Nightshift 41: Entry Room

[bitpartgod]

[From here]

Kibitoshin stepped into the room, hope renewed. It looked like some kind of reception area if the two desks on either side of him were anything to go on, both absolutely pristine as though everything had been tidied away only seconds before he'd stepped into the room. On top of that there were enough doors here to keep him busy for hours

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[oftemptation]

The moment the pieces of the bracelet came together, Endrance had frozen in place, not wanting to see what he knew was going to come next, yet unable to look away. Then the beams began shooting every which way, and he'd braced for the impact and the inevitable loss of consciousness that would follow. There was no way to avoid it, not at this distance - and definitely not with the beams already surrounding him. It was a foregone conclusion.

When the walls changed into pure static before the room went black, he was sure that was it, that he wouldn't feel anything else after that. It came as a shock to feel that hand that had been pinning him in place leaving, and even though he'd had breathing room, Endrance still gasped loudly before sliding down the stone wall onto the floor, his head spinning and heart pounding. He braced one hand against the cool floor, then realized that it shouldn't have felt the way it did.

Wait. This isn't...where are we, exactly? Am I even conscious...or is this a dream I'm having while I'm comatose? No. I shouldn't be able to feel anything if I'm in a coma. But that means...

With that thought, Endrance snapped his head up, looking around. They were in Hulle Granz? That didn't make sense, but it was the only place he knew that looked like this. For a moment, he felt his Avatar's presence resonating, but couldn't explain why. He couldn't remember Mia ever mentioning this place. He shook his head, the feeling leaving him when he did. Strange...it must just be the effect of having been at ground zero just now...

"Is this...but it shouldn't be possible to be here, not outside The World...", he said, in a tone that clearly indicated the shock of the situation. At the same time, the ability to use Data Drain shouldn't have been possible either, but that had definitely happened.

He looked around for a moment, finding the pipe he'd been using, then used it to steady himself as he shakily got to his feet. Endrance was sure that in the morning he'd find himself covered head-to-toe in bandages, or a cast, or some strange combination of both, but that would be then. Right now, it was more important to be ready for anything, and as long as there was still some life left in him, nothing would keep him from stepping in when Haseo needed him. The situation now definitely counted in that regard.

[ofazureflame]

The lines of data formed an outline of what was missing, and an ache in his readouts made the program long for its creator--for its birthplace. The walls, as real as they looked, were only a rewriting. Further proof that patient-entities existed based solely on what their environment told them. They couldn't see the data, running through the walls, changing, surrounding them, pulsating--living.

At Haseo's shout, he turned away from the pedestal, letting another grating, heavy breath escape him. There were the red circles again, though the command to attack wasn't as strong or compelling. He bared his teeth in a strange grin and lolled his head back.

I'm not telling~

[cannotlogout]

Tsukasa edged closer to Leon, not taking his eyes off the AI the entire time. The others weren't attacking yet, Haseo seemed to want to demand answers, so Tsukasa held off on casting another spell for now. He didn't want to begin a fight before they were ready, and he wasn't exactly convinced that they could win. All of the damage which had been done to the AI seemed to have healed after the Data Drain and they hadn't had much luck before that.

"It's a place from... from our world," Tsukasa said softly. "It's like he rewrote the code for the field, but this place is supposed to be real. I don't know what's happened." It felt real though. The light and the feel of stone beneath his feet, but he was still wearing the grey uniform rather than his robes.

[heraldric]

Rewrote the code for the field? What was that supposed to mean? Leon didn't like being in the dark about techniques like this. Well, he didn't like being in the dark about most things, but heraldry was his specialty, and if this was a form of magic...

He didn't trust his legs to keep him up yet, so he stayed kneeling where he was, looking to each of the other members in the room individually. If they knew what was going on then perhaps they'd be able to do something about it. Tsukasa couldn't have many more spells at his disposal than he did, though, and Endrance was dazed as well.

The situation didn't look good at all. There was a moment when Leon had the urge to try and hide behind the boy next to him, but no... he was stronger than that.

[feartehreaper]

What could possibly be the reason for that? To prove a point? Show them something? "Bastard," Haseo snarled, "Are you our enemy or what?!"

Maybe he just wanted his arm torn off again. Haseo wasn't in the mood to try. With the aggression halted and a very small chance there would be any sort of actual answers provided here, he was left to make a choice- one that was fairly obvious in the end. Once, he might have ridden the wave of recklessness, but if nothing else he could recognize that they had impossible odds stacked against them. Endrance seemed to be on his feet, but it was no great achievement to notice that he was seriously injured- undoubtedly even more than previously... the heat of the moment hadn't allowed Haseo to take that into consideration before. Plus, Tsukasa and Leon seemed... burned out. They weren't in any condition to continue fighting a potentially invincible opponent.

"This isn't going to go anywhere," he announced to the others, eyes still locked on the strange entity. Deliberately he stepped backward towards the doors. "Come on."

However, suddenly he froze in place, an odd expression spreading across his features. Inadvertently, he silently repeated the words he had just said, and for a moment, a glowing red pattern flashed in the air around his body. If "powers" were weakened, then apparently so was the control that he'd carefully maintained following that near-fatal mistake in the Arena; for whatever reason, his Avatar had decided to react and the desire to attempt summoning it was almost unbearable. Even so, hadn't Endrance said something about his Avatar not working? If he tried summoning Skeith and was unsuccessful, it would probably only serve to anger the being... if it hadn't already, considering their history. Of course, Haseo's alarm only made it worse, and again the pattern appeared, growing brighter.

[oftemptation]

Endrance looked back at the two spellcasters for a moment. The younger of the two looked to be in particularly bad shape, having not been able to stand after that last spell, but to be entirely honest, Tsukasa didn't look much better. He started to tell both of them to leave when he caught a flash of red out of the corner of one eye.

He turned to see a familiar pattern on Haseo's body, one he recognized and understood immediately. The bright red Avatar pattern was impossible to mistake for anything else, and he gasped loudly. Skeith... The question now was whether to stop the summon or not. There were pros and cons to both of those options. It might be the only way to stop that being, yes, but the chances that it would succeed were minuscule. The amount of energy it would take to summon was also high enough that if it didn't work...

"Haseo! You can't...it's too dangerous to try summoning it now..." The moment the words were out of his mouth, though, he felt his own Epitaph stir, and a faint pink pattern appeared on his body. "No..." The word came out as an almost inaudible whisper, and was accompanied by another, brighter flash of pink. Endrance thought back to that morning's conversation. So it's true, our Avatars are connected, almost intimately so...that leaves me no choice. I can't let this go on...

The Blade Brandier stepped backwards and put his hand on Haseo's shoulder, intending to say something. Before he could, though, his Avatar pattern blazed pink again. "We can't. If one of us loses control, or if something goes wrong...it could be disastrous."

[ofazureflame]

This... this wasn't in his data bank.

They weren't patient-aggressors. They weren't even patient-designated entities. They were data anomalies. Why hadn't his program denoted them as such? Was that the meaning behind the sudden call to attack? Did his damaged program know something he didn't now? It was entirely possible, but not probable.

The data anomalies were displaying markings that he'd come across before, but when he tried to access the files, he found they were empty. What were these marks? Why did he feel bound by something beyond his current operator, calling him to destroy what was in front of him... before it destroyed him?

Joy, pain, fear, he wasn't programmed to feel any of these things. But those mark stirred something in his program, and something deeper than his current controls commanded him to protect himself--to destroy what could destroy him. It was a natural response, he was told.

With a growl, he ran down the hallway between the pews, Twin Fangs in his hands. His command was clear: destroy the anomaly.

[cannotlogout]

Summoning... Oh no, Endrance couldn't mean. Tsukasa could remember losing control of the Twilight Guardian, having it turn on Bear and Mimiru, and if what Endrance had said was true, then this could be so much worse. There was a torn feeling within him; the idea of seeing Skeith, the thing which had chased them down on Morganna's orders was terrifying, but there was the lure also of seeing Macha, even if it wasn't the same Macha, just a glimpse of the AI which had been his friend.

Any choice was taken away from them though when the Kite AI began to move, charging along the aisle of the cathedral towards Haseo and Endrance and Tsukasa couldn't let anything happen to them.

"Rai Rom!" he called, dredging up his strength and casting it at the AI, letting the lightning crackle around it. If he could just hold it off for a while, give them enough time to run or something. Black lights danced behind his eyes and he squeezed them shut for a moment, trying to shake them away.

[heraldric]

Dammit all. Leon didn't like being unable to act. This place was unbearable sometimes, taking away all his spell power that way. The boy managed to raise himself slowly to his feet just as Tsukasa was casting another spell. Neither of them would be able to do much else magic-wise. There had to be something else he could do...

His legs were still shaky, and he edged near a pew (something that should not be in the middle of the entryway) to have something to lean against so he could continue to conserve energy. What was happening with these other two? He looked back to Tsukasa, hoping for an answer of some sort.

[feartehreaper]

The last thing Haseo needed was Endrance lecturing him on the proper time to use an Avatar! Seriously!

"I'm not doing this on purpose!" he said, turning sharply to either grab at or push away the taller man, completely oblivious to whatever else was going on in the immediate area. If Endrance didn't want him to summon Skeith, then why the hell was he standing so close with his own Avatar practically active anyway? Didn't he know that would only cause trouble?!

... Of course not. From the time Endrance said he was from, he and Haseo hadn't yet fought on the same side yet. But at the moment, logic was a lost cause.

Haseo gasped as Tsukasa's spell hit the AI coming toward them, having not even noticed the return of its hostility. In response, the resonating force inside him reached near-unbearable levels, and he turned to face the "pursuer" head on, fire in his eyes. Why was it attacking them again?! He'd beat it before with his Avatar, did it really want a repeat of that? ...If that's what it comes to. With a snarl he braced himself, drawing on that power with what judgment he'd had over when it was appropriate now entirely gone.

"Come on," he intoned, insistent, "Come on, I'm right here...!"

The whole room seemed to quake; for those who could see it, the walls of the "cathedral" - or perhaps the air itself - flickered with darkness and neon-colored polygons in time with the glowing pattern now solidly in place over Haseo's body. After a moment a roaring sound filled the room... accompanied by several pained breaths through Haseo's teeth. Despite the eagerness that he'd felt initially, something was wrong, and even Haseo could tell in his current state. There was a block in his way of completing his call to Skeith, but unlike the sudden denial he'd felt before when he'd merely had too much damage done to his PC. He was convinced he could accomplish it regardless.

He shook his head wildly, and through sheer force of will and anger, somehow pulled the power out of himself, screaming in pain at what felt like getting ripped in two. The creature he'd summoned flashed into being, several times larger than Haseo himself but somehow seeming to occupy the same space. After a moment, Haseo could only try to focus again through burning eyes.

[Skeith summoned this one time with mod permission. :|b]

[oftemptation]

It was the sudden lightning spell that drew Endrance's attention back towards the AI, and that surprise combined with the slight push from Haseo sent him stumbling back a few steps. "Neither am I...I think it's a chain reaction. Skeith is reacting to...to the attacker, and Macha's reacting to Skeith..." It was the only explanation that made any sense - they both normally had tight control over their Avatars.

That didn't make it any less shocking to hear Haseo reaching out to that power - and the fact that it worked made him cry out in surprise. The force of that call made the Avatar pattern on Endrance's body turn more solid, and he could feel the resonance, the power waiting to be called. I don't think I could, even if I tried. I'm too weak right now...but...

"Haseo... I can't summon her, I'm not strong enough...but I can at least make this easier. Take this." He crossed his arms over his chest, then let go, the pink glow that had surrounded him fading out and reappearing around the Rogue's body. That single action depleted what little strength he'd had left after taking all the damage he had earlier, and he staggered back a few more steps before dropping to one knee. It's all right. I did the right thing...now all I can do is watch.

[ofazureflame]

No, no, no! What was that Wavemaster doing?! Didn't he comprehend the risk factors? Couldn't he understand that this building couldn't house such a large and powerful data anomaly? And the Blade Brandier... he was adding fuel to the fire?! They didn't understand, they just didn't understand!

The lightning coiled around him and he jerked to a stop again, freezing mid-run and crying out again. That was the third time that weakness had been used against him. He fell to his knee before Skeith, lightning crackling about his body.

Odds of success: 2.63%

According to his database, he had no form available to him to combat such a large and powerful anomaly. Formatting the bracelet for a correction on such an anomaly would take time--time that his sensors were telling him he didn't have. Not to mention he would have to break the natural protection around the anomaly, which, without a comparable weapon, would take minutes, if not hours. And of course, his own protection had already taken damage thanks to the Wavemaster. If he took much more damage to his program, the anomaly could re-write his data.

That was an unacceptable outcome. Even though the odds were small and he couldn't hope to match this anomaly's power, he was not programmed to step down in an unlikely situation--even if he had already been defeated and gravely injured by Skeith. He did it for his programmer--for Landel.

"f0r 4|_|r4," he growled, standing up and facing the towering Goliath of a bug. He crouched and launched himself at the thing, slashing viciously with both fangs at Skeith's face.

[cannotlogout]

The spell served it's purpose at least, bringing the AI to its knees and warning Endrance and Haseo of the danger. But that was all that Tsukasa could do now. He knew that he didn't have another spell in him, not without passing out completely, he thought. He leaned heavily back against the wall near Leon , breathing heavily after the exertion and just catching Leon's questioning glance.

He answered, voice shaky from exertion and not a little fear. "I think... they can summon something- to... to fight." He glanced around, wondering if they'd be able to run if it came to it. They might need to if Haseo couldn't defeat the AI. Endrance seemed as worn as Tsukasa felt. It should have been scary to put so much faith into someone he barely knew, but he did trust Haseo somehow.

[heraldric]

They could summon? Leon made something of a face. They were fighters. They shouldn't be able to summon. He couldn't even summon here, and he was trained exclusively in the ways of magic.

Still, there was no sense in feeling jealous right now when anything they could do might stand a chance of getting them out of this situation. If only he could gather up the strength for another Ice Needle... even if it wouldn't be as effective as Tsukasa's lightning... No, it could be dangerous right now. He'd be leaving himself too vulnerable. They could only wait and hope that whatever Haseo was doing wouldn't backfire.

[feartehreaper]

For a moment Haseo wavered, what energy he had left already draining to the point where the state was impossible to maintain. And then Endrance added Macha's power to his own, and although it helped, regardless he wasn't going to be able to keep it much longer... the rein he had on what he'd created was tenuous at best.

Skeith seemed to flinch back at the attack, its multiple eyes flashing as it retaliated wildly with a clawed limb. Haseo stepped back in tandem. Usually there would have been more of a fight, but Haseo was hardly able to pay attention amidst the pain and near-panicked drive to finish what he'd started. This enemy wasn't like most... it hadn't even changed forms this time....

The Avatar abruptly threw out an arm, polygons appearing in a pattern that was at the same time similar and radically different than what had been seen when the AI had done the same thing. "Hold still," Haseo threatened, using everything he had to just hold on for a moment longer, until the attack had powered up enough to fire. If it didn't hit, there was literally nothing left.

But Haseo didn't really get the chance to watch what happened, considering suddenly everything in the room seemed to be getting darker, and rapidly changing in the angle he saw them in. Well crap, he thought vaguely.

[oftemptation]

Endrance watched the fight, wishing he was capable of doing more. He tried to push himself up to his feet, but fell back a moment later. That was it; there wasn't anything to do but keep watch. You can do this...I know you can. You're the only one that can...

He didn't take his eyes off Skeith as that bracelet formed around the Avatar's arm. Once that Data Drain hit, all of this would be over. And it would; he was sure of that, he'd never seen Haseo lose a fight, and that wouldn't happen now, not with so much at stake. Not with so much in the balance...

Then, the unthinkable happened, and Endrance gasped loudly as Skeith faded from view and Haseo went falling. A burst of adrenaline got him up on his feet and over to where Haseo was, and he managed to catch the Adept Rogue just before he hit the ground. "You...you'll pay for doing that..." The words were all bluff. There wasn't any fight left in him.