Descent of Nightmare (Chapter Thirteen)
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saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Thirteen
Comparison
Akrar, Kaldriel. November 8, 2277. Time instance 842N.
Cap shot Mars a look as they ran down the streets of what was once IAL, their goal the same and yet distinctly separate. Cap put on a burst of speed and Mars did the same, keeping pace with her and sending a tinge of annoyance through Cap before it was gone, left on the street behind them.
Cap skidded to a stop in front of Shawn and Tac’s house and barely paused to catch her breath before knocking on the door. Mars recovered first and shouted, “Hey Spoon! Open the door!”
“It’s open!” Shawn’s voice called and, with another glance, they opened the door and stepped inside.
Shawn and Tac were in their usual places, but two unfamiliar faces on the couch turned to look at them. Cap felt a shock run through her at the sight of one of them, a freckled girl with bright blue eyes and curly red hair. The boy beside her had brown eyes and smiled pleasantly, but he barely had her attention as the girl stood and slowly stepped over to them.
“I’m assuming you’re Cap?”
Cap nodded slowly and jerked as movement caught her eye. “Sheva?”
The ghost waved.
The girl frowned and glanced between them before shrugging it off. “I’m Lucy. I’m one of the few labkids that can speak English, so you’re probably going to hear a lot from me.”
Cap nodded slowly, looking her over and memorizing her appearance. She looked very similar to her, she noted, but, as Tanadin had said in the text, she was clearly related to Shawn as well, mostly in facial structure but also in height and the way she stood. The scythe on her back gleamed faintly in the light and something about her made Cap shiver, but she shook it off. She hadn’t encountered many that could see the dead as she could- only Fall, really, discounting people using active magic or other undead- so perhaps that was just how it felt.
Another suspicion prodded at her mind but she dismissed it. Surely he hadn’t had time to get to her if she’d just gotten to Kaldriel.
“It’s nice to meet you. This is just…” Cap hesitated. “It’s very strange.”
“You’re telling me. We just got out of the desert and then ended up here. I didn’t know places could exist without being covered in sand except oases. Sheva tells me that not many people live in the desert here and, if most of the world is more like this place, I can see why.”
Cap’s eyebrows shot up. “How did you get her to talk?”
Lucy looked surprised. “How do you get her to shut up? She stopped talking the instant she heard you and hasn’t said anything since.”
They glanced at Sheva and she smiled innocently, blank white eyes giving nothing away.
“She was talking with me here just fine,” Shawn told them, “so I guess it has something to do with you.”
Cap narrowed her eyes. “Are you just messing with me?”
Sheva shrugged.
“Can someone please translate what he’s saying?” Mars demanded, making a vague motion at the boy who looked a bit sheepish. A metal pincer in place of his right hand clicked and spun, and his left hand moved to push his glasses up his nose.
“Oh, sorry.” Lucy asked him a question and he responded, which she translated as, “My name is Kallen. I guess you’re the other one that’s related to me?”
“That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.” Mars looked him over critically. “You kinda look like me.”
“Why is your hair purple?”
“Why isn’t yours?”
“I didn’t know hair could be purple.”
Mars blinked a few times before nodding slowly, conceding the point. “How did you… I mean why… what…”
“Where did we come from?” Lucy supplied, and Mars nodded quietly. “Well, that seems to be the question of the day. Sit down, I guess, because this might take awhile to explain.”
~~~
Everex glanced between his sister and his mother curiously, noting the similarities and differences in their appearances. They looked very similar, but Twelve’s eyes were steely gray while Tanadin’s were a cheerful blue-green, more similar to his own but with bluer undertones. Tanadin’s hair was darker, more brown than Twelve’s, and she lacked any kind of cybernetic enhancement. A small scar was visible on Tanadin’s jaw while Twelve’s scars were hidden under her clothes or lost with the replacement of her legs. She was fairly untouched, Everex knew, but there was still evidence of old wounds there.
He wasn’t sure yet what Twelve thought of Tanadin, but he knew he liked her immensely already. She reminded him of himself and he supposed that wasn’t surprising, but it was a good feeling nonetheless. She was helpful and fairly cheerful, helping them all get settled and answering any questions they had. When asked, she admitted that she had been a leader of a revolution- whatever that meant- and had a lot relying on her, even now, so she’d grown used to helping large groups of people figure things out.
He was also looking forward to meeting Seven, although Tanadin insisted that it would be a pain to get him down from the Mainframe and that they likely weren’t allowed in for quite awhile. Everex wasn’t sure what the Mainframe was or why it would be hard to get Seven out of it- although if he was at all stubborn like he and his sister were, that might be it- but he figured that Tanadin knew what she was talking about and he was willing to wait.
“Your mechanical eye has a shutter.”
Tanadin’s words jolted Everex out of his thoughts and he blinked a few times, fully focusing on her. “What?”
“Your mechanical eye has a shutter that acts as an eyelid.”
“Oh.” Everex blinked a few times, proving her point. “I guess I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’ve never seen a cyborg with that feature before. Closing your mechanical eye for even a moment could be detrimental, I guess.”
“I can keep it from blinking, I just don’t tend to. I don’t want to look like I’m winking all the time, you know?”
Tanadin snorted. “I know. Seven looks like he’s constantly winking and he’s the last guy who would, really.” She leaned forward. “How did you become cyborgs, anyway? I can’t imagine you had a skilled mechanic out there.”
“We did,” Twelve assured. “Tavren can be eccentric and annoying at times, but he’s a genius and had the help of both Kaldric and the…” She hesitated. “It’s a word I don’t know the English equivalent for and Sheva has told me through Lucy that it doesn't exist here. It’s a machine that can take components you give it and turn them into practically anything, as long as you have enough of the right materials.”
Tanadin’s eyes widened. “You have that technology?”
“We did. I suspect it’s a Hatuian invention. I assume M could tell you more about it if you asked him. Where is he, anyway? Aren’t you supposedly watching him?”
Tanadin waved it off. “I left him with Xela. She had a lot of questions for both him and Tavren. She seemed pretty excited to see them both and I figured she could handle him. But what-”
The door opened and Solace walked in, shutting it behind her before walking forward and falling onto Everex, almost knocking him out of his seat. “I need to learn the language.”
“Yes, but now isn’t the time. I’m talking to Tanadin,” Everex protested, shifting back to Dranonic and feeling relieved at how easily it rolled off his tongue.
“Yeah, I know.” Solace shifted to sit more comfortably in his lap and rest her head on his shoulder. “Carry on. Don’t let me interrupt.”
“Mighty kind of you.”
“Fight me, metal boy.”
Tanadin raised an eyebrow after Everex looked up at her. “Are you two…”
He switched back to English. “Together, yes.”
“Cute.” She smiled. “What was I saying?”
“We were talking about the machine and us being cyborgs.”
“Oh, right! What happened that made you need to get…” She tapped the left side of her face. “It’s eerily similar to Seven’s….metal...bits… please don’t let me say that ever again.”
Everex blinked a few times before laughing, making Twelve roll her eyes. His mechanical eye focused on Solace briefly before re-focusing on Tanadin. “A sandwyrm happened.”
“A what.”
“A sandwyrm. We’ve been informed that no such creature exists on Kaldriel, but a sandwyrm is a large, worm-like creature that burrows in the sand and bursts upwards to devour its prey. They are capable of spitting acid at anything they don’t grab and even the mantids tread lightly on the sands for fear of its hunger.” Twelve crossed her arms. “Everex hasn’t always been so good at dodging.”
“Like you’re any better,” he snapped.
Twelve looked offended. “It grabbed me by the legs and destroyed them both. I seem to recall one of them got ripped off and eaten.”
Tanadin looked horrified but Everex ignored her expression. “You still didn’t get out of the way.”
“It burst up from the sand! And it almost missed!”
“You could have died, Twelve!”
“Well, I didn’t. The sandwyrm did.”
“No thanks to either of us.”
“No,” Twelve said slowly, “but we were there and it was our team.”
“It wasn’t the team. It was Lucy.”
Twelve crossed her arms. “Well...yes.”
“She leaped down its throat and cut it open from the inside.”
“Yes. She did.”
“It was illogical and should have killed her.”
“But it didn’t,” Twelve countered, “and it was brilliant. That’s what keeps you alive in battle. Outsmarting the enemy. If you follow the logical approach every time, you’ll do what they’re expecting.”
“It’s logical to do the unexpected while still not throwing yourself into the sandwyrm’s mouth!”
“I didn’t see you with any better ideas.”
“Fight nicely, children,” Tanadin mumbled, drawing both of their attention. Solace mumbled something into Everex’s shirt but he didn’t hear her and she didn’t repeat herself even when quietly prompted, so he assumed that it wasn’t important and shrugged it off. She couldn’t understand the conversation, anyway.
“So how much of you guys is replaced?”
“Most of this on my face is just plating. Some of the bone is changed but my brain’s fine, there’s just a chip in there and a small portion on the left replaced.” Everex tapped his forehead. The metal encompassed most of the left side of his face, but his jaw was mostly untouched except for directly under his ear. Around the edges of the metal, if one looked closely, scars were visible, both from the attachment of the metal and from the damage inflicted on the rest of his skin.
“Both arms and most of my chest and back are replaced as well.” He flexed his fingers, light playing off the blue-tinged metal. “I'd shows you but something is sitting on me.”
“My legs are replaced,” Twelve said simply. “Essentially my hips down is all metal, as well as a chip in my brain allowing me to control everything. Part of my hands, specifically the fingers, are modified so that I can extend metal claws from my fingertips. I cannot fly, but Everex can.” Her pants didn't go all the way down to her feet, allowing them to see some of the metal.
“Okay, so here’s the real question.” Tanadin leaned forward in her seat, eyes narrowing. “How can you use magic without frying yourselves?”
Everex and Twelve exchanged glances. “What do you mean?” Twelve asked, tilting her head.
“Normally, cyborgs who use magic fry their circuits and need to be repaired. I'll introduce you to Neves later, he's a perfect example. But I saw you guys using elemental fire magic and you seem fine.” She held out a hand and motioned for permission to take Twelve’s. She nodded and Tanadin gently took a hold of her hand, looking curiously at the metal tracing above the bones and replacing most of her fingers. There was a clear slit that, when prompted, Twelve extended metal claws from. Tanadin turned Twelve’s hand back and forth, watching the reflection of light in the metal, and ran a finger over the back of her hand before releasing it.
“It’s not any kind of metal I’m familiar with,” she said finally, “and I suspect we’d need a Kaldriel cyborg or Xela to identify it.” She paused, something clicking in her mind. “Or M. One of his kind made you, correct? And supplied you, even if indirectly, with all of your resources?”
“It seems that way, yes.”
“Then the raptors know what it is.” Tanadin leaned back in her seat. “That’s interesting. I’m sure Neves would love to get his hands on some of this.” She jerked at the sound of a quiet buzz and retrieved her phone from her pocket. Her gaze darkened and her body tensed as she tapped a response before shoving it back where it belonged and getting to her feet.
Everex frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a war brewing between Heaven and Hell, and Kaldriel is the battleground.” Tanadin made her way to the door, turning around to look at them. “I’m going to the Mainframe to talk to Seven. He’s started to ignore my texts and I’d feel better if I was there to protect him.”
“What does this mean?” Twelve asked, tilting her head.
“This means that Kaldriel could be destroyed if we don’t stand against Heaven.” Tanadin sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we’re going to war with the angels.”
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Date: 2016-11-30 12:38 am (UTC)“Yes, but now isn’t the time. I’m talking to Tanadin,” Everex protested, shifting back to Dranonic and feeling relieved at how easily it rolled off his tongue.
“Yeah, I know.” Solace shifted to sit more comfortably in his lap and rest her head on his shoulder. “Carry on. Don’t let me interrupt.”
“Mighty kind of you.”
“Fight me, metal boy.”
Tanadin raised an eyebrow after Everex looked up at her. “Are you two…”
He switched back to English. “Together, yes.”
“Cute.” She smiled. “What was I saying?”
“We were talking about the machine and us being cyborgs.”
“Oh, right! What happened that made you need to get…” She tapped the left side of her face. “It’s eerily similar to Seven’s….metal...bits… please don’t let me say that ever again.”
Solace's Scott side showing through XD
Tanadin doesn't like talking about Seven's metal bits, it's likely that Seven doesn't like having his metal bits talked about in public XP
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Date: 2016-11-30 12:51 am (UTC)YOU JUST DECIDED HE HAS REGULAR BITS FOR YOUR FICS
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Date: 2016-11-30 12:53 am (UTC)Also you make a valid point, it's Corvus that everyone decided has metal bits XP
no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 12:54 am (UTC)my dear son laughed at me
and my daughter rolled her eyes
how will i ever recover
no subject
Date: 2016-11-30 12:59 am (UTC)You'll recover by taking Everex and Twelve to see Seven and this happens:
Everex: So Tanadin was talking to us about your metal bits...
*Tana facepalms and Twelve rolls her eyes*
Seven: *turns to Tana* Explain!
XD