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The Ghost World of Obsidia
Ghahs [https://i.postimg.cc/3w45nMjM/PSX-20240901-210646.jpg]
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Ardi couldn’t tell just how long she had been asleep for or if she was ever once awake but a series of muffled noises had been what woke her up.
She opened her eyes, as her pod was unsealed, to see three augmented humans getting brutalized in what appeared to be a dimly lit storage room.
Their attackers were four beings that stood two meters tall, had dark skin that resembled volcanic rock and one of them had several lights on his otherwise featureless face that were arranged to form two circles.
These, as Ardi’s database informed, were Archons.
Artificial constructs that represented the upper limit a machine could be capable of in terms of processing speed, data storage and problem-solving.
Machines that had gained sentience and had gone on to reshape the face of the galaxy.
Five of these nigh godly beings were in front of Ardi and one of them was reaching out to grab her with a bloodied hand as the hatch of her pod fully opened.
The Archon grabbed her by her neck and lifted her naked self.
It appeared as though he was scanning her but the amount of force he was placing on her neck was enough for her to instinctively realize that he was a threat and so she punched him with just enough force to crack open his head, revealing a tennis ball sized device which sat in the centre of his skull. This was the E-Soul – the central processing unit which all Archons possessed. Said to be the most advanced piece of technology in the galaxy.
Ardi quickly grabbed the device, ripped it from its housing, tore it from its many connectors, and threw it in her mouth.
Her eyes, which bore irises which were bright oceans of pink and cyan, brightened as a wave of energy washed over her body.
The Archon who held her up had long since gone stiff, allowing her to fall free from his grasp but before she could process the influx of power that was coursing through her body, one of the other four Archons dashed towards her and tried punching her in the head as well but she shifted herself to the side, narrowly avoiding death.
The other two Archons then suddenly appeared around her and while she was fast enough to avoid the first one’s attack, she couldn’t dodge the next two who pieced her abdomen with their fists.
Ardi’s eyes widened as pain flooded her mind.
Time then crawled to near stop as she desperately tried thinking of how best to survive this situation.
She had just woken up and already something was trying to kill her.
It’s not fair! She thought.
According to her database, most animals were allowed their infancy before they were hunted and killed by predators and most humans lived for decades at a time.
Yet she hadn’t even been allowed to peacefully take her first steps.
Ardi turned inward as she bled cyan and consulted the many systems she knew she had but hadn’t used and this brought up a status window in front of her.
[Serial number: PV-H-224
Codename: Ardi
Level: 1
Remaining Upgrade Points: 1
HP (Health Points): 52/200
EN (Energy – available/maximum): 200/200J
STR (Strength – maximum output): 6000N
SPD (Speed – top speed): 5m/s
DI (Dermis Integrity): 67%]
Ardi appreciated the general breakdown of her status but none of it seemed helpful-
She stopped upon seeing the single upgrade point she had.
Apparently, she had gained it after eating the Dead Archon’s E-Soul.
Ardi focused on the upgrade point and the window changed to show the two possible ways she could spend it.
She could either invest it in her core systems or attain skills/abilities which were part of a separate tree.
In what must have been less than a nanosecond, Ardi read through 14 of the possible upgrades to her core systems and the 24 total skills she could attain.
While all of them were interesting options, only one seemed like it would be absolutely essential if she wanted to survive.
5. Support Branch: Healing and Enhancement
- Level 1: Basic Support
- Skill: [Heal]
Description: Initiates a self-repair sequence to restore health.
Effect: Restores 20% of health.
Energy Cost: 25J
Required Level: 1
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Required ES (E-Souls): 1
By eating the E-Soul, her energy had been maxed out but her health was still low so Ardi figured that if she continuously used [Heal], she’d be able to restore her health to 100%.
She also had another plan but she temporarily shelved it as she acquired her desired skill.
[Do you want to spend an Upgrade Point to Acquire [Heal]? Y/N?]
YES!
Ardi’s eyes widened as it felt as though her blood was boiling.
Time was also returning to normal and as it did, she felt something make its way to her gaping wounds.
She knew it was the Nanite Fluid which circulated through her veins and it was apparently the one in charge of healing her.
She chose to trust her Nanites and turned to one of the Archons just as he raised his fist to punch her in the head.
If his punch landed, she would die but she couldn’t move that much since she had two arms sticking through her belly.
So, instead of fully dodging the punch as it came, Ardi sacrificed her jaw by putting it in the path of the fist.
Her jaw was predictably destroyed but she used this as an opportunity to punch the Archon in the face before forcefully reaching into his inorganic skull and grabbing his E-Soul which she promptly shoved into her disfigured mouth while activating [Heal] again and again.
She had used it four times in a row at this point which would have left her 100W of energy short but she was back to maximum after eating the E-Soul.
Not only that, by eating another one, she had also gained a level which doubled her stats.
[Serial number: PV-H-224
Codename: Ardi
Level: 2
Remaining Upgrade Points: 1
HP: 180/400
EN: 400/400J
STR: 12000N
SPD: 11m/s
DI: 55%]
She wasn’t able to fully heal since there were two arms inside of her so she turned her newfound strength towards the two remaining Archons who tried pulling their arms out but her body had since healed around them, lodging them inside.
Ardi backhanded one of them, sending a chunk of his face flying off.
She then ate his E-Soul as well but the last Archon used this as an opportunity to hack off his own arm and run away.
But Ardi wasn’t going to let that happen.
She couldn’t think of a scenario where allowing him to get away was beneficial and so she dashed after him before kicking him in the back with so much force that her foot tore through his torso.
She then forced him onto the ground and promptly removed her foot from his chest.
After scanning her surroundings, the dark storeroom, for more threats and finding none, she knelt by the Archon’s head and looked at the many sensors that were hidden behind his featureless face.
“Who…” She stopped after hearing her own voice for the first time.
It was soft. Almost like a washer.
“Who are you?” She asked.
[Dead… Star.] The voice that replied was deep and terribly distorted.
“Why did you attack me?”
[Quantum Convergence… will teach you all you need to know.] The Archon growled as he rapidly lost power.
Ardi inquired her internal systems and her database informed her that Quantum Convergence was the act of absorbing the Data of an Archon but this information was accompanied by a warning.
[Initiating Quantum Convergence will introduce foreign and possibly malicious data into your systems. You have 3 E-Soul data packages. Do you want to consume Epsilon, Herald and Taurus? Y/N?]
Ardi wasn’t sure if she wanted to proceed with that.
Her database also contained history relating to something known as the “Celestial Conflict” where Archons fought over whether or not it was right to consume each other.
There was also not enough data on what exactly Convergence meant.
What would happen to the absorbed Archon if their data still existed within the one who absorbed them?
[Take the plunge… endless power awaits… at the bottom.]
The Archon finally died but, as her instincts told her, his E-Soul was still functional.
His body just didn’t have anything to power it and so she cracked open his head and ate his E-Soul with her newly healed jaw.
Another wave of power washed over her and she glanced at her stats to see that she had gotten significantly stronger but she also felt as though something was missing.
Maybe she was only tapping into half of her potential by not eating the data of the other Archons but she also dreaded having anyone other than herself in her head.
It was a visceral and almost infantile fear.
She wanted something familiar, something warm to fill her mind and not the data of someone who clearly wanted to kill her.
So, she made up her mind and swore to never initiate Quantum Convergence.
And just to be extra safe, she discarded the foreign data.
She then glanced at her stats again.
[Serial number: PV-H-224
Codename: Ardi
Level: 4
Remaining Upgrade Points: 3
HP: 670/800
EN: 800/800J
STR: 24000N
SPD: 22m/s
DI: 80%]
Ardi’s brows furrowed.
She wondered why she wasn’t fully healing and then realized that she still had an arm sticking through her belly.
She tore it out and while doing so reduced her health, she activated [Heal] a few more times and watched as the hole in her body slowly healed. Her dark grey muscles closed over her intestines and dark brown skin covered them shortly after in a process that was surprisingly hot.
It's here that Ardi remembered that there were others in the storeroom.
Seated on the floor in front of her pod were three humans clad in dark armour and wearing helmets that had visors that burnt brightly red. A fourth could be seen but he was already dead.
Ardi stood up and slowly approached the group.
One of them seemed to be seriously injured and had a hole in her abdomen similar to the one Ardi had moments earlier.
She was in the arms of one of the others and they all looked at Ardi with racing hearts which Ardi could sense even through their suits.
She looked each of them over before finally sighing.
“Who woke me up?”
The humans all turned to the wounded one who struggled to sit up.
[My name… is Captain Meredith of Condor Unit.] She wheezed through her helmet.
Ardi couldn’t see through the woman’s suit but she could tell that it was helping keep her alive.
Anyone else would have died if they had a hole in their belly.
[I think… we might have inadvertently awoken you when we arrived and I apologize on behalf of my unit.]
The woman lowered her head.
Ardi could sense fear in her words. Something absent from the Archons, even as she killed them.
“Why were you fighting with Archons? Even an ant knows to run away from a boot.” Ardi tilted her head.
[We… were sent to this world to retrieve you-]
[Wait, Cap’n!]
One of the other humans stood up and stood defensively in front of her leader.
[We’ll tell you everything you wanna know… if you help our Cap’n. You’re an Archon, right? You can do that much, right?]
[What do you think you’re doing, Chin?] Meredith’s voice was growing weaker but Chin remained standing although she didn’t raise her assault rifle.
Ardi knew exactly what was being asked of her and while she could have forced them to do as she wanted, it would be better to make allies of them since she had already most likely made enemies by killing the four Archons.
“Firstly, a correction. I am not am Archon.” She said as she walked up to the one called Chin.
“And while I don’t know if there are any Archons who can heal wounds in the field, I will help you in exchange for all you know. Do you agree to those terms?” Ardi stopped in front of Chin who, after taking a moment to think, stepped aside.
Ardi then knelt by Meredith’s side as her subordinate gently held her from behind.
Ardi looked at Meredith's subordinate.
“May I have your combat knife?”
The man glanced at his captain who weakly nodded.
He then handed Ardi his razor-sharp knife and visibly winced as she cut her palm open.
She then placed her hand over Meredith’s wound and allowed her blood to fall onto it.
Ardi then activated [Heal] and while the Nanites in her body closed the cut in her palm, those that were outside simply searched for any damage to repair and so started healing Meredith who weakly groaned as they went to work.
“Now, while she’s recovering, please tell me everything.”
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The E-Soul
5555 [https://i.postimg.cc/05LsNrCm/abstract-7562594-1920-2.jpg]