The pounding pain in my head is making it hard to see more than indistinct shadows, but I don't need the detail to know how close I am to being eviscerated. Every iota of sensory data available is filtering through my sluggish mind, as I search for anything, anything, that can be used to help me. "I can't stop them physically, I can't remove myself from the situation, I have no abilities, I have no weapons, I'm in an empty room with nowhere to hide, I'm entirely surrounded-" Something half way between a choked sob and a laugh escapes my throat unbidden. "This... this feels really permanent, you know? You sure you don't want to talk about it some more? Maybe... maybe make me a j-job offer?" The crushing pain in my head and my swelling throat is making it hard to speak, but my words are the only thing left available to me, and so I continue to wield them to the best of my ability.
"Seriously!" I say, my voice cracking. My head hurts so much, I can't focus, my arms are shaking from the pain or maybe the adrenaline and I can't remember... I can't remember. "Seriously guys...!" I repeat, in hopes that I can jog my memory, but they're moments away from being in arms reach, less than a second before-
"STOP," I yell, in a panic. There's no greater plan, no follow up; it's just sheer, unadulterated begging for my life spilling out of my mouth, and against all odds... it works. The pressure in my skull has abated, and my vision is still in the process of clearing, but it is actually clearing. My limbs no longer feel like they're stuffed with weights, and I stumble to my feet, trying my best to make myself presentable, to use the momentary respite to my advantage. "The next thing out of this mouth needs to be perfect," I think, my mouth half open as I take in gulps of air. The adrenaline still flowing through my system is making my jittery, and I'm shaking as though cold, even though the room is a touch above what I would consider a comfortable temperature. My eyes jump between masked face to masked face as I take a small step backwards to try to put as many in my field of view as possible. As I do though, I bump into the pillar directly behind me, smacking my hand on the rock hard material.
"You're in the middle of the room," my mind helpfully reminds me, and my already elevated heart rate jumps up another notch from the new influx of adrenaline. I try to spin around, but my sense of balance is off, and it takes me an extra two steps to make the full rotation. My hands raise in front of my face, in the vague idea of a boxer's stance. "Thumbs outside," I think, as my mind solves the image in front of me. It's a cool white humanoid, as tall as I am, with what appears to be clothes, although are very much not. Teal and red accents subtly adorn the figure, and small Orokin script marks the inside of it's left hand thigh as it stands stock still in front of me. It has no face, no eyes to make contact with, and on both sides of it's head are flat tipped horns jutting out perpendicularly.
"Loki," I let slip in English, looking at the warframe a mere 10 inches from my face. As though in response to my word, it's head shifts, ever so subtly, and I know for a fact that the operator inside is staring at me. "The Tenno recognize the sovereignty of the Unum," echoes out the voice of the Lotus. I feel my heart drop into the pit of stomach at the declaration. "They're here to make sure the job is done. I'm dead twice over, it just hasn't kicked in yet," I think, taking an unconscious step backwards. My eyes catch the flicker of movement, and suddenly I feel tension gripping my shoulder. A second later, my brain plays catch up, filling in the missing frames. I double check for posterity, and as expected, the Loki's cool hand is on me, their grip inviolable. "However," continues the alto voice of the Sentient, "this offworlder is under our protection."
"What?" "What?" For the second time in less than 24 hours, I find myself at a loss for words. "What the fuck is she playing at?" I think, trying to make eye contact (or what passes for eye contact) with the warframe. It doesn't shift it's head or make any indication that it's noticed, however. "Her death is writ," booms the Unum's voice. Unlike before, the sound is now actually coming from some source in the room, and I can hear it bounce around in the space, the orb above echoing in time with the words. "You will not stop me in this." At this declaration, the Quills begin moving forward again, a noticeable hesitation in their movements. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for them, they had all stepped back when Loki appeared behind me, leaving me no longer in immediate stabbing range. "Protector of Cetus, Eyes of the Plains... I'd really prefer to not put any holes in your walls," says a voice.
My eyes snap to the Loki. The voice sounded somewhat like the Lotus but... "Was that synthesized? Like a Lotus voice effect for the operator? Why?" The potential new revelation is placed on the ever growing pile of back burner thoughts, as I return my attention to the the closing Quills. There is a brief moment of tense silence; the Quills looking at each other and us, my eyes darting between the various masked enemies and their knives, and the Loki, who was seemingly not reacting at all. "Alright, sorry in advance," says the Loki, still utterly still. "What? What are they doing?" I think, as I look them over. "What is Loki's kit? How could they put a hole in a wall? They have invis and switch teleport... and I don't know what the other stuff is! Who plays Loki in 2024?!"
BOOM
My mind is already on the edge when an explosion goes off somewhere to my left. Fragments of bone shatter and smash on the floor, spinning and sliding along it as they make their way into the room. The sound pushes through the space, and I feel the pressure wave try to knock me over. My soul does it's best attempt at leaving my body, and it's only due to the continuing grip of the Loki that I stay standing. In the slowly clearing dust, a huge, brown barrel of a figure comes rushing into the room, the smoke curling around to fill the void left behind by their form. "Rhino," is the only thought that flashes through my mind, as I watch a number of the Quills whirl around to face the new threat. At the same time, however, I feel the Loki behind me shift, before taking their hand off of my shoulder.
My neck is sore from whipping back and forth, but I do once more just in time to see Loki take a single step, before rotating around and throwing their hands out in front of them, as though shoving the air. As they do, the space in front of their hands quickly contracts, refracting light for a moment, before exploding out. The space expands out rapidly, forming a bubble, and I flinch as it passes over me, but it seems to have little effect, beyond an incredibly odd tingle. At the edge of the bubble is a light, or possibly some sort of energy, and within a single one of my frantic heartbeats, the bubble expands past the Quill members as well. The ability has a much more noticeable effect on the knife wielding adherents, however. Their weapons rapidly disassemble; blades and handles scatter themselves on the smooth floor beneath, leaving the Quills effectively neutered.
Loki continues to rotate though, and they lower their center of mass to the ground, before hooking an arm around my waist, yanking me off my feet. "WHAT THE FUCK-" is the only thing that slips out of my mouth, before I'm thrown towards the vaulted ceiling, all air leaving my lungs as I go. I find myself about 15 feet in the air, and the rotation of my body leaves me with a clear view of the Loki gearing up for a jump beneath me. Right as I start to reach the crest of my flight - nearly within grabbing distance of the Unum orb - the Loki springs up into the air, a graceful spin to their movement, with their arms out to grab me. "Bullet jump," my mind helpfully reminds me a moment before the Loki reaches me. The second they do, I feel a sudden twist, a pull, and a squeeze, as the world is folded towards me. There's a brief flash of blue, of e̶n̶d̴l̷e̵s̴s̴ b̴̬̀r̷͕͛í̵͈ḡ̶̝h̷̘̚t̶̤̕ ̶̨̛̤͚̬̟͂̉̚s̸̖̎̉͋̓͝p̷a̴̳̻̳̜̎̐̀́ŕ̴͝͝k̷̛̠̰̜̠̱͆i̸̡̛̲͎̹͐̈͗̅͗n̸͈̰̙͔͋͂́͠g̷̜̪̰̻͖͐̅̋͘͜ ̸̨̹͓͈̬̘͓̭͈̆̓͆̉̆͘̚̕͝t̴͈͖̬̠̪̎̎͊͜ẁ̸̡̛̞̝͔͇̱͉͍́̀́̑͘̚͜ĩ̷̖͙͔̼̯̗̗͙͔̑̊͠͝ş̵̛̛̠̯͉̋͊͋͛͜t̴̢̛̘̯̤̹͕̘̔̋͑͘͝į̶̜̱͛͒̿͐͑͑̃n̵̺̻̎͂͌̂͗̽͋̚͝g̴̟̟̝̲̳̮̀͋͋̑̍̈́͝ ̸̨͕̳͈͙͕͚̩͓̰́̈͋͆͐̒̽̒̿͊͆͛͛̈́̆͆̒̂͘͝ǵ̵̢̡̡̛̠̜̦͕͉͍̠͎̤̪̳̩̳̮̺͙̱̇̽̐̏̓̀̈̄̿̉̓̐̀̌̀̚͝l̴̮̲̫̜̼̜̳̾͒̓̑̾̈́̈̋̊́̿̓̎̐̉̒͗̚̚̕o̴̢̢̩̱̫̺̗͕̥̞̺͔̗̒͐̋͆̂̓̓̒̋́͐̌́̀̽̄̕͝ͅw̷̡̺͉̤͖͉̲̺̺̥̺͚͖̜͋̍̿́̕͝͝ͅi̵̧̨̨͙̩͙͚̟̝̙͉̘̦͔͎̯̬̭͉͍͛́̒̏̾̈́̈́͐͜͠n̶̡̡̡̮͍̱̼̫͇͕̤̹̼̙̯͔̰̟̎̇̎̉̎̔̈́̽̏̔̐͂͝͝͝ͅğ̵̝͈͒̿
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
and I find myself still held by the frame, on solid ground, behind the Quills. I desperately look around, trying to wrap my head around whatever just happened, when a new boom echoes through the space, knocking over a handful of the Quills. "Switch teleport, Rhino passive," I think, as my eyes land on the Rhino in the center of the circle, the paneled ground warped and bent underneath him. My eyes pass over the unarmed Quills squaring up with the absolute unit of a warframe, as Loki sets me down on my feet. "Sucks to suck." Unfortunately, not every Quill is so preoccupied, and as a few take a step towards us, I unsteadily glance at the Loki, whose unnerving faceless gaze meets mine. "Follow me," says the synthesized voice of Rebecca Ford / Margulis / Natah / Lotus, and the Loki sprints through the Rhino shaped hole in the wall. My legs feel numb, and my feet feel like swimming flippers, but I do my best to keep pace with the frame as they sprint into what appears to be a religious gathering of some sort.
A number of what appears to be high ranking adherents and well dressed tourists are milling about, some looking through the hole left by the Rhino, but Loki fjords a path through them as we move. He is literally picking people up by the arms and moving them out of the way, occasionally switch teleporting with some, and creating an unobstructed path for me to follow. As I do, the adherents and company fill in the gap behind, creating less of a wide road and more of a bubble through the crowd as we make our way through the space. "If we get clear of this crowd we're pretty much home free," I think, just as doors along the room release a flood of new Quills into the space. "Yea... that one's on me."
Unlike the Quills from the Unum's chamber, these one come equipped with guns, and my breath gets short as they start to raise their weapons towards me. "Don't flinch, don't panic, keep running!" my mind shouts, as every muscle in my body cringes for the inevitable pain. I hear gunfire go off, a crack sound causing my ears to ring, but a quick tactile check-in finds no wounds. The crowd is screaming now; their panicked back and forth in front of me both easier and harder to navigate. "Because apparently the Rhino knocking over the wall isn't cause for concern, but the gunfire is," I think, dodging left and right as I try to avoid getting bowled over by a tourist. I glance behind myself, and catch a glimpse of the Rhino playing the part of a mobile shield; their form literally soaking up the damage from the weapons, intentionally taking shots rather than avoiding them. "Iron skin," I think, as I return focus in front of me.
Just as I do, I manage to see the Loki pull a throwing knife from their side, and shatter a window in front of us. "What's he aiming a-" I wonder briefly, before ice shoots down my spine. "This motherfucker wants me to jump out the window." I get no time to consider other options; as the thought crosses my mind, I slow unintentionally, and Loki's head spins as I do. "Hold on," I say, my hands held in front of me placatingly. The Loki takes one step towards me, then another, and then sprints straight toward the window, throwing themselves bodily into the open air. "Why?" I think, as I start to pick up pace towards the edge. I have no plans as I approach it beyond 'watch the Loki do something space ninja-esque', but I only manage to take a few steps before that same twisting pulling squeezing feeling washes over me, and I find myself without ground underneath my feet.
My skydiving muscle memory kicks in, and I immediately put my arms and legs out in an X position, keeping myself steady as I start to drop. I try to yell, but the sky has stolen my voice, and all I see is the sparkling ocean and the lights of Cetus. I spin myself 180 degrees, just in time to see Loki shoot past me like a bullet, falling down towards the open door of a dropship. "What sort of-" He comes to a roll, before spinning to look at me, and there's one more twist pull switch teleport before I find myself laying spread eagle on the cool metal of the ship, all momentum robbed. "I'm gettin' real tired of that," I think, as I scramble to my feet. Outside the ship and 30 to 40 feet above us, I see the Loki falling through the air, before angling towards the wall of the Unum. As he does, he passes by us, and I grab on to a handle bar before looking out the dropship door to see the frame connect to a section of the Unum's outer wall below.
He slides down the slick surface a few feet, before bullet jumping off of it, straight towards the ship. I can feel in my stomach more than I can see the ship descending slightly, and the two meet perfectly in the middle so that the Loki can take a gentle step up on to the edge of the open door, with no more effort than stepping up onto a porch. "You'll catch a fly," I say to myself, and I make a concentrated effort to close my slack jaw and lower my eyebrows. Beyond the hum of the ship's engine, there's silence in the cargo bay, and I'm at a loss for words, until I feel the ship start to ascend. "Wait, wait!" I say, my voice panicked. "We gotta go back for Ko-lee! My girlfriend! We-I don't know where she is, maybe harvesting? Or something? We need to go back! I'm not leaving without her!" The rushing wind is the only response, and I can feel the ship continuing to rise.
"Fuck fuck fuck! I need to do something! I need something to convince them! What do I..." my head snaps up towards the Loki. "The Reservoir is in danger," I say, feeling a shudder go through me. "Card played." There is a second or two where nothing happens, before the Loki's head calmly turns to look at me. I open my mouth to capitalize on the moment. "Not right this second, and not from me, obviously, but soon! I just needed to get your attention, and I will tell you what I know, but right now we have to get Ko-lee. I am not leaving without her." My hand aches from the iron grip I have on the handle next to my head, and I just stare at the Loki, as the wind whips around in the shuttle. I take a step towards the open door, and let go of the handle, standing freely under the power of my own two legs, a mere foot and a half from a 100+ story drop. "They'd just switch teleport me back in, but it's the principle," I think, as I raise my foot to take another step.
Ironically, I'm less scared about jumping from the dropship than I was about being thrown out the window, mainly due to the familiarity, but I don't need to follow through on the threat, as I hear the voice of the Lotus once more. "We'll grab her," they say, before smoothly pivoting, and making their way to the cabin to ostensibly speak to the pilot. I'm unable to hear any voices through the closed doors, but less than ten seconds later, the ship stops rising. I hear the sound of the engine shifting, adjusting in some way, and it slowly starts descending, rotating around the outside of the Unum to face a completely different side than the one we came from. The Loki walks out of the cabin and steps next to me, before suddenly, there's two of them. I jump slightly, and my gaze swaps between the moving Loki and the clone.
"I guess that is the last ability. Clone, or something," I think, as I look at the insanely detailed copy. The ship has settled at this point, facing a dark window I'm unable to see in, but my attention is fully on this clone, unsure of it's role in the extraction. I reach out to touch it, and my hand passes straight through it, the surface simply clipping through me like a misaligned video game model. "Weird," I think, as I pull my hand out of the hologram. Not a moment after I do, the real Loki beside me vanishes with a slight pop, replaced by my girlfriend, with a frazzled look on her face. Her eyes are wide as she gets up from her hands and knees, and it's a moment before she notices my presence. "Antimony?" she says, as I give her a hand. "Whats happening?"
The ship starts to ascend once more, and the clone Loki reaches out to gently move me backwards, before reaching for a button to close the shuttle door. I look at the warframe, the closing door of the dropship, the slowly retreating image of the Unum, and my shocked girlfriend, feeling my mind doing it's best to adjust to the sudden new reality. Still hopped up on a gallon of adrenaline, I bark out a laugh, and give her a crooked smile. "I think I just got fired."