[h1]Fu Xuan, the Master Diviner[/h1]

[i][b]Alien Facility[/b][/i]

[hr]

"There is an enemy soldier. He cannot be reasoned with and will immediately alert others if he is allowed to do so, therefore the path forward is obvious."

There is no purpose in delaying. The range is close enough. I am not often a soldier, but that does not mean I cannot fight nor that I am not used to combat.

I shut my eyes.

His path has already been predetermined. He will not even be able to register what has occurred, in whatever fragmented mind remains after the severe alterations committed upon his body.

I raise my hand. The future is soldifying in my vision, other alternative outcomes falling away and disappearing into the void. Slowly, steadily, all possibilities are erased as my actions lead to only one outcome.

One more step.

The Matrix shifts as my nervous system responds, a rushing, prickling sensation running down my spine and across my limbs as I sweep my hand from right to left. A simple barrier, barely visible, merely to dull sound in order to avoid alerting the other nearby soldiers before we can examine the upcoming result.

He does not notice, and that does not matter. The outcome is predetermined.

I point.

The light flares into existence just as he crosses into the chosen spot.

Steel splits, sizzling hot at the edges of the rupture. Flesh burns and breaks apart. Bone follows. The symbol etched in the air ensures it, winking from existence mere moments after I inscribed it.

The corpse falls, head hitting the ground roughly a meter away. Whatever awareness of his death the soldier obtained, it was slim.

When I open my eyes, he has only just begun to fall, but everything plays out precisely as I had predicted. Naturally, as the Omniscia sees all.

The weapon will be useless in a few moments, thus there is no reason to attempt to take it back for the requested goal. However, it is likely important to examine the corpse.

I am rather curious of the nature of these invaders.

"He is dead, Qingque. We may move forward."

[@FujiwaraPhoenix][@Rune_Alchemist]

[hr]

[i][b]Ruins[/b][/i]

[hr]

A far heavier thud resounded through the ruined building as whatever was outside moved. There was the sound of birds crying, now.

Outside the building made it clear this was not some isolated structure. They were in the midst of a heavily-overgrown city, plant life clinging to fallen structures, dirt and foliage burying the street only slightly visible in a few scant locations. Fleeing birds, and far strange creatures, could be seen. Some were strange and sinuous, with segmented bodies and wings lining their forms, similar in size to many of the birds. Others fled along the ground, mammals somewhere between a fox and cat.

And with these fleeing forms was a person. Their frame was concealed in a cloak and hood, with goggles and a facemask as they sprinted over the overgrown street. In their hands they gripped a bulky, two-handed, boxy gun of some form, and on their hip was sheathed some sort of blade that was difficult to make out from this distance.

And what was following them---

The enormous, metallic shape burst into view. A conical 'head" was mounted on a lengthy neck, segmented into five pointed 'jaws' with two purple eye-liked structures. The body was roughly rectangular, supported on ten long, spider-like limbs.

The machine whirred, claw-like feet shattered the overgrown street as pursued the fleeing figure.

The cloaked figured turned, raised the boxy gun, and fired several shots, the crack of each echoing through the overgrown ruins. In a flash, they exploded against the massive machine's form, but appeared to do little to slow it.

[@FujiwaraPhoenix][@Raineh Daze][@Cmmelody]