Emptiness ...

Loss ...

It hits suddenly and hard enough to make her stumble. Is this what it's like when you die? The shutting down, the disorientation, geists without a master, a body without direction. She feels the facility's reactors beating slower and slower, the turbines as they stop breathing and the lights going out. 

Despite their brief interaction being rather hostile, she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of sadness at the passing of Trelasani. All the history now gone, all the thoughts and experiences swept into the ether. It was a tragedy.

[i]But it is also an opportunity.[/i]

Isabelle pauses on her walk - why had that voice sounded so much like her mother?

[i]Think about it. The history, the technology. Nobody to care for it, protect it. It will be lost to time or fall into the wrong hands.

Whose hands are we talking about here?

Theives, pillagers, pirates. Those who would use it to kidnap and steal. Those who already kidnapped you. Why do you think they wanted to test you so badly? It was to prove that they can lay claim to it! But they didn't count on you walking off. And now you're the only person now who can stand between them and whatever lies in this installation.[/i]

Isabelle grits her teeth as she stares at her right hand, the nanobots have done a great job of repairing the damage - but she can still feel the pain from where they sliced her. That cold-ice creeping up her hand as they made their way into her body ...

[i]What are you going to do, dear?[/i]

"Tate!" she snaps, hurrying towards the waiting mecha. "Tell me about this facility's protocols - what is your purpose now that Trelesani is dead? What is it that you need a guardian here to do?"

[Rolling to figure out Tate -  5 + 3 + 0: [b]8[/b]. How can I get you to acknowledge me as the facility's guardian? What do you hope to get from the presence of new races here?]

Question asked, she'd process the answer later. Right now, she presses her hand to the Mecha's side - willing it to open.

[i]Enkindler.[/i]

Name given, she steps into her new body.

--====----

Eighty six point seven billion
Eighty five point six billion
Eighty four billion
Eighty billion
Two billion
Nine hundred million
Two point eight million
Forty eight thousand
Sixteen
Four
Two
and.

One.

Just one.

One woman. Floating in the void.

[i]Now that was ... something.[/i]

Enkindler's CFD spins up, crackling with white lightning as joints long still start to move. Isabelle flexes her hands and both flesh and metal move in unison. A thought and the displays form in front of her eyes, showing her the hanger from a much greater height than before. She commands the nanites around her and they obey - extending down from her right arm, longer, longer, stronger, [i]sharper.[/i] A single monofilament sword, its edge as sharp as physics allows. 

Her eyes snap to where the pirates are and Isabelle stalks forward.

[i]Tate, get me a visual if you're able to. I want to know what I'm walking into.[/i]