Godclads

This track goes out to all my consangs in the Yuulden-Yang Sovereignty. Don’t know what the hells is happening over your skies, but it looks like the Fifth Guild War just started right on top of you. Of course, with the Nether conveniently down, things aren’t so easy to verify.

What a shame, huh? You lucky half-strands might be the first ones off to the Big Empty. Maybe the rest of us will be seeing you all real soon when the rest of the punches start falling.

Anyway, come tomorrow what may, right now, the rest of us can still enjoy the phantom calm of dead midnight for a while longer.

This is “Zero-Burn,” mixed by Un-Euclid and Fat-Flechette, with a post-mortem big-up to The… Siren of the Misted Shores…

Shit.

Dream well, Ainesieef. I told you chasing apotheosis was going to get you snuffed. So uh… yeah.

Just enjoy the track, juvs.

It’s all us little people got sometimes.

-Calla Marlowe, The FATELESS Thoughtcast

10-34

Fallout (II)

Every Godclad inflicted deviations to reality’s pattern. Blood, wind, light, lightning, or even the act of moving left of oneself was susceptible to alternation. In this–and from how Draus noticed Abrel’s hubris–Avo found himself on the path of a new curriculum: Studying the potential canons of rival Heavens.

The Sage of the Sundered Sky was immense in ontological mass and effect. Kae had once spoken about vulgarity and scope. In vulgarity, it had torn the sky-scarring blast waves he made from his acceleration out of existence; in scope, the effect spread across the entirety of the Sovereignty.

Nothing that could inflict damage or move flowed when the Sage tightened its grasp.

For the briefest of instants, Avo caught sight of the Heaven as he peeked out from the stygian pond he swam in.

Colossal didn’t begin to describe its visage. With the Darkstar painting the world below like a lantern burning the colors of midnight mauve, the Sage sank through the darkness of the oily skies as a titan seeking to greet land. Smoke tasseled about its form while the atmosphere adorned it with a burning robe.

Through the obfuscation, all that Avo could tell of it were the ring of open hands hovering around it. Two intersecting circles made up of eight open palms implanted with blazing cyclopean eyes shone through the flames like a cross-shaped beacon. Besides the single eye in the palm of each hand, there was also a deliberately designed wound on each–fingers were missing from each of them, with a progression of wounds popping in and out, moving from one to the next.

Whatever canon or symbology it represented was beyond Avo. Perhaps something to do with sight. Perhaps something more altogether.

The Sage was of the Eight Sphere. It could have had hundreds of canons. Or maybe it just towered high from a few specific metaphysical domains.

Regardless, the thrill in him went dry and the beast stopped salivating altogether. The notion of hunting and preying upon a Paladin remained a faraway prospect unless something drastic happened.

+Shit,+ Chambers choked, wincing mentally as the Sage loomed closer. +That’s one big-ass god-bitch. Alright. What’s the plan, consangs? How are we getting out of this? Avo? Reg?+

Avo was about to answer when the Heaven suddenly winked out. The shift was disorienting. The weight vanished, and with it went the film of oil.

Where once an obscured Heaven comprised of countless palms stretched across the entirety of the viewable sky, now there was but the surface of the void, bare and exposed. Innumerable satellites scintillated like drifting grains of dust across all that was black. Orbitals, as Walton had called them. Voidships too.

Something inside Avo shivered. The sky. He had been so consumed by fighting and fleeing and feeding that hadn’t realized he was beneath the natural sky again. Something itched in the back of his mind, expecting there to be a holographic error of some kind–for a panel above him to flicker error codes or spew cheap Nether-ads down at him.

+They’re tryin’ to bait us out,+ Draus said. +Don’t know why. If they’d seen us…+ Her mind remained taut with tension, like a war bow drawn but never released. +We might want go Zero-Burn anyhow if it ain’t too late. With our Heavens fully manifested and cyclers running hot, our Frames are probably like campfires lit on the Thousand Plains.+

+Can’t use canons at Zero-Burn,+ Avo replied.

+Think that’s how Jhred couldn't make you—how Abrel and her cadre couldn’t make you when they thought you were just a bioform…+

Her mind went silent as a body suddenly stuttered into existence mere feet away from the shadows they dwelled in. Abrel’s body slid down against a glitching holo-ad pylon, white exoskeletal carapace cracked, just like her mind was. Her fingers twitched. Her legs kicked. She made several noises. None of them words.

+Jaus, what the fuck,+ Chambers said. +She’s makin’ those… nu-whale noises. That’s kinda…+ His Lustaway activated. Avo considered ejecting Chambers out into the light. +Heh. Sorry. Thought about a vicarity I liked. Anyway, what’s happening? You ghost her mind apart and she just… drops in front of us?+

+It’s a warnin’,+ Draus said. +They know we’re here. They’re tryin’ to get us to come out on our own.+

As another wail whistled loud from Abrel’s enhanced lungs, Essus shivered and released himself from the form of his Heaven. Essus returned to his human form and clamped to hands around his head in the passageway, mumbling to himself as he tried not to hear.

It took Avo a second to understand - Abrel’s screams trespassed into the territory of child-like in instances. With a thought, he narrowed the father’s perception closer to deafness.

Essus breathed. His hands slipped from his head as he hugged himself. +Thank you, my friend.+ He clenched his teeth and bobbed as the Twice-Walker hovered behind him. Chambers continued to peer out the edge of the passageway leading, but with the Woundshaper shifted back into subreality, the only feed he had to the outside was through Avo himself.

Reality shuddered again. Suddenly, the airways over the district were lined with thousands upon thousands of drones, with twelve deltas bleeding prismastic exhaust into the real. None of those entities concerned Avo as much as the presence of a new figure standing next to Abrel.

His muscular appearance and visible metallic whorls curving around the side of his face marked him as a warrior by trade, while the way he sipped an extra-large drink of Strawberry-flavored SURGEMAX made it seem like he really didn’t want to be here. His posture was slouched, but that did nothing to diminish his imposing presence.

Circuits emanating soft light crenulated his marble-smooth chocolate-hued skin. Lattices of ocean blue flowed out from a jutting implant built into his spine over the rugged double-breasted leather coat he wore. On his collar was a holo-id that projected his Paladin service number and public-use Auto-Seance contact details. A fog spread around him, growing into sixteen floating hands that expanded in a ring as grey irises spread open along their epicenters. Meanwhile, the man’s own eyes were solid grey.

Mustering a breath, he drained his soft drink empty and handed the cup off to one of his fog-shaped hands, which then promptly chucked the drink off the edge of the district before offering everyone present a vulgar gesture.

Letting out a breath, the man looked at Abrel, still moaning against the ground, and then directed his gaze at the shadows.

+Does… does he know we’re here?+ Chambers asked.

+Probably,+ Avo said.

+Yes,+ Draus said.

Essus, still looped into the conversation, offered little to no input, choosing instead to remanifest himself as the Gate and close himself shut.

The Paladin cleared his throat and took a seat right next to the darkness. As he settled, an impossible weight followed him, and even in the dark, every movement turned into a struggle.

The ocean-blue motes of his utility-fog module formed hands to hold him aloft as he began to speak. “Have you guys been having a long week? Because if so, I get it.” His voice was soft and accented with an audible lisp. He licked his lips between words and lulls expanded between the gaps of his speech. “Listen, I know you guys are there. My Heaven feels your Frames. Saw some of the escape too. It was… something. It’ll make you Nether-famous if that’s what you wanted.”

He pointed up at the burning, shredded sky. “You know, that canon’s not use-legal in the confines of the city proper. I’ll have to cite you for that as well when everything else is tallied.”

+Cite?+ Avo didn’t understand.

But Draus did. +Yeah. He thinks we’re Fallwalkers. Or Guilder ‘Clads. Don’t blame ‘em. But I don’t like our odds of foolin’ him if we pop out anyhow. We ain’t registered nowhere, and it won’t be much of a dive to find out if we’re lyin’ to him or not if we let ‘em hold us.+

The Paladin continued. “I’m Naeko. Samir Naeko. Some call me Chief. I usually pretend those people don’t exist. Right now though, I’m going to need you to help me with something, alright?” He looked up at the sky. “I’m going to ask you for a favor. Come out. I promise there won’t be any temp-deathing or nulling or any of that. Just come out and… please, for the love of Jaus, don’t make this a fight. I’m tired. I want to go home. You don’t want to be smeared. I think we can come to an agreement there, right?”

+Avo,+ Chambers muttered, +Avo, I think this guy’s making a lot of sense. Not being smeared sounds pretty gleam.+ He paused. +But… if we don’t really want to come out… What can he do about that?+

+Rend-bomb us,+ Draus said. +Paradox the canon somehow.+

Chambers considered that for a moment. +Alright… And what happens if we come out?+

+They hold us in a demiplane. They find out about Avo’s Frame. They find out about our Frames. We all get ungrafted, the Guilds descend into a political shitstorm, a bunch of squires, snuffers, and Incubi try to end us, and Avo doesn’t get to eat any more eyes.+

Avo wished he could direct a glare at Draus at that moment.

+You said they’re gonna take our Frames?+ Chambers asked, voice thin.

+Well, they ain’t technically ours. They belonged to–+

+Fuck this motherfucker,+ Chambers interrupted. +Avo, you tell that bald Paladin fuck that we’re gonna null his rust-ass like we did that Guilder next to him.+

A beat passed. +We?+ Avo said.

+It was a team effort.+

Avo tried remembering what Chambers did beyond falling and burning a few drones.

Draus sighed. +Chambers, we ain’t fightin’ through a Sphere-Eight like that. Not unless you got somethin’—an angle he just didn’t consider.+

Her words proved to be a mistake.

+We can’t really… die, now can we?+ Chambers asked. Avo didn’t like where this conversation was going.

+Can die,+ Avo said. +Can resurrect.+

+Same thing. But–and this is just a thought–what if we all just, you know, like, give him the… the rash.+

Silence swept through the four-way ghostlink.

+What?+ Avo said, mind refusing to align with the suggestion.

+We… we give him the rash?+ Chambers said. +He’s a ‘Clad. We’re ‘Clads. None of us can die, but if we give him the rash. Like… like I’m ready to make this sacrifice for us. I’m ready. I will hug him with no pants.+

+Chambers,+ Draus grunted, struggling to compse her words, +what the fuck are you talking about?+

+I’m talking about drastic measures, Reg. I’m talking about doing what’s necessary.+

Naeko spoke. “Are you guys talking with each other in there? Trying to get your stories straight? That’s fine.” He sighed. “It’s not like I’m trying to get back to a limited-time event or anything.”

+How does giving the Paladin a rash fix anything?+

+Alright,+ Chambers said. +Picture this: Paladin giving birth to screaming homunculi from his eyes.+

Essus’ mood flagged further. +I do not want to think of such things.+

The ultimate half-strand pushed on. +You have to! It’s unexpected. It’s our only edge. So, here’s what I’m thinking, right? Avo, you send me out there and I expose myself and try to hug the Paladin.+

Utter disbelief tore through Draus’ mind. +He… he’ll just fuckin’ smear you.+

+Alright–alright. Me and Essus–+

+He’ll do both of you at the same time. Chambers, this isn’t either-or. Did you miss him making everything stop?+

+Okay–wow, you aren’t helpful at all–I touch Essus–+

Avo interrupted. +Finish that thought. I’ll make you remember the artnids.+

Chambers’ mind shuddered, and he turned. +What if Essus… touches me?+

+No touching! No rash!+ Draus said. +What the fuck is wrong with you? How the hells is that supposed to stop him at all?+

+He’ll be shitting dead babies out of his pores!+

+We’re all gonna be shittin’ dead babies, half-strand. For a long time. And it ain’t gonna stop him from using his Heavens–+

Her words were interrupted by the blaring horn of an aerovec. From behind the gathered perimeter of drones and golems, someone was accelerating through the air, fast on approach.

Naeko stood up, startled for a moment before his jaw went slack. He closed his eyes in annoyance. “Alright. It’s going to be one of those days.”

Waving a hand, the drones and bioforms parted into two columns, opening a vertical slit for the aero to pass through. The vehicle was like a smooth arrowhead of pure mercury with four protruding engines spinning fast along its edges. Gliding down, Avo’s Phys-Sim estimated it to be thirty-by-twenty feet in dimensions, with its speed winding down to twenty feet per second.

It never fully landed, instead coming to a loose hover as its shadow merged with that which was cast by the block.

Naeko stumbled as the audacity of the hinted escape made him wheeze. “Don’t. You jump over into the aero, I’ll know. And I’ll get very upset. Don’t hurt my feelings.”

A door on the side of the aero opened and a figure jumped out. Naeko was a figure with variety and character. Compared to him, the second newcomer had one theme and one theme only.

Silver.

Silver hair, with silver implanted eye guards, with a crystalline-silver exoskeleton encasing a silver pantsuit. The woman’s features ran to the opposite extreme of Naeko. She stood tall while he slouched, and where his cheeks were soft and still held the suppleness of humanity, she was nothing but bladed angles.

In an uncanny way, she shared more than a few traits in common with Abrel, now struggling to remember how to breathe.

Landing with a soft click, the woman swept her short bob of hair out from her eyes as she began to march toward Naeko. “Chief Paladin. Working overtime I see.” Her voice was perfect---even in tone and her syllables fell in rhythm with her footsteps.

The Chief Paladin just leaned back and threw up his hands. “Glaive Denton, are you on official duty for Ori-Thaum? Or is this an off-the-books thing for Voidwatch?”

+Glaive?+ Chambers asked.

Avo’s stomach filled with ice. He prepared his Ghostjack out of reflex and readied himself for a breakout. A team of Ori-Thaum operatives was a problem. Singleton, on the other hand, made his sinews twist.

She offered him a laugh, though it sounded false and timed. “A little bit of both, I’m afraid.” She cocked her head at Abrel Greatling’s prostrated form and frowned. “I see you caught one of the saboteurs. Where’s the rest of her cadre?”

“Well,” Naeko said, tapping a foot in the darkness beside him. “They might just be swimming around in the darkness here. But I’m not sure. They’re a bit shy and don’t want to come out.”

Denton shook her head slowly. “No. You got that part wrong. That cadre’s ours.”

+What?+ Avo said.

+What? Chambers said.

+Godsdamned Guild bullshit…+ Draus muttered.

Naeko’s posture worsened. “What?”