I don't think there should be anything not obvious here, Zechariah thought.
Even still...
>Quietly exit the door and slide around the side of the room. Attempt to exit stealthily and stay in the room that you entered from. Make yourself small in a corner with shadows and use the Shadow, if you feel you are threatened, to disguise yourself.
Your host gets up, slowly. He looks at the smear of blood he has left on the wall he was leaning against. He is not going to make it.
He walks through the empty room, making his way in the dim light provided by the small lamps and the static-displaying TV.
He finally reaches the exit. It's getting brighter outside. Like it's almost dawn. But it's too early for that yet... isn't it?
He falls down on his back, looking at the sky. Everything seems to be moving so fast. It keeps getting brighter. Blindingly bright. You can feel his eyes straining as his irises expand.
Your interface beeps and its screen lights up red.
<Conditions exceeding safety limits. Desynchronizing...>The last thing you remember is your host closing his eyes, the light still visible through them.
Oh bloody-he's stooping that low? Awena! <Irine! Law of conversation of Energy.> It works even in this kind of situation, wherein what we're facing is technically energy.
...Bloody goodness. Awena, how good is your throwing arm?
Leave the decision to Awena--though, support her fully in any feat she tries to perform. Examine surroundings as to what could possibly be used to aid an attack from this position (and am I able to rush in melee?).
{suggest to} Throw knife, if no other possibility remains- or...where was that gun which Zoe had?
Edit: Clarifications.
Use that gun if otherwise...
The gun is nowhere to be seen. Maybe it was buried under debris from the explosion.
But you still have your knife and Victor is unarmed, so there is no dire need for it.
Yet.
<If it comes to it and I let you go, can I trust you not to kill me? Do whatever you want to the rest, but I want to survive.>
<Well, you're not an objective and you have a kickass power. Why would I even want to kill you? I also am in dire need to kill the rest of these people, you know, for completion's sake. So yeah. Let me go, and you've got yourself a deal! If you don't mind, though, try immobilizing knife-girl beforehand, okay? I'm not in the best of conditions, really, and brawling's going to waste too much time.>
If he lets me go, first order of murder is to shoot that crystal dead!
Second order of murder is to shoot the ladies! All three of them, if they're not dead already, priority on Target Amethyst unless other immediate avenues of danger present themselves, in which case shoot those instead.
<You know he's probably going to betray you, right? All the standard villain signs are there.><Irine! Law of conversation of Energy.>
<Only a rule of thumb! I violate it on a regular basis by my very nature! Not a true law!>
my priorities if I manage to take the power are:
1) my previous host, the one who's will i stole, must be revived. her being forced out of this world and into the Staging Area is an acceptable version of this. Her suddenly appearing alive and well next to Zoe is acceptable. Her reviving at the site of her death, or the site of her birth, as long as it isn't going to kill her back again, is acceptable. what matters is that she is alive again, and in her OWN body, not mine, her life and memories intact (at least mostly).
2) Amelia must be protected / saved, for Zoe's sake. And since it seems to be Zoe's will to put Amelia before herself, she is as of now higher priority than Zoe.
3) Zoe must be protected from further harm, and I want to heal her injuries as well. Even if she is willing to sacrifice herself, I don't want her to have to do that. I don't even want her to be maimed by the events of today.
4) Awena should be protected if possible, she is the host of Theri, who was my ally and helped me through this.
5) finally I should see if I can place this world under Stellar's protection, she is the most worthy Entity that I have encountered.
6) Awena seems like a good choice for a guardian of this world, something Zoe is too single-minded for. If there is spare power after I'm done here, I should consider gifting it to her. If the amount gifted is significant, then also send her a compressed, shorthanded, version of my memories since I first arrived at the Staging Area. Include a emotional buffer on those memories to protect her. Those memories should teach her all I know about the Entities, even things that I don't know I know, especially about Stellar, who is going to be in charge of this world if I reach this stage of my priorities. do not include my private conversation with D, but do include his request to keep that conversation private, so she can understand why that blank spot exists. make sure that if I gift her power, I also gift her protections against being controlled again, as best as I am able.
I want to thank Zoe, to speak to her directly, but I don't dare do it until this is over. I can't afford to disrupt our link. I'll do it after, even if all I can say is a simple "Thank you."
Irine
Comon...
Trust Zoe...
Zoe
Keep going, be ready for a fight at the last second. Boris is likely to try to stop me.
Zoe keeps crawling forward.
Awena remains on the defensive. Victor jumps towards her but she takes a step back, avoiding him.
"I won't hurt you."He lunges again and Awena is forced to stab him in the abdomen. However, before she can push him back, he touches her wounded shoulder.
"You know what I do?"It feels like her blood is boiling. Blood starts flowing out of the wound, hovering over it and expanding to form lines. She's too surprised to react.
"I'm a healer. So consider this-"He is interrupted by the sound of two gunshots. He pushes Awena away. The blood that was hovering above her wound dissolves into nothing. He tries to walk towards Amelia, but he is stopped by a third shot, the bullet going through his leg.
He falls. Awena can see two more bullet wounds on his back. Blood starts flowing out of them and hovering above them, branching into lines.
Zoe lowers her gun and keeps crawling forward, having almost reached the others.
<You could had won. I could had won. You brought this on yourself.> Victor bemoans before he is enveloped by a red hexagonal mesh formed out of his blood, like the cocoon that enveloped their previous attacker.
Speaking of which, the blood surrounding Ike shimmers and dissolves into nothing, freeing him. Ike feels a lot better, like he is not in the verge of dying anymore. But that feeling of euphoria lasts less than a second, for the next moment he feels like someone just stabbed his brain, put it on fire and freezed it all at the same time. Despite that, he manages to raise his shotgun and squeeze off a shot.
Awena is too busy looking at Victor, making sure he is unmoving, to notice that Ike is free. As such, she is caught completely off guard when the shotgun pellets hit her right hand, causing her to drop her knife.
Zoe gets ready to shoot the armored man, hoping she can somehow get a lucky shot, however Awena is faster. She doesn't hesitate, like something is pushing her to act, to give everything she has for one last fight. She jumps on top of Ike and pushes the shotgun down, struggling to hold him down, to keep him from attacking. She succeeds, for a few seconds at least. But by that time, whatever effect was affecting Ike has subsided.
He knees her in her injured abdomen to create an opening, using the pain to distract her as he reaches for a machine pistol with one hand, presses it against Awena's chest and unleashes a burst of bullets and blood. Awena is dead before she hits the ground, her heart destroyed by the barrage. Her unmoving eyes stare forward in shock as she is pushed aside by Ike.
Ike gets up, ready to complete his objective. He prepares to fire, but at that moment, his interface beeps and its screen lights up red.
<Conditions exceeding safety limits. Desynchronizing...>Too late.
The last thing he remembers is the two girls in front of him disappearing in an explosion of light.
Zoe crawls the last few inches forward, reaching the crystal and Amelia. It is inviting, in a way. Like a weight just got lifted off her shoulders the moment she got near it. She uses the black base of the crystal as a handhold, to help her stand. It's incredibly hot and the sharp edges cut into her palm, but she doesn't mind. Touching it feels good. Almost makes her forget about the pain.
She puts her weight on her one good leg. With one hand she grabs the crystal, using it to balance herself. With the other she gently touches Amelia on her cheek.
That's it. We did it. You'll be OK. Even though she still doesn't fully believe that, she wants to believe that. She wants to believe that everything will turn out OK after she dies. That her sacrifice will mean something.
Irene's interface beeps and its screen lights up red.
<Conditions exceeding safety limits. Desynchronizing...><Override.><Do you accept responsibility?><Yes.><Do you accept responsibility?><Yes.><Isolation mode active.>The screen disappears from Irene's interface, leaving an empty socket of silver metal in its place.
The world around them is made of light. No floor, no walls. Just three objects floating in a sea of irritatingly bright light.
Irene speaks with Zoe. Just a few words before she has to act, each word accompanied by the muffled beeping of her interface and a feeling of being more and more distant from each other.
She can't tell how much time they spend talking. Nothing changes. There's nothing to tell the passage of time besides the irregular beeping.
Zoe doesn't have much to say or inquire about. She is content. She is thankful. She is tired. Simple emotions Irene can see in her mind without asking. And above all, she's too tired to ask any more questions.
<I'm sorry. We can't wait anymore.>Irene takes control, closes her eyes and focuses on the crystal. She can feel it pushing against her mind, giving her information and asking her what to do.
She can feel the crystal, a tiny point of darkness, yet with influence spreading everywhere around it like tiny black tendrils, digging into the world like a seed digs into soil with its roots, trying to resist the forces that try to uproot it. She can feel the small space she is in, enveloped and permeated by the darkness.
Amelia is like a grey sun, her light so bright it would most certainly cause Irene to miss the tiny point of light that represents Zoe, if it wasn't for something extending out of her. It's like a thin white line but it diffuses after some distance, becoming wider and blurrier until it disappears. And she can feel the Will surrounding that small space, a powerful Force coming forth from every point in the world, trying to crush it into nothingness, slowly coming closer and closer to succeeding.
She can feel the whole world, filled with millions of points of light, some brighter than others. Everything is frozen, unmoving.
She can feel a scar in the world, a hole where nothing exists, not even the Force assaulting them, a place surrounded by Death and Destruction.
She gets to work, giving her intentions to the object as clearly as she can. The darkness responds, stabbing the grey sun, sapping its reserves to gain power and knowledge, to grow outwards, creating more of itself, more tendrils that stab into things, specific things around it, living and dead, modifying them to suit its orders, crushing any obstacles it can't avoid. As it was designed to do. One of them reaches out further and further away. An unimaginable distance away. It keeps on going until it reaches something enormous. Irene can't see its full size, she can only gain a general idea about it. Yet it feels familiar, like a sea made out of trillions of warm yellow suns. The tendril dips into the edge of the sea. It stays there for a few moments, exchanging information. It is subsequently subsumed by the light, the tendril widening into a channel as the sea rushes through it, reaching for their world, for them.
<You did well. What you thought was right. You should be proud.>The light spreads throughout the world, using the darkness as a blueprint. It takes over its tasks, helping to complete them.
<I will do my best. I will not let your effort go to waste. I will not let you down.>As the last of the reserves of power are spent, Irene begins to feel herself fading, her perception of the world around her blurring. The use of power has weakened her and her link to her host.
<Now I have to face the consequences of what we did.>Everything fades to darkness.
<Desynchronized.>
Awena wakes up, taking a quick, deep breath.
Run.She gets up. She has to get out of here. Needs a vehicle.
The van you used to get here.She sidesteps some rubble and a large metallic black box to get near Zoe.
Come on, get up.She helps her stand, regain her balance.
"We have to leave."
"Yes..."
It takes Zoe a second to get her bearings.
"Yes. Help me carry her."
Awena didn't need to be told. She is already getting in position.
They grab the still unconscious Amelia and start moving her outside, making their way over a mound of rubble.
It is surprisingly empty out here. Deathly silent. Only the sound of the wind blowing through the holes in the building's walls.
They try to move carefully yet hastily. They are far from safe here.
"Is she allright?" asks Awena as she sits down on the driver seat.
"No. Not fully." replies Zoe. She takes a seat near Amelia after closing the back doors of the van, helping her limp body stay upright.
She looks outside, at the grey pillar in the East. The sky is changing colour there, becoming orange and yellow as the sun begins to rise.
"But I have a feeling that she will be."
<Desynchronization complete.>
The man who Ike had dubbed Ike Wayne wakes up.
He is still trapped in that infernal blood barrier thing, facing the sky. He can't do anything. Can't even move, no matter how much he struggles. It's much stronger than before.
Some time passes. The sky turns from that slightly greenish dark blue of dawn to a much lighter cyan colour.
The barrier finally dissolves.
He looks at himself. His injuries are gone, his tiredness and pain too. Only dried blood left to remind him what happened to him.
There's a note on his chest, written in Russian. A shred of paper that has been hastily scribbled onto with a blue pen.
[Had to go. One final mission. Healed you first. For services rendered. This probably won't make any sense to you, but if it does, do not go after me. Better to focus on your other goals. I'll be out of this world soon enough. Goodbye.]
Reads like a suicide note.
He crumples it and puts it in a still intact pocket. Something for later.
He can hear sirens outside. People moving and shouting.
He sits down on a black box and starts taking off his armour and weapons, revealing his partially burnt clothes below.
Looks like he'll be having a long chat with Operator soon. Better to at least be comfortable while he's being scolded.
...
As it turns out his chat will happen sooner than expected.
After the police come in, check the room, shout at him, cuff him, confirm his identity and then let him go and apologize profusely (nothing new or unexpected there), the boss himself arrives on the scene, complete with his group of armed gorillas. That's unexpected.
What's even more unexpected are the words that follow.
"Outstanding performance." he says as he shoos his bodyguards away.
"It became apparent after investigation that there was certain events that we were unaware of. Your intervention helped prevent a major disaster." he responds to Ike Wayne's questioning look.
"Sir?" Ike Wayne asks but the other seems unwilling to elaborate. Probably waiting for them to talk in a more private location. Instead, he continues on a different topic.
"And the recovery of that artefact, preventing it from falling into the wrong hands" he adds, pointing to that black box "will certainly not be overlooked."
"Thank you sir." His mind is racing. So many questions he wants to ask, but this is neither the time nor the place. Instead, he focuses on something simple and simultaneously very important. "Does that mean They...?"
"Yes. You're in."
Excellent.
<Desynchronization complete.>
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do." Male voice. Sounds tired.
"What do you mean? He's right there! He's still alive, do something!" Female. Almost yelling.
"There's too much damage. I can't just fix that. He needs complicated surgery and-"
"Then take him to a bloody hospital."No. Not hospital. Better to die.
"Even if we somehow managed to do that with none of us getting arrested, there would still be nothing they can do. There's too much damage."
"He's managed to stay alive so far. If we could-""Only reason he's still alive is because of whatever they gave him. They have some weird drug cocktails they ship from the East that can keep a man alive through anything. But the effects won't last for long. And when they wear out..."
"What are you saying? That I should let this man die on the back of my car? Do nothing about it?""Look, I'm not saying it's easy, but-"
"No. Sod that."Tires screech.
"Where are you going?"
No response.
"What are you doing?!"
"Something."<Desynchronization complete.>
"Yeah, and then the whole thing just lit up."
"So, what do you think? Aliens?" she half-jokes.
"Maybe." replies the other with a laugh. "Heard the rumours about the Ghosts of the Anomaly?"
"No, what's-"
The man and the woman dressed in white fall to the floor with a sigh, unconscious.
Being struck in the head from behind tends to do that to people.
Completing the objective doesn't take long after that. It's a straight run to the computer room.
The systems are so outdated no outside help is needed. Not that any could be requested.
A few keystrokes later, the system has been compromised, the gateway hidden by the simple nature of the machine's obscure settings. Nobody would bother looking for it anyway. Getting any data needed should be simple after that.
A couple of minutes later, he finds himself in the central corridor, making his way towards the exit.
The white coat he got help him blend in with the physicians trying to get through the large crowd of patients and relatives lining the hospital's corridors. The chaos is another element working to his advantage.
As he walks down the hall, a payphone starts ringing. He approaches and picks it up.
"Agent Four Teen Confirm." comes a monotonous female voice from the other side, followed by a tone.
"Affirmative."
Time for a new assignment.
<Desynchronization complete.>
0.6
Victor will-> 5-1 4-1
Victor dex-> 1-1
Awena rflx-> 2+1
0.5
Victor dex-> 5-1
Awena rflx-> 3+1
Victor end-> 6
Awena rflx-> 1
Zoe dex-> 6-1
Victor Injury-> Lower right torso
Victor end-> 6
Zoe dex-> 5-1
Victor Injury-> Upper right leg
Victor end-> 2
0.3
Zoe will-> 6-1 3-1
Ike will-> 1-1 2-1
Awena awr-> 1
Ike dex-> 4+1-2-1+1-> 3
Awena auto fails rflx->1
Awena injury-> Lower Right Arm
Awena end-> 5
0.2
Ike rlfx-> 1+3-2-1-1->0
Awena rflx-> 5
Zoe rflx-> 3
Awena dex-> 6
Ike rflx-> 5+3-2-1-1-> 4
Ike str-> 4-1-1-> 2
Awena str-> 4-1-> 3
0.1
Awena will-> 1-2 5-2
Zoe will-> 3-1 4-1
Ike str-> 4-1
Awena str-> 5-1-1
Ike str-> 6-1
Awena str-> 2-1-1
Awena injury-> Upper left torso
Awena end-> 2
0.0
So, that's it. Took a while to write. I decided to just keep rolling until the end, since I think there was little room for variation left.
I guess Irene will be the one that got away for Ike.
In the serial killer sense.
Not 100% happy with how I planned this mission, but I think I've learned a few things from it.
Okay, I've got a thing to write for university but I'll try to finish up any changes in your notes and upgrade trees and send them over to you ASAP.
Regular updates will continue once I'm done with all that.
In the meantime, feel free to vote-discuss the next mission. And have some
music.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1141140 times)