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{Loaded.}
[>>Now replaying: Log 3.14 - Powerwolf]
Date: Error
Location: The Bunker at Progress’ Head // Zephyro’s Domain
//Amen and attack//
//In nomine Veritas, in Nomine Filii et Patris…//
[>>DATA CORRUPTED]
E3 %So maybe the machines on that island are new, too?%
E1 %Exactly, Tin.%
E2 %You just want to distract from what she did after she returned.%
The Wolf landed with an effortless, almost languid motion that made the rooftop shake under our feet. The Feral’s voice was like the bass of a dozen faulty speakers. His fur was black wires and warning tape and patches in the dried-blood color of rust. His eyes glowed red with thousands of lines of code writing and deleting themselves as he stalked toward Zephyro.
I couldn’t stop the memories.
> A campfire. Confidence blown away like lies written in ash. A torch. Hubris making way for fear. The endless, eternal, omnipotent fear.
>
> My God!
>
> Dark fur.
>
> The howl is so loud and I can’t hear anything else. Breath, hot and wet against my exposed skin where the robe has been ripped to shreds. I raise my hand. I scream. I hear the bells. Feel the pressure escaping my core. My wish shoots out of me and into the wolf. All the blood drains from my face and limbs when it grows. And grows. And grows. It screams, tortured. It is a hideous thing now, mouths uncountable.
>
> Branches snap against my face, leave a scar on my chin as skin ruptures and blood flows.
>
> The wolves don’t follow, but relief, and shame do. They settle into me, wearing deep groves into my psyche.
>
> Guilt grabs me by the throat when I return to see the village burning. The endless grief on Chris’ face as he (still a he, then) comes stumbling out, bleeding, dying.
>
> They are all dead, Samantha. It was the wolf, it—. So large! Gods, so large. And the teeth, I— Gods, why are you punishing us so?
>
> And then, that look on his face that I will never forget, switching from grief to sympathy in the time it takes a butterfly to flap its wings.
>
> Don’t blame yourself, Sam. It was massive. No one could have killed that. Shhh, Sam. Shh… We should have believed the tales. Ethar should never have sent you after it. Shhh, Samantha. You’re good. There was nothing you could have done. You’re good. You’re good. Don’t cry. You’re good.
The world was a blur, and I heard nothing but my pulse roaring in my ears and the faint sound of a bell tolling in my soul. The memory faded. I was moving, dashing toward the wolf, pulling the Torch from its loop, pushing Zephyro aside, jumping in a leaping strike towards the wolf’s snarling face, all before I could form another thought.
With the press of a button, the torch came alive, a split second before it hit the wolf’s face. The beast snarled, widened its stance, and howled, piercing through the sanguine haze that echoed in my head. I stumbled backward, my teeth crashing against each other as I hit the ground. I did not stay down long, rolled, and narrowly dodged dark claws. They sank into the solid brick like hot butter.
I got to my feet, and brought up the Torch just in time to ram it into something soft and wet. Only after the Wolf had already howled again and pulled back did I realize I had thrust the Torch deep into the roof of its mouth.
It snarled, blood oozing from its snout. When it set its feet, its electronic fur bristled with red lighting.
I stopped screaming and panted. I had been screaming? When had I started? My pulse pounded in my throat, making it hard to breathe. I flicked my free hand over my eyes, clearing them of tears. My ears popped.
Stolen story; please report.
“—ere is it, Sultana? By Allah, let me help!”
‘It’s right there!’ I tried to say, but my throat was too dry and the words didn’t come out. The wolf rushed forward, I wheezed a rasping breath that should have been a scream, and then something dark and stinking of machine oil hit me in the stomach. The world halted for a second. Red lighting crackled over massive fur. Then the paw shrunk away and the floor moved underneath me until something large and hard hit my back and the world tilted and spun and I faced the alley down below and the emptiness between it and the dirt floor.
I spun as I fell, idly noticing a spiderweb of cracks in a neighboring house’s wall far above me, where I had slammed into it, and then the floor hit my side and head and stars exploded in my vision.
{CPU Load: 99%}
{Core Temp: 88° C}
{[Arx, Saint's Embrace] HAS BEEN DISABLED.}
Everything hurt.
Breathing hurt, moving hurt, thinking hurt, and everything was so hot and felt so hard…
The ground shook. I weakly moved my head and saw the wolf approaching at an almost leisurely pace. It either climbed down incredibly fast or just jumped, falling two stories without taking any damage at all.
“FEAST.” It said, staring me down along its wire-covered, wicked snout.
I whimpered. I actually whimpered. I couldn’t do anything. I was hopeless. There was nothing I could do. There was nothing— Nothing but rage.
Like a lighthouse rushing in from the distance, it burned, heating my skin and singing my thoughts of weakness. I offered it no resistance and accepted the power it gave me without a second thought.
I slammed my hand against the ground to get up and screamed in pain and anger because the damn hand was broken and the pain held me back. My stupid, fucking body was betraying me again.
I rolled to my other side and pushed myself up against a wall. The wolf didn’t seem to mind my struggles. The wolf was in no hurry. The wolf was inevitable. It was my end and my doom.
Its languid movements spoke of the saddened exasperation of a disappointed parent. A mocking suggestion wrote itself in its sizzling red lighting.
I should run. Make it fun at least.
No...
NO!
I took a stumbling step forward, facing the beast. My torch blazed. I would not run again. A voice deep within me asked if the anger was still helping, if it still gave good advice.
Yes.
The anger held me together, it pushed me forward, just like it had for so very, very long. It would give me strength. It was the only thing that protected me, the only thing I could always rely on. Why had I ever stopped accepting it? I’d never let it go again. Never again succumb to fear and helplessness.
I took another step and my leg just gave in. It was broken. How could a digital leg be broken? The Feral hadn’t pulled any essence from me as far as I could tell. I should be fine. Sure, my CPU ran a bit hot, but why would that make everything hurt? It hurt so much. Oh god, it hurt so much. I just wanted it to stop.
No!
No…
No weakness, only fury.
Something landed behind me, and a blue shield sprung up between myself and the Monster. It snarled, frustrated that its toy had been taken away, and with a terrifying burst of speed that sent tremors through what little remained of my hate-fueled confidence, it rammed into the barrier. The shield flashed brightly at the impact. When the light faded, a few cracks showed in its swirling surface.
“Sultana!” Zephyro screamed. He looked terrible, all scared and weak and panicked. No, no, needed to save the anger for the Wolf… The vizier was by my side. When had that happened?
“…hurts…” I said.
“You are overheating. This exertion is too much for you to handle! You can’t keep your Essence stable anymore!”
“…how…?”
{memOS - currently consuming: 3 LKB Memory, 90% CPU}
{Current task: Restoring: Samantha_v1//personality_matrix.mp25 - 15%}
{SAINTECH DPM v0.1 - WAITING - currently consuming: 2 LKB Memory, 8% CPU (-12%!)}
{drivers_sensory_Sam_v_0.1 - WAITING - currently consuming: 2 LKB, 2% CPU (-8%!)}
“…what…?”
“Use your blessing, Sultana. You need more qua! More vigor! More errr—CPU!”
I tried to focus. It hurt so much. The wolf slammed into the barrier again. There were more cracks now. I felt for the hottest part inside me, somewhere between my heart and my head, maybe both at once, and exhaled.
{CONSUMED LOGIC - 60 LB}
{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 82 LB}
{Processor: SAINTECH Alpha 2 1400X 1-Core Processor
IS NOW
Processor: SAINTECH Alpha 2 1700X 1-Core Processor}
{CPU Load: 98%}
{Core Temp: 85° C}
A bell rang hot and wild, its sound slowly fading while still being struck, like a firetruck speeding away. The Wolf howled, hungry and desperate like it was starving.
Immediately, everything hurt less. The anger forced me to stand, but when I tried to, I winced in pain. My arm and leg were still broken, unable to bear any weight.
“Fuck!” I hissed. The wolf slammed against the field again. It creaked and sizzled, and the stench of ozone filled the air. Whenever the animal landed after an attack, I could feel the earth shuddering under its paws.
Breathing was still far harder than it had any business to be. Perhaps I had suffered some internal damage, too. I blinked. Broken Bones, internal damage… How can that even be possible? Isn’t this just a simulation? Who the fuck would code something like this into a simulation? I knew for a fact it hadn’t been Chris. They might be a stubborn ass sometimes, but they weren’t a sadistic ass. And yet, my anger tried to latch onto the thought, to roar and fight and defend myself.
I barely managed to hold it down.