“Huh, I guess you were right about the second perspective making things more clear. What the actual fuck is going on over there?”

“I don’t know, but it’s nothing good. We should probably get a nearby samurai to go check it out…”

“... Ugh. Longboard is the only one nearby… Maybe we should send another drone to check again first?”

* Conversation between two family employees in Fort Dallas, after two drones arrive to check the distress call from New Houston, finding a ghost town.

***

I quietly sit, my tail coiled up beneath me, passively listening to the comedy show currently playing out of my little Orca.

“Fifteen hundred hours is more than enough for producing a processor facility!”

[“Bah! You barely get anything of an aesthetic from ‘just fifteen hundred hours! I’ve spent forty on a single layout before!”]

“That’s beyond my point! The question still stands, how does aesthetics even matter when it comes to hardware!?”

In the last five minutes of the AI bickering, it had somehow devolved into this, and I was living for it. They had gone from the original topic to this after Achys had brought up the ‘sorry’ state of Nyvi’s rig, which apparently is an ongoing argument they are having. I am more than prepared to sit here for the entire time I was told to take a breather, but then;

[“There’s a place for us… Somewhere, there’s a place for us…”]

Emme begins to sing again, her voice quiet, almost haunting in its tone. The AI quickly shut up, leaving the invisible stage open for the girl to thrive.

[“Peace and quiet… and open air… Wait for us, somewhere…”]

As Emmelyn begins the next verse, her voice begins to waver and a chill runs down my spine.

[“There's a time for us, someday a time for us… Ha.”] The shocked chuckle catches me a bit off guard, but then it clicks, that this must be the song that she was talking about earlier. The one from her story, the one that knocked off her mask to let her feel, yet left her open and vulnerable for someone to take advantage of her.

It’s a little bittersweet.

[“Time together with time to spare… Time to learn, time to care.”]

As Emme goes quiet, so does the world. A singular, silent moment of contemplation in a world that has been nothing but chaotic for the last few hours. It’s nice, honestly, and I close my eyes to revel in it all.

And then, a deafening cacophony of metal scraping against metal, ripping until it breaks into two, has me jolt up just in time to see a nightmare.

An utterly gigantic Antithesis obliterated the stairlock Emmelyn was in; I don’t wait for a single instant before I uncoil and shoot towards it. As I get closer, I grimace as I notice an intense aroma, one that reminds me of roses, but this one is putrid, disconcertingly so. The monster that may have just killed my friend begins to circle beneath the mess, but seemingly, it cannot tell if it actually succeeded in its job.

Thankfully, it didn’t, as I find Emme hurt but alive. Her state also makes my heart drop, as her body below her neck is essentially ruined, bent and flattened and devastated, to the point I am afraid the slightest touch might send her soul to the afterlife. Well, if one exists, still on the fence about that one…

Wait, not the time for this!

‘Nyvi what do I-’

Quick! You need to move her before the Twenty Three-A finds her, I’ll discuss with Achys about our options!

Pulling my cloak around my shoulders, I bite my lower lip then swim as hard as I can, grabbing Emme’s ravaged, naked form and hugging it close to my chest as I attempt to make as much distance (and to not see things I really shouldn’t) as I can from the monster below. Annoyingly, it seems to notice, as it begins to follow us in a rather menacing way, but with the lead that I manage to get, we seem to be safe, at least for as long as I can keep this up.

Prism, we’re discussing our options for keeping her alive in dilated time, but I need to ask you a question.

‘What?’

How much are you willing to give up to save her? How much would you sacrifice for this single girl you met just a few hours previous?

Taken a bit aback, I glance down at the deathly pale girl crumpled in my arms, that question bouncing around in my mind, splitting into about a thousand different variations, each one desperately needing an answer in just a few moments.

Who is Emmelyn Seras?

A beautiful woman with great ambition, working towards a goal many would shy away from. A natural performer, instinctively putting on acts to make difficult situations easier. A radiant beacon, shining hope upon me and everyone else in these dreary depths. A heroic samurai, fighting to save humanity from the greatest threat we will ever know.

...

No.

I don’t think that’s the right question.

How about…

Who is Emme?

A jolly, enthusiastic friend who is willing to make a fool of themself if it makes me laugh just a bit. A hardy survivor, who has lived through much, just to end up here, likely at her lowest. A lonely, traumatized girl, who despite her problems, aspires to help others and make the world better than it was the previous day.

Someone who I want to be closer with.

Someone I don’t want to suffer anymore.

Someone I desperately do not want to lose.

…

I guess that is my answer, hm? I discard the rest of the questions, since it’d be pointless to look at them any longer.

I sigh, then put on a small smile as I look at Emme’s face.

‘Figures, I guess. Anything, Nyvi.’

Pardon?

‘I’m willing to sacrifice anything, if it means this girl can live.’

… You are serious, aren’t you honey?

I just nod, before I mutter:

‘Can we not just… use the bionites on her? I was in a similar state before, they should do a similar job ri- Wait, I don’t have a token, never mind.’

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Nyvi doesn’t immediately respond, but when she does, her words are hesitant.

Emme does have a token that she could use on them… but with her current state, the bionites don’t have enough of her own biological material to work with anymore since her viral suite consumed a lot of it to keep her alive. We do have a solution to it but…

I frown as I say, ‘Don’t beat around the bush Nyvi, my tail is getting a bit tired.’

We can disable the safeties on her viral suite, allowing it to run free. The virus will move to her brain, permanently infect it, then begin to change parts of her body to ensure her survival. This will most likely manifest in a way for Emme to drain liquid biomass from living creatures, which we thankfully have more than enough to go around. Unfortunately, while the virus is designed to patch bodies together as needed for survival, it can’t do much more than that, which is where the bionites would come in.

Regrettably again, it’s been shown in the past that the experimental bionites can cause dangerous anomalies when combined with the virus, so we’d have to patch the bionites before they enter her… and that update process can only be initiated while already inside of a body.

‘Ah. Well, if it’s just that, let’s do it.’

Honey, while you’d only get about half the dose you did last time, this is still going to majorly change your body, maybe permanently.

‘Thank you for worrying about me, but I made my decision, so I’m not going to second guess myself.’

Nyvi sighs, then after a moment, I am slightly surprised to hear Nyvi mutter,

Well, if you’re sure, Prism. I guess this is on me for selecting people like you.

‘What does that mean?’

That I’m a sucker for self-sacrificing heroes.

I sort of go blank at that, until Nyvi suddenly declares.

She’s awake. Achys needs to get her approval first, but get ready.

The next few moments are incredibly tense, yet as I see Emme’s sapphire eyes slowly open, hazy as they are, my heart still lifts a bit to see her moving. I push myself even harder, hoping that a little more distance will make this a bit safer.

Put your hand out, we’re mixing some Hemo-restore in as well so that you don’t run out of blood. The patch will activate a bit after it enters your bloodstream.

As I catch the injector, I note that it’s the same as last time, then catch Emme’s eyes rapidly moving up and down.

It’s time.

I take a deep breath, then inject myself in the chest as I hear the shattering of glass, bracing for the torment I know is about to arrive. Like before, my head abruptly erupts in pain, though, not nearly as much as it did the first time. My muscles tense as I begin to inwardly panic a bit, but thankfully that only lasts a moment, before I feel an intense, roiling ache throughout my entire torso, which spreads to nearly my entire body before long.

I somehow manage to pull Emme in closer through all of that, hoping that maybe our proximity will make this process a bit easier. Then, I quietly gasp as the woman opens her mouth, revealing a set of pure white, incredibly sharp canines, that she proceeds to sink into the lower right side of my neck.

The entire experience suddenly shifts, a contradictory mix of frost and flame swirling in my chest, the sensation of which causes my heart to feel as if it is going to explode. Emme’s arms suddenly wrap around me, the girl embracing me tightly as possible, desperate to regain the life she had almost lost. Slowly, a layer of pale white material grows to cover most of Emme’s body, which is quite similar in appearance to a wet suit.

Originating from the bite, lightning runs a marathon throughout my body, which continues until all my pain begins to fade- into well, a distinct numb pleasure that makes my now rampaging heart throb. All of my air seems to leave me as my hands shift to hover above the back of Emme’s head, yet, they never dare to venture too close to risk a touch.

Then as quickly as it started, it ends.

Emme pulls back, her ivory fangs spotless as she does, as if they hadn’t been drinking from me just moments before. The woman slowly opens her eyes, now as brilliant a blue as they should always be, then blinks a few times. Suddenly, the confidence I had in wanting to get closer to her just before this flies away, but I still manage to stutter out:

“U-Um, H-Hey there, E-Emme. I-I’m so happy you’re okay.”

Emme blinks again, and I shiver as her eyes blatantly run over my body, before they shoot back up to land on the bite. She stares in awe at the wound, her mouth agape and showing off her new fangs.

“Holy shit, am I… A vampire now?”

“M-Maybe? You have the fangs, a-at least. I-It’s um…” I have to actively stop myself from saying hot. “P-Pretty… U-Um, C-cool. Y-Yeah, pretty cool, mhm.”

Oh my god, I’m an idiot.

Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to mind, as she flushes a bit as she looks away, before shyly whispering, “S-So, umm… Thanks for saving me...”

I feel myself get the dopiest smile before I say:

“Y-You’re very welcome, Emme.”

I glance down at the monster following us as I murmur, “W-we uh, probably need to take care of this now though.”

Emme’s face twists as she glares down at the monster, asking “About that, can we even hurt that thing? It’s fucking huge.”

Nyvi pops up behind me to chime in, which Emme visibly flinches at. “Theoretically possible, very difficult. You’re going to have to work together to get it done.”

Emme glares at the orca as she states, “First time for everything I guess. Achys I need a weapon for underwater combat.”

Okay, do you have a plan, Prism?

‘Not really, going to play support here I think.’

Perhaps wise, considering what Emme’s fighting style is like. Okay, are you ready? I’ll keep the vines off of you.

I look up in time to catch Emme say, “As much as possible.”, to which I let her free.

I pull my cloak down as I make a wide turn, pushing my tail hard and pulling out my harpoon from my bag so that I can get into a position to strike. As the model Twenty-Three rushes at her, Emme catches what I think is a little crowbar, then absolutely slams the giant fish with it, knocking it off course to the point it rams into the top of the tenth floor. I dive down, holding my harpoon out in front of me and releasing a burst of light into the monster, before I have an idea as I watch the rainbow light fade from the harpoon’s diode.

‘Is it possible to make this thing explode like one of the grenades?’

It’s certainly not designed to, but if the containment on the prism inside were compromised, it’d probably have a similar effect with a strong enough force applied to it.

I smirk, then get to work. I descend, then as I shift my momentum to head towards the flailing alien, I whack the side of my harpoon against a stray vine. The sphere visibly cracks, but thankfully it doesn’t explode or anything. Pulling my arm back as I near the head, I stab it straight into the space below it’s left eye. It uh, doesn’t explode, which is a bit concerning as it’s not like I can turn around and try again.

I anxiously grip the edges of my cloak as I make another turn, catching Emme diving as quick as she can, big floppy flippers having grown upon her feet. Knowing I need to follow my role, but without much to work with, I start to think as I make my second approach.

‘Nyvi, you’re sure they can’t see me with the cloak on?’

If it were any other model above twenty it probably could, but considering the size of this one and how it was durdling around earlier, I doubt it has senses that amazing.

‘Well, let’s hope you’re right.’

As Emme’s tendrils knock away a ton of vines, I slink up to right in front of the monster’s eye, then reach out and well, punch it. It certainly doesn’t like that despite it obviously doing no damage, but as it shifts around looking for what hit it, I can tell it definitely can’t see me. I keep slugging it until Emme gets close enough, then retreat as fast as I can. To my surprise though, she slams the harpoon down into the monster’s skull, where thankfully, it does actually explode.

I watch amused as the monster's head bursts, going into death throes as it does. I start to head back over to Emme, but then I notice that the hole in its head is regenerating. I start to run through options in my head, at least until Emme hits it in the side hard enough that it breaks into the tenth floor, where to my surprise a gigantic blob of blueish green, uh, soap sits? As the fish begins to disintegrate and I get close enough to hear her, I catch her mutter, “Situationally overpowered indeed.”

I resist my urge to tackle her in a hug, tapping the side of my choker three times to retract my cloak. She flinches as it does, which makes me admire how well she worked with me in that fight even more, considering she couldn’t see me.

Then her words click, and I mutter, “Wait, you actually did buy that SOAP box thing? When?”

Emme tilts her head as she says, “Right before I went into the stairlock, when the AI were bickering. I didn’t say anything out loud cause I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Huh.” I float a bit closer to Emme who flips the little crowbar around in her hand a few times. “T-That thing is pretty strong, what catalog is it from?”

Emme smirks at me, then twirls it like a baton as she declares. “Class-I Gravitational Wave Manipulators! They weigh nothing and hit hard as fuck!”

I giggle for a few seconds, then slowly go silent as the joyous emotion and adrenaline begin to fade. For a moment, we just stare at each other, and a mixed bag of emotions that had been tightly bound begins to dump itself out. I jump at Emme, hugging her and resting my chin upon her shoulder as I let out a sob.

“U-Um, hi there?” Emme puts her hand on the back of my head. “You okay?”

I manage a bit of a frustrated grunt through the tears, which thankfully Nyvi pops up to translate for me. “She’s happy you’re okay, but is calling you an idiot for being careless and almost dying.”

Emme gingerly pushes my head a bit over, then rests her head against mine. “I didn’t exactly do it on purpose, Princess, but I get your point. Hey, for what it’s worth, I don’t think we came out of it worse then we went in.”

Sounding extremely unimpressed, Nyvi declares, “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Popping off of her side, the SAD remora floats over, lighting up as it begins to spin around us, only for Nyvi to ominously whisper, “Oh.”

Achys hisses, then says, [“Well, that’s not good.”]

Frantically, Emme asks, “What? Am I dying or something?”

Nyvi floats down, plopping onto my back as she calmly and matter of factly states:

“No, but Prism is.”