XianaEvermor

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

Bored.

Bored bored bored.

If there was one thing Dawn never liked doing, it was waiting around. She laid on the lobby sofa with her feet hooked over the back, her platinum waves dangling towards the floor. She stared up at her Slatephone at one of the dozens of unanswered messages she'd received an automated reply to: "This message was unable to be delivered."

Dawn chewed on her lower lip apprehensively. Archer was out of contact, and for some reason, Gemini was being INCREDIBLY evasive about it. She huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. It landed in her mouth as she drew a deep breath to sign and she spluttered ungracefully.

Nobody saw that.

Why did they leave her out of all the important things? She could be trusted to DO... STUFF too! Maybe it was because she'd built a reputation for being somewhat of an irresponsible fuckboi... Shut up, ME! Ever since she had that spat with her twin, everyone was treating her like she was made of glass. Dawn rested an arm over her forehead dramatically. Being the favorite was so hard sometimes.

Then there was Felix. She gazed at her palm for a long time. She wasn't sure how she felt about him yet, but he was interesting... and perplexing. Archer and Dawn were both unique in that they were quite sensitive to the emotional imprints of the Astral Sea. Seeing that knot of trauma twisted around Felix had broken her a little, and she felt awful for coming on to him so strongly now. Intimacy was clearly an area of sensitivity for him.

For him to have such a visceral interaction with her aura as well... spoke to just how connected those luminous body constructs were to the core of his being. They weren't just... replacement limbs, that WAS him. An edge case she couldn't have predicted, but maybe should have been more careful of.

"Perhaps it wasn't meant to be," she sighed melodramatically, adding more patterns to the empty array she'd been tracing in the Lobby's dimmed ceiling for the past hour. The ceiling was alight with brilliant golden thread forming a network of carefully aligned and connected concentric circles. Some overlapped eachother, others were connected by Rays or Arcs, surrounding the recessed ceiling lights like little solar systems. Designing arrays, particularly for unconventional purposes, was something of a passion hobby for her. She'd designed the network of arrays that had been tattooed onto Archer's body at his request.

Dawn held her phone up impatiently and checked her notifications. Nothing... she was about to sigh dramatically when her phone buzzed.

[Hey, sorry! I got SUPER distracted for… a lot longer than I meant. I’ll be right there! I’ll come get you? … Where are you?]

Distracted indeed. She huffed, and began tapping her reply with an air of irritation. The phone buzzed again, and she fumbled with it for a long moment before dropping it on her face with a disgruntled noise.

[Heyyyy never-mind, just, don't move. Be right there. Sorry.]

[Dummy.] She replied, before letting the phone flop to her abdomen and turning her inverted gaze towards the elevator.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

"I don't see what my appearance has to do with your discourtesy, it's not like I can help what I look like," she quipped, remaining calm despite the spike of irritation. Who just attacks another persons appearance like that?

Rude.

"I felt some kind of seismic disturbance resonate through the exterior wall. With everything going on I thought to investigate and followed a trail back to your home thinking someone might be in trouble," she explained evenly... it wasn't entirely a lie. "I was shot at for my concern (without provocation I might add), and now you're here harassing me for resembling someone you know!" That mercenary actually hit her twice. A split second [Dragonscale] Fortification saved her, but he didn't need to know that.

"I've had about enough, and Golem does not intimidate me... no offense, Big Guy," she smiled up at the spirit before returning her gaze to Dean. "So, if you intend to kill the cat, then you better call that friend of yours. I have an early start and a long way to travel in the morning, so hurry it up," she ended dismissively, folding her arms.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

"I'm headed back to the Hostel room that I paid for," she answered calmly. His name reveal and show of force did not change her stance or expression, though she did look up at Golem with a raised eyebrow. "Does he treat all of this settlement's guests this way?" She asked the creature, shaking her head.

She lowered her gaze back to Dean, tilting her head as she examined him... HIM, and though she seemed acutely aware of exactly where Golem was and what it was doing, it was Dean that her gaze pierced.

If this came to blows she was definitely the one at a disadvantage. He was clearly an Earth mage or Geomancer in his element, and she was underground at night time. Though it appeared he had an impressive reservoir of Mana to draw from, it was clear that he lacked advanced training. Once again, that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous, and without specific knowledge of the charms and vows he'd taken under Golem's stewardship, there wasn't any real way to gauge exactly HOW dangerous.

He HAD shown himself to be inattentive, however, which might be something she could take advantage of. Even after being warned that he was standing well within the perimeter of her [Fire/Light] Domain, he either didn't notice or didn't care. Information was the most powerful resource in a mage's duel, and she had reciprocated in kind (as is customary) when warned that she was violating his [Sanctum]. Her warning went disregarded, and even seemed to rumple his humors... Did... did he not know the custom? Or was he just dense?

"Listen, Mr. Locklear, I'm a regular visitor who has, so far, been very careful to be respectful of your [Sanctum] and not disturb any of your wards and charms. I don't generally practice any arts, or disturb the local Manascape while I'm here. I don't want to have this fight. However, I will defend myself if you continue to aggress me without cause," she answered without breaking eye contact.

ID felt her lungs reach capacity, and from Dean's perspective she stopped breathing.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

---

[Stoneworks - Interior]

[A Chaotix14 / XianaEvermor Collaboration]

---

"You know that was never my intention. I hadn't thought about what would be visible from the awakened perspective, especially one time dilated and synergizing with items... And now that I think about it, that was real stupid of me." He looked at the cards on the table then back at Yue. "I'm... Sorry for having you experience that due to my lapse in judgement." he said slowly really thinking about his choice of words and his actions.

"It's... that was a thing... that happened," Yue muttered, sipping at her coffee while trying to parse what exactly she just experienced.

"That being said, it's also quite an accomplishment to make her keep playing a game that is absolutely unwinnable." Zolya piped up towards Archer. Which prompted an almost immediate response from Raudd. "No it's not. Because I know this one..." He said reaching towards the table and bringing down his fist on an empty area far away from the cards, causing them to jump up in the air slightly. "...Is a seven." He finished grabbing one of the cards in the moment they were airborne and revealing it to be in fact, 7 - The Archer. "I could see you switch this one up while she was grabbing for it."

"There's actually four ways to win, and only one of them involves collecting all the cards," grinned Archer. "The other three are: exposing my method of cheating (which has its own set of rules), learning the lesson the game is meant to teach, and outlasting my patience which... we've been at this for nearly eight years now, and its in my nature to be competitive, so..."

"So what you are saying realistically there is only one way to win this game for Yue. Exposing your method of cheating. Her not having learned the lesson after nearly eight years shows that it's too subtle for someone who has no context for what is happening." She said as she traced part of the array on the table with her finger. "Collecting all the cards is practically impossible without figuring out the cheats you use and outlasting your patience isn't going to happen within this lifetime with that attitude of yours."

"Anyways, we're getting a little off topic here." Raudd said to interrupt his sisters rant about the games generally poor ability to do what it's supposed to do. "And I do think it's a bit of a tall ask to just accept that all this magic bullshit is real."

"It's not a band-aid that you can just rip off, Freyja. Fang has been through a lot, and not just today. Undoing the damage caused by a careless diagnosis and irresponsible prescriptions takes time," he huffed, Zolya's response having clearly struck a nerve. "My methods may seem obtuse-"

"Wait...," Yue cut him off, his words seeming to snap her back to reality. "What do you know about my diagnosis?"

"Honey, please. I'm the Director's Executive Assistant, I have access to all of HR's records. We've all been fighting behind the scenes to get you proper care because we all have EYES and can see you getting worse under that hack. Even Arcanist has your back, and he doesn't stick his neck out for anyone but himself. The situation's delicate though," he explained, folding his legs and balancing the leaf-rimmed card by its corner on one finger. "Someone in the upper echelon has been working against specifically you, and until we find out who, we have to play by the rules. Those rules just happen to involve miles of red tape. I can speak candidly about it here because there's no risk of this conversation making it back to them."

"What...?"

"You're NOT sick," Archer stated, bluntly. "You never were; I just couldn’t ever come out and say that to you because I'm under constant scrutiny," Archer huffed. Yue flinched at having her inner voice echoed back to her, and couldn't hold back the stinging behind her eyes.

It too Raudd a little bit of effort when despite what Archer had just claimed, he just pulled off the band-aid. Using the momentary silence that followed from Archer’s statement Raudd spoke up. "Now, I know you're bound by all sorts of rules top-side, but that doesn't mean we can't scheme like the fey from down here." He said with an almost devious smile, this was more his element than the straight magic bullshit. "First things first, make sure you never take any of those crap medications you don't need." He said to Yue making a concerted effort to mellow out his smile.

"I'm betting they won't allow her to skip her medication, so I have a few suggestions of how to deal with that. If you could bring the pills she has to take down here, I'm betting Zafira can make sugar pills that look exactly like the prescription drugs. Otherwise we could employ one of the sylphs hanging around here as a guardian spirit for Yue, they'll be able to cast illusions on some harmless c vitamins to make them look like those prescription drugs to the human eye and those fancy camera's you guys have in the tower." He said nearly rattling off the thoughts as they moved through his head.

"Ehm, it wouldn't be a good idea to stick with the sylph plan for longer than a week though. They are quite reliant on the abundance of nature around them or they will grow weaker by the day and any air pollution is like poison to them." Zolya quickly mentioned to make clear that the sylph idea wasn't a long term solution.

Yue listened uncomfortably, and Archer's gaze flicked between her and the siblings. He sighed, deflating a little,

"Listen, before you go and make too many plans... Fang," he addressed, turning to Yue. "I wouldn't necessarily call them friends... but these people can be trusted. Their views have a tendency to clash with my station, but I don't disagree with them, and they're well-meaning in spite of how heavy handed they're being. You have to want this though, nobody can force you. If you decide you don't want to be here, I will take you away from this place," he stated, flicking his gaze towards the siblings for a moment.

"I... need a minute to think," muttered Yue, as she withdrew into her seat. She cradled her coffee gingerly as her shoulders relaxed. She took a soft breath through her nose, and tuned out the world, letting it stop around her as she sipped from her cup.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

---

[Stoneworks - Interior]

[A Chaotix14 / XianaEvermor collaboration]

---

Yue's eyes snapped to the table as Raudd captured one of the cards beneath his hand, watching the ripple of displaced air spread slowly from his palm, lifting the edges of the adjacent cards. For a while, nothing... and then a sound. Her eyes widened as she focused on Raudd's hand, resisting the urge to save the card from the agonizing torture it was experiencing, seeing as there technically was no rule preventing outside interference, and Archer hadn't moved to stop the man... just watched her with that irksome grin.

Flecks of silver manifested at the corners of her eyes, and her irises began to burn amber as she focused intently on Raudd's hand. Wisps of smoke and angry mottled red curled up from under his palm, and Yue's expression turned vaguely horrified as... something... wailed at her in agony. Despite the time dilation, it hit her like a drawn out cry, and she couldn't suppress the shudder as ripples of white pulsed through markings in the table she hadn't noticed before.

"It's... screaming," she muttered in a haunted tone as Raudd held up the blank card victoriously. His smile was quickly wiped off his face by this announcement as he fumbled with the card trying to figure out how to deal with it. Zolya noticing this swiped the card out of his hand and procured a fountain pen from her cloak.

Yue flinched as Zolya's fingers slammed dramatically against the card. The force rippled through it, shaking the decaying residue of the original markings from the back of the card. As the light faded from the dust it gasped in distraught tones, and then was scattered as Zolya pulled it away. Yue's brow furrowed with concern.

Mending type spells weren't really her forte, in the first-place nature didn't lend itself well to restoring anything dead... Then just make it not dead. Drawing up the nature aspected mana latent in the environment through the pen the black ink flowed across the paper as the runes laden with mana took to the paper.

Yue's eyes followed the pen tip as it slammed into the card backing; it resonated throughout the room like a cannon shot.

"Ah...," she croaked involuntarily, mouth agape.

As time progressed the formation came together nature and rejuvenation runes, among others, tied together by the Web of Wyrd at the center of the card, the runes around having been placed symbolically like the branches of a tree.

The pen tip scraped savagely against the corpse of the card's markings, sending up plumes of desiccated [White] which seemed to dissolve slowly into the residual glow of the room. Yue cringed against audial assault, and squinted her eyes against the brilliant [Green] with which Zolya wrote.

Having finished the formation Zolya imbued the card with mana activating the magic formed onto it's surface. The ink burning away as the paper of the card first yellowed, then formed a grain as bark and a wreath of tiny leaves formed around the edge of the card. "I think that's the best I can do, it's still blank though." She said as she handed the card over to Archer. Though she doubted it would be used for this game, much easier to detect the cheating when the one unique card switches faces.

Zolya's [Light] slithered, and the processed cardstock protested as it was mulched, consumed, repurposed, and hardened into bark. The groaning and snapping of rapid growth grated against her time dilated senses as the leaves sprouted. Her eyes followed the card as Zolya handed it to Archer, who held an expression of endless amusement. Yue exhaled, and her eyes returned to normal as the world slipped back into Realtime.

"I don't... want to play anymore," she croaked, with an expression of pale horror. "I'm gonna...," she trailed off as she curled up in her seat, cradling her knees against her chest. Yue held her cup of coffee against her lips as though it were the last warmth in this cold, cold world and stared out into space past everyone with a furrowed brow.

"Well would you look at that! You've disturbed our little Fang so much that she's lost interest in a game," quipped Archer, with the biggest smile. "That's one hell of an accomplishment you should be proud of, Raudd."

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

ID paused as something entered her sphere of influence, and her face settled stoically as she collected herself. Being caught out in the open without her mask and gear wasn't ideal, particularly not by a magician that could move so swiftly underground. She sucked in a deep breath as the signature approached, and then continued to inhale slowly through her nostrils as the presence popped up behind her. ID had stopped moving a long moment before he arrived, her eyes flitting back and forth as though scrolling through text while she waited.

She suppressed a flinch at feeling his [Eyes] on her back, and let him approach. Even if he couldn't fully perceive Astralforms, it was impossible for Dual Natured beings to hide theirs. Hers hugged her skin like a tight fitting aura in Dean's vision, glowing like the soft light of a yellow star, and writhing and moving like a flame burning in slow motion. She waited until he felt his [Eyes] close, and then pulled in her sphere of influence.

Did it get warmer? Probably just nerves.

ID turned around when he addressed her, keeping a relaxed pose, though she could not hide the stern way in which her gaze flicked over him, his pockets, and then to the ground beneath his feet.

Did she get taller?

She did her best to suppress the [Deadly Dragon's Gaze], but meeting her eyes directly was still like being slapped with a hammer. She held his eyes, tilting her head a little as she processed his words.

"Statistically probable," she replied, using a circular breathing technique to speak while continuing to fill her lungs with air. "Everyone has a genetic look alike."

It was the Magician that owned the wards and seals scattered around town, no doubt by his introduction. She'd always been very careful not to disturb them when passing through in the past: no need to spook the local Hedge. However, given his array of enchanted charms, and the spirit he had lurking under his feet... she doubted the man was an ordinary Hedge Mage. Even more reason to tread lightly, so to speak. Hedge Mages lacked advanced training, but that did not mean they weren't dangerous. It was probably his house she tried to peek into.

Stuuuuupiiiiiiid...

"Since you were so kind... I recognize your [Sanctum]. I [See] you, and you are standing in my [Domain]," she answered calmly.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

---

[ShieldTown - Interior]

---

"S-Stranger?!" Wolf stammered. She flinched, inhaling a sharp breath as the tea stopped on its journey to the ground... no, it was just moving slowly as HK's processes jumped into overdrive.

HK rewound the video from the eye feed, grabbing the overhead view from the drone in a separate window.

[Appropriating additional resources]
[Checking for additional surveillance] . . .

[Query Drone_Bay]
[Units on Operational Standby]
[Albatross_02][Lockdown_Protocol_Suite]
[Manta_01][Interceptor]

[Time to launch] [02:46]

[Analyzing Video Feeds] . . .

[Run GAIT_WATCH.EXE]
[Run Facial Recognition]
[Considering new parameters. Processing] . . .

[Subject Identity - ShieldTown-SpecialGuest-Aegis01 - 96% VISUAL match]
[Gait Mismatch - Advise further study]
[Run PATH_TO_VICTORY.SIM] . . .

[Thermal Warning]
[Rerouting Albatross_01]
[Retasking Drones: Stranger Protocol Initiated.]

[Objectives Updated. Waypoints Updated]
[Returning Host Processes] . . . |

The teacup smashed against the ground, splashing Wolf's boots, and she slowly raised a hand to the stinging heat behind her right eye, too stunned to say anything as Dean closed the door. Her face had become flushed, and beads of sweat began forming on the right side of her brow. HK apparently took the insinuation that they'd made a mistake personally. Wolf took a breath to collect herself, watching the view from the Albatross overhead in a sub-window as it winged over into a new flight pattern and began scanning the settlement.

The [Launching Albatross_02] countdown timer was disconcerting. She guessed HK wanted the additional viewpoint but... the "Lockdown Suite" had some serious hardware on it too. Hopefully it wouldn't be coming to that. Wolf started towards the first waypoint when something new caught her attention. She inhaled... was... was Dean making Bacon?!

---

[Elsewhere...]

---

Stupid!

ID admonished herself as she huddled in the darkness under an awning several blocks away from the tall central house. It didn't happen very often, but she'd had a strange dream which jolted her out of her sleep. She never could get back to bed if she woke up in the middle of the night either, so she decided to get some air and walk around the settlement instead. Some sort of seismic disturbance caught her attention, though whoever caused it was long gone by the time she found the origin point.

What HAD been left behind was a faint trail of [Crimson] that had been... admittedly very expertly scrubbed. Whoever disguised that signature was a pro, she almost didn't catch it, which had piqued her curiosity even further. Getting caught trying to peek in the window wasn't ideal, and whoever was on the other side of that weapon had some serious mental fortitude to fire so accurately under the [Deadly Dragon's Gaze]. ID mentally flagged the wolf-eared soldier as a high risk engagement.

Thankfully, she never wandered the town unmasked during daylight, so there was basically no risk of being recognized even though she was in casual dress...

There was a waft of [Suspicion] and [Alarm] coming from the tall house, but as long as she didn't draw attention to herself she should be able to make it back to the hostel without further incident. ID pushed herself off the wall once she was sure it was clear, and walked down the street casually. She exhaled a sigh, planning a circuitous route back to the Hostel just in case.

Got a little greedy on that one... technically she was off duty, so... that definitely wouldn't be making its way into her next report.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

---

[The Stoneworks - Interior]

---

Yue accepted the coffee with a nod of thanks, eyeing the "unicorn" cookies for a long time before a rumble from her stomach prompted her to snatch two off the plate. They were both gone in the next instant with no regards to taste, flavor, texture, or ingredients as she chewed ravenously. She exhaled heavily, reaching for a third at a more relaxed pace while she listened to Zolya speak. Her gaze flicked down to Zolya's rings involuntarily, she froze for a solid moment as she raised an eyebrow, before she took a long sip of too-hot coffee without flinching. She squinted, her eyes flicking back and forth between Zolya and Archer.

"Let me get this straight," she replied curtly. "I got dragged all the way back out here to ass-nowhere, to be told by my friend of eight years... and two weirdos I met this morning... that what- I'm the protagonist in a badly written young adult urban fantasy fanfiction?"

"Next you're gonna say: 'Our star is unique in that it's saturated with Aether: a semi-cognizant primordial force sustained by the presence of life. Aether is both intangible and invisible to the 'Mundane' and those that can see and manipulate it are known as 'The Exalted,'" she quoted, squinting at Archer.

"That... is more or less what I was going to say, yes. Listen, none of these concepts are incorrect," he sighed as Yue's eyes narrowed at him over the rim of her coffee cup. They squinted at one another for a long time before either of them moved, though Archer did hold up a hand when he sensed Zolya about to fill the silence... probably with a lewd comment.

"Let's play a game," he suggested, pulling the coffee table closer to them without breaking eye contact. Yue raised an eyebrow but didn't decline the challenge. He produced his deck of tarot cards from the pouch on his belt and shuffled them expertly. "The game is Memory. Find the matching cards. You may use your super-advanced perception in order to observe me and prevent me from cheating."

"Any other rules?"

"You may choose the pairs at any time as soon as you see them, once the cards are on the table I'm not allowed to touch them," he explained, pausing his shuffle to lay his hand on the table. "I must deal the cards as quickly as I am able, and I'm not allowed to look at them. I may shuffle the deck at any time. If you misidentify a pair, all collected cards are re-shuffled into the deck. The game continues until you collect all the pairs, give up, or figure out how I'm manipulating the deck."

"Fine," agreed Yue curtly, setting her coffee down. Archer smirked.

"When she first came to the templar, I played this game with her a lot in order to help her learn how to control her powers," he explained to Zolya. "Those moments you noticed, where it seems like she's off in her own little world? She is: she's experiencing seconds as minutes and can hyper-analyze the smallest detail. Facial expressions, minute involuntary movements, a single droplet of rain falling in a storm. She can come up with complex plans seemingly instantaneously and process information at an incredibly rapid pace. In spite of all this, I've never lost."

"He cheats," she muttered.

"That was never in question. I told you ahead of time I was manipulating the deck, the question is how?" he smirked. Yue set her cup down and leaned forward. Her gaze widened, the [Crimson] pulsed through her eyes, and her pupils stretched, becoming slitted. The temperature and weight of the air seemed to increase as Archer began to rapidly deal cards while looking directly at Yue.

"The drawback to her ability is the advantage it gives: she can no longer process my speech because it's happening too slow," he explained. Often the cards never reached the table, as Yue snatched them out of the air, and sometimes out of Archer's fingers. Occasionally several cards would vanish off the table into her hand all at once.

"Her affinity is Fortification, which would normally classify her as an Adept... or someone that generally uses magic to enhance their personal physical attributes," he grinned at Raudd, dealing a card which Yue snatched up in flight along with another card that had nearly reached the table. Yue flinched and slid her hand across the table towards him, and he scooped up the cards in a fluid motion, shuffled, and began dealing again. Yue squinted at Archer, and they held eye contact for a long moment before her focus shifted back to the cards.

"That would technically be an incorrect classification though. Part of the reason she's able to use her abilities to the extent she can, through pure intuition is that she experiences resonance through items, it's how she can match the cards before looking at them," he said, as Yue picked a card out of the air, and then off the top of his deck between deals. "We call this 'Spathí Tragoúdi'... Sword Song."

Yue picked up a card from the table, and then slid her hand back to Archer with a huff. He scooped them up, and Yue's hand darted into the stack during the shuffle as she reclaimed several pairs. Archer smiled as he continued.

"The part she hasn't been able to figure out is, that the cards are blank. If I do nothing, the image on the face is a reflection of the enchantment on the card... but as long as I deal the card in my Territory it can be whatever I choose. For the purpose of this game, my Territory is the array I placed on the table when I touched it, which is under the effect of the Suppression Seal that hides my Signature."

Archer paused to do a mid-deal shuffle, and Yue pulled a card near the bottom of the pile fast enough for it to catch fire from the friction. She pressed a finger to the top of the deck as the last card fell, pausing the game. He grinned, watching her eyes flick from the card, to the table, to the deck, to him as the card burned.

"Oop. She's formulating a hypothesis," he explained, as Yue's laser-like gaze bored into him. "While she's like this she's experiencing a phenomenon called Hyperthymesia. She can perfectly recall events in vivid detail while under the influence of this spell. Right now, I imagine she's re-watching the entire game, or pieces of it at least. When she's satisfied she'll either announce her theory, or continue the game," he explained as they stared at one another unblinking for a long time.

"The suppression seal isn't perfect. Every time I manipulate a card, a pulse of mana could be caught before the Seal disguises it... assuming she's paying close enough attention, I've never disguised that, though I could... because if she comes to the conclusion that magic is real on her own, then technically I never violated my station," he smirked.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

---

[The Den]

---

The soft glow of the topographical holo-map in the center of the darkened Command room flickered blue against Wolf's skin. She lay reclined in one of the chairs next to a terminal underneath what used to be a window. The openings sealed with bulkheads and covered with screens and monitors to prevent any light escaping to the outside. Wolf lay still with one eye closed, her cyber-eye open and occasionally flicking this way and that. A Nuero-Optic cable was spooled out of the base of her neck and into the console.

She was asleep, or part of her was at least: the organic part. Her neural net was alive and awake, operating the drones with support from The Den's considerable array of servers and Virtual Intelligence agents. Scans, topographical readings, information information information... though that part of her brain had been partitioned so it could work autonomously. It was like living with an alternate personality that thought in Radar pings and Firing Solutions, fuel, ammunition levels, and threat assessment.

The Den was always on vigil. The Den never slept.

Hunter-Killer, or HK was on watch, soaring lazily far above the settlement in a wide pattern like a wraith in the dark. Its insulated thrusters made nary a sound, or at least not one that would register on the ground from this height. The occasional stray bit of light from the ground glinted off the payload of Maverick anti-tank missiles nestled against HK's belly.

A seismic ping caught HK's attention, and the nose-mounted targeting pod swiveled to find the source: apparently a group of people standing on the Den / ShieldTown barrier wall... suspiciously. One of the figures flew away after being spoken to... the reaction was played back and analyzed in a separate window while HK observed. The fleeing entity was identified as [ShieldTown-Guest02], and was logged as helping during the unscheduled Hunt event. Judging by her reaction HK logged the well-dressed male as [Suspicious-HotGuy01], and flagged him as Threatening as evidenced by the fact he was poised to attack as [ShieldTown-Guest02] was fleeing.

[Suspicious-HotGuy01] and a trio of others HK didn't have the angle to identify shepherded a woman off the barrier wall and...

[GIMBAL LIMIT]

HK lost the scene and banked sharply, reorienting to restore surveillance but the group was gone. The camera flicked back and forth, scanning the surrounding area before HK rewound the video.

[Processing] . . .

[Identifying. Gait analysis] . . .

[Insufficient Data.]
[Facial recognition scan. Processing] . . .

[Match Found. Subject identified - ShieldTown-SpecialGuest-Aegis01. Status: UNCONSCIOUS. ACTIVE.]
[Analysis: SpecialGuest Abducted.]
[Running PATH_TO_VICTORY.SIM] . . .

[Wake Host.] . . . |

Wolf jolted awake, flinching as the Neuro-Optic cable disconnected from the terminal and swiftly spooled into the back of her neck, snagging a strand of hair as it went. HK had posted a list of objectives and waypoints in her HUD. She skimmed the summary on the way to the armory, briefly poking her head into the infirmary where that majority of The Den's other residents and ShieldTown's physician lay sprawled out in various states of exhaustion. It had been a rough day. It wasn't over yet.

She swung herself down to the wall lithely from the repulsor sled, adjusting her tactical harness and shouldering her silenced submachine gun as she approached HK's waypoint cautiously. The sim played back in her HUD, and she chewed her lower lip in thought.

"Trace to origin," she muttered, deciding that uncovering what happened might give her a clue to where they went with Aegis' guest. He would not be pleased if someone absconded with her in the middle of the night while Wolf was on watch.

[Processing] . . .
[Waypoint Updated] - |

Wolf slid down the wall to street level, following HK's rooftop path simulation from the ground and darting quietly through the intersections. The path led her towards the center of town where Alex's house was, and she recognized the three story building looming over its shorter neighbors as she ducked into a dark alley nearby. She crouched to the corner, peeking silently and looking through the holographic sight towards the house. Broken glass on the ground glinted under a street lamp, and the remains of a demolished night stand lay crumpled underneath the broken window.

She was about to step out and investigate closer when a lithe figure tore away from the darkness of an adjacent intersection and ran silently straight up the wall, hooking fingers on the window frame and pulling themselves up slowly to peek inside. Wolf held her breath, leaning out from cover to train her weapon on the intruder. The figure turned suddenly towards her as though alerted by a noise. Wolf flinched as a pair of gleaming, slitted amber eyes locked with her own, her muscles locking up involuntarily for a fraction of a second before she squeezed the trigger twice.

The figure became a blur, launching across the street and out of sight as the rhythmic SLAP of supersonic rounds flattening against the building's reinforced side echoed into the night. Wolf threw herself around the corner, bracing against the wall to protect her back and swiftly checking first the alley behind her, and then the surrounding rooftops.

"Identify," she whispered, quieting her breathing as the black furred, wolf cyber-ears of her namesake perked up, flicking this way and that to zero in on any sounds of movement.

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[Subject Identity - ShieldTown-SpecialGuest-Aegis01 - 96% match.] - |

Wolf exhaled, relaxing against the wall and letting her heart pound out of her chest for a bit. Good thing she didn't land any hits. Alex would be much less furious about her shooting up the side of his house than he would be if she riddled his guest with bullets thinking she was a creeper. Wolf allowed her weapon to fall to her side on its sling as she approached the front door, and rapped her reinforced steel knuckles on it. The light under the door suggested Dean was still awake, and she was rewarded after a couple impatient minutes of waiting when he answered the door, sipping a freshly made cup of tea.

"Hey uh, your guest- *snrk*," she snorted, the corners of her mouth coiling into an amused smile at the state of his dress: warm flannel pajamas, signature beanie and oversized fuzzy slippers. "Cute slippers," she grinned.

"Anyway, your guest is out and about," she explained, tilting her head back towards the shattered glass and ruined nightstand behind her. "I think she was trying to get back in? But... I maybe uh... kinda-sorta spooked her?" she admitted sheepishly. "I spotted her with some suspicious looking folk and came to investigate; caught her trying to climb back into that broken window. You know, you should tell your guests to use the front door like civilized folk," she chided, clucking her tongue and rocking back and forth on her feet awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't bring up the gunfire.

Titan's Fall: The Abyssal Paradox

Archer's gaze narrowed at the retreating creature, and his arm cocked back as if he were preparing to throw the card. A faint glimmer ran through the array on the top of his hand. After a moment he seemed to reconsider, and with a flick, the card disappeared. The corners of his lips twisted into a frown as he gazed off at the departing creature in quiet contemplation. Such a visceral reaction. Could mean that it had experienced some kind of trauma from someone whose name or aspect carried similar weight. It vastly narrowed his list of suspects. He sighed and turned back towards the group, rolling his eyes as he caught Zolya's expression. Yue just watched with a haunted look.

"Don't get too attached, it's very likely I'll get called upon to put it down," he muttered. "She's a special case," he quipped vaguely, addressing Zolya. "I do more than just hide her, though admittedly it's been increasingly difficult to keep a lid on that crazy signature of hers. No solution is perfect, but thankfully it's not up to me to choose anymore," he sighed, with a small air of relief.

"I agree with Raudd, actually."

"No!! Someone needs to tell me what the fuck is going on right. NOW!" Yue punctuated her statement with a stomp. The thud resonated through the wall, and the ripple of force shook dust off the barrier's surface nearly clear around the settlement. Archer narrowed a hard look at her.

"It's not safe to speak about this in the open. We've said too much already, and if necessary I will move you," Archer replied in that tone of voice he only used when telling someone that no: It was, in fact, NOT OK to take the final pastry unless they wanted to lose a limb, because he was saving it for her. Yue deflated, swallowing the lump in her throat. Oh. It's that kind of serious.

Yue took the talisman numbly without further complaint. The ride back to Stoneworks was quiet. Nobody spoke, and though her head was full of thoughts and questions, Yue just rested her head against Archer's back and closed her eyes against the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Archer was always so soft with her. He always seemed to be exactly where she needed him, and she felt instantly guilty for shutting him out to wallow in her own depression, in spite of the cheerful indifference with which he always insisted that he was fine.

"Oh stop," quipped Archer softly as they trotted towards the Stoneworks, lagging a bit behind the others. "I can feel that guilt eating you up from the inside and there's no need for that. Listen... your whole world is about to get flipped topsy-turvy. Some stuff is gonna come out and you might feel a lot of things, you might even feel betrayed and I'm sorry. Just...," he sighed, searching for words as they passed through the barrier. "I chose this. Us. I'm here to shield you from all the stuff you can't see... so you can keep doing the wonderful things you do for the people who need you. I'll keep doing that even if you hate me for it," he trailed off.

The rest of the ride to the manor was done in silence, and Yue spent the long minutes processing his words as they caught up with the others and got settled. She couldn't block out the anxiety she felt, like she was arriving to an intervention and everyone was about to whip out heartfelt letters and teary eyes. Listen... Final Odyssey isn't an addiction... Yue snapped back to the present as Archer began talking.

"Listen, before I start I want to emphasize that the knowledge we're about to impart on you is dangerous. There are reasons we don't share it with the uninitiated, and just knowing of its existence is enough to put you in peril."

Wait...

"Many will seek you out claiming to have a gift in one hand, but hold-"

Wait! I've heard this before!

"-A curse behind their back," Yue blurted out. "The nature of Aether is shaped by the thoughts and desires of those that wield it; your actions and feelings color it for those that follow. Only you know the path that is true and right, and asyouwalkthelinebetweentwoworldsasoneofthe- ARE YOU QUOTING FINAL ODYSSEY'S 'THE PERILS OF AETHER' QUESTLINE TO ME?!"

"Wh-what?!" Archer flustered uncharacteristically.

"Unbelievable," quipped Yue as she threw her hands up in the air.

"Figures that bastard would steal one of my best speeches," he muttered, regaining his composure. "Maybe Zolya is better equipped for this after all."