“You seem to be in much higher spirits as of late,” Orrin noted.
“Is it that obvious?” Fizzy raised an eyebrow.
“With all the smiling and humming? Dare I say so, yes.”
“… Humming?”
The grinning was only natural considering she had only recently learned that Boxxy - the only thing she truly cared about other than herself - was not dead after all.
Or at least that was what Fizzy chose to believe. There could have been any number of explanations for what she saw in Katya’s observatory. Maybe it was another Warlock with an eerily similar familiar and methods, or perhaps some undead monstrosity inhabiting the shapeshifter’s corpse. The Paladin had absolutely no way of knowing for certain, yet she chose to believe that was none other than the Boxxy T. Morningwood. Moreover, once the initial shock of this revelation wore off, she couldn’t help but imagine that it challenged Katya’s apocalyptic blizzard because it was searching for her. That creature always was quite thorough and stubborn when it came to its shinies, and did not hesitate to risk life and limb for the sake of reclaiming the undisputed best prize in its collection. It was this thought that made Fizzy feel wanted like never before, and why she was so unstoppably giddy.
That said, humming was never a habit of hers, no matter how happy she was.
“Hmm, hmm, hum-hum-ha-hum ~♪”
Her alter ego, however, was another story.
Plus?
“Hmm-hum. Yeah? What’s up.”
You’re leaking again.
“Oh! My bad.”
No worries.
Until very recently, this occurrence had been rather rare. Fizzy’s mind had to be almost completely at rest for Plus to ‘leak’ like that, and since the golem never slept that only happened when she daydreamed. Over the past month or so she hadn’t had much to fantasize about until she discovered Boxxy was still alive. Or was it back from the dead? Either was likely. Actually, there was as good a chance that the person she spied from Katya’s observatory was just an eerily similar yet ultimately unrelated Warlock. Stranger coincidences have happened. And yet, despite missing all the facts, Fizzy chose to cast aside her doubts and simply believed that the dastardly box had life in it yet.
Ever since then, her mind would wander back to the countless times she had been in the creature’s many-tentacled embrace. She sorely missed the way it would scrub and polish every nook and cranny until her radiance rivaled the sun’s, not to mention its penetrating leer. Nobody could behold a shiny like Boxxy T. Morningwood, and Fizzy adored that intense appreciation. It was almost addicting, and she couldn’t wait to bask in its all-encompassing gaze again. Such fantasies were what occupied her mind whenever she wasn’t working, and this was one of those times.
Fizzy and Orrin were currently on a small balcony about halfway up the central control tower. New Dragunov’s cold steel exterior stretched out below, with Tascuna’s drained landscape extending from its borders all the way to the horizon. The view was beautiful, in a tragic, haunting sort of way. It made Orrin worry and ponder about the future of the moon and its people while the golem couldn’t give a single rusty bolt. She was just in her own little world, killing time until Katya got back to her with the test results of her latest iteration on the Oscillating Counter-Disruptor. This was her fourth one in the last six lunar days, each revision one step closer to passing that stress test. As it turned out, having something special to return to was an immense source of inspiration and motivation.
Unfortunately Boxxy had likely departed from what was left of Old Dragunov by now, but Fizzy knew where it lived.
“So did anything in particular happen?” Orrin pressed.
“Not especially,” she lied. “Just looking forward to getting back home. I’m almost there. I can feel it.”
“Then you are no longer concerned about Katya going back on her word?”
“Of course, I am. I’m not stupid. And neither is she. I’ll spare you the details, but we worked out an agreement that’ll benefit us both if she allows me to freely use the Astral Nail.”
“I see. That’s reassuring to know. I likewise am looking forward to leaving this place behind. Though I appreciate that she provides for me, I’d rather not stick around any longer than I have to. To that end, might I ask how the project is actually going?”
“Good. Great, even. I’m confident this latest version will pass the stress test with flying colors. After that, I just need to resolve a… manufacturing issue.”
One had to be an Arclight Artificer to recreate Fizzy’s current OCD device. More specifically, they needed the Tick Counter and Electrical Expertise Skills. In addition to the knowledge and enhanced perception of time, these abilities also allowed Fizzy to weave her magic into her contraptions. It was a limited and highly specialized form of enchantment that ensured proper conductivity - or lack thereof - and magical synchronization between a myriad of components. The issue was that, for the OCD to fulfill all of Katya’s requirements, it needed to be viable for automated production. Her machines - including her android proxy - had no souls, therefore their bodies could not accumulate and refine magical power in a way that would manifest itself as a Status. In other words, they could not gain Attributes or Jobs, let alone the all-important Artificer Skills.
Which wasn’t to say there weren’t workarounds. Katya had designed and built a myriad of machines that could channel and conduct mana like water through plumbing. It just couldn’t be used in the production of OCDs since the flow was too rough and unfocused. Therefore, Fizzy had the unpleasant task of ‘demystifying’ her design to a stage where New Dragunov’s factories could manufacture it. That process would take months of painstaking trial and error at the least, and she had no desire to be apart from Boxxy for that long. Thankfully, she could pawn that chore off to Katya. Replacing magic with science was something she had ample experience and success with, the evidence of which was plain to see from that balcony. Yes, that did mean that Fizzy had to share her designs in painstaking detail and therefore potentially render herself obsolete, but that had to happen eventually. She felt better about it now that she convinced Katya that she stood to benefit from their continued cooperation, so the golem wouldn’t have to do much with the demystifying process other than consult and advise as needed.
But first, she had to get to that stage.
“Feezy.”
Katya’s voice blared out of a nearby intercom, startling both the golem and the giant.
“There ees problem,” she continued. “Come to test lab. Now.”
And then it cut out without waiting for a reply.
“Well, she sounded… cross,” the giant remarked.
“Did she? Seemed like her usual self to me.”
“Exactly.”
“Ah-hah. You’re not wrong.”
“Is this about that manufacturing issue you mentioned?”
“I doubt it. It’s probably the stupid EM capacitor again. I’ve reinforced it like four times already, but it keeps overloading. I was so sure I finally got it right this time.”
“Sounds rough. Best not keep our host waiting, though.”
“Yeah. Later, Orrin.”
“Take care. I’ll be here if you need me.”
A long elevator ride and a brisk walk later, Fizzy returned to Katya’s proving grounds. Upon entering the observation room and peeking at the reinforced glass chambers below, she was both relieved and puzzled to find that her latest OCD was not spewing out sparks and smoke. In fact, it seemed to be humming along quite nicely. There wasn’t any obvious issue with it, so the golem turned to the android at the control station.
“What did my OCD do this time?”
“Hm? Oh, your machine ees fine. Eet passed the test as you said.”
“It did?! Alright!”
“Yes, yes, congratulations are in order, but that ees not why I called you here.”
“Right, sorry. So, what’s this problem?”
It must have been quite serious given the total lack of mirth on Katya’s face despite the successful trial.
“Eet ees the gremlins. They destroyed a rail bridge.”
She pointed at one of the monitors on the wall. On it was a green-on-black digital map of a relatively remote area with a train track going through it, represented by an unbroken white line. The section that crossed over a narrow yet deep canyon was painted red and blinking, no doubt signifying a critical fault. Seeing this made Fizzy’s confusion transform into annoyance.
“I fail to see how this is my problem. I mean, I get that you don’t like your infrastructure tampered with, but what am I supposed to do about it?”
The otherworlder glared down at the irate golem for several seconds before she closed her glowing yellow eyes and let out a synthetic sigh.
“Apologies. You lack context. I will elaborate. That was only latest attack.”
She waved her hand at the monitor and the map was replaced with aerial photos of several demolished sites.
“They also hit a storage yard, a biofuel pipeline, a power relay station, and a listening post. With this attack on the bridge, that ees five acts of sabotage in ten lunar days. Ees more than the last thirty six years combined.”
“… Really? They attacked you less than five times for three and a half decades?”
“Successfully, yes. Most attempts I have repelled easily. A few times they get lucky, but never so much een such a short time. I am not sure how they did eet, but evidence suggests they found a way to mobilize their disruption magic against me.”
Well, that certainly helped explain why Katya was in a foul mood. Until now, the hostilities between her and the locals had been locked in a protracted stalemate. She couldn’t invade their jungle because of their magical countermeasures, and they couldn’t force her off Tascuna because her army of machines had the upper hand beyond that territory. If this recent development was any indication, the scales were about to tip against Katya. She obviously didn’t like this and was no doubt looking for a way to swing things around before they got out of hand, hence why this problem was also Fizzy’s problem.
“Oh, I get it,” the golem nodded. “So you want to rush OCD development after all.”
“Ees become necessary, unfortunately. I have analyzed the schematics you gave me - excellent penmanship, by the way - and devised a way to accelerate the development process. I need your cooperation to make it happen.”
“Alright. I’m listening.”
“Not here. Follow me to the briefing room. Easier to explain on a big screen.”
Once there, Katya went into a long, dry, and extremely technical summation of her idea. For her part, all Fizzy had to do was allow her internal mana signature to be recorded and analyzed through specialized equipment. The otherworlder claimed that, with enough data, she could figure out a way for her factories to mimic the Artificer Skills that made the latest iteration of the OCD possible. Fizzy had no reason to doubt this as she had seen evidence of such automation present in Katya’s industrial technology. Her expertise in this matter was especially evident when it came to the generation, storage, and distribution of power. Those so-called solar panels she had covering nearly every rooftop, for example. Converting light into electricity was unheard of back on Terrania, and surely required some form of Artificer magic to function.
After hearing the otherworlder out, Fizzy found no reason to object to the proposed accelerated development method. If anything, she welcomed it. Right now her biggest concern was getting back to Azurvale as quickly as golemly possible. The fastest way to accomplish this - aside from getting launched at Terrania and hoping she survived the drop - was to fulfill her agreement with Katya. This was an excellent opportunity to expedite the process, and Fizzy would be a fool not to take advantage of it. So, she agreed and immediately got to it.
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The actual scanning process wasn’t going to be something as mundane as standing still while Katya waved some mysterious doodads around. Strange devices were involved, but they had to be affixed to the golem’s torso. A circular disc of some kind was strapped to her chest, right under her modest domes. The harness that secured this circular contraption also held a second device against her back and on her shoulders. It was similar in appearance to Fizzy’s old charge pack, though much bulkier and with a large antenna sticking out of it at an upward angle. The way Katya explained it, this equipment would measure magical fluctuations within the construct and remotely transmit that data for analysis. Once outfitted, the golem would have to produce a wide range of the aforementioned fluctuations for the instruments to observe, and the best way to do that was, apparently, through active combat.
That was the long and short of how Fizzy found herself aboard Katya’s cargo helicopter yet again. She was on route to a hotspot of plant monster activity. Those things would make poor sport, but it was more efficient to beat up the local flora than to smash up the Original Artificer’s battle bots. Orrin was naturally with her since combat support was the only thing he actually got to do around here. He had been told very little about this outing other than it was a monster hunting expedition, and that he was to avoid casting Spells on the golem unless it was absolutely necessary. The giant clearly wasn’t thrilled about this sudden bout of secrecy, but he didn’t say anything. At least, not until he and Fizzy were up in the air.
“So what’s this really about?”
“Hm? Oh, Katya didn’t tell you?”
“If she had, I would not be asking.”
“Right. Uh… to summarize, the locals are rapidly becoming a bigger problem, so Katya wants to rush production of my OCD device.”
“I see. And that ridiculous get-up is somehow part of it?”
“Mhm.”
“What does it do, exactly?”
“It’s mana measuring equipment.”
“Is it?”
“Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You’re the tinkerer here. You tell me.”
In other words, Orrin wasn’t just expressing doubt, but actually asking whether the golem was certain this gear didn’t fulfil some ulterior function.
“Uh… Huh. I’m not too sure, actually. This tech is still too advanced for me to tell at a glance.”
That and, as per usual, it had a lot of non-metallic components that Fizzy couldn’t ‘see’ without cracking the thing open. The device was completely unknown to her beyond what she’d been told about it. The only familiar aspect was the tickle-like sensation she felt in her core while wearing it. She perceived something similar while standing in the field generated by her own invention, so magical emissions were definitely involved. Her knowledge of the arcane was limited, but she knew that Boxxy’s Mana Locator Gland perceived its surroundings by sending out waves of magic that ‘bounced’ back at it whenever they passed through matter. Katya’s equipment most likely used similar methods if her boasted competence regarding mimicry of such things was to be believed.
Wait, this doesn’t seem right.
It was only at this point that Fizzy realized something. She was so eager to appease Katya and reunite with her Hero that she subconsciously made a whole bunch of assumptions and overlooked several questionable details. For one thing, if these really were simply observation waves, then why were they so intense that she could actually feel them? Secondly, if Katya’s goal was to replicate her arcane crafting abilities, then why was she intent on studying combat data? Furthermore, this supposed monitoring equipment seemed… suspiciously hefty. So much so that it actually messed with her sense of balance. Admittedly Fizzy didn’t know much about Katya’s sensor technology, but from what she’d seen the Original Artificer was a stickler for efficiency and would not miss an opportunity to cut weight. Last but not least, this harness and backpack fit Fizzy’s frame a bit too well for something that was supposedly made in the last few days, especially since Katya had never even mentioned measurements.
“Something the matter?”
Having noticed the golem’s mood turn, Orrin naturally questioned it.
“Potentially. Hey, Katya?”
She called out to the loudspeaker in the upper corner of the vehicle’s cargo bay, and it replied.
“Yes? What ees eet, devochka?”
“Turn this thing around. I’m not alright with this after all.”
“I would not recommend you go on foot. Even you would need several-”
“Not about that. I’m talking about this weird machinery you strapped on me.”
“I told you, ees monitoring equipment.”
“And I’ve decided that I don’t trust that it is.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so! I will be glad to explain een greater detail once you are back!”
“Why didn’t you do that before? Or right now?”
“You did not ask, and I require visual aids to properly educate you.”
“Great. Let’s do that. For now I’ll be taking it off if you don’t mind.”
Fizzy reached for the disc on her chest with the intent of removing it and undoing the strap buckle underneath. However, her hand locked up the instant she grabbed it and refused to budge.
“I’m sorry Feezy, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”
Katya’s ‘monitoring equipment’ suddenly intensified its output. What the golem would have previously equated to a light tickle instantly spiked to a suffocating pressure that prevented her from moving a single finger. Seeing the construct suddenly go as stiff as a board made Orrin realize that their host had finally turned on them. He rose from his seat with his staff at the ready, but was unsure of what exactly was going on, let alone how to stop it.
“Ah, yes. The extra,” Katya sneered over the radio.
“What did you do to Fizzy?!”
“Nothing that concerns dead weight like you.”
The cargo helicopter’s loading ramp creaked to life as it started opening mid-flight without slowing its speed, letting in a rush of wind and the roaring of its engine. The vehicle then suddenly jerked upward at an awkward angle in an attempt to drop Orrin like the mother of all potato sacks. The giant managed to just barely keep himself from tumbling down the back by pressing a hand against the ceiling and pushing down with his feet, effectively wedging himself in the relatively short, narrow, and long space. It was precisely at times like these that the Priest was thankful for his immense size and uncanny strength. Thankfully he needn’t concern himself with Fizzy succumbing to gravity since, unlike himself, she was still securely strapped into her seat.
Finding himself with little other recourse, Orrin let go of his staff. Though he wasn’t happy to see it tumble out of the vehicle and fall to the sparsely forested ground below, he needed that hand. He reached into his vestments and took out a souvenir he and Fizzy had brought back from their first trip to the jungle. It was a little enchanted piece of stone that Katya had not been made privy to, and that the golem had jokingly designated a ‘rocky-talky.’
“Tony!” he yelled into it. “The villain has shown her hand! Fizzy’s down and she’s trying to throw me out!”
“Ah-hah-ha!” the hobgoblin’s mocking laughter came through. “Took her long enough.”
“Can you assist?!”
“No worries! Me and my little friends are on de way.”
“Ah. There eet ees,” Katya’s voice crackled. “Should have known.”
Though the Original Artificer lied about a whole slew of things to convince Fizzy to put on that disc and backpack, the recent spike in gnomish activity was not one of them. While a convenient excuse, it was also a very real concern. She had no idea where their sudden competence stemmed from until just now, when it became apparent that the tall freak and the green freak were secretly working with them and against her all this time. She suspected a security leak might be the cause, though she expected it to come from her less-than-willing assistant. That was why she goaded her into donning that apparatus and sent her on this wild goose chase - to distract her while the machine did its thing. It was a shame, really. Katya wouldn’t have resorted to this had she known Orrin was the mole, but she had clearly underestimated him. It was a mistake she did not wish to repeat.
After rapidly reassessing her evaluation of the Priest, the Original Artificer decided it was time to have her newest pawn remove him from the board altogether.
“Feezy. Kill Orrin.”
The golem’s eyes snapped open. Her head turned towards the giant, who was horrified at what her vacant stare and blank expression entailed. He liked the implications of her reaching for her wrench even less.
“Don’t listen to her, Fizzy! You can fight this!”
“Ha! As eef! She ees mine and mine alone! Observe!”
Katya’s gloating was punctuated by a bone-cracking swing to Orrin’s left leg.
“Rrrgh!”
It hurt tremendously, but the giant managed to grit his teeth and bear it without slacking his limbs. For better or for worse, he would not have to maintain his perilous position for long since the helicopter was incapable of staying airborne at that strange angle and was rapidly leveling out. Fizzy didn’t wait. She ripped through her seatbelts and proceeded to wrench Orrin in his other leg. The giant’s posture gave way and he tumbled down the inclined floor for several enormous steps before he came to a kneeling halt. The golem closed in and swung at his temple. With her ridiculous strength propelling that dense lump of metal, it was all but assured that his brains would be splattered against the wall… if the strike connected as intended. Fortunately the golem’s footing slipped on the tilted floor and she lurched forward, hitting Orrin in the shoulder with the handle rather than in the skull with the business end. It was still supremely painful, but far less lethal.
At this point, the giant realized he was done for. Whatever Katya had done to Fizzy may have made her movements a bit dull and clumsy, but that was only relative to her usual self. She was still a far better fighter than he could ever be, even more so when his staff was hurtling towards the ground thousands of meters below. The giant’s broken body would follow suit shortly after, and unlike Tony’s fall, Katya would make sure he didn’t walk away from the landing. But that was fine. Orrin knew in his heart he would not survive his part in this conflict when he decided he could not sit idly by and allow the sons and daughters of Tascuna to be slaughtered by these machines. He wanted to. Solus forgive him, he did. He sorely missed his friends and family, and the thought of never seeing them again hurt far worse than anything Fizzy’s blows could do to him.
Ultimately, as a devout follower of the God of Light and Life, he could not forsake an entire people for his own selfish wants. When Orrin first heard Tony call out through that enchanted trinket in his pocket, he was given a chance to make a difference. On that day, the Priest chose life.
“I will make sure to burn your corpse for fuel.”
And in this moment, as Katya continued her remote taunts and Fizzy was winding up for another heavy blow, Orrin chose death.
“You’ll have to find it first!”
The giant threw up his hands. His left caught the golem’s swing, giving him a shattered wrist for his trouble. His right scooped up the mithril construct. Though he could only guess at what plans the heartless woman had for the Paladin, he knew he had to put a stop to them. That was why he mustered what strength he had left to hurl both himself and Fizzy from the cargo helicopter. The golem wrenched herself free from his gri[ as they fell, and grasped onto his vestments as she got ready to resume the pummeling. As she swung at his face, however, her elbow suddenly jerked to the side and the strike missed completely. Orrin managed to force her off and push her away. Being much smaller and much denser, the mithril construct accelerated towards the ground significantly faster than he did. She maintained her blank stare as she plummeted ahead, until all Orrin could see of her was a white glimmer that would eventually disappear in a cloud of dust upon impact with the grasslands below.
She’d probably survive. The giant definitely wouldn’t. There were things he might’ve done - magic he could have invoked or perhaps a Skill to save his life. However, the beating he got had been as brutal as it was brief. It took everything he had not to pass out from the pain, and the hard landing was sure to finish the job. For better or for worse, Orrin’s part in this was over. He had done everything he could and given everything he had. With that thought for comfort, he closed his eyes and waited for the end. But then, the wind rushing through his golden mane ceased. The burning agony in all his limbs abated, and a warm light pierced through his eyelids. Yet try as he might, the giant was unable to open them. He could not move at all, not even to draw breath. Despite this, he remained as he was - still, suspended, and bathing in this comforting glow. If this was Mortimer’s embrace, then it really wasn’t all that bad.
“Orrin Mildenhall!”
A man’s voice boomed in his head.
“You absolute unit! I’m amazed you fit into that flying tin can with balls that massive!”
It was a jolly, upbeat tone full of vim and vigor that surely could not belong to a deity that presided over the grim business of death.
“For real, though. It warms my heart to see one such as you continue to carry the torch despite my prolonged silence.”
Orrin’s mind filled with shock and awe as he realized exactly who was speaking to him, provided this wasn’t some near-death delirium.
“Yes. ‘Tis I, Solus, recently awoken from a deep slumber. I have since heard your prayers, and have been made aware of your dire straits. I regret not reaching out to you sooner, but I did not wish to squander what little power I had regained. A fool, I was. A bloody fool! How could I sit here and worry about myself when good people must throw their lives away in a desperate bid to save untold thousands?! I can not, I say!”
The warm glow enveloping the stupefied giant then intensified into a blazing wave that made the desert heat feel like a pleasant day of spring.
“Will you help me prevent this tragedy, Orrin Mildenhall? Will you bear my light and serve as my beacon on the mortal realm?”
Though he felt as if every fiber of his being was on fire, the giant’s soul shouted out as loud as it could.
“I will! I must!”
“Then speak, Orrin. Say the words I see in your heart. Yell them loudly and proudly, for everyone on Tascuna to hear!”
In the next instant, the giant was falling again. His limbs ached, his ears whistled, his breath stalled, and his chest burned, but none of that stopped him from giving voice to his fervent wish.
“Fear not, for all will be well!”
[You have received a divine revelation from Solus. FTH +10.]
[Feat of strength performed! You have unlocked a new Perk: Hero of the Sun.]
[Proficiency level increased. Lifebringer’s Touch is now Level 1.]
[Proficiency level increased. Celestial Avatar is now Level 1.]
[Proficiency level increased. Essence Concealment is now Level 1.]
[Celestial Avatar is now in effect.]
[All Attributes +500. HP recovery +1,000%.]
As Orrin accepted his new power and duty, his body erupted into a golden radiance that rivaled that of the actual sun far above him. His very flesh transformed into solidified light that poured out of him in every direction. It took the giant several moments to come to terms with the transformation and the seemingly boundless pool of energy that welled up in his breast. Once he got his bearings, he realized he was floating several meters off the ground. As he lowered himself, he couldn’t help but smile at the fresh grass underfoot rapidly grew from his ankles all the way to his knees. His joy only lasted for a few moments before the greenery wilted and died, its meagre life force already spent.
The giant turned his gaze skyward and fixed it on the flying machine that was in the midst of turning around, dozens of flying drones spilling out of its sides. Orrin raised a hand towards the mechanical swarm and wished them no more. A concentrated cone of heat shot out from his palm and enveloped the helicopter and bots alike. A few moments and a couple of explosions later, all of them fell to the ground in a shower of flaming wreckage. He didn’t do this out of malice, vengeance, or pettiness. Well, not entirely. While it felt good to get some payback, his main concern was still keeping Fizzy out of Katya’s clutches. With the aerial nuisance dealt with, he turned his gaze towards where the golem had made landfall. At least he didn’t have to worry about tracking her down or wonder about her wellbeing.
Unfortunately, that was because she was charging at him with an expression that calmly stated, ‘I have no strong feelings one way or the other.’