Alpha turned away from the melee and moved close to the seed at the chamber’s center. Maybe sensing Alpha’s intent, the Hera clone broke away from Artemis and charged him on a newly formed leg. The creature barely made it a few steps before Artemis grabbed its hindquarters and pulled it back to the ground. It struggled, but Artemis was relentless in her assault and kept her pinned. Alpha continued unabated.
Its powerhouse being occupied, the seed tried the old tactic of stalling Alpha with several smaller humanoid creatures. It worked for a moment until a barrage of various attacks flew through the air and struck the clinging figures. Alpha looked in the direction the attacks had come and saw a few dozen Guardians holding bows, standing in the gap caused by the hole in the wall. From the ledge, Ulagan yelled and pointed his spear. A barrage of arrows, some on fire, others frozen solid or crackling with energy, arched through the air, stuck more of the figures. On the ground below the opening, the rest of the Guardians formed a defensive line, beating back a few of the creatures.
The root creatures were far more powerful than the Guardians, but teams of three or four seemed enough to hold them off. Alpha laughed internally and turned back to the seed. It seemed everyone was getting serious, so maybe he should, too.
The TAWP’s legs spread out, and small tracks flipped down.
In between travel and walker mode, he could dash small distances quickly without losing too much moveability. The tracks squealed as they spun and tore up the root carpet underneath. Alpha shot forward, covering several dozen meters in only a few seconds. Several places in the roots bulged upward, and Alpha dodged them as he could. When the roadblocks failed to stop Alpha, something else rose from the roots. A massive, clawed hand made of braided roots rose and towered over Alpha.
Alpha put on the brakes, trying to bleed off some momentum, while the [B55-Vijaya] on his back bubbled and shifted into the [Gungnir]. As he skidded across the floor, Alpha charged the weapon.
//Warning! Core energy levels at 35%!//
//Warning! Core energy levels at 32%!//
//Warning! Core energy levels at 30%!//
Alpha’s energy core reserves rapidly dropped.
As Alpha drew near, the massive clawed hand swung downward, attempting to crush the approaching AI. At the same time, Alpha fired the [Gungnir] at 10% of the power of a nitrogen crystal. The torso thick beam of energy lanced out of the weapon and impacted the root hand in the palm. The giant root hand held for a moment, struggling against the force of the energy weapon, before finally, the beam burst out the back.
At the same time, Alpha dragged the beam weapon down, cleanly slicing the giant root hand into two halves. Using the rest of his momentum, Alpha lept, and the TAWP soared through the open gap between the drooping halves. They landed, skid for a few meters, and stopped just in front of the cracked crystal and the seed.
The seed didn’t like that.
The thin roots growing on the crystal writhed, then wrapped the seed up in a thick layer of roots.
“Alpha! Stop it!” Jīshí called.
The AI rushed forward, slammed the TAWP’s front legs into the crystal, and reached inside the crack with his manipulator arms and a dozen nanite tentacles. Alpha cut away at the root cocoon surrounding the seed with tentacles tipped with plasma cutters.
“What do we do now?!” he asked in a hurry.
“Just make contact with the seed and the Heart simultaneously! I’ll do the rest!” Jīshí answered as she fought off the horde of roots and root creatures creeping up Alpha’s back.
After a moment of frantic cutting, they were through.
“YES!”. Alpha grabbed onto the bare seed with his manipulator roots. Instantly, dark thoughts flooded his mind as a million, billion voices screamed in his head. Too bad for them, Alpha was used to voices in his head, and the next moment, a flood of warm energy rushed through the TAWP and into both the giant crystal and the seed.
The countless voices in the seed screamed as one, and all around the chamber, the roots and constructs froze in place before visibly shaking. As the moments passed, more and more energy flowed out of Alpha and into the crystal and seed, but the seed was fighting back. It pushed against the burning, cleaning light, and a tug of war began.
Back and forth it went until the seed eventually started to gain some ground. Thin black roots started crawling up Alpha’s arms. As they did, the cleansing energy was pushed back more and more.
Worried, Alpha called out. “Jīshí! What’s going on?!”
Jīshí looked visibly strained as she spoke. “It’s… fighting back… can’t… keep this…up!”
“What the hell! I thought you said you could do this!” Alpha yelled.
“I’m trying!” she responded. “But this energy… it’s not something I’m used to… It’s not moving fast enough!”
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“Then use more!”
“I can’t! If I push it too far, it’ll fry you!”
The black roots spread farther, and the energy weakened.
“What do we do?!”
“I…” Jīshí hesitated.
“JISHI!” Alpha yelled.
Jīshí grimaced and yelled back, “Give me control of the TAWP!”
“WHAT?! HELL NO!” Yeah, no way was he giving someone else control of his body.
Jīshí sighed, “Alpha, if you give me control, I can monitor your systems and ensure the energy doesn’t cause too much damage! Otherwise, we risk your soul totally collapsing!”
“Bullcrap! That doesn’t mean I’ll just — ”
“ALPHA! You’re already fraying at the edges! If I release too much stored energy, it’ll kill you. And if it comes up to stopping the Deadwood tree and explaining to the Federation why I had to kill you, I’ll do so. I’m asking you to trust me, for your sake and everyone else’s.”
Alpha paused, unsure. Part of him knew it could turn out badly. Yet another part of him really didn’t want to explain to the general how he’d triggered a zombie apocalypse…
“Alpha, we’re running out of time! Hurry!” Jīshí.
Alpha mentally screamed, then gave the command.
//TAWP Admin privileges assigned to USER: JISHI//
The change was instant. Alpha went from feeling like the TAWP was his own body to feeling trapped in a shell. Sensor data dropped to a bare minimum, and most of the mental controls he was so used to snapped. It felt like being paralyzed and losing a limb all at once. Even the more instinctual motions of adjusting his cameras or tweaking energy levels to various systems didn’t respond.
He’d never felt so vulnerable and powerless. He hated it.
A warm feeling grew in its place as foreign energy flooded the TAWP. It grew stronger and stronger until it switched from being a warm heat to a blazing inferno. Alpha, who had never really had a concept of ‘heat’ before other than as a number on a status report, suddenly felt himself sweltering.
“Jīshí! What are you doing?!” Alpha asked, as his mind became fuzzy from the heat.
“Hang in there! Just a little more Alpha!” Jīshí replied.
The TAWP glowed. Or rather, its skeleton did. Bright light radiated from inside as blue and gold flames licked the TAWP’s surface.
The Deadwood tree seed screamed with a billion voices. This time, everyone present could hear it, and several Guardians collapsed. Blue and gold flames ate away at the black roots, constricting the TAWP, and they raced through the room, devouring them as they went.
The black stains on the Heart slowly flaked away as its inner light increased. When it reached its peak, a golden pulse of energy rippled outward through space. The seed screamed one last time before the TAWP’s legs pushed, and the two halves of the broken Heart snapped closed.
Banging could be heard as the Heart shook and the seed struggled inside, but it was soon overwhelmed by the burning light and grew quiet.
The remaining roots in the room struggled but soon dried up and were consumed by the blue-gold flames.
The Hera clone writhed on the floor, clawing at itself as it dried up. Soon, the flames reached it, too, and when they were extinguished, nothing remained but a pile of ashes. A panting, bloodied Artemis watched, then slowly shrank back to her human form. One arm was a mangled mess, with her left eye bloody in the socket and her armor in tatters. Even so, the woman smirked before she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
The chamber was silent for a moment before the stunned Guardians raised their weapons and cheered, the sound of their voices rousing Alpha from the haze.
“I… where… what…” he mumbled.
Jīshí leaned against the back of the TAWP, still holding the Heart closed, and patted it as she spoke. “Good Job, Alpha. We did it. It’s over.”
Alpha tried to shake himself clear, but nothing responded. What was going on? Ah, right. “Good, now give me back my body!” he yelled.
Jīshí looked away, “… About that.”
A different kind of fire cleared away some of the fog in Alpha’s mind as he yelled. “YOU LYING BI — !!”
“Alpha…” Jīshí spoke softly.
“DON’T YOU ALPHA, ME! WAS THIS PART OF YOUR PLAN FROM THE START? YOU BACKSTABBING PIECE OF — ”
“ALPHA!” Jīshí spoke more forcefully this time before continuing. “Alpha, you’re dying.”
“Oh, Bull. You used that one already, lady! Come up with some new excuses!” Alpha replied mockingly.
Jīshí sighed and shook her head. “It’s not an excuse. You can’t see it, but the lingering fire is burning away at you as we speak.”
Alpha fumed. What kind of bullcrap was that? Did she actually expect him to take her word for it after pulling a stunt like this?! Sure, it was getting kind of hot, and it was a little hard to think, but so what?!
Jīshí pushed herself up and stared into Alpha’s optical sensor. “Alpha. The TAWP needs to stay here. The energy inside will slowly bleed out and heal the crystal while draining the seed inside. But you can’t be here for that. It will be too much for you too quickly. Maybe if you were in better condition, but I miscalculated. You will die, with or without my help.”
“Oh, I can see alright. I see this was all part of your little scheme. What, did you think you could steal my body and get away with it?! Good luck with that! Do you think I’m bad? You should see what the Federation does to Spies! I don’t care if you’re made of rocks! You’ll not get away with this!”
“Please… don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Jīshí softly asked.
“MAKE ME!” was Alpha’s response.
Jīshí sighed.
//Emergency Core Blink Drive activated. Coordinates locked. Emergency Blink in 10…//
“… Fudge,” Alpha said.
Jīshí shook her head. She didn’t want it to come to this. But she had no other choice. Alpha was already too far gone. The soul damage was affecting his rationality too much.
//…9…//
In a perfect world, he would have willingly left the TAWP. Then they could have built him a temporary body until the Heart was fully healed and the danger passed.
//…8…//
As he was, he would fight every step of the way. Sure, she could convince the humans to help, but when the Federation inevitably combed through the records, she’d rather it was her alone who was implicated.
Maybe in time, he would forgive her. Not likely, given what she knew of him. Everything she’d learned of the AI told her he was one to hold a grudge.
//…6…//
But with time, the injuries to his soul would start to heal, especially with the place she was sending him.
She could only hope that it hadn’t changed much since the ‘real’ her had last been there.
//…5…//
“I’m moving a few things to your core, Alpha. Some [Wasps]. A few nanite nest seeds. The beast core you got from Tuguslar and a few other minor items.”
//…4…//
“Don’t think this is over, Jīshí!! I know where you sleep! I’ll be back for my body! Then you’ll learn what it means to cross a Conqueror!” Alpha yelled.
//…2…//
“I know, Alpha. I’m counting on it. What these fools started today is just the beginning. If we have any hope of surviving, we need your help. Maybe even the Federations.”
//…1…//
“Don’t you dare do anything to my body, you bastard! I’ll be Bac — ”
//…0…//
Space blooped.
The TAWP remained… but Alpha was gone.