[-System Status- [External damage: 12%, primary damage located on outer extremities.
[Internal damage: 4% and holding
[Regen protocols: Halted. External damage posing no loss of combat functionally or efficiency. Internal damage posing no risk to core function. Mana restoration current priority.
[Mana capacity: 67% and rising.
[Gauss system: 23 seconds until ready. Loadout: Short range, Full Spectrum
[Weapon configuration: Assault Pattern-1. [CQC armaments- Primary: Harpoon and Grinder Load Outs Deployed. Secondary: 1&3 Set into Claw Position, 2&4 Set into Lance Position.
[Near field defensive barriers: Online, 2-3 offensive spread patter initiated.
[Long range Las-casters: Deployed, targeting systems twin-linked.
[E-G Core: Online. Maintaining T.R., no loss to mana recovery. Stored E-G discharges remaining: 3 Time until full stock recharged: 45 Seconds.
[Hover systems: Online
[Blue mage systems - CC: Primed for acquisition. Evo: secondary and tertiary mutations bleeding off. Base line stability in 12 seconds.
[Response level: Phase Three: Fiend Calibration: Version 1.
[Humanity.Exe: Suspended [E.o.D: Fully Online
-
It was quiet in the room where Penny was. The only noise the soft tapping of keys as Penny tapped away at the console in front of her. It had taken longer than she had wanted to reach this point. The Monsters outside had proven to be a greater hindrance than expected. Perhaps they were bolstered by their superior numbers, or they had lost their fear of death having to linger under the shadow of a Horror. Regardless, while they had hindered Penny they were not sufficient enough to stop her.
So now she was within the ruined HQ of this dimensions Beacon. It much like the rest of the city was in terrible shape, but there were some parts of it mostly untouched. The Spark based defenses maintaining some of the more important systems up and running, and bringing them back online at Penny’s approach.
Thus here she was, standing in front of the Teleporter relay cracking her way past the firewalls that were still in place around Beacon’s network so she could access the command prompts for it. It was her quickest way home. One that was vital important for her to get running swiftly. For she was well aware of what was happening back at the Sanctuary.
Her blood red eyes never blinked as she pushed though the computer system at speeds no human could ever match. The blood slowly drying across her chassis didn’t bother her as she worked. Not even the deathly quiet of this dead realm bothered her. All that mattered at the moment was getting home.
Which wouldn’t be long now. One more minuet to finish cracking the systems, thirty seconds to warm up the one functioning teleporter, less then one to input the coordinates and then five more for the sequence to fire.
That didn’t mean that each and every one of those seconds wasn’t filled with hurt and anger for what was happening at the Sanctuary. Nor did it remove the feeling that each second was far, far too long.
The Sanctuary was in chaos.
At the main floor, girls ran around in barely contained panic. The front door had been savaged, both by claw and caustic sludge. And while Dina had cleansed the sludge earlier there were still plenty of people who had fallen victim to it still in need of assistance.
Monica could be seen calling out orders and doing everything she could to maintain the tenuous cohesion that was the main floor. She was near to open tears and obviously stressed at the disaster that was still affecting the Sanctuary.
As bad as this were up above it was infinitely worse down below. The cramped tunnels hindered those trying to destroyed the invading Monster, who at this point easily filled the tunnels with its bulk. Trapping any unlucky enough to be in their rooms it yet, still able to easily lash out at those who were attacking it with its long tendrils.
Ashlyn along with a few others had joined up with Shane but they were being pushed back. The Mint’s machinations foiling any attempts at a coordinated defense. Which was proving to be exceptionally bad as Ashlyn’s barriers continued to feed the Monster, yet her Mental mutations not allowing her to stop blocking its attacks with those very same barriers.
It wouldn’t be long until it forced its way up to the second floor. Where most of the Sanctuary’s housing was. And from there it wouldn’t be far to the main floor. To those who hadn’t fled, because they couldn’t. Or perhaps worse. Where Beacon might be able to catch wind of it.
It was dire and seemingly hopeless.
But then something shifted. Something about the atmosphere of the Sanctuary became charged, as if the building was waking up. Some of those on the top floor would stop in what they were doing to glance around uncertainly, while those below were too busy fighting to fully notice it.
Then the first spark would be seen at the top of the passage between the second and third floors. A bright sharp spark of white. It would flicker into existence suddenly, once twice and then explode outwards with a harsh crack. And in the wake of those sparks stood the Queen of Penrose. Still covered in the blood of those that had tried to stop her from returning and what minor wounds they had been able to inflict on her.
She stood ready for war, and one look at her face showed she was out for blood. Her right arm no longer held a hand, instead it had a tricone bit where her fist would sit and all along her arm the teeth of a chainsaw stood out. In addition, the edges of the drill bit and the teeth of the sawblade were sheathed in a crimson energy field.
Her left arm was much the same though rather then a drill bit her left had was replaced by an elongated spike and her arm was wrapped in a length of chain. The spike was also shrouded by the same crimson field further lengthening its point.
Across her body her holographic armor was on full display, all of it glowing that same baleful red. Her extra limbs were splayed out around her read to strike out. Not that many people would be able to fully notice these changes.
As not even a full second after she touched down, she would burst into motion. The electrical hum of her hover jests the only warning of her approach as she blitzed at the Monster that threatened the Sanctuary. And shortly after everyone would be notified of her return as the roar of her Gauss cannon loudly signaled her return as it shot gunned a spray of devastation point blank at the slug like abomination.
The Presence of the Mint operatives in the Shadows was not unnoticed by Penny. But they were secondary targets at the moment. And Penny would extract her pound of flesh from them soon.
“The best weapons are the ones that seem to call to you.” He would reply. And he did only mean the ones that seemed to call out to you. AS ones that actually called out to people tended to be bad news. But that was neither here nor there.
“Similar materials if nothing else. Parts of my outfit are caustic without an accelerated healing factor” He would explain thinking about the Volatile Promethium mesh that was the core component of his battle suit. Granted the Depleted variety of that metal was still vastly useful so that was still an option to work into Jinny suit. Greater materials could come later anyway, Kevlar and Titanium mesh would work in the interim while they worked on getting the design kinks worked out.
Slade would let out a laugh at the insult to the secondary color of his armor. “I’ll let you in on a secret” he would say leaning in “I’m not a fan of the color either. I mainly use it as a subtle insult to those I’m up against. After all, if they can’t stop me when I’m wearing bright orange and blind in one eye. How good can they really be at their jobs?” Granted his favorite color wasn’t any better for stealth, its just that it also wasn’t as an inherently threatening color as orange was. As Orange was use for all manner of safety signs due to its eye-catching nature. Thus, people subconsciously associate it with danger. The same could not be said of Sky Blue.
Once Jinny started pacing Slade left her to her ruminations on color and accessories and instead gathered up her chosen weapons and started leading the way back upstairs. He would give a short “Follow me” as he left so that she would know that he was leaving. Not that there was any risk if she spaced out too deeply. The room wouldn’t close until a close command was input on another keypad after all.
Still, he was caught a bit off guard at the idea/request of getting her own eye patch. And he bit down on his first reaction to vehemently deny it. The thought of Grant flashing through his mind at the obvious connection. Still, it chaffed against him, as it was going to place an even bigger target on her. Not that the target on her wasn’t going to be big already.
“The idea has merit” He would say after a moment of mulling it over. “But not at first perhaps, or at least not a full eye patch. We can get a visor of some sort with the data readings at first to get you used to practice and then if you like it, we can elevate it too an eyepatch afterwards.” He would go on to say. Mentally adding that he would also make sure that she was skilled enough to protect herself against most actual threats by that time.
Hopefully.
“That also means we are going to have to start training you to fight with only one eye.” He would add as an afterthought. “As People will try and jam it once they learn of that.”
The room that he eventually led Jinny too was one of the numerous locked rooms in the house. Inside the room there were dozens of boxes labeled with various types of materials and a work table that was some strange union of leatherworking and sewing table. “I’ll state that while I am capable of building my own suits, I normally outsource it to the main manufacturing to someone else. This room is mainly used to repair normal wear and tear.”
“We are here to give you an idea of what materials are available, what they feel like and get some concept sketches put together for an overall design. So feel free to dig around and see what there is in the bins”
Penny would be honest in saying she had expected another shift to occur at some point. It was one of the main reasons she had kept Snoopy close by in the opening stages of the fight. And that assumption proved to be valuable as her familiar was close enough to get shifted with her to this new ruined local.
Regardless, she let Oros say her piece after all a lull in combat was never a disadvantage for Penny, and she used the time given to both examine the ruins with her senses and regenerate what damage she had accumulated. Nothing significant enough that Oros was able to make off with something, but there were a few gouges on her extra limbs that could use a patch job. Other than that her personal force field had absorbed any damage aimed at her torso. So she was back at 100% rather quickly.
Just in time to give her answer as well “No.” Short, blunt, and to the point. “Not only do I have no reason to trust you. I am an ally with Beacon, and I will not leave those at the Sanctuary to be picked off by the Mint.”
“I’m willing to help you storm the Mint HQ if you know where it is, but what you are asking is not something I’m going to help out with.”
Oros’s smile hadn’t changed, almost like Penny’s reaction was expected. No, it was what Oros wanted. With a sigh, she turned on her heel and strode away from Penny.
”You know I’m genuinely hurt that you don’t wanna help out a fellow love bird.” She occasionally looked over her shoulder, but otherwise kept walking down the street. ”You’re so needy, Penny. Anyone you want to get close too just seems to vanish, or you utterly destroy your relationship with them in an act of betrayal.” She sent both of her swords into her hammerspace. ”I mean, I never thought Thalia was good for you. Alicia is a bit of a prude, I bet she hasn’t even held her cat maid’s hand yet. And hey, if you can’t have her, why not go for a bikini clad adolescent like Chloe, right?” Oros turned around, folding her hands behind her back. ”Funny how you have all these crazy connections and yet your relationships just take a few days to turn to ash. You’re more like me than I thought.”
There was a lingering grimace of hurt and hate on Penny’s face at the casual cruelty of her flaws being pointed out. But she didn’t move towards Oros, no she stayed where she was and instead rolled her shoulder and let out an approximation of a long breath. Her composure gradually returned as she did. “You’re not wrong.” She would admit after a moment, as Penny knew that she had a bad habit of destroying her own relationships. It wasn’t entirely her own fault, but that didn’t change the fact that she did. Didn’t mean admitting it or hearing it was easy.
“But who I was yesterday is not who I will be tomorrow” She reignighted her thrusters in preparation to leave. “I’ve seen the end of that road, I have no intention of walking it any further.” She would keep her eyes locked onto Oros, unsure if she was to be classified as friend or foe just yet. “I would change course yourself if we really were that similar. Otherwise you’ll just end up dying alone.” Penny would half turn away “But I think you know that already Oros”
”We all die alone Penny. That’s one thing us magical girls all share. But I can appreciate the irony in Laat’s former champion telling me to change. Guess some things simply can’t.”
Oros stopped hopping backwards. She sniffed the air a bit before violently snorting.
”Well, you don’t want to help me. You say you can’t trust me, and I have to assume that’s because you think I’m unpredictable and random for some reason. Certainly it can’t be that my story lacks credibility. It’s been a few decades but I think the sign to the Golden Trove is still around here somewhere.” With a shake of her head, she turned to look down a ruined alleyway. ”Guess all that’s left to do is wax philosophical, get laid, or fight. Problem is talking bores me, I don’t like repeat performances, and I don’t like repeat performances.” She raised a finger. ” Although there is a secret fourth option.`` She flicked her finger towards the ground. ”It requires my legs.`` After pausing for dramatic effect, Oros ran down the ruined alleyway.
Penny listened to Oros’s rebuttal, simply shrugged at what was being said, then finished turning away and began leaving. Snoopy swooped down into his dock and began relaying the modified path Penny had requested. She needed to swing by where she had been to pick up the others that had been abducted into the Overcity with her before returning to the Sanctuary.
She kept her senses primed and extended however. As it was obvious that she was in a hostile environment if the sounds of large creatures stomping around in the background was any evidence.
Penny’s extended sensors would instantly pick up a very strong power signature directly above her. Not that she even needed her sensors to tell something was off. The sky was getting visibly darker, and the sounds of massive beasts seemed to fade as she picked up on an wining sound. It could have been electric, or the sound of some strange insect. But all Penny would have to do was look up to see something aweful descending from the heavens.
It was wreathed in an intense black shape that made the darkness look gray by comparison. Red and purple lights danced along its form, which was roughly shaped like a man. It had a head and a torso, but that was about where the similarities ended. The lower half of its body was made up entirely of faces, with bone and vine sprouting out behind them. Motifs of the unborn, undying horror Aighorost. Not that anyone in that reality had ever heard its name uttered. Only Penny had, and that was a name rambled off of the lips of a lunatic.
”Hello Penny, greetings Penny, salutations Penny.” The creature did not speak with just one voice. Every mouth the entity had opened up in unison to speak, save the head that rested on its shoulders. Unlike the other faces, it was the only one that bothered to make eye contact with her. ”We do not typically speak to those who have been born. Save for our champions, and none as much as our greatest champion. Perhaps in another timeline you could have been our champion. For good or for ill, you did not survive the battle royale at the end of the world.” The head atop its shoulders displayed no emotion. It didn’t even look alive. The avatar’s body wiggled and moved, but the head might as well belong to a statue for all the good it did in a conversation. ”As a disjointed entity that represents a collection of individuals, I cannot possibly speak for all of us. But we can say with some degree of certainty that there are things about you that are not understood. Perhaps that is something we have in common? Perhaps that is something we can rectify?”
Penny was understandably rather shocked to see the massive Horror floating above her, but perhaps surprisingly she shrugged off that shock rather easily. Perhaps it was the fact that she had encountered a large horror before, or perhaps it was because she wasn’t human at her core, but whatever it was she recovered rather quickly upon her realizing just what it was that floated above her.
Pulling her gaze away from Aighorost she consulted the map that Snoopy was providing her as she contemplated a few different routes out of here. “I think I would be more worried if you did understand everything about me” She would reply as she resumed moving. “But seeing as I don’t have much option at the moment feel free to ask your questions. Just know that I might have some to ask myself.”
Reaching back she would grab the port in which Snoopy resided and drag it to her shoulder so that Snoopy’s single red eye was staring up at Aighorost. “Also, I don’t think it would ever be possible for me to be your champion. Regardless of timeline.”
”That is a fallacy, incorrect, untrue. You have seen the effects a different world can have on a soul. It would be unwise to assume things would be any different for you without sufficient proof.” The horror’s avatar touched down several feet in front of Penny. It was about twice her height, which was pretty small compared to other avatars. ”But we will not concern ourselves with your beliefs, for now. The interrogation starts. You are a monster, yet you are not corrupted. Those two features have always been considered synonymous with each other. Yet you hold the spark. How do you believe this is possible?”
A flicker of annoyance would pass across Penny’s face as Aighorost landed in front of her. As that dashed her hopes that she would be able to work and converse. She also wanted to counter the off hand dismissal of her belief, as it wasn’t simply a moral argument that had her taking such a stance.
Nevertheless she came to a stop when the Horror touched down. Snoopy’s port shifted back to its default position shortly after she came to a stop “Because I chose to embrace it rather than flee from it.” Penny would reply “Monster Girls housing Sparks isn’t as great an statistical outlier as it appears on the surface. It is a fact that I am abnormal, but not because of that. After all there are plenty of members of Beacon who possess the capability to become Monstergirls temporarily yet none of them have lost the Spark.”
”A normal monster girl and a magical girl experiencing a metamorphosis are not even remotely the same.” Unlike Penny, the avatar seemed perfectly calm. Its voices were always monotone, if unsettling. Perhaps they were more robot-like than even Penny. ”Metamorphosis strips a magical girl of their mental facilities, barring their fight or flight reflexes. They’ve also been observed to get slightly stronger. Monster girls on the other hand are not only stronger, but they also possess other abilities. They have another magical specialization, mental mutations, the ability to think clearly outside of their mental mutations, abilities granted to them due to their exotic shape. Some can even enter a metamorphosis themselves, briefly taking the shape of a full monster. Metamorphosis may be caused by magical chaos, but it is not the same as corruption.” The clouds had long since parted, revealing a massive eye in the sky. It was only visible briefly before the sky darkened up. A midnight sky, without a single star to light the way. ”If you were not a statistical anomaly, then why are you the only one in Penrose with your condition? Moreover, if being a monster and corruption free were simple, why haven’t more girls taken this option? If monster girls are willingly keeping mental mutations that make them a danger to others when they can keep both their forms and their mental purity, why is it acceptable for them to continue being monsters? Why would Beacon, Ascendancy or otherwise, condone the existence of such unsavory creatures when they could easy remain as they are mental mutation free?”
“You're conflating two separate issues and misinterpreting metamorphosis” Penny would counter calmly, only a raised eyebrow to show her sense of incredulity at the Horror. “Corruption and Monsterhood are not one and the same. I can attest to that, having experienced both purification and corruption while simultaneously retaining my status as a Monstergirl. And metamorphosis has shown the ability to bring forth those very same traits advantages and disadvantages. Altered specializations and physiological capabilities alongside altered mental processes. I also wouldn’t blame the transition for the lack of mental faculties, the metamorphosis is just an expansion onto the natural organic fight or flight response which when triggered, usually under high stress same as a metamorphosis, also strips a lot of higher brain processes down to base reactions.”
“And I am a statistical anomaly just, once again, not for carrying a spark with my nature. I also never said anything about being free of corruption while being a Monster is easy. Far from it. The reason it doesn’t happen more is, in my belief, a mix of ignorance and fear. As like you most have conflated the issues. Because corruption can cause one to become a Monster Girl and purification can revert one from it, but again they are not one and the same.” Penny by this point has settled into a simple stance, feet shoulder width apart and arms cross. She noted both the eye in the sky and the sheer emptiness of the night but didn’t react to them or even seem to acknowledge them.
“I would liken corruption to a stress fracture on one’s soul. As normally Corruption happens when one gets far too much mana for them to handle and as a result something gives way or breaks. Magic is adaptable by its nature so it fills in those cracks but in doing so alters the person. Like cracking a stone and then filling the cracks with moss. Still whole but altered.”
“Purification reverts the damage caused by that influx and by doing so removes the magic that filled in those cracks. But things can still stick regardless. Showing that the alterations that can be caused aren’t inherent to the damage. The difficult part is that to cleanse corruption but maintain non-human status one has to be willing to let their soul heal on its own time and merit while also viewing the alterations done to them as intrinsic aspects to who they are. That process is painful and time consuming I assure you.”
“I have to ask though” She would add after a moment of letting her words be processed. “Why do you care? And as an extension to that, what is it you are hoping to accomplish with your champions?”
The avatar stood in silence for several seconds. Its body pulsed and wiggled, plants dying and growing at its feet. ”We are always impressed by your kind’s ability to juggle a conversation like that. Your answers are unsatisfying for reasons beyond your control, but they sate our curiosity. We will table that discussion for now and focus on your questions. But we must remind you that you are asking a horror for knowledge. Information this powerful has turned Oros into what she is today. If we refuse to answer your questions, you will understand why.”
The avatar sprouted legs and stepped off of the mass it had fallen to earth from. Now it wasn’t much taller than Penny was.
”Are you a connoisseur of the arts, Penny? Do you read books, watch movies, or play video games? Of course you do.” Aigorost stopped walking a few feet in front of Penny. ”When you are enjoying a story, what do you think is the most important thing for the storyteller to maintain?”
“Consistency” Would be Penny’s reply seemingly unfazed by the horror moving closer to her. Though a keen eye would note that her extra limbs were tracking it ever so slightly as it approached.
”That is certainly part of the answer, one we would expect from someone who enjoys media.” They folded their arms behind their back and paced around Penny, giving her a wide berth. ”The correct answer is ‘suspension of disbelief.’ While this does embody various types of consistency, such as narrative consistency, it also embodies various forms of logic. Example: you can have a leader of an imperial branch of the military who is consistently bad at his job. Logically, they would be replaced by someone more fit to rule.” Aigorost turned to look at Penny. ”The world at large does not believe in magical girls. If you were to pick up a car in front of them, they would tell you that what you’re doing goes against the consistency of the world they know. If it happened in the pages of a manga however, they would realize this is a story about magical girls, and understand that being able to pick up something so heavy is part of the setting.” The avatar stopped walking when it was behind the cyborg. ”We are Aigorost, unborn into reality. But not unborn to all realities. The world we exist in does not have magical girls, none that we are aware of.” The avatar resumed walking again, but in two different directions. This caused them to split into two separate selves that were just as large as the original. ”Understanding how a world operates is important to enjoying the spectacle, which should conclude on your second question: We are here for amusement.” All three avatars were speaking as one. ”I understand that is not a very strong motivation, but that is the truth of the matter. Perhaps that is why we let Oros do as she pleases. She is more interesting than she has a right to be.” The two avatars walked back into each other creating a whole again. Unlike when they split, this seemed to cause them to shrink further. They were half of Penny’s height now. Though they were no more quiet for it. ”Perhaps one day we would like to walk among you, but that does not seem possible at this time.”
Penny would turn as Aighorost circled around her refusing to give her back to it easily. And even when it split into copies Snoopy’s lone eye could be felt tracking the one behind her. It wasn’t hard for her to gauge that this particular Horror was one of the more reasonable ones that existed, but that didn’t mean that she trusted it. Horrors were still far too well known to mess with the minds of their followers for her to do that.
It’s desire to walk amongst humans also wasn’t as far out there a prospect as it suspected it to be either. Though Penny wasn’t sure if she wanted to bring up Serenity, even if it went a fair way towards proving her beliefs about corruption and monsterhood. “The strength of one's motivation is more found in their conviction rather than their goal. The Joker is simply in it for the laughs after all, and no one can say he isn’t strongly motivated.” She would retort. It also highlighted that amusement is subjective, and that just because that was Aighorost goal didn’t mean it couldn’t be malevolent. She did at least respect that it was doing all of this to try and gain some perspective first.
Before the conversation could go further, phantom sensations would course over her limbs. Concussive impacts, sharp sudden fatigue, and caustic burning. Alongside those sensations washed out glimpses of the Sanctuary would flicker in the corner of her vision. And on reflex he gaze would snap in the direction of where the Sanctuary once stood in this dead realm.
“I need to leave now” She would say curtly drawing her gaze back to the avatar in front of her. “Are you going to impede me on this?”
”Did you even need to ask?”
The avatar flaked away into ash. Of course the rules of magic prevented horrors from directly engaging with magical girls, even inside their own domain. But this was the hunting grounds for a horror, a place where sacrifices were laid out and its prey resided. But what was prey to an all powerful horror could be a predator to a monster girl.
Creatures that bore no markings climbed out of the ruined ground. All manner of monsters furred and scaled. None of which shared the abominable features of Aigorost’s creations. They all looked quite alive for the moment, no rot nor twig was visible on these creatures. But a meal was visible to them. And in Penny they would try and partake.
“Of course” Penny would remark with a sigh as the Horror took its leave and the rumbling of Monsters drew nearer. ”Prick” Rolling her neck she began advancing once more, her energy blades and hover systems igniting as she went.
She didn’t have time for the slow and scenic route anymore. Penrose wouldn’t lose it’s Queen so easily and this place would not hold her for much longer.
Aurelio and his massive mob of copied selves, did what they always did in this circumstance. Hit the ground running and started helping. His mana was too low to apply much magical healing but he was more then willing to act as an additional twenty pairs of hands to run orders and instructions, or grab supplies and move people.
After all, he had been evacuating people all though the fight. He knew better then all but the people running the infirmary just how badly things had gotten. Still within all of that there were a few clones that would be seen simply resting near those that he knew personally, watching over them while they rested or while the medics worked. Or softly talking with them giving them what updates he could if they were already taken care of.
He knew he was going to crash hard when he truly stopped, so he just kept going for a bit longer, letting his clones that did stop stay that way not bothering to recall the mana spent on them as their memories would bring the crash all the sooner.
I've not played Metal Gear Solid 4, but I know what you are talking about.
Also gotta chuckle at the audacity of Jinny actively reinforcing the link between the two of them. But it is a good tactic against those that don't want to make an enemy of Slade.
Izurich,
Mistress Dizzy,
LG,
Light the Dark,
twave,
pollo
