New Houston had been crumbling before our eyes,
Despite that neither me nor her,
Were ready for the moment of its demise.
The only thing left was true horror.
* Untitled, Prism, 2056
***
As I fidget with my very floopy fin, I anxiously glance towards the exterior door, waiting for the inevitable hiss.
Prism, are you okay?
Biting my lower lip, I glance at Emme as she mindlessly taps her foot, then simply intone, ‘Anxious. Not really a reason for it though.’
…I have my doubts about that.
Puffing out my cheeks, I squish Nyvi a bit, then flinch when there is a loud clunk from the edge of the ship. Emme immediately jumps to her feet, rushing towards the edge of the room as the blast door slides open. Scratching her neck while muttering something I don’t catch, who I assume is Lissa steps into the room, only to be caught and yanked up into a spinning hug by my partner. A large, extremely fit figure walks into the room behind them, carrying someone that’s of similar size and build on their shoulder like they don’t weigh much at all.
Yet, as what's undeniably a picturesque reunion between a temporarily separated family begins, I find myself unable to force my attention to stay on them nor their conversation. The cruel artist in my brain, as is usual, has taken the liberty to mar the joyous emotion with muddled blurs in places of faces, for reasons I can’t possibly comprehend.
A compound sludge of emotions begins to drip onto my heart, slowly covering it in a sticky ooze I have no hope of cleansing. I take a deep breath and close my aching eyes, focusing on the slight amount of white noise produced by some machine in the room.
Family.
Humanity is… interesting. While we have a tendency to bond deeply with those related to us, it also makes it all the more devastating when that connection shatters. Lost in the wilderness of life, no support to be seen, no way to narrow down what direction to head in to reach safety. At least, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be…
No, that’s not true.
It really doesn’t seem like much right now, but the things I’ve gone through today… I don’t think I’d wish on anyone. Initialization may be the best thing that’s ever happened to me, but in hindsight, I was ready for it to happen, perhaps more than anyone really should be. It makes me a bit sick, but Grandfather truly is the reason I’m alive at the moment. Not that it gives him a pass, after what we’ve seen today. If I ever encounter him again, I’m going to do anything I can to get a shot in at him.
Bastard deserves it.
I sigh, shifting a bit in my seat. I suppose he’s not unique in that. Anyone I share blood with probably deserves to burn at the stake. I’m not even sure if I’m not included in that.
Lissa’s words from earlier echo in my mind. What did I actually do while I was in their thrall?
Not exactly much, I guess. The most was business negotiations, and that never really went well. I suppose I was a footman at times though.
Still, was the little work I did for them enough to make me a terrible person?
No, I guess not. If it did, Emme would be bad as well, and that’s obviously not true. The woman is a radiant fucking beacon in a incredibly murky sea. If she’s a villain, I don’t want to be a good guy.
I suppose it’d be prudent for me to work to clean the world up anyway. I don’t think it’d be very difficult to get Emme and Lissa on board with that, if we’re going to go around wiping out the remnants of the Monteros. Actually, and the Wisterias I suppose.
They’ll be more difficult though. There’s a reason old money is still around even now.
Either way, doing this might bring us into conflict with other samurai or corporations, especially ones that work in biology related fields… Nonsanto is one I know had deep ties to Wisteria, since they collaborated on several custom crops and animals, but who knows if they worked on more secretive stuff in the meantime. I seem to remember them working with a European corp on something a while back…
Wait, fuck. Cascadia.
Ugh, I know we were there for business reasons and ended up making a deal with Tanaka Corporation to build something? All I seem to remember is the stupid marriage meeting with the CEO’s daughter and the aftermath… Yup. I’m just going to leave that one for later. I need to thank her for waking me up eventually anyway, but explaining everything sounds like a pain.
Oh shit, weren’t they working on rebuilding Seattle right now? Um… Hm.
I suppose that’s urgent? I need to look into the details of what happened there first.
Groaning, I lean back and put my face into my hands.
This is so fucking complicated. I suppose it’ll be cathartic to burn the Wisteria manor to the ground though. Wish I could do the same to the Montero manor but I doubt I’ll get the chance.
“Yoink.”
I squeak as Emme’s arms suddenly wrap around my midsection and pull me into her lap. Face heating up, I wiggle a bit to try and escape, but am unable to find even a bit of actual strength to put behind it. Doing my best to ignore Emme’s giggling at my movements, I look up to see Lissa taking a seat across from us, and for the first time I get a good look at her. More petite and darker skinned than her sister, the girl’s bloodstained exercise clothes really make it obvious how different these two are.
“So…” Lissa sighs out as she crosses her legs, “You’re Prism, hm? Good to meet you in person.”
“I-I um.” Panicking at my sudden lack of words, I bring Nyvi up and sink my face into her back. “M-Mhm.”
Lissa snorts before she mutters, “I take what I said earlier back, this girl couldn’t hurt a fly.”
Emme clicks her tongue and wags her finger at her sister. “You’d be surprised, you should have seen her earlier! She beat a Model Thirteen with her bare hands!”
Face heating up again, I stutter out, “W-Where did your parents go? Are they okay?”
“I had Achys go guide them to one of the bedrooms, they need rest. We all need rest.” As she explains, I flinch as Emme’s hand brushes against my upper back. “Sorry, was that too-”
“N-No, it’s fine! I-I just…” Looking up at the screen playing footage of the battle outside, I softly smile. “I-I wasn’t prepared for it. I-It should be fine now.”
Ever so gently, Emme’s palm presses against my upper back, then begins to slowly circle. I get chills.
“Anyways…” I can hear a heaping of amusement in Lissa’s tone. “How many people are left to evacuate?”
Nyvi hums for a moment, then states, [“Just one more floor. There hasn’t been anything too crazy in the crowd, but we’re keeping our eyes open.”]
I sigh, then lean my head against Emme. “I-I want a drink…”
“Huh.” Emme’s chest vibrates as she speaks. “What’s your poison?”
“N-Nothing too strong.” I wring my hands a bit. “A-And whiskey makes me want to cry. I-I like fruity stuff.”
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“Good taste.” Emme taps her fingers against my upper back. “Okay, here.”
Catalog Unlocked!
Class-I Alcoholic Beverages: 25 points
New Purchase!
Six-Bottle Pack of Seventeen-Thousand Berry Punch x2: 12 Points
Total Cost:
37 Points
Final Total:
4004 Points
A small box with a dozen beverage bottoms covered in ice appears on the coffee table, and Emme reaches around me to grab two glass bottles. I watch in awe, trying not to think about how soft she is, as she casually pops them open together and places one into my hands. She clinks her bottle against mine, then joyfully declares: “Cheers!”
I echo it in response, then hesitantly take a sip. To my surprise, it’s actually incredibly pleasant, a delightful mix of indistinct berry flavor hiding the taste of the fermentation. I take a second sip, then quietly mutter, “Is good…”
“What, you’re not even going to throw me one Emme?” Lissa chuckles, then says, “Fine play favorites. I don’t even need to get up.”
I blink as a bottle lifts up seemingly by itself, then flies over and plops down into Lissa’s hand. The cap magically pops off as well, and the girl takes a sip. Emme seems as confused as I am as she straight up blurts, “What the fuck?”
Snickering to herself, Lissa takes a large sip, hums in appreciation of the taste, then does a little fake burp. “The evil spirit. The spirit brought it to me, Sister.”
Emme groans, then puts her chin onto my head. “Don’t just quote Jojo, what was that?”
Lissa points at us as she smugly explains, “My stand.”
Out of the loop, I whisper, “I-I have no idea what that is.”
“Fine, I’ll show you then.” Lissa snaps her fingers and to my surprise, a figure is floating silently behind her. “Meet my avatar! It’s basically a ghost my eye makes that I can control with my mind.”
Emme pulls me a bit closer, making my stomach do a little flip. “Hah, like a shadow puppet.”
“Nooope.” Lissa gives her sister a thumbs down. “It’s the opposite, it’s made of light.”
I take a sip, then shrug. “T-Technically, so are shadows.”
Obviously a little annoyed, Lissa puts her drink down. “No, it’s not the same thing! My eye projects an ultraviolet hard light construct that I can control! Shadow puppets are just that, made of shadow! ”
“I mean they’re both being made by light so…” Emme pauses as her sister loudly humphs at that. “Oh shit. Hey, Lissa, do you know the tradition about samurai names?”
“Uh.” The girl shifts her legs up onto the couch underneath her. “Not off the top of my head?”
“T-The first samurai you work with gives you a name.” I reach up and poke Emme’s cheek. “W-We exchanged names cause we encountered each other when we were both new, but normally a more experienced samurai gives the name.”
Lissa takes a moment, then gasps. “You wouldn’t.”
I can just hear the sheer smug energy in Emme’s voice as she says. “I would. Prism, what do you think about naming her Shadow Puppet?”
I grin and give a thumbs up before I take another sip. Lissa groans as she flops onto the couch, murmuring, “I shoulda’ known you two would gang up on me like this. Stupid lesbians…”
My face goes aflame, and Emme coughs before she explains, “We’re business partners Lissa, not… Y’know.”
“Uh…” I feel the girls gaze on me, and I move my head away. “Right. Tooootally. Sorry, I guess.”
There’s an awkward pause as the conversation goes silent, until Emme suddenly brings her bottle up, chugs what's left, then throws the bottle across the room. It slams into the ground, but to my surprise, the glass doesn’t break. I might save these bottles for later…
[“Sorry to interrupt such a riveting conversation, you three.”] Nyvi’s voice is a welcome one, so I hug her orca body close. [“The final floor has been evacuated, and we’re now ready to depart whenever you give the order.”]
“Great, fantastic.” Emme brings her arm up, pointing at nothing. “Starchaser, set off for safety!”
Getting into the role, Nyvi responds with a, [“Aye Captain!”]
I watch in rapt awe as the camera feed shifts to an exterior view of the Starchaser, displaying the view of what I assume is one of the SADS. The ship and its shelter sub sibling detach from the reef, pulling away as the hordes rush at us like moths to an inferno. Thankfully, they don’t really make much headway, with the big guns and little dog drones Emme bought doing more than enough work in keeping them at bay.
After a couple tense minutes of swimming through the depths, we surface a bit away from the city, breaking out into the morning air. The sun hasn’t yet risen, yet the sunrise is blatantly imminent from the color of the sky. We all release a small breath of relief, though the hordes continue to force the guns to fire on the bottom of the ship. As I take another glance at the screen though, I squint and look a bit closer.
“N-Nyvi, is there something messing with the drone?”
[“No, that’s just how the ocean looks at the moment.”]
Emme hisses through her teeth as she spits out, “It’s coming! Brace for impact!”
There are a couple things that happen all at once. Lissa’s avatar floats down and hugs her as Emme’s arms tighten around me. There’s an incredible crack that we can hear even through the soundproofing of the ship. And finally, the monster finally appears.
In one short, yet seemingly infinite moment, the crack in the ground bursts open, sending an explosion of red hot magma throughout the water, but that’s only the prelude. There’s a distinct second explosion as the tentacle-covered head of a colossal antithesis, covered in that same burning molten rock, launches out into view, a long worm-like body stretching out far behind it. As the alien stretches out of the crack and begins to wrap itself around the reef, it quickly becomes clear that this plant is far, far larger than anything I have ever seen, seemingly dwarfing even New Houston itself.
A veritable Kaiju.
The camera view changes to one on the ship itself, revealing as the head of the Kaiju worm breaks through the surface as well, quickly enveloping the entirety of the central tower as well. The liquid crust upon its body has cooled considerably, turning back into a solid form, yet the worm is almost more menacing with the added bulk of the stone draped over its body like armor. The monster’s maw swings down to the central platform, where I watch as it slurps the disgusting Model Twenty-Seven I saw earlier up, eating what I had considered a considerable foe like it didn’t even matter.
There’s only one thing I can say.
“F-Fuck.”
A foreign, unknown feminine voice chuckles as she responds:
[“Apt.”]
I feel Emme tense beneath me before she cautiously asks, “Who is this?”
[“The one here to clean up a idiot’s mess.”]
The camera shifts to a group of small shuttles far above us, where we can barely see a incredibly conspicuous woman sitting confidently upon a floating chair. She raises her hand and snaps, and a small sun appears atop her pointer finger. The woman grins, then flicks her finger downwards, sending the small ball of flame flying at the city. As the tiny sun approaches it, the worm begins to constrict, crushing the steel of New Houston between itself like a nutcracker. There’s a blinding burst as the woman’s attack explodes, but in the next moment that light inverts, becoming an all encompassing darkness that fills every crevice in my view with a deeply disturbing chill that I can feel. As the anomalous effect fades, it becomes clear why that is the case.
The Atlantic Ocean has become an iceberg.
As far as we can see, including surrounding the ship, every single drop of water has shifted to a thick sheet of ice. In the center of a large pit, the shards of what was once New Houston sits frozen in the grasp of the great worm.
[“Tch, it’s not dead.”]
The kaiju, albeit slowly at first as it breaks free from the ice, begins to retract at a highly accelerated speed, and in less than a minute, it’s completely gone. The woman shakes her head, then looks down right at the camera.
[“Hey, come out on the deck of your ship. We wanna talk.”]
I nervously shift, having an idea of who this is, then mutter, “O-Okay, we will.”
The woman winks at us, then turns her chair and re-enters the shuttle. Emme and Lissa don’t say anything as they stand up, but I know that I can’t go out there in Emme’s arms. Not when I might be facing the Starfall.
She’s not someone I can risk disrespecting.
‘Nyvi, I need something to move around on my own.’
May I suggest a gravity manipulator belt, to enable you to swim through the air as if it were water?
I blink. ‘That sounds nice. That please.’
New Purchase!
Aether Nimbus Anti-Gravity Belt: 1000 Points
Total Cost:
1000 Points
Final Total:
8008 Points
As the belt appears in my lap, I immediately take it and put it on, then somewhat reluctantly, forcibly wiggle my way out of Emme’s arms. I plop right onto the ground, wiggling like a drowning fish. As my two friends giggle above me, with a burning face I find a button on the belt and turn it on, finding that it feels once again like I’m underwater.
It’s surprisingly comfortable.
I swim up, put my hands on my hips, then slither my way through the air towards the blast door. The girls follow in my wake, and as we sit in the airlock waiting for it to cycle, I wring my hands a bit. I don’t know exactly who the fuck we’re about to meet, and that makes it a bit difficult to know how I’m supposed to go into this. I know I’m supposed to be respectful if it’s Starfall, but the other members of the Family sort of… weren’t talked about very much.
Knowing Grandfather, he probably has a grudge.
The exterior door of the airlock clicks open, and I gasp as the crisp morning air filters into my nostrils. We exit into the quickly brightening morning to find three separate shuttles docked beside us. The crew of dogs stand on guard against the foreign vessels, but I don’t understand why until I see a far, far too familiar figure step out onto our ship.
I immediately shoot forward, throwing a punch at the face of the man I hate the most at the moment. He chuckles as he casually blocks the blow with his arm, but I’m not done. I bring my second fist up, only for him to block that too with little effort. Then, I swing my tail, slapping him hard across the cheek with my fin.
He stumbles back a step, and I spit on the ground in front of him.
“Y-You deserve to die, Desmond Montero.”