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22: Previous Memories II: Before Null Online

22: Previous Memories II: Before Null Online

“Finally," Raven said with delight. I’ve completed the program update." Jack had gone quiet for the past few moments, and though she heard him tinkering in the back, the short repose had allowed Raven complete her work in a timely manner.

She took a deep breath, relaxing her tense muscles. Dealing with Jack required a certain deftness. Her insight powers were not enough, for though she is able to see into him, his chaotic thoughts and erratic movements made deciphering any type of pattern beyond atrocious. Wit is simply not enough, either, for his greatest strength lies not in intellect, but in the habit of performing feats and maneuvers in a foreign language. Patience, above all, was required. Falling to his pace will no doubt whisk her into oblivion. She must not play his games; there was no end to them.

Resolved, Raven sprung around and marched towards him with determination. She turned to see Jack jacking off the body laying on the table. As Jack said, that body certainly did have a wonderfully large penis. In a mixture of horror and nausea, she ran and shoved him away from the body “Stop it! Stop it! I refuse to be involved in this farce! Retain a sliver of intelligence and behave yourself for one short hour!”

Jacked giggled as Raven shooed him away with kicks and jabs. “But, Raven!” he began.

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Is curiosity not the mother of inte-”

“Shut up! Just shut up and take your shirt off and place your body upon the other table!”

“B-But I have a lover, I-”

“Shut up! No! I’m done with you! You either sit yourself and get the operation over with, or I will leave, and find a different way to rule the god forsaken world. Or worlds. I don’t care! I don’t care any longer! Go! Go!” Raven shouted, her face tense and red with rage.

Jack, full of giggles, began taking off his shirt. Half-way through, however, he stopped and stared back at Raven, his face now inexplicably stoic. “Um, excuse you?” he said, raising an eyebrow, his cheeks raised in discomfort.

“Argh!” Raven groaned, turning away. So much for not falling to his pace, she thought.

Jack held a giggle as he took off his clothes. He had owned a sleek black shirt, shorts, and even had briefs-- a rare commodity that few rankers had the audacity to spend their wealth on. He tossed them all under the table, and stared in despondency at the four metal spikes. With a crack of his neck, he began to adjust their positions.

Raven twisted her head slightly, glancing over her shoulder at Jack’s bare back as he fiddled with the spikes.

“Perv,” Jack said with disinterest.

“S-Shut up! Why did you take your shorts and underwear off as well?” Raven said, still looking.

“I always Dive naked! It’s more comfortable that way” Jack said, as he bent over the table to reach a few screws.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“My eyes!” Raven yelped, falling to the floor. She sunk her eyes into her palms, but still peeked out from them.

“I thought you despised human bodies, Raven. Didn’t you have a problem with us defecating or something?”

“I did. I still do. Bodies are simply filthy. We are nothing but a cluster of atoms combined together, and operated...via chemicals...and...stuff,” she said, slightly distracted.

“That doesn’t sound very convincing with that look plastered on your face.”

“I said I despised-- loath them, actually-- but I never said I was never interested in them.”

“Blah, what nonsense. Just go and fuck someone. Didn’t your body turn 21 this year? You've been Diving since 13? Which makes you what, 45 years old? How could you even go that far without having se-

“Changing the subject doesn’t work on me, Jack, you haven’t answered my question,” Raven blurted, staring giddily.

She had not asked anything, yet Jack knew it the same. How could she not, after seeing him naked? “Let a man keep his secret, Raven. What is Jack In A Box without the surprise?” Jack said.

“Just in case!” Raven pushed on.

Jack snorted. “Just in case what?”

“You might die! Just imagining myself never finding out…” Raven said as a heartfelt shiver ran through her body, “It would truly drive me insane!”

Jack nodded. He did not doubt her there. “Then you’ll just need to make sure I live,” Jack replied coolly.

“Please?” She whispered with heartfelt emotion. She blinked slowly, her long eyelashes fluttering up and down.

“Pft. Try harder than that,” Jack said, locking in place the last spike. As he turned around, Raven quickly whipped her head away, pretending to be fascinated with some particularly interesting object in the opposite direction.

He swept her body brazenly. “Two guesses. One article of clothing off for each wrong guess,” Jack said, nodding his head in satasfaction.

Raven whipped her head around. “Aargh, you’re insufferable!” Raven’s jaw tightened, her eyes brimming with indignation. She stared at him, the heat in her face raising. Her eyes darted his smirking face.

“It’s only fair! I’m naked, so you should also get naked.” Jack replied.

“I never asked you to get naked. No one asked you to get naked. Why is you becoming naked my issue!”

Jack shrugged. He pulled on his cheeks in thought. “You looked, though.”

“How can I not look. I rarely leave the capsule and receive a chance to inspect a male body in real life,” Raven said, her eyes narrowing on him. “The common biological impulse is to seek others of fitting reproductive systems in order to create life, passing on our genes and therefore accomplishing our purpose,” she said, with a matter-of-factly tone. “I will not fight my body’s impulses to achieve the purpose it was originally created for, simply because you are being terribly inconsiderate!” she finished, with an overally exaggerated huff.

Jack pointed his chin towards the other one. “What about that one? Much better genes than whatever you’ll get out of me," Jack said in a deadpan voice.

Raven scowled at his poor choice of words. He had, in fact, closely debated between the phrases 'you'll get out of me,' and 'that will come out of me,' and had decided for the first, solely because Raven was involved in the first process that the later one did not expitcietly reveal.

“Its mind is wiped, Jack. It is practically empty. What is attractive about that lump of meat?”

“Oh, my!" Jack jumped back, nearly going up the table and inserting the sharp spikes upon his bottom. "Did you just compliment me?” Jack said, holding one hand to his chest while his eyes opened wide in astonishment.

Raven arched her brows in response. “You? Me? You? Ha! I have never complimented you, and I would never compliment you.”

Jack folded his arms. “You said I was attracti-” Jack paused, his lips frowning. “You ass,” he said plainly, his shoulders tightening.

“Your body, on the other hand?” Raven went on with a wide smile, “It is somewhat pleasing to look at.”

Jack threw his hands in the air. “Fine, whatever. Are you playing, or are you not? If you’re not confident, I can just tell you a bit of it lat-”

“You, as well as a couple dozen thousand were part of operation Abnormal two decades ago.” Raven began, her voice cool and calculated. “Its mission was to push human creation to its limits. There were several categories that I am aware of: Physical, Psych, and Spiritual. Creation success rates neared the 19.84% mark, but the mortality rate for those who survived was abysmally high, increasing with each year. Their physical bodies died around the age of 30 from various organ failures, instead of the typical 60, typically correlating with how far their abilities deviated from human limits. The program was thus determined to be a failure. In addition, not all who survived had gained abilities that benefited their Dive capacities. In fact, I believe most Abnormals performed-”

“Don’t get off traffic, Raven. No one has the time to listen to your rambling,” Jack interrupted, his arms locked in annoyance. “Few enjoy a dry history class. Just get on with it.”

“Fine then!” Raven said, swiping aside locks of stray hairs from her eyes. “You have four Dive plug spread throughout your spine, instead of having the typical one attached to the nerves above the nap, because the Dive system requires further processing power to utilize your Abnormal brain!”

Jack stared back, his face unchanging.

Raven cursed, taking her shirt off. “How close was I?” she said through gritted teeth, her arms tightly wrapped around herself.