After their ears stopped ringing from the explosion that had gone off just a few feet away, Rapi quickly jumped off Commander’s arm, racing to look around to ensure Blacksmith was dead. If need be the fight would have to continue. Once she’d witnessed oil splattered everywhere like a gruesome crime scene that spelled out Blacksmith’s demise, Rapi knelt down to assess Commander’s condition. His left arm was broken and the uniform at his right ankle had been turned to ash, allowing fire to lick his skin and burn him. He’d been unlucky, his leg was sticking out of cover when the explosive went off. Rapi tried to gently pat away the embers on his uniform, but she couldn’t help thinking she was being too rough. She had a million thoughts racing around her head right now. Rapi wanted to give Commander a piece of her mind, and it was coming out as aggressive action.
Commander pushed against the road with his good arm and winced when his broken limb moved with him. Rapi helped him up, sitting him against their cover. Commander had a pretty good idea what his Nikke thought of him right now. He was an idiot. To risk his own life for a weapon of war was ridiculous. Unheard of. And yet he would do it all over again. He refused to lose any companions. Some smoke still lingered from Blacksmith’s destruction and it’d gotten into Commander’s lungs so he gave a hearty cough to clear it out. Rapi moved to stroke Commander’s back, causing the man’s attention to be drawn to her face that was right in front of him. He saw Rapi’s mouth open and close a few times as she tried to figure out what to say, so Commander spoke based on what he thought she was thinking. “I don’t care what I have to do, I’m not going to sit by and let my Nikke die.”
He immediately thought of Marian after saying this. Specifically, he recalled his own words when she’d been shot in the head to protect him. He told her to worry about herself more. Commander immediately thought his own words were going to be used by Rapi to criticise him, but instead she seemed to hold her tongue and not say anything in response.
The rest of the squad arrived and stood around Commander. They all looked tired despite Nikke bodies typically being incapable of feeling exhaustion. To Commander’s delight, everyone was as fixed up as they could be. Samantha’s arm had been reattached and Anis wasn’t missing a hand anymore. She was still missing a few fingers, but there was nothing to be done about that apart from getting back home to the Ark. Ocean’s drones were limited in how much material they could create. They were mostly there to fix, so when too many original resources are missing the drones aren’t capable of healing a Nikke completely.
Believing his brief one-minute rest was good enough, Commander put a hand on the car’s wheel arch and attempted to stand, but apparently he was still disoriented and weak. His vision slanted from dizziness and his legs wobbled from his weight. He wanted to check on Marian as soon as possible though. Knowing Commander wouldn’t let it go, Rapi went to help the man stand, only for one of her limbs to finally give up. She had forgotten that her right leg had taken a massive amount of damage thanks to some strange explosive-tipped tentacle just before Blacksmith died. She’d been moving fine for a short while but it was about time the tiny thread tying everything together had unravelled. Her foot, from the shin down, fell off and Rapi slumped to the ground without two feet to stand on.
“Anis, you take him.” Rapi said, sitting against the car as Ocean’s drones wasted no time in moving to fix her up.
Giving her friend a solemn nod, Anis’ faint fake smile faded as she lifted Commander up and acted as his support the same way he had acted as Marian’s support. Just thinking of Marian made Anis want to back off and leave the area. Anis knew exactly what was going to happen next. She was never good with this part. She’d seen Nikke fall to corruption before and it never got any easier. Losing allies never got easier. In this war where Nikke are soldiers, bonds are forged when they simply fight together. On top of that it felt like the pair of Anis and Marian were becoming fast friends. They’d played a game together and had a little girls’ talk about love. They’d expressed joy with a high-five and even completed a rescue mission where the odds were against them. Anis felt like Marian was the exact type of person she needed in her life. Someone with their life sorted out. Anis was in dire need of someone to help fix her, and Marian could’ve been that person. Anis was even considering asking Marian to hang out sometime whenever they happened to have the same day off. Marian wasn’t just a powerful ally to have in combat, she was open to joining in with Anis’ antics. She was the type of person Anis just couldn’t hate no matter how hard she tried.
With a limp arm dangling by his side, Commander gave his thanks to Anis and hobbled over to Blacksmith’s corpse with her. He was glad his entire team was alive despite everything that happened today and was hoping to find Marian in a similar state. Blacksmith had died colliding with a few homes and had settled on the pathway between houses that led to the home’s respective gardens. The smoke leaving Blacksmith’s body had almost entirely faded, allowing Commander to see a broken red pod leaking a clear liquid. Said liquid was dripping down the Rapture’s body and pooling around a body. Lying on the ground directly beneath an open pod was Marian.
Commander walked to Marian and with his one good arm he began lifting her up by tucking a hand under her shoulder. Anis joined him and grabbed Marian’s other side. With the pair working together, they rested Marian up against Blacksmith’s body since it was the closest wall, so to speak. Saying she was in bad shape would be an understatement. A red liquid mimicking blood ran down her face and part of her bandages were ruined, revealing the massive gash where her right eye used to be. One of her legs was completely missing and the other was heavily damaged. There were numerous other wounds dotted across her body, close to revealing her internals. But the worst part of it all was that she was still corrupt. Blacksmith’s influence had entirely taken over her brain and she wouldn’t stop saying the same phrase over and over again.
“Over here… This way…”
Crouching next to her, Commander had a strange feeling that he knew nothing could be done about Marian’s corruption. There was no saving her. No one saw it coming, this situation could not have been prevented. But that didn’t stop Commander from dreaming of a better scenario in a better world. If only he’d done something differently his Nikke would be able to live a longer, happier life. They were all supposed to survive today and get back home to the Ark. He’d failed Marian.
“There’s no saving her, Commander…” Anis closed her eyes and looked away, taking a few steps away from the situation. She didn’t want to appear disrespectful, but she also didn’t want to see what was about to happen.
Commander simply grimaced in response, his eyes narrowing to a glare as he thought of all the ways he could’ve saved Marian. If only he’d listened to Anis when she told him to quit the mission, then this whole mess could’ve been avoided. His anger was only directed at himself for failing at the one thing he really wanted to do. To help Nikke live. He’d doomed Marian to corruption because he just couldn’t let it go.
Now that she was fixed, Rapi moved to Commander’s side and crouched beside him. Rapi felt bad for the man, but there was now something he had to do. Rapi had a pretty good understanding of Commander at this point, she knew he would hate having to do this, but it was the law. Rapi gently unholstered his handgun for him, flipped it around so she was holding the barrel, and presented it to Commander. “I’m sorry, Commander. A corrupt Nikke can’t be saved. It’s Central Government law for a commander to be the one to execute a corrupt Nikke.”
Despite knowing it was coming, Anis almost flew into a fit of rage after hearing what her friend just said. Rapi could stand to be a bit more caring. She didn’t have to be so blunt about it. Just like Rapi, Anis felt like she already knew Commander’s personality well and understood he wouldn’t want to kill a Nikke he clearly had feelings for. Anis was thinking about offering to take Commander’s place, but first off that wasn’t allowed by the law and second her disdain for Rapi’s approach would result in an argument, no doubt. Anis was truly disgusted with how her friend was handling this situation.
Given how rules oriented Rapi was, and the fact that no one spoke up against her, Commander believed what she said. Commander knew he had to do what he was told in this instance. He needed to grab the handgun, point it at Marian’s head and pull the trigger. But he didn’t want to do it. This was the last thing on Earth he wanted to do. Honestly, if Marian was okay, there was a part of himself that wondered if he would just attempt to run away with her and live a quiet life in the middle of nowhere. Away from the Ark. Away from the war. Just him and Marian. There would still be fighting, they would struggle every day to survive, but it had to be better than this. He saw now that he really had developed feelings for the kind-hearted Nikke. How could he not? In the short time she knew Commander, she always had his best interests at heart and did everything she could to keep him safe. It made him want to do the same for her, to look after her and treat her right.
Rapi grabbed Commander’s wrist, feeling how he was shaking. Without saying anything she delicately put the gun’s grip in his hand and closed his fingers around it. This was not the outcome she wanted, but now that they were here she had no choice. She needed to ensure Marian was executed by Commander’s hand and then get him back to the Ark safely. She couldn’t vocalise these thoughts though. Rapi knew she was a stickler for the rules and that if she opened her mouth she was prone to say something insensitive. She failed to realise she’d already done damage in this department.
After squeezing Commander’s arm as a show of solidarity, Rapi took a step back and let the young man handle Marian in his own time. Commander looked into Marian’s good eye, tainted red, and held her stare. He refused to allow himself to cry, but even so he felt the depressing sensation of water welling up around his eyes. Without thinking, Commander brought Marian in for that hug he should’ve given her before. “I’m sorry…”
Marian had a bit too much fat, which caused her body to feel soft to touch. Her hair was well groomed and silky smooth as it brushed his cheek. He was so close that he caught a whiff of a fruity smell, that must be whatever product she used to look after her hair. He didn’t care what it was, he just wanted more information to remember Marian by. He thought it awkward, but he would track down her shampoo based on its scent if he needed to. Under any other circumstance he would be considered strange, perhaps as bad as a stalker, but for a person about to lose a loved one it was quite normal. People want to retain memories anyway they can.
“Commander…” It took a moment for not just Commander but for the rest of the squad to register who had just spoken. Against all odds, Marian was still fighting. The man she referred to pulled back, his eyes ready to pop out of his head as he looked into her now blue eye. “...Thank you. I enjoyed… today.”
Marian had more to say. She wanted to truly express just how happy Commander had made her today. She wanted to ask if she could continue to be by his side. She wanted another hug. She wanted to hold his hand as she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. She wanted to say she loved him. As she looked into his eyes that were filling with tears she wanted to tell him everything would be okay.
But instead of saying or doing any of that, Marian grabbed the pistol in Commander’s hand as she shook and brought it up so it was pointed at her forehead. Her brain. The pain running through her head was unimaginable. She could feel the corruption eating away at her. It was taking everything she had to remain herself for the sake of Commander. The clouds above parted and light engulfed Commander and Marian as the Nikke slowly slid her hand down the barrel and onto Commander’s hand. She helped move his finger to the trigger and smiled. Commander flinched and pulled the trigger as it took all his willpower to stop himself from crying, thinking mourning could come later. In her final moments Marian knew what was happening and why. She knew she’d been corrupted and needed to be put down as per the Central Government’s law. Right until the end she performed her duties admirably, never wavering and never failing to do what was necessary. Marian was a good soldier. One of the best.
The gunshot echoed through the surrounding homes as future possibilities were erased. Buying a house with Marian. Decorating their home together. Having a child. Playing on the front lawn with a toddler. Seeing off their child for school. Begrudgingly welcoming a partner into their child’s life. Growing old and becoming grandparents. It was all gone now. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Commander vowed to never allow this to happen again as his arm holding the gun went limp. He would die before another Nikke suffered such a harsh fate again.
Commander let go of his pistol and heard it clatter to the ground, not wanting to hold something that had killed someone he cared about. Still crouched next to Marian, he began remaking her bandages. Even he didn’t know why. Perhaps it reminded him of one of the reasons why they were so close. Or at least he perceived his relationship with Marian to be that of a close friendship already. It may be wishful thinking or selfishness on his part, but he liked to think she felt the same way. Commander was certain Marian almost confessed right before Blacksmith made itself known, but he didn’t want to put words in her mouth. He would live the rest of his life forever questioning what she wanted to say at that moment.
Since Commander only had one good arm he was struggling, until Anis finally sorted herself out and leant down next to him. This entire mess was taking too long for Anis’ liking, so she wanted to help in order to flee the scene sooner. “Two halves make a whole, huh?” Anis said through her usual fake smile, pretending everything was okay even as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
Using Commander’s one good hand and Anis’ one good hand, they fixed up Marian’s bandages to make her appear presentable. It gave her some dignity back, and it showed her respect that they were willing to look after her even in death. Commander hoped it was enough for her to sleep soundly in her next life.
— — — — —
In a brightly lit room overflowing with all shades of brown, a lone man sat at his marble desk, taking one last look at his computer’s monitor before leaving his office for the rest of the day. He was double checking his calendar, making sure he had it memorised perfectly. He noticed an open space set for a week from now. That was a rare sight. He couldn’t remember when he’d last had some free time. A year ago, perhaps? There was no doubt in his mind that this extremely rare open slot would be filled within a day or two so it was pointless to try and plan something of his own accord. His job was a demanding one. He didn’t just get to live his own life. He had to be available at all times for work-related activities.
Right as he was about to lock his computer and head off to a meeting, a large blue rectangle filled the screen. He had a call from a girl called Shifty, an operator that helped Nikke during their missions. Scratching the beard on his cheek and listening to the distinct sound it made, he exhaled gently and tapped the screen to accept the call.
“Sir, I have a report to make regarding a recent mission.” The girl was all business, not even bothering to greet her superior. Now was not the time for such formalities. She found something highly irregular and believed her boss needed to know as soon as possible.
“I’m listening.” The ageing gentleman replied, happy to talk to an operator that got straight to the point.
He listened intently as Shifty explained the situation to him, occasionally emoting by widening his eyes or smiling in delight. A brand-new commander who graduated just yesterday had been immediately sent on a search and rescue mission, and not only had he succeeded in accomplishing his goal but the squad of Nikke under his command had managed to defeat a Blacksmith without any outside assistance. Almost everyone in the squad was injured in some way, from missing limbs to broken bones. Just one Nikke was lost during the battle. The cherry on top was that the mission was meant for four commanders and over ten Nikke. Commander and his squad had achieved what a large unit should’ve done, and he’d done so with only a fraction of the firepower.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
If the man’s office had a window, he just knew he would walk up to it and look outside while he contemplated his next move. In all his years as Deputy Chief, he had never received such a report. Leaning back in his admittedly uncomfortable chair, he chose his response after thinking for a minute. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were pulling my leg, Shifty.”
“I wouldn’t dare, sir.”
“Just run it by me one more time. A fresh-faced commander with no experience took down a Blacksmith with a squad of mostly mass-produced Nikke?”
“That is correct, sir.”
Her voice was almost emotionless. Almost. But the man heard a hint of disbelief in her tone. A slight inflection could be heard when Shifty first explained how Commander beat Blacksmith. She was a numbers person, she ran simulations for everything and tried to get others to act based on the choice with the highest chance of success. While it wasn’t mentioned in Shifty’s report, the Deputy Chief could imagine Shifty explaining the chance of failure was high to the new commander. But that would mean whoever this commander was had decided to ignore Shifty’s probabilities. That was fascinating indeed. When most commanders were faced with adversity they relied heavily on their operator to get them through the day alive, but this one was different. This commander had fought on his own initiative and won despite the odds being against him.
“Should I forward the combat data to you, sir?” Shifty asked after a long silence between them made her anxious.
The Deputy Chief hadn’t realised he’d been consumed by his own thoughts. Coming back to reality, he quickly responded. “No, no. That won’t be necessary. They’re on their way back to the Ark now, right? When will they reach an elevator?”
Pausing for a moment to double check, Shifty replied. “Unfortunately they’re going to have to walk. It’ll take a few hours.”
Sitting up straight in his chair, the man looked at the time in the corner of his monitor once more. If this commander was as promising as he sounded, then they needed to meet as soon as possible. “Shifty, send him to me when he returns. All being well, I’ll have a spare five minutes between meetings. I’ll send you more details soon.”
Being a professional, the Deputy Chief was more than capable of not letting personal thoughts interfere with his job. And yet, there was a sort of boyish joy welling up within him. Something unique was happening. Something different. What could it mean? Was the tide of the war finally about to turn around with this new commander on the scene? If everything went well from here on out then it was possible for humanity to finally reclaim the surface after living underground for decades. He worried civilians in the Ark were used to the status quo and would fear returning to the surface even after all Raptures are destroyed, but the Deputy Chief was especially pleased at the idea. There may be a day where he can hang up his uniform for good and say he helped save the world from Raptures.
“Yes, sir.” Shifty said, bowing her head slightly and ending the call. She had enough to deal with already, rushing around following multiple commanders on various missions. She didn’t have time to wait around for a conversation to end decently, even if that conversation was with her boss. Despite appearing rude, this was the exact reason why Shifty was an up-and-coming star in the land of operators. She took on a large amount of work and just got on with it. If her apparent attitude was her only problem then people would let it slide. Everyone was just grateful to have someone so competent become an operator.
With the man left alone once more, he looked at the clock on his computer for a third time and rushed to stand. He had a meeting very soon, and it was one of great importance. He needed to set an example and show up early. Buttoning up his brown coat and tugging it from the bottom to ensure it was straightened out, the man nodded in satisfaction. He grabbed his admiral hat and black gloves and moved towards the exit of his office. His piercing blue eyes took one last look around the room as he tucked his hat and gloves under his left shoulder, turned the lights off in the room and left through a sliding metal door. All while he did this he couldn’t stop thinking about his meeting with the new, competent commander later today. His first thought was to test them further, so he needed to inform Shifty that Commander needed to arrive with the Nikke he fought alongside. They were going to the Simulation Room.
— — — — —
Commander had finally finished saying his goodbyes to Marian, while Rapi discreetly checked Marian’s body for signs of life, and he knew he couldn’t stay here forever. He couldn’t risk the life of his Nikke because of his own grief. Finally forcing himself away from her body, Commander turned to his squad and began speaking. They were all spaced apart, keeping an eye out for Raptures. “Everyone, we’ve completed our mission. It’s time to head back to the Ark.”
“Unfortunately we can’t send you a transport ship, you’ll have to walk to the nearest elevator. It’s a few hours South-East of your current position.” Shifty popped up on the radio, having been contacted by Rapi not too long ago. She’d heard all about what had happened from Rapi’s point of view and had sent the report to the Deputy Chief after confirming logs from Nikke memory matched what she was told. Considering what the team had been through and how damaged they were, Shifty was trying to show compassion and find them a quick ride back to base, but it just wasn’t possible.
“No problem.” Commander said. “We’ll just have to be careful.”
“Raptures were drawn to your location because of the downed transport ship. At this point you should be safe, you’re moving away from the main city and leaving most Raptures behind.” That wasn’t good enough though. Shifty pulled up sensors from Rapi and Anis, choosing to closely observe the team’s surroundings through them just in case. It would be a real shame if this squad survived so much in one day just to get killed by some random Raptures as they travelled home. Shifty would be sure to keep them out of any more battles.
Without saying anything, Ocean approached Commander with a large white cloth in her hands. She’d scavenged it from one of the many nearby houses. As Commander listened to Shifty and responded by asking if she knew of an optimal route back to the Ark from his current position, Ocean tied two ends of the cloth behind Commander’s neck to create a sling so his broken arm could rest properly. Once Ocean had seated his damaged limb in the comfy sling she backed off as Commander gave her a forced smile as thanks. He didn’t have to force himself for her sake, but she appreciated it nonetheless.
Rapi could’ve complained about the cloth. Everything on the surface was claimed as property of the Ark’s Central Government. People couldn’t just take what they wanted. However, that rule applied for taking items for personal use. A Nikke couldn’t take a poster and hang it up in their room. However, taking some cloth and using it as a sling was a bit different. Not only was Commander a human that had performed his duties to the best of his ability and succeeded, but eventually he wouldn’t need the sling. Once he was done with it, the sling would be given to a hospital for other patients to use. In this case, taking something from the surface was justifiable as it went into the Ark’s system and became property of the Central Government.
As expected, Shifty couldn’t help with directions at first. There was no satellite overhead, which was why they had to climb twenty floors up a skyscraper back in the city. Shifty was limited to seeing what Commander’s Nikke could see, but she could compare their location to maps in the database, eventually figure out where they were and direct them along the fastest route to the Ark. She just needed to see more of their surroundings first. The best thing to do right now was begin walking roughly in the right direction.
“Rapi, Fay, you’re our vanguard. Lead the way.” Commander ordered, watching as his Nikke complied and began walking.
Everyone began moving down the street, but just before they were too far away Commander looked back one last time, a solemn look on his face. Anis, who was without a weapon and walking beside Commander, looked back too. She was discontent with the situation, and she believed Rapi, despite appearing emotionless, felt bad for Marian as well. Anis hadn’t been around this commander long, no one in the squad had, but his qualities were shining through constantly. He seemed heartbroken over losing Marian. It was as if he’d lost a long-time lover. Anis could only imagine that Marian, in her final moments, felt a similar way. The two of them had hit it off well, only to be torn apart far too soon.
Turning away from Marian to focus on moving forward, Commander remained silent for a long while as they all travelled countless streets and avoided Raptures when necessary. There was nothing to say right now and his Nikke didn’t push for a conversation. Anis would occasionally look at Commander out of the corner of her eye and he noticed this, but he still didn’t say anything. He was deep in thought for now.
Anis almost spoke multiple times, but at this point she didn’t want to upset or anger her current commander with any bad jokes. She didn’t want to see his mood worsen because of her. He was the only person to ever show Nikke any decency. If Marian had fallen for the young man, then Anis could understand why. He was a compassionate person. He respected his team and reminded them what it was like to be human. He tried his best to look after Nikke. Even if it was pointless, it wasn’t meaningless. Earlier today Anis had begun to question whether she was jealous of a fellow Nikke for being so close to Commander. The more time passed, the more Anis could see that most of her thoughts were aimed at Commander. The only conclusion she could come to was that she was like Marian. Anis might be falling for Commander.
This was bad. Anis couldn’t help but feel like she was a shallow person for wanting to seek affection from the first human to show her any respect. The first person to treat her like a human. It didn’t feel like love at first sight since it took some time to come around to liking him, but still, there was this nagging voice telling her she was moving too fast. For now she would just suppress any thoughts about the subject and come back to it later. Anis would see how she felt after calming down and having some time to think about it. Even if she did love him, there was no way it was going to work. Commanders couldn’t spend much time around the same Nikke, that was one of the rules created by the Central Government. She would have to deal with being separated from her lover for months at a time. There was also the fact that Marian had just passed away. It’d be awful of Anis to jump into her place so soon.
Unaware that the person next to him was having thoughts similar to his own from earlier today, Commander pushed on despite his grief. If anything, now his grief was fuelling him. Something didn’t add up. It was evident that Marian was responsible for destroying the transport ship, but she acted totally normal afterwards. She went out of her way to ensure his survival. She was herself right until they reached Blacksmith’s territory, and then finally she was overpowered by corruption. But going back to the beginning, Marian was in a corrupt state on BA-01. How? Her mind must’ve been seized at the Ark. That was the only possibility he could imagine. And the only reason to purposely poison a Nikke’s mind was to test something.
Now, at the thought that this was all some kind of experiment, Commander’s blood started to boil. The thought that not just himself but his fellow commanders and Nikke allies were ultimately meaningless to the Ark and could be thrown away without thought lit a fire beneath him. He really wanted to defend humanity and reclaim the surface, but if Marian was sabotaged and purposely corrupted by those she worked for, then Commander had a serious problem with those in power. He just had to make sure never to blame civilians for the corrupt actions of the higher-ups. He wasn’t a terrorist.
As the team avoided a small patrol of Raptures, Commander took his earpiece out of his left ear and put it in his right ear, making it easier for him to use. He pressed two fingers into the device and asked a question. “Shifty, are you there?”
Commander finally noticed how dry his throat was and how hoarse he sounded. Part of it was most definitely due to the way he’d reacted to Marian’s death. Tears had welled up in his eyes and his throat had tightened, making him sound different. Clearing his throat, Commander was overcome with thirst and wanted nothing more than an ice-cold glass of water.
“Always. What do you need?” She replied immediately.
“You said Marian was corrupt, right? She blew up our transport ship but acted fine afterwards. Does that mean she was acting fine before we even got on BA-01?”
Anis’ eyes widened in shock as she looked up at Commander, but he noticed that Rapi looked over her shoulder and appeared to have her usual stoic expression painted on her face. He assumed Rapi had also put two and two together but was probably holding off on saying anything. He couldn’t be sure as to why, but if he had to guess then she was just trying to be respectful so soon after Marian had died.
Understanding what Commander was saying, Shifty went silent for a minute as she leaned back in her mesh desk chair and thought about it. The young man was right to question this, it was a strange occurrence. If Marian was corrupt aboard the transport helicopter, then she had to have been corrupted beforehand. Most likely on the Ark. As far as Shifty was aware, it shouldn’t be possible. A shield known as the Aegis Barrier surrounded the Ark and protected it from any interference from Raptures. But that didn’t change the fact that Marian had been corrupted. Shifty didn’t like it one bit, but she was just an operator. There was nothing she could do.
“For a start I think the reason Marian acted fine was because of you, Commander. A Nikke’s number one priority is the survival of her commander. Seeing as you were still alive, she managed to push the corruption back and do the job she was trained to do.”
Shifty was pretty confident in her claim. The absolute, number one rule of every single Nikke was to protect her commander no matter what. The second rule was to always follow a commander’s orders. As far as Shifty knew, corruption was like a slow acting poison. Even if a Nikke was affected by the poison, they could still act against it for a time. That would explain how Marian was her normal self for a while. But she couldn’t hold it off forever. Eventually she would succumb to the poison. It was just a matter of time.
“Her priorities would’ve shifted out of order because of you. Aboard the ship Marian’s goal was to deal with the commanders and then follow Blacksmith’s coordinates. But then you survived. My guess is that these coordinates are just the Raptures being lazy. Instead of going hunting, they corrupt their food and get the Nikke to come to them. That means it’s based on range. The closer she got to Blacksmith, the easier it was to take her over.”
Everyone went quiet as they detected Raptures a few streets away. They didn’t want to risk being caught now, they were getting close to the elevator. The sun was moving West, down to the horizon, signifying late afternoon. Once they’d passed their enemies without a shootout starting, they all began to focus on Marian again. Anis bit her nails in annoyance, but Rapi and the mass-produced Nikke were stern and didn’t show their emotions. They were definitely feeling tense about the situation though, since if Marian was given to the Raptures in the Ark then it could’ve happened to any of them. They all could’ve been test subjects for a sick experiment resulting in them losing their minds.
Hearing Shifty clear her throat over the radio, they listened as she continued. “I think, by chance, your objective coordinates overlapped with Blacksmith’s location. From the very beginning Marian was leading you to Blacksmith, the corruption probably implanted the location in her mind and she was following it thinking she was following her mission’s objective alongside Commander.” That was one hell of a coincidence, to run into both Blacksmith and Ocean at the coordinates’ destination. There was no way that was on purpose, right? If something is wrong with Ocean then the Aegis Barrier will stop her entering the Ark, but then that means she was bait from the beginning. Shifty didn’t like this one bit, there were too many unknowns. She couldn’t form a cohesive beginning, middle and end using evidence and logic.
Finally Commander and his squad arrived at an elevator. It was hidden inside the basement of a building with large silos once filled with water. A water treatment facility. The facility was made of thick concrete until they got to a moving wall in the basement. From there they entered a tunnel made of thick, near impenetrable metal with pipes and wires running along the ceiling. Lights emitting a blue hue reflected off the shiny metal surfaces and lit the way to the elevator.
Everyone was silent as they walked down metallic hallways, all deep in thought at the implications for what they’d heard. Snapping Commander out of his thoughts was a squad of mass-produced Nikke heading his way. They were just like the mass-produced Nikke in his squad. Product 08, Soldier FA and iDoll Ocean. It was a weird sight to him. To see copies of the same bodies together like that. He was overcome with a sense of dread when he realised at some point he was likely to run into copies of Flower and Sun. He knew they wouldn’t be the same people, they would have different brains, but he would still see them as allies he prematurely lost on his first mission.
Arriving at the elevator, Commander and his Nikke hopped in and descended deep into the Earth as a metal wall with white lights encased their glass elevator, causing occasional bright flashes of light to engulf their ride.
“The Aegis Barriers are strong, they should detect and repel any form of Rapture. That includes corruption.” Rapi spoke up from her position on Commander’s left, unable to withstand everyone’s silence for much longer. It was eating away at her too, and she needed to speak about it aloud. She couldn’t bottle it up within.
“...I don’t want to believe it, but it’s the only possibility, right?” Anis, to Commander’s right, replied. She was a relatively smart person and had followed along with the conversation between Shifty and Commander without any issues. The Ark was keeping a dark secret within.
As the elevator’s shaft continued, metal was replaced by glass to allow citizens coming and going to see the Ark. Commander looked out over the view and narrowed his eyes. Countless blue rings of light surrounded the Ark’s main core, and from there he eyed numerous large discs which housed the various districts of the Ark. “Someone here killed Marian and they need to pay for it.”