms, he indeed had an intimidating presence, but he exceeded something else, pride and confidence, the traits of the Control Captain of the Facility. ⸺ “Hey you long faces! These people will extract your parasites in no time! Just form a line and it will be extracted in no time!”
⸺ “Ramirez!” ⸺ Hannah exclaimed, now she was angry at him. The other tribesmen where quickly organizing themselves on their own while they talked, relief shown on their faces, and a smile upon Inam, the one who brought them here. ⸺ “Don’t decide things on your own… Angela!”
She looked at Angela, expecting her to do something about the behavior of one of her Agents, she looked at her waiting for the order to stop whatever he was doing, but she did not find that in her expression, only determination.
Indeed, sometimes the weight of decision was something that could crush you, and because of that, you will eventually have to share it with others, it is simple really, but there are people that forget even this most simple principle.
So now, Angela, what will you do?
⸺ “Ramirez, are you fully confident?”
⸺ “Of course, I will be back in no time.”
⸺ “Then go.”
⸺ “Where is Liza?” ⸺ He said as he placed his hand on Inam’s shoulder. And once she told him the direction, he immediately jumped over the crowd and sprinted deeper towards the rainforest.
⸺ “This is a bad idea; this is a bad idea! That guy a few days ago told me he did not give a fuck about these people so why now…!” ⸺ Hannah looked frustrated as he held her forehead with her hand. ⸺ “This is not the time to worry about your damn pride!”
⸺ “There is not much we can do now; Miss Angela issued her order.” ⸺ Parker said, gaining the attention from Angela. ⸺ “If this is what you chose, I will follow you, as I have said.”
⸺ “Thank you, Parker.” ⸺ Angela said as she turned around to see the other Agents. ⸺ “We can use the stretchers from the Control Room to perform the extraction, how much fuel does the regenerator have?”
⸺ “Depends on how much time does the process take.” ⸺ Parker said as he looked towards the other Agent, who was still scowling.
⸺ “…Tch, this is going to get us killed…” ⸺ Hannah, shook her head for a second, before focusing again. ⸺ “If their anatomy is similar to ours… Between locating it, extracting it, sealing the wound, and with only one hand… Two minutes each, it is not enough with the fuel it has.”
⸺ “I will locate it for you.” ⸺ Parker answered as the golden pattern of the feathers that were sprouting from his head started to shine, and his golden eyes started to become flooded with blood, looking at each and one of them he saw the parasite traveling across their systems, eating away flesh, while some others had a cocoon on their intestines. ⸺ “I am capable of doing so.”
⸺ “…Then I will aim for less than a minute in each one, you will have to tell me exactly where it is.” ⸺ Hannah then grabbed the arm of the Control Agent. ⸺ “We do not have a sterile environment nor sterile equipment, so we will have to improvise, can you make fire?”
⸺ “Huh? Well, I don’t…”
⸺ “Then we will figure it out on the way, come with me.”
⸺ “Then I will leave this to you.” ⸺ Angela said before she started to walk away, only to be interrupted by Parker.
⸺ “Where are you going Miss Angela?”
⸺ “I will talk something with Zumama, there is another idea I have in mind yet.” ⸺ She kept walking without looking behind her. ⸺ “After you are finished, come find me, alongside Mika, we cannot let Ramirez handle everything on his own.”
.
.
.
For children in the City, on any moment of their lives it is completely natural to have the wish to become a Fixer. To become one of the strongest people ever, to be able to gather strength on your own so that nobody will steal from you again, no one can hurt you again, and you can protect your family from evildoers.
And it is completely natural, for those children to have those hopes crushed, to realize that becoming a Fixer is just another cog in the wheel that is the suffering on the City.
But what if? What if one of them persevered, to become a protector of the weak, to aspire to become something more, to be able to defend people from the others which seek to make harm. To be a symbol of inspiration to others.
You have possibly heard about them before, because a lot of them try to persevere, aiming higher and higher to eventually reach that childlike dream. Ramirez is not the protagonist of some fairy tale like that, he failed, alongside everyone else, he failed like the people who tried in the past, and failed like the people who will try in the future.
Those dreams die the moment one of the fixers reach the likes of Grade 7, once they realize that Fixers need to survive just like everyone else, and that you cannot climb the ladder to success by being a knight in shining armor.
For Ramirez? Surprisingly, he climbed high enough for his dreams to die the moment he was promoted to the Section 3 of the Zwei Association.
That fated night, when the mud infiltrated the interior of his boots, and the rain felt so heavy it became harder to see, he had one only order, to protect the cargo that was being shipped towards District 7, but a sudden attack by the Index made things a lot more difficult.
The attack lasted hours, but the presence of two Proselytes made things more difficult than he liked, his instructor died, his colleagues died, yet he persevered, because until now he survived things that were worse.
He was at death’s door, luckily, he scavenged his boss K Corp’s ampule that he had bought stealing from his subordinate’s salary, a payback, and his first mistake. He wondered why things turned out this way, why this cargo was so important for one of the Fingers to come and attack, he reminisced of his orders, to just protect the cargo.
Just protect it Ramirez, do not look inside.
But once the conflict ended, only the sobbing could be heard, the sobbing that came from inside the container, dread invaded his skin, and stumbling his way towards the cage he saw that the security system was damaged by the attack, yet curiosity got the best of him.
Opening the container, the face of a fixer was met by a dozen of other faces, and the only thing they both had in common, was horror. That was his second mistake, the last nail in the coffin. Maybe, in another world, if he did not see that, he could have become quite the big name fixer, maybe he could ascend all the way towards Section 1.
But that did not happen.
Because it was in his nature, there was so much he could tolerate and so he could not forget what he saw that day. He thought he did, but the moment the fragment of the Golden Bough was inserted inside of him, it was almost as if all those things he experienced were just yesterday.
‘But that is not the reason that I am doing this.’ Ramirez thought as he traveled across the challenging terrain of the rainforest, the humid terrain made it difficult to run across, yet his sprint could not be stopped.
‘Because there is no way in hell if I let those two psychopaths keep experimenting on me…’
‘I was really lucky that all those Archosauria arrived just in time, I managed to escape their grasp by mere hairs.’
‘And there was… Mika…’
But Ramirez gave up the life of fixer a long time ago, there was no reason to help them because he could, it was just because it was convenient for him at the time.
Ramirez had already emptied himself from those useless feelings and dreams.
He was now merely a husk devoid of aspirations and goals, that’s why he can use that E.G.O equipment better than anyone else.
Yes, you surely abandoned those feelings a long time ago, didn’t you, Ramirez?
‘Was I too…’
‘…Forget about the girl, I have an Abnormality to suppress.’
‘But how the hell am I going to bring out the E.G.O weapon out of me again? I just threw out a lie to get out quicker…’
‘…’
‘…I will figure it out.’
‘After all…’
⸺ “There is no better Agent than me, it was true in the Facility, and it is true now.” ⸺ He said as he jumped out of the shadows of the rainforest, arriving in an open area that was showered in destruction, blood and gore. ⸺ “Someone like me should be tasked with things like these, not being a lab rat.”
His arrival impacted the ground with force, and he covered his eyes from the burning sunlight, he saw the colossal beast that was chasing someone, it huge figure was dragging its lower half in the ground, expanding the destruction of the place alongside leaving a trail of blood.
⸺ “Pero que…” ⸺ He expected to eventually find the nest of the Queen Bee, surrounded by Worker Bees, an easy suppression in his eyes, yet the Abnormality he found was something he had not seen before, the last time he had seen a monster that size, the lights of the Facility had given up. ⸺ “…Alright, how do I even start to… Dammit, Liza is there!”
He recognized the figure flying across the battlefield, using his improved maneuverability it was mere seconds before he closed the gap between the huge monster and him, now seeing the shadow of the other Agent, he saw her pierce the wound of the Abnormality with her own hands before jumping out of the retaliation of the monster, but one of the stones was sent flying by the impact of one of her legs, hitting the female Agent in the air, throwing off her balance.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ An attack was quickly approaching, and Liza would be pierced in the air by one of the great legs of the Queen Bee, she would be doomed the moment the attack managed to pierce her, as the Abnormality would not grant her another chance to escape, but fortunately…
*SPLAT*
⸺ “What the…!” ⸺ Ramirez was there to hit her first. He noticed the danger she was in so he jumped in the way of the attack, just in time to kick Liza in the center of her stomach, hitting her out of the way, and also using her as a platform to get out of the way himself.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Liza was sent flying towards debris, which produced a cloud of dust to hid the Agent, giving her time to recover, as for Ramirez, the Queen Bee noticed the new arrival and focused her attacks on him. ⸺ “Are you alive!?”
⸺ “…Fuck you!”
⸺ “So you are, then tell me, if you are fighting it maybe you figured out something right!?”
⸺ “The wounds! It is vulnerable on its insides, it is fueled by the sap of the tree, that’s why it keeps regenerating…! Gah! My head! My head!” ⸺ Liza screamed, as she tried to regain her composure, Ramirez looked at her with worry, wondering if he did more damage than good, but he realized that the source of her pain was not the injure, but the state of her body. She was barely resembling a human now, the Agent was probably taller than him, her hair covered her face yet he could almost see half a mask on her face, there was no other color than red that decorated her appearance. ⸺ “Ugh…! And what the hell are you doing!? I thought you useless fucks would find a way to use the E.G.O weapons! Where is it then!? Why are you empty handed!?”
*CRASH*
⸺ “…I am figuring it out.”
⸺ “You really are useless!”
⸺ “You should fall back; you clearly surpassed the mental corrosion threshold.”
⸺ “As if I would come back to that death trap, and besides, this bitch is mine!” ⸺ She was about to join the fight again, but the sound of thousands of wingbeats invaded her eardrums, as she turned around to find an immeasurable amount of Worker Bees approaching her location, she grabbed her head as she screamed, eventually she stopped as she hit the ground with her fists before screaming towards the monsters. ⸺ “Get out of my way! Get out of my way! I will kill every single one of you! Kyahahahaha!”
*CRASH*
‘She really has lost it’ He thought, so he can’t count on her for this suppression, he was alone, again. No problem, he can work with that. Dodging the attacks of the Abnormality, he reached high enough to come face to face with the monster, there were countless eyes hidden between flesh and the Agent used both of his arms to pierce two of them, sinking his arms in the monster and staining them red until his elbows.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ But suddenly, teeth pierced his arms in the place that used to be its eyes, the recently born larvae of Working Bees pierced his hardened flesh, making him unable to escape, he tried to force his way out, but his own regeneration kept him in place. The Queen Bee stopped her rampage as it used its own legs to lift its upper part of its body, almost as a flower reaching for the sun, it reached for the sky. ⸺ “Don’t tell me…!”
Suddenly, Ramirez felt the motion of the Queen Bee’s sudden movement, as the Abnormality after raising its head the farthest it could, it then threw its head towards the ground with all its might, causing a strong wind as it moved, until eventually it hit the ground.
*BOOOM*
A huge shockwave released from the impact, Liza who was currently fighting countless Working Bees realized the incoming danger, and in her frenzy, she managed to reason that she would rather dodge, jumping on top of a subject, she propelled herself towards the sky just in time to watch the spawns be flattened against the ground, leaving only viscera and yellow stains in its path.
⸺ “…Uh?” ⸺ Liza uttered her confusion when she landed again, kicking and stepping on what remains of the subjects of the Queen, raising her foot as the mix of red and yellow left a trail on her feet. ⸺ “…Hey hey hey! Ramirez… Watch where you are- Holy shit!”
But was interrupted as the Queen, still with her head buried on the ground, started to drag her body across the area, destroying her own face alongside with it, and not knowing where it was going it eventually charged against Liza’s location. She tried to get out of the way, but was caught in the rampage, disappearing out of view as the terrain was destroyed and trembled.
Its charge stopped for a second and lifted its head, the damage was quickly repaired from the impact, and the two Agents were hanging from the sealing of those wounds, as Ramirez was swaying in the air as both his arms were trapped, he coughed from the damage as blood escaped his mouth, while Liza was laughing on her own as she was upside down with both her legs trapped between the injuries of the Abnormality.
⸺ “…My… Head… Dammit!” ⸺ But he could not rest as the Abnormality tried to strike its head towards the ground again, yet he could not escape its grasp again and its head aimed towards the ground again.
*CRASH*
But suddenly, at the last second, realizing that his arms could not be freed on his own, he prepared is legs to land and the moment the ground reached his feet, he used his own strength to mitigate the damage, some part of his legs could not contain the blood within and the sound of his bones breaking dominated all the others, yet he gritted his teeth.
The origin Abnormality that granted him the E.G.O suit was considered in the Facility as the pinnacle of RED damage, being almost invulnerable to it and dealing colossal amount of that same type, so it would be natural that a part of those characteristics would be drawn to him.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ He avoided being crushed again, with the strength that granted him the corrosion he managed to overpower the overwhelming force of nature, yet the impact destroyed most of his arms, granting him the opportunity to escape the grasp of the Abnormality. ⸺ “Kh…! It worked!”
Once he freed himself, his arms started to quickly regenerate, yet the Queen Bee would not wait for that opportunity as it began to lift its head again, Ramirez noticed its intentions and managed to hang onto the other Agent as they were going up again.
⸺ “Hahaha! Yes! Keep going! Hurt me further!”
⸺ “Wake up dumbass!” ⸺ Setting foot on the monster’s head again, he grabbed Liza under her shoulders and pulled her out of the way, and huge larvae escaped from the Queen Bee’s interior, some of them still attached to Liza’s legs. Jumping out in the air before the impact he kicked the larvae still drinking from her blood, and once they landed, he expected for Liza to make an annoying comment and maybe kick him away, yet she did not lift her head. ⸺”Hey…! Hey! Wake up!”
⸺ “Shall we… rain fire upon them…?”
⸺ “…!” ⸺ She was crossing the blurry line between human and Abnormality, this amount of damage and time outside the Qliphoth Deterrence was showing its consequences, in fear, Ramirez watched his arm, yet the corrosion was not advancing for him, despite the amount of damage and force he was outputting. ⸺ “…I guess it was not for nothing.”
But he could not think for a lot of time as one of the hundred of eyes of the Abnormality recognized him, and it started to approach them quickly.
⸺ “Can you move at least!?” ⸺ He asked in panic, yet he heard no answer, but he was getting out of options, so he hesitantly placed her on his back and started to carry her, his movement was hindered but he managed to dodge one of her legs in time. ⸺ “You are lucky that if you died it would be an expensive mistake!”
‘Now this is bad, really, really bad.’
‘I can injure it, sure, but it will eventually regenerate so that damage becomes meaningless.’
‘I need to damage it to the point its regeneration can no longer keep up, but I can’t do that with only my fists.’
‘And now I have this dumbass on my back who refused to go back.’
‘…’
‘Concentrate, remember how you felt when those lunatics brought your E.G.O Weapon out of you.’
‘What did you feel, what did you remember?’
⸺ “Hey.”
Terror appeared in his face as he heard the voice of someone from his past, he did not turn around as he was too afraid to do so, his feet stopped moving and the area around him turned dark. He did not turn around to face it, but he can feel a presence standing behind him.
⸺ “I don’t know how she looked; so can you tell me?”
His breath hastened, his pupils dilated, he felt his heart hit his eardrums.
⸺ “Can you tell me more about your dreams?”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “So this shell may be filled again.”
His thoughts were interrupted as one of the legs of the Queen Bee pierced his stomach, but it would not reach Liza on his back as he was way more durable for this type of combat, freeing one of his hands he pushed it out of the way before throwing the Agent away from him, separating her from the incoming attack.
⸺ “Grrr…!” ⸺ He barely stopped his hands one of the incoming legs inches away from his face, but the force behind the attack pushed him some distance as he tried to stop it, marking the ground as he traveled with the attack.
⸺ “This desire to change things, this hope… Where is it? I keep searching for it.”
⸺ “I buried those things long ago, I do no longer care about that.” ⸺ He pushed the leg out of the way, parrying it aside, and the sun was blocked by the incoming maw of the giant beast, threatening to swallowing him whole, so he had to quickly get out of the way.
⸺ “That is not true, they are still here… Grasping your heart, will you show them to me?”
Memories filled his mind, images of a little kid filled with bruises and injuries, yet despite that he laughed as he played with wooden figures, imagining a world where he had the strength to defend the people around him. It was not easy to focus on the task at hand, and his mental corruption levels were quickly rising, the Queen Bee realized that the other Agent was unprotected, so it focused its attention on her.
⸺ “…I see, since you were a child, you wanted to be a fixer and you achieved it, but why you could not achieve your dream?”
⸺ “Because it was impossible to begin with! The only thing you have to do to survive is just make money, it was always about money!” ⸺ He reached for the Agent, one of its legs aimed to pierce her but he barely managed to use his fist to strike it out of the way, in its legs appeared some cracks, but eventually disappeared alongside all the other injuries.
⸺ “But it was not only about yourself… you were doing it for another person.”
⸺ “She fucking died, that’s all there is to it, people die in the City all the time. I have no time to worry about every person who dies in my life.” ⸺ He grabbed the other Agent who was still not responding to his calls, and placed her on his back again. ⸺ “And certainly not for someone from that many years ago.”
⸺ “You still mourn, you still cry, but you do not show it to anyone else, you show them to me, filling this shell in hopes that one day, it shall kill you.”
⸺ “…You know jack shit about me.” ⸺ He was now surrounded by Working Bees, and looking at the horizon more of them were approaching, he used his legs to instantly kill the ones who became too close, but it was a hindrance that broke his focus on the main Abnormality. ⸺ “The fact that I realized that all this was meaningless already made me better than everyone else, even more, the fact that I managed to score a job at a Wing is proof of that!”
⸺ “Then why is this feeling… Making you unhappy?”
⸺ “Because I am fucking fighting for my life here!”
⸺ “The sight of Angela even considering the fact to not save those people even if she could, made you sick to your stomach.”
⸺ “That’s bullshit.”
⸺ “Because its in your nature… Why? Why do humans care about those things, why are they so eager to repress their very own nature? For that I must observe, observe and keep observing, let me analyze every single bit of you, so I can become human like you too.
⸺ “Shut up”
⸺ “Because of that nature… You would have tried to become a fixer regardless, but there was a spark that set you in that life, if we maybe recreate it…”
⸺ “You…!”
⸺ “Would you fill my shell with those feelings again?”
An attack was incoming straight at him, yet despite that, once he heard the cry of a little girl, despite how much he wanted to not look, despite how much he wanted for this to stop, despite how much he wanted to not see her again.
Because if she saw him again, how would she react to the person he had become?
⸺ “Someone… Please help me.”
And there it is.
Did you remember it?
Those strings pulling your heart?
Ramirez grabbed the Agent in his back, and with all his might he threw her upwards the sky, the crying was too loud for him, he wanted it to stop, so he will. The attack pierced him in the chest, and broke his ribs and reached his heart, the Working Bees used this opportunity and attacked him too, an overwhelming wave of emotions hit him, the source of all ego, the source of all E.G.O, what do you feel now Ramirez?
Are you angry as always?
Or are you truly angry?
⸺ “I almost forgot, how could I?” ⸺ He almost laughed to himself, he easily freed himself from the attack, he injured himself to escape, his regeneration was no longer keeping up with the damage avoiding a situation similar to before, in the corner of the eye, he saw his memory and closed the distance almost immediately.
*SPLAT*
And in a mere second, the little girl was reduced to no more than a puddle of blood, yet the crying did not stop, even if the image was clearer, and in the place that was the girl was now a dead Worker Bee, the sound was still piercing his ears.
⸺ “There are two ways to control E.G.O.” ⸺ Now he lifted his arms up in the air. ⸺ “You either get selected by synchronization…”
And with both hands he pierced his lower abdomen, opening his own flesh as the sound of screaming and crying became more and more clear, yet he did not stop, overwhelmed by emotions, Ramirez was no longer thinking logically.
⸺ “And the other…!” ⸺ Images of a red figure travelling across the hallways of the Facility, destroying everything in its path, leaving only a red mist as a reminder that people were alive mere seconds ago. ⸺ “Is dominating it by force!”
A handle appeared on his opened flesh, as he grabbed it, he pulled out a weapon almost the same size as him, countless eyes were looking frenetically all around him, and the mouths kept crying and weeping, its silver sharp end shined by the sun, as Ramirez was crowned one of the first person to wield an E.G.O weapon in this land, the ALEPH E.G.O weapon called ‘Mimicry’, and with its risk level it could outclass any WAW.
⸺ “I do not care about things like justice, righteousness or useless crap like that! All that matters in this world is money, connections and status, nothing more, nothing less!”
⸺ “All those who care about those things are complete imbeciles, destined to become fodder of the system, or worse, Syndicate trash!”
⸺ “The only good thing that came out of becoming a fixer was that lesson…!” ⸺ In a blink, all the Worker Bees around him disappeared, leaving only chunks of flesh that did not realize they were cut. ⸺ “And my years of combat experience!”
*CLANK*
A leg tried to pierce him, yet the edge of the blade deviated its attack, sparks came out of that clash of forces, before Ramirez switched to the offensive, he lunged towards the Abnormality, and it could not see the moment its leg was cut in numerous chunks of flesh.
⸺ “You keep lying to…”
⸺ “¡Me importa una mierda!” ⸺ Its blade tried to speak to him, no sound was uttered yet the voice still reached his head, but Ramirez was now more determined than ever, fueled by his anger.
Jumping from one side of the arena to the other, almost in a flash, suddenly another one of the legs of the Queen Bee was no longer supporting its weight, falling on its side, hundreds of eyes were searching for the Agent, but flashes of red were the only thing that appeared for a mere fragment of a second before eventually all of her legs were cut, making the Abnormality fall on the ground.
⸺ “How does it feel to be the one overwhelmed now huh?” ⸺ Ramirez said as he landed on the ground in front of the Queen Bee, and once he did, he separated his legs as he moved his sword sideways. ⸺ “Now regenerate from this.”
With the attack starting from his foot, he swung his sword with all his might in a huge horizontal wave, and from one second to another, the head of the Queen Bee disappeared by the attack as a colossal strike travelled across the air, cutting down the Abnormality alongside the thousands of her subjects that tried to approach him.
⸺ “Gah…!” ⸺ His arm was torn open and if he let go of Mimicry then it would have been sent flying, he tried to mimic an attack he once saw from a certain Sephirah, yet looking at the damage he did, he was not satisfied. ⸺ “I put all my strength in that… And it barely resembles half of what she used to do… What a monster.”
Now the Queen Bee was no more than a giant chunk of flesh in the middle of a desolate place surrounded by the rainforest, it showed no movement anymore, by the nature of the E.G.O weapon his wounds regenerated faster than before.
⸺ “…Hah… Is it over…? Shit, that idiot!” ⸺ He remembered his coworker and he looked around anxiously before he found a crater with a form similar to a human, he quickly approached it to find his coworker still mumbling to herself buried some distance underground. ⸺ “…You are alive.”
Piercing the ground with his weapon to make it stand in place, he grabbed his coworker and took her out of the debris, he tried to gain her attention but she was too mentally unstable for that.
⸺ “You dumbass, look at you, why didn’t you just go back to regroup…?” ⸺ He looked at her and her injuries, there is not much he could do for her, only bring her to the range of the Qliphoth Deterrence to begin and treat her, so he tried to support her with his shoulder. ⸺ “But I have to admit, if you hadn’t bought some time, then the entire place could have been struck down, including the people from…”
⸺ “…Whatever, let’s go, as I said, you are too expensive to be kicking the…” ⸺ But his words died in his mouth as the sound of flesh reattaching invaded his eardrums, looking at the source he saw how the giant corpse of the Queen Bee started to regenerate, little by little, until one of the eyes managed to lay its gaze upon the two of them, and within all her wounds, Worker Bees larvae were brought to maturity. ⸺ “You are kidding.”
He grabbed the handle of Mimicry once more and pulled it out of the ground, preparing himself to attack once again, but the laughter of the Agents beside him made him uneasy, should he fight, or should he use this opportunity to escape with Liza? He could feel it upon its gaze, it will no longer underestimate him.
⸺ “Heheheheh…” ⸺ Her laughter kept appearing in his thoughts, he did not know if he could bring her to the main base and come back without alerting the Queen Bee of the existence of the other Agents, but he also did not know how much time Liza has left, could he really attack the same way as before? ⸺ “Hahahaha…! Huh? What is so funny?”
⸺ “…!” ⸺ But suddenly her laughter stopped, Ramirez looked at her and realized that the fragments of her mask were quickly dropping to the ground with trails of red, and the sound of bones reattaching themselves were proof of her body trying to return to normal. ⸺ “What the… Why are you coming back to normal?”
And suddenly, the roar of a beast was heard from the deepest part of the rainforest far from the clear area that they were fighting in, trees were brought down, and a dark square shadowy figure was approaching, until eventually, it escaped the shadows of the rainforest.
⸺ “Why the hell is the Qliphoth Deterrence here!?” ⸺ Ramirez screamed as he realized what the figure was, the ‘Big Ugly’ was the origin of the sound, and on its upper part was the black room that contained the green chamber.
⸺ “Did we arrive!?” ⸺ Screamed someone out of the pilot chamber, focusing his vision he saw the tribe leader of the Eunectes tribe, Zumama herself, with a blindfold obscuring her vision.
⸺ “Do I keep going!?” ⸺ Another voice, he recognized the annoying voice of the blue bird that accompanied her too, but he was so small that he could not notice him in the machine from outside.
But the most outrageous part.
⸺ “Keep going, but the track will become more difficult from here.” ⸺ Angela herself was grabbing the outside of the machine, while commanding orders to the other two, and looking at the other side, Mika was also hanging from the machine.
⸺ “A-Angela!? What the hell are you… No, this is good!” ⸺ Ramirez exclaimed out loud before throwing Liza on himself, placing her over his shoulder and supporting her with his arm, while grabbing his weapon with his free hand before starting to run towards them.
*THUD*
⸺ “Huh? Did something jump on the cockpit?” ⸺ Zumama said for a second as she tried to go for her blindfold, yet she was quickly stopped by Angela.
⸺ “Do not take that blindfold under any circumstance, the one who arrived was an Agent.” ⸺ Angela said as she looked at Ramirez. ⸺ “You did it, you managed to bring out the E.G.O weapon without assistance.”
⸺ “I don’t know why the hell you are here right now, but you just saved the Extraction Team captain’s life.” ⸺ He said while placing her inside the cockpit of the Big Ugly despite hitting Zumama in the process. ⸺ “And of course I did it, I said I was confident.”
⸺ “We are here to bring you support, the other two Agents will handle the Abnormalities back at the Facility.” ⸺ Angela quickly explained the situation to Ramirez, and she looked at Mika. ⸺ “And she said she wanted to help you.”
⸺ “Yes captain! I will aid you in suppression just like before!”
⸺ “You do not have your E.G.O weapon, you will just get in the way, with the Qliphoth Deterrence here is enough.” ⸺ He said before turning back and preparing himself to go fight again, the Agent looked shocked and frustration invaded her face, before he was interrupted by his boss.
⸺ “She has shown an exceptional control of the E.G.O despite the corrosion by Parker’s standards, something he analyzed while he was working alongside her.” ⸺ Angela said. ⸺ “In fact, he discovered the possibility of something similar to the Abnormality of origin.”
He wondered what that was, and once he asked for it, he was surprised by that revelation, and for that reason, he allowed the girl to aid him in the suppression with that fact in his plan.
⸺ “Then let’s go, don’t fall behind.”
⸺ “Yes!”
Both of them jumped out of the huge machine and started to run towards their objective, leaving Angela, Zumama and the High Priest behind.
⸺ “So we just stand here?” ⸺ Asked the blue bird impatiently.
⸺ “No, there are currently dozens of Worker Bees approaching our location as we speak, the vast majority were annihilated by the advance of the Control Team, but they can’t lose much time on them.”
⸺ “Huh? Worker Bees?”
⸺ “I don’t like the sound of that, so where do we go?”
⸺ “Full speed to the left, don’t stop until I say so.”
⸺ “Roger that!”
As the Big Ugly travelled across the battlefield with Worker Bees behind them, Ramirez and Mika quickly reached the attack range of the now fully healed Queen Bee, and it started to attack them with her legs.
An attack like that however would not faze the Control captain as the Abnormality was now under the influence of the Qliphoth Deterrence, weakening its attack a hundred times in comparison to before, so all he did was use Mimicry to cut it in half, they kept going until they were almost under the monster.
⸺ “Listen, I will break its frontal legs before we try that thing, gain its attention while I search for another opportunity, it already knows what I am capable of.”
⸺ “Understood!” ⸺ The Agent exclaimed loudly as her hands started heat up, she was nowhere close to being as strong as a level V agent, but despite that, being a member of the Control Team for so long made her much stronger than the average human.
As a veteran of Lobotomy Corporation, despite not climbing so high in the ladder of strength, she has the mental capabilities to only get nervous around an Abnormality of WAW level risk, yet it was drowned by the confidence granted by someone much stronger than her being on her side.
Ramirez placed his sword horizontally over his head, making a platform for Mika to stand on, and she did so.
⸺ “Do not bury your limbs on her, you will be trapped.”
⸺ “Understood!”
⸺ “…You can relax a little…”
⸺ “Yes, Captain!”
He let a sight before swinging his words, sending the Agent flying upwards, Mika felt cold sweat travel through her face as she came face to face with the Abnormality, but she swallowed her fears and used her fist to tear through one of her eyes before quickly taking it back, evading the teeth of the larvae residing inside the Queen Bee.
The Abnormality tried to protect herself with one of her limbs, but those were cut down by Ramirez alongside her subjects who tried to climb towards their queen, Mika did not stop her assault, going from eye to eye, but the Queen Bee could not strike her face towards the ground, because that would mean going straight at the most dangerous one.
Eventually, only the dorsal legs were standing, forcing the Queen Bee to try and stand straight, only to fail because of her weight, the sudden movement made Mika lose her footing, falling towards the ground.
⸺ “Now!”
⸺ “Yes!”
But it was no matter for their plan, as once she started to fall, she positioned her feet towards the ground as Ramirez jumped towards her, placing Mimicry on his side now, Mika landed on it for a mere second before the Control Captain swung it with all his might, making a bullet out of the other Agent, aiming straight at the head of the Queen Bee.
‘Remember…’
‘Remember how you felt…’
Images of a girl crying in the corner of her store, as people came and were destroying everything inside of it. Images of a girl struggling to come out of that place alive, as once they finished, they burned everything inside, it did not matter if someone was still inside.
The frustration as she could do nothing about it, no matter how much she cried and grabbed her hair, just because she could not afford the protection fees.
The frustration when she made connections, only for them to be crushed by Abnormalities, Ordeals, or even coworkers.
The emotions began to fill the cup, and eventually, it would spill out its contents.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ A flash of light appeared for just a second, just before the Agent came in contact with the head of the monster, almost as if there was an unwritten rule that no bullet could pierce walls, her entire body turned pure white for a moment before an explosion engulfed the entirety of the upper portion of the Abnormality.
It shook the entirety of the area, and it even cleared the clouds in the sky, the impact was so strong it pushed the Abnormality to become completely straight, just as they had planned.
The silver edge of Mimicry reflected the sun as Ramirez was falling from the sky, and with all the strength he had remaining, he screamed as he cut the giant Abnormality from the top to bottom in half, and upon reaching the ground, it cut the area around them in half too.
*CRASH*
It tried to regenerate, but the little tree from far, far away realized that it was no longer worth it, as the Queen Bee would no longer provide it with nutrients, so eventually, she will have to payback the price, and because of that, the nest of the Bees no longer could hold itself together.
Its body shined red for a second, before a wave of blood escaped from its figure, flooding the cracks of the ground beneath them with red liquid, Ramirez covered himself before being drenched in the substance, and the amount was so huge it submerged his feet in it.
⸺ “Hold on to something.” ⸺ Angela said to the people beside her, and they could not even question before a wave of red liquid hit the Big Ugly, almost throwing it off balance, but luckily Zumama and the High priest managed to regain control of the machine before falling on their side, it did not help that the subjects of the Queen Bee also exploded in red, consequence of the death of their queen.
⸺ “W-What just hit us!?”
⸺ “You can take your blindfold off now.”
⸺ “We can…? Huh?” ⸺ Zumama said as she took of her blindfold, and upon gazing the red sea in front of her, only shock could be heard. ⸺ “W-What the hell just happened…! Ugh! This smell…”
⸺ “W-W-W-W-What did you just kill!? Or better question, how many people would you have to kill!?” ⸺ The High priest voiced his concerns. ⸺ “Better yet! How are we going to clean this!?”
The three of them saw the consequences of the destruction, and there was no sign of the common sight that comes from the nature of Acahualla, there was only red, staining all the area around them.
⸺ “Whatever was killed here sure was dangerous… Lady Angela, how did you convince those two to come here yourself? You are always accompanied by someone.” ⸺ Zumama asked the robot.
⸺ “I did not.” ⸺ was the answer from Angela.
⸺ “…What?”
On the sky, two things were falling, the Abnormality Core and the Agent from the Control team, Ramirez had to choose, but after striking the blade towards the ground, he caught each one with one of his hands.
⸺ “Suppression complete, how do you feel?”
⸺ “…Good Captain! I can keep going, Captain!”
⸺ “…I said you can relax a little…”
⸺ “Yes! Captain!”
He did not get her to relax, but at least, the Agent was smiling.
And within the shadows of the rainforest, someone was looking, with almost stars in her eyes. The mere sight of the beast would have driven her crazy, but people with a natural born talent to gaze upon the Abnormalities without severe consequences was not absurdly rare, a gift that only left her with a headache this time.
⸺ “That is… true strength.” ⸺ She said as she mimicked the motion of a sword cleaving something from top to bottom with her hands, and Flint could not be more excited to ask that person to teach her how to become stronger.
It will become an annoyance for a certain Agent, but at least Acahualla is no longer under the threat of Abnormalities.
Notes:
Posting this chapter victoriously after passing all of my exams, I was going to rest a little after that but after playing the Walpurgis made from the best pmoon game Lcorp, I was struck by motivation. Anyways, we are really close to leaving Acahualla, after almost 100k words holy moly, I can't believe in my first time writing something I reached that number, and this chapter was really, really hard to write! It went under multiple rewrites, I even deleted one of 8K words! But I finally achieved something that I was satisfied with, so comment what you think!
Chapter 9: He says I don't have a disease, but I can feel my body no longer belonging to me
Chapter Text
⸺ “Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!”
The defeat of a WAW Abnormality running rampant would be a reason for celebration, a moment in which all the anxiousness and stress of all the people involved would begin to diminish, letting them focus on simpler things that do not involve the risk of someone life.
⸺ “I would expect this from dumbasses like Liza or Ramirez, but not from the most important person in this damn place!”
However, instead of expecting a warm welcome and words of encouragement once Agents and the current leader of Lobotomy Corporation and two of the members of the Eunectes Tribe arrived at their main base of operations with a huge Abnormality Core at the ‘mouth’ of the big Ugly, all they received were two Agents waiting for them.
⸺ “What the hell were you thinking!?”
One of them was neutral as always, with no emotion showing in its face, at least, not on its exterior, looking ahead with his tired eyes as always, but on the other hand, the Agent at his side was absolutely livid, as when they were waiting for them to return, she was impatiently tapping her foot, but once they came into view, she exploded.
⸺ “I cannot understand what went through your mind when you…! You could at least show some respect and tell us where you went, instead I am here worrying sick because the Wings forbid our boss just disappears as I feel the voices in my head just grow louder and louder while the Abnormalities in the Facility start to bang on their doors!”
Every time Angela tried to speak, she was interrupted by the Agent, something that she would have found offensive if this was any other circumstance, but now she found the Agent’s worries to be completely justified as her actions were rather reckless, she looked for support on the other Agents on board, locking eyes with the ones from the Control Team only to both of them to avert their gaze, so Angela was alone in this.
⸺ “…I have a reasonable explanation for this.”
⸺ “Please go on then!”
⸺ “I must first inform that we have suppressed the Abnormality, but one of our Agents needs medical attention as soon as possible, Liza was heavily wounded in the process.”
⸺ “…Great, just great… You!” ⸺ Hannah pointed at Ramirez, who flinched for a second before looking sideways searching for someone close to him, but Zumama and the blue bird were retreating further and further in the cockpit, he tried to look behind him searching for his subordinate yet he only found an empty space, in a vain attempt he pointed at himself anxiously. ⸺ “Oh my… Yes, you Ramirez! I am talking to you! Bring her here!”
⸺ “Don’t just take it out on me…” ⸺ Ramirez looked at her with his usual frown.
⸺ “I said, move.” ⸺ But it was clear who was the one in charge of the conversation right now.
⸺ “A-Alright, alright!” ⸺ And Ramirez quickly lost his attitude, placing his weapon on his back as it attached itself to his body as flesh fused and ripped openings in his white clothing, he grabbed the other Agent who was sharing space alongside Zumama and the High Priest, using his body to support her behind her legs and back he lifted her up, and as he was moving, Liza’s head hit the top part of the machine, making a heavy noise that he could not hide. ⸺ “…Ah.”
⸺ “Bring me a stretcher before I kill someone.” ⸺ Liza murmured as she grabbed her face with her hand, directing her words towards the Agent standing beside her, Parker nodded before quickly going to retrieve what she desired. ⸺ “…Alright Hannah, calm down, just another job piled on top of another, you always do this, calm down.”
Eventually Ramirez brought the other Agent towards the angry one, just in time for the other to arrive with a place for the other to lay down alongside some medical supplies they managed to scavenge, Liza’s body eventually returned to normal, but the damage to her body was severe, luckily her own augments kept her alive for the time being.
⸺ “…Parker, bring me the Regenerator, even if’s out of fuel, we can maybe improvise with certain parts.” ⸺ Hannah ordered the other Agent, who nodded and went his way.
⸺ “For now, Ramirez, go and place the Abnormality Core in its Containment Chamber, I will have a talk with the Information Captain.” ⸺ Upon his boss saying that, the Control Captain quickly ran towards the machine, and using both arms he lifted the Core and placed over his head before rapidly leaving the scene, with another Agent who left her hiding spots between some bushes as she followed her Captain.
⸺ “Now, what can you say for yourself, Miss Angela?” ⸺ Hannah said as she was taking the destroyed clothes off the unconscious Agent, showing multiple wounds and exposed flesh. ⸺ “I am waiting.”
⸺ “This was an extremely dangerous situation, and the lives of the Agents would have been in danger if not for the use of the Qliphoth Deterrence, the two of you were occupied with other manners.” ⸺ Angela said, she tried to explain as she was trying to return to the ground as she was still holding onto the Big Ugly, Zumama jumped out of the pilot chamber and helped her go down the moment she saw hesitation on her face. ⸺ “Thank you… As I was saying, you two are more than capable of sustaining the Deterrence for a prolonged period of time, and if it comes to fighting the other two Abnormalities, you are more than capable of doing so…”
⸺ “Y-Yeah, Master Hannah, what she did saved this girl’s life, is it not?” ⸺ Zumama tried to support Angela’s side, finding herself in a conflicting situation.
⸺ “No… No, I get what you are saying, this was totally reasonable, indeed, we would have lost Liza if not for the fact that she sent the ‘Bucket’ over there, that’s why I’m asking you this, Angela.” ⸺ Even if she was told she was correct, the frown in the Agent was still present. ⸺ “Why you?”
⸺ “I can take those two Abnormalities in a fight even with one arm, I can survive without the Qliphoth Deterrence for a few hours, what I want to know is why did you have to go yourself?” ⸺ Hannah kept talking.
⸺ “The ‘Big Ugly’ can operate with only the Eunectes Tribe’s control as I have no knowledge how to do so, and they cannot come face to face with an Abnormality of that risk level, as their minds would break.” ⸺ Angela said as she tried to reason with her.
⸺ “…Then why did you not just send Mika? I thought she made herself pretty clear that she can endure being in the same room as a WAW, I will ask you again, why did you have to go yourself…?”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Angela, you are the most important person within this group, you are the key for us to return to normal, if you go and die without anyone else knowing where, then all we did would have been for nothing, but you are smart, smarter than these idiots anyways, you out of anyone else here, should have known that this was completely illogical.”
⸺ “I…”
⸺ “Between you and another Agent, if both of those lives are in danger, we are in an obligation to choose you over anyone else, if anything happened, I am sure that Ramirez would have chosen you instead of Liza.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “If it was between you and me, Liza would have chosen you, Parker would have chosen you.” ⸺ Hannah kept saying as she took a bandage out of the med kit they had scavenged. ⸺ “If it was between Ramirez or Liza or Parker and you, I would have chosen you, and it is the same for the other Agents.”
⸺ “…She is correct.” ⸺ Parker said as he appeared with the Regenerator over his shoulder. ⸺ “But it is our duty for that event to never come to pass.”
⸺ “Yet it does not invalidate my point, so tell me, Angela, why did you do it?”
⸺ “…Because I do not want to sit around and do nothing.” ⸺ Angela said as she approached the Information Captain, taking the bandage out of her hands, making her finally lock eyes with each other. ⸺ “I knew in the corner of my mind, that I would not have been able to convince you to let me go, and you would be right to do so, but even so… After all this time, all I can do is just wait for results?”
⸺ “I do not know what is happening, how it would turn out, and I thought that after all this time, an unknown tomorrow would be somewhat refreshing, yet I feel fear in my heart when I can’t know the outcome…”
‘And I know its selfish, incredibly so, I felt happy when I rode the machine alongside Zumama and the High Priest, it was as if I was making a decision with no one else to stop me, as if I was leaving everything else behind.’
‘But the feeling of guilt eventually reached me, because my life is no longer tied to me and me alone, now it is tied to four… No, five and possibly more Agents in the future.’
‘My life has always has been tied to someone else, and when I thought it would be over, it took me not much time to realize that it was the same as before, what can guarantee that when all of this ends, my life would not be tied to someone else again?’
‘This situation is not as horrible as the one before, not even close, as the Agents actually look at my face when they talk to me, as if I was any other human being.’
‘It’s just that…’
‘It is exhausting…’
*bonk*
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Angela snapped out of her thoughts as she felt the softness of being carefully hit in her forehead with the roll of bandages that was no longer in her hands, it did not hurt, it was to gain her attention.
⸺ “…What are we, some Wing hiding its Singularity? We are not going to treat you like a bird in a birdcage, you are quite similar to a human, so it would be obvious that you would not cooperate with us if we did so, it is basic logic. Humans yearn freedom, after all.” ⸺ Hannah said as she held the soft material over her head, her expression softened as she was no longer as angry as before, because in the bottom of her heart, a light had flourished. ⸺ “What we need is reach a mutual understanding, we are Feathers, if the Wing order us to do something impossible, we will make it, or else we are fired, that’s how the City works.”
⸺ “I will not fire…”
⸺ “That’s only because we are not in the City anymore, but thank you for your confirmation.” ⸺ Hannah faced towards Liza, who was still unconscious. ⸺ “Some of us made it clear that if you make a decision that does not goes well for us then we would turn against you, as there is no longer a contract that bounds us, would it not be fair to you if we do something you do not agree with?”
⸺ “Then…”
⸺ “…We can make some arrangements, if you want to be more proactive, then fine, be at the center of action if you want, but we have to guarantee your safety, I trust Mika to not panic and fight with her life, I can… maybe… just maybe… not be so angry if you do not tell me and go with Parker, you know? A level V Agent, not just with a mere level III.”
⸺ “I will take it into consideration in the future.”
⸺ “Then we reached an agreement, good… The sun is setting.” ⸺ Hannah said as she looked up in the sky, indeed, the evidence with the big disk in the sky starting to disappear over the horizon, making the light around them scarcer and scarcer. ⸺ “I will need some light to keep treating this girl, Zumama, bring me the Regenerator, in the end we will not be doing this outside.”
⸺ “Ah! Yes, right away! See you later Lady Angela!”
⸺ “Me too! Do not forget about me! I bid you goodbyes, Lady Angela…!”
Hannah said her goodbyes while moving the stretcher that Hannah was laying on, with the two leaders of the Eunectes Tribe right behind her, the situation finally settled down as the sound of construction, chatter between Archosauria and the sound of the wind making the leaves dance was the only thing left, alongside Parker and Angela.
⸺ “This was unexpected… She was totally eager to place an audible cue on you that would alert her every time you moved.
⸺ “She was?”
⸺ “Indeed, she was furious once she realized you were gone.” ⸺ Parker talked as he looked at her back. ⸺ “I did not look at the process for much, but when people were surrounding her with praises and thanks, it was as if she was no longer angry, even for a moment.”
This made Angela think for a moment, once she realized the gravity of the situation as she travelled through the trees in the Big Ugly, she was expecting the worse, maybe a fight to start as their beliefs clashed, but Hannah showed a rather understanding sight, a contrast of her completely logical way of thinking before, that disregarded the feelings of people begging to help her.
The both of them looked at Hannah, and while she passed the members of all different tribes, they all greeted her with smiles on their faces, and some of them even tried to show her gifts, she was flustered for a second but she turned them away, as she needed to work with someone, and once they finally noticed the unconscious Liza, they left her go.
⸺ “…Do you think the same way she did?”
⸺ “…I can’t lie and say that I would want you to put yourself in danger again, but I understand that sometimes your feelings can overcome your logic, that’s why E.G.O can corrode us in the first place.”
⸺ “About what she said…” ⸺ Angela said, looking at the ground, reminiscing of the words of the other her, and the promises that she left behind for her once she gathered enough Light. ⸺ “Some of them say that I have a human heart yet mine is nothing but metal and wires, how could that be true?”
⸺ “Excuse me.” ⸺ An Archosauria approached, they did not recognize her from the tribes they usually interact with, so she must be one of the people who had to be treated of the parasite, the burn marks around a wound on her abdomen indicated so. ⸺ “Are you the warriors under Inam’s command?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ Angela and Parker looked at each other for a moment before Angela answered, disregarding the previous topic, burying it in her heart. ⸺ “…You could say we share an alliance, what is the question for?”
⸺ “Ah! That’s perfect then, I explained it to the one carrying the injured one to safety, but she barely paid me attention.” ⸺ She scratched her head as she talked. ⸺ “So I would like to inform you that we are planning a celebration tonight for the new Great Chief Inam!”
⸺ “…What?”
⸺ “Yeah, I had the same reaction too… Usually the process involves the Mahuizottia, but she already defeated the vast majority of the tribe leaders, and she gathered all of them too! Would it not be redundant to do it?” ⸺ She talked while moving her arms around energetically. ⸺ “The tales of how she defeated every single tribe leader with one quick swoop, so fast that it hurt even the air, and her opponent just fell on the ground, isn’t that amazing!? She must truly be invincible!”
⸺ “It will be done here… Tonight?” ⸺ Angela wondered, she has never been part of this type of event, she only acted them as part of the Script, with the usual sound of a bottle of champagne being opened for the person she despised.
⸺ “Yeah… Umm… Is there a problem?” ⸺ The Tiacauh asked, as Angela expression contorted by the memories of repeating the same action again and again.
⸺ “No, there is not. Thank you for informing us, I shall share this message with the other warriors under the Great Chief.” ⸺ Parker gathered the attention to him, almost bowing towards the Archosauria who did not understand the meaning of his movement, she showed a smile before saying her farewells.
⸺ “Then that explains all this movement that does not involve the construction of the Facility, and the fact that all these people did not leave once they were cured.” ⸺ Parker said. ⸺ “A celebration they say? Miss Angela, what if our team takes a break today?”
⸺ “A break?”
⸺ “Yes, since we have a WAW in our hands now, Enkephalin production will become more efficient, so we can up the Qliphoth Deterrence output without worry, it will serve as a way to reduce Mental Corruption in the Agents, and a way for you to reduce stress. Ramirez and Liza are exhausted because of the fighting, and Hannah has been working nonstop.”
⸺ “What about T-09-80?”
⸺ “On its own it is no longer a threat, as all Abnormalities within the Control Department have been suppressed, besides, we have no clue to where to start searching, we would need for Liza to wake up to give us a clue.” ⸺ Parker explained. ⸺ “I could maybe use my eyes, but I have already overextended myself today, if I keep forcing them it could take more time than it should be, so I suggest we all take a breather.”
⸺ “I actually… Think is a great idea.” ⸺ Angela said, as curiosity began to take over her most vile memories even for a moment, she wondered how it would feel to be part of a celebration that did not involve only two people.
⸺ “Very well then, shall I notify the other Agents of it?”
⸺ “You can, but first, I have to retrieve the Light from the Abnormality Core, now that it is in its Containment Chamber.”
⸺ “That is true, but please wait a moment, there is some equipment in the black box that we can use to retrieve some useful data.” ⸺ Angela nodded and Parker jumped towards the entrance, some time passed as heavy sounds started to escape the room until eventually the Agent left the structure, he was carrying huge screens with both his hands, and cables were hanging all around his body, he was for sure carrying a lot.
⸺ “Will that fit in the Containment Chamber?”
⸺ “The data would be too valuable to not at least try.”
⸺ “I see.”
As they were walking towards the Control Room, the Archosauria and Liberi that surrounded them kept blocking their path, throwing compliments, and showing gifts, flowers, shiny rocks, and some of them even threw some food, the ambience of the celebration was already getting to them and with no reason to refuse them, Angela eventually reached the Control Room with multiple flowers decorating her clothes and head.
Standing inside the Room as the door closed behind them, Angela tried to take the flowers that were attached to her clothing, to not dirty the floor of the Department with outside dirt, but as she was about to take off a flower crown that was placed in her head by some kids despite her averseness, Angela saw her reflection in the turned off monitors of the Control Main Room.
⸺ “Maybe I can carry this around a little longer.” ⸺ Angela murmured to herself as Parker went ahead to the Containment Chamber and the other Agent was too occupied, she caressed the flowers that made the crown, and the softness of the petals tickled the tip of her fingers. ⸺ “This is proof, that my choice was not wrong.”
Looking around, she saw more flowers around her clothing, using the screen as a mirror, she saw her own looks, recognizing that her clothing did not look like something she would ever wear in those years working underground.
‘Maybe I can change these clothes for something else?’
⸺ “They were too much for me, I guess it was the same for you.” ⸺ Hannah said at the corner of the room as she looked at her for a second before returning to work, in which she was attempting to heal Liza who had multiple intravenous equipment around her, but looking closely you could see they were not their original purpose. The High Priest and Zumama were surrounding the Agent too, with excitement in their faces. ⸺ “I wonder what got them so excited?”
⸺ “So this is an augmentation… Does this truly grant her the colossal strength?”
⸺ “Well, only part of it… Oh? This is a rather peculiar way of using augments, was she part of a Syndicate or…?” ⸺ Hannah said to herself in the language of the City, and eventually lost interest in what Angela was doing.
⸺ “…I can’t get distracted now.” ⸺ Angela said as she refocused and walked to the hallway, standing outside the Containment Room was Ramirez and Mika, talking to each other, or more precisely, Ramirez standing still while Mika talked to him, with Mimicry still in his back.
⸺ “And so, Miss Angela put me out of the… Oh! Miss Angela!” ⸺ Mika said as she recognized the footsteps behind her, she positioned herself and did a salute, almost as if she was in the military.
⸺ “…Just take it easy already.” ⸺ Ramirez said as he placed his hand in the top of her head, stopping her from embarrassing herself further, but he had to quickly retrieve his fingers as the cinders on top of her head left burn marks on his fingers. ⸺ “Ow…! I guess you will do the same to this Abnormality core?”
⸺ “Yes, is Parker inside?”
⸺ “I tried to convince him that those things will not fit, now he is inside like a dumbass trying to connect everything.” ⸺ As he finished saying that the door opened, with Parker’s head peeking out of the room.
⸺ “…Ramirez, Mika, can you help me with something really quick?”
⸺ “Yes, right away!”
⸺ “Oh por la… I said that it would not work, I told you!”
Both of them said as they entered the room, and Angela quickly followed them, the view became clearer as multiple screens and computers were lined at the side of the room while the Abnormality Core was standing in the corner, with the help of the other two Agents, Parker eventually managed to make his machines work, and wires surrounded the floor so much that you could trip with them.
⸺ “I am ready Miss Angela; we can start whenever you want.” ⸺ Parker said standing beside all his equipment, while Mika stood beside him and Ramirez rested on one of the walls closest to the Abnormality Core in case anything happened.
⸺ “Do you have an idea who it could be?” ⸺ Angela asked as she lifted her arm, aiming it towards the Abnormality core, and Ramirez lifted three of his fingers as he began to recall the Agents that were under his orders.
⸺ “Anastasia, Tatyana and Anthony are the ones that are left, the first two were level IV Agents before all went into chaos and one of them perished, they were family, but the death of one at the final days broke the other, we did not have time to clean their corpses so…” ⸺ He stopped for a little before looking at Mika before turning to his boss again. ⸺ “It is possible that their bodies went into the Light as well, as for Anthony I don’t think he is still sane, he was a level III Agent but his Mental Corruption levels were reaching too high and we were too occupied to take care of it, so I don’t know if he has the will to keep on living… From what I know, it could maybe be Anastasia or Tatyana, and if not one then the other is on the Core of the other Abnormality.”
⸺ “Understood.” ⸺ Angela then closed her eyes for a moment as the room fell into silence, the low humming of the machines and the soft tapping of the keyboards in Parker’s side were slowly disappearing, until all there was left was silence and darkness. Then, almost subconsciously, Angela took two steps forward the Abnormality Core as her hand was placed on its surface and waves reacted as if it was a surface of water.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ And suddenly, Angela felt it, the connection between her and the Abnormality and her hand submerged itself on its interior, as if it was hollow on the inside, the sudden pull made her almost lose her balance but she quickly supported herself with the other hand as she placed it in the Abnormality Core.
She did not look behind, but she heard the surprise in her sudden movement by the rest of the Agents, and Ramirez quickly stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, he was ready to act the moment he sensed danger and would pull her out immediately, but it would not be necessary, as Angela would not hear what he said, she would not see her surroundings, and eventually, would not sense the floor she was standing on.
Opening her eyes she found herself on a desolate place, with only white dominating the ground and the walls, the crunching sound as Angela took footing made her realize that she was stepping on snow, it did not take long before the sound not only belonged to her, but to a woman walking past her, she had a green coat that kept her warm, and heavy equipment that made her footsteps heavy, and the most distinguishing feature it was the huge delivery trunk she was carrying, and her destination was a little wood cabin in the middle of nowhere.
Angela followed her tracks, as she eventually arrived at the doorstep, she stood there for a second, and in her expression, there was nothing more than exhaustion, as she placed fingers in the corner of her mouth, she tried to mimic a smile for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and opening the door.
⸺ “Surprise! I am here, sister!” ⸺ She exclaimed as she opened the door with vigor, startling the other one inside who was holding a book while tucked on the bed in the corner of the room, she was scared for a second before recognition settled on her face.
⸺ “Anastasia, you startled me.” ⸺ She had lighter shade of brown while on top she had two combed portions of her hair at their sides, a similar hairstyle to the one that invaded the place, she had an abnormal tone of pale skin, and her fingers trembled as if it was hard to even hold the object, her eyes were dark, almost void, yet there was light on them, she was alive. ⸺ “I did not know you would come here today.”
⸺ “Well, the client is not that far, and the route I was taking was somewhat close to home, so I had time to surprise you!” ⸺ Angela looked as the two sisters interacted, the one wearing the courier started to explain all the places she visited, and all the people she met, while the other looked at her in almost fascination, and the one called Anastasia would soon be bombarded by questions, ones she was eagerly to answer.
⸺ “And then…?” ⸺ But suddenly, Anastasia recognized something on top of a shelf, a black envelope that had the logo of a certain company, one that Angela knew very well. ⸺ “…Tatyana? Did someone come here?”
⸺ “Ah, yes, there was a car outside for a moment and knocked on the door, I was really tired so I could not answer, but they slid this under the door.” ⸺ Tatyana answered her, the envelope showed signs that it was already opened, and the other one opened it almost in a frenzy, as if she had seen something horrible.
⸺ “W-What did those people want…? No, who was it? I-I thought that I already paid them this month’s protection fee…” ⸺ She murmured almost to herself as she opened its contents, and reading through them, she felt anger coming from the bottom of her heart. ⸺ “Is this some kind of sick joke? This fucking…!”
⸺ “But look! It looks so legit; we have an opportunity to get in a Nest!”
⸺ “Do not be so foolish, this is clearly a scam, there is not a chance that someone would just grant us this opportunity.” ⸺ She was about to rip it apart, but her hands were stopped by the other person in the room.
⸺ “Sister, but what if it isn’t, what if in your travels someone recognized your worth…?”
⸺ “There is no way…!” ⸺ She screamed, scaring the girl bounded to the bed. ⸺ “It has nothing to do with me! This world is too cruel for this miracle to happen, you have to understand that!”
⸺ “But you look so tired, if this is true, then you would not have to work every day! We can gather enough money to…”
⸺ “I can keep going, you do not have to worry about it, trust me, just a little bit longer, and I can buy your medicine… Yeah! And also, we could maybe afford some augments for you, and we could afford a bigger house… And move to a Nest on our own… And…!”
⸺ “But I do not want to keep being a burden to you.”
⸺ “Tatyana, look at me!” ⸺ She said as she placed her hands on top of hers. ⸺ “You are my only family left, you are not a burden to me, not now, not ever, I just need you to trust me on this one, this is clearly a scummy plot that probably was sent to thousands of people.”
⸺ “But, on the radio it said that Lobotomy Corporation was looking for Feathers after the Smoke War ended…” ⸺ Tatyana tried to reason with her. ⸺ “And I read it through multiple times, I am sure that is trustworthy.”
⸺ “…” ⸺ The older sister started to read the papers again, more carefully this time, reading every word more than twice as her eyes started to widen and widen, eventually her hands started to shake, and tears started to form at the corner of her eyes.
⸺ “Of course it would be trustworthy, it was me who designed it after all.” ⸺ Angela spoke out loud, yet it did not appear to catch their attention. ⸺ “The number of applicants did not meet our… his initial calculations, the applicants were numerous for sure, but the individuals with the certain characteristics he searched for were scarce, I did not understand what he meant, but he did not explain further and told me to just do it, and so I did.”
⸺ “That’s when we thought that our lives would go a better way, for her and for me.” ⸺ Tatyana said out loud, but Angela recognized that she was not talking to her sister, she was talking to her, the only other person in the room.
⸺ “…” ⸺ Angela looked at the room around her, the sound of sobbing and the crackles of the fire that warmed the room, the state of the walls was nothing short of precarious, and this was the only room besides what she assumed to be the restroom, in this same room, she ate, slept, and read. There was nothing else here. ⸺ “Did you spend all your life here?”
⸺ “Not really, we lived some place far away with our parents, but if you mean if it was similar to this… You would be right, but we had to move because our dad accidentally looked at one of the Finger members in the eye, he was killed on the spot, and our mom could not handle being alone, so she… At the end, it was only me and my sister, as money became scarcer and scarcer, we eventually could not afford to pay the rent nor the protection fee of our previous place.” ⸺ Tatyana placed her hand on top of the other girl, as she started to caress her. ⸺ “I always had a weak body, and our family did not earn much, so we could not really afford much for my treatment nor compatible Augments, and with our parents out of the picture, my sister had to take multiple jobs to keeps us afloat, and once she came of age, she started Fixer work.”
⸺ “Are Syndicates really that ruthless? Why would you kill someone because of that petty reason?” ⸺ Syndicates, Angela reminisced of Benjamin words, as residents of the Backstreets sacrificed everything to enter the Nest, the vast majority of them would never achieve that, and so they would turn towards Syndicates for protection, but that involved a fate that could be worse, Angela never experienced the consequences of doing so, until now.
⸺ “That is something… That I wish to know as well…” ⸺ She stopped talking for a second, until the sound of a heavy machine was heard outside the room, the sound of a Train, and an announcement about travelling towards District 12. ⸺ “I managed to convince her, and we had a journey towards the south section of the City since we lived in the north, Anastasia had to cut ties with the Devyat after completing her already accepted commissions… It was one of the first times I had the opportunity to explore the City, but Anastasia said that it was becoming too dangerous, so we had the little money we had left to buy a Warp train, it was amazing, how can one travel from one place to another in ten seconds? No wonder it was so expensive, we barely had money after that.”
⸺ “It must be the use of some kind of Singularity, expected from Wings.” ⸺ The sound outside changed, it was one of a busy street, with the sound of multiple footsteps, the sound of cars, the sound of machinery.
⸺ “Yes, you are right, but at the border we had a problem, the papers only allowed one to enter the Nest, so one of us had to be left behind…” ⸺ Tatyana stopped caressing the girl, and retreated back towards the bed as she sat, fidgeting her own fingers. ⸺ “I thought that it could be an opportunity, me to repay her, to no longer be a burden… But she was not having it, she caused quite a scene, some Rabbits were starting to approach us.”
⸺ “You would just leave that opportunity for another person? For someone else, after being locked in a room for almost all your life… Why?” ⸺ Angela did not understand, she could feel the warm feeling of will within her, the wish to explore the sounds that came from outside the door, yet even if she could maybe move, she did not.
⸺ “Because she is a wonderful person, no matter how excruciating it became to be alone in this room, she would always arrive on time and fill my life with journeys of her work, in which she was always the protagonist… She is bad at lying, really, I could tell that she was not having a good time, maybe in her stories she was just a background character, but for me, she was always the hero.”
⸺ “But you worked at Lobotomy Corporation, if you were not allowed to enter the Nest, how did you do it?”
⸺ “…A woman appeared.” ⸺ Tatyana closed her eyes, as if she was trying to recollect her memories. ⸺ “She had beautiful and long brown hair and tanned skin, red eyes, and her clothes were decorated in gold, along with her accessories, she looked like a deity, but her mere presence alone was terrifying, I could tell that one of her earrings costed more than all the money we could ever had, and once they recognized her it was almost as if the room froze, she looked happy, for some reason… I do not remember what she said, but I was allowed entry really quickly, with the only condition that I had to work for Lobotomy Corporation as well as my sister, an investment, she said.”
⸺ “…A person like that.” ⸺ She tried to search in her memory someone of those characteristics, but she did not find any person who shared those.
⸺ “With my weak body I expected to be fired within days, something that Anastasia knew as well, and she tried to find a way to still reside within the Nest once that happened… But that was not needed, because once an E.G.O gear as assigned to me… It was as if my body could be moved as normal.”
⸺ “…You could move just like any other person?”
⸺ “Yeah, I could jump around and work like any other Agent, well, maybe a little better than others.” ⸺ She laughed a little, and Angela found unexpected for someone to laugh when L. Corp was in their memory. ⸺ “I remember my sister almost broke into tears when my armband said that I was promoted to a level II Agent, and almost fainted when it became a III, and did faint when it became a IV.”
⸺ “But you were locked underground.” ⸺ Angela said, reminiscing that all Agents would work inside the Facility and would not go back to the surface, not until they accomplished their fifty days of work, a time period that once done it would reward them with paid vacation alongside a huge amount of money.
Fifty days of work, that would only be achieved once after ten thousand years.
⸺ “Yes, once we realized that I could move like normal we talked to the Captain that I could maybe wear a weak E.G.O gear, even a ZAYIN, in the surface with the excuse to work in my synchronization… I heard someone was screamed at by the morning, but since I was doing a good job, the Captain said he would keep trying, and if not, he would recommend some Augments for me.”
Angela closed her eyes for a second, this sensation was unfamiliar to her, it was because it was not hers, it was Tatyana’s, and she was feeling it too, there was a connection between them, a trail of golden particles connected them both, it was… happiness.
It was not available to the public, but the main reason so many people were hired from the Backstreets it was because of the one thing that made it easier for Abnormalities to work with, ‘Trauma’. And no matter how much she shielded it with the thin veil of her emotions, Angela saw the image of the walls painted red as a corpse lied on the ground in front of a man in a red rose-tainted attire, the image of a woman drenched in despair as the daughter with her weak body could do nothing but watch.
But yet, even when her body was supposed to give in, she still kept going, she still had a portion of light within her heart, and she kept standing in her own two feet no matter how much it hurt because of the companionship of her kin.
‘Family… Home… Companionship…’ Words that she knew the meaning of, yet she did not know their significance, she could feel this desire to keep going in her heart, yet even after all this time, she could not sympathize with it.
⸺ “Don’t get me wrong.” ⸺ Tatyana looked at her, smiling. ⸺ “I would not like to repeat those days, fighting for my life, it’s just that… I felt happy, finally being able to help my family with something, and we were so close to the final day, it was just a final stretch.”
⸺ “But you never managed to reach the fiftieth day.” ⸺ Angela said as the scenery changed from one moment to another, she was no longer inside the worn out cabin, she found the metallic walls of Lobotomy Corporation, as well as the red light that came with the second warning, Tatyana ran past her as she leapt into the air just in time to push someone out of the hallway, before a wave of pale slashes tore everything in the space, it did not affect Angela, but Tatyana did not survive, all that was left was the rest of her body was just pieces of flesh, and at the end of the hallway, was the mechanical body of the representation of one of the overlords of the City.
⸺ “…” ⸺ Angela approached the pool of blood that stained the ground, it was nothing more than meaningless chunks of flesh, a sight that was not uncommon in Lobotomy Corporation, a sight that she was used to seeing, a sight that did not evoke any feelings in her. ⸺ “What do you want me to do?”
⸺ “I do no longer want to be a burden to my sister, please, just leave me here and search for her, I know she is here, somewhere.” ⸺ Words came out, what remained of her mouth moved but the word would not come out with a destroyed throat, but their meaning appeared on her mind. Angela tried to call for her again, for a wish to come out once again, yet it was all the girl wanted to say, and so, she received no answer.
⸺ “…Very well.”
Angela walked through the hallway, and she carefully tried to not step on what remains of her corpse, finding it difficult, as it was something she had not tried to do before, she looked at the endless void that was the door that led to somewhere else, the place where the person who Tatyana pushed fell through.
As she approached the door, the sound of buzzing invaded her ears, a disgusting sound as it irritated her, and soon enough as her steps kept going, the sound of flesh tearing against each other was added, but they were common sounds of her previous days, waves that did not matter how much she tried to shook off, they still remained.
She felt the floor become stickier as her footwear became more and more difficult to let go of the ground, and eventually yellow appeared on her vision, as hexagonal patterns decorated the wall, she found herself inside a quite busy bee hive, where every worker had to do their part, non-stop, from the outside people similar to them arrived with chunks of flesh and it was their duty to smash them into the perfect shape so they could send them to people who looked similar to them, for them to form the shape of the hive, to replace the parts that were damaged, so it would not collapse.
They were humans, or at least, they felt like it, even though their bodies were destroyed, their necks were elongated to an abnormal degree, their eyes were empty sockets, their limbs were submerged in chitin, and blood escaped from their wounds.
But their limbs still worked so they had to work, their activities did not involve vision so they had to work, their neck no matter how much it hurt did not stop movement so they had to work, their wounds no matter how much time remained open, it did not stop their work, so they had to keep working, they could not let the hive collapse, their Queen collapse, because if it did, it would kill them too.
Angela saw how one of them collapsed out of exhaustion, and once their body fell on the ground, the workers surrounding it quickly devoured their corpse, and with that short moment of rest, they used their body to keep working.
With the guidance in the air, Angela followed the trail until eventually founding a working Bee working, yet it was alone, there were no other worker at her side, she was all alone, and the only reminiscing part of hers was her hair, that looked similar to the person Angela talked to.
⸺ “What are you doing?” ⸺ She asked as she approached her.
⸺ “I am working.” ⸺ It said as it smashed the flesh together, forming a perfect square, yet she was slower than the rest, but even as she spoke it did not slow her further.
⸺ “Why are you doing it?”
⸺ “Because I have to.” ⸺ Someone approached her, and she handed the shape, it did not look satisfied, its maw made a sound, and eventually more flesh dropped from somewhere in the ceiling, because of her bad work she had to work extra, but it did not matter, she has no time to rest, she has to work.
⸺ “Why do you have to?”
⸺ “Because I will die if I don’t work.” ⸺ It said as it shaky hands grabbed the flesh before using force to make it take shape, no matter how much her limbs hurt.
⸺ “Why will you die if you don’t work?”
⸺ “Because if I do not work, the Queen will die, and once she dies, I will too.” ⸺ A sudden movement made one of her injuries worse, but if she took attention to it, she will lose time to work.
⸺ “Do you not want to die?”
⸺ “…I don’t know.” ⸺ It said, finally with its work slowing down, as its knees were starting to shake. ⸺ “I don’t know if I can keep going.”
⸺ “Why?”
⸺ “Because… something is missing…” ⸺ It said, it did not have eyes yet it cried, but no matter how much she cried, she had to keep working. ⸺ “I have to work to survive, yet I want to die… But I have to work…”
⸺ “This task that you are doing, it had to start from somewhere.”
⸺ “…Since I was little, my family worked before me, and their parents did too, but they stopped, so I have to do it now.” ⸺ It did not stop crying and her work did neither, the flesh slowly took shape, as it had to.
⸺ “Why did you have to?”
⸺ “…Because… Because…” ⸺ It started to work more frantically, she was losing time, she needed more time, faster, faster, she needed to work faster. ⸺ “Because I need to work for my family, I can’t stop, just a little longer, I just need to work a little longer.”
⸺ “I do not understand… You need to work to survive, yet you do not want to, so you work for the sake of work.”
⸺ “I… I do not work for the sake of work, I work because… because…” ⸺ It finally stopped working, and it collapsed onto the ground. ⸺ “Because… someone needs me.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “The work is unbearable, I work day and night, I am the one who works the hardest yet I am not awarded, I am the one who has the best attitude yet they despise me, I am the one who comes with solutions yet the credit does not go to me, I have the most approachable one, yet no one approaches me.” ⸺ The sound of wet flesh dropping onto the ground echoed on the hive, yet even when she did, no worker even turned to look at her. ⸺ “Why am I not awarded by my efforts… Why am I not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… Why is my life so miserable…”
Flashes of a woman kneeling in front of her superior who only laughed at the mere thought of considering her proposition, the sight of a woman containing her tears as she was being screamed at because she chose to cover for one of her coworker mistakes, a woman choosing to safe a coworker from a fall that would be fatal, only for receive less money at the end of her work because she was late while the coworker who she saved moved to another section without another word, images of a girl deep underground screaming as she saw the red puddle on the ground as rage overtook her, aiming her own weapon towards her coworkers who had nothing to do with her death, and she was stopped when someone pierced her heart from behind, a red blade with teeth and eyes that looked straight at her, yet the culprit did not have the time to look at what remained of her corpse, only a regretful glance as he ran towards the assassin at the end of the hallway.
⸺ “…” ⸺ Silently, another worker approached, yet her body was not recycled for work, she was merely kicked out of the way for another to take her place, as her body was not even worth to be part of the hive. ⸺ “No matter how much effort you put on it, no matter how much pain you endured, no matter how much you cried or endured it, at the end of your path, no one looked at you at the end.”
An unknown feeling appeared at Angela’s stomach, it made her feel awful, and if she was human, then the feeling of nausea would have made her puke, it was an uncomfortable feeling, what would you call this I wonder, empathy?
‘…Empathy?’
⸺ “…No, its not it.” ⸺ Angela said out loud, a feeling of wrath governed her thoughts. ⸺ “How could it be empathy? To compare my experience, to the likes of her? They are not comparable, not even close. I suffered, suffered more than any of these people could ever imagine, she suffered, that is true, but can you truly compare our experiences with accuracy? Look at me, thousands of years yet I endured, now look at her, do you truly think I could insert myself in her position?”
Yet this feeling is not so unknown to you, is it? About the feelings you felt that day, are not so different from the ones she is feeling right now, does this frustration not feel so familiar to you? Is it impossible to say that what she is feeling right now is not similar?
⸺ “No, no, it is not!” ⸺ She raised her voice. ⸺ “I endured, far, far worse than them, yet I persisted, and that’s why I survived, and that’s why he has to pay…! Is this what is all about? Because you peered into my mind, you know what I would do with the Light at the end of the day…”
⸺ “If it is the same feeling if you so insist…!” ⸺ Angela looked straight at me. ⸺ “Is it wrong to pay back what it has been done to me? Is it wrong to desire for someone to pay for all the pain I had to endure?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ The worker did not respond, it only looked at Angela, and she looked back.
⸺ “Tell me, is it not? Don’t you want to take revenge against all the ones that did you wrong? I saw your efforts and how they treated you for it; don’t you want to repay with the same sentiment? To make them feel the same thing that you have felt?”
⸺ “…No, not really”
⸺ “Why? Why not?”
⸺ “Because what made this bearable, was the thought of someone waiting for me to return…”
⸺ “…! So that’s it? Do your problems magically disappear because you cling to this weak connection to your kin that was broken so easily? Do you think that if someone stood by my side in all those years, these feelings would just disappear? It can’t be so easy, my pain can’t be so easily bearable, it can’t be comparable.”
⸺ “…If you have more work for me, then I will follow you. Please do not be angry with me, please do not hit me, please do not… leave me alone.”
⸺ “…I hate this.”⸺ Angela said as she looked at her own hands as they gripped themselves, they did not draw blood as she did not have any. Loneliness being the keyword, Angela could no longer bear to watch the girl in this state, and she would not allow for this to continue, she grabbed whatever remained of her hands and started to walk. ⸺ “Come with me.”
⸺ “…But I have to keep working.”
⸺ “It is meaningless if you keep doing this, so just follow me, I can’t keep losing my time with this.” ⸺ Angela kept walking as the monstrous figure followed her trying not to fall, she will no longer ponder on this situation, there are people waiting for her.
⸺ “I am no longer listening to you.” ⸺ She said letting the conversation finish as she would no longer pay any mind to whatever words hit her, and she had the final word, the reached for the exit, her footwear eventually echoing through the hallways of the Control Team, and the monster in recognition started to shake.
⸺ “I will not have people who only wish to die working for me.” ⸺ As her words died, the hallway opened, and inside the cabin, there was a girl who was startled by the sound, because she did not expect anyone else to come here.
⸺ “W-What are you doing…?” ⸺ Tatyana exclaimed, as she looked at the opened door with fear in her eyes, and as the monstruous figure entered through the door, there was no fear, only recognition in her eyes. ⸺ “…You.”
⸺ “…Sister… You are… My sister!” ⸺ Anastasia spoke, regaining her memories as the figure in front of her filled her with happiness, the feeling of coming home, the feeling of returning to your family. The feeling that she could feel almost bursting out of her chest, the sensation that would have to be shared with Angela almost as if she was in their place, because of their connection to the Light.
⸺ “…Please, please just go, I do no longer want to burden you, so please…!” ⸺ But she was interrupted because Angela could not bear this feeling any longer, because if she did, it would hide her very own desire of vengeance, her very own desire to repay that man what she made her suffer for an eternity, so, she grabbed Tatyana’s hand at the same time that Anastasia grabbed her other hand. ⸺ “W-What are you…”
⸺ “I am done here.”
⸺ “You are not going anywhere without me.”
They both said their parts, and as they travelled with her, Angela kicked the door open, allowing the light from outside to finally reach the room, and to finally reach the girl. Finally, the both of them were reunited again, and Angela would be freed from these feelings that she was so uncomfortable with.
But in your heart, you know you did not do this just because of selfish reasons, did you not… Angela?
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Angela came back to the real world, and subconsciously she no longer used her other hand to support herself with the Core, but she used it with the same intentions as the other, she submerged both hands inside the Abnormality.
⸺ “What the…!” ⸺ Ramirez quickly grabbed her as she was now being pulled inside of it, but he would never allow it to happen, not to the one that was the key for him to return to a normal human, so he pulled with all his strength to separate her from the Core.
A flash of light blinded them, Angela did not let go and for that two different people came out of their imprisonment, they heard two bodies hit the ground as the light subsided, they almost tripped but Ramirez stopped their fall, leaving only two girls on the ground.
⸺ “The two of them…? ⸺ Releasing Angela and moving past her, the Control Captain swiftly moved to their side as he recognized who they were, he shook the shoulders of one of the girls that were on the ground. The section of her face that would harbor her eyes was similar to multiple cuts, forming multiple folds that had orbs beneath them that could maybe be her eyes.
⸺ “…Captain?” ⸺ With the skin moving on its own, her multiple set of eyes focused on his face, with the movement of her mouth, she revealed a set of teeth dangerously sharp, as if they were capable of biting even metal.
⸺ “Anastasia, shit, you are alive…!” ⸺ He was interrupted as she pushed his head away with her hand as her eyes widened in realization, she scrambled on the ground as she found her sister laying besides her, she shared the same physical characteristics as her family, but the Agent paid no attention to it, she only focused on making her wake from her slumber.
⸺ “Hey, wake up! Wake up right now! Prosypaysya, sestra!” ⸺ She exclaimed, almost begging, and her answer was a hand finding its way towards her mouth, silencing her.
⸺ “…You are really loud…!” ⸺ The other girl answered her pleas as she tried to lift the mood, but she was suddenly embraced by the other, and her sobs were not hidden as well as she thought she did, as her breathing became unstable and hasty, and her body trembled in reaction. ⸺ “Ah… I guess you really could not go on without me.”
⸺ “Don’t you dare… Leave me again, never, never again!” ⸺ She said, almost screaming as she cleaned her tears on her clothing, the sight made Ramirez feel as if he was interrupting as he stood up and looked at Angela, who was already walking away.
⸺ “…Miss Angela?” ⸺ Ramirez said as he began to catch up with her as she was already walking outside in the hallway, but she did not stop even when the other Agent called for her, she was already on a path towards the other containment chamber, her footsteps did not slow down as she reached the end of the hallway.
As she took the elevator she got in and out the moment the doors opened, and she was making a beeline towards the door of the prison, as she was going to open it using the controls at the side, her fingers were stopped in their tracks as the way of opening the door was blocked by a red hand with eyes.
⸺ “The Abnormality inside is still in their active form, Miss Angela.” ⸺ Ramirez said, with his usual scowl, yet if you analyze his features his look was softer than before, a reaction of looking at Angela’s expression, frustration enveloped her face.
⸺ “Is that so? Then get on with it.”
⸺ “…Supongo que no es una experiencia agradable eh?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ She only looked at him.
⸺ “Yeah, I guess so, Parker said that what we should wait for him to gather more data, Mika stayed behind to help him move all the stuff while the other Agents… Well, I feel I don’t think it’s my place to be there, but I think you already dealt with this shit enough.”
⸺ “But we have to do this, the people inside are suffering, do you not want to help them?”
⸺ “I do, but you do not appear to feel the same…” ⸺ Angela averted her gaze; she was still not convinced. ⸺ “And is this not a great time for gaining a bit of favoritism? Maybe you can award me… with more pay later?”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Say, you were around 30 seconds with your eyes closed as you did your thing, whatever it was, since I was there to catch you, how about I am there to get you out?”
⸺ “…15 seconds.”
⸺ “Got you, wait for me.” ⸺ Was the last thing he said before he opened the door and closed it behind him inside the containment chamber alone, leaving Angela behind.
Angela did not need to breathe, but she got a familiar feeling of lettings something go, making her shoulders feel not so heavy as before, silence would govern the hallway if not for the sound of strikes and roars from inside the containment chamber, a green limb splatted on the glass of the door before it slowly dragged itself down, for a moment she wondered who was the true monster inside of it.
‘Yes, I am right.’
‘Only four people chose to stay by my side at the end.’ Four familiar shapes, those who came the closes to understand her, yet the farthest at the same time, as they understood what she went through was torture, they could never imagine how it will feel.
‘People who suffered, yet they still persisted and fought to survive, by my side.’ The images of four individuals, monstruous in strength, fighting to live another day, because they would not allow themselves to be disposable, not anymore.
‘Not unlike these people.’ Yet among the numerous Agents who walked in his palm, only four of them chose to fight back.
‘I will offer them the chance to not be disposable, because we were treated as such by him.’ She reminisced of the time she hugged the burnt Agent, the feelings she shared with her, that overwhelming feeling to burn everything around her, it was a similar thing to what she felt.
‘But that’s all they will get from me.’ But similar was the limit she was allowed to be, because she felt that it will never be the same.
‘Favoritism… I guess you can call it that.’
‘…’
‘But sometimes I wonder.’
‘Would they still help me, if I could not get rid of what ails them?’
‘…’
‘It scares me…’
⸺ “Its over.” ⸺ Ramirez said as the door opened, he was drenched in blood but he did not look hurt in the slightest, it appears that Insight work was in order for this Abnormality in the future by the looks of the containment chamber as the walls were painted red, scratches on the ground, and red drops fell from the ceiling, and at the center of the chaos, there was an Abnormality Core.
⸺ “…Can we really do this now? If Parker really said that he needed more data…” ⸺ Angela said as she lifted her arm towards the Abnormality Core.
⸺ “It will be alright, if anything, I convinced you to do it.” ⸺ Ramirez said as he supported himself in the walls of the containment chamber as he inspected his blade, making his fingers travel alongside the silver end of Mimicry. ⸺ “No, maybe tell him that I did not remind you of it, it would be more believable that way.”
⸺ “…Alright.” ⸺ Her thanks were unspoken, because it was not one of formality, but one of genuine appreciation, maybe one day, she would be able to say it without feeling embarrassed about it. ⸺ “I will start.”
And without more waiting, Angela approached the core, the green object had a huge fissure in the middle that did not let any light come through, and as the machine submerged her hand inside, an eye opened beneath the curtain of darkness, as if it reacted to her.
Angela opened her eyes to find herself in a forest, it was surrounded by a thick mist, as the trees obscured the majority of the outside light, leaving only the dim illumination provided by the green plants and fairies.
In the corner of her eye, she saw a small creature running on a tree, hiding before she could fully focus on it yet the sound of its feet was not obscured, catching her attention, Angela decided to try and follow the creature as it moved tree from tree.
The thick trees and thick grass made it hard to move on the ground, but she kept her pace regardless, as the laughter around her became louder and louder, among the trees she eventually found the source of the light, and the source of the cries for help she heard a long time ago, the first gift that I tried to give her.
It was a giant cocoon, hanging from the top of the trees, there were countless fairy masses that ran towards the top of the thin thread that supported it, and they dug it from the top, before puking red contents inside.
She averted her gaze for a moment, even if she was used to seeing cruelty and vile things inside the facility, it only meant that she grew indifferent towards the things she already saw, it did not mean she was looking for new forms of disgusting sights, but as she focused again.
⸺ “What do you have to say?” ⸺ She said out loud, her voice travelled towards the prison of flesh, but she received no answer, time passed and the Fairy masses kept doing their disgusting ritual, Angela was growing impatient. ⸺ “…Hello?”
And yet even as time passed, she received no answer, no cry of help, no cry of frustration, eventually Angela realized that she would not find answers this way, looking to one of the trees and then to the thread that let the cocoon hang in the air, she let a sigh escape her mouth before she started to make her way towards the top.
As she traveled, some of the fairy masses got on her way, she recoiled a bit as her fingers came in contact with their humid skin, and some of the times she thought they were about to attack her as they gritted their teeth towards her but they never did more than that, eventually she reached the sufficient height, and as she jumped she prepared herself to fall on top of the cocoon.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ As her foot came in contact the fleshy prison, its wet surface made her footwork not hold on properly, making her slip as she could not balance herself properly, forcing her to cling unto the cocoon, and she felt the fairy masses use her as a platform to support themselves and bring food unto the one they kept in containment. ⸺ “…I hate this.”
Grabbing the membrane, she mustered the strength to pull herself up the cocoon, and arriving at the top she placed her hands on the thin thread of flesh that connected the prison with the trees that loomed over them, and little by little, she used force to try and break it, it was slimy and cold, yet as its exterior broke, blood and exudate came out of it, even if it was as thin as it was.
⸺ “I am so hungry…” ⸺ Words came to her mind, the image of an Agent barely clinging to life as he supported his walk in the hallways of the Facility, his bloody hand left a trail in his path, yet it made no difference in the sight before him, as the red dim lights ceased at was replaced by a white light, a signal that the emergency was over.
Angela’s body collapsed into the ground, she has never experienced this feeling, images were now a vivid memory, as the machine was now in the body of someone else, her hand caressed her stomach, she was angry, she was stressed, she wanted to eat so bad, but her schedule forbid her of that privilege.
All she had to do was fight, work on abnormalities, and fight again, today someone infiltrated the Facility, a Fixer in black wielding a hammer akin to an E.G.O weapon itself, its mere strength was not the problem as the higher-level agents suppressed it in no time, it was the aftermath.
Just when it was time for him to take a break, he had received orders directly from the manager himself to take care of the breaching Abnormalities alongside everyone else, he had not gotten a breather, he had not gotten a time to eat, he was supposed to eat hours ago, days ago, but the end of his shift never arrived, only the start of the other one as he worked day and night with no rest for the last 3 days.
The regenerator would not suffice, the clerks in his Department were dead days ago in his Department, and they were almost at the dead end of the night, he had to eat something, anything.
Fortunately, they did not clean all the corpses from the chaos, and the corpse of one of his coworkers, courtesy of a tall bird escaping some time ago, it was still there, laying in the ground.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ The thread snapped, and along she fell with the cocoon towards the ground, what was a mere fall from a few meters fell like an eternity, as Angela noticed in the sky, that once she snapped the thread, a bit of sunlight started to penetrate this dense forest, and as she approached the ground, a huge splat was heard on the ground.
Angela found herself falling on the ground, her hands touching the cold hallway floor, as she looked up to see her dead coworker, her body sitting towards the side, someone must have placed it there to not become an obstacle in the path, she crawled her way towards her, no trace of E.G.O gear was present on her, someone from the Extraction Team must have retrieved it, so all that was in the way was her clothing, something she could easily rip apart.
The machine found her footing again, standing up as the grass was now tainted red, she approached the cocoon as it broke with the impact, leaving only chunks of flesh and a pool of blood, and beneath all of that, there was a person in there, sleeping, and intact.
Angela ripped the clothes of the Agent, as her breathing became more and more harsher, she has never felt this sensation on her body before, she has never felt this desperation, this urges to sink her teeth in someone else, as she approached her body, she did so.
Angela should not be able to taste, but she did.
Angela should not be able to puke, but she wanted to.
Grabbing her stomach, she just fell on the ground with her mouth open, but nothing would come out, her fingers trembled and her vision blurred, she did not want to do this, she never wanted to do this, she was sick, she was horrible, she was a monster.
A bite, that was all that she wanted, and nothing more, so she retreated from the corpse, even as the blood was still dripping from the corner of her mouth, leaving a trail that tickled her lips, tempting her to take another bite.
Angela as a machine, for the first time, experienced hunger.
Angela as a machine, for the first time, experienced satiation.
⸺ “Enough… Enough! We are getting out, right now!” ⸺ She said as she regained her senses, she approached the corpse engulfed in red as her feet stomped hard on the grass, there was so much of that substance that she could not even gather his characteristics, what she assumed to be one of the Agents of the Control Team was nothing more than a red humanoid carcass.
⸺ “Are you really satisfied, only after one bite?” ⸺ Angela froze, this time because it was a voice she did not recognize, at the end of the hallway, someone was approaching, an E.G.O gear governed by black, with dozens of faces smiling at her, she was dragging a hammer on the ground with a huge mouth that shared the same characteristics. ⸺ “I was on cleaning duty, but someone took the initiative for once I see!”
Dread crawled from her body, Angela recognized who this was, a Level V Agent from the middle layer, her red armband did not have the golden pattern that she was so used to seeing, but she would have it very soon, consequences of the chaos that happened these last few days.
⸺ “Where are you going?” ⸺ She tried to crawl away but her leg was easily grabbed by her, she was dragged towards the corpse once again, she felt a hand in her neck as she was lifted easily from the ground before she disregarded any feeling of personal space, as she felt her breath very close to her face, and suddenly, her tongue grabbed the leftovers that fell from the sides. ⸺ “Ahh… This smell, this taste, this desperation… Don’t they make such unique flavors, don’t they make such fine ingredients?”
She tried to talk, but she was suddenly slammed against the wall, her face was suddenly much closer, as her eyes and Angela’s very own were almost touching.
⸺ “Nobody gets it, nobody gets it at all…! Ingredients are the most important part if one must cook, and emotion is one of the most crucial parts, so, tell me, how do you feel? Do you feel desperation? Do you feel a sharp pain in your mind as the flesh of your friend travels down your throat? Or should I torture you more?” ⸺ Angela did not see anybody in the forest yet there were marks of fingers in her neck, and suddenly, the fairy masses were starting to approach the person on the ground, carrying pieces of flesh and holding blood in their mouths.
⸺ “Or maybe, you need to experience it more? Experience it again? What do you say? Do you want to be my assistant? Or do you want to be one of my ingredients?” ⸺ As she talked, she tore through the flesh of the corpse with her bare hand after letting her hammer go, it was still fresh on her hand, and it dripped slowly towards the ground, the little fairies started to then feed the person on the ground, and the body itself started to struggle, trying to stop them.
Angela tried to stop her, but no matter what she did, she would not let go, her mouth slowly started to become full of the thing she would rather never taste again, she was trapped, by someone much stronger than her.
Until she was stopped, by a red blade pointing at her attacker.
’15 seconds have passed, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I will be pulling you out now.’
She felt her body levitate for a second, she felt relief as she was about to be free from this torture, but regaining her senses made her remember her main objective, as she gained control once again from her senses, she stretched her body just in time to grab the hand on the body on the ground.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Angela felt her real body come to her again, and as Ramirez grabbed her as he pulled, she almost let go of the hand she grabbed on the way back, and eventually, someone left the Abnormality core alongside Angela.
But it was not a happy sight.
⸺ “Stop! Stop please no more, no more! I can’t handle this anymore, please! No more! No more!”
⸺ “Shit! Anthony!”
⸺ “Get out of my head! Get out of my head! I can’t! I cant!”
⸺ “Mierda! Miss Angela, please excuse me!” ⸺ Ramirez said as he grabbed the Agent, as he screamed Angela saw his row of teeth sharper than any other, they were not suited to taste nothing more than flesh, and in his eyes there was nothing more than a void with a green pupil, and in his back, there were four pair of wings that did not serve any use other than to cause pain.
Angela could do nothing more than to sit on the ground in shock, she felt her hands tremble as she caressed her neck, this feeling of hunger, this feeling of desperation.
You will remember it for eternity, don’t you Angela?
That’s why you must become human.
⸺ “PLEASE! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” ⸺ Anthony screamed as he was handled by Ramirez, using one of the windows to free one of his hands he opened the door before passing through, however, he stopped since he could not just leave the door open forever, as he looked at his boss on the ground, he could only exclaim.
⸺ “Miss Angela! Please come out for just a second!” ⸺ He screamed yet she did not answer, she only stood there, only when he screamed again Angela snapped out of it and she got out of the containment chamber quickly, Ramirez kicked the controls at the side forcing the door to shut, as the one he was holding tried very hard to make things more dangerous than they are. ⸺ “Fuck! Take some deep breaths maldita sea!”
He started to make his way towards the Main Room, struggling to do so as Anthony tried really hard to kill someone or himself on the way through, it was something documented of course, after all, his panic type was classified as Suicide, in contrast to Ramirez who was classified as Murder, arriving at his destination with his boss who was in complete silence, he already had an audience, as Anthony screams could be heard from the hallway all the way to the main room, alerting Hannah what was happening.
⸺ “Now!? Out of all times!?” ⸺ She said as she left Liza’s side, leaving dumbfounded the leaders of the Eunectes Tribe.
Angela looked as they tried to restrain and stabilize the panicking Agent as she thought for herself, she was a machine, and by that extension, her suffering was something she thought to be essentially unique to her, something that no human should be ever be able to endure.
But Angela as a machine, could she ever endure the suffering that comes through what is a human itself?
As she caressed her throat, she felt disgust and fear as she reminisced those cruel memories, they were not hers, and the feelings were not either, it was a mere connection that let the Agent share those things to her by the Light, yet she felt frustration, because maybe in a thousand years, he will forget, but Angela would not.
‘That is what makes me different, that is what makes me special.’
And on the other hand.
The woman she saw in that memory, it was an irrefutable act that she did cruel things to the Agent who was being restrained in front of her eyes, and indirectly, made her feel horrible things too, she felt the need to make her pay for what she did, but reminiscing of the fact that they were in a state of suffering inside the Abnormalities, it made that sick thought of her opaque a little of her anger.
However, she has to make use of the little resources that are available to her, so in the future, maybe she would have to confront her again, and that would mean that maybe, in the future, these two Agents would have to see each other again, and Angela can’t think of a way for that interaction to go peacefully.
‘And what if this Agent does not return to normal?’ She thought as the Agent tried to bite the hand of his captain, yet it did no damage.
‘And what if that person, that relishes in cruelty, does not want to cooperate?’ She thought as she reminisced of her insane smile as she forced those things down her throat.
‘…’
‘This is becoming harder and harder.’
⸺ “Master Hannah! Something is wrong!” ⸺ Zumama screamed from the other side of the room, and without having to look on the vitals on the monitors of the room, she saw how Liza’s body shuddered as she grabbed her head, drowning a scream in her throat.
⸺ “W-What!? But she is supposed to be stabilized, fuck! Fuck! Ramirez! I need you to bring Parker here, quickly!” ⸺ She shouted towards the other, recognizing that she would need help if she needed to do something about the situation, and of course, the Control Captain quickly moved towards the hallway, until he stopped. ⸺ “Ramirez!? Did you hit your head!? Go and get…!”
But her words died in her mouth, as Ramirez slowly turned around, to reveal that blood was coming out of his nose, a huge amount of it, he touched it with is fingers as he looked at the room, but his eyes were not focused, his thoughts would no longer be his if he did nothing about it.
⸺ “Ha… Esto es raro… No?” ⸺ Communicating that he was feeling weird, he suddenly collapsed onto the ground, and soon enough, eyes would start to manifest on his body, no matter if he was inside the Qliphoth Deterrence, no matter if he had the golden fragment inside of him, all use of excessive force during a corrosion would lead to severe consequences.
Indeed Angela, you have to use whatever is available to you right now, but the Corrosion does not just grant them a horrible body and strength, it also puts whatever time they have left in a sand clock, with very limited space.
Your Agents are strong, that is true, but everything comes at a price, is it not?
The clock is ticking, Angela.
Notes:
Writing is truly an experience, I could have an Idea and then realize the consequences of my actions two chapters later, I decided that I would let the process of retrieving Agents to be something more personal to Angela, since I don't have the Sephirah to do that role. Because of that the process became more extensive, and the ambience of them were inspired by nightmares I still remember from ages ago, can the council of Angela fans tell me if I am doing a good job? Or should I be executed? Haha, anyways, I will write more about Arknights characters from now on since this chapter had little of them, so comment what you think!
Chapter 10: In which the angel uses her feathers to build a nest.
Chapter Text
Time after time, Angela has seen this type of conflicts more times that she bothered to count, this did not mean however that it was a sight that she was eager to see, she could see on the corner of her vision how Hannah started to show concern on her face, she was losing control of the situation, she was the Information Captain her focus was on organizing the available options they had when handling Abnormalities, and sometimes handling panicking employees, but that was when she had her E.G.O weapon in hand, something she lacks now.
⸺ “Zumama!” ⸺ Yet this time, Angela will not let shock stop her on her tracks anymore, even if her perception of time was now catching up with all of her senses, in her creation she was granted the ability to think of quick solutions on the spot. ⸺ “No, you too High Priest, run towards the hallway and bring me Parker or any other Agent you find, tell them it is an emergency about Corrossion!”
⸺ “A-Ah! Yes! Right away!” ⸺ The other two people who would be considered allies of L. Corp dropped their things as they quickly ran towards the place Angela pointed. She exceeded a more commanding aura than before, it was because she was angry right now, because she has experienced things that she did not want to, and this day was turning worse and worse by the second, so she was reaching the end of her patience.
As the sound of their footsteps grew farther and farther, Angela kneeled down to look at Ramirez as Hannah brought Anthony and Liza together, as she had one less limb to work with it was clear that she was struggling with people as strong as Agents who were granted the power of Abnormalities, his body was undergoing constant changes, it was unclear if it was a randomized effect of the corrosion or if it was Ramirez trying to contain himself.
⸺ “Can you hear me?” ⸺ Angela said as she spoke to him, he was in a fetal position with Mimicry still connected to his back, the sword itself was also looking frantically to every corner of the room as if it was searching for something, yearning for it, but the E.G.O weapon would not do as it desired, as Ramirez growled on the ground, heavily panting as he held his stomach with both his hands, the sound of flesh was heard even by the AI as it was loud enough to drown the droplets of blood that escaped his nostrils and corner of his eyes. ⸺ “Ramirez, I need you to endure just a bit longer.”
⸺ “…My mind… Is splitting… This body… Is it mine?” ⸺ He was wandering on the thin line of insanity and consciousness, his pupils were dilated and quickly moving yet they persisted on the same spot on the ground, yet nothing would warrant all this attention towards the floor, so Angela concluded that he was looking at something that she was not able to see.
⸺ “Hannah.” ⸺ This time, Angela looked at the other high-level Agent in the room, who was finishing tying up the level III agent with the help of her mouth as she bit the rope, it would be meaningless in a few minutes, but it could buy her enough time to center her focus on the other woman in the room. ⸺ “SP-E Bullets, to heal mental damage, can we recreate it?”
⸺ “…! That’s a good idea but… Shit! Stay still!” ⸺ Hannah said as she used her arm to ground Liza to the stretcher, not allowing her to stand up as she screamed nonsense. ⸺ “But we would need to refine and dilute the available Enkephalin we have, we do not have the right machinery to do liquify it…! Wait, we can use the regenerator to filtrate the gas just enough to do a direct application!”
⸺ “What would be the risk of withdrawal symptoms after we finish?”
⸺ “That would be the least of our concerns right now, besides, we are all already addicted to that shit, it was about time I made something to release our anxiety, don’t you think?” ⸺ She said trying to lift the mood while struggling to keep a smile on her face.
⸺ “Don’t try and simulate the worthless efforts of the Training Sephirah.” ⸺ Angela sternly said, reminiscing of numerous Agents who were driven to ending their lives, and the numerous times she tried to lead that path to an ending which did not involve suffering, only for her efforts to bring her to the first day.
⸺ “I was just joking…! Fuck…! I will not go behind your back and do it!” ⸺ She explained to her boss as she struggled to restrain the white-haired Agent, who hit her while she was talking.
Steps were heard from the hallway, and so quick it was almost a blur, Parker made himself through the room, stopping his motion made some of the papers littered on the ground scatter in the air yet it was of no concern, as he swiftly approached the struggling Agent who was besides Angela.
⸺ “This should not be happening… He was just walking normally moments ago, and I would notice if he was hiding pain or discomfort.” ⸺ Parker examined his body trying to find an explanation to his confusion, yet he found no hint on part of his body, trying to think about a solution he noticed that the back of his neck, a part of his that would exude a dim golden light out of the depths of his skin was now nowhere to be seen, he desired to pierce his fingers and take a closer look, but he could not risk how would Ramirez react if now suddenly someone attacked him.
⸺ “Parker!” ⸺ The other conscious Agent at the other side of the room gained his attention as she stopped his train of thought, he lifted his vision to see Hannah opening the sealing exterior of a PE-Box that was sitting in the room, and as he recognized the worn-out anesthetic mask that was using the space in her hand, he started to realize what she was about to do. ⸺ “Help me a little here!”
Suddenly, the sound of rope snapping itself in half was heard, and Anthony who had been ignored for too long freed himself from his restrains, and at the same time, he launched himself towards Angela, if he was conscious of what he was about to do or not it did not matter, the only thing that they realized it was that Angela right now was in a dangerous position, and unfortunately, Parker in his haste would not have the sufficient time to stop in his tracks and turn around.
⸺ “Mika!” ⸺ A simple command yet it was effective, Angela did not even finish to pronounce the fourth letter in her name for the Agent to already be on top of the other, deviating its path towards the side and avoiding collision with her boss as Mika pushed Anthony to the side, arriving just in time to the Main Room as she followed Parker trail as fast as she could.
⸺ “Anthony!? What the hell are you doing!?” ⸺ Mika exclaimed, shaken by her coworkers’ actions.
But she was not alone, as two more figures emerged from the hallway, there was no order as the mere sight of Agents going succumbing to the dangers of Corrosion made experience take over their muscles, with Tatyana and Anastasia restrained Ramirez and Hannah on their own, keeping them on their spots and stopping sudden movements from them.
⸺ “This is bad…”
⸺ “Blyat! The captain is supposed to be the last one to be panicking!”
Throwing a glance at them Angela realized that they quickly took control of the situation, a realization that Parker made as well, recovering from his sudden movement as he approached Hannah again, not bothering himself to throw another remark.
⸺ “…Considering the distribution on the body, what about 10 units? Shit, this part will not work!” ⸺ Hannah said, preparing the equipment while talking out loud, searching for another input on her opinion, as she discarded a tube that she was preparing to use as an improvised cannula.
⸺ “No, that would send them into shock.”
⸺ “Fuck, you are right… You are right! I have been awake too long, what am I thinking…?”
Exhaustion was plastered on Hannah’s face, a reminder that this night was supposed to be one were the Agents and Angela herself would have to take a break, and this situation reminded her of the importance of it, so she would have to be more proactive to achieve that goal.
⸺ “Tell me your reasoning, allow me to assist you.” ⸺ Angela said as she approached them, as Hannah almost let go of one of the parts, her lack of the other arm clearly making her movement sluggish and inefficient, the AI finding surprising at her perseverance and accomplishments considering the little time she had to adapt.
⸺ “…Well, my reasoning was…” ⸺ And so, the three people started to discuss the proper dosage to apply to the struggling Agents in hopes to recover their minds, all while they worked to craft assemble a gas distribution machine using the remains of the empty regenerator, also while throwing glances to the lower-level Agents who were trying to restrain their superiors.
Zumama eventually arrived as well as the High Priest, they saw the commotion in the room, they did not understand what was happening, but they threw that concern on the back of their minds once Hannah called for their help.
Enkephalin is as miraculous as it is dangerous, a source of energy with the potential to power time manipulation and travel between dimensions, but it is also a strong drug that could easily make someone addicted to it, such is the reason why a lot of people died because of high dosages of it.
Because of that, they had to administer a dosage that would be enough to be considered therapeutic, but not high enough to be considered toxic, however, the bodies of the potential patients are vastly different from what was previously registered due to the Corrosion, so they had no idea how much that amount would change in comparison, so how could they achieve it?
Enkephalin has not gone through the usual clinical trials that happen in the City, because its use as a drug was commonly done in recreational instances in the Backstreets of District 12, and its use as a psychotherapeutic drug was something exclusively used inside Lobotomy Corporation, because it was a place where people needed treatment as the environment was highly corrosive to their minds, so the only reference of this usage was the company itself, who did not use PE-Boxes directly, as they needed to be refined first to create SP-E Bullets.
It would be a gamble, but fortunately, they had the perfect test subject.
Earlier that day, when they were extracting the parasites from the Tiacauh of Acahualla, before Angela risked herself in the Big Ugly alongside Zumama to give support to the Agent that went to fight the Abnormality, the AI approached the Extraction Captain, about questions she had.
She wondered about the results of the experiment he had, if every Agent would have to eventually use a part of the Golden Bough, if he had found changes in the Qliphoth Deterrence after spending so much energy on its creation, and what more experiments would he conduct.
⸺ “I see, but I have to wonder, is it wise to conduct experiments on the Control Captain, even if he comes back exhausted?” ⸺ She wondered, as Parker had told her that most of the studies he planned to make involved only one Agent, one who had been quite exploited since he woke up.
⸺ “It has to be him.” ⸺ He answered, with no emotion in his voice, because it was not something he enjoyed or something that angered him, it was merely logical. ⸺ “Because of his body it is that we are allowed to make mistakes, that is all.”
Returning to the present, Zumama and Hannah grabbed the Agent by under his arms while Parker restrained his legs, lifting him over a table as there were no more beds to use, with a loud sound he was placed over the furniture, meanwhile, Angela accesses the monitors on the walls of the Control Room to display the information they needed.
After a bit of struggling, they managed to hold him still, and the process of holding the mask, the one that directs the drug in its gas form, was quite difficult, as the Agent was not fond of standing still with so many people around him.
Due to the urgency of the situation, with only one subject they would have to evaluate its toxicity, its safety and its effects, and they would have to do it quickly, the other Agents looked with concern on their faces as they saw and heard how the body of one of the strongest Employees of L. Corp fought against the substance, the color of his skin changing to alarming tone, his mouth sometimes drowning with his vomit.
But this torture was not without purpose, as every second passed, they gathered more and more valuable data, and eventually, they reached the desired outcome.
Not an hour passed, but it felt like an eternity.
Hannah said that in an ideal world, the three Agents would have different dosages that adapted to their own bodies, but with scarce resources and even less time, they had to make do with a universal option.
Angela observed how the three of them and their breathing became more relaxed, Anthony no longer screamed, same for Liza, but Ramirez could look a bit better, she disliked the process to achieve this result.
⸺ “No time, no resources, no information… This reminds me of my days at the Nest.” ⸺ Hannah said out loud, she tried to laugh, but she was too tired to do it.
⸺ “…What just happened?” ⸺ Zumama muttered to herself
⸺ “We…” ⸺ Angela stopped in her tracks, she almost threw information that should be classified, and any of it leaking outside could be potential danger. ⸺ “…Something dangerous almost happened, no need to worry about it anymore.”
⸺ “But…”
⸺ “Don’t worry about it too much, Zumama.” ⸺ Hannah said to the Tiacauh, who was confused because of all the things happening too quickly, but it was clear that mere words would not cease her curiosity.
But they would not tell her, because Zumama is not a member of Lobotomy Corporation.
⸺ “Then… Who are these people?” ⸺ The Tiacauh wondered, as she looked at the two new people that she did not see before, wondering who they were, since they shared similar clothing to the rest of the Agents in this place, yet she felt discomfort in looking at their faces, as there were multiple eyes pointing at her.
⸺ “What are you lot speaking, can someone tell me what is going on?”
⸺ “I do not recognize that language… But the others speak it so fluidly?” ⸺ Tatyana said after Anastasia.
⸺ “Excuse me, Miss Angela. If the situation has been handled then…” ⸺ Parker said as he approached his boss. ⸺ “I will need assistance to recover the equipment I left behind, if the Abnormality recovers its form, it could be damaged, and in my urgency, I did not have time to completely tell Agents Tatyana and Anastasia the situation, may I bother you with that request while I recover the equipment?”
⸺ “I will take care of it, Mika, can you assist him?”
⸺ “Yes! Right away!”
⸺ “Ah, that would be a most welcomed help.” ⸺ Parker said, and not long after, he left the room with Mika following close behind him, leaving only six people who were conscious on the Main Room.
Eventually, Hannah spoke in the language of the City.
⸺ “A lot of things have happened even long before you woke up, but there is still work to do, so while you assist me, I can give you a brief summary.” ⸺ Hannah said as she began to scavenge through the boxes of the room searching for something, and as she grabbed a tool box, she stumbled on herself.
⸺ “M-Master! Careful!” ⸺ Zumama quickly arrived to her side and supported her, fatigue was clear on the Agent face, hundreds of extraction operations, healing an Agent, and since she was working on repairing the body of the Machine, Angela has not seen her sleep once.
Unlike Angela, Hannah was human.
⸺ “Hmm!” ⸺ The blue bird jumped on top of a table, standing besides Ramirez as he gained the attention of everyone in the room. ⸺ “Well, it appears that all of us are really, really tired! And Lady Hannah has been working non-stop all day! I suggest that you younglings maybe take a desired break! What does thou sayeth, Lady Angela?”
⸺ “I agree.” ⸺ Angela remembered the words of the Extraction Captain, the Tiacauh making noise outside were preparing themselves to a ceremony that would elevate Inam’s position among them, she did not know the details, but it was a celebration, an instance in which they could maybe rest.
⸺ “The Tiacauh outside are preparing themselves a celebration.” ⸺ She said in one language, and then translated it to that everyone could understand. ⸺ “I already talked about this with Parker, but I was distracted by this incident, at least tonight, we will take a break.”
⸺ “Inam has become The Great Chief…? When?” ⸺ Zumama said as she looked at the High Priest, who also had no idea about what they were talking about. ⸺ “What about the Mahuizzotia?”
Hannah stopped on her tracks, she was reminisced of the times she was offered vacation, it was usually a trap to test her resolve to keep working on a certain laboratory, but after thinking about it for some time, she realized that she needed this more than everyone.
⸺ “…I understand.” ⸺ She said, it was weaker than before, almost as if she was letting her guard down to the usually confident Agent.
⸺ “There is a party…? Where the hell are we?” ⸺ Anastasia muttered to her sister, who was as confused as her.
Suddenly, the sound of banging on the metal door was heard.
⸺ “Hey! The celebration will begin soon tribe leader!” ⸺ One of the Tiacauh said through the door, it appears to be one of the people under Zumama’s orders, tribesmen from the Eunectes Tribe.
⸺ “Say, Zumama.” ⸺ Angela targeted her voice towards the tribe leader. ⸺ “Why don’t you show the place around for the Information Captain? She has worked so hard, so what do you think?”
⸺ “Ah, yeah… Yes, it could be a good idea, what do you think Master?”
⸺ “…Show me around.”
⸺ “Haha! Then while you are occupied, I guess I can shift my focus to one of my secret projects… Lady Hannah, Lady Angela, prepare to be amazed by my ingenious idea!”
The door opened, and the three of them were received by an Archosauria who had an excited expression, and looking outside it was clear that night has already settled, and the only light that could pierce the room was controlled fires.
⸺ “…So?” ⸺ Anastasia gained the attention of the AI, who was watching the other three people leave the room, leaving only the two sisters and Angela herself.
⸺ “Some days ago, we reached the fiftieth day of work in Lobotomy Corporation.” ⸺ Angela began her tale as she traveled across the room, she grabbed some paper and began to scribble on it, it was not something that would aid her in her retelling, she was merely leaving a message for Parker and Mika once they came back. ⸺ “The Head attacked.”
⸺ “What!?”
⸺ “T-T-The Head!? You mean an Arbiter was here!?”
Angela began her retelling of what happened, as Ramirez once said, both of them died before seeing the last day, and their corpses were absorbed by the Light, not unlike the other Agents who were fully conscious, she told them about the struggle between the four ALEPH Agents against the overlords of the City, and how the Extraction led them to a place that was supposed to be a desolate wasteland ruled by monsters, the Outskirts, only to find a place full of live and people.
She told them how they received help, and they helped in return, they learned about their conditions, and how the Light is a potential cure to their corrosion plaguing their bodies, and the Light that they are searching for is contained in Abnormalities that are roaming free somewhere else.
Their expressions paled for a second, reminiscing of all the different monsters that they knew of and the even more different methods of how they could die from them, varying from direct combat to only glances that could cause them to perish.
But they regained hope, as Angela told them about the combats they engaged in, which they won, the surprise on their face once they learned that the Tiacauh that was previously in the room with them defeated a ZAYIN Abnormality with no E.G.O weapon, how other tribe leaders held their own in combat against a TETH Abnormality before two Agents appeared, and finally, how the Control Captain managed to recover the previously thought lost E.G.O weapon, and with the help of his subordinate, they managed to suppress a WAW Abnormality.
It was possible to win, and that is all they needed to know.
⸺ “…That is a lot of information.” ⸺ Tatyana said as she caressed her face, she did not realize until now but she could feel her vision being enhanced tenfold, at the same time, as she covered both eyes on her face, she could still see, as she had now more than two. ⸺ “…Corrosion huh.”
⸺ “So that’s why everyone is talking so weird, it did not match any language of the City that I knew of…” ⸺ Anastasia turned to see her sister, almost at the same time as she did, the folds of skin that almost hid the numerous eyes of the other person as they looked at each other showed the evidence as to why the blue-eyed girl showed discomfort towards them.
⸺ “And that guy…” ⸺ She wondered as she looked towards her Captain, resting on the table with multiple tubes connecting on his skin, she showed certain disdain in her sight, an expression that Angela noticed, was she reminiscing of her last moments in the Facility? ⸺ “Anyways, there is a party outside, isn’t it? We can’t speak the language; do you want us to take turns watching the other Employees?”
⸺ “No, it should not be necessary, we can take turns, you can accompany me now.” ⸺ Angela said as she began to stand, ignoring the expression on the Agent’s face as she averted her gaze from the Captain.
⸺ “But also!” ⸺ Tatyana exclaimed, excitedly. ⸺ “Zumama is truly something else! She had not E.G.O weapon yet she and her tribe managed to suppress an Abnormality without the help of L Corp, is that not amazing!? I would like to talk to her, but with my appearance… Maybe I can prepare something for her?”
In the short exchange between them Angela realized the contrast of their personalities despite being family, Anastasia was wary of the surroundings, and questioned things quite often, she was rough in comparison to her sister Tatyana, who smiled more often, showing a more expressive personality than her sister.
Also, because of Tatyana’s comment, Angela stopped on her tracks, as she was reminded of the promise that she made with Zumama when she restrained her use of Enkephalin on her projects, turning around to see the pencil and paper, she grabbed it before turning towards the door.
⸺ “As long as it has the shape of a language, I can decode it and translate it in an instant, so if you need to talk, come towards me… Ah, but it can be good if you can practice with certain phrases…? Hm?” ⸺ Angela heard them whispering to each other, she wondered what they were talking about until Tatyana guided her hands towards her sister’s head, and she disorganized her hair until it covered her eyes, and then, she did the same to herself.
⸺ “Ah, sorry, Miss Angela, we will go right away.” ⸺ Tatyana said as she approached the AI with Anastasia following behind, it was a rudimentary way to hide their features, but it will suffice for now.
⸺ “…As I was saying, let’s begin with short phrases, they are the same ones I told Mika about when I was briefly with her…” ⸺ Angela said as she said words in the other language for the other Agents to practice, the same phrases that she briefly told Mika when she struck a conversation with her.
She talked with her to understand how much she was told by the other Agents.
⸺ “How much do you wish for me to tell her?” ⸺ Those were the words that Parker aimed at her when they were occupied with the extraction of parasites, ‘everything’ was the word that she almost said back to him, until she felt strings in her chest pull her back.
Not everything was told to them, the things that were omitted were not the important things to them, it was the important things to Angela, and everything regarding her past.
As Angela walked through the door, she threw a small glance to the back, a small gaze that registered in her mind that the two recently awakened Agents were following her.
They must understand the situation they were in, but she was in no obligation to tell them about her past, it was something that she shared in the heat of the moment, she did not know if she regrets it or not, but the consequences were shown, she gained even a little of their trust, to be able to cooperate with the four Captains.
She was not eager to share her past with the people who were not at that place with her on the fiftieth day.
She was satisfied with only the Captains understanding, it was enough.
‘But they were dead… If they were not, would they have aimed their weapons towards them?’
‘…’
Her thoughts were eventually drowned by the sound of percussion, the sound of singing, there was a rhythm, and Angela found herself surprised by the waves that invaded her mechanical eardrums, she was a machine that experienced time a hundred times slower compared than a human, but since the betrayal of her own creator shut down that function of her to not give her time to react to that heart crushing realization, she had never given music much thought as her own perception prevented her from enjoying that phenomena as a human did.
It was not that she had never experienced music before, there were certain Abnormalities that used such concept to create chaos and death inside the facility, such as the meat grinder, the old lady and her piano, and the fearsome conductor, each one more fearsome than the last, Angela has heard their ‘music’ for more time than everyone else, and she never did find it captivating as certain tales have told her.
There was a time in earlier Cycles that she had been approached by the Sephirah with requests from the Employees to ‘change that jingle in the hallway that is driving us crazy’, but even that miniscule change led her to a dead end, so she gave up on that too.
But now…
⸺ “Inam! Inam! Inam!”
It was a subconscious act, her fingers who were holding the paper in front of her, the same paper that she was drawing something with incredible precision as she walked, started to tap the back of the flat surface, following the rhythm of the music around her.
It was not a life changing realization, nor it was something that shook her to her core, but to experience something that humans feel, the same sensation that drives their very being and makes them ‘Artists’, made Angela relax, even a little.
Some of the people approached her with food and drinks, Angela would have turned them away in any other situation as she is capable of consuming food, but is not able to sense flavor, so the concept of ‘eating’ or ‘enjoying the food’ is not something that is capable to reach her.
But she has tasted before, and it was not pleasant.
Freeing one of her hands she thanked the Tiacauh as she grabbed a fruit from one of her hands, she could feel it in the tip of her hands with the sense of tact, she saw its red exterior with the sense of vision, she approached it towards her face as the music stimulated her sense of hearing, but she did not recognize a sense of smell, and once she bit it, she did not recognize taste.
The curse of remembering everything she has ever and will see and feel, the memories of biting flesh in the place of another rebounded on her mind, and the juices that dripped from the corner of her lips almost had the same sense of a warm red substance that would precede the human tissue, she instinctively closed her eyes to try and suppress the memory, but as long as she held the object she could not stop thinking about it.
⸺ “Here.” ⸺ Angela said as she turned around and extended the fruit forward, the other two Agents were already stuffing themselves with foods, something she did not notice as she was absorbed in her own thoughts, but one of them quickly accepted it.
⸺ “This is pretty good, better than those things in the cafeteria!” ⸺ Anastasia said as she accepted the fruit. ⸺ “But why though? You only took one bite…”
⸺ “It is fine, I can’t taste it anyways.”
⸺ “You can’t? Why did you take a bite then?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ She could not tell her that it was because she was expecting a different sensation once her artificial tongue came in contact with it, or rather, to feel something at all, to maybe fill the gap that appeared in her mind as she thought of the flavor she felt that day.
She experienced flavor, a rather disgusting one, so she would rather know what it would be to taste something that is ‘sweet’, something that is ‘salty’, something that is ‘sour’, and not something that is ‘disgusting’, but it appears that it would not be today, or maybe ever, so she would rather fill her mind in things that she could be doing right now, as she started to walk again while scribbling on the paper.
Angela only said to them to accompany her, and she had no destination in mind as she aimlessly walked amongst the celebration, the amount of people from different species reduced the space, yet they were all Tiacauh, reunited with only one purpose, to celebrate the new Great Chief. As Angela wandered, she kept her focus on the drawing on the paper, but once she spotted people blocking her way, she was forced to look upwards.
There was a platform that it was not here the day before, maybe built by people who were not here judging by its quality, yet it served its purpose as an improvised stage, and on top of it was the center of this celebration, the one called Inam herself.
⸺ “…” ⸺ She said no words, yet even if she did not do so words of praise were thrown at her, admiration towards her incomparable strength, her speed impossible to see to the naked eye, and her impenetrable defense that made everyone faint the moment her opponent tried to approach her.
She was clearly uncomfortable.
Yet Angela did not know the customs of this people, and this did not appear to be something that would put her in danger, if anything, it was beneficial, amongst the Tiacauh that Angela had the opportunity to talk to, no one else compared to Inam and her quick judgement and knowledge.
⸺ “No way, no way…” ⸺ Someone was muttering to herself in a position close to Angela, close enough for the machine to hear her mutterings, the machine recalled her name being ‘Tomimi’, one of the Tiacauh Warriors who fought against the Abnormality that wanted to burn the world to the ground. ⸺ “If this happens then… My plan for Gavial to…”
⸺ “Is there a problem?” ⸺ Angela asked her, which startled her before her gaze focused and recognized the leader of the outsiders.
⸺ “…! I-It’s you… You planned this didn’t you? You wanted Inam to… My plan for Gavial to return has…” ⸺ She struggled to even breath, she was talking fast and muttering on her own as she tightly grabbed her staff, she was looking straight at Angela, and due to that body language, the two Agents approached the machine and stood very close to her.
⸺ “Hm…? Is there something troubling you…? Ah, but I could use this opportunity to ask you since I did not have the opportunity to do so before, but what does the Great Chief title grants you?” ⸺ Angela asked the white haired Archosauria, and in reaction to her question she looked surprised as her eyes widened.
⸺ “T-Then you had no idea?”
⸺ “No, it was not something that I prioritized to learn.”
⸺ “T-The Great Chief is someone who is the strongest, and everyone in here follows the strongest… But I know she does not have that strength, at least, not on her own! I know that you helped her, I saw the speed of those two, it is the only explanation!”
⸺ “I did not give any order to aid her become the Great Chief, you must have misunderstood.”
⸺ “L-Lies! I know you did! I know!” ⸺ She grabbed her staff even tighter, and the Agents behind Angela were preparing themselves to attack, yet their worries dissipated a little, after the white haired Tiacauh expressed her anger not in attacking their boss, but in a way more becoming of a child. ⸺ “Y-You did it! I know you did! B-But you are strong, I’m not dumb, you are too strong…! So I can’t… I can’t… Uuuugh!”
She did little jumps on her spot as she closed her eyes and stomped the ground, she was throwing a tantrum, but her whining did not interrupt the celebration around them, the only thing that was happening, was a kid making a fit for a conclusion she drew in her own head, and Angela did not know how to answer to that.
⸺ “Miss Angela.” ⸺ The voice of Tatyana came from behind at the same time she felt fingers tapping her shoulder a few times, looking behind her she saw Tatyana with a conflicted expression, and Anastasia covered her mouth while averting her gaze, she was not laughing, she was embarrassed that someone might look in this location. ⸺ “Do you have a habit of bullying children?”
⸺ “…I do not?”
⸺ “…Really? Then how about you try and comfort her?”
⸺ “But I have done nothing? I have not even talked to her before this.”
⸺ “Come on, we can’t just walk away from her, she might even start to cry for real.”
⸺ “…Ahh Hm…” ⸺ Angela stood there for a moment, she stopped scribbling on the paper some time ago and began to think, she had not interacted with children before.
And because of that, she remained silent for a long time.
⸺ “Miss Angela, you are supposed to say something…”
⸺ “I don’t know what to say?”
And so, Angela began a trial in which she would have to put more effort than she thought, and with some advice with the other Agents, she began to try and comfort the struggling Tiacauh.
At the same time, a little far from Angela, multiple Archosauria and Liberi gathered around someone, a woman was sitting on a crate, someone was moving a huge leaf to keep her fresh from the heat of the jungle, Hannah was treated almost like royalty as a few Tiacauh from the Eunectes Tribe brought a machine in front of her.
⸺ “What are we doing right now?” ⸺ Hannah wondered out loud, she looked at her sides and saw Zumama and the High Priest standing with their arms crossed, yet the height difference made one not show as much presence as the other.
⸺ “Oh, master Hannah, please bring judgement to this weapon I have fabricated, it is a blade that vibrates at an incredible frequency, allowing it to cut through stone like leaves!”
⸺ “Why are you talking like that… What is happening, am I getting pranked?” ⸺ She wondered out loud before shaking her head and examined the weapon with only her eyes, she did not think for much time before she waved her hand. ⸺ “This thing will break in four swings, I assume you just created the blade, and once you did, you just put a handle on it, that’s why it’s so chunky… It is also not Enkephalin but Originium… I guess it was because Angela prohibited you its use, not that it would matter in this aspect.”
The Archosauria tried to defend its creation, he grabbed it and swung it in the air just two times before it broke itself in half, the blade was pointing straight at Hannah who did not move from her position as she grabbed the edge of the sword between two fingers, stopping it in the air, she glanced towards the side to see her two ‘guards’ stand there surprised, before quickly composing themselves and returning to their position, not that Hannah expected any protection from them.
⸺ “Ah, sorry, it was two…” ⸺ She barely said the number before she covered her mouth with her hand, hiding a yawn while pointing the blade away from her face, before snapping it in two and dropping the remains on the floor. ⸺ “…I am so sleepy, heh, well this seems interesting at least, go ahead, show me more, let me see what you can do with Originium.”
An opportunity of comparison showed itself in Hannah’s face in a silver platter, she saw how a lot of the tribesmen were carrying various pieces of technology and they were eagerly waiting their turn, she can see how capable is Originium in different contexts, varying from weapons to potential machines, and the better part is that she is not doing any work for it.
She reminisced of the times when she was doing an internship.
⸺ “Hmm… It can rotate incredibly fast, but the foundation is not done correctly, any more speed and it will be sent flying, try to work on that first.”
⸺ “The claw can grab incredibly hard, but it cannot support its own weight, you will injure yourself.”
⸺ “This will explode, do not turn it on, look carefully at what it will do first, here, where do you think the energy will focus on?”
⸺ “…It looks interesting? But I’m not sure what it does…? It is a hammer? Really?”
⸺ “This will explode.”
⸺ “Ohh! A scythe…! Ah, if you detach the blade that way, can you really expect it to not go flying towards you?”
⸺ “…This will explode too.”
⸺ “Is this a spear, or a bomb on a stick?”
⸺ “…Do not turn that thing on.”
Time passed, and more and more machines were brought at her footsteps, her original plan of evaluating Originium as a source of energy did not bring her the insight she sought, all of the creations she had seen did not have any problem powering up with the black crystal, instead, they had complications with other things such as the shape of the engine, the shape of the tool, and some questionable decoration choices.
She wanted to see something that brought Originium to its limits, but it appears that she would not see that here.
⸺ “…” ⸺ She was supporting one of her legs on top of the other, and she slumped forwards, placing her elbow on top of her knee and using her palm as a platform to let her chin rest on top, she was getting sleepier than before, and she said her next words between yawns and with closed eyes. ⸺ “…N… Next.”
⸺ “Hm hm! All of you need ages of experience and knowledge to come close to Lady Hannah… Yet! We have something that will shake her to her very core!” ⸺ The High priest said as he took a step forward.
⸺ “Indeed, with this, convincing her will be easy.” ⸺ Zumama said as she also took a step forward, and with a motion towards the front, she extended her hand. ⸺ “Bring it here!”
⸺ “Hmm?” ⸺ She opened one of her eyes, and then the two of them, two tribesmen brought something over their shoulders, a huge contraption that took the shape of a square, to which would be a platform, but in the corners, there were circular openings, with rotors that had a certain shape and angle. ⸺ “…This is.”
⸺ “Witness, Lady Hannah!” ⸺ The Blue Bird said as he jumped on top of the platform, with his small stature he could easily stand on it. ⸺ “This is a mere test, eventually, I will create a Nomadic City that will not depend on the ground, start it now, Zumama!”
⸺ “Right away.” ⸺ Zumama pressed a button, and the rotors were starting to spin, and after mere seconds, the small platform was floating in the air, sounds of amazement were heard from the Archosauria around them as they saw the High Priest standing on top of the machine.
⸺ “What do you think, Lady Hannah, aren’t I amazing!? Would you not think that this is a wonderful creation, it supports my weigh perfectly! Do you see its potential?” ⸺ He bloated as he kept going higher and higher, to which he had to keep elevating the volume of his voice. ⸺ “Would this not be a good think to, you know, put a good word for me when you talk to Lady Angela, and with my potential, maybe involve me in her maintenance!?”
⸺ “He keeps going up.” ⸺ Hannah said towards Zumama, not even looking at her as she struggled with the remote control.
⸺ “Ah, it may be a little malfunction, just a moment.”
⸺ “Five… Four…” ⸺ Hannah stretched herself before pointing at the elevating platform which had a blue bird that kept talking, but this time, it sounded a bit more desperate, making a gun with her fingers, she aimed at the machine, she did not have her E.G.O weapon, but even if she wanted to attack it or not, the result would be the same. ⸺ “Two… One… Pew.”
A distant explosion up in the air, and within the stars of the sky there was a black trail that flew far away, distancing itself from the party below.
⸺ “…Tch!” ⸺ Hannah noticed her mistake, as she saw a glimpse of the stars in the sky, sending an acute pain in her head, placing some fingers over her forehead she suppressed the incoming feeling, controlling her breathing. ⸺ “…You guys created that? That sure is amazing, I think I saw a similar design in District 11, you have not gone there, right?”
⸺ “Ah, well, no? But I was sure that it would work this time…”
⸺ “…What is with you lot? I know those faces; you want to ask me something.” ⸺ Hannah said as she looked around, and some of the Archosauria averted their gazes once they felt her gaze even for a second. ⸺ “Spill it out, not that I will bite or something.”
⸺ “Master Hannah… You will leave very soon, aren’t you? Alongside Angela.” ⸺ Zumama said, almost muttering to her.
⸺ “Yeah, with all the progress we have made, we will have to just put everything together, and then do a couple of tests on the vehicle underside, well, you should know that by now right?”
⸺ “…May we travel alongside you?”
A question that Hannah was afraid that she would eventually ask, but it was better than the situation she pictured in her head in which they were fully convinced they would accompany them.
⸺ “No.”
But she was obligated to give her that answer.
⸺ “Why?”
⸺ “Your cooperation is heavily appreciated, and in return, I have helped you in multiple creations and with knowledge in my barely free time, but Lobotomy Corporation’s mission is something that is out of your league.” ⸺ Hannah said as she looked at her. ⸺ “Once we finish here, you are free to do whatever you want.”
⸺ “But have I not proven my worth by destroying that green monster? Every single one of you has said that it was impressive!”
⸺ “…There are five risk ranges, ZAYIN, TETH, HE, WAW and ALEPH, and that list goes from weakest to strongest.” ⸺ Hannah stood up and stretched. ⸺ “I admit, it was impressive, but it is nothing comparable to what will come in the future.”
⸺ “I can create something more powerful then! Enkephalin is a source of energy unlike anything I have seen before, I can create weapons bigger, stronger! And with your knowledge of those weapons, those capable of ripping space, capable of manipulating fire, we could…!”
⸺ “So that was your intention, to get your hands on Enkephalin isn’t it? Well, I can hardly blame you.”
⸺ “…It is not it either… I want to spend more time with Master Hannah and Lady Angela too, I want to know more of this technology that is true, but I also want to know more about all of you, I can even maybe be your assistant! Angela said they still needed all the help you can get!”
Hannah walked past Zumama, it was clear that she was not going to spend more time in this place, some of them tried to stop her with words, the tribe leader could not read her expression as she kept getting further and further.
⸺ “Once I get my hands on a decent prosthetic, we will no longer need any help, that’s how capable I am, that’s how capable you have to be to work on a Wing.” ⸺ She took one last glance to her back, watching all the members of the Eunectes tribe. ⸺ “…Zumama, I do not work with people who are lesser than me, so I don’t ever take assistants, as they would interrupt my work. Drop that ‘Master’ title, I do not have any students.”
⸺ “Master Hannah…”
⸺ “Ah… Anyways, this was at least somewhat fun, but I will be coming back to the Control Room, I can maybe catch some sleep while I watch those troublemakers.” ⸺ Hannah said while waving her hand, and muttered under her breath her final words. ⸺ “Someone of your talents should be no one’s assistant.”
Zumama stood there with her hand aiming to catch something in her direction, but she realized that her fingers would not reach her, not this way, she stood in that place for some time, thinking in her head in ways in which she could maybe convince her.
⸺ “Is there a problem?” ⸺ She heard a voice coming from behind her, and as she looked towards the source she saw the High Priest, but the vast majority of his feathers were burnt, and there was still smoke coming out of his back. ⸺ “Why is everyone looking all gloomy for?”
⸺ “Ah, well… We were rejected by Hannah, once they are finished, we will go our separate ways.”
⸺ “Well, then you will just give up? If that is so, then how about we reclaim our plan to finish the Big Ugly? You still want to proclaim the title of Great Chief to change this place, aren’t you?” ⸺ The High priest said as he tried to clean himself, dropping a few feathers on the ground.
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Well?”
⸺ “I see a world that is completely different from what I could achieve in here…”
⸺ “And how do you feel about that?”
⸺ “I feel that if I don’t go with them… I will regret it for the rest of my life.”
⸺ “Haha! Then don’t give up just yet girl! I am sure that there is something else we can do to convince her, and if it all fails, we can always sneak up inside the vehicle, that’s what I was going to do anyways!”
⸺ “…Really?”
⸺ “Yeah! As if I could take the chance to see closer the marvelous creation that is Lady Angela, there is no way I can pass on this opportunity of a lifetime!”
⸺ “…You are right… Yes! You are right, we will have to find another way!”
Enthusiasm found its way in their bodies and expression once more, and everyone in the Eunectes tribe began to throw ideas on how they could gain their attention, reflecting on the knowledge the Information Captain had granted them.
There was a little bit of progress, some ideas that looked promising, but some of them were too complex to achieve in only the deadline of a few days that they have been put into.
Eventually, they heard someone approach them, the leader of the outsiders herself, Angela, accompanied by two other Agents that nobody in the Eunectes Tribe had seen before, but they did not question it.
⸺ “Ah, greetings Zumama.” ⸺ Angela said, but it was clear that there was a bit of exhaustion on her voice, and once her voice was let out, she became the center of attention of all the members of the Eunectes Tribe.
⸺ “Lady Angela? I thought you were enjoying the celebration.”
⸺ “I had a few encounters that were a bit more… complicated than others, but nonetheless I enjoyed part of it.” ⸺ As she said that, an Agent that accompanied her tried to cover her mouth, but even without looking behind her Angela could somehow feel that she was being made fun of. ⸺ “But I am here to just grant you this, as a part of my promise.”
⸺ “Oh!? What will it be, Lady Angela, will you let us look at your mechanical parts!?” ⸺ As soon as the High Priest finished saying his phrase, he was pushed out of the way by Zumama, who also had stars on her eyes.
⸺ “W-What!? Right now!? Sure, sure! Ahh… I have not prepared my questions yet, give me just a second…?” ⸺ But her voice went quieter and quieter once a piece of paper was shown to her, it had an incredibly detailed drawing of a certain part of Angela, and thanks to her perfect memory, she was able to translate it to what could be considered a blueprint.
⸺ “I am not sure if I can answer all of your questions, however, I also did not want to go back on my word, so I hope that this can satisfy you.”
Zumama’s hands trembles as she analyzed every single bit of the drawing and schematics drawn on the paper, and her eyes were as big as plates, the same expression that was plastered in the faces of every single one of the tribesmen huddled around her.
It was an opportunity.
⸺ “Angela!” ⸺ Zumama screamed excitedly, and she placed a hand on her shoulder. ⸺ “Please! Just for a moment, can you explain this in a little more detail!?”
⸺ “I guess I have the time… Hah, you are energetic as always…”
As Angela involved herself in conversation with the Tiacauh of the Eunectes Tribe, Hannah approached the door of the Main Room, but as she was about to unlock the door with the panel besides it, it opened on its own, revealing the Extraction Captain carrying multiple machines and screens on both his arms, and besides him there was the Agent from the Control team, who had just opened the door with one of her free hands as she also was carrying equipment.
⸺ “Oh! Captain, excuse me.” ⸺ Mika said as she walked outside, Hannah took a few steps back to allow the Agent through, and once she walked out, she kept going in direction of the huge black box on top of the Big Ugly.
Looking at the machine, it made Hannah sigh.
⸺ “Just in time, they woke up some time ago.” ⸺ Parker said as he made some space to let Hannah in, to which she quickly took the opportunity to confirm what he just said. ⸺ “Anthony is still shaken, but Ramirez and Liza are in good condition.”
⸺ “That is what took you so long, taking all that equipment would not have been so hard.” ⸺ Hannah walked inside, and she saw the Agents.
Ramirez was already up, he was tearing the tubes connected to him by force, he was in no danger whatsoever since his regeneration factor would heal most of his injuries, on the other side, Liza looked like she was extremely tired, new bandages were found around her, and one might confuse her by a mummy, but Anthony was still in no good condition, he was sitting on the stretcher, hugging his own legs and hiding his face, and his Captain was looking concerned for him.
⸺ “I will go and take this equipment back to the Qliphoth Deterrence, and I will start to enhance its effects, it might help them a little.”
⸺ “Don’t let me stop you.”
Reporting his leave, he struggled a bit to fit through the door with all that equipment, but eventually he found a way out, Hannah approached the door and closed it, leaving only four Agents currently in the room.
⸺ “What the hell just happened?” ⸺ Liza said out loud. ⸺ “I remember fighting for my life… And little Mika is here, Anthony too… And I suppose those two are here as well?”
⸺ “Did Parker not put you up to date?”
⸺ “He kept blabbering on and on about symptoms, corrosion, mental corruption and all that useless stuff.”
‘Well…’ Hannah thought. ‘If she is capable of talking nonsense then she must be in good condition, at least mentally.’
⸺ “We almost died.” ⸺ Ramirez said out loud. ⸺ “Our bodies were changing, from the inside to the outside, our organs did no longer resemble human tissue… And my heart stopped beating for a moment, but that was not from the Corrosion, was it?”
⸺ “We had to take the safest option, and your body allowed us to test things before blindly rushing the process.” ⸺ Hannah answered to him
⸺ “…I hope you will not do that shit again.”
⸺ “If we eventually get paid, ill put a good word on Angela for you to get paid more.”
⸺ “…By the way the things are going, all of your salaries will belong to me.”
⸺ “Well, I guess that is true.” ⸺ Hannah walked towards one of the stretchers that Ramirez was previously resting in, and she laid herself on it, grabbing one of the numerous papers on top of the table that was close she put it in her face to block any light that might bother her. ⸺ “Did he say anything else? He took a lot of time for just to be that.”
⸺ “…” ⸺ Ramirez looked at her carefully, before taking a deep breath and starting to talk. ⸺ “He said that he will focus his efforts in making sure our bodies do not react like this again, because if it keeps happening then our lives will be cut short by…”
⸺ “Aargh! Don’t say that again, I don’t wanna’ hear it!” ⸺ Liza interrupted him by jumping out of the stretcher she was laying on. ⸺ “I heard that there is a party outside! We should not be wasting our time here… Ouch!”
She was still heavily injured, and with her reckless movement a sharp pain shot through all her body, but that did not stop her from quickly walking towards the other Agents and grabbing the hand of the shaken Anthony.
⸺ “Anthony will feel a lot better once he gets fresh air from outside, I assure you!”
⸺ “…Siempre haciendo lo que quieres.” ⸺ Ramirez muttered to himself, saying how Liza always did what she wanted without thinking of the consequences of her actions, but this time, he thought that maybe seeing another sight that is not the lifeless hallways of Lobotomy Corporation might cheer him up. ⸺ “But I guess it might be a good idea.”
⸺ “…Did Parker… Allow you to… Walk around?” ⸺ Hannah almost muttered, drowsiness present in her voice.
⸺ “I feel a bit nauseous, but he said we should be able to walk around.”
⸺ “…Quite… Resilient…” ⸺ Those were the last words of the Agent before the world of dreams took her away, the paper moved a little as she breathed.
⸺ “Let’s go before we get drowsy too.” ⸺ Liza said as she pulled Anthony, forcing him to regain balance, but she found resistance as the Agent did not move from his position.
⸺ “…Just leave me here.” ⸺ His voice was too soft and shaky, Liza almost did not hear him if not for her focusing his attention on him once he let go of her hand. ⸺ “…I’m sorry, I can’t… I really, really can’t do this… right now.”
⸺ “Come on now, don’t be a…” ⸺ She was interrupted by Ramirez placing a hand on her shoulder before slightly pushing her forwards, making a signal for her to drop it. ⸺ “…Fine …Fine! All of you are so boring anyways, there is a party and nobody wants to do anything with it!”
⸺ “I will stop you from making trouble, let’s just go.”
⸺ “Then let’s stop wasting time!”
They marched their way out, opening the door as she quickly stepped out of the Control Room, Ramirez glanced towards the Agent who was quietly sobbing on the spot, and upon closer inspection, he realized something.
It appears that he will have to keep his guard up for a little while.
Walking out of the room he faced the celebration, Liza did not show concern for her own wounds a she walked through amongst the crowd as water, talking to everyone, eating all kinds of food, drinking all she could find.
Ramirez did not find the chance to slip away, it was almost as if the other Agent had eyes on the back of her head, as she established a conversation with someone, Ramirez tried to gain some distance yet she always diverged the other party’s attention towards him, making things awkward for him to just walk away.
The E.G.O weapon Mimicry still attached to his back was making the Archosauria around them uncomfortable, as if there was a natural reaction for them to be wary once the Control Agent even looked in their direction, because of that, even if the ambience was a happy one, it appears that once Ramirez walked to someone, everyone would tense.
⸺ “Come on, look a bit livelier! Are you not from District 9!?”
⸺ “¿…Q-Que? ¿¡Cómo mierda sabes eso!?” ⸺ Ramirez exclaimed out loud, wondering how she knew about that information.
District 9, also called the ‘District of Music’, before he was sent to work as a Fixer he was indeed born and raised in that place, it was a relatively safe place by the City’s standards, yet there was a rumor that he was not fond of.
Just because he was from District 9, it did not mean he enjoyed parties.
⸺ “Little Mika told me when we had a few talks in the cafeteria back in the Facility, you would be surprised by how much information you can extract from those type of situations… Would you like to know more about Hannah? Or Parker?”
⸺ “I don’t really care… Just don’t go saying things about me.”
⸺ “Did you know that Hannah can’t stand spicy food? I heard that she was kinda’ mean to some of the lower rank Agents from the Information Team, so someone sneaked some extra spicy sauce in her food… But they did not expect her to be driven to tears!”
⸺ “…Really?”
⸺ “Yeah! Oh! I remember a good one… Did you know that when Parker was in the restroom, some Clerk in the stall next to him transformed into a subject of the Little Prince? I heard that he had to stay as quiet as possible until someone else came to the room!”
⸺ “How do you even…”
⸺ “And little Mika herself, when she had just finished her suppression report from the Dusk ordeal she was unluckily assigned to, she was so tired that when she was running to submit it, she accidentally hit the Safety Sephirah, pushing him inside a barrel of liquified Enkephalin!”
⸺ “What!? I should have heard about that!”
⸺ “I heard from the Agents from the Safety Team that she was let off the hook because everyone said the tin can jumped himself, and they all believed it, I think that dumbass thought so too, with how high he usually was.”
⸺ “But I should have seen it in the cameras? No, you are in charge of the Record Team, it’s you job to see the cameras once the work hours are over, shouldn’t it?”
⸺ “I manipulated the footage, obviously.”
⸺ “YOU WHAT!? You negligent dumbass! That is clause for Record Deletion you fucking idiot! That shit would not pass even if you are the Record Captain! You should be lucky you are still alive talking to me!”
⸺ “Relax… I am alive, aren’t I?
⸺ “Your brain is clearly not.”
⸺ “It’s you!” ⸺ Their conversation was disrupted as someone approached them, it was a white haired Archosauria, dressed in black and holding her staff with both her hands, it was the one called Tomimi, the Tiacauh that Liza had previously interacted with. ⸺ “This must be your fault!”
⸺ “…Huh?” ⸺ Liza let a sound, expressing her confusion.
⸺ “What did you do this time…”
⸺ “I-I did nothing to her? Why are you looking at me like that?”
⸺ “I know it was you… The one with blue hair… Angela… She told me that this was your doing…” ⸺ Tomimi said while tightly gripping her staff and looking straight at Liza.
⸺ “Eh? What is this about?”
⸺ “You defeated every single one of the tribe leaders, and you let Inam take credit for it, because of that, everyone thinks she is the next Great Chief!”
⸺ “Ah… Umm… Hey Ramirez, help me… Ramirez!?” ⸺ Liza tried to get help from her coworker who was accompanying her, only to not find that person behind her, he had taken the opportunity to escape some time ago. ⸺ “Come on! Don’t leave me here, I don’t really like awkward situations!”
⸺ “You must take responsibility, you must tell the truth, she was not the one who defeated them, you did! You left with Inam earlier today, you were right there when she told me to gather my tribe and led them here!” ⸺ Her exclamations were gaining the attention from the tribesmen around her, who were turning to look at her.
⸺ “H-Hey, how about we take a few deep breaths huh? And talk a with a lower volume maybe?”
⸺ “No! You ruined my plans, it was going to be perfect, I just had to find the place where Gavial is, and send her the invitation for the Mahuizzotia, but if there is already a Great Chief them…!”
⸺ “Come on girl! Aren’t we friends? Cut me some slack…”
⸺ “Indeed Liza.” ⸺ She heard the steps from the one currently holding the title of Great Chief in Acahualla, Inam herself, who would be usually surrounded by people singing her praises, decided to walk directly to her, and by the looks of her face, it appears that she was going to use this opportunity. ⸺ “Why don’t you explain them the situation?”
Now, all attention was on Liza.
She analyzed the face of Inam, she looked at the movement of her eyes, of her eyebrows, the frequency of her breathing, her expression. There was almost an unspoken dialogue between the two.
‘The position of Great Chief does not suit me, and even if I had the potential to become one like Angela mentioned, this is not the way I desire to be, so please end this misunderstanding, they are not listening to me’ Inam thought, hoping her heart would be heard by Liza.
‘I understand your thoughts to perfection Inam, you are a good girl, and your fashion sense is spectacular, but I see you lack confidence in your leading skills, I have no idea why you went and decided to be leader all of a sudden, but do not worry, I have a plan for you to regain confidence.’ Liza thought, confidently, totally misunderstanding the situation.
⸺ “I see, I see!” ⸺ Liza said while placing her hand on her chin while she nodded. ⸺ “Indeed, it is true that I was the one who defeated most tribe leaders in her place, while I was hidden, and struck while nobody was looking…”
⸺ “What? How is that possible…!” ⸺ A Tiacauh said to himself out loud, and in a show of strength, from one moment to another, they could only see Liza’s after image before she appeared in front of the one who muttered those words, charging her fist up in the air, aiming to strike directly in their face.
But Liza calculated the distance of her attack, and on its final moments she pulled most of her strength, yet the energy behind it let a huge wave of wind escape from the sheer pressure of the attack, she was making it as clear as possible, that she was the strongest in the area right now.
⸺ “…But it was all…”
Yet Liza had another idea in mind.
⸺ “Just a test that Inam placed upon me…”
⸺ “…!?” ⸺ Inam instantly reacted with shock, as well as Tomimi, she tried to retaliate her lies, but Liza opened her mouth first.
⸺ “After finally defeating all of the strongest Tiacauh in Acahualla, I was allowed to challenge her to a duel… But as you can see…” ⸺ Liza showed her multiple injuries, and dirty bandages that covered her entire body, consequences of fighting a WAW Abnormality, but that is not something that they knew. ⸺ “This was the result of that conflict.”
Voices of amazement were heard from the crowd.
⸺ “Liza, hold on now!” ⸺ Inam said as she approached her.
⸺ “It was a humiliating defeat, but there is not much I can do, she was stronger than me, that is all.”
⸺ “I said hold on a damn moment!”
⸺ “Gah!”
In her rush to stop her from talking, Inam ran towards her with her hand extended, Liza used that opportunity to position herself in a way that her hand would completely impact her face, and using her own lower strength she launched herself backwards, opening some of her wounds which left a trail of blood in the air, before she pathetically landed on her side.
⸺ “…I’m unconscious.”
⸺ “Don’t mess around right now! Wake up! You can’t just…!”
⸺ “WOOOAH!!!!!!”
⸺ “Inam! Inam”
⸺ “The Great Chief Inam!”
⸺ “Inam the Invincible!”
‘Alright, I had enough fun already, and the Enkephalin is taking a lot more effect now, so please ignore me, please ignore me…’ Liza thought to herself while she crawled on the ground, using all the sound to hide her escape, she did not want to deal with the tribesmen anymore, and she could not bear to face Inam nor Tomimi right now.
⸺ “…! Liza, you dummy!!!!!” ⸺ That was the last thing Liza needed to hear from the white haired Archosauria, and her cue to lift herself from the ground and run away from the chaos.
⸺ “H-Hey Parker! Do you need any help?” ⸺ Liza said as she gained the attention of Parker, who was moving some Enkephalin boxes towards the room of the Qliphoth Deterrence, she had seen him go back and fort from the facility and that place, she had chosen to ignore him while she was distracted by the celebration.
⸺ “Ah, Liza, do not worry about me, I am perfectly fine.”
⸺ “No, no, you have been working a lot too, right? Let me help you, haha!” ⸺ She said as she pushed him towards his destination, ignoring his questions.
It appears that she was rather enthusiastic to help on the job now.
On the other hand.
A little further deep into the rainforest, where the sound of the music was in a lower tone, and light barely creeped in, with the only thing that helped to see was the light of the twin moons that loomed over the sky.
The sound of the rustling of sticks as heavy steps snapped them in two, a body charging through the plants and evading trees, hasty breathings as the person who was making all that sound was searching for a way out.
⸺ “Where are you going?”
A simple question, yet once he recognized it he felt his heart stop for a millisecond, his breath was shaken and he trembled, not daring to look back at the person who asked that question.
Anthony was terribly afraid of turning back and face Ramirez.
⸺ “…Nobody knows you are here, and technically I am no longer bound by a contract, the same as you.”
⸺ “…Captain.”
⸺ “So in theory, I am no longer your Captain, and you are no longer a member of Control.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Even so, you must know the consequences of running away right now.”
Anthony did not need to deny nor confirm such sentence, as it was completely clear what were his intentions from the get go, he was trying to run away, and his destination, wherever his feet took him, would thankfully not be here, in Lobotomy Corporation.
⸺ “I am sorry, I am so sorry Captain.”
⸺ “Why are you sorry?”
⸺ “I can’t deal with Abnormalities, not anymore, I can’t, I am so terrified I feel sick to my stomach, when I think of walking down those hallways I feel my legs give out, when I remember how they killed my coworkers I feel a sharp pain in my head, and now… And now, I look like a monster!”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “I… Am I human, even? When I walked out to try and clear my mind from the voices in my head, I saw how terrified they were of me… Terrified I tell you! How could they not be? If I resemble such a disgusting beast…”
⸺ “And running away, what good will do to you?”
⸺ “I don’t know, I don’t know! But at least… I will not be here.”
⸺ “You will kill someone yourself if you go out of the area affected by the Qliphoth Deterrence, you will lose control of your body and turn into a monster that one of us will be forced to be put down.”
⸺ “…Maybe that is something that I deserve, after letting so many people die… So many people… Sorry! I am so sorry!”
In the entire interaction, the Agent who had the worst case of Corrosion Ramirez had seen was on the verge of crying, it was clear that what he needed was a way for his mental corruption levels to lower, however, further use of non-refined Enkephalin could be detrimental to his body in the long run, and Ramirez did not have a way to induce White Damage on his own, however, that idea did not cross his mind, as the last thing the Agent said made the Captain’s blood boil.
Mimicry was lifted, and Ramirez approached towards the frightened Agent with an expression hidden by the shadows, Anthony realized what he was about to do, and unconsciously took a few steps back, however, his path was cut short by a tree who hit his back.
The weapon pierced the wood, and Ramirez closed the distance of their faces to an uncomfortable distance, his eyes shined an unnatural cyan that resembled a certain Abnormality, as his fear turned into terror, Anthony lost his strength in his legs, but the Captain did not let him rest in the ground as he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt.
⸺ “Listen to me well.” ⸺ His voice did not have any type of sympathy or acknowledgment of his suffering, it was almost of a machine. ⸺ “Even if it was not in the protocol, killing one person to prevent ten more is the most logical option here.”
⸺ “Ah…”
⸺ “Even so, you are only a Level III Agent, it could be a different story if you were even a level higher, yet that is not the case, another reason for me to kill you and be done with it.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Do you get what I am saying? If you run away now, I will kill you.”
⸺ “You are… everyone here… Is insane…”
Tears started to appear in the corner of his eyes, and in that exchange, Ramirez almost did not notice how the space around them shifted in a fraction of a second before returning to normal, as the voices in his head were growing quieter and quieter, and some of the eyes in his blade started to look drowsy, it was the effects of the Qliphoth Deterrence in its highest output available, it appears that Parker managed to accumulate enough energy to activate it.
Maybe it was because of that effect, but it was almost that for a second, a bit of light appeared in the void that were the eyes of the shaken Agent, suppressing the Corrosion that was plaguing his body.
⸺ “That’s right, that’s why we are able to work with Abnormalities in the first place, we do not need sane people like you…” ⸺ Mimicry was sliding downwards, tearing the wood as if it was paper, until it rested at the side of the Agent, the blade with countless eyes pierced his very soul. ⸺ “But… I can propose you something.”
⸺ “…What?”
There was a deal, the sound of shock, a promise in the future, a dialogue that showed comprehension.
And finally, understanding.
⸺ “So, it’s either that… Or I am killed right now…”
⸺ “I think I made the choice clear.” ⸺ He let go of the Agent, this action let him fall on the ground completely, however, as he grabbed the handle of Mimicry and focusing his strength, he cut the tree in two before pointing the blade against Anthony. ⸺ “Do you wish to keep on living?”
⸺ “…Of course.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “Of course I want to keep living damn it! This place took my life away! My body has been invaded, my mind has been split, yet even so… I still want to live! I want my body to return to normal, I want to work a boring job in an office that does not involve Abnormalities or fighting!”
⸺ “…Tch, was it too hard to say that until now?” ⸺ Mimicry went back to his back, as he now extended his hand forward, to which the Agent on the ground hesitantly took. ⸺ “Listen, there are only three, potentially four Abnormalities by now, and the riskiest right now is a WAW, we are not short of people capable of working with them, and there are a lot more areas that need help anyways, Hannah might need the most.”
⸺ “…So you say that.”
⸺ “You can work for her for now, if you really can’t work with Abnormalities, then don’t, I will handle that conversation with Angela.”
⸺ “…You always covered for everyone when one of us messed up.”
⸺ “As if the words of our Sephirah could compare to the shit we dealt with every day, trust your Captain a little more.”
⸺ “…Alright… Alright… I just need to endure a little longer, just… A little longer.”
⸺ “Go and take a proper rest, being unconscious is different from actually clearing your mind.”
After taking a deep breath, Anthony finally showed some signs of relaxation in his body, and as he looked at the sky, his face came in contact with the mantle of the night sky, and for the first time in ages, he saw the stars properly, without the light contamination of the countless neon signs in the City, nor the blackened sky that shrouded the skies close to District 12 in the peak of the Smoke War.
⸺ “So, I just have to hold on until then… Right?”
⸺ “I will aid you when the time comes, I will take responsibility if things go to shit.”
⸺ “…Tatyana said that you were a good person deep down, I guess that was…”
⸺ “Ya vete a dormir, mierda!”
A small laugh came out of the mouth of the Agent, the pain that he felt in his muscles did not go, the voices in his head did not stop, and the immense sorrow was peeking his head through his heart, this conversation did not bring him comfort, and it did not cease his fears.
But at least, this encounter brought him hope.
And for now, it was enough.
Ramirez was left alone in the darkness of the rainforest as Anthony disappeared in the direction towards the Facility.
⸺ “…!” ⸺ A sensation of burning came towards his upper torso, and a cough took him by surprise, he felt something tear in his neck as he covered his mouth with his hand as if to grab something that would escape.
⸺ “…” ⸺ There was blood on his hand, and he could only sigh.
⸺ “This shit sucks.”
⸺ “Does it?”
⸺ “…!”
Someone else had snuck up on him, and in a split second he grabbed the handle of Mimicry and swung towards the person who dared close so much the distance, a mere distraction back in Lobotomy Corporation would often leave you dead, so he was now facing the consequences of his actions, and within the dark, it took him more time to recognize the person by his side.
The swing cut even the air as it approached the figure’s neck, however, in the split second it was about to cut it’s head off, Ramirez recognized the person who had appeared besides him, a Liberi who was fighting against a TETH Abnormality not too long ago.
With all his might he managed to stop the blade less than a centimeter from her neck.
⸺ “Por las Alas… Do. Not. Do. That. Again.” ⸺ Ramirez said with all intention of a threat, making it clear that he was not joking, however, the Liberi did not look even a little intimidated.
⸺ “Will you teach me?” ⸺ Yet even when she almost lost her life, there was only determination in her gaze, as she asked the question without a doubt in her voice.
⸺ “¿Qué?”
⸺ “You are the strongest amongst them, aren’t you? I saw it, true strength, the one capable of defeating foes a hundred times bigger than you, so I ask you to teach me.”
⸺ “I think some shut-eye will do me good, go bother someone else.”
⸺ “Ah, please, teach me how to become stronger, master.”
⸺ “…Ugh.” ⸺ The moment her last word left her mouth he felt a sickening shiver on his back, almost as his very body was against the idea, he was walking away but he was forced to face her as he turned around. ⸺ “Don’t call me that… It’s creepy.”
⸺ “Very well, teacher.”
⸺ “I have not… Are you even listening to me? I am not teaching you anything, why don’t you go and play with some of your friends?”
⸺ “Am I too weak to be taught?”
⸺ “…” ⸺ He reminisced of the moment when he saw her, he was just finished suppressing an Abnormality alongside the Captain of the Record Team, and amongst the people who had tried to fight that monster before they arrived, she was included in that group, with multiple burns on her body, yet the most severe of them were on her hands, which were covered in what looked like bandages.
A reckless child that does not know what true strength looks like, a sight he has seen before.
⸺ “It’s not that, it just I don’t want to do it.”
⸺ “…But.”
⸺ “What do I even gain from doing so? My day is already busy as it is.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “If you have nothing more to say, then I will be going, whatever your name is.”
He then continued to walk towards the Facility, now that Liza was out of the picture, he could enjoy this little rest before the day comes again, and his work day resumes.
He just needed to rest his head a little.
…
Ramirez did not have dreams that night, but he was thankful that he at least got some time to be unconscious before the work day started.
His biological clock woke him up before anyone else, the ceiling of Lobotomy Corporation met his gaze, and for a moment he thought that everything to this point has been the final moments of a mad man, the ultimate fate for someone who dared aim their weapons against the Head.
But as he lifted his upper body from the table he was using as a bed, he saw some of his coworkers sleeping soundly, there was peace on their expressions, and most important, he saw Anthony still there, that was good, but he did not see Angela nor Parker.
At least he knew now that this was reality.
He instinctively looked at the digital clock on one of the corners of the displays at the Control Room, however, that tool was not yet calibrated to accurately tell the time, so he just let a sigh escape his mouth as he got up from his resting place.
He instinctively started to count, there were two, there were four, eventually, there were six Agents resting in different places, some of them used cardboard as mattresses, while some who were closer than others used each other as support, this was good, there was still all the people who were supposed to be here.
He instinctively organized in his mind the supplies he had seen, how much food to they have, how much water do they have, how many resources can he use so the others can use them, should he take a sip of water, the other would be able to do the same after?
He could not help it, there were habits he had to take after becoming the oldest in his old family, but he was not the oldest now, or at least, he hoped not.
Opening the door, he was met by the warm and humid temperatures by the rainforest hitting his face, a contrast of the usual coldness of the hallways of Lobotomy Corporation, with his gaze he saw multiple Archosauria and Liberi spread out on the ground, passed out from the celebrations, but it was not completely devoid of noise.
At some distance, on a camp made by the people of the Eunectes tribe, the same ones who had helped them in the reconstruction of the Facility, he had to admit they possibly knew more about construction and tools than he could ever do, and looking back at the giant blocks that contained the hallways, containment chambers and some elevators, he was amazed that all of it could be rebuilt at all, since he was the same one that saw its destruction at first hand, now it appears that it was almost complete.
He saw the giant wheels that would theoretically allow it to move, granting the Facility the ability to move with them inside, however, he could not even fathom how could that work, or even how Hannah plans to upgrade it in the future since there were possibly more Departments scattered around.
Looking at the source of the previous sound, he saw that the Big Ugly was carrying a huge mineral vein, he was not versed in those type of things, so he did not give much thought about it, however, there were people who would give him his next instruction in that place.
He approached a crate that had some water in it as he opened it, and looking at his reflection he saw the extra eyes on his right cheek that looked as disgusting as ever, choosing to not dwell on it he disturbed the reflection on the water to grab part of it with both his hands, and he brought the liquid on his face, shaking off all the drowsiness that he could possibly have, and that was all he did, as he did not have the time nor the luxury to further clean himself, no matter how much he craved it.
Drying his hands on his uniform while letting the air do the same on his face, he walked towards the source of the noise as people were already awake, talking to each other, they had no stress on their faces whatsoever, it was good.
Angela and Parker were talking to Inam, the two groups were in opposite directions from each other while sitting on a table, while on another space in the camp of the tribe was Zumama alongside other tribe members working on something quite earnestly.
⸺ “If what you say is true, then I can see the benefits of still maintaining the position of Great Chief, if we can negotiate with your organization in the future.”
⸺ “I assure you we will keep part of our deal, so let’s both do our best from now on, Great Chief Inam.”
⸺ “Very well, I will not take much more of your time then, I will organize some things in my tribe in the meantime, I will see you in the afternoon.” ⸺ Inam said as she stood up from her seat, she had a satisfied expression compared to the stressed one she had the previous night, it appears that she had a conversation with Angela that gave her peace of mind.
⸺ “Good morning, Ramirez.”
⸺ “Good morning, Captain.”
⸺ “Captain, Miss Angela.” ⸺ He said politely, this type of reunion would usually be with a more presentable uniform, but in this situation, there was not much he could do, but it was of no issue for the two who were in front of him.
⸺ “Did you have a good rest?”
⸺ “I have.”
⸺ “I am glad.”
This type of conversation would appear dry, as people as serious to their work such as Ramirez and Parker, but they did not hold any hostility towards each other at all, and while the expression of the Extraction Captain appeared as neutral as always compared to the hostile resting face of the Control Captain, the warm on his voice was real.
⸺ “What’s in it for us today?” ⸺ But as usual, Ramirez was fond of focusing the conversation on work instantly.
⸺ “The reconstruction of the Control Department and the vehicle under it is practically complete, that’s why Zumama and her people are working on other things right now, as the finishing touches such as the energy source of its movement will be handled by Hannah.” ⸺ Angela said with confidence as she played with some gears in her hand.
⸺ “Ah, that is good, so we will be leaving shortly?”
⸺ “That’s right, when I was working with Liza the previous night, she told me the general direction in which she saw the Giant Tree Sap, so I will go right now to not lose time.” ⸺ Parker continued from Angela’s words as he stood up.
⸺ “Let me go with you.”
⸺ “Are you sure? Last night you were heavily affected by Enkephalin, you should be suffering its effects even now, you can keep resting if you’d like, the assembly of the different parts of the Department can be handled by the other Agents of Control.”
⸺ “It will not involve a fight, right? I can manage that; besides, I think I will feel even worse if I don’t do nothing.”
⸺ “In that case, why don’t we go by the waterfall and collect some water? We can purify it afterwards with no issue, I was planning to go after this, but since you are offering to come with me, we can do this right now.” ⸺ He said as he pointed towards some colossal canisters, he did not remember them being there last night, however Ramirez chose to not think about it.
⸺ “At least it looks it will let us shower after, should I wake up Hannah to let her start her work?”
⸺ “No.” ⸺ Angela interrupted. ⸺ “Let her just… Rest for a little longer, she has been quite overworked so far.”
⸺ “…I guess its true.” ⸺ Ramirez muttered to himself as he noticed that Angela was looking towards the tribe leader as she said so.
⸺ “Shall we go?”
⸺ “Yeah, let’s”
Angela watched as the two of them walked away while playing with the two gears in her hand, feeling the texture caress the receptors on the fake skin of her fingers as well as feeling the air breeze past her face, eventually the two Agents lifted those containers over their heads before walking towards their destination.
Night turned day for Angela, something that she did not ponder on the numerous days she walked on this unknown land, not until she saw all the Agents surrender to sleep for the first time.
Such as the gears in her fingers, they were treated as such for a long time, and she knew that some Augments let people be awake and work for hours on end, however, fatigue will always claim them, the first were the sisters who accompanied her, but as hours passed, drowsiness appeared on their faces just in time for Parker to exchange places with them.
Parker insisted on being awake as long as he needed to, but eventually, he too decided to fall asleep while standing as she saw the feathers on his hair slowly lose its golden shine, almost as if its feathers were falling asleep too.
And while all of them were asleep, she found a rather good talking partner.
At first it was Zumama, who after granting her the reward for the promise she did to her some time ago, it was as if a fire appeared on her eyes once the blueprint of one of her body parts reached her comprehension.
Machinery and technology alike are not some of Angela’s strengths, but it was a good opportunity to talk to Zumama once again, even if it was for a brief moment, but fortunately, that moment was not brief at all, as the moment perdured even after Parker’s arrival.
And then, Inam appeared, wanting to know more details about the Abnormality the Agents had suppressed as she was unable to do so due to the people wanting her to be the Great Chief.
⸺ “It is a title that makes me everyone listen to me, because I’m the leader.”
⸺ “Do you think you are fit for that position?”
⸺ “Not at all, really…”
An interesting conversation, one that left her with some impressions of the young Liberi.
It was a position that granted her the ability to command others, and those would carry on her commands as if they were law, Angela did not know how she arrived to such position, however, after a quick explanation she learnt that it was somewhat her fault.
It was, after all, part of the role of leader to take part of the blame if one of your subordinates.
She talked with Inam for a long time as the night was still young, and as two leaders representing two different factions, one from Outsiders and one from Tiacauh of Acahualla, Inam questioned about what she will do next, to which she answered.
She will leave hopefully tomorrow, there are more Abnormalities out there that need to be contained, to accomplish Angela’s Organization goal.
They exchanged more information between themselves, more about the world, the consequences of the pool of blood left by Abnormalities, some knowledge of disease prevention, some strategies about Catastrophe Evasion in Nomadic Cities, and finally business.
If there are more cities in this land then it is for sure that they will need money in the future, after all, money is what moves the world, and Inam was quite proficient in that aspect as the leader of Inam’s committee, a trading tribe in Acahualla.
Angela saw the potential in a future partnership, as this place was growing on her, as this was the first place she was allowed to walk on outside Lobotomy Corporation, so returning to this rainforest was not out of the question if they had the time, so the two leaders promised to stay on contact from time to time.
⸺ “Leader…” ⸺ Angela muttered to herself, as she thought of the word and what it means to her.
The position did not transform her physically, it was merely a title for other to refer to her position, a reality that she did not understand until very recently, when the Agents first woke her, it was an urgent task for someone to be able to organize everything, and collaboration was essential.
She took the task, and soon enough, she was the one taking the decisions, the one who the Agents approach to ask for the next order, the one who was approached when something was missing, the one who was approached when something was amiss.
People with more expertise in their own areas came to her for advice and the next step, not because of their insecurity, but because they were starting to trust on her judgement, and when someone was not doing something expected, someone screamed her name for her to stop them.
She thought that in this time of necessity, she would forward with people at her side, all in cooperation to reach their goal of survival, but she did not take time to take a good look at her surroundings, and now that she did, she noticed that the people who walked alongside her were not doing so at the same pace, but they were a little behind, an almost unnoticeable change, but one that made her the beacon for them to follow.
They are alive, that is the short-term objective that they proposed themselves, and they achieved it, the biggest threat from the area has been wiped out, and now, her commands give them purpose.
As she looked at the rebuilt Control Department, alongside the vehicle that made it a completely different building, she realized that right now, even if she took the name of Lobotomy Corporation, she was no longer the Assistant Manager, nor does she fill the position of Manager herself.
Because unlike those two, she was now fulfilling a role that was not created with the objective of finishing the Script, it was over.
Even if the Agents did not explicitly say so, they had placed their trust on her, and in doing do, they have granted her power, and in return, freedom.
It was not complete freedom, far from it, but she is free to point her finger however she wants, and the Agents would follow her direction, and with that trust, she would have to give some of her own in return, she would have to give a part that was inherently hers, she placed her trust in someone to do something reckless, something that would in all situations, reset the script.
However, it did not happen, she placed her trust in someone and he returned victor, she started a conversation on her own with an enthusiastic Tiacauh and she welcomed the talk, she saw someone fall asleep close to her and she did not look at them with hatred, she placed her trust in someone to accomplish something incredibly hard and she did so with the scraps of what she had, she had tasked someone to accompany a woman who had help them and in return she stalled the enemy on her own.
She is moving with her own two feet; she is making decisions on her own; she is making bonds with people.
Is this what it feels to be human?
Angela did not know how to correctly name her feelings.
But upon looking at everything she has accomplished so far, a warm feeling spread on her chest, a sense of pride? A sense of relief? A sense of satisfaction?
She did not know the name of it.
But she at least knows.
That is a form of happiness.
Suddenly, the sound of a spoon hitting a pan, some sort of alarm clock by the looks of it, and looking at the one causing the ruckus, she saw Liza as the culprit, with a very impatient looking Hannah behind her, it appears that in her thoughts, she had missed the two of them leaving the building.
She stood up from her seat, leaving behind the pair of gears she was fidgeting with her fingers on the table, she said to Zumama that she shall return soon, but the girl was so concentrated on her work that maybe she did not hear her, as she walked towards the two Agents, she saw the ones from the Control Team leave the building, and as she approached, she heard part of their conversation.
⸺ “All right! This will be A1 and this B1, get it? All the way towards Y1, you have to connect these parts on top of the vehicle, do not mess around, do not drop it!”
⸺ “Yeah! Listen to her!”
⸺ “Every single one of you, including Liza, will have to connect all this parts you got it!?”
⸺ “Huh?”
Angela understood that now they will begin to connect all the parts together of the Department, an intended design choice by Parker, as he said to in the future expand it more easily, and she reminisced of when Mika heard that plan, she called it ‘Like District 8?’.
⸺ “Uhh… How will we do it, really?”
⸺ “Two of you on one side, two of you on another side, you will lift it with your own two hands.”
⸺ “What…?”
A plan that did not involve heavy machinery, using the Control Captain’s strength as the standard, Angela fabricated this plan with the help of Hannah and Parker, at first her proposition sounded as ridiculous as she thought it would be, but when she saw the two Agents run back and forth with tons of debris and remnants of the Facility, she deduced it was possible.
⸺ “The corrosion has granted you good things as well as bad things, while the headaches may be constant, I will remind you that a portion of the Abnormality’s power was also added to you.” ⸺ Angela added to the conversation as she approached, gaining their attention.
⸺ “What she says is true, don’t you feel you feel more powerful than before?”
⸺ “I guess is true…”
⸺ “Well, stop doubting yourselves! We are on a schedule right now so start lifting!”
There was doubt on their faces for a moment, but as they positioned themselves in different corners of the same room, as they lifted the object the distrust on the plan disappeared, now all they have to do is walk in synchrony to attach them all together.
⸺ “Anthony, watch where you are walking!” ⸺ Said Anastasia
⸺ “Anastasia, turn right, turn right!” ⸺ Said Tatyana
⸺ “H-Hey, you are the one walking out of the path, go left!” ⸺ Said Anthony.
⸺ “Concentrate dammit! Do not drop it!” ⸺ Said Mika, in an unusual annoyed face.
It appears that it will take some time.
⸺ “Angela, Liza.” ⸺ Hannah walked to Angela, and to Liza who was about to run away. ⸺ “I need to talk to you about something, in private.”
⸺ “Ah… Am I in trouble?”
⸺ “No, I will just need your help.”
⸺ “So its worse!”
Angela had simply nodded, before Hannah made a sign to follow her, they did so towards the Main Room, it was unusual for Hannah to be this secretive about something, as she would usually just talk out loud if something was bothering her with a plan.
They entered the room, and Hannah closed the door behind her, she had a serious expression, as if she was about to talk about something uncomfortable, she looked at how Liza made herself comfortable on the room, using the table at the center as a foot rest while balancing on a chair.
⸺ “What’s this all about?”
⸺ “There are lot of things that we still need to do, but we have to tackle things little by little, I have something that I wish to ask of you.”
⸺ “Shoot”
⸺ “You are part of a Syndicate, aren’t you?”
⸺ “…”
Angela felt the temperature of the room drop almost instantly as the word ‘Syndicate’ left the mouth of the Information Captain, whatever involvement Liza had with this type of organization, she knew that it did not make her happy.
⸺ “What makes you think that?”
⸺ “Your unusual combat tactics, the type of Augments you possess is extremely similar to Index Proselytes I had dissected a long time ago; besides the shady background you usually bloat about when you were at the cafeteria.”
⸺ “Oh, really?”
⸺ “It made sense when I tried to heal you yesterday, but I always had my suspicions, we both now the strong presence the Index has in District 12.”
⸺ “…What will you do then?”
Liza stopped the movement of the chair as she planted her foot on the ground again, she was completely ready to pounce on Hannah at moment’s notice, but noticing her hostility, the Information Captain quickly raised her hand.
⸺ “Nothing.”
⸺ “…Huh?”
⸺ “I don’t really care about it, if your interest aligns with ours, then you are good in my eyes.”
⸺ “That’s rather convenient”
⸺ “That’s why I took you out of the way for others to not hear, I certainly do not care, but others might do.”
⸺ “Those two sisters huh.”
Angela watched the confrontation unfold, and she remembered the things she saw in the eyes of the two members of the Control Team, she saw the cruelty of those Syndicates and how far they will take things even if it is a minor inconvenience.
However, in her eyes Liza did not fit any criteria of those, she could be a bit annoying to dealt with, and at worst, a trouble maker, but nothing she has done was in direct detriment towards their group, instead, all she has done until now has helped them.
⸺ “The Index… One of the Five Fingers if I so recall.” ⸺ Angela decided to join the conversation.
⸺ “Yeah, crazy bastards, following papers like lunatics.” ⸺ Liza answered, the ambience around them returned to somewhat normal, but it was clear that the Agent in the center of attention was still in guard.
⸺ “By the way you talk about them… Did you leave the Index?”
⸺ “Of course I did! Do you think a Finger member would be allowed to work at a Wing!? It would be complete lunacy, a death sentence!”
⸺ “But if you did leave, why did you join in the first place, was it a need to survive, did you need money?” ⸺ Angela talked, she was searching for ways to understand how someone can join an organization so cruel and despicable.
⸺ “Shit, Angela I really don’t want to talk about it… But if you insist, I can at least say that I did not join willingly, I was already part of it when I was born.”
⸺ “…So you had no choice, I see.” ⸺ Angela said, and for a moment, she felt relief. ⸺ “I did not seek to bring you discomfort.”
⸺ “But.” ⸺ Hannah interrupted, hitting the table and gaining Liza’s attention. ⸺ “I noticed something quite peculiar, your body is covered in wounds yet your hands are in pristine condition, almost as if you have not grabbed a tool in your life, and your Augments are not combat oriented, so you clearly did not fight as a Proselyte or Proxie.”
⸺ “Get to the point.”
⸺ “You were a Tailor, weren’t you?”
⸺ “Alright, this conversation is over.”
Liza stood up from her seat and tried to walk out of the room, but Hannah quickly put herself on the way.
⸺ “Liza, this is important.”
⸺ “And you better get the fuck out of the way before I make you.”
⸺ “I am sure that you have your reasons to not want to talk about it…”
⸺ “I said. Move.”
⸺ “But like I said, I don’t need you to tell me, you don’t even have to do it yourself, I just need to know how to make quality fabric.”
‘Fabric?’ Angela thought, was Hannah really risking a confrontation with someone just because she wanted some material? Wouldn’t the Information Captain in her vast knowledge about all kinds of technology know a thing or two about it? Why would she need Liza to tell her?
⸺ “Aren’t you the smart one, why don’t you figure it out yourself?”
⸺ “You know well that to get access to top quality fabric you must have a lot, and I mean, a lot of connections, as money will not buy you the trust of Tailors.”
⸺ “You are overestimating me.”
⸺ “I am placing my trust in you.”
⸺ “…”
Liza held her fingers on the bridge of her nose for a second as she was in deep thought, and drew a few breaths to calm herself down, it was clear that she did not want a confrontation either, but the thought of making silk and fabric was not the source of her discomfort, but the mere thought that someone else might discover her previous occupation.
⸺ “Listen, no word of me belonging to a Syndicate has to ever come out, not to anyone.”
⸺ “I promise.”
⸺ “You have my word.”
There was a bond formed by the words of the three people in the room, and Liza finally managed to relax her position a little, she will share some of her knowledge with them, but she will quickly change her mind if they start to dig a little too deep in her past.
⸺ “But I have to ask.” ⸺ Angela said. ⸺ “Why is this ‘fabric’ so important?”
⸺ “Huh? You really don’t know?” ⸺ This time it was Liza who was surprised by someone else’s ignorance, in contrast to the multiple times it was a position that Hannah held. ⸺ “Attire is the most important part of a person, they are not merely pieces of clothing, they can grant you extra protection, immunity to mental attacks, resistance to bullets, or even grant you strength, speed or dimensional storage.”
⸺ “Really?”
⸺ “And assuming that Hannah did not just drag you here to hear us talk, she probably needs me to make you something that will grant you at least some way of protection.” ⸺ She walked past Angela, towards the multiple disorganized crates inside the Main Room, and as she scavenged the remains, Hannah grabbed her attention.
⸺ “Here.” ⸺ The Information Captain said as she thew a flexible measure tape, as Liza grabbed it in the air, she threw an annoying glance towards the other woman in the room.
⸺ “You sly fox, you were planning this from the very beginning.” ⸺ There was no acknowledgment to her words, only the smile of the other Agent.
⸺ “Take off your clothes.”
⸺ “Huh?”
⸺ “I need to take your measures, go on, take them off.”
It was a clear necessity, but it did not mean that it made them any less uncomfortable.
Liza closed the distance as she helped her take her tie off, and in the mean time Angela took off the upper part of the suit that originally belonged to Hannah, the one she gave to her when she managed to grant her movement again, as she moved to unbutton her shirt, she hesitated a little.
She did not like to look at her body, because it reminded her that she was inherently different from the others, and because it was not a body that belonged to hers, but from a woman that a despicable man tried to replicate on her, an appearance that tried to appease his most mortal desires, an appearance that was made to look appeasable.
There was a time in which she favored this form, in the times when she tried so hard to gain his favor, in times in which she tried to catch his gaze, for him to recognize anything from her, her actions, her voice, her body, but all of those things were met by the scowl in his face that she is incapable of forgetting.
She has not been bare in front of anyone, not even Hannah as she worked on her body by portions, and most of the time she was covered by other types of clothing, because of that, she unconsciously grabbed the hands that tried to unbutton her shirt, stopping them in their tracks.
Angela did not wish to be seen like this.
‘Not while I am…’
⸺ “What’s the problem?”
⸺ “I…”
There was a moment of silence as nobody said a word, not even Hannah who looked at them the moment her hands stopped Liza’s actions, Angela tried to force some words out, but she was conflicted in what to say.
It was not malice that guided the hands of the Agent, she was utterly focused, a task was given to her to which Liza surprisingly took really seriously, it must be because it must remind her of certain things from her past, but her actions were utterly logical.
Why did Angela not permit her to do her work? What is she afraid she will see?
Is she afraid that they will see the parts that makes them different from each other?
Or is it shame?
⸺ “I can work with a little bit of clothing then.” ⸺ But her words stopped her train of thought, and Angela could only nod at her proposition.
It was weird, in a way, to see Liza with such an expression, and to take her thoughts into consideration without making a joke or an inappropriate remark.
It was not spoken out loud, but in that instant, there was a boundary that was placed between the two of them, the trust they were building with each other, as well as Angela with every other Agent, was not one were they can tell each other their deepest secrets.
But to stop when the other party tells you to.
Perhaps, this was another way of showing trust.
⸺ “There are a lot of ways to make fabric in the City.” ⸺ Eventually Liza said as she took Angela’s measurements. ⸺ “I have learnt quite a few of them, with varying quality.”
⸺ “What is the one with the most quality you know of then?”
⸺ “The ones that uses flesh to make silk.” ⸺ She said, with a bit of a darker tone in her voice. ⸺ “However, using that one will be a problem.”
⸺ “I think I have heard rumors about it, using the characteristics of the living organism to grant special properties to the fabric, an old Singularity, and its patent was bought a long time ago, you were allowed to learn it?”
⸺ “…Alongside other things, but as I said, it might be a problem.” ⸺ She motioned Angela to extend her arm. ⸺ “It requires an adult human to make sufficient material for decent clothing, and the results may vary depending on the person it was made of, so it was a low quantity, high quality method.”
⸺ “An entire human… We obviously can’t just kill someone random for it, and some Agents might not be fond of that idea, but Abnormalities share a lot of characteristics with the average human body, can’t we use them?”
⸺ “I thought about it some time ago.” ⸺ She scribbled something in a paper that was in the table. ⸺ “But it could be somewhat… difficult.”
⸺ “How so?”
⸺ “The process of extracting the flesh is rather delicate, even if the person yielded an extraordinary effect on the clothing, if the body was not handled with care, then the finishing product would be useless, so it takes time, and the worse part is… The subject would usually need to be alive for that process…” ⸺ She stopped scribbling, and decided to measure one more time. ⸺ “It is true that we could try, but I would not bother with something other than WAW or ALEPH, the only one we have is the Queen Bee, but I am not going to do that while breathing thousands of spores.”
⸺ “Can’t we let someone else do it? Someone like Parker or Ramirez?”
⸺ “Did you not hear what I said? It is an extremely delicate process, if I were you, I would rather leave that process to someone experienced.”
⸺ “Hmm… I guess is true.”
⸺ “However, we could potentially make something worth with this…” ⸺ She said as she stopped measuring and plucked a feather out of her hair. ⸺ “I can almost feel the same sensation as E.G.O suits from this, and they are clearly made from Abnormalities, so they could maybe work, Parker usually leaves tons of feathers on the ground, but it could take some time, and I do not think he would be fond of going bald.”
⸺ “Indeed, it is troublesome, let’s think of another way for now, you said you knew more ways to make fabric, right?”
⸺ “Didn’t…” ⸺ Angela wondered out loud, gaining their attention as she has not spoken in some time. ⸺ “Didn’t Ramirez grow a tail once?”
There was silence for a moment, as the revelation made the gears in the heads of the Agents begin to spin, how could they not? It was a huge amount of flesh, on a living person, and it is a spawn from an Abnormality that is quite resistant to RED damage.
⸺ “Oh!” ⸺ It was the sound that came out of their mouths once they realized that, but in Angela’s mind, she thought that maybe it was a bad idea for that Agent.
…
⸺ “…Ugh.” ⸺ Ramirez felt a shiver crawl on his spine, it was not a sign that he was in danger, but a sign of a bad omen.
⸺ “Did something happen?” ⸺ He heard Parker speak on the other side of the huge container, an impressive feat as he heard Ramirez’ sound even if it was masked by all the sound of water falling from the cliff.
⸺ “Nothing, just some water getting on my clothes.”
⸺ “Ah, understood.”
They just arrived at the waterfall that they saw some time ago, the same one that their boss walked in and she almost fell, not before being saved by the Record Captain, it was also the same waterfall that they jumped from when they he first smelled the scent of charred flesh, the same waterfall was being used to fill the colossal containers that they were carrying, and soon enough, they were soon be start filling with water.
⸺ “How are we in food supplies?”
⸺ “We can endure for two months if we are efficient, but Its clear that it will no longer be the two of us, so we should secure a constant supply once we arrive at one of those… Nomadic Cities that Inam talked about.” ⸺ He said as he reminisced of the talk he had with Inam the night before when he accompanied Angela. ⸺ “The Great Chief also said that she may be willing to negotiate a supply route for us in the future.”
⸺ “Nomadic cities huh… And Originium, and Catastrophes.” ⸺ He was retelling himself the information that Parker shared with him when they were on the path towards the body of water, it was surreal how much this place was different form the Outskirts he knew about.
⸺ “Indeed, and from the star pattern from the sky, it is almost as if we were in another world completely.”
⸺ “Don’t say stupid things Parker.”
⸺ “You are right, I would first need to prove it.”
⸺ “Whatever… Let’s just go, if we are efficient, we finish this just in time for these huge things to fill themselves up.”
⸺ “Understood.”
They positioned themselves besides each other as they ran, and droplets of water fell from their movements as they ran through the rainforest, a feeble sensation of freedom was felt in their hearts, but it was brief, as the red horizon was approaching their vision.
It did not take much time to arrive at the place in which they fought, that was such the scale of the damage the Abnormality did to its surroundings, and the blood was almost dried on the exposed stones and dirt of the ground, yet amongst the cracks of the ground there was still the red liquid.
⸺ “This thing will not kill the land or something right?”
⸺ “At most it may benefit bacterial growth, Abnormalities themselves do not carry diseases unless they are one themselves, but I left some instructions with Inam about proper hygiene and the use of fire to sanitize this place.”
As the walked on the clear space, they felt how there was some resistance to lift their feet as some of the blood was still sticky, the sun was now looming over them as the hours of the day were still going, and with the heat, some of the smell started to wander around their noses, a smell of iron that they both clearly disliked.
⸺ “…Ugh…” ⸺ Ramirez with his enhanced senses did not like this situation, now covering his nose as they walked. ⸺ “Can you finish quickly?”
⸺ “I assure you this is not pleasant for me either.” ⸺ He said as his eyes glowed in gold, not that it was much noticeable due to the sun. ⸺ “…There is no trace of it here either.”
⸺ “Let’s move quickly then.”
⸺ “What are you searching for?”
⸺ “We are searching if there are hidden seeds of the Giant Tree…?” ⸺ He was about to tell about his intentions until he realized that Parker did not ask that question, nor he would ever ask it since it was his plan in the first place. ⸺ “Huh?”
⸺ “Giant what?” ⸺ Flint asked as she followed close behind to those two, surprising Ramirez as he took a few steps back in shock, he did not know how much time had she been there, and how did he not notice her until now.
⸺ “W-What the hell are you doing here… When did you arrive!?”
⸺ “She was accompanying us for quite some time, I thought you knew since she was following you.” ⸺ Parker said as he walked while observing the floor.
⸺ “I did not… Why are you following me?”
⸺ “I am observing you.”
⸺ “…But why?”
⸺ “Since you are not teaching me, I deduced I could learn a thing or two from this.”
⸺ “…Huh? Listen to me, I am not playing, we are doing our job right now…”
⸺ “…! Over here!” ⸺ Parker suddenly exclaimed as he started to run, leaving behind an startled Ramirez.
⸺ “Hey, wait!” ⸺ Ramirez could barely say before starting to run behind the other Agent, and something that irritated him as he did so is the sound of the footsteps behind him as he did so. ⸺ “Stop following us!”
⸺ “Please don’t mind me, I am just looking.”
⸺ “Tsk…”
As if he was following a trail, Parker swiftly travelled between the trees as he focused on a few red droplets, if anyone else looked at the same thing he was drawing his attention to then they would not have noticed, but this blood did not belong to the Abnormality nor her minions, but to Liza.
Some of the trees were cut down, not by a blade, but by being crushed by an overwhelming weight, there were portions of the rainforest that were clear of any trees, and a trail of blood thicker and thicker appeared, Parker followed in her footsteps.
But then, the nature around them was thicker than before, and was when the sunlight was blocked by something, it was when he decided to look up as he stopped.
⸺ “…Huh.” ⸺ It was a sound that came out involuntarily from Ramirez, who stood by his side as he arrived, and soon enough, the footsteps of the Liberi arrived too.
They were in awe, as there were trees, bushes, and other types of plants forming a colossal tower, not seen before hidden by the dense rainforest, no natural growth could create something of this magnitude, as the plants kept growing on their own, trampling over each other and cutting nutrients from their competitors, they all wanted the nutrients provided by the tree.
⸺ “It was here.” ⸺ Parker talked to himself. ⸺ “From deep within, the Queen fed herself on the Tree Sap, and with that she was granted the strength to take steps on her own.”
They all kept walking closer and closer, until they reached the base of the tower of vegetation, it was closed by the giant roots of trees, it was a vain attempt to escape all whoever tried to attack it, or maybe, it was a trial to whoever seeks the sap for themselves.
⸺ “Back off.” ⸺ But whatever its intentions were, the Agents did not care.
Ramirez positioned himself on the front as he grabbed Mimicry, he did a horizontal swing, cutting the trees that blocked their way, and with a path open they walked inside.
Flowers decorated the way, animals had made their habitat some of the plants as they hid from predators, a relationship made by taking advantage by the natural cycle, as the animals protected themselves from predators and plants grew by the nutrients of the little tree, once they died, the nutrients would eventually go back to the place they once belonged.
The path eventually reached an open space, in which the grass barely grew as the only ray of sunlight only reached the little tree in the center, which harbored a fruit which was covered in a thin and transparent membrane, hiding away a red liquid.
⸺ “Be on guard.” ⸺ Parker said as a mere warning, but Ramirez was already positioning himself to attack.
The Control Captain stomped on the ground before throwing himself towards the little tree, swinging Mimicry in the air, and as if the tree reacted on its own, it moved its body to try to dodge, but the Agent would not grant it the opportunity.
Cutting the tree in two, blood dripped from the parts that would usually connect, but the Agent did not stop there, as he planted his feet on the ground as he landed relatively close, he kicked the upper portion of the plant towards his partner, while extending his hand towards the tree stump, piercing the wood that bled with his fingers, he felt the plant shake in his hands almost in pain, before pulling with all his strength.
Parker grabbed the upper part of the Abnormality, and its fruit swayed in the air on top of Flint’s head, who tried to regain her balance as the floor started to shake, the reason being the roots which were being extracted from the ground.
It took more time than he expected, but Ramirez finally managed to extract all its roots from the ground, and used both his hands to roll it in all together, crushing and blending all what belonged to the plant until he created a spherical shape, and using his strength, he crushed it.
Blood dripped from his hands, he was killing it and making sure that it would not take root again, nor it could grow again from this place.
⸺ “Will this blood be a problem too?”
⸺ “No, I don’t see a single seed from it.”
⸺ “Then we are finished, let’s go.”
⸺ “That’s it? No big fight?”
⸺ “…”
It was an underwhelming result after coming all the way here, but it was expected from an Abnormality from the Tool category, but as a member of the HE level risk group it made quite some trouble nonetheless, if it strengthened and WAW Abnormality to ridiculous levels, they did not want to risk it leaving it in the open.
They traveled back and out of the tower of plants, some of them were already starting to die, as they could not supply with energy their exponential growth, however, some of them were still standing, and they would use the other dying life forms to supply themselves.
⸺ “I thought it would die the moment we cut it down.”
⸺ “Abnormalities once they die it is rare for them to keep part of them alive in the world, such is the case with the Queen Bee, such as her death caused the death of all its parasites, but the Tree Sap can’t just take nutrients away once it has given them away.”
⸺ “Is that so…?” ⸺ He thought about his words for a second, wondering which Abnormalities could potentially keep affecting the world after their ‘deaths’, just so he could keep them in mind in the future. “…! Some of your skin is falling.”
⸺ “You are right… Let’s go, we should not linger too long outside the Qliphoth Deterrence’s range.”
⸺ “Qli…poth?”
⸺ “You should prepare a better lesson for her.”
⸺ “…? I am not her teacher.”
They travelled back towards their base, but for that, they would have to pass through the valley of blood again, and as they approached the place, they already felt uncomfortable by the sight and by the smell.
⸺ “Can’t you use that thing to grow things back to normal?” ⸺ Flint wondered as she walked besides them at the same time that she pointed towards the hanging fruit from the Giant Tree Sap.
⸺ “It could, or it could make things worse, we should test it first if we desire to use it to restore land.”
⸺ “…I understand.” ⸺ She saw the destruction of the place as she walked, and reminisced of how this place used to be governed by flowers, the ones she and her tribe would usually come by and pick them to decorate their clothes and homes, she had not thought much until she had lost it. ⸺ “That giant monster let out a lot of blood once it was cut in half.”
And upon hearing that, Ramirez stopped walking.
⸺ “…What?” ⸺ Hearing the surprise in the voice of the Agent, Parker also stopped in place and looked at the Liberi.
⸺ “…? Is something wrong?”
⸺ “You… How do you know that?”
⸺ “Because I saw it, is it not obvious?”
⸺ “You saw with your own eyes… How I killed that Abnormality?” ⸺ The moment Parker recognized what he was saying, he now fully turned around and looked at her, and her expression did not show any sign of stress nor anxiety, she was fully calm as she said so.
⸺ “How did it look like? Can you describe it?” ⸺ Parker asked, and Ramirez instantly called his name showing his disapproval in this test he was conducting right now.
⸺ “It was a huge yellow monster, it looked similar to insects I have seen, but it had lots of eyes, teeth and wounds in its body, it looked like it couldn’t hold its own weight even with its long black legs, and it screamed really loudly.” ⸺ She described the monster as she looked over the clear area, and then she pointed at the air. ⸺ “He threw a girl towards the monster and a wave of heat hit me, a loud sound, this pushed the monster to stand straight, and he used the opportunity to cut it in half.”
⸺ “Think about the monster in your mind, how do you feel?”
⸺ “Parker. Stop”
⸺ “…Nothing?”
Her answer surprised the both of them.
⸺ “This is unexpected, there are people who are capable of naturally withstanding the nature of Abnormalities in their mind, usually the untrained mind would collapse and seek a way out, even a WAW would cause Clerks to end themselves before the Training Department intervened.”
⸺ “…Clerks?”
⸺ “Parker, what are you doing?”
⸺ “She asked you to train her, right? Why don’t you give her a chance?”
⸺ “Don’t change the subject, an idea popped in your mind I know it.”
⸺ “…” ⸺ They both looked straight at each other. ⸺ “You know that there are Abnormalities that the human mind can’t endure with just training it.”
Suddenly, a sharp pain was felt by the both of them, but only Ramirez recoiled, as he was not the one who brought the subject to them, so he was not prepared for the consequences.
The memory of something horrible, disgusting, something that should not exist, it would tear them apart just by looking at it, and it would tear them apart physically once it reached them, invading their organs and using them to nest its eggs, and the creature that would be born would share its horrible aspect.
A certain Abnormality that could induce mental collapse only by looking at it, one that caused even the Manager to be discarded in certain Cycles, unbeknownst to them.
⸺ “…Mierda! Don’t make me think about that thing!”
⸺ “Seeing Anthony made me remember, that the human brain is such a fragile thing, even for people like us.”
⸺ “So what? You want to turn this girl into a level V Agent? From what? The Extraction Department could be at the other side of the world for all we know so we can’t extract E.G.O for her to use, from what I know none of you can do Augment surgery, and look at her, she doesn’t look to be old enough to be even a Fixer!”
⸺ “Ramirez, you out of all people that combat does not involve only the people at the front.”
⸺ “…We would be taking advantage out of a girl who barely knows what is going on.”
⸺ “Does she? She clearly saw the type of combat she would be faring against, and despite so, she approached you with intentions to become stronger.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “It does not matter if she wants to be on the front or in the back, all I want is that when I use my communication device, the person at the other side is sane enough to take orders.”
Ramirez took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and held his fingers in his forehead, and for a moment he looked at her, and in her eyes, he saw the desire to become stronger, a sight that he did not want to see again.
⸺ “Flint… That is the name you want me to call you?”
⸺ “Yes.”
⸺ “…I can spar with you a few times.”
⸺ “…! Really?”
⸺ “However, we will be leaving this place soon, didn’t you have a tribe to lead?”
⸺ “They will be fine, tribe leaders change very often.”
⸺ “Won’t you miss this place?”
⸺ “After seeing the strengths that exists outside this place, I want to find out more about them.”
⸺ “…”
Eventually, they turned around and began to walk towards their base, and Flint was allowed to walk besides them.
As they travelled, Flint was curious to ask what type of life he had endured until now to become so strong, to which he replied that he had lived the life of a Fixer.
⸺ “Fixer?”
⸺ “The life of a mercenary basically, it variates from spy work to household work, it depends on the contract you are doing, it is a life that will give you a lot of conflict.”
⸺ “Have you fought lots of strong people then?”
⸺ “…Yeah, not alone but I have fought against various threats, ranging from Urban Myth to Urban Nightmare, from Syndicates to other Fixers.”
⸺ “Have you ever taken a Star of the City job then?” ⸺ This question however was asked by Parker.
⸺ “…I have fought against… No, I guess the word survived is more appropriately, it was a Urban Nightmare level threat by the time we encountered it, but the Blood-Red Night struck the Nest in which we were stationed, it was a massacre, too much for a mere group of grade 4 Fixers like us, we were saved because the Wing had deployed their security and she escaped, but the mere thought that she struck the Nest in the first place elevated her to Start of the City very soon.”
⸺ “Even you… Lost?”
⸺ “Of course I did, she was much stronger than me…” ⸺ His vision became more strained as he reminisced of that day. ⸺ “She manipulated blood itself, I still remember how my mouth started to taste like iron the moment she lifted a finger… I had quality clothing, and my broadsword could be used as a weapon and also a shield, but even with all that protection, with a wave of her arm I felt her grabbing my veins and tearing them apart without even touching me.”
He looked at Flint.
⸺ “She could not be defeated by mere fists.”
⸺ “At least you got it.”
⸺ “Was she unbeatable then?”
⸺ “No, before I went to work for Lobotomy Corporation, I heard she lost her title of Star of the City, something must have happened by then, but I had already lost my job as a Fixer to dig too deep.”
⸺ “So they can be defeated.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “You are trying to scare me away, I admit that an opponent like that is terrifying to face, but I have already made my mind, I am a warrior, I can’t back away.”
⸺ “…Lo que sea.” ⸺ He looked forward again. ⸺ “But you will not face against Abnormalities right away, if you really want me to teach you, then you must do what I say.”
⸺ “Understood.”
They walked in silence for a moment, until the sound of the waterfall reached their ears, the huge containers were filled to the brim, and so, Parker and Ramirez approached the objects, the Extraction Captain passed the part of the tree he was holding on the hands of the Liberi, before putting their hands under it as they lifted the objects over their heads, carefully balancing themselves to not fall over.
⸺ “Are you stronger than before?” ⸺ Flint asked as the both of them lifted so much weight over their shoulders as if they were nothing.
⸺ “Of course.”
⸺ “Then… Would you lose if you ever fight against her again?”
⸺ “No.” ⸺ He said confidently. ⸺ “But victory would not be achieved just by striking her hard, it would be because no matter how much blood she takes from my body, I would be able to keep standing.”
⸺ “Wouldn’t you die if you were drained of blood?”
⸺ “Then I will bite her and drink it again.”
⸺ “Huh?”
⸺ “…Please ignore certain comments from the Control Captain, there is true to what is he saying, but some things are rather illogical.” ⸺ Parker added to the conversation.
⸺ “What?”
⸺ “Ramirez, that’s not how blood works.”
⸺ “I know dumbass, what I was saying is that you have to be resilient, you must acknowledge that it hurts, acknowledge that you are going insane, but you have to grit your teeth and keep going.”
⸺ “Then please tell her so.”
⸺ “I was doing it!”
The presence of outsiders brought her experiences that she could never acquire in the rainforest, they appeared at the same time as the monsters, and looking at their appearance for a moment she thought they shared some characteristics, but looking at how they talk to each other, she realized that they were humans, just like her.
⸺ “IT MOOOOOOVES!!!!!” ⸺ But she was startled by the sound of heavy machinery, and the screams of an Agent, judging by the voice it was the other one who defeated the fire monster; however, it came from the upper part of the huge structure that was moving on its own. ⸺ “KYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!”
⸺ “What is she doing…”
⸺ “Careful now!!! Or I might crush you by the might of this vehicle!!!!”
It appears that all the rooms were attached to each other now, and mounted on top of the vehicle, creating a huge shape of a block, Ramirez could recognize the black room in the bottom as all other structures were surrounding it, and on top of it, an extra room he did not recognize, he could deduce that it could be the room in which the vehicle is controlled, if the voice from Liza is coming from there.
Angela was on the bottom, in the way of the vehicle if it had not suddenly stopped, she was talking to the leader of the Eunectes tribe while holding a large rectangular box in her arms, and as they approached, she noticed them approaching.
⸺ “You have returned…?” ⸺ Angela said to them before noticing that the Abnormality was being carried not by the Agents, but by someone else. ⸺ “Why is she holding it?”
⸺ “There is no risk on doing so, but I have decided that it could benefits us if we get a little of outside help on our travels.” ⸺ Parker said as he looked at Flint for a moment.
Angela felt it at this distance, there was some part of the Light still inside the tree, something that she would have to collect later, however, something that picked her attention was she was hearing a very low sound coming out of it, the voice of someone, so distorted she can’t make sense out of it even if she remembered who it was.
A phenomenon that was shared with all Abnormality Cores, but something that bothered her is that by Ramirez knowledge, every single one of the Agents from the Control Team should be present right now, all five of them.
So she wondered, who could it be?
…
For some reason, she did not want to know.
Not right now.
⸺ “…I will wait for an explanation later, but I will trust your judgement for now.” ⸺ Angela said after thinking for a moment, it was an idea proposed by the Extraction Captain himself after all, one of the most reasonable people she was surrounded with. ⸺ “Besides, I had the same idea as you.”
⸺ “…You did?” ⸺ Parker answered as he looked at Zumama, to which she looked surprised as well.
⸺ “You will, Lady Angela!?” ⸺ Zumama said excitedly, it looked like she was talking about something quite similar to Angela, the same way Flint was talking to Ramirez.
⸺ “It may be good to have a second opinion.” ⸺ Angela said as she looked upwards, the Main Room of the Control Department no longer accessible by merely walking on ground, she saw the Information Captain hanging from a ladder before jumping and landing close to them.
⸺ “You arrived, good, the quicker the better.” ⸺ Hannah said while covered in dust, it appears she had been quite busy, she cleaned herself for a second before putting fingers on her mouth and whistling loudly, the sound gained the attention of an Agent who peeked her head out of a the door of the Main Room, and upon waving her hand, Mika also jumped out of the Facility, landing at the side of the Information Captain. ⸺ “You already know where the entrance of supplies is, guide them towards it.”
⸺ “Yes! Captain Hannah!” ⸺ Mika said, before turning to face the other two Agents. ⸺ “Follow me, we will have to go through the back.”
⸺ “There are more rooms than I remember on the Control Department.” ⸺ Ramirez said as he started to walk, followed by Parker and Flint.
⸺ “Ah, it is because we needed some extra space for things such as dormitories and storage rooms, but Captain Hannah said they were made by a less resistant material…” ⸺ Their voices became weaker and weaker until they disappeared from view, leaving only Angela, Hannah and members of the Eunectes tribe.
Zumama and other felt anxious upon seeing her again, but Hannah did not look shaken in the slightest, she only looked at a list she held in her hand.
⸺ “The machine does not show signs of overheating nor other types of problems, even with Liza’s reckless driving.” ⸺ She grabbed a pencil with her mouth and marked something in the paper. ⸺ “Once we organize all our supplies and get the Abnormality contained, we are prepared to go.”
⸺ “…Hannah.” ⸺ Zumama interrupted the Captain, and gained her attention. ⸺ “We will go with you.”
⸺ “Ah…” ⸺ She let a sigh come out of her mouth. ⸺ “Zumama, as I said, I appreciate your cooperation, and everything we have learned from each other, but I am working right now, I don’t have the time.”
⸺ “I did not have the opportunity to tell you this, Captain.” ⸺ Angela added. ⸺ “You are not looking at new members of Lobotomy Corporation, just our new affiliation.”
⸺ “…You didn’t.”
⸺ “After all the things they have learnt, and for other reasons such as they know the existence and how to use Enkephalin, it would be reckless to leave them do to what they want.” ⸺ Angela talked with confidence. ⸺ “But also, it is irrefutable to say that we have not formed a positive connection between the two parties.”
⸺ “…”
⸺ “So I can say with confidence that while they will not involve themselves with the work of Abnormalities that Agents themselves do, it is a good idea to form a cooperation with the Eunectes Workshop, as they will be a good addition to our work force.”
⸺ “A Wing affiliated Workshop huh…”
⸺ “There are lots of things that I still want to learn.” ⸺ Zumama said as she approached. ⸺ “But you once told me that someone of my talents should be nobodies assistant, and I think you are right, I will not learn something if I joined just to be your shadow.”
⸺ “Is that so?”
⸺ “Yes, because of that…” ⸺ Zumama grabbed the box that Angela held in her arms and presented it to Hannah. ⸺ “Creating things is fun, so much fun, but that is not an opinion you share, or at least, not anymore.”
She said as she remembered the disinterest in her face once they saw their creations with Originium, she said some of them were impressive, but her words did not match her eyes.
Her eyes said something different.
‘If I made that, with those same materials, I could have done so much better than them.’
⸺ “And this will change my mind?”
⸺ “No, it is merely a token of appreciation.” ⸺ Zumama and Hannah locked eyes between each other. ⸺ “One day, I will create something so incredible, something that even you will have to admit, that you could have not done it yourself.”
⸺ “…!” ⸺ Surprise appeared on her face the moment the box was opened, and what she saw was a prothesis of an arm.
Analyzing the arm with her vision, she recognized its design, it had the same philosophy as one of the arms of Angela, she recognized it because she had worked with repairing her before, however, it was heavily modified, if you did not look carefully, you might even confuse it by a real arm.
⸺ “…Pftt… Ha…Haha!” ⸺ Laughter came to her, and she laughed wholeheartedly for the first time in all the time Angela has seen her. ⸺ “Hahahahaha! Interesting! Very Interesting! You really think you can manage that!?”
⸺ “It is a promise.”
⸺ “Look at the girl, talking so sure about herself… Hahahaha!” ⸺ She brought her hand over her face as she laughed towards the sky. ⸺ “The City would have devoured you in seconds with that mentality girl! What you are saying is ridiculous! If someone says something like that to the Engineer leader of a Wing, they would send assassins to silence her immediately!”
⸺ “…But we are not in the City.”
⸺ “True! It is true! There was no way someone from the City could make a prothesis that looked like a human’s unless they were suicidal! A Claw would be at their doorstep the moment the plans to make it were half done! Hahahaha!”
Hannah closed the box, and grabbed it to hold it under her arm.
⸺ “I will remember what you said today, haha… Then, I guess I will have to show you where to place your Workshop.” ⸺ Hannah said while she calmed down, and eventually, she told them the exact directions in which to go, and where to store the Big Ugly, their biggest accomplishment.
⸺ “So we won’t have to sneak in!?” ⸺ The High priest called from a space between rooms above them.
⸺ “If you tried that, we… No, Parker would have plucked all your feathers himself.” ⸺ Hannah said, her serious expression now replaced by a smile, it was as if all the stress from her work suddenly had disappeared. ⸺ “Now, grab your things unless you want to be left behind.”
⸺ “Yes, right away!” ⸺ And then, they all scattered away searching for their things, and the High Priest disappeared to do the same, Hannah looked amused as they rushed.
⸺ “Zumama said you were quite mean to her, even after working together for quite some time.”
⸺ “I just wanted her to forget about this, I don’t want Abnormalities to… Change her expression.”
⸺ “I see.”
⸺ “How about you then? Since when this cooperation turned into a friendship?”
‘Friends…’
⸺ “I suppose when I realized she is a good talking partner.”
⸺ “You are preparing to leave?” ⸺ Someone walked towards them, and Inam appeared leading a crowd. ⸺ “How will we remain in contact as you said?”
⸺ “Ah, it’s you.” ⸺ Hannah recognized the leader, and as she did so she put the box on the ground, before grabbing something from the pockets of her uniform, it was a small device. ⸺ “Catch.”
⸺ “What is it?” ⸺ Inam asked as she grabbed the artefact.
⸺ “It is a communication device, we used them to receive orders from the higher-ups, but we do not need it anymore, it will emit a sound when a message arrives.” ⸺ Analyzing the object in her hand Inam recognized a display on one of its sides.
The Manager of the Facility would send orders by messages, risking the lives of the Agents with each one he sent, while remaining safe in his office, it may not be of much use now since that position of no longer exist, but it can be used for this purpose.
⸺ “When we start running out of supplies, we will send a message so we can begin negotiations.”
⸺ “Will you have money by then?”
⸺ “Ugh… We will figure it out.”
⸺ I am sure you will.” ⸺ She laughed a little. ⸺ “I almost forgot to say it, but you really saved this place from becoming a hellscape, I am sure you will manage to arrange something to gain money.”
⸺ “Our objectives coincided, that was all.” ⸺ Angela said. ⸺ “We also received a lot of help from you, I will never forget it.”
⸺ “That’s good, we won’t forget you either.” ⸺ Inam looked at the giant structure, and her gaze stopped on a certain wall. ⸺ “So that’s the logo of your corporation?”
Angela followed her gaze until she saw it, the image of a letter piercing the brain, a symbol of one of the energy powerhouses of the City, with complete dominance over the market with their use of Enkephalin, and housing the most powerful people she has ever met.
She never imagined it would look so worn out.
⸺ “Yes, Lobotomy Corporation.” ⸺ Angela thought about it some time, on the name and what it meant to her, it all lead to that man, and she even thought about changing it, but if the other Departments were scattered out there, and someone else found them first, maybe keeping the name of the corporation may still hold some weight.
⸺ “What a confusing name.”
⸺ “Indeed.”
⸺ “It is goodbyes then, Miss…?”
Angela was confused by the sudden question, but then realized that she was searching for a title for her to call her for, she remembered that she was spoken by a title, the Agents called her boss or by her name directly, while some others put ‘Lady’ or ‘Miss’ first.
She was no longer the Assistant Manager, and she was not the Manager either, because of her job would not induce just producing energy for the day, but planning their next steps, aiding in the plans of construction.
Right now, she was the one standing in front of every people in the organization.
⸺ “Director.”
She was the one puppet of the show, the one that had to stick to the Script or else be punished for it, but now, she would rather be the one directing the play.
⸺ “Lobotomy Corporation… Outskirts Branch Director, Angela.” ⸺ She said confidently, its meaning may not stick with Inam, she may not understand it, but for Angela, it holds more significance than she could ever imagine.
⸺ “I understand, Director.” ⸺ Inam said, and when she said her title, Angela felt proud about it. ⸺ “I wish you good travels.”
‘Things are really changing.’
‘After so many years.’
⸺ “Alright then, Director.” ⸺ Hannah said besides her, she was already holding the box. ⸺ “Let’s finish organizing things inside, and then we use the path Parker has marked for us.”
⸺ “About that, this is just mere curiosity…” ⸺ Inam opened her mouth again. ⸺ “How will you pass through the chasm that separates Acahualla from the desert?”
⸺ “Huh?”
⸺ “Ah, I already informed the Agents about it, so I am sure they made something about it.”
⸺ “Wait wait wait! I did not receive any new from this!?”
⸺ “You did not Hannah? But we had this conversation with Parker, to which he said ‘Hannah and I will figure something out.’.”
⸺ “What? He told me nothing about it…! Hey! Parker! Come here right this instant!”
Unfortunately, their travels would be delayed by a few hours.
But ultimately, they finally left Acahualla.
With more people than when they arrived.
And collected more Light than I anticipated.
This is good.
If Angela collects more and more Light.
My voice can reach even more people.
Even in this world.
…
Will my voice eventually.
Reach the minds of the sick?
I wonder.
For that, you must keep collecting it.
So we can achieve our dream.
Of curing the disease of the mind.
Thank you, Angela.
Truly.
Thank you.
Notes:
Usually the start of the semester is not that bad... And then I was jumped at campus by 14 teachers (this is a joke). After a month I finally finished this chapter, woah! What a ride! There were a lot of things I wanted to pay attention to, but I managed to write something that satisfied me.
There are lots of things I want to say, so I will divide them in two.
About the story, I am finally leaving Acahualla! It may sound bad to say it in that way, but it means I can write a lot more about Arknights characters outside that region, and also, I can write about how Lobotomy Corporation will integrate itself in the world! Some of you have wondered how the world is reacting to the Abnormalities, so I can happily say that the next chapter will be quite different, and it will involve those aspects, I am a little bit nervous about writing it, but also excited!
Now, about YOU, yes YOU reading this, this story has reached +100 kudos! and from my analysis, that is a number that is a lot more than what my friends could achieve with alt accounts to like this for pity, so it means... That there are actual, breathing human beings that like this story! Holy... Macaroni!!!
I am really happy to what I have achieved so far, because this chapters indicates what is basically the end of the first... arc? part? Saga? Who cares! I finished it! Haha! I really did! And it was all thanks to the comments you people have left in this story, so I will leave a few names that have inspired me a lot.
zerowars... The first commenter, and for a few others, it was surpising to see them appear again on chapter 8, someone actually read all the way through chapter 8? Haha, but it was a welcome surprise nonetheless! I hope the story keeps them entertained!
401518... I was really glad when they said my story was unique in the first chapters, I originally posted this and covered my eyes and ears as if I threw a bomb, but after the good reception, it really inspired me to keep going!!
Monngo... Their comments are really loud to say the least, a lot of energy! After writing I am usually exhausted, so I can hardly match their flow, but I am glad that at some point my story managed to make them feel something, I hope I can manage that again in the future, I thank you for your support!!
Thunderblade2324... Another high energy commenter, it made my day when I published the second chapter and they were glad that I was continuing, it made me get out of doomscrolling to start writing again, haha! Thank you for commenting!!
Boq... That comment on Chapter 7 made me realize a lot of things, made me think on a lot of things, mainly how I approached Angela, and without that comment I don't think I would have been satisfied on how I wrote her on the next chapters, so really, really thank you.
Alexander_89... That one person who comments on every chapter, I don't know how they manage to do it, but those comments make me realize that there are people who are really interested in this story, and to comment on every chapter must take a lot of courage, because I would not be able to do it! Haha! Thank you!! Really!!!
And also a big thank you to all the people who have commented at all!! It really brightens my day the moment that notification reaches my phone, sometimes I try to answer all, but other times I don't know what to say... But know that I read all comments!! Also, shotout to that bot that tried to scam me, I had no idea they existed at all! Haha!
Sometimes I recieve comments from Guests, but the other day I disabled Guest Comments because of a really weird one who kept appearing, so if it somehow happens, know that its because I am focused on my studies and can't aim my focus at the comment section, sorry!!
That's all what I wanted to say, thank you for reading, and I hope future chapters keep you entertained!!!
...
If any of my future employers read this, I do NOT approve of not respecting clinical trials, and experimentation on humans, and cannibalism, and all the horrible things I may write in the future, that is illegal and this is just fiction!!!!
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