Unity

by Carl Stubblefield

  *Note: If any of the runes woven upon the ribbons are disrupted or damaged, control and utility of skill is drastically compromised.

  Sheer Shear: Stealth kill up to two enemies using coordinated attacks with Silk Stalkings. Gia must be undetected by targets for ability to activate.

  Shadowstep: Flit from one area of concealment to the next, avoiding detection in the intervening space.

  Silhouette: Disappear into the environment by holding perfectly still. Active for one minute before a five minute recharge.

  It had been a while since Yuki had used this avatar, but within a few steps she felt the feedback iron out. She felt agile and did a couple of deep stretches, moving with fluid ease. She admired the skintight black suit, emblazoned with gold highlights and mystic icons. The ribbons hung from her arms, connected from the wrist to elbow. They undulated in the air, suspended and waving as if they were underwater.

  She thrust one arm forward and the ribbon shot out and severed a nearby branch, quickly catching it before it could drop to the ground. She lowered it to the forest floor and then oriented herself with her minimap. Then she began to navigate the branches. The silk ribbons maintained their tone, holding her aloft as they pulled her from tree to tree at almost whiplash speeds, dodging and shifting so that she didn’t catch on anything or get hit by an errant branch.

  Reaching the edge of the forest, she could see the towers in much more detail. Data-mine worked this time as she spied the figures atop the watchtowers, their red eyes visible glowing in the dark.

  Soul Scavengers

  Guardians of the Gulag, who rapidly swarm anyone invading their territory and drain them dry.

  Carry-on and On: These soldiers are exact duplicates of each other and can activate an ability to communicate with a hive mind, making them ideal for warning others when they are alarmed.

  Soul Tear: With focus, can rip MP and HP away from a target. Amount drawn increases with additional Soul Scavengers attacking the same target.

  With the information, she could also see red cones illuminating her display, where the sentries were scanning the area around them, adding red spotlights intermingled with the bright white ones. Yuki jumped down and caught herself with the ribbons, lowering herself soundlessly to the ground.

  Timing the pattern of the spotlights, she darted across the empty space until she was at the compound’s wall. She was out of the path of detection this close to the wall, so she began to climb with the ribbons and barely stopped short as a spotlight from an adjacent tower crossed in front of her path.

  Activating Data-mine again, she was shocked to see the number of red circles populating the side of the tower. Scanning the tower on the other side, she observed the chaotic path of lights. While it appeared erratic at first, there was a pattern there, and after a couple cycles, her predictive algorithms kicked in and she felt confident scaling the tower.

  Again, the herky-jerky tugs of the ribbons moved her up the side of the tower. Occasionally, she had to stop to let her senses settle but she scaled the tower and hovered with her eyes just peering over the edge of the roost. Two guards were there, one watching the forest and the other keeping an eye on the neighboring tower.

  Seizing the opportunity, Yuki vaulted into the middle of the turret and flung her arms out sideways while mid-flip. The two Soul Scavengers were beheaded such that the heads did not even separate from the bodies. The two sashes grabbed them before they could fall and slowly lowered the two guards and Yuki to the floor below the parapet wall. Thankfully, these digital constructs had no blood or gore to contend with.

  Yuki waited to see if any alarm would be raised, and after a tense five minutes, she dared peek above the parapet wall. The patterns had not changed, so their hive mind ability must need to be consciously activated. A critical failure in design. Looking inward at the compound, there were multiple small bungalows arranged in concentric rows. In the center, there was a squat structure, and all roads lead to it like spokes from a wheel.

  The majority of security appeared to be focused outward; there was little that she could see patrolling the inner confines. Her inner paranoia porcupine prickled at the whole process being too easy. It was possible that they didn’t expect anyone to pass the first illusioned gateway, but usually breaching an AI fortress was a constant battle from start to finish. Something felt off. Unable to assess exactly what was bothering her though, she could only press forward.

  Updating her nav-point, Yuki grasped a nearby zipline and slid down amid the bungalows.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Something for your M.I.N.D

  Yuki stared at the large building in front of her, an unpleasant stench becoming cloying as she got closer to the mushroom-colored building. There was also a rhythmic hum that reminded her of the breathing of someone asleep. The ground vibrated on the ‘exhale,’ tickling her feet and sending shivers dancing along her spine and back.

  Bright light spilled out of the building—so much that it was impossible to see inside. She attempted different angles but kept having to blink her eyes as she looked into the multiple doorways that surrounded the building. It was like staring at some high-beams, and it killed her night vision.

  The area appeared deserted though, at least on the streets. Yuki kept her guard up; she could sense something stirring in the small bungalows and it was uncertain if they held prisoners or foes. The space around the building was empty, and there appeared to be no doorways on the ground level. A flat platform encircled the structure and light blared out of the windows on this level.

  With stealth out of the question, Yuki ran for the building, leaving long shadows bouncing after her in the light, unnerving her with the feeling of exposure. When she was close, she used her ribbons to vault her up to the second-story platform and crouched down to see if there was anyone following her.

  Nope. Nothing. The lack of a normal boss or even resistance was making her more paranoid than if there had been constant attacks. It made her feel like she was missing something vital that she would regret when everything began to hit the fan. She growled as she strained her perception and came up with nothing.

  Yuki peered into the second story window. Inside was deeper gray, with brown accents, further reinforcing the fungal look. The smell though. It wasn’t like mushrooms, it was… something else. It was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t quite place it, but deep down some part of her must have known because of the trepidation she felt. The closest thing that kept coming to her mind was beef broth. She just hoped that whomever had done the security on this AI had cut some corners, since it was unlikely for anyone to complete a double-layer slice.

  She leaned forward to brace herself as she looked inside but pulled her hand away. It was warm! And soft, like flesh. Revulsion made her gag slightly. Gross. She pulled her hand away as if the wall was hot and shook it, trying to fling off the unpleasantness that made her skin crawl. Strands of something sticky and syrupy trailed from her fingers as she pulled her hand away, but there was nothing to wipe them on to clean them.

  Something was in this place and she had hacked enough AIs to know that this looked like a boss lair. And it probably wouldn’t show itself until she was irrevocably committed.

  So be it.

  She gripped the sides of the window by activating Silk Stalkings and she used them to launch herself into the room. She sailed through, swan diving and executing a flip. She caught herself with the two ribbons, absorbing the impact of the fall and keeping her just shy of touching the floor.

  Nothing happened.

  Easing herself to the ground, she scratched her head and looked around, groaning as the leftover syrup on her hands came away on her hair. This room was just a big hollow chamber, brownish white, and stinky as hell. The only thing different was a small raised circle in the center of the room. Taking a tentative step forward, the ground wobbled like a trampoline, rebounding slightly with each step. As she got closer, she could see a small opening in the rubbery
floor.

  A pulsating mound of pink trembled in the center of the large room, its top barely visible from the gray membrane that surrounded it. As Yuki stared at it in disgust, there was a flatulent release and the pink material began to extrude from the opening. The membrane became taut as it stretched, and the mound began to widen, revealing its wrinkled and shriveled surface.

  Yuki retreated back as the floor began to flutter and the pink kept forcing its way out of the ever-widening opening. The more that was visible, the more it had the appearance of a… brain?

  Yuki activated Data-mine on it and got very little information.

  M.I.N.D.

  HP: ??

  Weaknesses: ??

  Abilities: ??

  Good luck!

  Yuki scowled. Dammit to hell! She began to pace like a cat, backing ever closer to the wall as the M.I.N.D. continued to spill forth. How big is this thing?

  Sluggishly, it began to raise in the air, its veiny purple red and pink color contrasting with the bone-like background as it squeezed its way out of the opening. Phlegm-like gobbets of syrupy slime dripped off of its corrugated surface, hitting the floor in large splatters.

  The miasma intensified as its source was revealed. Yuki had to cough to keep her gorge down as a wall of stench hit her in the face. An acrid, sour taste still reached her tongue despite her best efforts.

  Along the seam of the two lobes, thorny teeth could be seen as it emerged, folded almost parallel to the groove.

  The brain hung up and trembled for a bit, struggling to push through, then the raised metal rims of two shutters embedded in the front lobes made it past the lip of the opening. Shutters irised open and closed within the brass rings where the eyes should be, each moving independently until they saw Yuki standing there, mouth agape. They centered on her and the rings spun, telescoping out of the brain to get her in better focus.

  Yuki thrust her hands forward in a forceful clap, the ribbons shooting forward. She intended to plunge them deep into the giant brain before it could fully emerge. There was a loud *clang* as if a gong had been struck, and two diamond-shaped shields were floating in front of her sentient sashes. She tried to dart them around but they reacted too quickly to circumvent, easily parrying any of her probing attacks or feints.

  To make matters worse, she could see more of the rhombus-shaped shields detaching from the inner walls of the chamber and begin to circle the brain as it continued to extrude from the floor. By the time the stalk of the brain stem was visible, there were three rows of the shields rotating around the brain, surrounding it on all sides. Their mother-of-pearl shimmer was mildly hypnotic and Yuki had to force herself to stop staring at their rhythmic motion.

  She tried launching the ribbons with more force, winding up like a baseball pitcher to see if she could power through one of the shields, but it only resulted in a louder gong sound that reverberated a little longer. The shields seemed to pick up speed as she exerted more energy towards them. She charged towards the brain, hoping to throw it off, but a group of eight shields came together. Their sides joined together seamlessly and the whole shield wall shot forward like a piston.

  Yuki was hit like a freight train and flew into the back wall. The soft, organic nature of the structure absorbed her impact for the most part, but the attack still rang her bell. She shook her head to clear it, and saw that the diamond-shaped shields had resumed their circuit around the brain.

  She had the inklings of a plan. With one ribbon, she lunged forward and with the other attempted to grab the shield that moved to block it. Success! She got a grip on two of the edges and held the shield in place. It quivered violently, trying to break free, and Yuki shot her free sash out and scored a glancing strike on the soft brain.

  There was a bellow of pain and another shield dashed in, point first, and sliced through the center of the ribbon holding the shield, which sped off as the end of the ribbon fell limp. With the runes destroyed, everything from the cut to the end of the ribbon was limp and just hung there. Sagging down like a child’s arm in their parent’s jacket.

  She could whip it around but it would not move of its own accord. The dead weight made the ribbon much slower as well, and another shield crashed into the ground like a dart, its point driving through the end of the sash and firmly fastening it to the ground.

  More shields shot like arrows, pulling down more of the ribbon despite Yuki’s efforts to wobble it or flip it sideways. When it was securely fastened and Yuki’s movement was restricted, the shields attacked. One swept her feet from behind, and she was airborne for a second before four more fused shields hit her midair and pushed her to the ground.

  Once on the ground, the other sash was secured in a similar manner, sharp shield tips piercing the delicate gold writing and destroying Silk Stalkings’ effectiveness.

  With her held down, the brain settled to the ground with a heavy crash. Puddles of sludge and goop were thrown upward and she had to turn her head so none would splash in her mouth. She shook her head to flick away some of the ooze that began to slide down her hair onto her forehead.

  Another heavy *thump* and Yuki looked up. Over the edge of the shield on her chest she could see the brain, lurching forward ponderously like a slug. It stretched forward then let its bulk fall with a crash. The seam between the lobes opened more, and rows of teeth were visible, sharp and pointed like a lamprey, curling inward, waiting to gather her up and pull her inside.

  The shutters whirred as the servos inside dilated and closed in anticipation. The shields atop her pressed down harder as well. She tried to wiggle out but she was pinned in place like a prize butterfly. The teeth made a clicking noise as they occasionally hit each other in their excitement. They extended further out of the maw, as if each one yearned to gain the first taste of her, competing with the others.

  Well, this sucks! How are you going to get your ass out of this fine mess, Yuki?

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Problems

  Yuki groaned as the shields pressed down harder on her. She felt herself getting smushed into the soft floor, and her flailing intensified as the reality of being totally smothered became all too real. Kicking her feet, she could only manage tiny, impotent little hits against the shield wall. She felt her foot getting caught, but could not see what had grabbed her. With a quick shake she managed to free herself, hearing a ratcheting click.

  Yuki’s back began to get damp as the pressure caused a dingy brown liquid to be expressed from the floor as the shields kept pressing down on her. It became hard to focus on anything as the inability to move became more and more claustrophobic. What could she do? None of Gia’s abilities would work. Should she revert back and shed her avatar?

  The shields would still have her trapped. There would not likely be time to roll out of the way; even though her natural form was smaller than her avatar, it wasn’t that much smaller. She would have access to her other abilities though. Summon would be on cooldown, so she would lose that advantage. By keeping the avatar she effectively had double the HP, since when Gia’s HP ran out it would be the avatar that dissipated, leaving her natural form intact. Think, Yuki!

  Her left foot caught something again, frustrating her. What the hell! Is the floor trying to grab me and eat me too?

  Another click sounded from the other foot, but this one seemed to echo in her mind and time seemed to slow down, just as if she had activated Overclock.

  One aspect of this avatar came into razor-sharp focus. Her heels happened to be stylized high-heel guns. She had never used them, and had forgotten that they even existed, but directing her focus there, she found that her kicking had cocked the hammer back on both revolvers. With a guttural yell, she pointed her toes upward and aimed at the M.I.N.D.

  *Blam*Blam*Blam*Blam*…

  The shots boomed much louder than she ever expected, shattering teeth and ripping large burrows into the brain. Soft tissue was shredded as she emptied both chambers into the fragile, fleshy enemy. With t
he sound of shattering glass, the shields fell apart and clanged on the ground. Yuki rolled quickly and activated Silhouette while the brain was shuddering in the center of the room. Its HP bar was taken down about 30%, and it looked stunned.

  Yuki looked at herself and saw that most of her ribbons had been ruined, and she could only use a few meters of the ribbon before they fell limp. Her own form shimmered and was visible in her display, emphasizing her stealthy nature.

  She began to see some of the shields trembling as the M.I.N.D. began to recover from its stunned status, and Yuki realized she wasn’t going to have a lot of time before it was back at full capacity. She ran towards the large boss, and noticed that the prismatic outer surface of the shield was not present on the reverse side of the fallen shields.

  If you’re going to dress like a dominatrix, might as well act like one.

  Yuki targeted the back of a shield and, using the Silk Stalkings like a flail, she whipped a fallen shield on its dull matte back. To her delight, it shattered, throwing bits of shrapnel all around. Taking care not to damage the ribbons, she began taking out as many as she could. *Crack*! *Crack*! *Cra-cra-cra-CK*! She sped up as some of the shields began to slowly rise from the ground. The random nature of her hits allowed her to stay undetected as she whirled and spun.

  The shields that had managed to get airborne were still not under full control, and a well-placed whip shattered more of them, their shards embedding in the soft surface of the boss with meaty *thunks*.

  But when Yuki grabbed an entire shield and flung it at the creature, its sharp point managed to penetrate more than halfway into the brain. The tooth-filled maw between the lobes roared in protest, only to be filled with more broken bits as the dagger-like remains clinked off shuddering teeth and sank into the soft tissues behind them.