[center][h2]The Lone Omnic[/h2][/center]
[center][h3]Krat Zoo - Exit Gates[/h3]
Featuring: Ramattra and Edward.
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3788 (+4) (+4 rapport) [/center]

Once the stew had long since been enjoyed and invigorated the spirits of the Seekers on White Team, and as the rest of the group began to collect their bearings and prepare the Reindrix for the last leg, the dying embers of the fire that once heated the pot were all that was left as evidence of their stay. Nearly every member had busied themselves, either by completing last-minute errands or by joining others for conversation. Ramattra, still disoriented by his morals in this new world, meditated by himself in the light of the logs that still survived, his staff neatly folded over his lap as the large orb normally suspended in the middle of nanites at the neck was now floating idly over Ramattra’s head, shifting each time he lost concentration.

The ceaseless chatter around the Omnic made it quite challenging for him to focus on clearing his thoughts, and he’d quietly mutter his frustration to himself as the chatter around him slowly became tuned out. Once he reached harmony with his mind, the Omnic’s afloat orb would now slowly rotated itself, reflecting the tranquility he was finally able to obtain. Short bursts of heat would wisp from the Omnic’s mouth area, not too dissimilar to a human breathing. The Omnic had nowhere to go, no army to command, and his perspective on humans was shattered, as this world was not his own. How many other Omnics were out there? Did they still face the same hardships back when Ramattra was commanding Null Sector? Millions of potential thoughts raced through Ramattra’s circuitry, calculating every possible reason as to what had happened. A simple word would be enough to throw his concentration off again…

Right on cue, the man who’d previously introduced himself as Edward Portsmith made a polite but insistent cough.  

Upon turning his focus to him, the Omnic would find a man who had once been human, but that now bore the plaid skin, glowing eyes and ashen wings of something beyond that, smiling apologetically at him. His back was to the carriage he would shortly be driving, while his senses were split between a set of burning hounds and hovering drones he’d be commanding while doing so, yet his full focus, for now, was on the one he’d freed from Galeem’s grasp.

[color=ea590c]”My apologies for interrupting, but we are about to set off, if you’d care to continue to travel with us.”[/color] he began by saying, before adding that [color=ea590c]”I at the very least owe you an explanation of your new situation, so I would hope you’d do so at least until I can fulfil an obligation, and you can decide if our mission is one you’d partake in”[/color] 

Ramattra did not seem alarmed by the man throwing off his concentration, and rather, his warning about their imminent departure was appreciated as the Omnic lost time to thought. “Ah, yes. Edward was it?” The Omnic would eye the man’s odd appearance, trying to gauge whether or not he was actually human. This entire place seemed to twist Ramattra’s worldview; his hatred of humans now just felt like a bias from a past life. It was clear by Omnic’s momentary silence that he was distressed in thought, unsure how to proceed with the conversation to get the answers he needed. 

He stood, offering to walk with Edward as the Stagecoach began rumbling through the exit ahead. Ramattra’s Orb of Destruction would return to the middle of his staff as he used it as a walking stick, gesturing for Edward to follow alongside the large vehicle. “So… This place.” He used his free hand openly to signal that he was referring to the World of Light. “Where… and what is it exactly?...” Ramattra decided to ask the easiest question first. It’s going to be very hard to explain that he was responsible for an evil robot uprising in his homeworld.

[color=ea590c]”Likely you will recall a flash of light in the last moment before you awoke here? That would have been the power of a being called ‘Galeem’ being used to take control of many, many, many worlds. It then took these worlds, or parts of them, and stitched them together into a new one, like it was making some patchwork quilt. We are now living in that world, where beings plucked from endless realms are pitted against each other fights endless wars, skirmishes or petty conflicts still, blind to the false reality they live in”[/color] Edward explained, before seeming to think for a moment, sighing and adding [color=ea590c]”or, to be more exact, copies of those beings”[/color] 

He paused for a long, unhelpful moment, seemingly trying to think of how to explain that before saying that [color=ea590c]”The Ramattra that you recall being is… not strictly speaking you. You are a continuation of them, yes, but the true (original) Ramattra is stored somewhere in a theorised ‘source engine’ which then spits out copies into Galeem’s patchwork world to act as toy soldiers in, or bystanders to, this world’s many conflicts. Over and over and over. There have been endless yous who have lived their lives over an unknown length of time, and each only recalls who they have been before in rare dreams”[/color] 

The man then looked deeply apologetic as he said that [color=ea590c]”I’m sorry if this is a lot to take in, but I think it's better to put all the cards on the table rather than try and feed you breadcrumbs of information over time. We now live in a world made by a cruel and heartless god”[/color] 

Finally, he stood straighter, with the look of a man who had faced many battles against incredible odds and the steady voice of one who had led others to do the same time and time again [color=ea590c]”However! It seems like the foe is an absent god, one content to simply let the gears of its scrap build machine grind and crush those within and continue to roll on on its own accord rather than tinkering too closely with it now that it has been set in motion. Thus we, the Seekers of Light, are able to hack away at its protections without drawing down that same world's shattering power on our heads, and once we have, it will regret its negligence. It is a long and treacherous climb, and one that has claimed all who have attempted it before, yet even still must endeavor to conquer that mountain and slay the false god atop it, for it is the only way for there to ever be peace”[/color] 

The Omnic stayed quiet for a moment, trying his best to fully digest all of the information that Edward had shared with him. His feet marched through the snow with each metallic crunch ticking away each second as he thought about his response. As Edward addressed it, Ramattra’s memory of how he disappeared into Galeem’s Light resurfaced, replaying how Null Sector forces were seamlessly wiped out by a colorful burst of light. “Galeem.” Was the only word he managed to speak, letting the name soak in the bitterness of his tongue as he enunciated that name like some foul curse. The part about being a copy of himself didn’t particularly phase him

“So then… If this Galeem is idle atop some mountain, what is stopping us from preparing an assault? I used to command an army; if we rally our numbers and free others, we could find some large carrier and-” Ramattra cut himself off. The leader in him was speaking, and rather than being rational, he remembered that the being they were up against could easily wipe out trillions of lifeforms and Frankenstein them all together. They would be sure to meet the same fate if they attacked without preparation. The silence after his speech communicated this realization.

“My homeworld then… My people. I come from a dying race of machines that are treated like filth by human society.” The Omnic looked at Edward with a moment of sincerity as those red sensors glowed with every word. “I will do my best to put my differences aside with humans of this world, but… I have my biases.” He looked at all the human-appearing members across White Team. He had a LOT of differences to put aside. “But what of you? I’m sure you come from quite an interesting background in your world.”

[color=ea590c]”That people would treat such a wonder so poorly-”[/color] he began to say, before sighing in resignation, and saying [color=ea590c]”My world or worlds saw much of the same sorts of conflicts power imbalances between different peoples of all shapes and sizes. Human, elf, dwarf, frostling, Draconian and more. I was part of a commonwealth that was meant to stand for all peoples, but failed in that endeavor and became dominated by humanity as well”[/color] 

It was a failure the man seemed to see as a personal one, though not as much as what followed in his tale [color=ea590c]”I had been intending to correct that imbalance after rising in the ranks via ousting a conspiracy fueling the fires of war between us and the Elven Court. That was before the world gates opened, self proclaimed gods invaded, and I the army I was leading was tossed through the astral sea to a farflung world within it… and during the journey the eldritch patron of the conspirators I had thwarted, Urrath, took hold of my mind”[/color] 

After a moment of thought, he decided to skip over the fine details of his time as a man driven by rage that was not his own, and instead explained [color=ea590c]”I am free now after many tribulations and with much blood on my hands, but the chance to atone for my sins, to thwart its seizure of my homeworld, was taken from my by Galeem”[/color] before focusing back onto the current moment

[color=ea590c]”Galeem has protections that need to be taken down, guardians who shield it from harm as long as they live. It also has somewhat less idle… Well, not really lieutenants, it seems, but individuals who are invested in maintaining this world for their own ends. These twenty-six Consuls are this world’s true rulers, unbound as they are by its rules, and are mostly personally invested in holding that power by, in turn, preserving Galeem’s existence. Still, they seem to have been slow on the uptake, and disinterested in major collaboration. If they all came for us, we’d be fighting a losing battle. If we tried to build a full army, they’d bring their own, which they have already prepared. But acting covertly, in small but powerful groups, the seekers have been able to take down seven of thirteen guardians so far”[/color] 

Ramattra was extremely relieved to hear that there was at least a plan to defeat Galeem, albeit still seemingly in the early stages of the process. One thing that was concerning to the Omnic, however, was the seemingly large number of these Seekers who get recruited and leave. He remembers his responsibility of getting Kit and Celica to safety when Celica was infected by the T-Virus, but he guessed that was just the nature of being in constant conflict.

Since Edward has been kind enough to share details of his past life, it seemed fair that the solitary Omnic do the same. “My people, the Omnics… We were once a servile race to the humans, machines made to bring companionship, help with labor. 30 years ago, a malicious program took control of Omnic production and turned us against our creators, brainwashed against our programming.” The Omnic spoke, enunciating his consciousness of the matter. “Anubis. When it took over the Omnic production, it began creating machines of war, Omnics designed for violence.”

If Ramattra had a human face, it would’ve been cold and distant, the lights on his red sensors dimming. “I was among one of the models in production. I slaughtered hundreds of humans against my will and watched hundreds of my own die for the same reason.” A lingering gaze was aimed at the moon, as if he recalled every moment he fought for Anubis. Ramattra did not talk about his past like it was some traumatic recollection, but rather something that fueled his natural bitterness. 

“We gained consciousness when the Omnic anomaly Aurora uploaded her mind to destroy Anubis, granting Omnics free will and thought. Humans didn’t seem to trust us still, even after one of our own sacrificed herself to end the war. They see us as murder machines, killerbots, and ‘able to go rogue again at any moment.’” The hatred in his voice rose as he recollected his backstory. Then he recalled the state he was in when Galeem had brainwashed him. “The Omnic you knew fighting Markiona is not the same one that stands beside you. This ‘Galeem’ apparently thought it was safer to live as an echo of my past. The Ramattra before you is a commander, fighting for Omnic Independence.” He was cautious to share his means of gaining independence through forceful reformation of humanity; the last thing he needed was a potential ally seeing him as a threat. After all, Ramattra doesn’t HATE humans, he hates humanity, “By any means necessary.” He concluded his speech, offering Edward a moment to speak before stopping in his tracks, the Stagecoach progressing ahead as a final question came to mind: “Our allies… They have… [i]unique[/i] appearances, almost as if they’ve been altered in some unnatural way. Is that this Galeem’s doing as well?”

[color=ea590c]”I’d say he is a new third person, but it is an argument mostly academic in nature”[/color] Edward replied, greatly sympathizing with the machine man’s situation [color=ea590c]”Still, it seems we have both walked a similar path at some points, one at a time dictated by another‘s will, and the consequences of which we are now left to endure and overcome in the wake of escaping it. So I will not judge your path to overcoming that”[/color]

[color=ea590c]”and yes, we have indeed been changed, though that is by our own will not Galeems, even if it is part of the nature of its world that facilitates it”[/color] he replied to the question before reaching into a pouch and producing the spirits of the fallen alchemists [color=ea590c]”here, I saved these to be used as an example”[/color] 

[color=ea590c]”These are spirits of fallen foes, and they have their uses. For one, they can be absorbed into the head, which can grant you their wisdom, talent, or a passive benefit of some kind, while causing a change in hue as a side effect. You may have seen me dodge through portals? That came from a towering demoness but only affected my skin, eyes, and clothes. Meanwhile applying it to the heart warps your body but grants a new more active ability in the process. I did not always have wings, nor the ability to fly, for example”[/color] 

He then tilted his head and raised a palm apologetically as he also explained that [color=ea590c]”There are, however, of course, drawbacks. The first, skills, only come with minor ones, but gaining an ability can be quite taxing. I used that previously mentioned demoness to gain the ability to open portals wherever I could see, but that in turn horrifically warped my body, bones, mental state and caused my muscles to gradually decay. Quite a nasty mix, likely due to a mix of her sheer power and the anatomical differences between us”[/color] 

After a  beat he hastily added that [color=ea590c]”By which I mean she had a house sized headless featherless chick for a lower body, and the upper body had three torsos half melded together, not that she was a woman. Though apparently gender change is a thing that can occur as well”[/color] which was something he shrugged at before noting casually [color=ea590c]”there been no dysphoric reaction to any of this, conveniently”[/color]

[color=ea590c]”Still, unwanted outcomes can happen, but fortunately our home base of the Avenger (a flying invisible ship) has a way to undo these ‘fusions’ with ease, so nothing permanent about this. So feel free to experiment”[/color] 

Finally, he also explained that [color=ea590c]”Two other options also exist: First, strikers, like the ones you saw me summon during the fight, of which two can be equipped before it apparently starts negatively affecting lifespan. We can swap those at the avenger as well. Second, crushing the spirits to make items. We have a hat to make the results of that better”[/color] before tapping away at a magic circle to summon a large chest with teeth that was, apparently, wearable as a hat.

[color=ea590c]”Oh, and remind me to set you up with remote armory access later. We’ve acquired quite a lot of gear a lot of which is quite niche in nature, so there might be something you might already find useful”[/color] 

That left the spirits he’d kept as examples, which he admitted [color=ea590c]”are not perhaps the best ability fusion fuel, but strikers and skills could be on the table, if you are interested in trying things out, otherwise we’ll just itemise them ”[/color] 

Ramattra gently claimed the spirit of the Alchemist Boxer in the grasp of his large metallic digits, clutching it like a small orb. “If I want to free myself from this world, I think it best I take whatever upgrades are handed to me.” Ramattra took Edward’s mention of spirits warping his being very seriously, and despite how recently he had gained his memory, Ramattra knew the only way was forward, until he was forced to retire or finally returned home. “So I will take any risk required for strength.” With that, his hand clutched tighter, absorbing the spirit into his being, and allowing the changes to take place.

[center][hider=For Ramattra]Spirit consumed: [b][url=https://i.imgur.com/ByC0hxi.png]Alchemist Boxer[/url][/b] The host is now a cyborg with some organic body parts that interface with his mechanical systems. This includes his upper arms and much of the torso beneath his metal ribcage, both very muscular, and the upper half of a face beneath his white mask, albeit with cybernetic optics. The skin is a pale gray color, with prominent veins tinted a dark turquoise, and a number of small plug ports scattered across the surface. His brown pant legs are also now forest green with vertical dark green stripes. This spirit grants the Ability [b]Pump Up[/b], allowing the host to spike his organic parts with an alchemical cocktail that temporarily increases his physical strength and defense for up to 3 minutes, marked by glowing teal veins. More cocktails will be generated over the course of the next half hour. This spirit also grants the Weakness [b]Breaking Point[/b], giving the host a stun gauge that fills up as he takes damage, especially if he gets parried. Once it's full, receiving a heavy attack will stagger him for several seconds[/hider][/center]

Ramattra looked at the physical changes of his body, examining the lifeless flesh and protruding containers of Cocktail. It was oddly fitting for Ramattra to gain these large muscles, though their musculature would only be present in his Nemesis Form; his current body was too slender to display them at full mast. He tapped at the little containers on his deltoids, curious about what ability the alchemist had given him. “So… Did I do it right?” Ramattra was unsure of his appearance, preferring to look tidy when he could, but these tattered striped pants and pale arms made him feel… messy.

[color=ea590c]”Indeed. Quite a bold move too”[/color] Edward replied, surprised that the omnic had gone for ability fusion right away. He hoped it would pay off, because the aesthetics were interesting to say the least. He wondered especially how the machine would find the experience of having flesh. Something and him and sandalphon to bond over, perhaps.

Regardless, that did seem to be the only spirit that the (now slightly less) machine man had interest in taking for himself, and so Edward donned the ridiculous (and painful) symbol of avarice and got to crushing.

[center][hider=Items Obtained] [b]Resplendent Ergo Crystal[/b] Though small, this ergo is of high quality, and can provide a lot of power for machines that derive their energy from ergo [b]

[url=https://i.imgur.com/xNodJ9a.png]Pata[/url][/b] A paired sword attached to an armored grip that allows it to be wielded like a cestus. It's harder to disarm them than normal swords. They can be used for slashing, but they allow one's full punching power to be channeled into deadly trusts. 

[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/vD30xXI.png]Dragon's Fury[/url][/b] A homemade flamethrower modified to shoot not a stream of flame, but a single fireball. Each fireball deals low damage on hit, but ignites the target, dealing damage over time for a few seconds. If another fireball hits a target that's already burning, its damage is tripled. It can also release the contents of its canister in airblasts that can redirect projectiles, push away enemies, and extinguish burning allies. Both firing modes consume ammo, and this weapon only takes flamethrower, long gun, or universal pickups[/hider][/center]

[color=ea590c]”Fate really does despise the notion of a straightforward sword it seems”[/color] Edward said, as he regarded the unorthodox punching swords, before stashing the items in the armory for later use. 

By that point, the herd of cats that were the seekers were finally all ready to head out, and perhaps even growing a little impatient.  The Omnic would place a metallic hand on his ally’s shoulder, letting his biased dislike towards humans go as he offered this simple gesture of respect. Not yet as friends, maybe, but as two kindred spirits from other worlds. “You have my thanks for your time today, Edward. May our battles together be won honorably.”

The man grinned back at him, before agreeing [color=ea590c]”Yes, let them”[/color] before swiftly mounting the driver’s seat of the stagecoach and, after giving Ramattra a moment to get onboard as well, got them all on the road again.