“If you are hearing this, it means we failed.”
The pained voice rings out across the room, speaking a message it had clearly hoped no one would ever have to hear.
“This temple was designed to protect us during our war against The System and its creator… We found a way to free ourselves from its clutches but in doing so found the whole world at our throats.”
The voice is rather androgynous so I can’t make out a gender, just that the person who is speaking has very little hope for their cause.
I can see Alice looking confused as she can’t hear what I am hearing, so I begin to transcribe the speech with a bit of light for her to read. I thread small amounts of light together in the same way I have learned from her little speech bubbles since we entered this temple.
“The fact that you are here means that our own system has determined that you are a candidate to pick up our cause. However I will warn you that this choice will make you an enemy of the entire world.”
There is a rather heavy pause in the voice’s monologue, before it continues with the only truth that this message being played can mean.
“We failed, and unless you are confident in your ability to live with the consequences of this decision, I suggest you leave now.”
A light directs my vision to the wall behind us and I see a door appear where the cube had previously shut. I am being given a clear out right now, but I have no intention of backing down. After all, I am the kind of person who thinks being an enemy of the entire world sounds like fun.
I turn to Alice and she nods at me, indicating her conviction as well.
We did not come this far just to turn and run away. I didn’t risk my life and nearly die so many times to not get my reward, no matter how lethal that reward may be.
“We are not leaving. How do we disconnect from The System?”
In response a colder, more monotone voice rings out. Whatever system they designed to run this temple and combat the system that controls the world is seemingly more primitive compared to the sleek and manipulative design of the World Order System.
“Cooperation detected. Activating system detachment service.”
And right as the voice finishes it's rather simple, blunt string of preset statements, a chair pops out of the ground, perfectly fit to my size. A metallic band sitting right around where my neck would be once I sat down.
“Please sit down so that the device may shield your mana core.”
Looking at my only true friend in this or any world I smile wryly with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, I guess we should sit in the highly suspicious and creepy chair?”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
[ Yes, that seems to be the case. ]
And with that short decision I begin moving. Walking forward I plop myself down and lean my back into the seat making sure my neck is right against the metallic band.
As soon as I am in place the band wraps around my neck, locking me in place. I can feel the mana flowing around my mana core in strange and complex patterns. Maybe it is because of my experience working with the mana cores of my golems, but I can somewhat understand what it is doing. There seems to be a certain passageway within the network of mana threads that is being patched over.
The movement of the threads is surprisingly simple, however I get the feeling that the only reason the device can do this so easily is because we are already disconnected from The System in here. If it tried to do this outside of the temple's safe zone I am certain The System would fight back pretty hard. And I doubt that would be a pleasant fight.
After a few seconds the metallic band around my neck pops off with a sharp clicking sound. Taking that as the cue that the process is complete I stand up from the somehow rather comfortable chair despite it being made of whatever strange black metal or stone that this whole temple is constructed out of. Just as I stand up the whole chair rapidly sinks into the floor and blends into the flat surface as though it had never been there in the first place.
One final time the cold emotionless voice of the temple’s system speaks out, wishing us luck.
“Detachment complete. Mana signature recorded. Clearance granted. This facility is now under your control. May you grant freedom to the world.”
[ Well fuck, no pressue then. ]
I had to agree with Alice on this one; They could have sugar coated things a bit more.
Standing there in the glowing rune covered room within the cube I contemplate things for a moment. There are so many things I want to look over in this temple but for now there is something more important that I need to take care of before I forget.
Cracking my neck I sit right down on the floor of the cube and pull out the few remaining golem cores I have left. Placing the pebble sized green crystals on the floor I pick up a single one and begin practicing what I just learned.
I move my mana in the same pattern I felt the machine weave, running threads of mana over the core, searching for the same structure it had found in mine. It takes a few minutes, sitting in absolute silence. Alice not even bothering to quip at me because of the importance of this task. It was hard to recognize because of the differences in the mana core compared to my own but I see the small network of threads that the system latches on to.
Grabbing a hold of those threads I reweave them to block off the entry point as best I can. But, as expected, I am far from the machine that was designed with this purpose in mind. The threads snap and the mana core in my hand bursts, sending a wave of mana and crystal shrapnel flying around the room.
Lowering my hand from my eyes after having shielded them instinctively I begin pulling the fragments of the mana core out of my face and arm. It is a good thing I am practicing on these small cores instead of on myself or a living person.
Seeing me pause Alice takes the opportunity to snipe at me for my masterful work.
[ You really have a talent for nearly killing yourself, don’t you. ]
“Oh, shut it. Unless you want to try?”
Alice takes a moment to think before shrugging and turning around to continue inspecting the space.
[ It is your magic that is suited for replicating the spell. It would be a waste of time for me to learn how to do it. ]
“But you can use my magic if I give you permission.”
[ And while I am ever so fond of the little psychopath that you are, I do not wish to stay attached to you forever. Having a physical body of my own would be nice one of these days. ]
I can only shrug at her reasoning and get back to replicating the shielding spell. However I do notice a faint warmth spread over my body as the cuts from the explosion heal. Alice’s doing no doubt.
It takes me several hours and quite a bit of shrapnel to the face before I manage to successfully shield the mana core in my hand without it blowing up on me.
“Hell yes! I did it!”
For my excitement I simply get a disapproving glare from Alice considering the tiny number of golem cores I have left compared to when I started. However she does not say anything considering that replicating this spell was a rather high priority. That or my genius has simply left her speechless.
Standing up and dusting off the remaining mana core fragments of my tattered clothes I exit the cube. I would love to be able to use [Lesser Clean] and [Lesser Repair] right now but sadly those are system functions, not that they really did all that much in the first place. I would have tried to look around, but Alice had already scoped out the whole space, and was unable to find anything of interest within the cube itself.
Just as I step out into the main hall of the temple I find a certain figure waiting for me. An old friend who kicked me off a cliff for its own amusement. A certain bastard I never wanted to meet again.
“Howdy.”
The smiling shadow waves its blurry hand at me in a casual motion as though we are just friends meeting up for a coffee. Its glowing red eyes smiling along with its eerie cracked white grin.
“Congratulations on breaking free of the system. Now how about we make a deal?”