Adam didn't faint. Lucy caught him before he face-planted into the concrete.
"You did it, Chosen! You did it!" She exclaimed, as she propped him up, hands on his shoulders. "Her radiance shone forth your pendant and destroyed the corruption right as I was holding you. It was just like the second passage in Lexicon of Heroes. It was amazing, brilliant even!"
"Yeah, yeah." Adam pushed Lucy off. "Save the compliments for later. You good?"
"After seeing that, you bet I am. Wait until Operator Pereia hears about that!" Lucy said. She brushed away a few tears, then took out a plasma tablet from her belt. "But are you? Last time you purified, you fell unconscious. How are you feeling?'
He checked his status.
Vitality: 60%
Plasma: 25%
"I'm good. The redspot must've contained less red than you back then." Adam said.
Now that was a terrifying thought. The Blast Witch would have pulped him, had he tried to fight her at full strength. He went over ADOSCH's text dump as he sucked on the plasma tablet. That was a hell lot of experience and perks, and rightly so. The last line concerned him.
"Lucy, do augmentations install by themselves?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because it happened." Adam said, "[Data Broadcaster]."
"I haven't heard of that one. Is it communications-related? You should ask Operator Pereia."
He gazed towards the center of the space, where the signal beacon lay. Could it have…no, that was impossible. It was an inanimate object. The augmentation wasn't harming him, so he chose to take it as a lucky bonus.
[Data Broadcaster]: Allows the transmission and reception of raw data to/from external sources.
After he finished the tablet and performed basic first aid, Adam headed topside to grab Penny. The spatial distortion caused by the red had vanished completely, leaving behind a rocky tunnel navigable with a single light. Adam took in a lungful of fresh air once he stepped out of the cavern entrance. He took some more. It tasted like leaves and moss and it was the best thing he swallowed that day. The bushes rustled. Penny's head popped out, leaves and fragments of twigs mingling in between her messy brown hair.
"Boss?"
"It's done. Come on over."
Penny approached the cavern entrance, hesitant, and made a loud gasp. "The red's gone!"
"Yeah. Hate to say it, but I told you so." Adam said, with a non-committal shrug, as if the core of his senses hadn't been assaulted from multiple sides by noise torture a few minutes ago. Penny followed him down the cavern, gawping at the solid rock walls.
"Ain't no diamonds in those." Adam said.
"No, it's…how'd ya do it, boss?" Penny said, hurrying her stubby feet until her pace matched his, "Ma said you could dump a hundred sinkstones into a redspot and it wouldn't dent the red one bit. You did it in, what, ten minutes?"
"You want the long version or the short version? Never mind, they're basically the same." Adam said. He flexed his right arm, shoving a faint, hexagonal marking on his bicep. He noticed it a few days ago following his first training session with Esther. A series of smaller hexagons overlapped each other within the outer rim. He suspected it was akin to a barcode.
"I'm built different. Literally."
He should've been angry at this, but compared to whatever shenanigans the Goddess of Astraea did to his linguistic comprehension, a small scar was peanuts.
"There's a lot of folks who'd pay mountains of chips to clean out redspots." Penny blathered on, "Tonsville, the Tin Hawks, the Abandango Merchants…"
She counted them one by one on her fingers. "Unless you wanna do them for free?"
Adam chortled. "You think I'm a charity case, Penny? Good info though. I'll consider it, and thanks for staying put."
'cause if you ran away, Lucy was gonna chase down your parents. Maybe.
Lucy had tidied up the interior by the time Adam and Penny returned. Nature had eroded a hole in the top, allowing natural light to shine through. A circular overhang encompassed the hole above, atop which mold and wild grass grew. This let natural light shine through, most of which landed on the signal beacon.
"Oh my god." Penny said, hands to her mouth, "That's so cool? Boss, what does it do? Can we take it with us?"
The beacon itself, contrary to Adam's expectations, was a massive hexagonal pillar. The surface was like tinfoil crossed with titanium, reflecting and refracting light, shimmering like sunshine on an open sea. Astraean text covered parts with the weightiness of ancient runes and the consistency of mechanical printing. A single antenna, supported by hexagram-shaped support beams, extended up to the sky.
UFO bait. Adam thought. Snap a photo of the beacon, send it back to Earth, and watch the conspiracy theorists rupture themselves with glee.
Lucy reached out for the cool metal. She petted it as if were a small child.
"There, there." She cooed, "It's been a long while, hasn't it? You've done so well."
Penny tried to do the same. Lucy's free hand lashed out and instantly closed around the younger girl's wrist. Penny's head drooped as Lucy shoved her back away. Lucy circled the beacon, inspecting it.
"There's a Mystic Imprint covering the master power switch." Lucy said, "Chosen, you'll have to absorb it first."
"Can't we boot it up a different way?" Adam said.
"Afraid not. I suspect the corruption activated its emergency shutdown procedures. We'll have to hard reboot it. It might take a while."
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
He inspected the other loot Lucy had gathered, more out of wanting a break than anything else. First were sets of clothes—an Astraean uniform, Gashead bandit gear and a khaki-themed hiking set. The previous occupants had exhausted their weapons, but their medkit and spare batteries were still available. Lucy tucked away an ADO ID plate with a forlorn look. The last was a small, rectangular chip, pure white on all sides.
Portable Data Package detected. Press against skin to receive its data.
What if it contains a virus?
ADOSCH's security system is capable of detecting and eliminating 99.99% of all known malicious software.
He pressed it against his forehead. It emitted a small hum made his buzzcut stand on end.
Acquired 2 Biometric Keys!
Holy shit. That alone made coming down worth it. He tried to activate it again, only to no avail.
"What in there?" Lucy asked.
"2 Biometric Keys."
"Truly? Can I borrow that?" Lucy took the chip and closed her palm around it. "Thank you. It's not enough to unlock another aug for me, but every bit counts."
Adam pressed the chip into his skin again. No effect.
"All Biometric Keys have a special ID that gets recorded by your harness. Duplicates IDs won't translate into usable keys to prevent abuse." Lucy explained. "I think the techies said you'd need at least thirty-six universes' worth of molecules to count all the possible ID combinations? Something like that."
He rested against the wall and chewed on a ration bar for a moment. He let his [Regeneration] augmentation work. Once his Vitality reached the 75% mark, he looked at the new Mystic Imprint.
This one wasn't secured inside a container. It clung to the front of the beacon's bottom like a ball of play-doh. The cluster of plasma ebbed and swirled like a ball of moisture, tiny flecks detaching off and dissipating into the open air. It was colored dark yellow, with the image of a humanoid stick figure running embedded into it. The image shifted to the stick figure climbing, throwing a punch, kicking and back to running.
"[Physiokinesis]." Lucy breathed, "This is a lucky find, Chosen."
"That's good, right?"
"Exceptional. [Physiokinesis] is mandatory learning for all ADO personnel, even the janitors. If we had the time, I was going to teach you this." Lucy said.
A new Mystic Imprint has been detected. The Mystic Core is available and suitable for integration process. Proceed?
Success probability: 95.23%
Warning! Mystic Imprints will degrade when exposed to open air. Please seal the Mystic Imprint if not in use.
"Alright, let's do this." Adam's heart thumped as he stood in front of the floating mass. [Psychokinesis] had proved a massive boon, and not in the professional combat sense. The mere act of lifting and pulling objects still brought an exhilaration like no other, even if it inched him closer to that damn Goddess. Lucy's dashing mystic technique was both amazing and horrifying and he couldn't deny he wanted some of its power too.
"Goodness Chosen, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you enjoyed putting yourself in dangerous situations." Lucy said.
He tried to form a retort, thought back to his entire career as a ganger growing up, and closed his mouth.
"Watch me in case I do something stupid, Lucy." He said, instead.
"May your integration be safe. Good luck, Chosen!"
He stuck his arm out and let the Mystic Imprint worm up its way into his system. ADOSCH regurgitated a bunch of words this time, as it integrated with his system.
Recognising Mystic Imprint…
Performing compatibility verification…
Integrating Imprint into Mystic Core…
He was gone. Cast from his mortal shell, flung high into the vast starry dreamscape to meet the Goddess of Astraea. She spread her arms out wide, as if to embrace him, that same serene smile on her faceless features.
Hurry and get this over with. He scowled, I have shit to do.
The Goddess nodded. She took out a blunted blade, cut a tear through his body and pulled all his organs out. Forty-six thousand, six hundred and fifty-six of Her hands took needle and thread and got to work. She smoothed the kinks in his nerves. She applied additional musculature to his lungs and heart. Biotech and mystic merged together into a wondrous matrimony, overseen by Her Faith and Her Prudence. A coat of stardust wrapped him up, sucked all his fleshy bits back in, and he opened his eyes once more.
She ran a finger over his body to remove his stitches, leaving him as smooth as a naked newborn. Then, She deposited him on Her palm.
A variety of scenes flashed through his vision like a row of television screens. He saw Lucy in a grey room, springing her on her heels before vanishing and crossing a vast distance in an instant. A rain of blows crashed down, only for her to endure, then deflect part of the damage to the ground. She curled her hand into a sharp point, shoved it into the chest of a training dummy, and broke it in two. She looked up, and noticed the hidden assailant lurking above the ceiling tiles.
The scenes cycled, endless repetitions of a War Maiden determined to achieve that prized, peak of physical excellence.
He caught Her smiling at him. Her head lolled to the side. That could be you. She seemed to say.
No shit. Adam thought back, I saw what Lucy did. Why else did I come here?
She lifted a finger. Then take one. It is yours now. A gift from Me to you.
She bestowed his desired choice upon him before he could respond, for She was the protector of all humanity, and what protector did not understand the wishes of Her charges? Her finger left his body. She picked him up and pushed him back down onto reality, where he woke up with heat sizzling thorugh his veins. He tore his jacket off and threw it aside.
"Fucking cunt!"
"W-what?" Penny cried. "You talking to me?"
"I…" Adam blinked, then realised. He paled. "No. I was…"
"Chosen, I didn't quite get that." Lucy added from her seat in front of him.
"Nothing. I said nothing!"
"Are you sure—"
"Christ, I meant what I said. I had a little moment, okay?"
"Was it that traumatic?" Lucy said.
"No. It's nothing." Adam said, slumping back down. He patted his trousers. "I had a little chat with your goddess, is all."
His instinct backed him away as Lucy dashed forward.
"What. Oh my gosh, you did?" Lucy cried, "Is that what happened last time too?"
"Yeah?"
"You need to tell me these things! I can't believe I let you meet Her without teaching you the proper etiquette. Goodness, I'm such a mess! And I'm jealous too!"
Mystic Imprint [Physiokinesis] installed successfully!
Learned Mystic Technique(s): [Physio-Dash]!
Etiquette? No, never mind that. He needed to test his new powers out, damn it. Thing is, he didn't feel different. He flexed his legs, arms, did a push-up...nothing changed. So he attempted to replicate what Lucy did in the vision. Crouch down slightly, lean on his heels and then sprint forward.
His plasma flared. Wind rushed behind him. His vision blurred and suddenly, the wall was right up at him. The next millisecond later, Lucy appeared front of him and his head ran straight into her bosom.
"The old cannonball trick." She said, "First time for everything, Chosen, but do warn me before you practice."
He muffled a reply, then pulled away from her chest before she started accusing him of anything.
----------------------------------------
The awakening of the signal beacon was like an ancient giant rising from its slumber. A wave of invisible energy arose from the spire, sending shockwaves up and beyond.
Most of the valley did not understand. They could not comprehend why the earth shook, why the clouds parted, or why the monsters that had once been running rampant cowered for five whole seconds.
The ones who did understand reacted in accordance with their desires.
There were a few that did understand. The first, hooked via wires straight into the skull, screamed as information flowed through them at an immense rate. A loud bang resounded through the room as a head hit a desk.
The second saw the clouds part, heard the farm animals squawk, and felt dread roil in his gut.
The third rolled over in sleep and thought no more.
And there was the fourth stirring from her slumber. A single eye opened. Gangly limbs reached up. It scrambled at the bars of a cage, shaking them back and forth.
A figure from outside looked down, smirked, and smashed the lock open.