Augmentation dulls the pain, the entire system forcing a system shutdown as grievous trauma overloads the mind in neural shock. Minutes pass in conscious darkness, Manara recentering her mind as she recollects; a bleeding body lying on the ground holding within it a still living soul.
The reboot completes itself, arcane software releasing safeguards back to its wielder.
Immediately a white hot heat echoes through her chest, the remaining biological systems within her form bleeding a thin trail of blood upon a world of dust. Her right lung shattered beyond repair and primary heart holed by spalling armor, the Auditor transfers power to her secondary systems. The whirr within her chest increases as both secondary and tertiary hearts begin maintaining extra load, the remaining primary lung still operational enough to justify the idling of backups.
Eyes shut, focus maintained as the flow of lifeblood into the world is stemmed, the red liquid coagulating instantly on contact with air as chemicals are pumped directly into the bloodstream.
A reorientation to systems less vital, the Auditor taking a ragged breath as she reactivates pain sensors slowly.
Alloy reinforced bones utterly shattered; half a rib cage nearly dissolved and a collar bone spalled into her chest. A short prayer to Armin thought instinctively, the spinal column of the mage somehow remaining intact against divine force.
Trauma concentrated in the upper torso, a life barely saved by armor and ancient augmentation. Paralyzed from shock, but a soul still remaining within a broken body.
An emotion passes through cold analysis, one unstoppable against the force of human will. The trained mind tears into anguish and hatred; a warning ignored by morality a lethal mistake. Unnatural rage echoes through the broken body, eyes flashing with condensed power as the woman barely grips onto augmentation.
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The presence of souls passes over her, the forms of the twisari fratrem standing above the broken form tens of meters away. A betrayal beneath the Five, the breaking of a contract for the necessitation of survival.
A calculation is run within minds; of a conflict against the woven pair. In a wounded state, grievous injury apparent, the chance of mutual termination nearing equal ground.
They stop at the thirty meter distance, the girl raising her anti-material rifle towards the mage’s form amongst scattered carnage.
The concept of self-termination appears within Manara’s thought process, the satisfaction of denying the betrayers a prize tempting yet…
Hesitation beneath the five: both siblings watching in stillness as the body of Auditor Manara squirms upon the surface of the world. The application of power halted by a collective born in conflict and words; a new bond brought forth into a dying universe forcing the staying of violence.
“I cannot terminate her.” The girl bluntly states to her brother.
The boy stops as he breathes. “I am in agreement; I cannot terminate her.”
The irony is not lost upon Auditor Manara, the spike of uncontained emotion causing a cascade of software instabilities within her bodily systems.
“Do we have an alternative to termination?” The girl asks.
“No.” The boy states. “When she awakens, she may attempt to terminate us.”
“I do not believe Auditor Manara will attempt to do so if we assist her.”
“I agree partially. However there is a risk of the alternative: when once again conscious we will not know what actions Auditor Manara will undertake.”
Indecision, Manara desperately suppresses emotional response in the tiny window of opportunity. Damaged augmentation refusing to yield control, the centered mind sliding down the lethal abyss of humanity. A plea to dead gods above for vengeance unanswered, a relenting of fate to the world.
The roar of a pair of biofuel engines echoes across the pit, the twins turning to face the incoming vehicles from the far road.