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Subject Zero
Chapter 12: Glitch In The System

Chapter 12: Glitch In The System

4th of March, 2192

Over the company-wide speakers

Natalie has done something in the server room that has caused the whole building's power to go down. Obviously, it is back now, but we don't know why being in the server room would do that unless she accidentally did something. Oh, wait a moment, how do I turn this off? Oh, I think I've got it. Okay, what did you need?

Over the intercom, still

What!? She did what? Where is she?

Okay, I'm back; Natalie has disappeared. We don't know where she has gone, but she has done something to the servers, and it has caused anomalies to pop up all over the game world. Thankfully, we have yet to initiate the game world expansion pack. So now we have to find all these anomalies and fix them. That is going to be everyone's job today. I will look into Natalie and you guys fix the game.

Isa stared at the monster before her; that was all she could think of. That had to be a monster; what else could you categorize that as? Actually, it looked like something out of Resident Evil 21. I assume that was the last one made; I have not paid much attention to the normal-style video games.

The monster roared and spoke in a guttural language that Isa couldn't understand, ending with "Laura."

So maybe this thing’s name is Laura?

Isa frantically ran behind something as "Laura" threw a boulder at her. Isa quickly figured out that that was a feint, though. The boulder had Isa moving, and Laura stretched her arm to impossible lengths and grabbed Isa by the ankle, pulling her in.

Be Aware: New bind point set

Okay, this is not good. Now I spawn in with this thing having grabbed me by the ankle…

Isa turned to face Laura and fired a bolt at her eye… but Laura’s eye just moved away.

Okay, so weak points are not a thing with Laura.

Isa proceeded to fire a Slow Bolt at Laura's arm, holding her. That slowed only the arm down, holding her and nothing else about Laura. So Laura sent out her other arm to what looked like a suffocating Isa. Isa fired a Glass' Edge at the shoulder joint holding her, severing the arm, which quickly turned into a blob and jumped back at Laura, reforming in seconds.

Isa had no recourse at this point. She had no idea what to do… Then a thought came to her. It was a last resort, but this monster deserved last-resort behavior. Isa quickly looked around and spotted an area of the ceiling that hadn't dropped yet. Isa ran over to that area and tried to bait Laura to come as well. Laura fell for it and started barreling at her using an explosive run style with her mutated legs. Thankfully Isa got there in time and sent a Slow Bolt at Laura's chest. It struck, and Laura's whole body slowed down.

Oh, thank goodness, I thought that wouldn't get her whole body.

Isa looked up and fired a Glass Edge at the ceiling, causing a large piece to come crashing down. The piece struck Laura right in the head, and her body caved in. Laura wasn't done, but pieces of her large mass turned black and seemed useless now.

Laura got up and was noticeably smaller. Laura shot out a hand, and the arm stretched and stretched, becoming thinner and thinner, before it grabbed Isa again. Isa saw how thin the hand was that grabbed her, pulled out her knife, and stabbed it repeatedly. Isa then severed the hand. The hand turned into a blob, but Isa fired out a Firebolt, which struck the hand and caused it to go black. Laura was now visibly deformed from spreading herself out.

This fight seemed to be more and more in Isa's favor. Laura slowly made her way over to try to attack again but seemed hesitant to attack for some reason. Isa shot another Firebolt and struck Laura in the shoulder, followed by a Glass' Edge to sever it.

Isa was testing to see if attacking and then severing the arm would kill it off or if it had to be severed and then attacked. The arm flopped to the ground and started contorting, like in pain or something.

The arm tried to re-attach itself to Laura but was failing for now. Isa fired a Glass Edge out at the arm to sever it again. Once the arm was severed again, it turned into a pile of mush and fell still.

Laura looked visibly different now; she had only one arm, was smaller, and had a mass in some places but not others. Laura reminded Isa of a lifter who only did legs right now.

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Laura attacked again, so slowly, Isa stepped out of the way and fired a Glass' Edge at Laura's neck, severing her head from her body. Isa followed it up with a Fast Bolt on the chest of Laura's body so that it would move away from Laura's head. Isa ended the battle with a quick Glass' Edge to Laura's head.

The head dissolved away, making a screeching sound that could only be described as piercing "nails on a chalkboard." Then a semi-translucent orb floated above Laura's head as it rotted away. Isa had no idea what the orb would do, but she could only assume it had something to do with the instanced dungeon.

Isa cautiously touched the orb.

Be Aware: You have found the Orb of the Deformed Amalgamation. Would you like to loot Orb of the Deformed Amalgamation?

[Yes] or [No]

Isa wasn't getting any prompts saying that she had completed the dungeon, so she assumed that she had to choose yes or no before the dungeon would be completed.

"Yes," Isa said.

Be Aware: You have looted an unregistered item. Item not found. Item seeding. Item cannot be seeded. Would you like to loot still?

[Yes] or [No]

"Yes," Isa repeated.

Be Aware: You have looted unregistered items. You have gained.

100 soul points

Ability: Deform

Ability: Re-Attach

Ability: Re-Grow

Ability: Detach

Ability: Extend

Ability: Explode

Ability: Shapeshift

Ability: Re-Locate

Ability: Soul Construction

Would you like to learn what these abilities entail?

[Yes] or [No]

Isa, slightly frustrated, said, "Yes… please".

Ability: Deform – You can change the shape of your body to fit through smaller places or avoid attacks. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable. Deform can also be used with Explode. See Explode for further understanding.

Ability: Re-Attach – Can re-attach limbs that have gotten cut or blown off as long as there is some matter of limb available. More matter = faster reconstitution. Ability can be used at any point. I.E., If a limb is reconstituted right away versus a day later, it does not matter. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable.

Ability: Re-Grow – Can regrow lost parts of the body. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable. Costs stamina at a rate of 5/s to use Re-Grow.

Ability: Detach – Can detach pieces of your body. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable, and it can be used in conjunction with Re-Attach.

Ability: Extend – Can extend limbs as far as mass will allow. The integrity of limbs is compromised the further you extend. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable. Use Detach for a throwable limb.

Ability: Explode – Can explosively move parts of the body as an attack. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable. It can be used with an unattached limb or in conjunction with Extend. It can also be used in a bullet form by reshaping the arm into a gun-like shape. Explore your imagination to figure out other uses.

Ability: Shapeshift – Able to shapeshift at will. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable. This ability requires initial mana to activate, but continued use is mana free. Your imagination only limits forms of shapeshifting. Not able to fly using Shapeshift.

Ability: Re-Locate – can re-locate internal organs to other places in the body. Physics does not apply to these re-locations. I.E., The brain can be moved to another part of the body or spread out without anything more than a thought. This ability will be permanently imprinted on your brain, making it intrinsically usable.

Ability: Soul Construction: Constructs a soul. This is a one-time use ability. It will fundamentally change you. Allows for the use of soul points after integration.

"Woah," Isa commented before the pain started. Intense pain that almost made her pass out. Maybe she did; she wasn't sure exactly. Then she, most definitely, did pass out.

Isa woke up what felt like hours later. The pain was gone, and in its place were powers that she just knew how to use. Without thinking about it, she just knew how to use them.

A prompt was still in her vision when she finally looked around.

Be Aware: Would you like to start Soul Construction? This process is not integrated into the game world, so repercussions are possible. Would you like to start?

[Yes] or [No]

Isa read it and then read it again and again. She wanted to know what these repercussions could be. But then again, the bold never got any further without taking risks. Isa nodded assent… The process began.

The pain that she had had before was nothing compared to the pain she was feeling now. It was a tearing pain. A pain that felt like thousands of nails were being stabbed into her stomach, all at the same time. Isa passed out again.

WHAT IS HAPPE………………

4th of March, 2192

Over the company speakers:

We have to find Natalie NOW! She has potentially leaked sensitive information about My Ancestors or the erased data we need. I am telling everyone to stop whatever projects they are doing and find her.