The look of shock on my alter ego stung. It stung even more as Orange locked her into a section of the simulation to “download” the blade demon’s memories into her. Some part of what I was doing was criminal. It had to be.
“Well, you got what you wanted.” I let out a sigh. “This is only one step, and now we have a new complication added in.”
Orange nodded. “The plan worked. It was unexpected how swiftly Elveil made a mistake. Was that intentional? We were expecting her to wait at least a few more days. However, dealing with the fact that the sphinx just teleported us into some strange cell comes next.”
I pursed my lips. “There’s one thing that I have to do before that. I need to undo what Elveil did to my body. I’m not spending my life on all sixes. Even though I’m not human, I’m rather attached to a bipedal form. Walking around like some animal is just degrading.”
Orange nodded again. “We recorded all the changes she made. We will begin reversing them when you’re ready.”
I shook my head. “We’re beyond the point of no return on this one, aren’t we, Orange?”
“Undoubtedly.” Orange hung her head. “Once your split personality saw you, she’d tell Elveil if given the opportunity. Then Elveil will do everything to erase you.”
I lowered my head too. “Is that possible? Can either one of us be erased?”
There was a long moment of silence. “We don’t know. There is no president for such a situation, and, as you would put it, we are making this up as we go.”
A soft chuckle slipped from me. “Careful, Orange. You’re sounding more human by the day.”
“We are working on it.”
That’s good to hear. Killa and Shadara are going to love you.
I took a deep breath. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
I exited the simulation and started calling the augments to undo the twisted transformation Elveil put me through. Three hundred and nine thousand and ninety shards later, I was mostly back to normal. There was just one issue. Behind me was a fluffy black fox tail.
I bit my lip. “There’s no getting rid of that, is there?”
You have to exchange it with another upgrade that uses the additional limb augment as a base.
I might as well check the stats on it.
Additional limb, fox tail:
The host has gained a tail attached to the end of their spine. The tail is covered in fur that matches the host’s hair, gaining all the benefits of mana-weave hair level MAX. With the addition of synthetic tendons and synthetic muscles, the host has perfect control of it. All attacks performed by this limb have increased power in proportion to their quickness attribute.
Stat Bonus: +100 Arcane, +30 Agility.
Name:
Rina Lone
Augments:
Predator Android:
Level:
85
Cellular reconstruction
Upgradable
Agility:
740
Cerebral prediction matrix
Weaponized
Arcane:
780
Synthetic eyes lvl. 3
Predator Senses
Power:
406
HUD
Predator’s superiority
Quickness:
1100
Olfactory nexus lvl. 1
Resilience:
610
Echo sensors lvl. 1
Toughness:
620
Mana battery (shadow) integration
Unassigned Points:
22
Synthetic skin (face) lvl. 1
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Shards:
7,779,926
Additional plasma edge stinger arm X2
Plasma edge arm blade X2, retractable
Shadow Powers:
Synthetic tendons lvl. 3
Manifestation lvl. 19
Synthetic muscle lvl. 4
Shaping lvl. 17
Synthetic bones lvl. 3
Distance lvl. 7
Epidermal plating lvl. 3
Anchoring lvl. 3
Nanobot blood replacement
Infusion lvl. 16
Mana-weave hair lvl. MAX
Solidify lvl. 7
Voice projector
Shadow Lycan Form Spell
Plated dragon teeth
Shadow Kitsune Beast Form Spell
Synthetic tongue
Plasma edge leg scythe X2, retractable
Talons
Additional limb (fox tail)
I just stared at my tail. What am I supposed to think? Those are really good stats. Once Shadara sees it—if she sees it—she’s gonna flip and never let it go. I remember when I contracted lycanthropy from Tasha, the idea of me having a tail got her really excited.
I flicked the tail. This thing will send her through the stratosphere. And right now, I don't have any good ideas of what I want to change it to.
Until you do, you’ll just have to put it to good use. This decision can wait for later.
Yeah. We’ve got to figure out what’s going on. The sphinx was kind enough to teleport us without the collar. My hand rubbed my neck where the collar used to sit. It’s absence alone was worth the situation I was in. But I was naked and alone in a full metal cell. There was no sight of a door, and the bars were as thick as my head. The lack of light didn’t bother me since my eyes now could provide enough light for me to see perfectly fine in complete darkness.
The sphinx has a personal jail? Have that many people broken the rules on this floor? It’s a little odd, considering there were no rules or anything that people on the previous floors had to abide by.
No sound could be heard beyond my own shuffling footsteps. I could only see two other cells from where I stood.
“Hello?” I asked.
Nothing. There’s nobody else here but me. Fantastic.
“Why am I here? Elveil orchestrated everything. My other self was simply blindly following orders.” The silence was getting to me, so I started whispering to myself.
“Because you’re going to kill Elveil if you want to live.” I jumped as the sphinx appeared behind me. “Such a dramatic shift in personalities shows that you have many more secrets.”
He’s not even bothering to rhyme anymore. I frowned. “No rhyming? Things must be really bad. How did you escape Elveil? I figured if you took me away from her, she’d try to kill you.”
The sphinx glanced up to the ceiling as if to remember something. “She’s undoubtedly vexed. Though she won’t admit it, more than anything, she’s perplexed.”
I pointed a stinger arm at him while crossing my other arms. “But she let you live. This was all intentional. You waited until after I finished eating the guy to intervene. You’re up to something.”
A shudder rippled through me. I ate an entire person. Elveil really did a number on her. Eating him, and I mean all of him, was so easy for her.
He gave me an amused grin. “Because you’re going to kill her this time.”
“Why am I not surprised?” My shoulders slumped as my head rolled backwards to look up at the ceiling. “I’ve tried. She’s just so much stronger than me. Last time I even did anything, she tortured me until my mind literally split.”
“If you don’t, I’ll kill you,” the sphinx said nonchalantly.
I dropped all of my arms to my sides. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t. It’s just, do you know what you’re asking? As I am now, I’ll be killed. She can use my magic far better than me, and that gives her an advantage that I have to figure out how to overcome. If you want me to succeed, then I need your help.”
He stared at me. “I have a noninterference requirement to keep. I have rules. Helping you isn’t what this can look like. What I’ve done is supposed to be a punishment. But we both know it wasn’t. The Soul Nexus is watching.”
If he’s watching, why doesn’t he do something about Elveil? Is he not scared of her? Well, he should be. Yeah, he did tell me to kill her and helped me by giving me what I asked for.
“Your punishment will get me killed.” I marched to the sphinx and jabbed my finger into his chest. “Right now, you’re way past not getting involved. You want her dead? I’m your best chance, and you know it. Threatening doesn’t serve a purpose. Now, you’ll tell me what you can offer me.”
The sphinx leaned forward and put his nose to mine. “You are correct, if more than a bit rude.”
The warmth of his breath washed over me. I didn’t flinch. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me.
“Rules dictate what I can do. So keep your accusations to yourself.”
This aggressive negotiation method won’t end well, even if it works. Keep your requests to simple things.
We need so much though. “I need shards, my equipment, and time. What can you give me?”
He leaned back. “Time? Elaborate.”
I extended my arm blades and my leg scythes. “On this floor, I met someone who told me about a demon, specifically a blade demon. Like how I can give myself a lycanthrope form, and now a kitsune beast form, I plan on doing the same with a blade demon. Elveil twisted my body into that of a six-legged fox. Now the only thing that remains is this stubborn tail. The malleability of my body is probably my greatest strength and weakness. Now the only thing holding me back is my own mind.”
I put away all the blades and ground my teeth. “Right now, I’m stuffing the memories of a blade demon into my split personality. If I hadn’t done so much to survive, I’d be begging you to kill me right now. Yet, the only thing on my mind is killing Elveil. I would love nothing more than to carve her to pieces until she can’t put herself back together.”
You’re losing control of your emotions.
We’re going to kill her, Orange. This sphinx will help us. If there was a time we will succeed, it’s this time. There’s no other option.
We’re not saying you’re wrong. Just calm down and remain rational.
“Are you finished?” The sphinx’s composure was slowly unraveling, evident in the strain of his clenched jaw. “Does this rant have something to do with why you were looking for Gary?”
I relaxed and walked over to the other side of the cell. “Yeah. I got what I needed from him.”
“And disabled all the golems meant to keep fights from happening in the streets.”
I winced at the sphinx’s snide remark. “Yeah, sorry. I was in a rush and made more than one mistake.”
“I can’t assist you with your equipment problem.” The sphinx sat on his haunches. “All the artisans are disabled, dead, or unavailable. We aren’t capable of providing soul shards either. You’ll need to get those on your own.”
I pursed my lips. “My old equipment will be enough. But it’s currently in Elveil’s base. I can’t go in there if she’s inside it. That’s likely where she went.”
“That we can help with,” the sphinx said with a sly grin.
I arched an eyebrow. “You can?”
“You will have one hour. Make the most of it.” Light enveloped the sphinx and flooded my vision. When it faded, he was gone.
“An hour?” I asked nobody. Then I looked at the bars, still keeping me imprisoned. “And he didn’t even let me out.”