((Post between [@Letter Bee] and [@Neozeon0083])) [b][i]Red-Star Floating Supercarrier Kuei-Ren[/i][/b] Osamu and Alexander had gone to the hangar of the floating Supercarrier, where Phoenix Inferno and Titan Breaker had been placed side-by-side, restrained by scaffolding. Engineers were retrofitting Phoenix Inferno with an extra-large computer module, a gigantic rectangular block that replaced the missile launchers that hadn't been used in the latest battle anyway. Osamu then told Alexander, "Get on the lift, get inside the pilot's seat and connect your implants into the NC; you've done this several times before." Alexander did so, and once he was safely inside, Osamu gave new orders to place a wired connection between Phoenix Inferno's new module and Titan Breaker's Core, and once that was done as well, stretched out his right hand, palm spread flat out as he began tapping into Titan Breaker's 'Virtual Program' with his bio-computer, saying to it, The system was dormant for a moment, before it began to stutter to life. The system is quite antiquated for an NC system. Osamu is shown lines and lines of text from his optics. After a while, a pop up appears saying, "Welcome back doctor". The prompt continues, "Unusual input detected, doctor, what's in the box?" Under the prompt is a classic password insert box. Osamu typed in what he thought was most in keeping with Serk's character: . But if the program rejected him, then he'd prepare to brute-force it into a transfer. As the password was entered, the curssor floated in the box for a moment. Suddenly, a count down was started as the prompt updated, "You miss typed, right doctor?". The text box reappears but with a thirty second timer. Osamu tried to reassure the program before giving it more thought. [i]I don't know Serk as much as I thought I did, but I know he is obsessed with turning his own son into a guinea pig. May my own Father help me in this.[/i] He was about to type 'Father', before remembering that Serk didn't think of himself as one. So Osamu instead typed, ; aka the reason Serk aborgated his responsibilities as a father. Once again, the curssor hung in the box for a moment. Then the timer suddenly reduced from twenty seconds to ten seconds. The prompt refreshed with the words written, " Bad day in the lab doctor?". Osamu said. [I]Father help me, please tell me what I should do.[/i] Alexander's voice broke in through the commlink, "Oi! You done angsting yet? Just wanted to say it's rare for you to have legit angst, brat." The Artificial Human grimaced, "Alexander, I promise you such pain -" [i]Pain.[/i] That was what Serk had done to Hibiki. Pain, that's what Serk had said was 'love' to his son. But Serk didn't actually love him; he was merely obsessed with turning Hibiki into his guinea pig. But why? Just mad science? What did such a project promise him that can cause him to do it? Alexander spoke, "If you must torture me afterwards, if you must kill me or brainwash me into a true Slave of Red-Star, promise me that you're sincere about caring for Hibiki. I don't want this to be another of your mind games." The response from Osamu was, "It's not, I promise!" He accidentally typed in that last word, 'Promise'. One second was left standing, as the word was input. The program stalled for a second before a prompt of 'Welcome' appeared. Soon, the archaic code was washed away, as Osamu was exposed to a far more advanced interface. Suddenly being bombarded with data. From the system HUB, he saw stored data of Hibiki's previous missions being played over and over again and again. Marked on the side of the HUD was text saying ''' Total Deployments: 368". Short video clips of the missions are shown with the data file, and there is frantic processing from the system, as it runs simulations from these situations. Osamu begins trying to transfer the program into Phoenix Inferno, even as he has various Red Guards check if Hibiki is still safely unconcious and restrained in the medbay. Once the program had been transferred,into the other mech, the Artificial Human re-opens his remote link to Hibiki's psyche, trying to move Dark Hibiki into Phoenix Inferno with Alexander's 'guidance'... Hibiki's mind seems darker than usual, and Osamu finds himself in a swamp. In the distance is a large figure kneeling in the marsh waters. Osamu walks towards said figure, asking, "Dark Hibiki, is that you?! Or is this Regular Hibiki?!" A silhouette of a smaller figure is shown moving on top of the large figure as he hears, "Osamu? Is that you?". Osamu runs faster, knowing that the smaller figure was Regular Hibiki. "Hibiki! It's me! What's happening to you?!" As Osamu approached, the larger figure was reviled to be the Titan Breaker in a war torn state. His face still obscured by darkness, Hibiki said, "You're here early, it's not nearly night time yet..is it? Hard to tell in here." Osamu was breathing hard, his face taut with worry. He then said to Hibiki, "Where is your Darker Self?! I need his presence at once!" [YouTube]https://youtu.be/1UQj7EddL-0[/YouTube] The darkness fades from his face as a twisted smile is revealed. Dark Hibiki said to Osamu, " Well that's rude, here I thought we had something special Osamu kun, we do see each other quite often. Didn't think you would actually try what you said, yes I heard you. You're going to" he gestures quotes with his hands and continued, " download me. Honestly, really?" Dark Hibiki looks at Osamu with a raised eye brow. A glare as the redhead said, "Yes, really, Dark Hibiki. Do not make me come after you right now! Because I will if you don't come with me quietly!" "What fun would that be Osamu?" Dark Hibiki said, as the battle torn Titan Breaker started to rise from it's resting place. Riding the shoulder of the machine, Hibiki looked at Osamu below him and said, " You should know this game, where is your NC?" Then Titan Breaker lifted the God Crusher mace and moved to bring it down onto Osamu - Only for Osamu to blink out, teleporting several meters backwards through the swamp. A furrow of his brow later, and Phoenix Inferno suddenly appeared inside Hibiki's mind-scape, with Alexander, its pilot, giving a few words. "So this is what the inside of another person's head looks like. And yes, it's me, the [i]real[/i] Alexander; Osamu opened a link to my mind as well." Phoenix Inferno flies in circles around Titan Breaker as Osamu disappeared once more. Then Alexander said, "It's time to seriously fight; I have a reason to go all-out!" The mech halted, a half-dozen missiles launched out of its back. These missiles go towards Titan Breaker, launching electrified nets at it and obscuring it and Dark Hibiki's view as Phoenix Inferno then zoomed higher up, firing Fusion Cannon blasts at the enemy Mech and setting the swamp on fire! The swamp bore the force of Phoenix Inferno's manifested assult. Fires danced on the water and frail trees burned to embers. The oncoming nets found themselves wrapped up on the God Crusher mace, as it had been flung to intercept them. The battered Titan Breaker had made an imposable leap. Towards the Phoenix Inferno. The Cerberus tail had dispatched any missiles keen on striking the Titan Breaker. Each one left a plume of fire and smoke as the lace of the tail cleaved through it. The Phoenix Inferno found itself in the grasp of the Titan Breaker. Alexander felt a burning sensation where the claws had mounted themselves onto the NC, as they slowly dug into it. The Titan Breaker's optics were a bright glowing crimson as it starred at the Phoenix Inferno. Dark Hibiki then realised that it was no longer just two in Hibiki's subconscious. Dark Hibiki then stated, " Is that you Alexander? What are you doing in here? Ha, leave it to Osamu to send someone else to do his work for him." The Cerberus Tail looked over them like it intended to strike at any moment. "Now tell me Alex, how many times will you be used before you will give up on your little dream of a peaceful life in this hell scape?" dark Hibiki taunted. What followed was a condescending chuckle. Phoenix Inferno's eyes glinted with light as Alexander said, "For once, I'm doing what he said for my own reasons!" The red-orange NC's own claw grabbed at Titan Breaker's own arm, before Alexander shifted to a mid-air judo throw, trying to throw Titan Breaker off him and onto the ground. "You forget that should all my weapons fail against yours', I still have more experience!" In the midst of the throw, the Cerberus Tail wrapped around the midriff of the Phoenix Inferno. The free arm scrapping across the opposing NC's plates, as the burning sensation followed with the claws movement. " Is that what you tell yourself? Alexander, I thought you smarter than that. Never once have you actually had control of your life." The entity said. Dark Hibiki took the moment to defy physics and move from the Titan Breaker's shoulder to the Phoenix Inferno's upper chest. He looks straight into the optics of the machine to continue speaking to Alex. " Alex, I see you for what you are. Just a little slave boy looking for a dream to grasp too." Dark Hibiki leans in towards the Phoenix Inferno's face and said," Here is a secret, your dream cannot die if it had no hope to live in the first place." The entity started to laugh maniacally as the Titan Breaker's face formed a grimace filled with teeth and bit into Phonix Inferno's shoulder. Only to find itself biting into a packet of superheated hydrogen stored in the shoulder-mounted fusion cannon. Now knowing the rules of the imagination-game, it was Alexander's turn to defy physics, willing the fiery gas to flow into Titan Breaker's mouth and throat, bypassing the energy-retardant coating altogether in order to burn out the Dream-NC from the inside. Alexander, meanwhile, replied cooly, "Nevertheless, I have what you don't have - A dream." " Oh, I see. You're under the impression that a dream is something that I want? I've seen what dreams do to people, 'Dreams' bleed life out of them." Dark Hibiki stated. Plumes of smoke billowed out of the Titan Breaker's mouth as if quenched by something from within, as blood flowed out of it's mouth in insane amounts. The Blood poured and seeped into the joints of Phoenix Inferno. "Now tell me Alex, how many have died for your dream so far?" The monster gloated. The blood just floated up and away, 'bent' from Phoenix Inferno's joints and innards. A sigh of boredom as Alexander said, "None yet. Is that the best you can do, Dark Hibiki?" And with his mech's right claw, Alexander unleashed a sustained spray of electromagnetically-charged Ions at the supposedly already-weakened Titan Breaker, before a plasma blade appeared in his left hand and stabbed towards an open joint. The spray if ions bombarded the Titan Breaker, as an arm was.cleaved from the joint. Where one would expect metal and wire, a remaining jagged bone with muscle and blood vessels remain and blood flowed from the wound. The unit lost it's grip and fell back down to the swamp, a smoky mist remained from the ionic assult. Eventually it landed on it's back, slowly sinking in the swamp. Once the smoke settled, the Titan Breaker's cockpit was melted open, revealing Hibiki, not Dark Hibiki, inside. The boy was hooked up to the Titan Breaker with various organic wires and vessels. Hibiki's face was clearly vacant, and had no response to any of these events. Dark Hibiki appeared through a black cloud next to the open cockpit and said, " Who was talking about the best of anything?" He stroked the unmoving Hibiki, and said " This is our world, and currently I am the only one who is here at the moment". At that moment, Osamu recived a message about Hibiki's vitals and how they have started to got haywire. Osamu reappeared on the other side of the cockpit, using the dream-world's false physics to teleport. His face was taut with worry as he breathed in and out. "Get away from him! I will not have him die!" Phoenix Inferno then made to grab Dark Hibiki with his metal claw, even as Osamu went to where Hibiki was, laying his hands on the latter's chest and willing the boy to [i]heal[/i]... Dark Hibiki took in all of this and asked, " how do you intend to deal with me anyway? You know I am the only reason he has gotten this far right?" Osamu's response was, "I was going to give you your own Body - Phoenix Inferno itself! As for how he has gotten this far, how so? All I know is that you've been hurting him!" When the Phoenix Inferno's arm made it close enough to dark Hibiki, the entity simply lifted it's arm and stopped the blow with the false wind blowing in response. All this was done while he contemplated what Osamu's intentions were. " Honestly, I expected more from the great Osamu. Did yo u think the friendly little puppy you hold dear could slaughter so many on his own? That he could gather the maliciousness necessary to fight?" Dark Hibiki flicked Phoenix Inferno's arm away and continued, " Even if I were to accept the offer, I really don't trust you Osamu. However, I can see you two will be a pain in my ass until something neither of us want happens." Osamu got a communication that let him know Hibiki's vitals were stable. Dark Hibiki then made a proposal, " I will go along with your plan, however I have my own conditions. If intended to put me into that," he pointed at Phoenix Inferno, " there are some things that need to be made clear. Hibiki wouldn't be completely free. To insure my survival, I will give you a key phrase to say to him every day, if not given the boy dies. Plain and simple. However, if I see no foul play in this trade, I will truly releases him. Those are my terms." Dark Hibiki looked intently at Osamu. Osamu nods, "A key phrase. Can Alexander also be allowed to say said key phrase as well?" "Anyone really, he just needs to hear it", replied dark Hibiki. Another nod, "Then give me the key phrase." A bit annoyed, Dark Hibiki said, " We haven't even started yet, nothing has been set. The timer will start after the transfer". A third nod, as Osamu said, "All right," before reaching out for Dark Hibiki's form, willing his bio-computer to begin the transferrence process! Dark Hibiki pretended to think real hard then said, "Ok, it's done, dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu". Dark Hibiki reached out and shook Osamu's hand, as he did so Dark Hibiki dissolved into a black cloud flowing into Osamu's hand. [YouTube]https://youtu.be/JdcHwbZ-l7Q[/YouTube] The swamp slowly turned into a vibrant living forest, and the sun started to rise. Hibiki was no longer in the Titan Breaker, but was sleeping on a patch of moss. The process of transference took a few minutes, but Dark Hibiki's willing agreement to be transferred saved Osamu a lot of valuable willpower. With the key phrase now in Osamu's head, the Artificial human waited for Dark Hibiki to be transfered into Phoenix Inferno with the Akuma Program, before he then ordered Alexander to climb down Phoenix Inferno's scaffolding lift. Once Alexander was done, he said to Osamu, "You really meant it. Doing the right thing for once in your life." The redhead nodded a fourth time, before saying, "I did. Now let's escort you over to the torture room; the only concession I made is that you'd be wearing something..." Through a pop up text Osamu is presented a chat with a user named ''DH" in it and the message read, "Something feels off... O right my tail, if you wouldn't mind". Osamu, just wanting the ordeal to have ended, begrudged as he said, " Alright". To the observers, he spoke to the air. With the matter settled, Osamu proceeded to relieve some stress.