The human arm was reintegrated successfully into the rest of her Human Host’s Great Chain. Unfortunately for Misa, it was still just a human arm, despite missing most of its skin and original muscle. Those have long been replaced by her Nanites adhering to synthetic replacements, essentially making it just another cybernetic replacement. The original fleshy thing was hardly useful for the Company anyways, she scoffed, only capable of hitting and holding things. To add another insult to her literal injury, reattaching it instead of rebuilding an arm from scratch was mandatory in order to regulate her Host’s lifespan for unknown reasons. A 25% reduction in her body’s Wagner Energy led to more MK1 Nanites succumbing to the negative karmic energy and dying, so she begrudgingly attached it back onto her and almost instantly the so-called positive karma energy began to revive dead Nanites. She had even lost the Human Host’s nerve connectivities and could only lift it up mechanically currently. She lost the ability to feel pain in that arm.
What a shame, she thought sarcastically.
The eye skewered in her Nanite’s needles revealed that her previous theory on the mysterious counteractive energy to Wagner was correct. It was somehow acting as a catalyst of negative karmic energy, causing Contractor Mist’s body to succumb to its corruption. Such an affliction was going to result in eventual organ failure, starting at the stomach. Other than that, it seemed the eye was Heirloom graded just like her Swarm and therefore had no additional purpose. Misa glanced at the unconscious man. He was recovering soundly, so she simply considered her accidental philanthropic contribution to his health to be just one act of kindness for the next quarter. Next time, she’ll take the other eye.
The question remained then: How shall Misa survive the next time her Host’s Second Sister ambushes her while locked at a 50% lifespan?
The answer was simple enough, although Misa was not sure if this little experiment would work the way she intended. She stood before the oasis which appeared to be glowing peacefully in the night. Turning off her visual filters unveiled just how annoyingly harmonious it seemed in conjunction with the night, which sat at a nice -4 degrees Celsius and based off weather conditions seemed to be poised to drop further. She was in a desert, after all. As a machine, Misa did not need to worry about the weather. Her Nanites could deal with the harsh conditions.
Unusual temperature drops connected with Wagner energy detected, Misa’s system sweep informed her that pockets of frigid conditions existed in areas within the border between the Demonic Zone and what she assumed was the Human Zone. The energy flowed like auroras, though seemingly guided along highways that her human eye could not detect. Strange objects also lay dormant inside those zones, giving off strange properties that seemed to interact with Wagner energy. How odd. First, she should narrow the results of the interactions by focusing on each factor, starting with the waters. She knelt by the oasis’s pools and scooped up some sand, her Nanites instantly processing the granules. Black sand…? She could not determine what factors and silicates were causing it to be black, though an ashen glass bottle was created all the same in her hand. A useless human arm couldn’t do that, she supposed as she took a sample of the water.
Analysis of the water completed. It’s just good old fashioned H2O, which humans need to live their meaningless lives. While no mystical qualities of this tranquil water could be traced, there is an obvious correlation between the existence of the elevated Wagner levels it was in and its position on the planet itself. Further analysis may lead to more efficient &/or environmentally unfriendly energy management.
Misa realized that the karmic energy was not directly coming from the water itself, but where exactly the pool’s location existed on the current landscape in relation to another elemental zone in the locale. The karmic energy, dark sands and sparkling blue waters seemed to exude an energy source flowing south of here towards the Demonic Contaminated Zone. As she traced where it was headed, she noted that it was pointing to a distant volcano spewing red lava hundreds and hundreds of kilometers south from the oasis inside that Demon zone. Her Host’s face twisted into a sudden eureka moment. Feng Shui…? Her Swarm processed through ancient histories and came across the term. How interesting.
Misa glossed over the notes, ultimately realizing the strange relationship between elements and their positions more than likely affected the energy. She noted that she had actually come across this phenomenon of Feng Shui already while scouting the Jade Palace’s various rooms. Guards were rotating between a pentagram diagram engraved on the Palace’s floors. Each glowing torch consisted of various and seemingly unrelated elements, displaying the familiar elevated Wagner energy concentrated in the center where a disciple sat undisturbed. Reviewing it, she noticed that the symbols behind each different colored torch represented an element. Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal all appeared there as bizarre vigils watching over the meditating disciple. Misa was simply glad her Overwatch Neoma was not around to witness her doing… whatever this is.
She originally filed the footage under illogical factors, but retrieved the file back after some internal debates. Misa decided that she should attempt to observe the strange affects of Feng Shui by gathering the other objects affecting the flow of the Wagner energy. If that was the case, proximity and positions between each component would directly play a role in achieving an optimal condition of karmic energy flow. As she controlled the Nanites into retrieval drones to collect various objects bearing elements necessary for Feng Shui, the manifestation of energy became clearer. Each elemental component appeared to strengthen or negatively affect the karmic energy’s flow depending on where she placed them. Misa drew up a pentagram of the elements in a neutral zone of elevated Wagner energy, feeling absolutely ridiculous. She was on a dangerous job in order to get back to Earth to deliver a Contract, yet here she was playing in the sand in some sort of middle school science fair project. Utterly degrading.
A source of Water is to be placed on the northernmost tip of the pentagram.
A piece of Wood is to be placed on the eastern tip of the pentagram.
A source of Fire is to be placed on the southeastern tip of the pentagram.
A mound of Earth is to be placed on the southwestern tip of the pentagram.
A piece of Metal is to be placed on the western tip of the pentagram.
Misa stoodby analyzing Contractor Mist’s eye as her Nanite drones scanned and marked the materials matching elemental signatures similar to the ones in the Palace. One of them brought her an igneous rock, glowing with heat. She wondered if it would count as fire or earth, but since the elemental signature for fire was greater she decided to have the drone hover over the Fire element’s position. Another drone had a strange alien cluster of Alien biomatter compost, serving as the Earth element. A log sitting in an auspicious karmic energy flow served as the Wood element and one of the Heirloom knives she stole would work as the Metal element. Those useless things would shatter if she used them, but served as viable material for this Feng Shui project. She held the vial of water up to her eyes, slowly realizing that during the gathering process it was glowing with a faint light. Satisfied, she had the materials arranged to be deposited on the pentagram she had.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Systems sweep: Unusual patterns in the Wagner energy’s flow detected. Resonation within the Elemental signatures appear to be synchronizing together.
Water traces to Wood which traces to Fire which traces to Earth which traces to Metal which traces to… #%Loop.Repeats%
Upon measuring and analyzing the traces of energy, new developments for the Host’s Life Support can be worked on and adapted. Furthermore, one less illogical factor may be crossed off the list. Black Wolf Company does not approve of illogical factors, so this is the chance to turn the meddlesome factor around for profit exploitation.
Misa considered profitable energy exploitation for the Company, but also since there was no Overwatch keeping her in check she could obviously take advantage of the absurd situation she was in. CREATE COPIES OF HERSELF, screamed at her in every Nanite. She commanded the drones to place the objects in the positions perfectly, as an efficient member of Black Wolf always does. Every condition was meant for complete symmetry, but she was not sure of the Feng Shui concept’s rules. Soon, each elemental signature redirected their individual flows of Wagner energy like water in a trough to the center zone of the pentagram. A steady noise hummed, heightening in her ear’s sensors from whisper to a bassy tone; It was pleasant to look at, even. Could regular mortals see this energy? She doubted it. Her Swarm’s nanites swirled freely, crackling with light and shimmering as the energy interacted with their circuitry. The only question was… What was she supposed to do now?
The inner disciple was meditating in the middle of the pentagram, so therefore she should probably do the same. Was there a difference between her supposed Seal and whoever or whatever a disciple was? Her family in this world seemed to absorb strength from slaying others, however, as some type of illegitimate stranger in their Royal midst she may have a different functioning method. Regardless, the Wagner energy’s elevated levels would not last forever so she made the decision to enter the pentagram center zone.
Immediately, the reactor inside of her began to overcharge. The solid chunks of Wagner energy forming in her began to appear more frequently outside their usual radius inside her chest, however, it seemed too slow. Her suddenly systems lurched, like they were running low on intake before starting up. Misa let out a dry heave as her Swarm reprimanded her for using too much energy. She needed more elemental components in order to fuel this pentagram and complete the reactor’s transformation.
“This will take some time,” she stepped out of the center. Luckily, nothing was around her. It was time to gather even more materials in order to complete this ritual. Misa was beginning to understand the process. In order to reach a larger lifespan, she would have to retain a perfectly split ratio of both positive and negative karmic energy. Her systems were calculating the damage wrong; it appeared that the negative karmic energy inside of her actually mattered. Therefore, she would have to make the storage capacity larger. Since her Nanites could not reach the reactor, or Core, inside of her chest without dying, this science fair project would have to do in order to expand its capacity. That void inside her body, only detectable by her Swarm appeared to be a substitute for her cDNA Exacord and had extra-dimensional properties similar to the White Room. She will crack its secrets soon enough. Additionally, those Demonic Cultivation Pills contained massive amounts of negative karmic energy, so she would have to seize more pure ones in the future.
As the drones delivered more elemental components, she reviewed the aerial sweeps she scanned from before. That key location for her primary Black Wolf Company Base construction for her Life Support system must be directly situated in a perfect location for this energy gaining method. There, she realized she would be able to construct a main frame capable of doing what her Host can do without risking damage to her body. Great Chains construct links of more Great Chains which construct links of more Great Chains…
Footsteps approached her, slowly, immediately alerting her.
“Not another step more or you will die,” Misa told the intruder. The footsteps stopped. Heightened stress levels and displaying bewildered curiosity at the progress her drones were making, she realized who the human approaching her was. She turned to him and greeted him indifferently. “Greetings, Contractor Mist. How do you feel?”
“Uh, boss,” Mist scratched his head. His face was still covered in blood as he glanced around the temporary set up. “Do you need any… help?”
“Negative,” she said, but changed her mind. “Contractor Mist, how is your eye doing?”
The man instinctively lifted his eyepatch and flashed a grin. Underneath it rested a robotic eye, glowing a faint green light.
“I don’t know what you did to me, but I am in your debt, boss,” he clasped his hands together in gratitude. After Misa analyzed his health, it appeared that asides from some broken bones he could move. The small amounts of Nanites assigned to heal him immediately began to work on him as she resumed her construction site.
“Affirmative,” she noted. “Vitals are sufficient enough to get back to work.”
“You really impress me, boss,” the man slowly moved up to her, but kept his distance away from the project. “A single blow from that Princess would annihilate anyone, yet you survived. Now, you’re not sulking like the others. You get back up.”
“You are wrong,” Misa retorted, though she knew deep down he was correct. She was furious at herself for losing yet again. “Sulking is illogical. Strategic emergency responses are in effect now in an effort to salvage the reputation of Black Wolf Company I’ve tarnished.”
Confusion flashed on Mist’s face, but he bowed apologetically.
“Forgive me, boss,” he sighed. “I’ll keep guard as long as you need, but this process could take seasons to complete.”
“I have calculated that the current amount of elemental components will last for a night,” she said firmly. “Consider this security job as your repayment for the eye. After this, you can go home.”
“S-Speaking of that, boss,” he stammered. “My village is not too far from the Demon Lands. I have a… Well, I have a mother who is sick, actually. I have a peculiar treasure at home, too, something you’d might like.”
“Request ID#000002 opened,” Misa muttered. “Will process payment of this ‘peculiar treasure’ upon receiving it. Contractor Mist, please guard me while I am in standby.”
The sharp sound of a blade drawing caught her ears as Mist grinned.
“You can count on me, boss,” he got ready. They were a sufficient distance from the main roads, but if her Second Elder Sister was anything to go by an obstacle anything was possible. Plus, the atmospheric disturbances may attract other threats. Misa turned to him and nodded.
“Very well, Contractor Mist,” she marched as the drones dropped their large quantities of elemental components gathered over the last hour.
The karmic flow became violent, instantly charging her inner Core and causing the condensed Wagner energy to change into more purified and larger solid spheres. She clutched her chest instinctively, allowing her Systems to direct her body with smart movements as the updates took their toll on her Human body. In accordance with the flow of karmic energy, her body’s “Meridians” also had to be aligned in order to receive the most auspicious results from the world’s natural flow. Simply standing in an inactive state would not gather most of the energy and transform her Core. The more she looked into this concept, the more she would rather let her Systems take over and do the work for her.
Before long, she had undergone a physical transformation yet again. A glowing, white aura illuminated the desert and surrounded her as she busied herself expelling billions of overloaded Nanites from herself, but luckily Misa’s involuntarily overclocked core provided enough material to rebuild… deconstruct… analyze… rebuild… The grey spheres of solidified Wagner energies eventually turned into a golden, denser sphere. The core’s “white void” also appeared to have expanded significantly as well. Ah, satisfaction welled up inside of her amidst her chaotic changes. Energy pollution at its finest.
By the time Misa stepped out of the light she was taller and stronger, yet still slender. It was also midday. Life support was measured at 15%, though the energy levels matched 50% of her outdated self beforehand. In other words, she increased her lifespan’s capacity by 35% which should be able to support her journey to the target location. Mist froze up after seeing her approach, but she did not care. Her Nanites had already been able to reconstruct clothes that were damaged during her update installation processes, so what did he have to look at her for? The solid golden spheres were slowly forming into new Swarm strains, though they were slower. Their prototypes were not yet worthy or complete enough to be called MK2. Something else was needed in order to put the new Nanites to work.
“Contractor Mist,” she spoke to him coolly. “The breakthrough has been successful. We can now continue forward.”
“B-Boss,” he gawked. Misa did not understand his attraction to her, since human relationships were unprofessional in the workplace. Nor did she want to. After a sharp look, he nervously turned away and nodded. “Right. I will show you my home village, boss.”