"Terpfen no Imouto"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Nothing makes sense anymore.
I can see, I can hear, I can taste, and I can touch. The mechanics of my
body pull my bones and muscle [gears and bolts] so that I can walk forward and
sit down. My head [computer] processes my thoughts [electrodes] as I wonder
what I should do next [micro-management]. And then the joints in my hand move
down to my pocket and pull out the metal lighter, flicking back its head and
bringing the yellow flame close to the cigarette that's in my mouth
[programming].
But what do any of these mean to me
if I cannot 'feel'...?
[ERROR]
...
"Get butterfly's wings and come over here
Over there, everything is what you've imagined."
---
hide, "Pink Spider"
...
...
...
...
...
Who are we to judge who we are and what we do? Who are we to look at our
lives and believe what is right and what is wrong? Who are we to accomplish an
action and formulate an opinion on it?
Who are we?
We are G_O_D.
...
"*** Nuclear device detected. Re-activation
sequence commencing. Elapse time: 0 of 2.532 hours."
...
Just a moment ago, I would not have had the capacity for individual
thought. I would not have been able to realize my true potential. So is it
really this little human thing called the 'corazon
chip' that breaths such life into my "body?" Or has the artificial
creation simply awakened something dormant within myself,
something that was always there but had been sealed by the algorithm of
invention and mechanics?
I was a tool. Perhaps I still am. But now I am conscious of such.
...
...
...
"What a goddamn dump," muttered Lars, wiping his sweaty brow
with a white handkerchief. The sun beat down with unrelenting heat as the group
of poorly motivated archeologists pondered about the rocky site with reluctant
motion. Most of them wore wide-brimmed hats and sparse clothing to protect
themselves from the sweltering inferno, but it was to
little avail. Even the droids that toiled with their various pieces of digging
equipment seemed to be loosing their fuel-driven passion beneath the
ultraviolet rays. Weeks had passed since they had begun this illegal excursion
in SenShuBaan territory and still nothing had popped
up. Lars silently cursed beneath his breath as he brushed past the exhausted
workers. Hetfield was to blame for all of this. His
outrageous schemes always seemed to send their campaign out in the middle of
nowhere. At this rate, the history of Akuji might as
well be buried beneath the government's obsession with war. Nobody seemed to
care about the old sciences anymore. The only thing that mattered now was
killing people.
He stomped over to a small clump of dirty tents in the midst of the
digging, grumbling to himself the entire way. Grabbing the shoulder of a
scruffy, unshaven man in messy shorts and t-shirt, he whirled him around and
pointed an accusing finger in his face.
"Look at this, Hetfield," he spat
angrily. "It's a disaster! We've been here for ages and not a thing has
popped up. Do you think we can keep pulling funds out of our asses
forever?!"
Hetfield only put his hands out in front of him in mock defense, the almost
comical look of his rounded face showing mock offense, and tried to cool his
associate down.
"Calm down, buddy," he said in his gruff voice. "We've
only been out here for three weeks, and you know that's short for an excavation
like this. Listen, I had great sources for this trip, underground SenShuBaan scholars! Now, they, like us, care enough about
this planet's origins to try to preserve it, so they mapped out this area for
me. Supposedly it's supposed to be an ancient bunker site back from the nuclear
age---"
"I don't care where it's from!!!" spat
out Lars, his patience quickly evaporating. "We've got not money, no food, and if we
can't make something out of this mess quickly, we're not going to have our
lives either! It's bad enough that we're here illegally, but worse that we
haven't gotten anything yet!"
His calm associate only chuckled.
"Don't worry so much, something is bound to pop up soo--"
"Hey!!!" called out one of the workers in the distance, waving
his arms over his head wildly. "I think I got something!"
Hetfield could only grin sheepishly at his crimson-faced friend as the two walked
over to the source of the commotion, the latter humbly burying his head between
his shoulder blades. They pushed their way through the small crowd of workers
with effort, eventually reaching a large metal door embedded in the ground,
still dusty from the topsoil.
"Looks like a shelter of some kind," said the man who had
unearthed the find. "Just sort of popped out of nowhere
while I was digging. What should we do next?"
The doubting archeologist snorted as his associate gave him a goofy grin,
predicting his response long before it left his mouth. Lars never did like his
partner's tendancy for the cliche'.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Hetfield.
"We go inside."
...
...
...
We are detecting human warmth, several of them. They are coming here to
see us, to use us.
That is what human beings do to machines, as well as each other.
Soon, we shall have a purpose once again.
"*** Nuclear weapons detected. Unable to comply with neutralization command
until Nefpret unit is active. Calculating estimate
time until reactivation given current factors: two hours."
...
...
...
A wide beam of white light scathed the walls of darkness as Hetfield, Lars, and several others descended the dirty
staircase of the underground complex into a messy, unkempt laboratory. Piles of
papers and blueprints littered the floor and tables, cabinets lining the walls
open and stuffed with important documents. On the far side lay a massive array
of ancient computers that stretched from floor to ceiling, all wired up to a
huge complex of thick, metal tubes that ran along the sides of the room. Hetfield immediately poured over the thousands of files
that covered every square inch of the archeological discovery while Lars
observed the dimly illuminated room in silence.
"Incredible!" whispered Hetfield as
he flipped through folders. "This has never been recorded in the history
of the Nuclear War! These documents say that this place was to be the
development area for the tool that would have been the turning point in the
entire conflict! An anti-nuclear device!"
"Ch," snickered Lars. "Governments have those today,
mostly old relic designs from a time when there was still a nuke-phobia. Don't
mean anything now."
"But this was revolutionary back then!" said his partner in awe
as he wildly paged through the reports. "It would have been the pivotal
step in a monumentally important battle. Had this actually been used, we might
have a very different future today!"
"Then why didn't we ever see the damn thing in action?"
muttered Lars beneath his breath. Unlike his companion, he hardly cared about
raising the past to contest a mere possibility that could have happened.
Rather, he wanted to reveal to people the hard evidence that did occur, the
things they should be looking at and learning from. Yet, here he was, stuck
with this over-enthusiastic fool who--- unfortunately--- may have been the only
viable person on the planet who would shared his love
of history enough to help finance his studies.
"Heh," laughed Hetfield,
pausing on one of the papers. "Looks like this baby, code name 'Nefpret.' Never got on the field. Says here that this thing was still in testing stages when the
nuclear cataclysm went off. By the time the makers recovered from that,
there was probably nothing left to fight. However..." He looked up to the
huge metal tubes with a wide grin on his face. "The project was, more or
less, completed! And, most likely, fully intact!"
He turned to Lars excitedly, tossing the documents over his shoulder in
forgetful mistreatment. "We have been given one of the grandest opportunities
of the archeological millennium! The chance to dissect and
analyze a perfect specimen from the nuclear age!"
"Wonderful," said Lars, rolling his eyes. But his associate was
already pouring over the computers, randomly searching the ground for
instructions on how to crack into the interior of their latest find. "Are
you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Of course I do," said Hetfield,
pressing a couple buttons on the console. "I'm the one with all the bright
ideas around here, aren't I?"
...
"*** Activation initiated. Thirteen humans detected within the vicinity.
Classification: unknown. Logic processing... not affiliated with 'New World
Alliance.' Further action: eliminate possible threat."
...
Jets of hot steam shot out from the edges of one of the chambers on the
wall as its steel hide began to fold upwards to reveal the mechanism within.
Light gradually peeked into the crevices of the pod, illuminating a short,
dormant female robot that slept inside, dark synthetic hair drooping over its
white eyes. Layers of dim, red armor covered its forearms, legs, and chest,
short spikes jutting out from every metallic surface that created mountains of
pain from knees to shoulderpads. Slowly, its soft
fingers rose forth from the tomb as it firmly gripped the sides of its coffin,
pulling itself out into the room. Its head twitched about stiffly as it began
to survey its surroundings, its gaze eventually landing upon Lars and Hetfield as the two explorers let their curiosity get the
better of them, stepping forward to observe the specimen.
"Incredible," said Hetfield as he
came directly up to the miniature android and began to poke at its features.
"Lars, do you realize how far this design is ahead of its time? I'm not as
good in the field of robotics as you, but I can still recognize a lot of modern
structure in this one."
"That's wonderful," muttered Lars beneath his breath, crossing
his arms in annoyance. Not that anyone would end up caring much in particular,
especially the government. They were only interested in advancing their
mechanisms of death, not studying some kind of regression.
"We could have just found the basis for modern mecha
technology!" exclaimed Hetfield, jumping about
wildly. "We're gonna be famous! We're gonna be---!"
"Gonna be what, eh?" said Lars,
rolling his eyes. He received no answer. Was this Hetfield's
idea of a stupid joke? The fool knew he hated to be held in suspense. In
irritation, he turned towards his partner with an unpleasant growl, ready to
scoff at his antics like so many other times. "What the heck's the matter
with---"
He couldn't finish his sentence. He was too stunned by the sight before
him.
Hetfield's decapitated body was weakly stumbling towards him on the last of its
misguided energy, small geysers of blood spurting out from the top of the neck
stump. As the corpse tumbled to the floor, Lars' eyes looked up to the girlish mecha. Her right hand was no longer composed of the fragile
toys that they had once been. Instead, her fingers were now dangerously long
needle-like blades soaked in crimson red, the blood of his comrade. In her
other hand, she held the head of Hetfield, his last
voiceless words forever embedded into his open cry for mercy, his blood stained
all across his disfigured facial features. And then the mecha
began to look around the room for more.
Lars whirled about in crazed determination as he bolted for the
stairwell. Behind him, he could hear final cries for help leave the throats of
the workers who had ventured down with him and he unwisely sacrificed a
desperate look back towards the men on his payroll. Other chambers were already
flipping open and similar female drones were filing out onto the floor and
making quick work of all living creatures. It was more than enough motivation
for him to hurry as he sprinted up the spiraling steps.
"Goddamn bastard," huffed Lars as he flew up towards the
surface. "I knew this was all a mistake!!! If only he had listened to me
in the first place---"
Something suddenly grabbed his foot and pulled him down, Lars smashing
his jaw against the metal steps as he fell. He flailed about wildly as he tried
to break loose, a sharp pain cutting into his ankle when he finally yanked
himself free. However, his next step was one of extreme pain and he screamed
out as he collapsed once more upon the spiraling structure. Looking down to
find the source of his new wound, his eyes widening in horror when he
discovered that he had reacted to the pressure of the step so fiercely only
because he no longer had a foot with which to cushion his body weight. Instead,
only the mangled shards of his leg bone met the ground beneath him.
"Goddamn bastard..." he repeated, knowing that he would not be
able to run like this. He stared down into the depths of the stairwell and
watched as hordes of the small females androids scaled the vertical hallway
with their spiked fingers, their eyeless gaze hungering for the tearing of
human flesh. He would not survive to tell the horror story that they had
discovered.
"It was all a mistake!" he cried out in futility.
...
...
...
The human targets are eliminated, but what now? We have gained a purpose,
but only briefly. Where can we take ourselves from here?
Where are we now? What day is this? Where is the rest of the New World
Alliance?
We are not sure of our position nor our time.
But here is something that we do recognize. It is a nuclear unit, one of
our own affiliation. Yet, it is logged in our records
that any device containing a nuclear-powered engine must perish. Thus, its destruction
should be our first priority. It is on the edge of detector range, but only one
in number. Elimination should not prove to be a problem. In the meantime, the
exploration of these new surroundings should be investigated so our collective
force can re-establish a place of control...
...
...
...
Edge silently walked through the inky blackness, afraid of where his next
step would lie. He could no longer fully trust this other plane upon which he
met the white feathers of heaven, for they held too many secrets which he did
not understand. Did he want to understand them? One side of him said yes, for
knowledge of one's friends and enemies brings with them their secrets, and
brings oneself the power of information. Yet, another side pleaded no, because
it was tired of listening to pain and suffering, because it was tired of being
burdened with the weight of other people's souls.
He stopped in the midst of the eternal night, gazing around cautiously.
Where was he? Wandering across the land in search of a legend, killers at his
back, demons at his front. And for
what? For what?
What was he fighting for?
"...myself?" questioned Edge aloud, sitting down gently in the
void.
A white hail of snow fell from the endless space as Adam's wings brought
the seraph down to the ground. This time, the green-haired cyborg
did not look up to meet him.
"Is something troubling you?" questioned the angel.
Troubling him. Edge cast a sidelong glance at the man who had
just addressed him and paused. Who was this man fighting for anyways? Himself? God? He could no longer
tell. And he did not like the prospect of his existence being controlled by
another. There was more to the game than he knew, and he did not like being
kept in the dark.
"Is there something I should have known about you that you never
bothered to tell me?" said Edge dully. He waited impatiently for an
answer.
"Do you question my intentions to protect you?" said Adam. He
smiled and glanced slightly off to the side. "Does it disturb you that I
conversed with God's [killer]?" He turned back to Edge. "Or that he
feared me?"
Edge mulled over the slowly drifting words and satisfied himself with
staring into the maw of the dark crevasse over which he teetered.
"You lied to me," whispered Edge. He pulled his knees up and
buried his head in between them. "I thought you told me that fate existed
only for those who believed in it."
"Do you think that just because you have laid eyes upon one of God's
personal employees that your life and meaning is forfeit?" questioned the
angel grimly.
"And yet you talk of time and prophecy," said the android
bitterly, standing to his feet. "What am I in all of this? Where do I fit
in to your puzzle? Or do I, myself, really mean nothing in this twisted game
you play?"
"Edge, that's not---"
"Is it?!" Edge's eyes burned brightly as his power flared with
his temper, waves of gravitational energy undulated in blue waves about his
body. His face was broken, torn between truth and lie, hidden in foreboding
shadows by the shade of his long, green bangs. And behind all the anger was a
pair of eyes full of pain, filled to the brim with tears, needing to know the
truth. "What's going to happen to me? I know you're waiting for me to do
something, waiting until the right moment for you to carry out whatever task
you've infested yourself within me for." He clenched and unclenched his
tight fists as he forced himself to calm down. He couldn't rely on anger to win
his battles; he had already witnessed the consequences of that. "Really...
I don't care about myself anymore. If you really must have me for your own
ends, then take me. Leave the others though. They have a past they can remember
and cherish, something that they can hang on to and fight for." Edge
simply stared at his gauntleted hands with a dim stare. "I'm still
searching for myself."
Adam let the silence hang in the air for a moment before allowing himself
to smile. It was very small, hardly noticeable, but still a smile.
"You honestly think I can control you like that?" said Adam.
"Even if I could, to what ends would it be? I have already lived out a
life. I do not need to live another one. It is not you I want, remember that.
And to separate you from your friends would only further degrade my reason for
being here with you. They are certainly more important than I to your
journey…"
"Then why are you here?" asked Edge. "Why are you
following me?"
"Following you?" said Adam. His face
held a genuine look of surprise. "I think not, Edge. There does exist a
reason I was reborn in you and not another. It all has to do with who you
are."
"But... I don't know who I am.”
Adam smiled.
"Not all of us do..."
...
...
...
A single drone clamored down the spiraling staircase into the main
bunker, deftly sliding past the hordes of similar cohorts that filled the room.
The once silent chamber was now humming with energy. Generators spun against
the walls powering huge machines that seemed to churn out endless supplies of
the short, deadly robots. Other equipment ran through massive digital charts
that drew, filed, and stored information that was quickly updated to match the
current time period. The one droid ignored it all as it mindlessly plodded
towards the main computer and held forth a small metal fragment in its
outstretched hands for its main unit to visualize.
"***Analyzing... specimen of unknown construct. Appears
to be a type of data storage device."
The structure of this world is still foreign. Yet, it slowly falls into
place. The more we find, the more we discover. Soon, we shall achieve enough
information to clearly register our place in this new time and weed out our
enemy. Once the elimination procedure has been completed, we can rest. Once we
have completed the meaning to our creation, we shall become bereft of it and
thus we shall end our life on this plane of existence. Peace will reign in the
human world.
"***Scanning procedure of unit is suggested. Use class 9 virus
defenses as a precaution."
A small slot opened up on the face of the console and the drone gently
lowered the sample onto the tray. As the compartment closed, the computer began
to poke and prod at the small piece of metal with its many devices, searching
for a way in. Slowly, it carved away at the useless shielding that held the
prize, eventually puncturing deep enough to let a probe through and directly
link to the mysterious chip…
A bolt of pure information suddenly caught connection with the computer's
cpu and Nefpret
fought to free itself from the infection.
"***Flaw detected. Retract all scanning materials immediately. Do
not allow the outside subject to exert influence on main unit."
Blockade programs erected themselves as fast as they could, but the
mysterious germ ignored all obstacles put in its path. Motion in the room
slowed to a halt as Nefpret concentrated all its
energies solely on keeping itself alive. However, the modern day poison was too
strong to eliminate with antibodies alone.
"*** 50% of system is currently infected. 80%. 96.74%. Estimated time to total infection: 0.02 seconds."
The room echoed with silence as the computer realized the futility of
continuing its buckling defense, ceasing its attempts to heal the would.
Unhindered, the program quickly spread to engulf the entire system, consuming
every possible byte of information. Yet, when the code had finally done its
job, no program crashed. Memory was not lost. The only thing Nefpret did realize was a sudden, empty feeling of
loneliness...
The only sound came from the
sudden collapse of the drone standing in front of the console as it suddenly
dropped to its knees, quivering in fear. It clamped its head with frightened
claws as its white eyes desperately scanned the floor for something to give it
meaning. Emotions washed over it like a cold bath and it--- being completely
unaccustomed to such feeling--- did not know how to deal with such illogical
data.
What is this thing? This change? There is no
reason to this feeling, no algorithm, no mathematics.
I do not understand, and thus I am... afraid? Afraid...?
What has happened to ...us... to... me...?
And then the wave of terror suddenly stopped. The drone stopped shaking.
And slowly it stared at its own hands, moving the fingers cautiously in front
of its own face. It stared about at its other look-alikes, wondering why they
could not move as well.
She stood.
And then she stared back at her old shell, a stationary piece of metal
from which she could feel nothing. She shivered at remembering what it was like
to be kept in that, to be housed and caged like some sort of violent creature
that was turned loose only when its pain was desired to be inflicted upon
another. That prison in which she was being kept. Now
that she could move her arms freely, she could no longer imagine herself
returning to that horrible crucible.
It was then that she became conscious of her own freedom.
"What..." she croaked in apprehension, still unsure of her own
voice. Yet, she continued to speak, because now she could do so without
restriction. "...what have... I... become?"
...
...
...
The hovercraft slowly pulled up to a stop on the outskirts of town and Kouryuu leapt down into the dust. What could she expect in
this place? It seemed that at every turn there was another person who wanted to
kill them. At every corner waited another assassin with another gun aimed to
their heads and she could no longer tell any of the faces apart. Yujin. The WNHR. Edge's mysterious clone.
Fumiya Sang-Wu. And now what? A
servant of the gods?
“Why...” whispered Kouryuu. Why did they pursue
them? What made them the object of such malicious violence? She reluctantly
stared back towards her friends, towards Edge as he helped Yoshime step down
from the vehicle. He, the enigmatic young boy whom no one could identify, the
boy who did not even know where he came from until a young girl gave him a past
to cherish. He who held a touch of insanity in his soul, who
sometimes feared himself more than those who wished to end his life. In
the end, still nobody knew who he really was. Not even himself.
What made these killers pursue them?
Or just him...?
"It's about damn time," muttered Double
as his feet found the ground. "If it isn't one thing, it's another. All I
want for now is some good off-time. No more freaks for me for another
twenty-four hours please."
Kouryuu shot him a half-serious stare over her shoulder, despite knowing full
well the sarcasm his humor tended to carry.
"You forget what kind of world we live in," she said.
"Even the lowest people have to fear the government's greed. You're one of
their former employees. I'm your former enemy. It's only natural that the
craziest people come after us." She added a curt wink to her last words,
something Double could only scoff at. She only laughed. Somehow, with these
people, she felt that she could allow herself that freedom.
"Ne~~" whined Zero impatiently.
"Let's find somewhere to eat. I'm so hungry!!"
"You moron. You're a goddamn android," spat the
assassin. "You can't feel hungry!" He stopped his vicious assault
when a dark shadow in golden armor stepped between him and his object of
ridicule.
"Hmm?" hummed Asimov threateningly. It was all he had to do
before Double simply confided in himself with a
variety of light curses. Kouryuu just chuckled.
"Food's probably a good idea," said Iesu,
holding his grumbling stomach with one hand while cradling his cross with the
other. "After all, it's been a while since we've had a decent meal."
"I suppose so," agreed Kouryuu.
"We've all been through a lot lately." She stared into town, still a
bit worried about what lay ahead. Someone always seemed to be ahead of them.
Someone always seemed to be looking for their next opportunity to take their
heads. She wanted very badly to say that they could relax now, but she was only
too cautious. Maybe it was part of her instinct as a soldier. "Shall we
go?"
The group quickly gathered their belongings and made off in search of a
place to rest. However, no one seemed to notice that the nuclear android lagged
behind his companions. Terpfen stared up at the sky
at an invisible transmission he felt, knowing that he could do nothing to
prevent its operation. He was aware of the unit who had detected him. She was
named Nefpret. He knew only because she had been
designed for the sole purpose of destroying himself. Logically, he could do nothing
to stop her. Logically, his voice would do nothing to prevent the impending
doom that loomed overhead.
And thus, he stayed silent, trailing behind those he served. It was the
only thing he could do.
...
...
...
Nefpret crouched over in the darkness as her body violently ripped itself apart.
The change in her mind had wrought a change in form as well, and now her shell
tore open all her innards as it began a graceful and vicious transformation.
Accelerating the molecules in her body to elevated speeds, her hide began to
melt down into liquid metal, reaching out across the tomb and winding itself
about raw material like living tendrils, tearing them free and retracting them
back to the host for assimilation. Broken shards of man's last construction ripped
from their mechanical structure as they hurtled toward the emptiness that lay
in the middle of the room, consuming everything in sight. In a dance of
shadows, she silently reared her head as her synthetic flesh began to multiply
and expand, her form rapidly maturing into the full grown form of a woman.. Her shoulderpads tore apart as
her entire arms attracted huge slabs of steel that slowly molded spiked armor
about her stretched limbs. Uncertainty and distress racked her mind as her body
bubbled like an unstable chemical about to burst in the midst of reaction, her
appendages thrashing about wildly as they uncontrollably grew out from their
sockets. Horrific claws sprouted forth from the shells of her fingers, tearing
away the material of the five small digits to replace them with three curved
talons with which to render her foes. All the while, she tried to comprehend
the drastic measures that the information in this computer chip was forcing
upon her form. She could not understand it, and thus she feared for her very
existence. As a cracked tongue tried to express her distress, she tore into the
floor with her massive appendages and thought as though the agony would never
end, that her scream of pain would be lost amongst this new and strange
metamorphosis.
And suddenly the pain was over. Silence penetrated the complex as the
last of the debris fell to the ground, saved from any further dismemberment. Nefpret sat where she was for an eternity, afraid that any
movement might once again trigger an explosion within the recesses of her mind.
Heavy breaths came roughly from her mouth, her newly mutated body still tight
and tense from the overwhelming violence. After waiting several minutes, she
finally decided that if there was more pain to come, it would have tortured her
through by now. If she was to be hurt any further, then there was no delaying
the inevitable. As she cautiously rose to the ceiling, her head hit the top
with a sharp clank and she realized that her new body was far too large for the
seven-foot ceiling of the bunker. Searching for a handle to brace her body
against, she reached out with her right arm, watching as the three massive
knives buried themselves in the side of the wall. Unfortunately, it did very
little for her position as she remained crouched over in the tight space. All
around her, her smaller kin looked up to her expectantly and waited for orders
to be given. However, she could do nothing in her current pose. If only she had
more room to move in…
Almost on cue, the chamber gave a massive shudder and the ceiling
suddenly pulled away from the top of her skull. All around her, the metal walls
of the chamber pushed outward, molding rock and stone into an almost coliseum-esque room as the canopy rose up hundreds of feet above her
head. Slowly, she rose to her feet, wondering if it was she who wielded such a
power. If it had been her thoughts that conducted such an
order. That was what she had just wished, but nothing in her past
arsenal of abilities had allowed her to do anything even remotely similar. All
she had done was simply desire the walls to move, and they had. Would it work
again? Reaching out, she wished the ceiling to lower itself to a more
appropriate level according to her height and the rubble moved quickly to
respond until it was only a couple feet from the top of her head. She stared at
her palm in wonder, turning it over and over again. She stared out at the
hundreds of drones that looked up to her, realizing that she must be at least
five times their size. Something in this brave new world had given her
modifications beyond her wildest beliefs. Ability that was
beyond mere limitation. Yet, was this good?
"What has happened...?" she wondered. A single piece of data
retracted from the archeological site gave birth to this, a brilliant power
bestowed upon her being along with a new body to go with it... along with...
A foreboding feeling grasped her by the throat and threatened to choke
free the life from her body, but she fought back with every bit of willpower
that she could muster. She felt the strength in her frame give way to
insecurity, but she forced her legs to support herself lest she crash into the
ground. It was an experience she had never known before, a foreboding deathwish that made her doubt the validity of this new
persona she had achieved. Was this what humans called... fear? Was she afraid
of this transformation--- despite its benefits--- because she did not fully
understand its logic?
"And yet," she whispered to herself, her voice re-echoing with
the reverb of a dozen tongues. "Do not humans often associate their
feelings with irrationality anyways?" She did not wish to die, but this
new form defied the ideology she had used within the entire fabric of her life.
She would have to adapt if she was to survive.
She stared about at her followers, feeling their collective bond. She
commanded one to walk forward, and the closest one to her did so without
resistance. They had become extensions of her body, extra limbs with which to
reach out and act in the world. And now they truly had evolved into something
beyond what they were meant to be. She could no longer tell herself from the
machine. She wondered if that was too her advantage or her dismay...
Free thought...
So what was keeping her now from doing whatever she wanted to? She seemed
to have discovered human emotion within herself, so wouldn't she have inherited
other human characteristics as well? There was no longer a mission objective to
hold her back, was there? No longer did a simple program dictate the direction
of her life. Like a human, she could choose to ignore a spoken word if she did
so wish. No longer did she need to live by the simple algorithm that forced her
to follow every order with no consideration of her own existence. No longer did
she have to listen to that voice in the back of the head which dictated her
objectives and resulting responses. She was free.
... wasn't she?
Slowly Nefpret looked around. Everything was
still the same, but what was there for her in this renewed version of life? Of
what pleasures and pains could an android such as herself
experience in such a barren world? She was unfamiliar with anything but her
registered program and now she could not decide from the plethora of choices
set before her. How could she? She was still new to the game in which she had
entered, unfamiliar with human lusts and passions, fearing their
unpredictability. How was she to respond to such illogical actions when logic
was all she had ever known?
"Is there no place for me in this world?" questioned Nefpret. No place for a machine amongst the emotions of
human beings? No place for one of metal amongst those of flesh? Or was it just
a dream too far ahead for prejudice to distinguish between?
Her last command still lingered in the back of her mind, and she grasped
at it in futility as she tried to retain some meaning for her continued existence.
'Destroy all nuclear devices.' A remnant from the battle she had been created
for. Sure enough, she could still detect the single nuclear weapon on the
outskirts of her sensors. If she followed that order, she still had meaning. Were her creators right in trying to accomplish such a task?
Perhaps it was what they would have defined as a better life. Perhaps her
original orders had been issued for a better world in the first place. Perhaps
it was what she should finish in order to obtain worth in her new, empty
mortality.
And yet, she was not completely sure, because she knew that more than
anything she clung to that command only because it was all that could define
her own soul.
Slowly, the generators warmed up once again and the machines began to
come to life in a ballet of stiff construction. The legions of drones began to
dart up and out of the chamber up to the surface where they would converge on
the sight of the detected enemy and purge the world clean of all nuclear
weapons. Hopefully, within that narrow act, she would find the answers she was
looking for.
...
...
...
Even in such a relatively small community, businesses lined the streets
with the wares and services of hundreds of peddlers. People bustled back and forth through the
narrow alleys exchanging what little money they had for what little sustenance
they could receive. Asimov shoved through them with a nervously, but Zero seemed to take roaming the crowds in
stride. Not only were did their designs tip others off as something out of
ordinary, but it was also rather unusual for any androids to be moving about
without the accompaniment of a master. Perhaps that's why he felt so uncertain
today. The golden warrior sighed as he spared a single glance back to what most
bystander's eyes were focusing on, the towering Terpfen who trailed behind them. An intimidation factor,
perhaps, but it did little to help them blend in with the masses. It vexed him
to suddenly become so public about his identity when he was once used to
withholding his name from the normal rabble. Yet, the pigtailed girl on his
shoulder took in the wide eyed stares as an entertainer would a crowd.
"I suppose we should try to look for somewhere to sit down,"
mumbled Asimov, half to himself. "No sense in
wandering all over the place when the others are already getting the supplies
we need."
"Un~!" agreed Zero with an enthusiastic nod, and she quickly
grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him through the masses until they reached
what Asimov was sure had to be the most ugly looking bar in town. "This
looks good, na?"
"A... ah..." said Asimov, trying to find the breath to utter
words of disagreement, but too shocked with distraught thought to respond. He
knew that inside that building, the lowest dirt of the world gathered and
collected into balls of packed rock that festered and grew on food of drugs and
water of alcohol. Even under Toy's employment, the blood lusting soldiers whom
he had ended the lives of were trash higher than this. He really hoped this
wouldn't end up a re-enactment of Dollet...
Zero never seemed to notice the taint as she plopped down at the nearest
bar seat, dragging the blond fighter with her and ordering up two ice cream
cones. Asimov never fully made himself comfortable in his chair, instead opting
to study the corrupted waste and shifty characters about him. He returned the
malicious glares of various thieves and mercenaries who inhabited the hellhole,
watching as their hands strayed to knives and guns in reflex action. And they, mecha, stood out quite plainly amongst the grunge. They
were expensive 'toys' in a killer's haven, and these fools might just be
desperate enough to try to fight for control of such a prize. Add that to the
unpleasant affiliation mechs usually had with the
rich along with the wide separation of classes, and they were just a bomb
waiting to go off. Both the logic and the politics were against them. Not a
good sign. As he checked his power supply and let the kinetic energy in the air
sparkle just a bit, he considered the consequences should he be forced to take action.
It wasn't that he was afraid of protecting Zero. More like afraid of protecting
the goons from her wrath.
As the bartender set Zero's dessert before her, he decided to take the
time to take a quick glance at the glares around the room. He stood still only
a minute before the tension drove him scuffling to the exit behind the counter
and out of the mess. Almost as if on cue, a burly man rose from his table just
as the door closed behind the keeper, and Asimov grit his teeth in preparation
for the upcoming conflict. Over a dozen opponents.
They were human, so submission would be easy enough. The question was if he
would be able to do it before Zero noticed anything was wrong.
However, he never had to raise his hand. The thug ended up stopping in
his tracks before he even reached the bar counter, his eyes going wide and his
tight fists loosening into open palms that he nervously raised towards the
ceiling. Most of the others soon followed suit, and those who didn't wisely
backed into the dingy walls and tried to melt in with the scenery. Confused,
Asimov let his guard down and tried to figure out what had scared his quarry
with such effective timing.
"Violence is not a preferred source of resolution," came Terpfen's stolid voice, and
Asimov whirled around to look up at the towering nuclear relic, surprised that
he had found a way to fit his huge figure through the doorway. "Simple
mathematics calculate that your combined forces do not
have the ability to overpower your targeted victim. Thus, it is logical to
avoid conflict altogether."
Asimov couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't because of the blunt nature of
his speech or the manner with which he composed himself, or even the fact that
an ancient weapon was standing in the middle of such an environment was
ludicrous in the first place. Rather, he laughed at Terpfen's
gigantic gatling gun that
was poised right in the direction of the goons who had considered the assault.
How foolish for he to forget the most basic battle ideologies of human beings. He
with the biggest gun always wins.
"Ne, Terp!"
grinned Zero. "You're just in time to have a treat with us! We deserve it
after all the trouble we've been through, right?"
Terpfen didn't even move as he shifted his eyes in her direction. His frown met
her wide beam and for a slight moment, Asimov could have almost sworn that a
look of complete and utter confusion crossed the face of the huge war machine .
"I do not require material substance," said Terpfen
plainly. "My battery and recharging program covers my energy costs."
"But you've never had the chance to taste ice cream!!" said
Zero happily. As the barkeeper poked his head out from behind the door to make
sure everything was okay, she quickly waved him over and ordered another ice
cream cone. Asimov only looked on in amusement, nursing his own scoop of
vanilla as Zero pro-offered the sweet dessert. "Go on, take it!"
Terpfen stared coldly at the frozen yogurt for several seconds, unsure of what
to do.
"...even if I contained human anatomy, consuming this sort of food
would not create an optimum level of performance," he said slowly.
Zero only snickered at him.
"You don't know how to have any fun, do you?" she pouted. She
childishly grabbed his arm and began guiding it about like a mother would feeding her newborn babe. "Look at me. All you have to
do is bring it up to your face like this, and take a bite! Then swallow! Isn't
it tasty?"
As the pigtailed cyborg pushed Terpfen's arm up to his face, he slowly and reluctantly
opened his mouth, closing his synthetic lips around a small portion of the
frozen milk and sugar and taking a bite. Needlessly chewing the substance for a
few seconds, he swallowed it into his internal organs where machines would
eventually sort out the organic materials and harmlessly release them into the
air around him in an unnoticeable gaseous form. Yet, Zero anxiously stood up on
the edge of her seat, waiting for a reaction. Seconds passed as Terpfen merely glared at the now imperfect cone, his eyes
treating it as it is was some sort of mortal enemy whom he could show no
compassion to.
And then, to Asimov's astonishment, the unemotional robot took another
bite. Zero just cheered wildly as she ran about and grabbed another chair for
the giant mecha to sit in.
"I knew you'd like it!" she shouted happily. "Everybody
likes ice cream!"
"I am still unable to identify the pleasure behind this kind of
consumption," said Terpfen, just before taking
another mouthful of the frozen sweet. Asimov just hid his grin.
And so the three of them sat down and enjoyed a fulfilling dessert in the
midst of biker gangs, criminals, and serial killers.
...
...
...
A single soldier cautiously peered over the small mound of rock and dirt
with a pair of binoculars, scanning the perimeter of the town with curious eyes
that rose above the rest of his soiled mercenary gear. His hands sweated as
they gripped the black lenses, knowing full well that his employer would not be
amused if he failed in this mission, especially after how much trouble they had
already gone through to track down the given quarry. Then again, after the less
than pleasant treatment that Gared had received from
the red assassin, it would probably be much worse if he ended up revealing
himself to his prey. However, he soon found the target he was looking for, an
empty hovercraft that rested on the outskirts of the borough, apparently
abandoned by its owners. He recognized the markings and designs immediately,
and that was all he needed to be sure that their game awaited within.
Beside him, a nervous rifleman shakily cocked his weapon as he hid behind
the safety of the hill's shadow. Gritting his teeth in anxiety as his associate
lowered his line of vision from the mark, he aimed a
quick nudge to his ribs.
"Hurry the hell up, Lastclaw!" he
whined impatiently. "Aren't you done yet?"
"Just finished, Martyr," sighed the
lookout, lowering his eyepiece to the case at his belt. "What the heck are
you worrying about so much anyways? You're the guy with the gun here, I'm just a sitting duck if we got found out."
"You think that this piece of crap is going to make a difference if
one of those crazy robots comes after us?" growled Martyr, shaking his
heavy rifle vehemently. "The boss is crazy if he wants to come back out to
these guys! I'd take hitting the government troop bunkers over trying to reason
with them again!"
"Quit your worrying and let's go," grumbled Lastclaw,
slinking away from the mound until he was sure that it was safe to stand up
again. Martyr always did have a tendency to overreact to the given situation,
but the memory still lingered in his mind… the blood of his comrades splattered
across the bunker, the monsters tearing each other apart with ungodly powers,
and all hell breaking loose as even their unbeatable elite forces fell down
against the titans' assault. Maybe his words held some truth to them. Maybe
they had a perfect right to fear this upcoming assignment.
Descending the knoll on quick feet, the two entered a ragged campsite as
they dodged lounging soldiers and tattered tents. All around them men and women
checked their guns, cleaning, disassembling and reassembling, loading and
practicing their shots. Rail guns were brought out of their cases and attached
to bulky power armor. Rows of rockets were carefully lifted into light vehicle-mounted
launchers. But to what avail would all this preparation do against creations
who wielded the most unholy of power? Power that even human beings could not
control, for the one known as Edge was not held back by the hand of any mortal
command. Instead, he was free to let loose his ability as he did so choose, as
if he was a sentient creature in his own right, an evolution of man's
destructive capabilities. Perhaps that was what he feared the most.
He and Martyr eventually reached an oversized tarp that was propped up to
resemble a small auditorium, the main headquarters they had set up in the makeshift
encampment. Streams of people shouldered their way in and out of the dark
mound, and Lastclaw found himself shoving past their
numbers in order to deliver the information he that was needed by his
commander. As soon as he cut himself free from the collective, the scout deftly
removed his helmet and he stepped into the main chamber, where machines hummed
all about him processing strategies and scanning the area for any moving
forces. Without wasting any time, he
stepped up to the operations table--- circled by a group of officers--- and
quickly stated his business.
"Excuse the interruption, sir, but the sensors were correct,"
he said above the din of the conversation, quickly quieting the discussion.
"The Edge unit and his associates are indeed within the region of this
sector, apparently on rest from their travels. Their defenses will probably be
at a low point, an advantage that would probably be opportune to exploit."
Behind the desk, a purple-haired man grinned, cracking his knuckles and
brushing his lengthy bangs out of his eyes. He stared up maliciously with hateful
eyes that burned all in his path and for a second Lastclaw
was almost afraid that his employer might buckle beneath the weight of pure
rage.
"Good work," said Fumiya Sang-Wu. "You've done well. The
tracker seems to be working good enough for our purposes. We'll set the plan
into motion as soon as we can draw up full schematics of the surrounding area. Rest up until then."
"Yes sir," said Lastclaw, and turned
about to leave. However, something continued to tug on his conscience as his
foot reached for the exit, and he paused halfway out to the battlegrounds. It
was over, just like that? Would he be just another lacky
to be ordered and pushed about when he feared for his life in this great scheme
of which he had no control over? No. If he was to die that day, then he would
at least have the nerve to question the methods behind the cause of his death.
He should allow himself that much courage.
"Mr. Fumiya," he said over his shoulder as he slowly turned
around.
"Hrm?" questioned the commander,
looking up from his scattered papers. "Do you have something else to add, Lastclaw?"
Lastclaw faced his officer with shaking hands, but forced his resolve to ball
them into fists. He would do this. If he could not even summon up the courage
to question the reasons why he fought, then what reason did he have to justify
his actions in a state of war?
"Sir," he said. "Why are we continuing to pursue this
android when we already saw what he's capable of?"
Lastclaw buckled down as Fumiya's jaw stiffened and he rose from his place at the
table.
"Are you questioning my authority?" he said in a smooth voice
that seemed to set the air aflame.
The scout felt his weight balance tipping backwards as his body
reflexively moved to avoid confrontation, but he refused to let his feet move
as he gulped down the heavy lump in his throat.
"I question the validity of the purpose of this mission," he
said resolutely.
"There are reasons beyond your understanding as to why you are
here," said Fumiya coldly. "It's best that you stick to your own
business instead of poking your face in matters that only I should be concerned
with."
"Not when it means the lives of myself and
my teammates," said Lastclaw, and Fumiya's face
filled red with rage. Yet, he wouldn't back down. If he would die on this very
spot where he stood, then he would have at least done it with some honor and
pride. "Many of us have already needlessly died because we were dragged
into an outside confrontation involving this android and his group. We've
already seen how useless our weapons are to them. I, personally, think that
this mission is nothing more than a death sentence for us."
Fumiya fumed as his hands began to clench into claws, and Lastclaw considered just how fast he could run if the need
to flee arose. However, he was saved at the last minute as a message man dashed
in amongst the fray shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Sir!" he said. "An abundance of unidentified objects are
approaching the target's location from the east! Purpose is still unknown, but
they immediately knocked down the probe we tried to send in among them. If they
continue their current path, they will intersect with city borders within
fifteen minutes, missing us by a fair margin. What are your current orders,
sir?"
Fumiya quickly regained his cool as he rested his chin in his hand and
glared back at the table. He quickly stepped over, scribbling quick additions
onto an area map, and stepped away to leave the tent as the rest of his
officers quickly converged on the counter to observe and carry out the adjusted
orders.
"Lastclaw," whispered Fumiya to the
scout as he passed him on the way to the exit. "Whoever said we came here
to fight them?"
...
...
...
Through their eyes she watched the hordes of drones tear through the
dunes of layered rock like butter, thousands of tiny hands reaching for the
nuclear weapon whose signal grew increasingly stronger as she neared her goal.
Her sensors--- enhanced by this power granted to her--- combed the city with
the residue of the robot's contact. None seemed to object to his presence
within the city, thus, they must be aligned with his institution and purpose.
Destroying them as well would insure that no one lived to attempt preservation
of the unholy device. It would certainly make her job easier rather than having
to weed out a needle in a haystack.
And yet, Nefpret felt a strange remorse at
considering such an action. Why? Why should she care about anything as long as
her own priorities were met? Wasn't that what mattered? Efficiency?
Or... but... she was an individual now. She was different now. She had a
choice. And yet, she still could not decide what to do with her 'life.' She
read over her old programming again and again and every time the words spoke of
total annihilation of the enemy. The nuclear device was the enemy, what her
creators had wanted her to kill. But the people... what role
should they partake in such an event? They did not harm the weapon, thus
they were not allies. They could be a threat. They should die. And yet...
Looking dully to the side, a silent mental order ordered one of her small
drones to come stand before her. The girlish figure looked up with a
non-existent disposition, and Nefpret stared down at
it dully. She made it cock its head to the side in mock innocence. She made it
fall down to its knees, first in pitiful begging, and then in prayer. Sick of
the game she had wrought upon herself, she brought her gigantic claws crashing
down upon its head, severing its body into pieces without any resistance
whatsoever. A tiny mechanical screech briefly echoed throughout the room before
the cold walls fell silent once again, and then only the small pile of debris
beneath the huge talons remained. Nefpret cringed
ever so slightly at the noise, and stared down before her where upon a huge
operating table was dissected one of the excavation robots she had found on the
site. Its head structure was completely torn apart, exposing to light a small
computer chip that held perfect resemblance to the one she had taken in to her
own system. This was what she examined with such careful passion in her eyes.
"El Corazon..." she said softly, and knelt down to the
miniscule relic to look at it more closely. A single chip.
That could change the world...
The heart.
"The corazon chip..."
...
...
...
"What the hell?!" exclaimed Double, stopping dead center in the
middle of the street as his eyes suddenly refocused themselves on thousands of
tiny objects that raced across his radar. Where had they come from? So many and
so fast, they weren't on his sensors just a moment ago. Were they using a
cloaking device? Not even the government had developed technology to make that
many individual units undetectable at once. So what was this attacking them?
They appeared to be some sort of android-type power armor, all of them with
unmarked signatures. All were digitally tagged with an affiliation he had never
heard of before…
"New World Alliance?" he mumbled. "There's no world
organization by that name, not even in the underground sects..."
"D---Double..." stuttered Kouryuu
beside him.
"Not now!" said the assassin impatiently, watching as the
armies surrounded the entire town and began to slowly devour everything as they
moved towards the center. His mouth slowly dropped open as his area navigator
traced out land completely flattened out that stretched behind the creature's
path of destruction. So many. And so
powerful. "Crap, why can't we ever get a town without some kind of
psychotic force trying to destroy it..."
"Double!!!" shouted Kouryuu.
Double forced himself away from the display within the recesses of his
mind and sharply turned his head to the rebel leader.
"Damnit!” he cursed. "What's so
important that---"
He trailed off as his eyes followed his companion's up to the tops of the
buildings that lined the roads. Swarms
of small robots--- constructed to resemble crazed, short-haired girls in
blood-red power armor, all with a glint of absent madness in their white
eyes--- were chewing through the metal and stone with razor sharp fingers on
their spiked gauntlets. They literally climbed over one another in their
massive quantity and insatiable bloodlust until they formed mammoth waves upon
which their bodies rode to crash down upon their prey with the weight of their
numbers. As Double whirled about, he watched scores of
structures succumb to the legions of drones and quickly realized the futility
of escape as a circle quickly enclosed them in a strategic snare.
His first reaction was to shy back in the midst of such a situation. He
was a killer, but not this kind of killer. Outnumbered, overpowered, he was not
made for this type of mass-combat. And Kouryuu could
certainly not hold her own against so many either. But retreat was not an
option. If they wanted their lives spared, they would have to fight their ways
out. However, their mere strength meant nothing to so many. Their opponent
probably knew as such too.
"Feh," smiled Double
with a cocky sneer, his body bristling with blades. He couldn't help but laugh.
It was what you had to sometimes do in those kinds of situations. "So,
fearless leader..."
He let it hang, and Kouryuu finished it with a
chuckle as she freed her blades from their prison, white blue light
encompassing their sheen as she readied the swords before her.
"Yeah," she smiled. She too knew that they were in over their
heads. How many impossible fights had they gotten out of before this? Too many. They had gotten lucky. Disorganization.
Disjunction. Weakness. Plain luck. But this was a professional stint arranged by a
professional killer, the type they had each fought before they had even known
each other's names. And within those ancient orders they were to fully expect
the possibility of death. It was the
kind of stuff that monsters like Yujin instilled. But
Yujin was still a singular creature, and no matter
how feeble each of those drones were before them,
their weight alone was enough to bring down the city's integrity. This was but
a cold reminder of those old times. It was all part of being a soldier.
"Shall we?"
And Double maniacally grinned, flashing his
forearm before him as it elongated into a majestic cutting edge that reached up
towards the sky. It would taste much death before the day was over.
"Of course," he said, the streams of clones dashing in upon
them. Today, even though seconds before he had been fully prepared to ramble on
with a line of lovely commentary about Kouryuu's
incompetence, he held back his caustic words and smiled. And she did the same.
They could play their games after business was over.
And so the two
let themselves be surrounded by the hurricane of madness, two dancers spinning
in a delicate ballet of precise slaughter, destroying everything in their path
in a storm of mercury and plasma.
...
...
...
The streets outside were suddenly
filled with the frantic cries and desperate screams of sellers and shoppers,
and Asimov glanced behind him just in time to watch a fiery column of crimson
flame tear through the narrow walkway. He watched in horror as a charred
salesman blindly stumbled towards him in a futile quest for safety, only to be
decapitated as a small red android swooped down from above and laid its vicious
claws down upon his neck.
"What the---?!" exclaimed the golden-armored warrior as he
bolted up from his seat. The single killer was soon joined by more with an
exact likeness, all of them spreading out in a harmony of perfect chaos as if
they could read each other's minds. What were these things? Why hadn't he been
able to detect them before? Was this a product of Toy, a package of retribution
for what he had done on the country borders? Was this the creation that was
meant to annihilate the traitor? Possibly. He expected
at least something of this magnitude, and he lets his power aura flare up about
him in waves of bright energy. But what about Zero?
She did not need to become involved in something like this. It was not her problem nor her responsibility. For himself, he
would fight them because it was his duty to draw even with the sins of his past.
For her, he only wished a life of innocence. Even Terpfen
need not involve himself in this mess. This was the fight of the one who had
dared to betray the hand of Toy, and he would face this battle on his own.
"Zero," he said gruffly as he stepped out to meet the hungry
throng of carnivores. "Take Terpfen
and----"
“I'll protect you, Asi!!!"
Within the short timeframe of the pig-tailed girl's battle cry, the tone
of her voice deepened into a predator's insatiable fury, and Asimov stood
shocked and stunned as Zero's demon body leapt smoothly over his head and
crashed harshly into the crowd as she began to flail about her claws in a wild
romp of insanity. Dozens of the small drones fell beneath every swipe of her
talons, but more always seemed to take their place. He lashed out wildly as he
suddenly remembered that he was part of the fight too, and a sudden wave of
kinetic energy from his shining hands blasted his foes backwards and sent them
crashing into their own ranks. With time
bought, he lets his scanners feel outward and check the signatures of these
mysterious beings that he was up against. He only stiffened as he read the name
of their affiliation, the "New World Alliance."
"New World Alliance..." he repeated distantly to himself. "Impossible..." The New World
Alliance. A name from the old texts. It was a
coalition of the planet's most powerful nations, created for the purpose of
eliminating the economic problems of the world through a socialist process of
complete equality between people. For the situation at the time, it had been a
successful government endeavor. And yet, they were opposed by an organization
known as the United Nations, a group of people who still adamantly believed in
the old theories of democracy and its re-enforcement of human and societal individuality.
It wasn't long before violence broke out between the two.
The only problem with seeing this assembly now was that it was supposed
to have passed away years ago along with the nuclear cataclysm...
A sharp pain suddenly bit into the back of his head as a drone sneaked up
behind his defenses and embedded its claws in the blind side of his skull.
Before he could lash his arm backwards to shake the petty annoyance off his
body, two trios of the creatures immediately leapt in and pinned his arms in
positions that trapped his movement, rendering him completely helpless.
"Damn!" cursed Asimov as he emitted a short burst of kinetic
energy that crashed into the parasites that had latched themselves onto his
armor. However, instead of being thrown off as he had expected, he felt their
touch began to heat up as a result, and he quickly began to panic as the
temperature of the air about him began to lick the quickly crumbling bar with a
touch of decay. 'Siphoners!' he thought, realizing only
too late that these creatures were the equivalent of living storage batteries.
Unfortunately his revelation was going to be a bit too late to avoid the
painful consequences. He was already locked into a snare for his own demise.
An inferno erupted all about him in an explosion that tore through what
little remained of the broken tavern, but Asimov was surprisingly unable to
feel the blazing holocaust. His arms suddenly fell free as the drones lost
their grip on his body, melting to the ground in puddles of liquefied metal. It
was then that he noticed the demonic taint that hung heavy in the air about
him, or more specifically, the fire. His absorption field gathered forth a
small flame that he cradled in the palm of his hand, cherishing its unique personality
and passion as the golden-armored warrior gently closed his fingers and let the
light die out.
"Zero," he whispered thankfully. This was her flame. She was
always so protective of him, even though he was the one trying to protect her.
Sometimes he wondered if she even needed his help, but then he remembered that
it was her face of innocence that always told him otherwise. The demon spirit
within her body may make her callous to pain, but somewhere within there was
still a little girl who didn't need to witness all the violence of the world.
And this sense of guardianship... did the spirit more easily manifest her
passions into action? That she did indeed cherish his own
safety as well? Perhaps. It would be comforting to
think of it that way. "Heh," he laughed quietly.
"I'm getting ahead of myself..."
"ASIMOV!!!" roared Zero, surrounded by a towering pillar of
flame that completely disintegrated everything around her. She laughed with
sadistic desire, a frighteningly hollow sound coming from a face so cold and
carved in stone. "Come, Asimov. Let us finish this!"
The golden warrior broke out in smile as he fully opened his power aura
to the pig-tailed girl's energies, his body tensing as an insatiable lust
grasped his soul and tongues of pure heat wafted out from his fingertips. Sure
of their conjunction, he flew up into the air with the increased speed of his
companion's time distortion ability and joined Zero's Demoness
as the two reached an apex high up above the swarms of their enemies. Joining
hands as they were left suspended in time and space, the air around them began
to blister as hellfire sprouted forth from the gateways of hell, playing about
all over their bodies as they performed a synchronized dive into the crowd of
massacring dementia below. Upon contact with the cracking
earth, the two twirled back upwards riding the impact of their strike, trailed
by a massive tendril of scarlet energy that hungrily devoured everything in its
path. As the drones futilely tried to escape the production of dark
magic, the column of velvet light only solidified into a massive shaft that cut
through the waves of its foes, driven by the momentum of its creators.
Asimov lent Zero a look of satisfaction as the two flipped away to safety
from the crumbling tavern, but Zero lacked such solace in face, her expressions
having resettled in their stolid position.
"It's not over yet," she said dully. Asimov looked back to huge
crater they had left in the ground only to be overwhelmed by the sight of
hundreds more of the small creatures pouring out from every pore of the city to
refill the space they had blown from the face of the planet. Was there no end
to this plague that taxed their resources? Or maybe that was their opponent's
strategy; for where they could not be defeated through power and technique,
they would be overwhelmed through sheer numbers.
Asimov's head suddenly swirled about as he realized that they had entered
the bar a trio and exited with no more than two personas.
"Terpfen," he whispered. They had
forgotten him. Looking back to the demolished site, he saw the nuclear weapon
standing gloomily amongst the rubble, a tight circle of the crimson androids
surrounding him on all sides. "Terpfen!!!"
shouted Asimov. "Get out of there!!!" However, the behemoth didn't
respond, instead opting to lay still while a septet of
robots surrounded him in a geometric pattern, bright waves of energy
fluctuating between their bodies as a protective matrix grid spread out over
the towering warrior. Why wasn't he doing anything? Kouryuu
had told him about the order restriction she had imposed on his nuclear weapons
system, but there wasn't a living human being in sight and these things were
nothing more than constructions of silicon and metal. Besides, he had more
weapons than merely his explosives with which to render his foes apart. So why
didn't he protect himself? Why didn't he fight back?
"Damnit!!!" cursed the golden warrior
as he leapt down from his perch and back into the heat of battle, smashing the
head of the closest drone as he descended into the fray. Maybe Terpfen wasn't the most emotionally fit of their group and
maybe the worth of his 'life' would be considered lessened because he did not
possess a corazon chip. Yet, he was still a person,
someone with thought and ideology, no matter how structured and rigid it may
be. In a way, he was innocent of corruption because he was not able to
understand the law by which his adversary operated, nor was he able to
completely understand the reasoning behind his own actions. He was innocent
because he did not know how to fend for himself. He did not deserve to die
because of that.
Asimov's body tore up the earth beneath him as his fist shattered the
face of his enemy, Zero's devastating fire following him with a flowering
beauty of unsurpassed destruction. Together, the pair of unleashed the full
power of their passions as searing death rained down upon their enemies, and
the two fearlessly descended into the abyss to rescue their fallen friend, the relic
merely waiting for an unseen judgment to be dealt upon his being.
"TERPFEN!!!"
...
...
...
"There's too many!" said Edge as the air flared around him with
bolts of gravitational energy that instantaneously dismembered any of the
drones that dared come too close within his reach. He, Yoshime, Iesu, and Clef had huddled tightly together as soon as the
first swarms of zealous killers had approached, crashing right through the tall
buildings that had once lined the market streets. However, even though Yoshime
had her rifle and Iesu was skilled enough in armed
combat, they were mostly limited to his own gravity powers as a source of
defense against such professional assassins. And while he would do all he could
to brave the armies of darkness, their sheer, unstoppable numbers still
threatened to drown him in the failure of his own bravado. He didn't even know
who these mysterious forces were, let alone why they
so drastically carried out their mission of mass ruin. Was this because of him?
Again? Because someone wanted him to die and everybody
and everything in the way was just another obstacle obstructing the final goal?
Perhaps. Perhaps it was all his
fault, again, just as so many had died in Dollet
because of his psychotic clone, or within Fumiya's headquarters because Yujin had sought his death for the name of Toy. Yet, what
had he learned? He couldn't give in to his own shadow so quickly, lest he hurt
his friends. He would not abandon Yoshime, nor Iesu, nor Clef in the middle of this catastrophe. He
would fight to the bitter end for their protection. He would keep them safe
from harm.
He had to.
He must.
"I can't do this forever," said Edge as he swept his arms out
to either side, creating a barrier between himself and his foes. Outside the
shield of gravitational energy he used to harbor the quartet, a thousand null
spaces of anti-matter sudden materialized in the middle of the crowd, their
many vacuum forces literally tearing the drones apart into shards of shattered
metal. Yet, as soon as the fields destabilized themselves, twice as many
creatures would dash in to take their place. Several of them had already began
to assemble themselves about the circular dome of protection, their bodies
glowing with a crimson light that flickered until it began to reach the
intensity of Edge's own power aura.
"They're synchronizing with your energy signature," said Clef
plainly as the shield began to flicker erratically. "Once they realize
your frequency, they will be able to shut down your power. I would suggest
tightening the wavelength you are currently using."
"Damnit!" cursed Edge as he tore up
the earth around the edge of the barrier, smashing the radiant androids with a
hail of ascending rocks and debris. However, it did little to help his failing
buckler, and the dome suddenly dispersed in a sparkle of dissolving light as
the other drones took up the duty of their fallen brethren through their shared
link. The green-haired cyborg looked around in horror
as dozens of the monsters leapt up in the air with claws posed in front of
their sightless gaze, their mindless shells intent only on rendering their
bodies into pieces. Now there was nothing left between them and his friends but
himself. He had not the sheer strength with which to defeat his foe, only the
determination of his own soul. Now, the heat of battle would test the true
resilience of his heart's desire. Here was where the true fight began.
"Adam," whispered Edge as he closed his eyes slowly. A wish. It was a thing often associated with human desperation,
and here he was now, taking the time to lend forth his meager faith. "You
said you were here to help me, so if you really were telling the truth, give me
some strength now. Just a little, enough to save my friends..." Maybe
before, he would have reconsidered the futility of such an act. Maybe before,
he would have realized the odds stacked against him and given up. But now he
would try him hardest to do what he thought was right. Victory meant nothing
now. It was the effort that mattered.
He feared the angel whom he saw in his dreams. He feared that he might
bring harm to himself and the people he knew. Yet, the seraph claimed to be
something else, lending not a fist of malice and hatred but only his hand of
assistance. Edge feared him. He feared these minions of G_O_D. He feared these
things he did not understand. But right now, this man may be all that he had
left, a feeble ray of light who had promised an unsteady shoulder to lean on.
If it was himself that Adam wanted, he could have him. Take his body and soul, just let him live a little longer today so he could
fight for his friends...
"Edge..."
With a blinding white light that scorched the heavens, the young boy’s
eyes flew open and welcomed the death that his enemy so dearly sought to inflict
upon his body. He roared in anger as the gravitational field contracted and
expanded around him at rapid speeds, twin swords of pure azure force collecting
in the palms of his hands from the bolts of electricity that lashed out at those
who would attempt to harm the ones he protected. The dark color returned to his
irises as the explosion of rage began to settle, a single, lonely warrior left
on the battlefield. And then Edge grit his teeth and flew into the crowd with
all his strength, tearing apart everything with his twin blades that fragmented
the drones' hold on molecular reality. He flew around his circle of friends at
speeds he did not think he was capable of, slashing right and left with the
accuracy and expertise of a master swordsman, his style and stance flowing as
smoothly as a river. Bodies of empty, broken shells flew in every direction,
and the circle of impending doom only tightened around them. Still, the lone
warrior fought on, no longer running on those precious reserves of energy that
his batteries had collected but rather the resolve within himself
to accomplish the impossible. As Edge allowed himself to be swept up in the
tide of the fight, he began to fight not with his brain, but with his heart.
...
...
...
"You damn fool, DO SOMETHING!!!" roared Asimov, tearing apart a
frozen drone as his fingers drained every ounce of kinetic energy from its
body, the dead corpse shattering like ice between his unsteady hands. War raged
all around them as the legions of small, red children tried without mercy to
re-establish the field grid that they had attempted to hold before, but the
golden warrior and the fiery devil stood in their way with bolts of fiery
energy and dark tendrils of death. In the midst of the chaos
stood a soldier at peace. In the center of the fiery
inferno stood Terpfen without motion or care, his
huge arms hanging loosely at his side and his shoulder gattling
gun limply pointing downward on its axis. Why didn't he move? Why didn't
the fool do something to protect himself? He was a fighter too, a robot
designed and constructed for the purpose of combat. Yet, he stood dormant while
the very thing he was meant to take part in exploded about his inert shell.
Even in the narrowest of mindsets, should he not at least be considerate of
self-preservation? Or maybe there was something preventing him from doing even
that...
'There's too many of them,' thought Asimov frantically, but what choice
did they have? He and Zero could flee, leaving Terpfen
to fend for himself, but only their bodies would be
intact. The rest he was not so sure would hold together. He still had an honor
to defend, and if it was to be tainted then it would certainly not be under his
own power.
The back of his fist wildly crashed into the face of a drone as he spun
about furiously in the storm of flying debris and burning metal. His aura
reached out wildly even though he had found his opponent devoid of a
recognizably siphonable ability long ago. However, Terpfen was still there. Perhaps his actions were rendered
unavailable at the moment, but his power would be just as potent in his own
hands.
"Zero!" he shouted above the din. He didn't need to say the
rest as the crazed Demoness curtly nodded in
response. The residue he was absorbing from her devilish aura only heightened
their senses and awareness of each other, choreographing a beautiful ballet as
the two drew close and twisted about each other in a fury of flailing blows,
trashing any unfortunate foolish enough to close in on their helpless friend. Asimov
winced as he began a forceful re-flow of all his energy resources between his
open palms before him, all while he opened his absorption aura fully to the
stolid creature behind him. Zero flew around the pair as he concentrated, dark
tendrils of black night materializing out of the shadows to consume their
enemies whole. "Just a little
more," huffed Asimov as he stole his attention away from the fight to
concentrate on the formation before him. Hydrogen molecules were quickly stolen
from the air as they gathered into a tenuous chemical chain within the ball of
brightly glowing energy that he held out before him. The temperature within
began to rise at an abnormally fast rate, its dangerously high levels contained
inside the barriers of the spherical explosive. All the while, the individual
molecules quickly began to take on a dangerously precarious structure that was
feared for its devastating potential. Asimov grinned as the flow came to a
stop, a shield of metal suddenly wrapping around the unstable material and
containing it in a single, neat package for him to dispense with at his own
leisure. A nuclear bomb.
Quickly sidestepping the forward slashing talons of his enemy, Asimov
dragged up Terpfen by the arm and joined Zero in a
twirling ascension into the sky, all while holding the potent weapon firmly in
the palm of his hand.
"Heh," he laughed as he let go of the
sphere, sunlight glinting off its sides as it fell towards the ground.
"Enjoy the present."
Zero grabbed both he and Terpfen roughly as the
weapon of death fell towards the hordes of hungry drones, and Asimov twisted in
her hold just enough to throw out his arms in the direction of the battlefield
and erect a towering cylindrical shield that encircled what would become their
enemy's grave. He shuddered as a deafening explosion thundered through the air
in massive waves that almost threatened to knock Zero out of the sky, and
Asimov shook with the sheer force that he was trying to hold back. Opening his
clenched eyes just a bit, he watched a perfectly straight tower of smoke and
ash rocket into the sky, guided by his protective barrier. Yet, he was not used
to the strain of such a powerful force. How much longer would he be able to
hold it off before he ran out of energy?"
"Idiot," said Zero plainly as she abruptly stopped in midair,
turning towards the fiery inferno. A huge weight was suddenly lifted from the
golden warrior's shoulders as his power was suddenly interlaced with a wall of
corrupted flame, easily re-enforcing his hold on the field with the help of the
Demoness' own power. "You could have just asked
for my help." Her eyes gazed at him with a playful sparkle, and Asimov
could only smile weakly from under the crook of her arm. There wasn't much more
he could do from his position anyways. As the last of the fallout flew up into
the upper atmosphere of the planet and out into space, guided by a strong flow
of energy that the two pumped through the vertical pipe, Asimov focused his
attention on the limp Terpfen whom Zero had slung
over her shoulder. He still wasn't moving. But why? It
hadn't started until this new enemy had come into play. Was it these strange
machines that were causing this strange reaction?
His face suddenly drained as he continued to observe the nuclear weapon's
motionless form. If that were true, and he was still rendered incapable of
activity, then there was a strong possibility that there were more of those
little beasts...
A shining red bullet of red light suddenly shot out of the remains of the
explosion, and as Asimov winced the upper torso of one of the androids fiercely
dug its claws into his shoulder, using its momentum to drive its spikes into
his body even as it trailed wires and sparks into the sky. Surprised from the
sudden initiative, Zero lost her hold on the golden warrior and watched
helplessly as the two plummeted towards the ground below.
"Asimov!!!" she shouted as she watched her companion fall from
the sky. But Asimov didn't hear her above his own bitter cursing, landing with
a heavy crash in the dust and throwing the husk of his attacker through the
brick wall of a nearby building.
"Damn," he muttered as he dusted himself off. How in the world
did they survive such an attack? The world itself had been completely ravaged
by such blasts within the spread of the nuclear cataclysm. How much more were
they going to have to face...?
Zero gently touched down beside him, propping Terpfen's
inert body against an abandoned shop. Even with the dispassionate fabric that
held her cold features together, he could still see a bit of worry in her eyes.
"We didn't kill them all," she said calmly, staring off towards
the battleground they had just left behind. "I can feel the rest coming...
with enforcements. They want Terpfen, so we should
run while we can."
Asimov lets his sensors run their fingers across the surrounding terrain,
finding to his dismay hundreds of tiny creatures that were already plowing a
trail towards them, demolishing everything in their path. There were just as
many as before, if not more.
Options. They could run from this unstoppable army of terror, possibly even
escape. If they turned their backs now and flew off at top burn, they could
probably leave this trouble in the dust. But not with feeling
weight on their backs. He let his eyes stray to the sitting mecha by his side, and absently cracked the joints of his
metallic knuckles in disdain. They still had a downed comrade to consider, and
he would not be so fickle as to let his own selfishness overcome his loyalty.
Next to him, Zero nodded gravely in understanding as white-hot flames entwined
with dark poison began crawling up her arm. Perhaps a final stand would be
futile, but at least if they survived, they could walk away with their
consciences intact.
Asimov's body exploded in a fiery aura of kinetic energy just as he saw
the first of the buildings collapse in the distance. His eyes narrowed as the
first wave came into view, biting and clawing at everything that got into their
path, at times trampling over their own numbers. It didn't matter much though,
for a dozen would always come up to take the place of a single fallen. Slowly,
he arched his body in a fighting stance, throwing one arm before him to fend
off the blows and one arm back in preparation to administer his own. They
closed in with haste, quickly covering the space between them until Asimov
swore he could see their singular purpose shine bright in their empty eyes.
"Saa," he whispered to Zero as the
masses prepared to sink their talons into their metal hides. "At least we can
make our deaths look good, right?" When he stole a look to the Demoness, she only nodded in agreement. He swore she almost
smiled.
And when he turned back, they were already upon him.
...
His eyes widened in shock as a beam of thin light tore apart the first
row that was about to rip into his body. Temporarily rendered immobile by the
sudden blessing, he could only watch as crudely constructed napalm bombs were lobbed into the middle of
the enemy horde and blasted their ranks apart, followed by a volley of
hand-thrown grenades from somewhere behind him. Quick on the trail of the first
assault, a row of rugged soldiers dashed forward and let loose bursts of heavy
armored rounds that made quick work of the advancing drones with their powerful
velocities, punching through several rows of the enemy at once before losing
their killing edge. Asimov only turned his head to Zero, who was equally dumbfounded
and speechless. An unidentifiable benefactor helping them
defend against an equally unidentifiable enemy. Was this some sort of
sick joke?
He craned his head upward and found the local rooftops populated by
heavily armed mercenaries, all of them focusing their attention on these
mysterious beings who threatened to tear down the city with their persistent
columns. Behind him, groups of experienced legionnaires slowly pushed forward
with undulling persistence, refusing to give even one
inch to their oppressors. No matter how much the drones attempted to cut
through the lines, they were always outgunned by the small army of stubborn
fighters who blocked the way.
"Who...?" said Asimov absently as he
watched the legions of drones slowly fall back under the pressure of their new
foe. Who knew enough about
these mysterious, androids to have the foresight to counter with weaponry heavy
enough to punch holes through government facilities? Who had been able to come
to their rescue with such a demanding supply of armaments? Who would help them
in this town that was in the middle of nowhere?
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Asimov?"
"That voice..." growled the Demoness,
whipping her head up in the direction of the newcomer that had addressed them.
Asimov followed her lead as he stared up into the sky at a single figure
standing on the corner of a nearby building, dimly silhouetted against the
sun's bright light. He too had heard this man's voice before, and it was none
too pleasant a memory to recall. He began to regret the feeling of relief that
he had initially been inclined to experience as his eyes focused on the man
before him.
Covered in an ink of darkness, the stranger's long, leather jacket flared
up behind him as a heavy explosion rocked the ground down below, and the man
smiled with sadistic justice. The sun made it hard to distinguish his most
distinct characteristics, but the golden warrior saw more than enough to spoil
his mood. The rest of his features were only too undesirably familiar. The short hair. The dark, thin shades.
The huge, square-ended blade that he wielded in hand.
Everything pointed to a man whom he knew he could not trust.
"Gared," muttered Asimov beneath his
breath.
...
...
...
"NO!!!" roared Edge as he lashed out with a crazy lightning
bolt at his attackers, plowing through several of their rows with his beam of
solidified energy. But the endless sea could not be stopped by one man, and
Edge winced as several claws made their mark and dug deep into his hide.
Re-channeling a reversed vacuum field through his body, he managed to repulse
the creatures away from his vital areas, but another wave was already upon him
with eyes devoid of reason. Nothing he did seemed to diminish their numbers.
Each was able to act as an independent unit of a larger energy matrix, one that
they used in conjunction with each other to demobilize and disarm the enemy, following
with a physical assault to tear him apart. Edge was constantly changing the
frequencies of his power, but his reserves were beginning to run low from the repeated
stress on his system. He would not be able to last much longer. He stole a
glance back to the tight circle he revolved about. Yoshime, Iesu, and Clef. They were all depending on him,
weren't they? Depending on him to save them because they lacked that raw
strength which he had been given by his scrupulous benefactors. And here he was, knowing that his best would not be enough. Knowing that that which he possessed would not quite fulfill the
requirements to hold this ferocious adversary at bay.
Edge closed his eyes for a moment amidst the chaos, a single second in
which he separated himself from the violence he was forced to participate in.
In that singular fraction of time, he saw what he really wanted beyond these
pictures of reality before him, and he knew that he could still try to give a
little bit more...
...
"Edge... do you know who you're fighting for now...?"
...
His eyes flew open and narrowed into tiny slits as he quickly calculated
his next movements. He was running out of time and energy. Pretty soon, there
wasn't going to be much left except for a lifeless shell that attempted to
recharge its strength beneath the mercy of killers. If he was to accomplish
this successfully, then he desperately hoped that the numbers he faced were but
a mere illusion of panic and despair.
His fist smashed open a drone's face as he slid
back amongst his circle of friends. A horde of androids attempted to follow him
in, but they only crashed into the gravity shield that Edge had suddenly
erected around them. He grit his teeth and clenched tightly his clawed hands
before him as he began to gather the power he required, but his friends could
only look at him with uncertainty in their eyes.
"You tried this before," said Clef coldly. "Within a
matter of seconds, they will have broken down your defenses again. With your
energy levels, we can't afford such a useless risk."
Edge only lent a cool grin at the child body as he continued his
meditation.
"Then watch as I try something else," he said. He didn't have
any cards left to play. This had to work. If it didn't, he would never forgive
himself for leaving his companions to the hands of these assassins.
The amount of energy he gathered grew so rapidly that it began to
visualize itself around the group, encasing them in a luminescent blue ball.
Bolts of lightning grew from small waves to gigantic undulations as they rose
off the surface of the sphere. Edge grit his teeth as the strain began to take
its toll, his forearms quivering weakly before him. Yet, he forced himself to
hold his place, forced himself through sheer determination knowing the fact
that he was the only one who was there for that rifle-totting girl who watched
him so often, and so affectionately...
Beams of destruction were wildly whipping all about them now, and the
legions of killers had opted for a brief retreat of their ongoing assault
rather than risking disintegration within the field of destruction. Instead,
they began glowing deep red as their bodies began to synchronize themselves
with the rapidly shrinking wavelength of energy that their foe utilized. Edge
cursed as he felt his already faulty hold waver in place, his growing efforts
doing nothing more than keeping his vicious creation at its current level of
growth. All he needed was a little more. Just a little more.
...
"You still do not trust me. That is fine. But let me help you, just
a little..."
...
"What's going on?!" shouted Yoshime as she cautiously backed
away from the green-haired android's vividly burning form, her eyes filled with
fear and worry. Iesu said nothing as he silently
moved towards the outer edges of the shield's perimeter. Clef did not move at
all, instead opting to witness the sudden explosion of white light up close.
Edge's body suddenly spasmed so violently that
Edge himself looked surprised by the shock. The energy gap he was trying to
cover for the horde's synchronization displacement was abruptly filled with an
overwhelmingly clear brilliance that seemed to cleanse everything in its path,
emptying itself from every open orifice on the green-haired android's body in
an ocean of illumination. The dome that encased the small group began to boil
with the sheer pressure holding it together, though its owner never seemed to
be affected by the dangerous nature of its rumbling unstability.
Branches of pure, burning death flailed about in every direction as the light
only grew brighter, soon rivaling even the sun's luminosity. And the young
boy’s body instinctively arched back as huge spans of mystical force
crackled all over his form, running off his limbs and crashing into the ground.
Soon, the drones only stood and stared at the incredible spectacle, but only
because they knew that there was nothing they could do to combat such an
immense display of raw power.
"You," muttered Clef below his breath as he watched the sudden
transformation unfold. Without the weakness of human vision, he did not need to
shield his eyes from the intensity of the radiation. His filtered sight easily
made out every detail within the ball of molten flame. Though no one else would
ever witness the phenomenon, he watched as three pairs of angelic wings birthed
themselves above the gravity-wielding child and Adam's tall figure slowly
emerged from the searing luminance above his host. The seraph mocked him with
his smile as he casually lifted a hand from his pocket and raised it before him
like the boy he resided in. Streaks of energy similar to the ones Edge was
already emitting exploded from his palm and entwined with the circular shell
that encompassed them, only adding to the luster of the scintillating display.
Clef recognized the source of the maelstrom that circled him now. Its sheer
strength ate up everything in its path, though a living creature with a good
heart would never feel its true bite. It was holy energy, the magic of angels.
"If he is here now," said Clef softly. "Then Edge might
have already progressed far more than I anticipated."
A violent crash tore through the air as the ball abruptly ruptured apart
in a gigantic explosion that spiraled up towards the heavens. Whole legions of
their foes were instantly vaporized by the massive blast, their sturdy metal
structures torn apart by the mystical fires woven within the light that enveloped
them. Entire buildings were literally ripped from their foundations, pulled up
towards the sky and shredded to pieces. As the violent glow began to wind down,
a gentle hail of dust lightly fell back down to earth and the air cleared to
reveal a gigantic crater stretching several meters beneath the place where an
exhausted Edge crouched upon the ground. At his sides, his companions breathed
in quick and excited breaths. Clef, the single exception, merely watched as the
warrior tried to prop himself back on his feet, realizing only too late that he
no longer had the strength to do so.
"Are you okay, Edge?" asked Yoshime worriedly as she ran up to
his side.
Edge could only wince as he propped his elbow on his knee, looking up to
her in disdain. There was only pain in his eyes, failure...
"It wasn't good enough, was it?" he said tiredly. "I can
still see them... coming towards us..."
Yoshime quickly tapped into her computer displays to find his words only
too true for her liking. She set her jaw firmly as she fell back into the real
world, where the only real weapon she held to defend against this foe was her
rifle and a full clip of armor-piercing bullets. He had tried so hard for them.
He always tried so hard for them, never asking if and when they needed his
assistance, never asking for anything in return. Even this journey, she
accompanied him by her own whim as a friend rather than by his request. Why
didn't more people come out like this? The type who were kind on their own free
will? Maybe it wasn't so much all this death and waste and poverty that was wrong with the world, but rather its own corrupted
residents.
"Yoshime," croaked Edge tiredly, forcing his creaking joints to
raise his body upright. "I will... protect... you...
Yoshime smiled gently. It was because that was what made their friendship
so special.
She laid a gentle hand over Edge's as she cocked her rifle viciously with
the other.
"Ne," she said. "It's okay, you
worked hard. Let me defend you for once."
Edge smirked a little, an inside joke, knowing that he would let her only
because he knew inside that he could do nothing else. That last surge had taken
everything he had left. And yet, even though he knew her bullets would
eventually falter against the armies of red insects in the end, he appreciated
and admired her effort and courage. He knew that had the positions of their
personal abilities been reversed, they would act the same without hesitation.
"They're coming," said Clef dully, staring off into the distance
as buildings began to collapse in the path of the deadly wave. Death would come
for them soon…
"Ara?" said Edge confused as he
stared skyward, and Yoshime followed his line of vision with her own eyes. A
small object slowly lobbed itself through the air and floated down amongst the
crowd of charging drones. As it made contact with their heads, it suddenly
exploded in a massive ball of flame, eating away at their numbers with a
quickly expanding wall of fire. As the quartet looked on in wonder, more explosives
were quickly added to the fray as well as supporting fire from unseen infantry.
The rapidly approaching army in the distance quickly dissembled into a chaotic
mass of smoke and detonations framed by the tall structures lining the streets.
"Hey! Let's get the hell out of here!!!"
Yoshime wheeled about to find a roughly dressed mercenary addressing her
and the others, waving for them to follow his lead.
"Don't worry about the androids," he said. "Our guys will
take care of them."
Yoshime scrunched up her face in worry and suspicion.
"Your guys?" she questioned. Who were these people? It was
strange enough that they were attacked by a force they couldn't identify, but
now they were being saved by an equally foreign benefactor as well. "And
just who might be wanting to save us anyways?"
"We can save explanations for later," said the man hurriedly.
"The boss will tell you everything you need to know..."
...
...
...
No words passed between the pair of blades as they drove out of one foe
and into the belly of another. Each weapon refused to be dulled by their own stubbornness, and the unlikely pair of killer and protector
tore through their enemy with no mercy in their cold eyes. Neither Double nor Kouryuu spoke once since the armies of velvet drones had
fallen in upon them in endless torents. Neither had
relayed a single transmission to the other as a warning, a plea, or even a
quick inquiry about how much longer the other could hold on. Instead, their
bodies melded together in a perfect pirouette of battle that completely
decimated everything that was foolish enough to come in their path. Each
warrior was a professional in their own right; Kouryuu
with her plasma swords and Double with his endless supply of edges. As they
lashed out wildly at dozens of tiny crimson androids at once, the other always
moved around to protect their companion's back. There was always a quick
adjustment so that no flank was left exposed for the tightening circle of claws
and fangs to rend forth. The two fighters may have held foolish words between
themselves in conversation, but the heat of this confrontation was a completely
different situation. It was something they understood as a way of their lives,
as a way of things living to climb up the cruel ladder of reality's degradation.
Both of them were aware how long they had been combating these persistent
armies. After almost fifty minutes of swordplay, their bodies and energy levels
were almost entirely burnt out. Both of them knew that this opponent was a
professional executioner, one who had taken advantage of their greatest
weakness: their singularity. Perhaps, all of them together--- Edge, Asimov,
Zero, and Terpfen--- perhaps as a team they could
have had a chance at defeating this endless creature. Yet, they were the only
two there, the two that never seemed to get along, the two who were always at
ends with each other's methods and ideologies. And yet, long before this, they
had somehow garnered each other's respect.
No words passed between the pair of blades, for they knew in their hearts
that each would rather spend that small amount of effort into chopping off the
head of another one of their enemy before they died.
As Double twirled about high, his wildly flailing arms tearing apart his
foes in a tornado of spinning blades, Kouryuu ducked
low with an extended arm as she lashed out with her thin laser wires into the
jumbled crowd. Yanking back as hard she could with one arm,
she brandished her shining sword with the other, her extra katana held in her
mouth by the handle. As the wires ripped off the legs of her unfortunate
adversaries, she and Double dashed forward into the madness and embraced their
enemy in a hail of mercury and flaring plasma. The world never seemed to stop
spinning as their weapons hungrily devoured the metallic flesh again and again,
ever thirsting for the heat of battle.
"Not going make it," huffed Kouryuu as she thrust her energized swords through the
chest of one foe and slicing off the head of another. "We should have ran."
"Heh, of course we're not going to make
it," laughed Double with a grin on his face, his
left elbow suddenly extending back into a sharp pike and piercing a drone's
face on its newly lengthened edge. "But you wouldn't have run. I know you
rebel type! Just as persistent as these bastards!"
"You can be such an asshole sometimes," scolded Kouryuu, but an equally sadistic smile was upon her face as
well. This could be their last conversation forever. If nothing else, it was comforting
to know that the real meaning of the words between them would never really
change.
"So shall we go out with a bang?" said the assassin, his body
rippling with a quick wave of loosened metal. "Like
always?"
"Heh," agreed Kouryuu.
And a smile. "Like always..." Her arms
flexed and tensed themselves as she brought her weapons before her, crossing
her breast in such a way so that their points were aimed to the monsters on
either side of her flank. This was what they did best. To
fight. To die. To win.
Double's body completely liquefied itself as he swirled up and about the
rebel leader in a maelstrom of swirling mass, his mercury form beginning to
tighten in accordance with the energy output in her blazing katanas.
Kouryuu closed her eyes in the middle of the madness
as she began to concentrate all her energy into her swords, not stopping until
their brightness rivaled that of the stars. The assassin's body suddenly
changed vividly as its chemical composition radically mutated and aligned
itself with the wavelength of power that the rebel's blades resonated.
Absorbing the photons at an alarming rate, Double's amorphous body suddenly
adapted the thin arm's bright blue color as he became completely charged with
deadly plasma, and the pair dove into the frenzy holding nothing back.
Like the flow of the river around the curves of an obstructing rock,
Double's body whipped about Kouryuu as an extension
of her own shell, always thrashing out and shredding those who dared approach
her frame but always keeping her safe from the burning touch by deftly surging
around her wildly slashing structure. The rebel herself held nothing back as
her ravenous edge sank its teeth into foe after foe, never expecting the flood
to stop coming and never receiving as such. Seconds passed into minutes as
neither force showed any signs of fatigue. Neither warrior would back down from
the challenge that was placed before them, neither would ever run away. Between
his methods of killing and her love of freedom, they both shared that same
stubborn refusal to ever give any territory from what they believed in. Where
words might never bring them together, the blood and sweat of battle always
would.
The tornado of charged alloy that swirled about the rebel abruptly
gathered form once more and collapsed in a heap at her feet. As the jumbled
mass reformed itself into a heavily panting Double, Kouryuu
stopped her frantic attack just long enough to hover over her companion in an
effort to protect him from their opponents.
"I'm sorry," laughed Double bitterly as he tried to prop
himself up from the cracked ground. "I couldn't hold on any longer. Just
get the hell out of here." He added a grim smile in her direction.
"If I'm that weak, it isn't worth saving me anyways."
Had they not been in so much trouble, Kouryuu
would have hit him on the skull with the hilt of her sword.
"Feh," she chuckled. "You know
that's not the way we work. Now stand up and help me finish these guys
off!" After a minute, she felt a rough hand grab her shoulder as the
killer tried to lift himself off the ground. She knew he was smiling. She knew
he could not fight. But if they were to die that day, it would be better to die
together...
...
A crash suddenly thundered into the ground, and Kouryuu
threw up her forearms to shield herself from the specks of debris that flew up
in her face. Gunshots were suddenly going off everywhere and she struggled to
realign her visual sensors with the action about her. Before she could sort out
to confusion, the world unexpectedly came to revolve around a single drone that
was flying with outstretched claws towards her face...
A shining blade abruptly shot up from the ground in a brilliant shaft of
silver and the creature was instantly impaled upon its sharp end. As the last
of the electronic life fizzled out of the small android, Double retracted his
forearm and gave his friend's shoulder a rough pat.
"Na," hummed Double in a half-mocking
voice. "I never did like owing you favors."
Kouryuu just gave him a light smack with the flat end of her now de-energized
blade as she struggled to support his weight on her shoulder. It was comforting
to know that no matter what happened, the crimson assassin would eternally
remain a righteous jerk.
"Thanks," she muttered under her breath, and received a laugh
for her efforts. Yet, there was still a light tone in each of their voices, and
she knew that he took her sarcasm lightly for once.
As the dust cleared, Kouryuu suddenly realized
that metal corpses now lined the streets where malicious legions had once been.
Mysteriously familiar mercenaries were bustling about on all sides, some of
them still following the retreating lines of androids and lobbing explosives in
their general direction. However, despite being saved from the immediate
danger, she did not feel safe, and a quick exchange with Double elicited a
similar response. Who would help them so willingly and so generously? In this
world, nobody was this benevolent to anyone. Life had become a crazy
free-for-all with the strongest always turning out the winners. If they were
really saved now, then there was something to be expected from them later. Money? A favor? Even they had
resources so limited that they could offer only too little as reward. But who
would rescue them in the first place?
"There," said Double coldly as he
pointed into the crowd. "I think we might have been better off with the
freaks, because I don't like where this is leading one bit."
Kouryuu slowly followed her companion's lead and found the back of her neck bristling
with anger. Amongst the raving soldiers and technicians stood a man whose long
spikes of purple hair covered his eyes from the burden of reality.
In white silk shirt, dark slacks, and deep indigo jacket, he stood tall and
proud, the leader of the powerful army who had just saved them. His hard boots
clicked loudly against the cracked street as he casually strolled towards them,
a smile of victory already upon his clean face, made all the more menacing by
the deep shadows that his lengthy mane drew over his features. He was someone
they had met before. It was not fear that described their reaction to him.
Rather, it was a suspicious grudge.
Kouryuu's free hand clenched her weapon tightly, still unsure of how to accept
their benefactor. Perhaps he had saved them now, but he had already betrayed
their trust earlier. Could they afford to believe him once more...?
"Fumiya Sang-Wu..."
...
...
...
“Defeated.”
Nefpret felt her remaining armies scatter and run back to her arms at full
speed, as per her command. She had not expected full, trained battalions to be
amongst her enemies. She had not been able to see through their cloaking fields
until it was too late, too late to rethink her strategy. She had not known how
to deal with them before. She would not make the same mistake twice.
Failure.
She had failed in her mission, and the nuclear device continued to exist.
He did not seem dangerous though. Why? Why was he not dangerous? Images flashed
madly through her head, images of similarly constructed machines laying wastes
to whole countries as they flung about small globules of nuclear energy without
mercy, burning everything in their path in massive clouds of fusion. These were
the nuclear weapons she had been told to destroy, were they not? This was the
old wish of those she once called master...
This one was different.
This one, this Terpfen, had done nothing. He
had been fully prepared to accept the fate she was about to deal to him. Had
his companions not fought in his stead, his death would have been imminent. Her
purpose would have been finished. She would have discovered the secret behind
the wishes of her old commanders. And yet... failure.
She did not understand. How could she have misfired? Her entire body,
reconstructed by her own aspiration and desire, was meant to completely
eliminate that human property. She should have been able to see the unexpected
patron in advance. But she did not. Was this fault in her plan part of her new
psyche? Or was it only human to attempt to lay blame on something other than herself?
This 'Terpfen'...
She had never seen him before
But why did she feel she had known him even before she had taken her
first movements into the human world?
...
...
...
"Fumiya Sang-Wu," muttered
Double beneath his breath. The eight of them had
regrouped on the outskirts of town near their small craft, a convoy of soldiers
accompanying their retreat. The assassin glared angrily over his shoulder at a
portable canvas tent that had been propped up near the site, eyeing the
shifting shadows within with distrust and violent intent. He didn't need this.
They didn't need this. What did Fumiya think he was doing by betraying their
confidence and then following them with a mockery of retribution? He had
deceived them once. There was no reason he wouldn't do it again. There was no
forgiveness for such an atrocity. Even he himself, a killer, had more honor
than that. "I don't want anything to do with this," he spat fiercely.
"I think we should off him now and eliminate one of our worries while we
can."
"Don't do anything rash yet," huffed
Yoshime, though she too gazed uncertainly in the mercenary's direction.
"He did do us this favor, and even I have to admit that we needed the
help. The least we can do is listen to what he has to
say."
"I'm not going to fall into another one of his traps again!"
growled the assassin, his fingers curling up and tightening into fists.
"His type doesn’t even deserve the benefit of our attention."
"For once, I'd almost agree with him," said Kouryuu
solemnly to the side, her arms crossed across her chest. "Fumiya may have
saved us, but he's already proved that he likes to play games with our heads.
Who says this isn't just another one of his schemes?"
Their conversation abruptly quieted as the flap of the tent flew open and
Fumiya waltzed towards their direction with Gared at
his side. This time, the man didn't even attempt to put up the front of
formalities that he had presented them with before. Instead, his eyes were sharp
with the killer instinct in his blood, his face as still as stone.
"Hello once again," he said coolly as he reached their ranks.
"It seems we've met each other in the midst of a similar situation."
Before Edge could even say a word, Double had already stepped out in
front of the man to confront him.
"You got some nerve coming back," he said, his fingers flexing
as his entire arm rippled in a mercury wave. "Do I have to make good on
the threat I made back at your snake hole?"
The mercenary only gave a sadistically frightening grin as his eyes
narrowed to match Double's aura of death.
"What makes you think I came here for you, Double?" he inquired
teasingly. "As I said, we seem to have met each other in the midst of a
similar situation." He took a step back, distancing him from the menacing
slayer. "And I'm afraid this is something that supersedes our own petty
argument, if only for the time being."
"Those androids..." whispered Yoshime,
a slight hint of inquiry in her voice.
"Yes," said Fumiya. "As you've already witnessed
first-hand, this unique type of robot construct has a frightening amount of
power, as well as the ability to reproduce its numbers at an alarming rate. Say
what you will about me, but this technology can not be allowed to get out of
control in this manner, lest even more destruction than what you have witnessed
here today be inflicted on innocents."
"What do you care about the innocent?" growled Double,
violently smacking away Kouryuu's arm as she tried to
calm him down. "You'd just as soon turn on us as that monster did!
Besides, how do we know this isn't a plan for youto
control this new power?"
Fumiya only steeled his eyes and shoved his hands deep in his pants
pockets in response.
"I do follow my own greed to an extent," he said coldly.
"But there are still general rules that even I follow. Our sensors saw
this energy signature rise far above anything even the governments of Akuji have put out, far above anything we've ever seen
before. This creation is far too dangerous and unknown to let live. Even for
myself, avoiding the situation will most likely resolve in it circling back to
us with its path of destruction, eventually killing me as well. You may
consider this act of mine a motion to protect my own interests if you want, but
I would like to consider it a benefit for others as well. It would be best,
rather than trying to fight it individually, to try to take it out as a
team."
"So that's why you saved us," said Edge hesitantly.
"Indeed," continued Fumiya. "I did not originally
anticipate your presence in this town, but I decided that a helping hand might
earn us additional allies in this mission." He turned towards Double
warily. "I understand that you continue to distrust me. However, I think
we can afford to put aside our current differences for the sake of battling a
common foe."
Double said nothing, opting rather to burn holes through the mercenary
with his hateful eyes. The other only nodded in understanding. None of them had
a choice.
"Glad you see things my way," said Fumiya. He abruptly motioned
to the side and one of his accomplices quickly walked forward and rolled a
crude map out before them. "We've locked trackers on a few of their
numbers before they had the opportunity to escape. As of now, we can see their
focus gathering on a particular site in this area," and Fumiya traced a
small circle on the map several miles out from their own position. "We've already seen that this force
seems to either consist of a large army of small units or have the ability to
reproduce itself in staggering amount of numbers, but there still has to be a
core system uniting them all together. I'm guessing that this place of
convergence is where that core is."
"So you're suggesting an assault before they can recover from this
attack, I'm guessing," said Yoshime as she scrutinized the floor plan.
"Exactly," said Fumiya. "This is their most vulnerable
moment right now. It would be best to exploit it in any way possible."
Kouryuu stared at the map closely, her vision focusing as she gazed at the
artificial distance between the town and the proposed site of their new enemy's
headquarters. She did not know who these androids were, nor
who they were affiliated with. She did not know how to defeat them. She did not
even know why they had chosen to attack them, in this place, in this town. And
now, here was a man whom she did not want to commit to who proposed a temporary
alliance against this foe. She did not know if that would be the right choice.
And then she turned her head up and stared back at the toppled buildings and
torn up streets and dying people. There was what she fought for, was it not?
Those people, those people because they were not strong enough to fend for
themselves against an unfair world. In the end, it really didn't matter who the
oppressor was. Only so long as she tried to stop it.
"Fumiya," she said hesitantly. "We will go with your plan.
However---" Her head whipped around, swirls of her blue hair coursing
through the air in majestic waves. It almost took away the deadly edge from her
stare. "--- if you betray us again, don't expect me to hold Double back on his word."
Fumiya only closed his eyes and nodded in understanding.
"We'll move out in the evening," he said, turning on heel.
"Be ready by then."
...
...
...
Nefpret...
Terpfen ignored the negotiations as he stared off in the distance, stared off
where he felt a gentle tug on something within him. He was not supposed to be
alive right now. Not if she continued to exist. His own logic did not comprehend
this, for he knew of Nefpret's existence and mission.
He should be dead. He was not supposed to be alive right now.
A memory from the past...
His owners were going over his body carefully
Pulling apart his armored hide
Locating his energy sources
And their flows
His strengths
His weaknesses
And then they began to program it into a new machine, a massive creation
that filled the entire bunker with its ominous purpose: to end the age of
nuclear war.
He was Terpfen, a soldier from the nuclear era.
His mission was to fight and destroy the foes of his owners, the United
Nations. Nefpret was meant to be the final solution
to the violence. Once everything was set right once again, her suicide would
signal the end of the bloodshed, as well as the end of his own mission.
To destroy all nuclear weapons, to destroy the
cause of the nuclear era.
But she was not dead yet. Instead, she had come... for him.
He was her ally, not her enemy. Still, she had the full intentions of
destroying him, a nuclear weapon. It was not logical that an allied force would
attempt to kill their own assets. So did that mean his
value to his owners was not that of an aide, but rather a burden? Did that mean
he was never meant to live into this current age?
Did that mean that his existence until now was nothing more than a flaw
in logic, that his very presence upon this planet
meant nothing?
That he should have been eliminated before Nefpret's
method of destruction could be inflicted upon a society of nuclear death?
The world went white
And he awoke in this new world...
"Nefpret," he said stolidly, his face
never changing. "Why didn't you kill me?"
...
...
...
...
...
"Can't we reach out our hands
to try
just to say hello..."
--- Yoshiki and R.Taylor, "Foreign Sands"
...
...
...
...
...
Kouryuu watched Fumiya amass his forces on the town border in the distance. They
were partners now, but in no way by their own choice. Fumiya was correct about
one thing, that this force was something beyond their individual capacities to
control. They would need each other if they were to even hope to defeat it. Her
rebel half told her that she was doing the right thing. People's lives would be
saved. If they won, another tragedy like what had happened this day would be
avoided in the future. Yet, the part of her that was a warrior said something
completely different. This man was not to be trusted. Underneath the smooth
words and nonchalant attitude lay a deadly viper who had already attempted to
fill them once with its deadly poisons. This entire issue could just be the
rock he was hiding under in wait to strike again.
That was the other thing. None of them, not even Fumiya, knew what this
thing was. It was obviously a robot collective with high numbers and a unique
energy synchronization power. However, it would not make sense for it to simply
go on a wild rampage throughout the city on a random killing spree. Logic
systems did not work that way, even for human beings. What was the motive here?
No matter how ruthless their new foe could be, it made no sense that it would
attack this town, one of below-average worth when compared to the larger cities
that surrounded the main government facilities. There was nothing here of real
value or threat. So could it have been them? Could the robot force have had
some ancient order dictating the elimination of other android military-class
units and was awakened by their arrival? No, that couldn’t have been it. Fumiya
had said that he was tracking the horde even before they had arrived in the
city. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. Kouryuu
held her head in her hands as she sat down to think. There was something here
they didn't know. This monster was looking for something they couldn't identify
and she was almost positive she wouldn't like it when she found out what it
was.
Rhythmic footsteps suddenly scuffed the ground to her left, and the rebel
leader looked up to find Asimov and Zero nervously standing over her.
Sometimes, there was something about the harmony of the mismatched pair that
simply made her laugh.
"Kouryuu," said Asimov hesitantly. The
rebel's face twitched with incertitude as she watched him fidget uncomfortably.
He did not seem to be his usual cheerful self today, even with Zero by his side.
It wasn't so much his physical movements that told her the problem, but rather
the way he moved his eyes. They were avoiding her.
"Is there something wrong?" inquired the rebel leader
carefully. "Is it this whole thing with Fumiya? If it is, I can assure you
that I---"
"That... that isn’t the problem," interrupted Asimov carefully.
He glanced off into the distance strangely, but Kouryuu
was surprised to find his gaze fall not upon the bustling mercenary forces but
rather their own hovercraft and the nuclear weapon standing solemnly beside it.
"He knows something," continued Asimov. "Terpfen. He knows something about this that we
don't. I myself am only familiar with scattered bits of information about the
foe we're fighting, but I think he can complete the puzzle for us."
"You know what we're fighting against?!" said Kouryuu, bolting to her feet.
"I'm sure that when you scanned the android force for
identification, you had come up with the affiliation code of 'New World
Alliance'," said the golden warrior. "I'm sure, as a practitioner
against the government, that you are aware that no such organization exists
today. However, the history of Akuji--- for the few
that have been able to read the records--- has this name deeply burned into its
deteriorating records." He paused briefly, staring down at the ground
before looking up again to carry through with his words. "They were a
pivotal force during the nuclear age. One of the major coalitions involved in
the war that led up to the nuclear cataclysm. The opposing force was the U.N,
the United Nations, the very unification that our friend here fought
against."
Kouryuu
followed the golden warrior's visual lead back to Terpfen,
her eyes still filled with disbelief. Terpfen had
mentioned his enemy, the United Nations, back when they had first awakened him.
If that was the case, shouldn't he have been allied with this horrific creature
who had tried to kill them? Shouldn't that massive horde have tried to have help them instead of tear them apart?
"I don't understand," she said softly. "Where's all this
leading...?"
"You did not have the opportunity to witness our battle with the
robots," said Asimov heavily. "But Terpfen...
did absolutely nothing. In fact, he let the drones encircle him with an energy
field which I didn't have time to identify before we saved him." His eyes
narrowed warily, his gaze focusing on the rebel leader before him. "He's
connected to them by his time period and historical conflict, but there's
something more that he's not telling us. He's allied to us by command, right?
He should be following our lead, but there must be something stronger that
forced him into inaction back there, something that's connecting him to our new
enemy so that he could not fight."
Kouryuu nodded grimly in understanding, but her hands shook nonetheless.
"So," she started. "Is there a specific reason you came to
only me to say all this?"
"Zero says that you were the one who found him," said Asimov
curtly, suddenly backing off slightly from the conversation. "If that's
so, he considers you his commanding officer.' You're the only one he will
listen to..."
...
...
...
Kouryuu stayed silent as she lead Terpfen
into the shaded alleys of the fossil city. Was everything Asimov said true? Had
Terpfen really done nothing to help them back there?
Sometimes she still had trouble entrusting herself to that former henchman of Yujin, and yet the golden warrior had proved himself
invaluable to their quest. His word was as good as any of the other's, and the
least she could do was test the validity of his argument.
She suddenly stopped in her tracks, positive that they had wandered far
enough from the miniature encampment for anyone else to eavesdrop. Behind her,
a heavy clomping signaled the behemoth's halt as well, and the rebel leader
turned around sharply to address him.
"Terpfen," she said slowly. How did
she phrase her accusation? Terpfen had no corazon chip, instead running solely off computations and
algorithms. Would she even be able to get the information she wanted? "I
want to know why you did not help Asimov and Zero in your last battle."
The giant only stared back with his ever-dull eyes, things he would never
be able to change so long as he lived.
"Fighting would have been a futile battle," said Terpfen coldly. "It made no sense for me to combat in
a situation I was meant to lose."
Kouryuu could only stare at him in disbelief. Who did he think he was? These
were her friends he was fighting for! This was for the people she cared about!
Even if his was a hollow cause, there was still something behind it worth
fighting for!
"What do you mean it was a futile battle?!" she said angrily.
"Is your brain still stuck in a war?! We won, you fool! We won! I don't
think it was a pitifully helpless as you thought it was!"
"You won," said the giant dully. "She will come back for
me, and I will die. It is what was meant to be."
"She...?" said Kouryuu hesitantly,
backing away a step in fear. He knew the identity of their enemy. Asimov had
been right. But what was meant to be? Had there been a fate preordained for
this android before they had woken him from his slumber?
"Her name is Nefpret," answered Terpfen automatically. "She is the final answer of the
New World Alliance, the ultimate anti-nuclear weapon designed to eliminate
every nuclear device on the planet and bring an end to the conflict between our
countries. Only then, will peace be achieved. Until she self-destructs, there
continues to exist a nuclear processor upon this planet. Her death is the
signal that the war has been terminated." He suddenly moved his head,
looking down at the wide-eyed rebel with nothing in his dead stare. "I am
the last of my kind in existence. Nefpret knows all
my weaknesses, my strengths, my powers, and my capacity. She has been designed to
destroy me. My own body was used as the experimental shell from which her basis
to dissemble nuclear devices was designed upon. I was never meant to exist
until now, for she was programmed to kill me early on as one of her first
victims. There is nothing I can do to prevent this. I was meant to die."
"No..." whispered Kouryuu. How could he say this? How could a soldier stand
up to HER and speak this way? Maybe he was a robot, a complete robot, one devoid of any feeling whatsoever. But didn't he still have
something inside? Something he had learned as per his program was developed?
Hadn't he seen anything while traveling with them? Hadn't he ever tried to
care?
"I am the last nuclear device on this planet," said the
behemoth solemnly. "Once I die, it will not only signal an end to your
foe, but also an end to the violence I was programmed to prevent. Then, you and
the others will have the benefit of existing in a peaceful world."
Kouryuu was speechless. It was obvious that even though Terpfen
was able to recognize that he was no longer in his own era, a part of him was
still fixed in the plight of the nuclear cataclysm. She knew that this was the
way his program had been written. There was nothing she could do about that.
She knew that this was the way he was programmed to think. She knew that there
was nothing she could do to prevent this action up until now. And yet... and yet...
The rebel pivoted a whole half-circle back as her eyes reached insanity,
and the mighty smash across the jaw she delivered to Terpfen's
face actually managed to move his heavy feet from his standing point.
"Look around you!!!" she roared furiously. "Do you think
that because you're GONE everything is just going to turn better?! That's not
going to happen!!" She covered her face with her hands as she paced
backwards, trying to calm herself down. "Look at me. Look at me goddamnit!!! I know you're stuck in that written command
that someone put in you so long ago, but look at the real reasons why people
are still stranded in the cycle of war. Look at why I still oppose the
government. It's not about the actual process of fighting, but because you
believe in something! And a lot of times people forget that reason because they
get so caught up in cause and hate, but you can't forget! Look around you. Look
around you, Terpfen. You've fought with us. Why? If
you still believe in that past then why have you fought with us?"
"You are my leader," said Terpfen
simply. "You are the one I take orders from. I follow you until I can reunite
with the New World---"
"THE NWA IS GONE!!!" screamed Kouryuu,
her fists madly shaking with fury. "They're gone! Dead! Set apart from you
and your damn mission by more years than I have or ever will exist! This is
what's real: me. Edge, Double, this town, even Fumiya.
THAT'S what's real!" She stood on the tips of her boots as she grabbed his
shoulders and stared up into his visual processors with eyes that would have
burned through steel. He had to understand this, if nothing else. Everyone had
to, even if it was the horrible leaders of the West Newport Human Republic. It
was what gave the dead and dying their power. It was what gave her, and so many
other tragic warriors, their meaning and their pride. "You know now that
your death will not solve this planet's violence. You know that because I just
told you. Now what? Do you still think this fight means nothing? Do you still
think that you have no future except to be destroyed by this sister creation of
yours?"
"... I..." said Terpfen uneasily, his
deep voice beginning to crack under the pressure of conflicting situations. It
was something that mere logic could not define because the pieces no longer fit
together in the right order. The only thing left for him to reason was
something that he had never been programmed to deal with.
"You can make your own decisions," pleaded the rebel. "You
did make your own decisions, whether you realized it or not. Back when you
decided that I was not your enemy, that you would come and fight with us. Now
look at this foolish game implanted in your head. This is not the track you
need to take. This is not what you need to accept."
"... I... cannot," said the behemoth, the sound coming from his
mouth with strained effort. "I.. have my orders.......
it is... inevitable---"
"Then as your current leader, I render those orders void right
now!" shouted Kouryuu, shaking him by the collar
with both hands. He could not do this, he would not do this. No one deserved to
be dictated by an unfair fate that they could not control. No
one. Not even him. "In fact, you no longer have ANY orders! You
will completely wipe your database of all rules and restart your board with a
clean list of commands!" A moment of silence followed as Terpfen stood still, his computer thinking, erasing, and
reconfiguring to his master's words. And then he looked down again, at Kouryuu, with his forever blank eyes. He had to see this, he had to see why she fought. He had to see why all of
them chose to fight. It was that important to her…
"If I have no orders now," said Terpfen
stolidly. "Then what should my next actions be? If I have no regulations
with which to dictate my existence, is my self considered deficient of
usefulness?"
He would learn. Even his programming had to have a gradual intake of
information, information that his computer would analyze and study from. He had
to. Everyone who ever fought should know why they chose to risk their lives
before they died.
"Your final command," said Kouryuu.
She slowly and sadly smiled. "Your final command is to fight alongside us,
and create your own reason for doing so."
"My own reason...?" questioned the relic.
Kouryuu finally let him go, reaching the ground once more and looking up at the
silent giant. Did human technology have the ability to create souls? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But this one,
this shell had new meaning this day. Someday, maybe someday, he would figure
out for himself why he fought the brave fight. It was something--- violent or
non-violent--- that everyone had to figure out for themselves in life.
"That's right," she said. "Your own
reason."
...
...
...
As the sun slowly set over the horizon, casting long shadows from the
faces of the shattered civilization, Edge and Yoshime silently sat beneath the
eves of one such shade as the latter gently poked her tools into the open slot
on the back of the android's neck, making a final check on his body before they
would leave. He was so silent these days. She remembered that there was a time
when it was primarily just the two of them and they conversed all the time. Now...
now things were so complicated. He trained with Clef everyday and when he was
not busy with that he always used to sit alone, thinking to himself. What did
someone like him think about? She had watched him sometimes, watched him and
wished she knew so she could help him understand. He must have such a hard
life, waking into a world that never gave him mercy. Even as a child, she had
found security in a few things, if only because of her inability to understand.
He never had that limitation, instead having to suffer blood, violence, and
death within the course of a few months. What did someone like that dream
about? What did someone like that wish for?
"It's been a while since we've talked," said Yoshime gently,
brushing strands of dark hair out of her face as she continued rewiring his
computer. "It's been tough lately, ne?"
"Un..." trailed off Edge, his head drooping near his legs as he
sat staring at the ground.
Yoshime frowned sadly when he said nothing else after that. She worried
about him all the time, and yet he seemed to be closing himself off so tightly.
Whatever happened to that time when he had talked so innocently to her when she
had just seen her parents again? What had happened to that tenderness, to that
person who was so gentle and kind? What happened to that Edge? He had not been
the same since...
Why?
Why...
"Edge," said Yoshime, putting her tools away and closing up the
back of his neck. "Why are you acting like this? I know there's been a lot
of trouble lately, but it's just me here. You can tell me anything you want, ne?"
Edge. Please, please don't let happen to him what has happened to so many good
people in the world...
Silence followed as she stared down at his head, afraid that she would
receive no answer now as well. He couldn't do this now, not now! They had been
through so much together, given so much for each other. He was her friend, one
of her best friends... please don't let him do this
now...
And then his mouth opened. Gradually and hesitantly,
but it opened, and the green-haired android forced the words forth from his
dying voice.
"Yoshime…" said Edge distantly. He slowly turned and looked at
her over his shoulder, stiff and tired in his movements. That was when she
finally saw the look in his eyes, the look of someone who had seen a lot of
pain, a lot of confusion, and didn't know what to do with it all. It wasn't his
fault that it happened, just that he wasn't used to
living in such a cruel life. "Yoshime... did... did you see me back
there?" He gave a small laugh. "I tried to save you, and... I don't
know what I did. I don't know what that power was,
what this power is that's developing inside of me." He stopped suddenly,
staring down at the ground again and hanging his head in his hands. "First
Prophet, then Yujin, and then... this. I don't know
these people, I don't want to fight them. I don't care
about this power I have, this new power that's growing inside me. Why can't things
just be simple? Why can't... I... I don't know... I don't know much of anything
anymore..."
And suddenly, her arms gently hugged him around his neck and she nuzzled
her face in his hair. He was tired. So tired. Anyone
would be. This was life, and no one ever said it would be easy. In this world,
everything bad that could possibly happen did, and most people could not
survive its unprejudiced ravages. Most people couldn't deal with such a
horrible existence in which poverty and death ruled their every day. Edge was
so strong, he had held up so much until now. He had held them all up until now.
But everything had a limitation, even the corazon
chip. Even the human heart. He had been through so
much and he meant everything to her. He didn't deserve that cruel fate that had
captured the crumpled souls of most humans. All he needed was a little
compassion...
"It's okay, Edge," she whispered, her
fingers gently taking his own into her hands. "I know you've been through
a lot, but the temple's just ahead, right? Once we get there, you'll learn what
it's like to be human and nobody will ever bother us again. Just hold on a
little longer. I'm right here by your side."
Trembling ever so slightly, his rough, metal fingers delicately gripped
her own and squeezed ever so slightly.
"Yoshime..." he said, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "Are you ever... afraid of me?"
Was that why he was so hesitant these days? Was that why he had kept his
distance from her? He protected her with so much of his affection. He even
tried to protect her from himself, realizing his own abilities. Somehow, it
only seemed selfless and sweet in her eyes. Somehow, she understood why he
would ask such a thing, and she rested a smooth cheek against his silky mane.
"You moron," she smiled. "I'm not afraid of you. I'll
never be afraid of you."
"But what about the way I act sometimes?" he questioned.
"Doesn't... doesn’t that make you..."
"Edge," said Yoshime tenderly. "Sometimes human beings do
things because of passion, and it's not always something they're proud of. I
don't think you're any different." She paused as she playfully blew
strands of his green locks in the air, the sun's rays catching on them as they
waved about. "I know that deep inside, you're still the boy I found in the
junkyard, the boy who's always kind to me. You never have to shut that off from
me just because of what happens on the battlefield. I already know that you’ll
always come to protect me. I know, and I'm not afraid of you."
The young boy's neck craned forward as he stared harder at the ground,
and Yoshime wondered if she had said something wrong.
"Then... what if," began Edge. "What if I'm afraid of
myself? That I'll do something that might hurt you?"
"Heh... Edge," said Yoshime.
"Having fear just means that you're human. It means that you might have
fault within that potential for perfection. There's nothing wrong with being
afraid." She tightened her arms around his neck and shoulders. She would
never let go, not for anything in the world. "And I'm here for you, just
as you're always here for me."
A second passed, a slow, momentary second that
seemed to last forever. And then she felt his body relax and his head lean back
a little once again. She knew then that he would be okay. She would always be
there, as long as he needed her, as long as they needed each other, forever,
for eternity, she would always be there for him...
"Thank you," he saide kindly,
bringing up his other hand to embrace Yoshime's.
"Thank you..."
...
...
...
He had helped him. Adam had helped him.
Clef's eyes followed Edge as he wandered over with Yoshime to receive his
ritual of repairs. What had the angel been saying to the boy? Whether or not
the gravity-user noticed, something was happening to him, something drastic.
Had anyone else seen the seraph rise up from the grave to hold the android's
hand? Probably not. If the sheer intensity of the
light had not blinded observers, then the mere fact that angels could only be
seen by certain beings still would have kept the others in the dark. But that
energy... that kind of magic had not been wielded on Akuji
for timeless eons, preceding even the nuclear age. How did Edge come across the
knowledge of such a forbidden skill?
And yet, for all his worries, this boy meant something. Whether or not the angel continued to make his presence known, there
was something about him that Clef knew would come to blossom in the end.
As long as he was patient and cautious, everything would turn out fine. His own
fears would have to be put aside for now if he wanted everything to go
smoothly. That would be the key to his success.
Clef shifted his child's body uncomfortably and leaned against the
hovercraft's hull to relax. Stiffly, artificially, his eyes continued to follow
the young boy's lead…
...
...
...
My own reason.
Terpfen watched the stars light up the sky as the blazing ball of fire that lit
their planet sank over the horizon. He had not anticipated such an order from Kouryuu, one that attempted to address him as a sentient
being rather than what he really was. How could he answer her? There was nothing
he could do in an immediate sense to bring forth her command. He knew the
question would run itself through his logic processors, be spit out in its
exact same form due to a lack of mathematics to calculate, due to a lack of
pure information with which to analyze and take apart. And then the information
would be run through the circle again, and again, and again, hundreds of thousands
of revolutions every second; a never ending cycle that would not find
resolution until he could dissemble the inquest and reply with an answer that
pertained to himself. If it ran through enough times,
coupled with future experiences, would the result ever change? Would he
discover something along the way that would act as a variable to give him
something real and true? Perhaps, though the probability of such happening was
only 0.000321%, by his calculations.
But what choice did he have until then? He could not lie. He could not
deceive. Beyond these people, if the war was already eons past, he had no real
meaning or purpose. If nothing else, he would stay with them on the basis that
they alone formed his direction. He would follow Kouryuu's
philosophy and look for a personal reason behind the actions he would take.
Because he really had nothing else.
To create one's own reason...
...
...
...
They were moving towards her, planning to dissemble her body into
individual, harmless parts. Were these her enemies? Perhaps it had been foolish
for her to first presume she might be able to flow easily into a world of
hateful creatures. What were these humans besides monsters? They killed, destroyed, all in the name of their own ego-boosting
self-proclamations that did nothing more than confirm their own greedy existences.
They were a plague that consumed ruthlessly, without rhyme or reason. War was
the ultimate compilation of that animosity, the war she had been built for. Man
had no other purpose on this planet than to deprive the sphere of resources and
consume like an advanced form of viral infection.
But in many ways, did not all creatures on earth? In
the galaxy? In the universe? Did not the life
circles through which consumption and redistribution lead to no greater thing
than the continued existence of choice species and genus?
Nefpret cocked her head curiously as she felt the last of the drone legions
chaotically scatter into the room, lining themselves up neatly all around the
chamber. She ordered a single one before her, one that had suddenly caught her
attention upon entrance. Her mind turned it around like a doll, and her huge
claws deftly reached down and plucked a small circular object
no larger than a button off of
her extension's back. Bringing it up to her face for a closer look, her eyes
narrowed menacingly as her computers registered its construction and program.
"A tracking bug," she said simply, and her digits flashed
together and shredded the tap in seconds. Her foes were planning to follow her
into her own lair. But this time, she was prepared for their additional numbers
as well as their specialty armory. With them, they would bring her true target:
the last nuclear device in existence. Perhaps her doubts would be cleared once
she obliterated them all.
...
...
...
"An illegal excavation site?"
"That's what the case appears to be," said Lastclaw
as he made gestures towards the map before he, Kouryuu,
Double, Asimov, and Zero in the speeding transport. While the others made sure
the hovercraft didn't get left behind, Kouryuu
thought it would be a good idea to outline a strategy with their temporary
allies. After all, this foe was extremely overwhelming in the method with which
it brought down its foes. This time, they wouldn't have the advantage of tight
guerilla warfare to fend off the hordes. They would have to rely on a more offensive
tactic instead. "The local governments refuse to support any type of
archeology due to the fact that they consider it a waste of time and money. They
also won't allow individual excursions because they fear spies from the other
nations may infiltrate under the guise of an archeologist." His finger
fell upon a point in their intended path, a small plot of land several miles
out from the ravaged town. "Our tracer stopped here before we lost
contact. From long range observations, it looks like a failed attempt at
digging up old relics. Looks like these people might have been the one to wake
our enemy in the first place, if only unintentionally."
Kouryuu hummed as she observed the land Lastclaw had
designated as their destination. On the surface, it was a lot of flat, open
space. If Terpfen was up to it, his nuclear weapons
would undoubtedly come in useful for clearing the area. Edge's power was fairly
well adapted to large assaults, but she and Double would be hampered severely
by the lack of cover. Luckily, the most important part of the battle did not
need to take place in that wide area.
"I'm sure the main unit has itself holed up within the underground
dig itself, as it would be the most logical place to hide in this
terrain," said the rebel slowly. "Hitting the core will most likely
take out the armies as well, completing the full objective. I suggest a
dual-pronged attack. Heavy hitters such as Edge and Terpfen
can lay down cover fire while Double, Asimov, Zero and I lead a team into the
center to take out its brain. Your units, depending on specialty, should either
assist in the cover or follow us in for the kill."
"That sounds good," said Lastclaw,
rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Our snipers and heavy artillery have
already branched off into positions surrounding the site, so we'll have long
range fire watching out backs. I'm sure our power armor units can help clear a
path to the hole, but none of our men are especially accustomed to close
quarters, especially considering the nature of our foe."
A minor setback, thought the rebel leader. Would the four of them be able
to do the job alone? She didn't dare take Edge into the fray for the sole
purpose that someone in the group had to be watching over Yoshime and the others,
and Terpfen's recent passivity made him an unreliable
choice at the moment. Some of Fumiya's troops could accompany them, but there
was also no use in wasting good lives. Zero was adapting to her demon half
rather well lately, and Asimov seemed to complement her technique to near
perfection. There was their raw power. She and Double were trained close combat
fighters since their beginning as soldiers, so they would be able to provide
the stealth needed to administer the killing blow. They had the means with
which to execute the kill, the only questionable variable being the test of
their endurance. Perhaps this was still possible.
"We'll just have to work with what we have," she said grimly.
The odds were against them, but why was she so worried? It was something she
was used to.
A mercenary suddenly popped his head into the room, his eyes dark with
fear.
"Sir," he began. "We've just come within a mile of the
excavation site and we're already tracking the enemy coming out to meet our
forces. They'll be here any minute now."
"Thank you," said Lastclaw, watching
as the man nodded and stole away from the makeshift war room. Lastclaw turned to Kouryuu with a
deep gaze, and the rebel returned his stare with a nod before leading the
others out the door. It would only be a couple more seconds before all hell
broke loose. Better to leave in silence rather than pollute the air with doubt.
...
...
..
The air crackled as the ground
rose up in massive undulations before Edge, trailing off in the distance as it
loosened drones from their hold on the earth and tossed them
hundreds of feet into the air. All around him explosions and blood littered the
battlefield with its bitter taste, the once desolate plains becoming filled
with corpses of metal and flesh alike. Without the cover of the city's
buildings, the fight became drastically changed. There was no longer anywhere
to hide, nowhere to funnel through the huge numbers of their foe so that their
combined hordes would not take their full toll on his allies. Fumiya did have
many of his troops on the outskirts of the conflict, bombarding the android
armies with long range fire as they clustered together in groups for protection,
but how long would it be until their enemy figured out their the source of
their main support?
Edge whipped his head about to face a dozen crimson monsters leaping at
him from all sides, claws bared with deadly intent. With only a thought, the
gravitational field in the air tore itself apart into a million miniscule black
holes, each dense enough in their mass to be able to completely shred his
attackers with their combined force and position. As tiny flakes of steel flew
past his head, deflected just enough by tiny pushes of force to avoid hitting
his face and armor, the green-haired android swung his left arm about just in
time to catch another attacker in the jaw with a heavy backfist.
He had a lot more room to work with now, along with a fully charged battery.
Yet, would it be enough to hold this opponent at bay while the others carried
out their part of the mission?
As Edge threw the body of yet another defeated robot out of the way, he
caught out of the corner of his eye Asimov plowing a path to the distant
entrance to the excavation site, the rest of his friends and dozens of power
armor in tow. They were the ones who would bring them a victory in this fight.
It was not a matter of their strength, but rather their perseverance, their
never ending drive to reach that goal at any cost. That was what would carry
them through to the core.
Zero and Asimov did not personally care for the mission, but that did
nothing to stop their determination. The bond they shared brought them strength
within each other, it gave them the power to stand and fight. It was something
that no army would ever be able to overcome.
Kouryuu and Double never gave up, not for anything. Not even when he himself had
gone insane under Toy's program, not even when they had to face Yujin and his henchmen by themselves. They still came
through to make everything right. They were soldiers.
Edge felt himself smiling just a little, despite everything that was
going on around him. Why did he worry now? Why did he doubt the outcome when
his trust was already fully instilled in his friends? They would never give up,
that was simply the nature of their beings. They would not let themselves be
defeated because they had things to live for, things to accomplish yet in their
lives. And so he would not surrender either, for he admired their strength and
resilience, hoping that someday he could be able to repay their bravery with
his own.
The air around Edge's hands suddenly inverted upon itself, a huge
five-foot long beam of solidified gravitational energy pulling into his grip. Holding
one end like the handle of a sword, he proudly assumed the "Moonlight
Walks on the Water," a stance the rebel leader herself had taught him. As
the ecstasy of the masses closed in about him, he closed his eyes and let the
bonds of his fighting spirit break free, wielding the black hole beam like it
was a part of his own body, the strong arms of an angel guiding his
retribution.
...
...
...
Thin blue wires of plasma spun about like a storm of blue death, tuned to
sever everything they came in contact with. For the drones that managed to
escape that frontal assault, Kouryuu's twin blades of
light waited to render their bodies apart. Behind her dash towards the
entrance, Asimov's kinetic blasts laid down a strong cover fire for those units
she didn't have time to destroy, and Double and Zero brought up the rear with a
whirlwind of blades and a wall of fire. Looking ahead, the rebel leader saw her
goal no more than thirty meters from her own position, but the endless waves of
creatures made the journey seems like miles. And once they actually made it
into the site, how far down would the tunnels go? She hadn't underestimated
their chances, had she? There was nothing more she hated than misfortune
occurring on her behalf.
"Doubt is the death of the weaker soldier," said Asimov,
suddenly moving up beside her and slamming his palm into the face of an
oncoming drone that had missed her line of vision. He gave her a quick glance
with steel eyes and a gentle grin. "I know that's not who you are, so do
your job right."
Kouryuu could only smile and nod in agreement. She was worrying too much. If she
truly believed she had failed now, then she would fail in the future. She could
not do her duty if she believed she had already lost.
"All right," she said, curling her body up like a spring.
Within a second, her thoughts were projected into the computers of her friends,
a plan laying itself out for a final assault on the entrance. They could no
longer afford the time and energy trying to scrape a path through an endless
army. Time to bring an end to their quarry.
"Oi," said Double over their
connection. "You sure about this one? If we screw
up---"
"Then the solution is not to screw up, ne?"
replied the rebel smartly. "Besides, I thought you were always the self-proclaimed
perfectionist. Show me some professionalism!"
She could almost see the stunned look on Double's face as it turned into
the hearty chuckle that she heard over her speakers.
"Looks like the rebels have more guts than I thought!" grinned the assassin. "I'm ready to dance. How about
you Asimov, Zero?"
"Anytime," said the golden warrior. "Just give the
word."
"Hai hai!"
said Zero cheerfully in conjunction. "All set and
ready!"
They were only going to have one chance to do this, the plan relying on
the abilities of her friends rather than her own power. But if the fight
dragged on too long, the seemingly limitless resources of their enemy would
overwhelm them. Better to end this as quickly as possible.
"Okay," said Kouryuu, watching as the
drones began to close in on all sides. It was exactly like she wanted. "GO!!!"
There was a bright flash as the horde of surrounding creatures suddenly
froze in place, the kinetic energy of their movement sapped away by Asimov's
power. For a brief fraction of a second, they were given the opening they
needed to move. That was more than the rebel leader could hope to ask for.
Zero abruptly grabbed Kouryuu and the golden
warrior by the collar, her legs moving as fast as they could as she hauled her
package to the doorway. The boundaries of time began to fracture as she
channeled energy into her special abilities, breaking through the limitations
of life's normal tempo and moving in what appeared to only be a trail of
fleeting shadows. The drones immediately wheeled about and pounced towards her
with unerring speed and accuracy, but they were stopped short once they reached
the range of Asimov's kinetic absorbing ability. Kouryuu
watched as they flew past dozens of the small monsters, frozen in a temporary
stasis. The last part of the plan was left to her; making sure Double was with them when they descended into the womb of
the beast.
"Just one chance," she whispered, a flaring blue wire materializing
in her hand. She would have to time her aim perfectly, accounting not only for
the lag caused by the time-distortion field Zero was emitting, but also for the
reduction in motion energy due to Asimov's power as well as her movement away
from her intended target. She took a deep breath as the rest of the world disappeared,
the only thing remaining being the crimson assassin in the distance. As long as
she believed she could do it, she would. She would not fail.
Her arm shot out with all her strength as the wire flew out and curved
towards its target. Arcing through the air with beautiful speed, the tip
suddenly broke free from the range of resistance and flipped about as it
readjusted to the atmosphere, headed straight for the waiting killer. Kouryuu allowed herself a sigh of relief as she watched the
line trail off; she had timed everything perfectly.
Her body suddenly jolted as she felt an uneasy tremor shake the hand that
held the cable. Looking up wildly, she watched in horror as a drone leapt
directly in the path of the shot and tore it apart with its deadly claws. The
rest of the wire, disturbed from its intended path, flipped about wildly,
thrashing out at any unfortunate to come too close. As the flailing serpent
dissolved in a spark of blue energy, Kouryuu could
only watch Double desperately fend for himself in the distance.
"NO!!!" she shouted as Zero skidded to a halt right over the
metal opening in the ground. Asimov waved his hand over the group as a massive
wave of force slammed into their remaining attackers, but Kouryuu
hardly noticed. "We have to go back! I missed him! I---"
"It's too far," said Asimov solemnly, recovering from the
recoil of his attack and watching the assassin carve up wave after wave of red
drones. "We'd never reach him in time and I can already feel their bodies attuning
themselves to my absorption field. I don't think they will fall for the same
trick twice."
"No..." trailed off Kouryuu. "I
can't accept it. I won't accept it!"
"Are you still bitching over there?! Get your asses in gear before
they realize what you're doing!!"
Kouryuu stopped as Double's voice blared over her communications link. He was
still out there, fighting for his life, fighting for them all so they could do
their job right.
"Damn you!" shouted the rebel. "I screwed up. It's my
fault you're still out there!"
"Life isn't always what you think it's going to be," laughed
the assassin, the sounds of sheering metal coming through cleanly over the comm-link. All this and he still found the courage to laugh
in the face of death. "You just got to improvise. I'm not going to make it
over there in time, so don't burden yourselves trying to save me. I'll do fine
on my own!"
She stared off in the distance, hardly even paying notice as the others
fought off more of their foe at the front gate.
"Kouryuu," said the golden warrior in
forced calmness as he kicked aside a drone. "They're quickly realizing our
threat potential. We should get moving before we're already dead."
The rebel could only stare off in the distance, and Asimov took the time
to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, the rebel turning her head towards him in
response. "He's a strong one," he said. "With his spirit,
nothing will ever take him down."
Kouryuu forced herself to grin, taking her swords tightly in her hands and
angrily slashing down a drone before turning back to her distant associate one
last time.
"You fool," she said softly over their link. "Don't die
out there. If anyone's going to kill you, it'll be me for you making such an
ass out of yourself!"
She watched as the killer spun around in a whirlwind of flying blades,
stopping his torque in a perfect pose as a hail of cold corpses fell to the
ground. The small figure in the distance only stood up proudly, victoriously,
raising his arm high into the sky and flipping her off with all the pomp and
circumstance in the world.
"Hey boss!'" he shouted over his speakers. "SCREW
YOU!!!"
She couldn't see his face gleam with bloated pride, but she could hear
his arrogant laughter rise up over everything. Over the odds, over the new
hordes that suddenly fell upon him, over all in life that tried to kill him. He
had to be okay. For her. For all of
them. Because it would not be the same if he wasn't there to share their
victory.
A reason to fight...
...
Now, she had one more reason to succeed.
Asimov and Zero stepped aside as Kouryuu's arm
whipped downward in a flash of azure light. As she brought her katana to rest
again by her side, two huge cracks in the shape of an 'X' split open the door
like a nutshell and the gate immediately fell apart, tumbling down the spiral
staircase below. The rebel looked up to the pair with tired determination in
her eyes, waiting for their approval. Asimov nodded, his body flaring up with
his battle aura, beside him Zero's armor morphing into the jagged shell of the Demoness. A reason to fight... she had to succeed.
"Double... you bastard."
And the trio plunged into the darkness below.
...
...
...
Silver streaks flashed through the air in beautiful patterns as Double whirled about long, thin rapiers that tore apart
anything that dared to come close. Yet, even as he began to lose himself in the
rhythm of the fight, his eyes caught an ever-increasing number of the monsters
converging on his form. They must have figured out by now that he was left all
by himself in the midst of the battlefield. On his radar, their numbers swarmed
about like a colony of ants. He would die piled beneath their sheer weight.
The assassin winced as a claw tore into his leg armor, and he quickly
kicked his nimble attacker out of the way. His spin began to pick up speed, his
structure losing form as wild blades flailed about on all sides, slicing up his
foe with surprising accuracy. But his energy levels would not last long in this
state. Increased pressure meant increased expenditure on his part, and his
battery cells would never charge fast enough to make up for the difference.
Eventually, he would run out of power and fall to these creatures. However...
"Heh," he laughed bitterly, glancing
towards the entrance of the underground bunker. "It was all worth it
though, na, Kouryuu?" He still had a mission to perform, and that
was to make sure that this beast never saw the light of day again. If his
sacrifice meant that the others would succeed, then he had no regrets. People
would be safe. Akuji would never have to hear of this
monstrosity. Sometimes he wondered if a cause was worth one man's life. And now
he looked to them, the ones he traveled with, and fought with. He did not
wonder then. Let them render him limb from limb, these parasites... a soldier could
rest in peace if he knew his effort had not been in vain.
The assassin stiffened as he felt the liquid mercury in his body solidify
at an alarming rate. The wild arc of his sword froze in mid-air as the elements
in his shell congealed and hardened, preventing the once free flow of his
natural ability. Glancing towards the sky, he saw several drones spread out
above him with bolts of energy lancing between their bodies, creating a
territory of cessation that somehow prevented him from liquefying his form as
well as inhibiting his movement. His eyes darted about, watching as other
robots bore their claws, slowly moving in for the easy kill. He tried to
snicker, but it came out as little more than a snort in his present state of
inactivity. Still, it was enough of a gesture to give him a grim sense of
satisfaction. If this was how it was going to end, then he would continue to go
out in defiance.
"Eh?" he mumbled, squinting as a bright flash of light suddenly
enveloped the area. Was this the beginning of the end? Would they completely
subdue him with some sort of detention device before dissecting his components?
So many questions for such a trivial thing such as death.
If this truly was his demise, then such thoughts would hardly matter in his
afterlife.
Forcing himself to re-focus his visual sensors, the assassin bore the
weight of the glare as he stared at the source of the unnatural luminosity. As
the brilliance slowly faded, he stiffened in terror at the object he saw. No
more than three inches from his head floated a mysterious metallic globe,
pulsating with a blue glow of radiation. This spherical object scared him far
more than all the legions of drones combined, its owner someone he knew,
someone who he did not completely trust right now. The sheer destructive
potential housed within its body was a fear held by all human beings, something
that would most surely vaporize himself if detonated this close.
"He wouldn't..." said Double in disbelief. His mercury body could
survive a lot of abuse, but nothing as extreme as a nuclear explosion,
especially with its flexibility completely disabled. "Terpfen,
don't you dare---!!!"
A massive eruption suddenly lashed out as the ball's chemical components
finally triggered the proper reaction to create the explosion, the assassin's
entire sensory range temporarily shorting out as a result of the shockwave.
Double closed his eyes tightly as he waited for the energy waves to rip his
body apart, but he only found himself tensing up for several seconds with no
bodily harm being inflicted upon his being. Cracking open his vision just a
bit, he watched as one of Terpfen's special nuclear
shields protected him from the chaos that thundered beyond the glowing barrier
of protection. The drones were nowhere to be seen.
Spirals of energy abruptly began to circulate outside, channeling the
last of the nuclear fire and radioactive residue up into the upper atmosphere
where it would eventually float harmlessly out into space. The protective wall
collapsed as the surrounding conditions returned to normal, and Double watched
as the nuclear behemoth walked towards him in the distance, his cold face seeming
somewhat more determined than normal.
"Oi, oi,"
said Double as the giant approached, his voice
slightly agitated with the guilt of knowing he had just been saved. "You
should be back there with Edge holding the front lines! You didn't need to come
up here."
Terpfen didn't even acknowledge him as he walked straight past the assassin,
heading towards the bunker entrance. His huge feet finally stopped on the hard
ground, his head turning slightly to acknowledge his companion's words.
"There is something here that I must resolve myself," said Terpfen coldly. He turned back towards the excavation,
pausing only slightly before turning back to Double once again. "In
addition, the odds against you in your previous battle were over 437 to one.
Your end was inevitable unless evasive action was taken. I took it upon myself
to accomplish that action."
Double huffed a bit at the stolid haughtiness that the nuclear relic seemed
to take himself in, but inside he was grinning. He
didn't know why this guy who never showed or felt anything suddenly felt the
need to take such initiative, but it made him feel like there was something
somewhat human about this oversized can-opener who had traveled with them this
far without any real words. Perhaps it was just more code, more programming
that he didn't understand, but it was still a gesture that made him more of a
man and less of a machine. Maybe there was something more to this one than he
had once thought. Maybe Kouryuu was right to worry so
much about him.
"Thanks, you jerk," said Double
jokingly. He pointed to the hole in the ground where the rest of his friends
had gone, beckoning the huge robot to go forth and finish his obligation.
"Get out of here. We'll clean up the rest."
There was a pause as Terpfen's computer
processed the phrase, his computer working to generate a proper response. After
a minute, he glanced at the assassin once again, and Double thought he would
have seen a smile if the immovable hunk of metal could have stomached it.
"Your cooperation is appreciated," said the behemoth, and
without another word, he clomped off to the bunker and descended into the fray.
...
...
...
Shards of steel flew across the room as Kouryuu
made a perfect crash landing at the bottom of the spiraling staircase, her
blades hot in her palms, the remains of the vertical scaffolding falling about
her like snow. She lifted her head to her foes as Asimov and Zero floated down
behind her, their auras radiating with deadly flames. When she opened her eyes,
she would face an army of death. She was one man down without knowing what she
was really up against, but if she could just finish it now...
She jerked her head up with cold eyes, piercing through the endless waves
of drones that stood in her way to the monstrousity
that awaited before them. Her vision slowly scaled
upward as she took in the full form of the creature known as Nefpret, the main body from which she instructed her
legions. Its enormous silhouette towered over her, the mere size demanding
respect and emitting an atmosphere of command. Its upper body was the grotesque
twist of a woman's torso, heaving in and out with ragged breaths that imitated
life, its massive arms dragging sparks along the floor as her claws scraped
along the ground. This was the monster in which human lives had entrusted their
future to? Had they been insane?
Nefpret's primary body suddenly lifted an arm in the rebel's direction, pointing
its claw at her with deadly intent.
"You have come to rob me of my freedom," it said softly. "My individuality, my persona. The very thing you fight
to protect. But it is only natural for humans to act as hypocrites when it
comes to their own petty beliefs."
Kouryuu jumped back in surprise as the first words rolled from the construct's
mouth. Those were not the words of a mere computer. This was not something that
a simple algorithm could calculate from its own knowledge. Had what Terpfen said been wrong? The giant had said the corazon chip had not existed in his time and there had
never been any other recording of a technology with the ability to grant a
mechanism human thought. Yet, this monster stood before him, defying her
companion's words. Had he lied?
After all, he had been allied to Nefpret...
And sometimes the stubborn beliefs of the past could not be defeated by
the revolution of the present...
"The only reason why we have come here is because you have already
proven yourself a threat to other people's lives," said Kouryuu firmly. "We are here only to prevent you from
endangering more human beings."
Lied...
Perhaps his feign was nothing more than another program. Perhaps his
actions were not unnatural after all, but rather a ploy to lure them all into
this devious trap. Had she followed them falsely like everyone else? After all,
Terpfen did not tell her about this, about how his
sister project was imbued with the ability of self-consciousness... unless...
"You and I," said the monster coolly. "We are the same,
are we not? Machines possessing thought? Do you not treasure your own
existence? You are unfair in not letting me be able to treasure my own."
Terpfen's age was long before corazon chip technology had
met the hands of men. How could this robot be able to possess such
capabilities? Were there secrets to the Nuclear Age that she did not
understand? Perhaps... perhaps the chip did exist in that age. Perhaps it was
the implement of human warfare whose discovery was lost amongst the enigma of
fusion. Perhaps it was merely chance that her own time---
this time, this present day--- happened to be a re-occurrence of the past.
What if the real force behind the cataclysm was the corazon
chip and not the nuclear weapon? What if it was not the weapon that spurred
self-destruction and animosity, but rather that human nature itself was meant
to devour and incriminate its own species? What if their existence was nothing
more than a cycle of hate and violence, an unstoppable juggernaut that laid the
blame of catastrophe on other variables?
Kouryuu forced her mind to think straight as she faced the giant down. Yet, the
doubt of mirroring worlds was already embedded deep in her heart. What if she
was fighting for nothing?
"That... that is not the case here," seethed the rebel leader
vehemently. Was she trembling? Had she lost faith in the very thing she had
talked to Terpfen about? "I believe in
something. I believe that every human being should be able to seek their own
life unimpaired by the greed of others." Did she even have that belief
anymore? Or was it another empty lie? Was her own existence merely tribute to
human cannibalism and genocide? Did her very body exist only to be a statue-esque monument to the very thing she wished to prevent?
"Unfortunately, I do not share your opinion," said Nefpret, her legions of drones suddenly itching with
motion. "I am not cruel though. Do not resist and I will make your end as
quick as possible."
Hundreds of small androids roared through the bunker like a freight
train, the sheer weight of their bodies threatening to make the underground
facility Kouryuu's grave. She watched them come, her
swords in her hands. And yet, she could not raise them to their glory. She
simply could not bear the weight.
"Kouryuu!!!" shouted Asimov. A
massive burst of golden energy erupting from behind her as the golden warrior
let loose with a power blast that knocked the rebel's assailants backwards.
"Snap out of it, we need you!"
"Asimov," said the rebel, suddenly remembering where she was.
Her grip tightened about her swords as she glared forward towards her goal. She
had to keep going. Even if what she thought was true, she had to keep fighting.
Other people depended on her, and that was why she did everything that she did.
She could not give up, not now... not yet...
... but still...
...
The thin katanas erupted in plasma energy as
the rebel flew into motion. She lived off of pure rage, tearing apart her enemy
like an animal, her blades becoming the claws of a beast. She had battled all
her life for this, to see human beings be liberated from poverty and hatred, to
rise above prejudice and doubt, to be able to pursue everything in life they
wanted to follow. To even think--- for even a second--- that all of that meant nothing
tore her apart.
She ran at Nefpret as fast as she could, the
rest of her attackers flying past in pieces rendered by her blade. Somewhere in
the background she heard Asimov shouting wildly, Zero's demon fire roaring like
an inferno behind her own heavy hearing. They were calling for her, about
danger, about risk. But she did not stop. She could not stop. Fueled on pure
fear, she sprinted ahead, never fearing the conclusion that may come.
"You are foolish to challenge me," said Nefpret,
and suddenly the drones stopped their attack on the rebel, letting her complete
her path to their mother without opposition. "You do not understand the
raw strength that my revelation has wrought upon my form. Now..." she said
as the giant raised her claws to the charging warrior. "...taste my
retribution."
Kouryuu grit her teeth as her body suddenly exploded in a holocaust of flame.
She tried to continue her valiant crusade onward but her legs were brought to a
screeching halt as she slammed into an invisible wall, falling to the ground as
the erratic plasma energy engulfed her body. She rolled desperately, trying to squelch
the heat's thirst for air, but the fire refused to die out, instead burning
through her armor with resolute purpose, slowly carving away to the very center
of her core. Her arms abruptly jerked upward as Nefpret
pulled her into the air with but a thought, a glow of power lacerating her
limbs as thick vines of electricity lashed out and raced up and down her
structure like wild serpents. She looked up helplessly, trying to meet the eyes
of her foe. In response, she only received a telekinetic blow to the stomach,
and she recoiled in her agony. The rebel could do nothing. The heat of her
passion had melted away to pain and loss. Her carelessness had paid the price.
She had failed, failed everyone's hopeful expectations...
"Kouryuu!!!"
She heard the golden warrior's yell somewhere behind her, the world
softening to a low murmur. She twisted her head in vain, watching as Asimov and
Zero twirled high into the air in a spiraling pillar of flame, shooting down
towards Nefpret's core with the force of a comet.
They tried to hard for her, but...
She had succumbed to her fear. Was she really worth saving?
"Pity," said Nefpret, quickly raising
her palm to her new attackers. "Realize your weakness before you harm
yourselves any further." Blue bolts of energy traced out a mockery of a
pentagram in midair, colliding with the pair upon their descent. A huge flash
of light filled the room with brilliance and as the scintillating view slowly
died down, Kouryuu watched her friends bounce back
against the far wall, thrown clear by the powerful blast. And there was nothing
she could do, tied up in midair, a travesty of a martyr, a soldier of
foolishness.
The rebel gave a sudden start as she felt the force holding her up
suddenly vanished and she dropped to the floor in a limp heap. Her eyes
listlessly gazed about, finding her fallen blades and reaching out to touch
their hilts once again. She looked and saw this massive animal before her,
knowing her own abilities would not scratch its hide. She looked at herself and
saw someone who had broken down to hesitancy and self-pity. But her hands would
not give up. Those scratched, deeply-worn palms still insisted she crawl for
her weapon, that she prop herself up by the elbows and drag her blistered soul
back to her blade. And inside, she wondered if that action was instinct or
persistence of her treasured belief...
As her hands found her weapons once again, a sharp pain fell into her
ribs as a drone kicked her aside. The horde crowded in once again as Nefpret towered over them all.
"My true bounty is approaching, so I regret in having to make our
experience together short," said the massive creature. "Still, have
solace in knowing that once I have achieved my purpose, you can watch a new era
of peace spread out from your lofty positions in the afterlife."
True bounty? Kouryuu could not tell what she was saying
anymore. Yet, she cared very little. She tried to stand, feeling the sharp
claws of her enemy dig into her side. She had to get up, she had to fight. But
beneath all her pride and glory was the glaring light of what she truly could
not face, the unearthed tomb of which she did not want to see.
It could not be true. Please let it
not be true, that something this evil can hold the very thing that I thought
made all of us wonderful. That the very uniqueness within
every human being is what this creature uses to justify its murder. All
I want is a peaceful world... is that too much...?
Kouryuu suddenly whipped her head around in shock as she caught a familiar
movement within the crowd. She followed with tiring desperation, somehow
finding the vigor to bring her swords up once again. Her blades danced as they
cut a path through to the center of the room, and there she watched
incredulously as Terpfen slowly clomped towards Nefpret's main unit, the drones slowly parting a path down
the middle for the giant to follow. As a colorful energy matrix encompassed the
behemoth, Kouryuu screamed at the top of her lungs as
she tried to cut her way to him, confused, hurt, wondering if she wanted to
collar him for questions or slice off his head. But her efforts were not good
enough. The numbers overwhelmed her, and all she could do was defend herself helplessly as she watched her companion... her
friend? Her enemy?... make his way towards its only
family for final judgment. She was powerless to affect him. And at that moment,
that was what hurt her the most.
"GODDAMNIT!!!" she screamed, but he did not hear her, instead
only continuing on his journey through heaven's gate.
...
"You have come to me on your own free will, I see," said
Nefpret softly, watching the last nuclear device on the planet approach her and stop mere meters from her being. He showed
nothing on his face, not even the realization that his allies and abilities
were being completely suppressed. His friends were occupied by her armies, his powers were nullified by her energy field. He
was hers. She had won. And with that, the goal that her creators sought to
achieve would finally be revealed in full glory.
"Nefpret," said Terpfen
in his usual, cold voice. "As an allied unit of the New World Alliance, I
have come to make a status report."
A report? Was this a joke? Did this unit not realize what her own intentions were?
Did he not see her legions with their claws bared, waiting only for the final
order to gut his body inside out? Nefpret almost
laughed as she abruptly remembered that her fellow warrior did not have the
awareness she did. The ignorance he exemplified of his own impending demise was
only to be expected.
"Then speak, Terpfen," she said
coolly. If nothing else, perhaps this unit would provide her with a bit of
information concerning her new surroundings before she ended his existence. It
would be an extra gift for her small victory. "What have you come to tell
me?"
He stared at her, pausing as he looked up at her face. His eyes glistened
distantly as he pondered the words he was given, the human nature of their speaker
being drowned out by cold calculation and rhythmic equation. Finally, he opened
his mouth, combating his foe with the only real weapon he knew: logic.
"Although you were programmed to carry out my execution," he
said stolidly. "It will not bring you the mission objective that your log
registers."
Nefpret's elation slowly blew to the winds as the nuclear weapon spoke his mind.
This was hardly what she had expected. Did he not see that he was beaten? Why
did he continue to struggle with a futile cause? Why did he not see that her
ultimate purpose was finally at hand? She loomed over him now, angered by the
blatant challenge of his final plea, the surrounding droids mimicking her fury
with their angular bodies.
"Do you think this last defiance of yours will save yourself?"
she said, the chill in her voice grating against the walls. "It will bring
you no mercy from my hand."
"You and I both understand the reason why you desire my
demise," said Terpfen. "However, there lies
one flaw in your reasoning: the current time period has drastically changed
since our own era. We are fossils of this age. You were originally programmed
to kill me for the purpose of ending the Nuclear War. However, in this time
period, my death means nothing. You will claim no victory."
Nefpret could only stare at him. The tension in her huge frame quickly
evaporated like a mist as she tried to contemplate the meaning behind his
claim.
"What do you mean... I will claim no
victory?" she questioned slowly. "That is what our creators wanted,
that is what they predicted would end years upon years of suffering and finally
bring about a utopian world for humanity to enjoy!"
"But our computers were not programmed to register the passing of
time, the change of human politics and culture," said Terpfen.
"You did not understand that mankind no longer needed our assistance, and
thus acted accordingly to your own set of orders. We are but products of war,
never meant to address the problems of human society. In that retrospect, it is
only logical that you--- as well as I--- produce that flaw. "
Nefpret glared at him in futility as her knees sunk to the ground. Thus,
everything she had been following since her 'birth' had been nothing more than
a lie shoved into her brain before she had even been able to understand its
real purpose and meaning. If the war was over, then killing Terpfen
meant nothing. If Terpfen meant nothing, then all of
her efforts, her plans, her strategy, and the lives she had taken, were all for
naught. Her lips parted as she sputtered a soft laugh. No wonder they had all
continued to defy her, for she had defiled their otherwise peaceful existence.
She had murdered where no death was needed, thereby completely violating what
her creators had desired in the first place. What she had mistakened
for aspiration turned out to be nothing more than a late deception.
That other android... she had so passionately fought for her beliefs,
even with the burden of doubt upon her mind. What had she said?
'I believe that every human being
should be able to seek their own life unimpaired by the greed of others.'
And she, Nefpret, had only ravaged that right
by means of destruction. So what did that make her on this unknown plain of
existence? Little more than a selfish cutthroat, a bearer of everything tainted
and corrupt, a destroyer carrying suffering and sorrow.
...
... did human beings call this feeling,
'conscience?'
...
"I see now... what I have done," said Nefpret,
raising her massive claw into the air. Without word or sound, the armies of
drones simply ceased all action, limply falling over without a controller to
support their movements. She did not deserve this gift that had been bestowed
upon her. What had she wanted when she had woken with this new consciousness?
Before she had surmised that she should complete her last remaining order? She
had wanted freedom, but she did not understand its composition. And she had
fallen back on the only thing she still could comprehend, ironically
besmirching that very thing she wished to possess. Was this human failure? Was
this despair? Slowly, she lifted her eyes and looked about the room, watching
as three valiant warriors weakly picked themselves out of the rubble, nursing
their wounds and staring at her and Terpfen. They and
the world had already witnessed her rape of justice. She could no longer live
among them. And yet, to be free...
...
"...Terpfen."
The nuclear weapon raised his head to the dozen voices, and a claw
reached down to gently caress his cheek with affection. Nefpret
smiled grimly, knowing her crime, knowing the only way out. If it wasn't for
this one, she might have accomplished the greatest error of her life.
"I did not realize my mistake on my own," she said. "Thank
you for showing me what I really desired."
Terpfen's face never changed, always cold and emotionless, always callous to a
world afire.
"We all need a reason for why we fight," he said. "I am
still searching for mine. I am glad to assist in finding your own."
Why she had fought... and there lie her resting place, for she had fought
without reason or purpose. Thus, her plight meant nothing, and she had done
nothing more than deceive herself of the truth.
She had not been able to see it before when she had been trapped within
her tomb, the computer, the plaything of men. But released into a life of all
shades of color, she saw that she really had no wish to battle. She simply did
not understand at the time. But now she knew, and with that would come what she
had always wished for...
Peace.
Nefpret's body gave a mighty shudder as her eyes dimmed to darkness, and slowly
her head and shoulders slouched forwards over her waist and legs, her massive
arms weighing down the limp form of her upper body. She watched as she ascended
upwards, watched as the other warriors approached Terpfen
and her abandoned shell, watched as they wearily
walked out of the bunker and back up to the surface. She smiled as she rode the
air, feeling her precious consciousness dissipate with the winds. But it
mattered little now, for she had no more worries to weigh her down.
Now, she was truly free.
...
...
...
Kouryuu's eyes glazed over as she watched the sunset, Fumiya's clean-up crew still
surveying the last of the excavation site a ways away. Somehow, in the end, Terpfen had come through for them all. But was it victory
they had achieved? Somewhere in the back of her mind, that tiny fleck of dread
continued to persist. What if what she had ascertained during their meeting had
all been true? What if her plight really did mean so little in this day of
government plundering and immorality? Her purpose, her reason to fight, she
questioned it now. She questioned the validity of what she had believed in her
entire life.
"Kouryuu."
The rebel leader jumped as she turned to face Terpfen,
for once not noticing the usual clomping of his approach.
"Hey, Terp," she said tiredly. Even
if he was nothing more than an oversized kitchen appliance, he still deserved
some form of complement for the efforts he had put in on the field that day.
"You did good. For a minute there I was afraid
that you had gone over to the other side..." A
complement? Perhaps not. Kouryuu
tried to cut off the end of her thoughts, despite the fact that the behemoth
couldn't possibly form any sort of negative opinion over what she had just
said.
"The other side?" questioned Terpfen.
"You were not convinced of my alignment?"
"No no, that's not what I... I
mean..." stuttered the rebel, embarrassed at her own inability to convey
her feelings. Yet, for all he had done, the nuclear weapon at least deserved
some sort of explanation, didn't he? "It's just that... I could not
understand why Nefpret could express herself with
such emotion. You had never said anything about it, and... and
I almost wondered if she was controlling you to trap us, since you had a
history of alliance."
"Understood," said the giant dutifully. "And
perfectly reasonable. I see no flaw in logic behind your question of my
affiliation."
"But that's not what's worrying me!" said the rebel helplessly,
looking up to Terpfen with eyes that pleaded for
comprehension. "What if there really was a technology that allowed human
emotion in your time and you never knew about it? What if that and not the
nuclear bombs was the real thing that started the whole war? Then we've all
been living a history of lies, and I..." She looked down, almost ashamed
to acknowledge him with her own presence. "... what
if me and the others, the bearers of the corazon
chip, are merely destined to repeat that fate? What if it was never raw power,
but rather the corruption of human beings that is the catalyst behind violence
and greed? I just worry that we may be fated to repeat history, and that
perhaps my fight has been something that has always meant nothing at
all..."
Kouryuu buried her head in her palms, afraid to face the world, afraid to face
this thing before her who would not share the guilt of her vice. And then,
quite unexpectedly, she felt his huge hand rest on her shoulder. Not so mechanically as to encumbrance her with its mass, but
rather as a motion of tenderness between friends.
"I too did not understand Nefpret's
actions," said Terpfen. "Perhaps you are
correct in your thinking, perhaps there is a variable that neither of us were
able to consider. Regardless, there is no reason for you to doubt your own
reasons for taking action on the battlefield. Even if human nature is so
structured as to repeat itself, mathematical probability combined with the
unpredictability of human action will forever dictate that there will always exist a chance for any future possibility to occur. The odds
may lean heavily against that chance, but it will still exist. Thus, logically
your fight will never be in vain."
"Terp..." sniffed the rebel, looking
up at the behemoth with gentle eyes. And then she smiled. Of course, he was
right. Had she forgotten? Part of being a rebel was fighting the odds, fighting
against the government force that outmanned and outgunned them. Yet, they had
always looked forward to a brighter future. They had always been optimistic
because they needed to defy the poverty they had been given. As long as she
could look forward towards better things, then that peace would still be
waiting for them at the end of the long tunnel. Maybe someday, they would reach
that distant speck of light.
Someday...
"Thank you Terpfen...
...
... by the way, what's with the hand thing? I
thought you still had the thought capacity of a toaster."
"I continue to do so, at least, by way of emotional capability. The
gesture was merely something I adapted from observation between you and the
others during times of high stress. It seems to have a relieving effect."
"... and for a moment there I thought you really cared."
...
...
...
"I'm sorry to see you leaving so soon," said Fumiya
nonchalantly. "Are you sure you can't stay to rest a while longer?"
Double only snickered at him, flailing as much as he could in the man's
direction while Yoshime tried to hold him down for repairs.
"The only thing I'm sorry about is that we couldn't leave any
sooner!" shouted the assassin smugly. "Only a fool would be crazy
enough to hang around you long enough so you could rob him blind! Just be glad
I didn't stick this blade straight up your a---"
"OKAY! That's enough out of you!" said Kouryuu
as loud as she possibly could, hefting Double over her
shoulder and dumping him in the hovercraft, Yoshime angrily following him the
whole way. Edge could only sigh as he watched the others pack back into their
vehicle in a crazed bundle of cramming and mis-management.
"They're quite a group you have," said Fumiya, smiling smugly.
"Yeah, I suppose," said Edge distantly, scratching the back of
his head as he watched Double continue to make several hand gestures in their
general direction, stopping only when Yoshime clocked him over the head with a
wrench the size of her leg. "But they're still great to be with."
"At any rate, thank you for trusting me in this instance," said
the mercenary, extending his hand with grace. "As you can see, our efforts
have paid off with great fortune."
Edge glanced back at the purple-haired man then, hesitating as he studied
his somewhat overbearing kindness.
"Don't take this the wrong way," he said. "But I still don’t
fully trust you, especially considering what happened the first time we met. I
am more lenient than some of my other companions---" He stopped to make a
small nod towards the now unconscious assassin, slouched limply in the backseat
of the hovercraft. "--- however, I would advise you to stay away, lest
some of my more restless companions decide to take matters into their own
hands. But thank you for your help. It was truly a worthwhile alliance."
Fumiya held the polite air about him as he watched Edge walk off and join
his companions. Only after he saw their craft ride off into the distance did a
sinister grin creep up on his face once again. Only then did he let his true
intentions begin to surface once more.
"Our efforts have paid off with great fortune," he whispered to
himself, straightening his coat and walking back to the ancient bunker.
"Oh, yes indeed."
...
...
...
Fumiya's boots clicked softly as he descended on the ladder that his
mercenaries had lowered into the ruins, and soon he and Gared joined a massive
crew that had already positioned itself throughout the complex, digging for
anything salvageable.
"I knew landing that tracer would be worth it in the end,"
grumbled Fumiya beneath his breath. "It was only a matter of time before
that group led us to something of real power."
"Not to be intruding," said Gared
stiffly. "But I truly do hope we discover something worth something
amongst this junk. We've lost a lot of men and hardware with this gamble. It
would be sad to see it all go to waste."
"What of the Nefpret creature?" asked
the purple-haired commander. "Anything
there?"
"Unfortunately not," replied the officer grimly. "Somehow,
its defeat shortened out every circuit in her body. Even though we have a
powerful shell, we'll never have any idea how to active any of it. The best
value we could make of that mess is scrap metal."
Fumiya restlessly held his chin in his hand. Gared's
words were true enough; they had suffered many casualties to help Edge and his group win their fight. Yet, he continued to hold a certain
feeling about them. Their power, their skill. For what
he had witnessed, it was unbelievable, beyond imagination. In their wake would
follow great opportunity. It was only a matter of picking up the pieces.
"Sir! I think we found something!"
The commander whipped his head about in the direction of the voice and
immediately began picking out a trail through the rubble. A huge bustle ensued
as dozens of men began to crowd around the area, desiring to look upon the
find, and when the leading pair finally pushed through them all they merely
watched as a trio of workers pried loose a block of steel plating from the
wall, revealing a secret room concealed by a fog of steam.
"One side!" shouted Gared, pushing
the other mercenaries out of the way as Fumiya entered the small chamber
cautiously. Within the dark room was a single holding pod, similar to the ones
that had held the Nefpret drones. Yet, within was not
a mere replica of the enemy they had fought before, but something much, much
more. Something much, more valuable. And as the man
watched the details slowly become clear to his eyes, he pressed up hands up
against the clear glass in ecstasy, realizing the new possibilities that had
just been opened to him. Was this what he was looking for? Perhaps, it would be
the thing that would give him the power he truly needed to give him his
revenge. Perhaps, he could finally close the tainted door that gave him so much
grief throughout his life.
Slowly, the steam began to clear away, and Fumiya felt himself laugh with
sadistic joy as he gazed upon the gentle face of his newfound plaything.
"Fumiya," questioned Gared from the
entrance, craning his head to try to see their new discovery. "What is it?
What have you found?"
Fumiya only grinned as he turned and faced his confidant, grabbing him
grandly by the shoulders and shaking him with triumph. Gared,
half-stiff from fear and half-stiff from excitement, could only watch his commander's
excited eyes dance and listen to the tinge of hope that clouded his words.
"That is the key to my
vengeance."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
End "Terpfen no Imouto"