CHAPTER 01 FIRE, BRIMSTONE, AND ROBOTS
Bright lights flashed and deep, crashing noises reverberated through what seemed like eternity itself. A noise, like screaming souls and hammers striking flesh, could be heard coming and going, seemingly closer one moment the further away. Then a sudden tugging sensation culminated in being slammed into a hard surface.
Finally, the cold blissful silence enveloped all his senses. The deep cold silence. Comforting yet endless. Wrapping the body and soul in its quiet embrace, like a parent comforting a frightening child.
Reeve cracked his eyelids, his head pounding with every slight movement of his body. The faint light and sounds writhed their way into his senses, burning every minute feeling into his very mind.
“Gods above and below, it's fucking freezing,” he muttered through dry cracked lips. “Where am I? Ugh … who shit in my mouth?”
Reeve moved his arms, stretching his atrophied and cramped limbs. After a few moments of wiggling in place and getting feelHe realized he was in some kind of container. A coffin of some sort, perhaps. Placing his hands on the smooth cold, windowless door in front of him he called out, “Hello?” hoping someone from his team would hear him. If they were even nearby. Or alive.
A strange, garbled voice sounded from outside his small prison:
“Warning. Warning. Cryogenics failing. Ejecting all surviving pod members. Warning. Warning. Unauthorized entry into Cryogenics section. Warning.”
Reeve ran over the words in his head, not recognizing many of them. He did, however, understand the term ‘unauthorized entry’. Someone was where they shouldn't be. And if it was being announced somehow, that someone was probably a threat. No one went into a secure area they shouldn’t be in for giggles.
A hissing noise startled him out of his thoughts. The darkness faded and symbols he didn't recognize flowed across the inside of the container he was facing. Moving far too fast for him to read, they vanished abruptly. A small chime sounded in the box at the time of their disappearance.
That strange, emotionless voice sounded again, this time from inside his prison:
“Nano-injections complete. Updating … Update complete. Visual HUD activated.”
The inside of his box lit up without warning as if the sun itself had appeared. He wiggled his arm up in front of his face, constrained as he was by his coffin-like box, to shield his sensitive eyes to the light. However, that didn't stop more text from appearing in front of him:
Loading Message…
Loading Complete.
Welcome, Reeve ‘DATA CORRUPTION’. This message is an automated response that was uploaded into your nanites the moment you ‘DATA CORRUPTION’ Cryogenics Survival Pod. The CSP has kept you alive. However, now your life is at risk from ‘DATA CORRUPTION’
You have questions about ‘DATA CORRUPTION’. ‘DATA CORRUPTION’ has answers. You must survive to get those answers. Stay alive long enough ‘DATA CORRUPTION’ in the Control Center. It should be as simple as following the signs; however, I am unsure of ‘DATA CORRUPTION’. I am ‘DATA CORRUPTION’ no longer as informed due ‘DATA CORRUPTION’ I once was.
Survive, Reeve.
…Message Terminated.
Reeve waved his hands in front of his face, eyes still closed, but the message persisted for a moment before vanishing. Tentatively opening his eyes, he examined the small space between his face and the smooth surface in front of him.
Wondering if he had gone mad, yet another deep hissing noise alerted him to the fact whatever was happening wasn't done yet. He heard a distinct clicking sound of metal on metal as a seam appeared around the edges of the surface in front of him.
Blinking the remaining spots out of his eyes, he pushed firmly on the now newly identified door, only to have it move smoothly away from him before rotating up and away. While he couldn't remember seeing anything like this in recent memory, the material his prison was made out of reminded him of what he had heard of Dwarven alloys. It certainly hadn't been made of stone.
Gazing at a similar alloy wall in front of him, Reeve stepped out of his coffin. Once out he turned to examine the device. Tall and ovoid, like a chicken egg that had been stretched out, he realized that he had been right to think of it as a coffin. Because that's exactly what it looked like.
Turning his attention to the area around him, he realized he was standing in a hallway that stretched for some distance. Certainly longer than he would have thought reasonable. Both sides of the hallway were lined with identical coffins.
Seeing no immediate threat, he examined himself briefly. He was dressed in a loose-fitting black tunic and pants of some strange material. He ran his finger along the edge of the material. It felt like silk, had the consistency of silk, but was clearly something else entirely.
“Very strange indeed,” he muttered.
Not seeing his missing equipment in the immediate area, he closed his eyes. Oftentimes when an adventurer found himself lost or in a new, potentially hostile area, listening was the best thing they could do. After all, nearly every creature alive made noises when moving. Those that didn't would have already seen him dead.
A distant roar caused Reeve to jerk his head up and scan for threats. He could hear the shrill wailing just over the din of screaming voices, just too far outside of his sense for him to make them out clearly.
Where there were voices there were people. Potentially the people that placed him here. As he wasn't dead, he was unsure if they were hostile. But better to err on the side of caution than die.
He stood little chance of defending himself properly with no weapon in hand. However, that didn't mean he had no tools at his disposal at all. Concentrating, Reeve reached inward to his core. He could feel the familiar spark of Mana and, prompting it with the energy he had, he kindled it into a flame.
Pushing every bit of spare energy he had into his budding core, the small flame he had kindled roared to life. It ignited into an inferno of energy, catching Reeve completely off guard. Without warning, the emotionless voice came back, speaking directly into his mind as he struggled to both comprehend it and contain his freshly reawakened power:
“Warning. Unregistered energy surge within the central chest cavity detected.”
Ignoring it, Reeve focused on controlling this raging inferno. He forced the Mana to circulate inside of his body. As it tore through his veins, bringing new life to him, he felt his control waver slightly before he locked down the source itself. It stabilized after a few moments, and he breathed out soft blue smoke that crackled with power.
Thinking he had complete control of it was a mistake and he had let his guard down. His Mana circulation roared to life and spread to the farthest reaches of his body, infusing his very cells with its arcane energy. He gasped, arching his back in pain as if his entire body was on fire.
Still, it responded to his whims. His merest thoughts. A strange feeling, as if the Mana itself realized it was giving too much, brought the storming surge of raw energy back into his core. Calming, it was brought down to a manageable level for Reeve's body to handle.
That blank voice spoke again:
“Warning. Unregistered energy has spread within the body. Analyzing … energy identified as Mana.”
“What are you?” Reeve croaked. “What the hell is this … script?”
Once more, without answering his questions it spoke to him:
“Activating HUD System v177.6.143.”
DESIGNATION: Reeve
RACE: ‘DATA CORRUPTION’
‘DATA CORRUPTION’
PHYSICAL: Healthy
MENTAL: Confused
‘DATA CORRUPTION’
ARMOR: None
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
WEAPON: None
MANA: 110,500
CAPACITY: ‘DATA CORRUPTION’
A screen with numbers and designations appeared in front of Reeve. He took a moment to examine it before poking it out of existence. Like the message before, parts of it were missing.
He wasn't quite sure what data was, or why it was corrupted, but corrupted anything didn't sound good. What he did know was that too much Mana was a very bad thing. And such a large number next to the word was not reassuring.
Setting that aside, Reeve noticed that the sounds of voices he had heard before had risen into a sound he recognized immediately. Screams, grunts, and roars sounded from down the hallway. A battle was definitely taking place.
He cautiously approached the end of the hallway in which he could hear the fighting taking place. He slowly made his way forward, on the lookout for threats. Things did like to hide in the dark, after all. He made a point of examining the pods briefly as he went.
Nothing he saw filled him with confidence. This place may as well be a tomb.
He was nonplussed to find bodies in every pod from what seemed to be a variety of species. Some he almost recognized. Others he had never seen before. Nearly all were skeletal remains. However, some pods had streaks of dried blood splattered across the window indicating that death hadn't come slowly to those inside the coffins.
After several moments he reached a large metallic door of the same material as the wall. It had a mid-sized window slotted into the top of it. Touching it briefly, he realized the metal entranceway was ice-cold with the consistency of steel. Not knowing if it was as strong or not, he filed this away for further consideration.
Using a tactic that he had learned in the battlefields of the past, Reeve stood up just high enough to view through one side of the porthole window. Hoping that anything on the other side wouldn’t see him quite yet, he pushed his head far enough forward to get one eye over the edge of the oddly shaped window.
On the other side of the door, massive green creatures were fighting strange metallic constructs. The green combatants reminded him heavily of Orcs. Weapons on both sides spewed forth strange beams or large balls of intense blue fire. While melee weapons were also employed, the constructs’ weapons seemed to be directly integrated into their bodies.
The large green warriors fought with unsophisticated savagery and disorganized viciousness that was not surprising to Reeve. Orcs gave no fucks. Using axes, blades, and even their bare hands they fought with complete disregard for their wounded or fallen.
On the other hand, the strange metallic beings fought with organized, machine-like precision. Their attack strategy was brutal, relying on precise choreographed attacks. It seemed as if they would be the victors if not for the fact they were heavily outnumbered.
Reeve slumped to the floor catch his breath, not wanting to be involved quite yet. His thoughts were still fuzzy, unclear. He once again examined the strange material the hallway was made out of as well as his clothing. While illusion magic wasn't well known for emulating physical feelings, stranger things have been known to happen. Being trapped in a grand working of illusion and mental magic was not out of the question.
Nothing made sense to him yet. Between the strange weapons, odd races and bodies, and the fight raging a door's width away, he was almost completely lost. Hell, he didn't even know what a HUD-
The strange emotionless voice cut in on his thought process:
“HUD, or Heads Up Display, is the standard visual interface used by the various races of the Galaxy.”
And then there was that.
“Umm, hello?” Reeve prompted. “Is anyone there?”
He looked around the hallway but didn’t see anything. Anything living, at least.
“What the hell was that?” he muttered again in bewilderment. “Uh … help?”
“Initiating query mode. Please state your query.”
“Query? Do you mean a question? This is all very strange. Can you tell me where I am?”
“Analyzing query … Analyzing … Analysis Complete. Location: Sector 177-36.4. Star Hold Victor.”
“Star Hold? You can hold the very stars themselves?” he asked incredulously.
“Analyzing Query … Analysis Complete. Negative. Star Hold Victor is the primary defensive station for Sector 177-36.4.”
Reeve didn’t respond immediately. Sector Star Hold? Defensive Star Hold? Military, then. He was inside of some military base. This … thing was-
“Query Detected. Analyzing … Analysis Complete. The term, “this thing”, insinuates the host does not have a rudimentary grasp of nano-mechanics. Would you like to learn more?”
“Sure. Yes. Please tell me more,” Reeve responded enthusiastically. Knowledge was power. Power right now meant safety.
“Query Received. Topic: Nano-Mechanics. Nanites are widely used by the races of the Vanadium Galaxy, given its name due to its reddish hue. Nanites are standard injections used to facilitate everything from communication, travel, and banking to healthcare and a myriad of military applications.”
“Oh, shit. You're inside my body?” Reeve felt his skin crawl.
“Query Accepted. That is correct.”
“… can you, you know … get the fuck out?” asked Reeve.
“Negative.”
“Well, fuck. Okay. I’m not dead, possessed, and still retain my faculties. Probably not hallucinating, but can't be certain yet,” Reeve muttered to himself.
Directing his question to the voice he asked, “I can assume that you are not a … hostile nano-mechanical … construct?” he asked, stumbling through the new terminology.
“Query Detected. Negative. This AI Unit is not hostile and is dependent and centered around the host’s survival. This AI wishes to help you.”
“AI? What is an—” Reeve stopped speaking and listened intently. The sounds of combat had stopped. He stood up and peeked an eye over the lip of the window and came face to face with one of the shiny metal beings.
It leveled its strange projectile weapon just as Reeve dove out of the way.
Reeve cursed inwardly at his lack of attention to his surroundings, but further musings were cut off by the roar of the weapon. It tore through the door with a searing hot ray of blue-white fire where he had just been standing. The door had stopped Reeve, but to these strange beings they very well may have been made of parchment.
Reeve turned and Mana surged into his hands forming its own version of the fireball that had nearly immolated him. He was going to turn whatever the hell that thing was into slag.
The metallic being stuck its head and arm through the gap and Reeve struck it with the full fury of his magic. His silver mage-fyre rapidly melted its face with only a few seconds of contact. It quickly withdrew back through the hole in the door. A few moments later Reeve heard a massive crash.
Approaching the wreckage of the entranceway, he cautiously peeked around the glowing edges of the area he had torched. Regardless of what these strange constructs were made of, melting them seemed an effective way of killing them quickly. Anything that had its face melted tended not to get back up, construct or no.
Reeve didn't know of anything short of a greater undead, Lich, or Dameon that would move without a brain controlling the body.
After waiting a few moments for the edges of the door to cool, Reeve cautiously made his way through the hole and into the large room beyond. He surveyed the storage space and the many bodies strewn within. Examining one of the green beasts verified that they were near-exact matches for Orcs, minus their far more dangerous weapons and patchwork strange armor.
He wouldn't want to see how a Mana shield would stand up to those weapons.
Reeve cautiously began threading his way through the bodies. He stopped early on to pick up an intact, if slightly singed, carrying pack that was full of oddly colored metal orbs. He added to the items already in the bag as he picked through the dead
He found several sticks that, after opening and tasting one, he decided was food, several small containers of water, one of piss, and a light intact handheld weapon. Leaving the piss jar, he took the rest of the items and began looking through them in greater detail.
Fascinated with the weapon, Reeve examined it closely, determining it was a smaller version of the larger ones he had seen in action. This one was large but still within a size that was usable for him.
He picked up the device and fiddled with it a bit, noticing that there was a trigger on the bottom. The trigger was similar to a crossbow. This must be the mechanism used to fire the device. The open barrel at the front must be where the projectile comes out.
Testing his hypothesis, Reeve pointed the device at a wall, braced himself, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
“Is this thing broken?” he wondered aloud.
“Query Detected. Scanning device. Device identified:”
“Are you going to answer anytime I ask a question?” Reeve cut in, annoyed.
“Affirmative. Anytime this unit may be of assistance.”
“Grand,” Reeve muttered as text and a screen popped up into his vision.
Manufacturer: Arnog Arms
Model: X03 Laser Pistol
Energy Charge: 0/50
Manufacturer Description: A small-caliber laser weapon used to arm your mercenaries! Purchase all your arms and armor at Arnog Arms today. We have everything you need to not be dead!
“So can I just ask you about things and you can answer them?” Reeve asked aloud.
“Query Detected. Analyzing … Analysis Complete. Inquiries can be answered if the relevant data is available, or if a Galactic Network connection is available.”
“Okay. So basically you can answer questions if you have the information right now. If you don’t have the information I need to contact this … Galactic Network?” Reeve inquired.
“Query Detected. Response Generated. That is correct. Current data is limited to informational stores within the resident station AI matrix.”
Reeve remained silent, not understanding a word the bland voice had just said.
Deciding his time could be better spent doing something else at this point, Reeve examined the weapon in his hand. Maybe the Mana he had right now could charge this weapon so he could use it?
“Umm, nano-AI? Hello, are you there?” He fumbled aloud.
“Query Detected. Awaiting Input.”
“Umm … so yeah, can I charge this weapon … err … this laser pistol with my Mana?” he asked.
“Query Detected. Analyzing … Analysis Complete. The anomalous energy has been assigned the designation of Mana. Calculating Mana Energy Density ... Calculation Complete. Mana currently holds a density of 5 times that of raw Plasma. Raw Plasma holds a density of 10 times that of conventional energy. 1 Energy Unit of Mana can be used to charge your current weapon.”
Reeves' head hurt a bit after trying to fill in the unfamiliar terminology with what he had learned so far. Quite a bit of that went over his head if he was being honest with himself. But he understood enough of the principles to get that this machine had measured his Mana and quantified how much energy is held in relation to some mystical formula that it was in possession of.
It had done the math, and it worked out that 1 unit of Mana was equal to 50 units of Energy. Not a bad trade-off considering he had …
“Display HUD.”
DESIGNATION: Reeve
RACE: ‘DATA CORRUPTION’
‘DATA CORRUPTION’
PHYSICAL: Healthy
MENTAL: Distressed
‘DATA CORRUPTION’
ARMOR: None
WEAPON: None
MANA: 144,100
CAPACITY: ‘DATA CORRUPTION’
“What the hell?” he muttered, poking the screen out of existence.
His energy had shot upwards, seemingly uncontrollably. If Mana was really as potent as this machine was saying, he didn’t want to literally explode. Mana saturation was extremely dangerous in areas throughout the world. Mana saturation in a person was always fatal. Horribly, gruesomely fatal.
“Well, let's burn at least a tiny bit of this off, then,” he muttered, setting his mind and Mana to the task.