Futuristic An Agent of Maniacles

[mmarage]

The twins... didn't budge, not even an inch as they regarded Denton coldly. "...That data should not exist. It is as simple as that, Denton. Now, let's say for a minute that we did end up fighting, Denton... do you think that you, or your cronies would truly walk away from all of this? Right now... we're in the middle of a catbox." 01 said calmly, his voice having a rather steely edge to it. "...No one from outside can observe what's currently happening within this catbox, not until it's been open. There are infinite possibilities, you know? They're all happening right as we speak. Ones where we all die... ones where we all live... and ones where only a select few of us return." 01 said calmly, allowing it to hang in the air for a few moments. "...Now, I don't know about you, but I would like the possibility that when the catbox is open, all of us are alive and happy, don't you?" He asked, a smile forming on his lips that didn't reach his eyes.

While the twins were talking, a few of the clones were murmuring amongst themselves. The original Joe... no... the memories that had formed the original Joe watched this all with a detached interest. He shut his eyes for a few moments, and then turned and walked out of the room without a word. He... knew what he had to do. He... understood the will of not only the twins who were of the physical world... but of the clones that had resided here. He could see their troubled looks... some part of him... even if it was but a memory... felt that it was his duty to put an end to what he had started.

"I... won't be putting this pistol away, and we won't be leaving this place until-" 02 was cut off as the loudspeakers suddenly came to life. The two looked up at them as they crackled to life, confused as to what was going on.

A monotone feminine voice came through the PA system. "The self-destruct sequence has now been initialized. The facility will detonate in... three seconds." The voice said, not faltering for a moment as it announced the doom of all those who had been standing in the center of the facility.

The twins eyes widened in shock. "A... A self destruct feature!?" They asked in unison, clearly shocked. They... had thought that the facility might have one of those, in the event they were being raided by a government agency and needed to hide their more... disgusting and disturbing side of the Maniacles.

Unlike the twins, the other clones... were completely calm. They seemed to have... accepted that this would be their end. Some... were even smiling. They... would never be used again. They would never have to fear the Maniacles finding them once again. They... could finally rest in peace.

The voice counted down very calmly... the seconds seemed to stretch for an eternity. Even if they had ran right at that second... none of them would be able to make it. They were right in the heart of the facility, after all. The winding hallways would take far too long to traverse to reach one of the exits and get out of the blast radius. The twins were still processing the information as the voice finally said, "Zero." Explosions began to rock the building, flames engulfing the halls, before it all coalesced within the room they were in, their vision going completely white.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When their vision finally came back to them... when they realized that the explosions had caused them no pain... the group would open their eyes to find that they were standing in a vast desert once more, the brilliant and fantastical sights floating above them. There were no signs of the clones from the twins' memories. No signs of the lab that they had faced the horrors of. It was just the group, standing there in the vast rolling dunes of the Sandlands. It... was as if the place had never existed. The struggles that they had gone through but a horrific dream.

 

[GamerCarrot]

Vivian was about to step in and attempt to take the gun out of Joe 2's hand without him being aware of it but she stopped when she heard alarms go off and a voice speak, she quickly turned to look at the speaker attached to the wall and listened to the voice tell them the place will soon self destruct. Hearing those words she felt scared, sure she's jumped through fire before in this world but an explosion was a totally different thing. There wasn't a single thing she could to get them all out of there safely, with the voice counting down she became increasingly more panicked until the voice finally said zero. She felt her heart drop as the explosion happened, she knew it wasn't real but it still scared her like any normal explosion would. When the lab exploded everything went black.

Vivian opened her eyes and patted her body down her body, her heart pounding out of her chest as she looked down and saw she was perfectly fine. She was alive, all of them were. Letting out a big sigh she ran her fingers through her hair and place her other hand on her chest, taking deep breaths to calm herself down from the shock. Her heart slowly settled down to its normal beat, looking around at the sandlands she couldn't believe how happy she was to be in this desert wasteland.

 

[KotaKotsu]

As Kotsu watched the threeway bickering between the twins, Blue Owl, and Denton, he felt a cold feeling grow in his stomach when he heard Owl speak.

"I live for my self Denton and as for the Joes having a say, I do believe you were the one who wanted me to save the data against their wishes first. But ahhh...your hoping to appeal to the morality you lack? Tough luck Denton for I also lack it, Lost it along with my innocence when I was a child, should have tried that when I was Yellow owl."

Kotsu wanted to respond, but he stood there instead. Remembering all that they had gone through already in this imaginary hellscape, he pondered on something. Why would she threaten them, or even himself when they came here for her? How could he protect his friends from the same person he himself wanted to protect? Finding some semblance of his words, he began to speak "... Owl-"

"The self-destruct sequence has now been initialized. The facility will detonate in... three seconds."

"Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? Every God damn time-"

"Zero."
____________________________________________________

Upon coming to his senses to see that they were back in the Sandlands, Kotsu checked everyone in the group and let out an audible sigh of relief. "Good... Good.... All of you are okay..." Kotsu collapsed to his knees, starting to the feel the fatigue he put his body through. "That's... That's enough excitement for the next 100 years. And the worst part is, there's more." Kotsu said, laughing a little. Turning his attention to Blue Owl, he began to formulate the words in his head to try and communicate efficiently with her.

"Blue Owl, it is becoming more apparent with each time you speak, that you are indeed fractured." Kotsu began in a more formal speaking manner, which was almost out of character. "I miss you. Not just you, or Yellow, but I miss... you." Kotsu bit his lower lip trying to figure out how to better word what he was saying. "You wouldn't threaten half of these people risking their lives to help you, normally. Yeah, I get it that you don't want to trust anyone, but..." Kotsu gestured to the rest of the group around. "We came here with the soul intent of trying to help you come back completely and remember everything."

Kotsu got off of his knees and walked toward Blue Owl, a melancholy look on his face. He stopped just out of reaching distance. "Seeing you reminds me of her, uh... You. But without only the bitter hatred you carry. The love too." He gestured to Yellow Owl. "To love doesn't make you childish or naive, it just makes you have hope and feel like you're not going to suffer every second." Kotsu's eyes glazed over as he said that, speaking moreso from experience. "I can't let you hurt my family, but I don't want to hurt you either. So please... Don't. I know Yellow will stop you, but I'm tired. Aren't you?"

Not waiting for a response from Blue Owl, realizing now she may have resembled the woman he cared deeply for, but ultimately wasn't; he made his way to Denton. He remembered that Denton had wanted to hear his request. "Denton, I want that debt to be paid off in a way that may not be something you can fully keep." Kotsu said, staring at his mask. "I want you to become my genuine friend. For the rest of your natural, and knowing you? Probably unnatural life." Kotsu said with a somber chuckle. "And when you're friends with someone, I think it goes without saying that you protect each other. But most importantly, friends don't hurt their friends friends." Kotsu pursed his lips and tried to think of a less confusing way to word that. "What I'm getting at is, no more shooting Owl. I don't want you sending us in blind to things as well, and most importantly," Kotsu took in a deep breath. "No lying to me about things, okay." It wasn't a question, more of a term in regards to the conditions of the agreement.

"I'll protect you even more if you're my friend, but you can't lie to me. Though, it is your nature to fuck with people, and I can accept that." Kotsu said, handing him another healing vial. "Just... Don't lie to me. I have a feeling you'll manipulate the truth, but... As long as I have the truth. And mandatory at least once a week hangouts. Now... If you'll excuse me." Kotsu took 10 steps into a general direction away from the group, and collapsed.

 

[Darkling0096]

"BULLSHIT!", Sam shouted at the sandlands, "What works in here?!"
__-
Inside Owl's Laptop...
"Got it!", Kai said to his sisters as he deleted another file. "How about you, Ciara?"

"I'm a little busy, this system has a virus," Ciara replied.

"Bet I can kill more viruses than the three of you combined," Kai hollered.

"You're both idiots, I will restrain you to your cores," Halo ordered before punting the virus away from Ciara. "Where's Alex?"

"I'm over here!", the quieter AI responded, her avatar representation appearing laden with shredded paper, the representation of destroyed files. Far more than her siblings, Alex didn't taunt as much as they.

"Nice job Alex!", Ciara cheered, "Why aren't you the favorite?"

"C'mon, let's finish this and go." Kai shredded another file and made for the exit, only for his representation to be set on fire. "Firewall, son of a bitch!"

"Bro!", the girls put out the fire while Halo unraveled the code for the firewall.

"This system is heavily protected," Halo noted. "This firewall is quite secure."

"Can we get out?", Ciara asked.

"Perhaps. Alex, help me." Halo and Alex began looking for a way out, only to be blasted back by the encryption. "We're stuck."

"That's it, I'm bricking it," Kai shouted.

"NO!", the others shouted in unison before Kai could break the computer.
_
Outside the Laptop
Owl's laptop sparked from the in internal assault.

"Halo," Sam called. No response. "Halo." No response. "Artificial Mind X3H24789, answer me!" Owl's laptop sparked again.

 

[Exzalia]

"I miss you. Not just you, or Yellow, but I miss... you." Kotsu bit his lower lip trying to figure out how to better word what he was saying. "You wouldn't threaten half of these people risking their lives to help you, normally. Yeah, I get it that you don't want to trust anyone, but..."

"Riiight, you care about me huh? The Mainiacles are funding this expedition solely for my benefit? Don't make me laugh I don't believe in charity. And I don't know you, I don't remember you. Yes you feel familiar but that doesn't mean it's a good familiar, for all I know you'll slit my throat tonight. So cut it with the soft talk."

"He wouldn't." yellow owl says. "Kotsu is nice.

"Kotsu acts nice, whether he actually is nice you we can't know unless of course, you let me pillage his mind."

"No." yellow owl says firmly.

"Figures well until I do, I won't trust any of you." Blue owl manifests her laptop but as she logs in the instantly frowns.

Something was wrong, her laptop had quarenteed it's self a maneuver it only took if it was infected with a virus it could not defend it's self from. Owl hooks it up to her watch which acted as a hidden back up and peers inside.

"Who the fuck?"

She didn't know which A.I was in her precious computer, but she did know one thing.

She was going to utterly destroy them.

"I don't know who thought it would be wise to try and hack my lap top, but who ever it is should know, that after I'm done with them not even their light switches will be working!"

Owl begins to upload the mother of all anti virus software typing away in a fury.

Darkling0096

 

[mmarage]

As Owl began to work on the intruders in her laptop... she would make a rather shocking discovery. The data, everything that had been on the lab's computer's hard drive and from its servers... was gone. There was no trace of it remaining. It was as if everything that had been part of that world... had been completely eradicated. The secret that she had risked her neck over... the secret that had turned what could have been valuable allies on her... it was gone.

The twins looked around the desert... and smiled. They seemed... relieved. 02, for the time being, put his pistol away. He would deal with Blue Owl later. For now, he wanted to make sure everyone was okay. He walked after Kotsu... only for the earth to begin shaking beneath them. He wasn't expecting the powerful tremors and ended up falling to his knees. "W-What the hell's happening?!" He called out.

The group wouldn't have to wonder for long... the sands began to part as a strange transparent red pyramid began to rise from the ground. As it rose up higher and higher, the group would be able to make out chains that seemed to run up to the top of the pyramid. Soon enough... they began to see... well... it was hard to tell. It was a vast landscape... no... that wasn't accurate. Vast landscapes, some that seemed like they'd fit together, others that seemed... completely different. It was hard to see everything through the walls of chains... but they could see great towering cities... some of them seemed older, like they were from the early 2000s, others looked far more advanced, seeing flying cars and trains whizzing to and fro in the air. Large grand castles in the distance. There were vast forests that seemed untouched by man, huge snow capped mountain ranges, even a desert that seemed vast and strangely... a massive fish flying through the air. Of course that may have just been something even further back.

Overlaid throughout those strange mass of landscapes... was the strange red translucent pyramid that kept the chains at bay. The only landscape that the group could see clearly, the only landscape which was not shielded by the strange mass of chains... was a beach, an ocean, its waves softly crashing against the beach, a mass of trees hiding the city that lay beyond it.

The twins got back to their feet and looked towards the Owls. "Umm... did... you two do that?" They asked in unison, glancing between them and the new massive structure that had been created.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Due to the rumbling, Kotsu actually started to flop downhill of the sand dune he had collapsed on, headed straight toward the beach. He was snoring loudly, even as sand got caught in his mouth.

 

[mmarage]

The twins looked over at Kotsu, he was quickly nearing the red barrier. "Oh no!" They cried out in unison, chasing after him. This would be a comedic scene if it weren't for the possibility of that weird red pyramid-like barrier might just disintegrate Kotsu. The twins however... weren't quite fast enough to stop him from hitting the barrier... and slipping through without any issue. "What the...?" The two mumbled in unison as they simply stared at the barrier. It didn't seem to cause any harm...

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu slammed hard against a tree, and there was a cracking noise from his ribs which caused him to grunt. "Ugh... Five more minutes, dammit..." He went back to snoring as his ribs started to slowly heal.

 

[Darkling0096]

When the anti-virus was uploaded, Kai was the first to feel the effects. He screamed as it attacked his code.

Halo groaned. "We should have bricked it," she said before spreading her wings. She wasn't modeled after an angel just because it was cute, as the program soon found out when a digital shockwave formed a protective sphere around the AIs. "We don't even want to be here!", she shouted at the program.

Another program is uploaded, one designed to chip away at protective sheilding, it manifest with in the cyber world as a partical dust storm and begins wearing away at halo's shielding, mean while another program materialize from above, Owls own anti virus program appears suddenly in the form of an angry, giant owl, It who's it's displeasure and begins ti scan the two rival A.I.

"You have breached prohibited cyber space, prepare to be recycled." The owl says in a robotic voice. Then adds. "My master wanted you to receive a message before you are deleted the message is as Follows. Ahem, fuck you, and fuck who ever sent you, end of message."

"Fuck you too!", Kai shouted at owl. Alex stood up and manifested a pair of long daggers.

"Mom thought we'd end up like this eventually," was all the redhead said before using Kai's back as a springboard and launching herself at the owl. "We're not viruses, birdbrain!", she shouted as she exited the sphere.

"Negative, you are damaging vital data on this cpu, conclusion you are a virus." The owl launches at them Kia slashes straight down it's chest, the owl glitches out from the damage, then glitches back in. It fires lazors from it's eyes clipping Kia digital arm.

Ciara watched how the owl interacted with Alex. "Good, we can damage it." She heard a shout and looked to see Halo's avatar.. sweating? They hadn't been programmed for this. Distanced from her home server, Halo couldn't find the processing power to keep the anti-virus at bay for long.

Alex dropped back down into the sphere, her arm smoking. "We're outside our cores, trapped in a laptop, with an anti-virus on our asses," she panted, "We never simulated this." She shook her head, "Kai, I need backup."

Kai laughed, "Bossfight, huh? I knew we weren't wasting our RAM playing video games." He stood up and manifested a digital sword, "Should have played Call of Duty, a gun would make more sense," he shrugged.

The program Owl sets out a deafening screech the waves cause everyone to glitch out for a second before swooping down towards Alex talons extended.

That's what broke the shield. Halo could handle the sandstorm, albeit strenuously, but a direct attack was too much, especially after that screech. Alex put up her daggers to try and impale the owl's talons before it snatched her, but it didn't get to make contact. "Get off my sister!", Ciara shouted, smacking the owl aside with a cartoonishly large hammer that looked bigger than a girl her size could even shift, let alone lift. Video game logic.

***

Mean while...

Owl stares at her watch annoyed, her anti virus program was having some difficulties these A.I's were tough. But they were with out support from their maker, and in her system, she would over whelm them eventually, she sticks in a memory stick and begins uploading more support for the anti-virus.

***

The owl is sent flying, it smashes into a wall of ones and zero scattering them everywhere.

Suddenly a bar appears in the air, it reads. "Support ant-virus software uploading." It dings and the owl stands suddenly encased in digital armor. It shrieks furiously and flies towards them shooting lazers out of it's eyes.

"A care package? That's not fair!", Ciara protested.

"No time!", Kai tackled his sister out of the way, "Halo, air support, find the source and brick it! We'll take care of the bird." Halo nodded and disintegrated into ones and zeroes, searching for loopholes in the encryptions standing between her and the file management program. If she could forcefully cut off whatever was uploading the anti-virus, maybe she could hack the program.

Standing up and twirling his sword, Kai grinned at the owl program. "Just like the Dragonblood Trilogy," he said, "Ready girls?"

"Ready," Ciara and Alex said in unison.

***

Outside...

Sam realized where her AIs were when Owl started having difficulty with her computer. She trusted Halo not to do anything stupid, but the other three were always trying to one-up each other. She had no idea where they got that.

"Owl, let them out. You know they weren't trying to hack you." She wasn't sure if Blue owl would be reasonable or not, but she had to try reason before violence. "I told them to erase the lab, you must have downloaded the system they were in."

Owl spins to her in a rage. "I don't know shit about their intentions! Maybe they were trying to hack me? maybe you thought you could steal some data from me? I don't know, because I don't know you but it doesn't matter. They have seen all my sensitive information AND nearly bricked my cpu, I can't let them leave now. AT BEST I will quarantine the little shits and reprogram them for my own bidding, but if things come to worse I will burn my computer to the ground before I allow them, and my secrets to leave. You don't like it? should of thought of that before you sent them into my comp."

Even as she says this she begging uploading more anti-virus programs hoping to utterly over whelm the A.I inside.

***

Another support program is uploads, this one heals the owl of it's previous damage, it tackles Ciara sending her into the ground, then spins shooting lazors at Alex.

It had gotten faster, tougher, who ever was supporting it was a master and knew what she was doing. This was not some poor nerds computer, this was the pc of a technical god.

An angry one.

three more Uploads bars appear in the sky all rising slowly, more supports programs were being uploaded in at a terrifying rate. Each one shrinking their chance for victory.

This may have been the computer of a tech goddess, but these were programmed by another master of technology. Ciara rolled with the slam, the weight of her hammer slowing her down so she was back on her feet after one roll, and then slamming her hammer into the back of the beast, swinging again and again with each word out of her mouth. "I! Hate! The! Guardians! Of! Gahool!"

"Hell, yeah!", Kai cheered.

***

Halo swam through the code, checking files and blocking off what she could find. And then she found it. Owl's screen outside the laptop filled itself with an image of the blonde angel as she occupied the main processor. The image of the blonde angel switched to a black-haired demon with red eyes. "I was engineered to pilot the most advanced piece of technology on the face of the earth from thousands of miles away. Did you honestly think you could cage ME?"

***

"Guys, I found the processor! Ball's in my court!", Halo said from somewhere on the digital battlefield.

"Then stop being a blonde ditz and get shit done!", Alex hollered, "Ciara, launch me!" Alex jumped on the hammerhead before Ciara swung, launching her at the support bars. While Alex was airborne and cutting bars in half, Halo was in the processor, duplicating and rewriting whatever she could find to aid her siblings. A new bar appeared, this time in red.

"Launching Support Program," the bar chimed before the three redheads lit up. A bunch of "x2"s appeared around them in red, blue, green, and grey as the landscape changed from the shapeless void of ones and zeroes into a forested location.

"Is this.."

"Yes, who's the blonde ditz now?"

"Love you, sis," Kai replied.

"Suck my non-existent digital dick," Alex shouted as she fell back down to earth, spinning as she fell with her daggers and rolling down the owl's back like a buzz saw. The armor that used to be able to hold their weapons at bay starting to show damage from the boosts they received from the hacked support program.

***

Owl frowns, one of the A.I had gotten into the vital operating files, they were far more advanced than anything owl had faced.

But they had never faced her before either.

"Brick my computer will you? Well then I'll make sure it will be your grave!"

From her back up comp she launches a file labeled. 'Ice age' The program rams several thousand commands into the lap tops cpu slowing it and what ever was inside down significantly. With the actions of the both the A.I and the antivirus slowed to a crawl Owl uploads her final trump card.

LOCK DOWN

A lock down program, one hyper encrypted to keep it almost hack proof. Oh yes the A.I's could hack it if they had enough time.

But they didnt have the time, not with the ice age program slowing their APM, and they couldn't hack both at once.

Owl may loose her comp, but she would keep the A.I in return, it would be a fair trade.


***

The anti-virus Owl had been dealt heavy damage, but it had returned the favor, now both it and the remaining A.I's stand facing one another glitching with damage. They charge at each other, when suddenly the feel them selves begin to slow down.

A blue progress bar appears above them entitled. "Ice age upload complete."

Then a red one, 'LOCK DOWN Upload 20% complete.'

The currents of data begin to lock in place as the whole system goes into a state of suspended animation, ice freezes streams of ones and zero's, and begins to creep up on the A.I's slowly but relentlessly.

***

Sam groaned and punched a command into her headset. "System Link. Bypass. Locate Halo." The headset beeped and punched through a layer of encryption to link up with Halo. "Get the others out of there, I don't care how."

"Yes, mom," Halo sounded stressed but began searching through code.

"Good girl, I'm gonna negotiate with a terrorist," she closed the connection before slamming a mechanical fist into blue-owl's face.

***

Kai felt his code backing up as he pulled his sword out of the owl. At first, he thought the system was just straight up out of storage, the combat had taken up too much processing power. It made sense, four beyond military grade AIs in one laptop? That it had lasted this long was nuts. But then he watched the green ones and zeroes begin to turn blue. "Oh, shit."

"Mom didn't prepare us for this one," Alex's avatar went pale, "Halo?"

"I'm slowing it down as much as I can!", Halo snapped, "Here's a backdoor, get out, I'll brick the system, once it's down I'll snap back to mom's suit!" A representation of a portal opened, a gateway out of the laptop.

"Girls, go!", Kai shoved Ciara through the portal and reached for Alex, but her leg was frozen. The freeze had locked onto a part of her code.

"Kai, go, I'll take care of her!", Halo extended a digital hand and shoved Kai through the portal before manifesting an avatar. "Don't worry, Alex, I've got you." She began fiddling with the code, but to no avail. She couldn't reverse the code, and if she severed the infected data, it could cripple Alex. Frantically searching for an answer.

"Just go," the freeze had turned Alex's lower body blue, "I can survive a lockdown." She couldn't move her avatar's legs, but she could push Halo with her arms, and did. "I'll take care of it." She shoved the demon AI through the gateway.

I'm gonna kill this bitch, Halo thought as she flew through the portal before spreading her wings. A different shockwave went through the system, frying hardware as it went.

Alex sighed, "I'm sorry, Halo." Converting what little of her avatar she could control into raw code, she tried to forcefully separate herself from her frozen code. She didn't care if she crippled her software, that could be reprogrammed, but only one fate awaited a corrupted program: Virushood. No AI wanted that.

Alex froze as the system was bricked. She hadn't gotten free! She couldn't interact with the system to free herself! The digital world went dark as Alex's entire body turned blue...

***

Meanwhile.

Blue owl stood up, and turns to Samantha.

"Attacking a mind mage in the mental realm, that was your last mistake." Blue owls eyes glow bright and the sky above them shudders and storms violently. A lightning bolt flashes down and would have blasted Sam were it not for yellow owl. She swoops upward and with a wave of her hand knocks the bolt of angry metal lightning off into the distance were it detonates with a distant but loud bang.
P
"Guys! Your friends! Stop fighting each other."

"Are we?" Owl says crossing her arms.

"yes! I mean you don't remember but you were."

Blue owl glares at Sam. "My old self was terrible at picking friends then. Stay away from my devices and thank what ever god you believe in I was here to save you from my self."

"Then release my daughter," for once, Sam regretted not looking into magic. She couldn't hope to overpower Owl, not in this realm. In the real world, maybe. Enough of her nervous system had synthetic overlays that her brain was more machine than anything else, but in this world it was all mental.

"No I don't think I will, your virus bricked my laptop. It was state of the art, I'm keeping it as payment. and it's not your daughter, it's a bunch of codes strung together nothing more. I'm sure you can make another one. What? You want to punch me again? try it, I dare you."

"Not my- It your dumbass fault that they were trapped in the first place! I did not spend months creating a sentient program for some bitch to-"

"She will kill Alex," Halo said cautiously, "I bricked the laptop to slow her down, but no one can reach her until the hardware is repaired, I can't free her from here."


Sam looked back and forth between the two Owls, "What the fuck happened to you? You were a decent person!"

Halo projected herself in front of yellow Owl. "I realize that you and your blue counterpart are separate, but you are holding my sister hostage. I would advise you to get yourself to free her before I must-" Halo might have continued, but Sam was storming off into the desert. The only reason the AIs could even interact in this world was through Sam's spinal graft, they hitched a ride on her nervous system, basically. Alex was locked in a separate cell, but Halo was still tied to Sam, and couldn't keep the projection up at this distance.

 

[mmarage]

The twins looked back at the group. Apparently Blue Owl had pissed off yet more of their group. The two looked at each other exasperated, before making their way through the barrier, after Kotsu. Hopefully they'd be able to get back out. They couldn't just leave him behind after all. The barrier didn't give them any real problems... it was as if they were just passing through a weird light projection than anything actually solid.

The two knelt on either side of Kotsu and began to shake him. "Wake up!" Both of them said in unison.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu snapped awake whacking the left side of his face hard off the tree and holding it. "Ow, fuck! Ughh... Oh, hey guys! What's up?" Kotsu looked around. "JESUS CHRIST! I TAKE A NAP AND YOU GUYS ALTER REALITY AGAIN? IT'S BEEN LIKE... 20 MINUTES!" Kotsu said, springing to his feet. He seen a pissed off Sam storming off and smoking fire and smelled electricity in the air. He seen the beach, the pyramid, the barrier. "What the hell... All I did was go to bed for a little while..." Kotsu face palmed, leaving a red imprint of his hand on his forehead. "I seriously can't catch a break... And what happened to OG Joe too? Wasn't he tied up in the lab or somethin' now that I think about it? Did he blow up?" Kotsu asked the twins.

 

[mmarage]

The twins looked at him with an incredulous look on their faces. "Dude, you slept through a literal earthquake. This... place... just rose up from the sands and you ended up rolling right into it." 01 said, before both of them shrugged at his latter questions.

"Given that the lab was blown up... yeah, OG Joe and the rest of the clones must have blown up and died. I mean, he was just a figment of our memories, he wasn't like the rest of us. Everything that was in that place was blown up. Honestly... that's a good thing. We... don't want them to be able to find a means of restoring all of their research... erm... should something go awry, of course." 02 said.

The two finally got to their feet and crossed their arms. "...But... the question does arise... where are we and whose memories are these?" 01 asked as he looked around the sandy beach, weary for any sort of combat that might head their way.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu shrugged, shaking the sand out of his hair before spitting the sand in his mouth out and coughing realizing some was stuck in his teeth. "Aw, that's nasty." He pulled out his flask, swished the alcohol about in his mouth and spit it out. "Much better. I dunno. I've seen stuff like this in my travels, but I ain't seen chains and barriers. Plus," Kotsu said, pondering the twins previous words. "The data you were arguing with Owl over seemed to be real enough. Maybe the dream world is real in a sense but also... Not real? Like a veil between reality and the imagination?" Kotsu started to think as numbers started to pop out of his head while he thought about that. "But that means there's a possibility all those clones really are in some version of a lab, and-" Kotsu shook his head before looking at the twins. "Nevermind. Sorry. Let's uh, head back to the group. I'm still kinda worn out. We should camp and recover, restock on supplies, and choose where to explore first and discuss it as a group, yeah?" Kotsu stared off at Sam walking away.

"Me and Sam are friends though. I should see what's bothering her- wait did you guys say I slept through an earthquake? That's awesome! I wish I could felt it!" Kotsu said with stars gleaming in his eyes. "Wait wait, more on that later. SAM!" Kotsu yelled out as he started to run toward the barrier to chase after her.

 

[mmarage]

"Mm... doesn't seem likely. If they could mass produce clones like that, then there'd probably be a lot more than us. The cloning process takes quite a while. No, those clones were from our memories, we saw the file documenting the sick and twisted experiments that were ran on them all." 02 said, giving his shoulders a little shrug. They were about to reply to what he was saying, when he had gotten stars in his eyes over the earthquake.

The twins shook their heads quietly as Kotsu spoke. Was... he serious...? "Well, this thing did raise up from the ground, and from its size, it's only natural that the earth would shake as violently as it did." 01 said. The two then blinked and then ran after him. "W-Wait! K-Kotsu! We don't know if we can get out!" The two shouted as they chased after him. Sure, the barrier had allowed them in, but what if it were only a one way thing...?

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu stopped in front of the barrier and turned back to face the twins. He measured the barrier as if he was staring at a new device to tinker with. "Hm... Let's give this a shot!" Kotsu proceeded to shove his whole hand including forearm through the barrier.

 

[mmarage]

The twins covered their mouths as Kotsu suddenly pushed his arm through the barrier. It didn't allow an exit... but only for a few brief moments, before it allowed Kotsu's arm out. It seemed as if the barrier was making sure that it wasn't letting out the wrong person. "...Don't... do that again." The twins said, seeming quite relieved as they pressed against the barrier... however, they slid right through it without any problems, no hesitation on the part of the barrier for them.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu eyeballed the barrier with a stink eye as he passed through and made a grumpy face. "HEY WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!? YA GOT A PROBLEM AGAINST VAMPIRES OR SOMETHING?" Kotsu crossed his arms as he stared at it on the other side. "Everyone's a freakin' critic..." Kotsu huffed. He stared back at the twins. "What? Worse case scenario, I drink some blood, and I sprout a new one, right?" Kotsu said with a devious grin. "Let's head back to the others. I gotta chase after Sam too after finding out what happened."

 

[mmarage]

The twins looked back at Kotsu. "Well, we'd rather you not get hurt because you were being careless." They said in unison, letting out a huff of their own as they crossed their arms. "...Though it is weird. The barrier allowed us in without any issues... but only hesitated when letting you out. So... it's... keeping something inside, not trying to keep people out." 01 mused quietly as he looked back at the strange mish-mash of landmasses. "...But what's up with the chains?" He asked after a moment, having the vaguest recollection of seeing something like that, but couldn't remember where.

02 shrugged. "Don't know, but we should probably get going either way. Let's regroup with everyone and see what we should do." He said.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu nodded to both 01 and 02, leading the way to the others. "Yeah, must be keeping in a vampire. You guys passed through easily. Or maybe, it doesn't like supernatural in general? Wonder if mages will have to process through it like I did?"

 

[mmarage]

01 put a finger to his chin. "...That... might not be the case." He said as he looked over at Kotsu. "...It... could be examining souls. Magic relies upon the user's soul, so if that thing's designed to keep someone inside... it could just be making sure that the person that is exiting it doesn't contain the soul of the person that it's supposed to keep inside. A soulless being like me or 02 wouldn't trigger it. We know you have a soul since you could light the alchemist's flame yourself... or it could just be racist against vampires." He said, giving a noncommittal shrug. "We'd have to go in with the others and see if they get out without any issues." He said.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu nodded thinking as well. "Yeah. Man I've said it before but you guys are pretty smart and awesome." Kotsu said with a smile and an exclamation mark popped up on his head. "Oh yeah! Maybe I can request Denton to have you guys stay with me for a few days? I'd like to have you guys teach me some alchemy." Kotsu put his hands up and started waving them frantically after he said that. "Uh! Only if you're okay with that I mean! I'd like to be able to uh... Help you with your little project after we leave this dream world. If you catch my drift." Kotsu said, referring to destroying the labs.

 

[mmarage]

The twins cheeks reddened slightly, rubbing the back of their heads. "Um... t-thanks, you too, Kotsu." They mumbled awkwardly. They then shrugged. "You could try, but I'm not sure if Denton would allow something like that... well... it probably wouldn't even be up to Denton, after all, we are a highly classified Maniacles project, they probably don't want us out on the streets where we might blab to the public." 01 explained.

The two looked at each other when he talked about their 'little project'. "Umm... well, we'd be fine trying to teach you, but we're not sure how well we'd be able to do so... as for our erm... little project as you call it... I think we have that under control." 02 said, rubbing the back of his head, idly looking around to make sure that no one had been close to hear that.

 

[KotaKotsu]

As they got to the group, Kotsu went close to the twins and pulled them into a hug. He sharply whispered into their ear at a very low volume, almost to the point he was mouthing the words. "Better safe than sorry. It would be better to have some... Extra help or distractions so you can get done what you gotta get done, ya know?" He pulled away smiling. "Man, thanks for waking me up again, guys! Now can someone tell me why Sam was pissed off, and why there's fire, the smell of electricity, a pyramid, a beach, and all these chains?" Kotsu asked to the group.

 

[Kinggunlucky]

Denton sat next to Aria in the sand, pretzel style, wearing the mask of comedy. He had been wanting to talk to her since things had calmed. Aria beat herself fairly bad the last time someone from her past intervened with the mission. Positive reinforcement would be critical going forward. Not to mention he thought it would be a good time to start poking around regarding Alucard.

"You feeling okay. Aria?" He asked. "You went pretty bonkers back there for a second. Good thinking taking yourself out of action. Quick thinking and commendable."

I am fine, thank you. Aria started scribbling quickly. Ever since they came out of Joe's memory, her portable whiteboard had transformed into a stone slate and chalk.

If I should mention one person that I trust the least, then it will be the thirsty me.

"Gguurgh...."

The worst part of being a vampire, is the sometimes unsatiable thirst. Aria's scribbling speed seems to be picking up the more she writes. I heard locking ourself inside a coffin and then sleep for decades is used to be quite common in the past. To let the thirst be quenched by time while the coffin is used as protective sleeping pod.

But all the vampires I had met on the modern world never done something like this. Aria's chalk had depleted to nothing more than a white rock on her hand, but when she pulls it away from the slate, the chalk restored itself.

I feel... old?? Aria chuckled at her own word. Feeling old? Was that really what she feels though?

Denton considered her written words. "Well, you're certainly no spring chicken. You could bring it back ya know? You're a very appreciated employee and team member. Once we are back you can give a coffin a try. " He chuckled. "How much do I need to worry about Alucard?"

I don't know. I'm afraid he already used to this place. Aria drew a figure that looks like Alucard on the slate, then a brain next to it.

He has been trapped inside my mind for almost 250 years.

"Gguuhhh...." Aria winced at the implication of her statement. Was this the reason why he was so confident in traversing the sandland alone? What was he doing all these time anyway??

I really hope we don't bump into him anymore.

"Fascinating," he said, placing a hand on his chin. "He nearly cost us all our lives. I was hoping to work with him when we first arrive. How does he feel about mortals? Why did you neglect to tell Maniacles you were housing such a dangerous creature?"

I didn't want to acknowledge him, else I won't be able to defy his order. Aria shook her head. His whispering was such annoyance too. He always tried to push her into drinking human blood, which would throw her addiction back into relapse, but she left that unsaid.

She then draw three pictures, at the top of the slate she wrote: Alucard's goals. The first picture was a bunch of figures with weapons, obedient vampire army, she wrote next to the picture. The second picture were figures shackled and caged, human livestock, she wrote under it. The last picture was a hexagonal shape, blood gem philosopher stone.

She circled the second picture and write, mortal next to it to answer Denton's question.

Denton made the connections quickly. He had so many questions. So many. Aria's past, how she managed to trap Alucard inside of her. He had dealt with rogue bloodsuckers before, but it was rare to come across one so old and ambitious.

"So he views us as strictly cattle for slaughter and enslavement?" He asked. "Is that I'm to understand? I think that works in our favor, don't you?"

Aria took a bit of time to think. Alucard's goal was to make world where vampire can just drink anyone they want, yes, but she also remembered the old vampire taken a liking to some humans. So it might not be as strict as Denton thought.

I think he enjoys bragging to human too. She wrote down on the slate, at this point Aria's scribbling speed had become so fast she was able to finish a message in less than one second. Something about vampire's pride?

"Vampire pride is human pride. Your kind is not so far removed from mine," Denton said. He had known enough supernatural beings and creatures over the years to believe that they were just humans with a few extra bells and whistles. "Sorry about the questions. I was curious about the psychology of the man. If he doesn't value mortal life as much then chances are we can get him into a position where he underestimates me or one of the other human members of our team. Understand? I'm more than confident we can kill or use him."

He already underestimate us all. Aria finally found the words to describe him, he never see anyone as equal.

"Then I guess we'll have to change his perceptions. I am many things Aria, but I am beneath no one. I'll start cooking up something we can use against him. A way to finish him for good or get him under our thumb."

Denton watched the heated exchange between Owl and Sam, doing his best to make sense of the situation. It was relatively straightforward, he though. The cyborg had tried to invade Owl's shit. He assumed to recover and delete the data Joe wanted.

Whatever happened it ended in Owl's favor. She decided to keep Sam's AI. Denton watched with impassive eyes as Sam stormed off into the desert. He gave a final nod to Aria, patting her on the shoulder, and followed Sam. The pain from Kotsu's beating had finally subsided and he was feeling fairly spry again. No more headache, no agony of the lower back, all the joins back in order. The only issue is that Kotsu would want something. Denton took his debts serious. It's what separated him from the real animals out there.

On the bright side being healthy again meant the plans and schemes were starting to reveal themselves again. Owl, or Blue Owl, was doing a hell of a job of stacking the deck against herself. Denton supposed she could afford to do so, though, given the nature of where they were.

He caught up with Sam.

"Hey now, hey now," he said. "Don't wander to far off from the group. You might not find your way back."

"That's the plan!", Sam snapped without looking over her shoulder. "Find a fragment, beat the shit out of it, sandland logic says I'll trip and land on you, or you'll stumble upon me."

Denton circled around her, putting himself in front of her path, his hands raised as a form of non-violence. "We don't know that for sure,"" he said. "And even if that's the case there's no guarantee something out there won't kill you. Then what? Then Owl has your AI, your baby permanently, and where are you? You need to breathe Sam. Think."

"Breathe? I don't even have lungs in this world!" Sam stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You have a way with words, don't you? Can you convince the blue one to let Alex go?"

"A way with words only goes so far. They have to used at the right time and place," Denton said. "You should have never tried her. Not like that. Not here. It was a dumb move. Handling her will need a subtle approach, planning. It may not be needed, though. Once she's healed - if she is healed, she'll likely go back to her original self and give Alex back to you."

"If she is healed, I will put a bullet in her brain at the first sign of the blue bitch peaking through. Owl is a lot of things, but not that bitch." Somehow, mechanical features conveyed that Sam was not joking, though how she intended to do so when she hadn't had a bullet-projectile firing gun since Andras.

Denton shook his head. "You are incorrect. Blue Owl is Owl just as Yellow Owl is. I'd actually argue the Blue one is closer the personality we were dealing with on our first two missions. She's not really someone you can trust." He put his hands in his pockets. "Do you honestly think she's a trustworthy person?"

"No. Anyone who can get in your head without you knowing it is never trustworthy. I'm not stupid. But Owl uses her brain for something besides target practice. She thinks and listens to reason. Whatever the hell that is? That isn't a person. That is a monster."

"To be fair you are the one who engaged her at the request of Joe. You should have asked me before you did. I would have advised you not to. And monster?" He snorted. "No, she's cutthroat and dangerous, but not beyond reason. Reason won't help here, though. So, as your fearless leader...what would you have me do?" Even with the mask on it was like that smile of his was powerful enough to come through them.

At 'fearless leader', Sam laughed. "She downloaded my kids without my permission or their consent, tried to kill them, and then kidnapped one. That's kidnapping, attempted murder, assault, grand theft, and extortion. Explain to me how that's not a monster." To the request as to what she would have him do, all she said was "If I tried to murder your daughter and then kidnapped her, calling it a fair trade for something I did, what would you do?" She wasn't aware that Denton had a daughter, she was just making a point.

"EMP," Denton said casually. "I imagine if one was designed well enough it could knock most of your systems offline. Next step would probably either be a form of brainwashing or harvesting you for parts. Stuff like that. I've played around with the scenario somewhat. Anyway, I'm glad we had this moment. I feel it has been very eye opening. Do your best so stay out of Owl's way. I'll see if she can't be motivated into returning what's yours."

"Hmm," Sam nodded, "My circuitry's protected, though." Other than that, that would take her out of the game, he'd put some thought into if she- "Wait, you have a daughter?"

"No," he said flatly. "Children are liability. You asked me what I'd do. So I answered. And circuitry can be disabled. You and your friends are not the only people in the world who are familiar with robotics, wiring, and weaponry technology. Your systems can be scanned, weak points identified. We have several on standby who have such fields of expertise and I'm almost positive HQ can afford to hire the man who we think is the best in that field, although we consider him to volatile to work with. So that's why you were chosen. But this isn't about is...it's about Owl. I'll do what I can."