"Anni, get up! School!" Yesa called out from the couch, his wife deep in her morning routine of watching her morning game shows and thus completing her contribution to parenting for the day.
The TV had been set to a volume that made hearing a reply from upstairs usually impossible, yet Kellin was still able to piece together his daughter's shout back from the bathroom. He knew to listen for her; she always replied. It was a small game they liked to play with Yesa, and yet also without her.
Every morning started like this as he watched himself sip coffee from his #1 Dad mug as if in third person and heard the pitter-patter of steps-
"Wait, wh-"
"Morning poppa," Anni called out, himself watching her plant a kiss on his own cheek before turning and skipping toward the kitchen.
Directly toward where he was watching the room from, strangely.
"Good morning Annabelle. Would you like some toast and eggs?" a monotone voice called out from his mouth, standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen.
His view shifted in a disorienting manner, placing itself in his own body sat at the table. Glancing over to Anni, Kellin recognized the home-body of Gypsy, scrawny and built with practicality in mind; an apron draped over her midsection.
"I'd never refuse your breakfast," his daughter replied, tackling the robot's midsection in a hug.
"Annabelle, please remove yourself so I can make you breakfast," the voice replied before turning to look at Kellin, rather than going into the kitchen. "Warning alarm, Suit Breach."
The same reply, the same smiling face looking up at the robot, the same morning they usually went through. He took a sip of his coffee with a soft smile draped over his-
"No, what-" Kellin muttered, massaging his temple with his fingers as a headache came on.
"Gypsy you're silly, it's breakfast time not work time," his daughter replied for him. "Geez, dad. You look sick," Anni remarked, moving towards the table and plopping down next to him. "You should drink some more coffee. It always wakes you up best!"
His headache worsened as he listened, eyes closing as his head tilted to the side and his breathing quickened. His chest hurt and he was beginning to feel a stabbing pain in his right arm-
"Dad, hello?" Anni asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
His eyes were closed but he could see her-
"Dad. Come on, open your eyes. You need to wake up," she continued, lightly smacking his arm.
"Anni, just give me a-"
"Wake up dad," she demanded, prying his hand away from his face as her worried expression entered his vision. "Dad, I said-"
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"WARNING. SUIT BREACH DETECTED. WARNING. SUIT-"
Kellin jerked upward, pain lancing through his body as it refused to lift upward. Opening his eyes, his suit's visor was flashing red and a claw was impaled two inches through the right side of it, trying to dig down toward his eye. The rest of his body felt like it was being tossed about, as if he was on a ship navigating the surface of a planet without dampers installed.
"WARNING. SUIT BREACH DETE-"
"Gyps, silence alarm," he whispered out through a distressed gasp, suit rocking him once again as the blaring noise died off.
His stomach flared in pain and his eyes finally began to focus with it, registering more than just the claw directly in front of him. Above were two infested monstrosities, one trying to pry a hole through his helmet and another raking its claws into his stomach.
Taking in the situation caused his eyes to widen in surprise at the damaged state of... everything. Usually, his suit should have had no trouble fending off the creatures even if he were to take a three-hour long nap under an assault this weak, but now it was as if it were made of... well, just metal. His stomach was deformed and dented inward, blood scattered around the hole the creature was making, and his visor was only half functioning. His left arm was pinned down and non-responsive while his right had multiple punctures.
His mind scrambled for a moment before adrenaline kicked in, focusing his drive to live.
"Actiavte [Shields], now," he croaked out, voice barely recognizable to his own ears.
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'Error, non-functioning,' Gypsy replied immediately in the same monotone feminine voice he'd become used to over the years.
"Bloody... dammed..." he swore, suit still being thrashed.
Every swing of their claws brought him more pain, dulling and sharpening his mind with the agony and adrenaline, forcing him to bite back screams one after another.
"Activate [Close-Range Flares]," he managed to get out finally, remembering another technique he'd purchased long ago to thwart heat-sensing foes.
It would work just as well in this engagement, anyway.
'Error, non-functioning.'
"Well what the hell is functioning then Gyps!?" he yelled, the two creatures atop him stopping their harvesting for a moment as their eight beady eyes turned to stare at his helmet.
'All Systems functioning pro... ErRoR. NoN-ExIStEnt- fILe coRrUP- fiLE nON-,' Gypsy replied, voice disjointed near the end.
Ignoring it, he was already onto plan C, reaching for where his rifle would be. Or trying, as his right arm refused to move. He could feel where it was impaled by one of the rear legs of one of the infested, while the other leaned atop his shoulder.
They didn't halt their attack long and soon after another screech of claws on metal sounded out, followed by an exterior abdomen panel of his suit tearing off. His stomach feel like it had lost his outer layer of skin as a roar of pain escaped his mouth, startling the two monsters. The one trying to get into his helmet removed the arm holding down his left and on impulse, his fist careened over his midsection slammed into the creature's face.
Instead of it getting launched off him into a nearby tree like he was used to, his fist slammed into its jaw and the monster rocked only slightly. It began screaming at his suit and latching onto his arm, tearing into the metal anew as its other claw left his visor.
Every scratch and every bite felt akin to his own skin being torn at as his arm got pinned again, but whether luck or some deity taking pity on him, his right arm became free as the other infested creature moved to rip off his left arm as well. Reaching down with his right hand, he grasped the rifle and with every ounce of strength he could muster, unlatched it and slid it upward out of the holster. His muscles felt broken, ripped apart, or just heavily weakened as he fought for every inch he could to just get the rifle next to his stomach.
The creatures had begun to fight one another in the meantime, the second having shoved the first away when going for his arm. Taking a brief moment to appreciate the simplicity of the creatures, Kellin let go of his rifle's handle and grabbed the barrel, hefting it up onto his chest and dragging it into position atop it like it was a turret. His hand went back to the trigger as he placed his thumb atop it at a weird angle and waited for the right moment.
After nearly a minute of the two swiping at and circling each other, they finally grappled and hit the ground directly next to his arm.
A click sounded out as a single round exploded from the rifle's chamber, blasting a hole the size of a bowling ball through both creatures and breaking his right wrist in the process as his gun flew out of his grasp, landing somewhere among the trees.
The two bodies thudded to the ground next to him as he sighed out, eyes closing. At least that part, minus the insane recoil, had been normal. He looked forward to using what he gained from those two for healing his body. He wasn't sure what threat rank they'd be, but based on the fight they'd given him, it would be well over twenty. He'd never even heard of a swarmer getting that high; they usually just evolved, but he could think of no other reason for the damage he'd sustained.
Finally, a familiar sound appeared in his mind, breaking the eery silence that followed the chaotic environment he'd been in before.
[Credits earned for the defeat of Infantile Swarmer Class individual: .5]
[Credits earned for the defeat of Infantile Swarmer Class individual: .5]
Kellin's eyes opened in disbelief as his mind began to drift in and out of consciousness again.
"Son of-"
[Congratulations on your- ERRo- Congrat- ErROr-]
Countless errors cascading past his eyes despite how fast he tried to dismiss them began to overwhelm his vision. Kellin thought for a moment it might be his suit, but closing his eyes only made the words that much more defined. Much worse as well, as it seemed like he was seeing two of everything.
"Stop- Gypsy, cancel all notification-"
'ErrOr, coMPuTEr OveRlOad-'
"Cancel command," he quickly interrupted, headache reaching new levels of pain as his mind tried to process the extra input. "Manual-"
he started, before remembering he already had complete control of the suit.
He settled on leaving his eyes open, focusing past the plethora of words flitting by as best he could. Instead, using his only somewhat good arm, Kellin began to slowly drag himself toward where he'd seen his rifle disappear to. Every time his elbow hit the soft ground his broken wrist felt the shock, but somehow the pain helped now to keep him grounded and focused.
Wherever he was it was nighttime and with his first movements, a plethora of insects and other noises filled the air, along with the whirring and grating sound of his metal suit as he slowly dragged himself along. He hadn't really had a chance to notice how eerily quiet it had gotten when he shot the rifle, but he felt more comfortable with the foreign sounds.
He came upon a tree and began to prop himself up it, not finding his gun but at least getting himself upright enough to tilt his head to see things other than the ground and the sky above him.
A vast forest, black as night, surrounded him. He couldn't see further than thirty feet in any direction as scant traces of moonlight barely managed to trickle through the canopy above.
Slowing his breathing, he tried to listen for any other noises, but it seemed he was alone for now. Whatever noise he'd made fighting the two Swarmers off seemed to have scared anything nearby enough to not come find out who or what had won.
Finally, after another minute of scrolling text, everything stopped. He almost didn't even realize it had actually stopped, his eyes still seeing afterimages of constant, disjointed text as his mind wavered with the adrenaline slowly wearing off. He'd never once heard of a [System] error ever taking place in his life, and he never wanted to experience one again. It had been an absolute nightmare.
Then, his nightmare continued.
*Ding*
[Congratulations Kellin Finnel, designation #Error, on your first victory in battle! Bonus credits awarded for slaying two combatants above your threat level: 5]
Kellin's mind finally drifted off, blocking out the rest of the [System's] messages that followed.