NBB3 - chapter 33: GD18

Tirella cracked her neck, and it popped and snapped loudly. The bones at the top felt out of line, and it gave her a headache. She tried not to look at the skeleton, who was still aiming its massive canon arm at her. If it shot her, she would probably end up blasted apart.

A loud clang came from the door opening, and she saw the zombie, Giridin, place the last of the additional debris in front of the entrance before wiping his hands and turning to her.

"So…" he said, staring at her.

"You guys were leaving?" Tirella asked, hoping they would so she could head towards the massive Wyrm.

"That's the plan," Giridin said. "But… Can you tell me where Solus is? You being his friend and all that?"

Tirella nodded. "He should be back in Skulltown by now."

"Hah, I knew it," Giridin shouted as he grinned at her.

Tirella nodded, but she didn't relax. She could see the intelligence flicker in Giridin's eyes and knew he wasn't as calm as he pretended to be.

"Any chance you can bring us to him?" Giridin asked.

"Not now," Tirella said. "I need to do something here before I can go back, and when I do, I probably won't be walking."

"Right, right," Giridin said. "And what exactly do you need to do here?"

Pelsin shuffled his feet, and she saw the canon rise slightly, now aimed at her head.

"Just need to speak with someone," Tirella said, not sure she should tell them what she was here to do. They seemed set on guarding the giant Wyrm, and she wasn't sure what they would say if she said she wanted to go near it.

"Who?" Giridin asked, seeming genuinely surprised. "There isn't anyone here but us two."

Tirella shrugged as she scrambled for an idea. Giridin's eyes narrowed as he stared at her.

"Does it matter?" she finally asked.

"Perhaps," Giridin said. "If the one you are looking for is called Ourlin, it might."

Tirella frowned, trying to recall where she had heard that name. "It's not," she said when she saw Giridin's frown deepen. "Who is that?"

Giridin continued looking at her, then gazed at Pelsin quickly.

"She seems to be telling the truth," the skeleton said.

"She?" Giridin asked with raised eyebrows.

"Her mind and body don't match," Pelsin said. "I can't sense everything. Her mind is the most powerful I've ever seen, but…"

Giridin's frown deepened. "I've heard rumors about a female undead who takes over bodies… but she isn't called Tirella," he said as he lowered his stance. A dangerous quiet suddenly hung in the air.

"You're talking about Scathia," Tirella hissed as she shook her head. "I am not her."

"But you know of her," Giridin said.

Tirella growled as her temper flared and her patience faded. It took her a moment to get it back in line. "Yes. I'm the one who ended one of her bodies after all," she said.

Giridin frowned and looked at Pelsin again.

"She's telling the truth," the other said.

"At Least she thinks she is," he added after a moment.

Giridin nodded and slowly released his attack stance. "Alright. Sorry about that. I had to make sure you weren't from Zombra."

Surprised, Tirella looked at him. "What do you mean? What does that Zombra place have to do with Scathia?"

"From what Ourlin told us, she is there," Giridin said.

Tirella stared at him in stunned silence. Did he just say what she thought he said? Scathia was within arm's reach?

"Where is Zombra?" she hissed, incapable of keeping the anger from her voice.

"She really doesn't like Scathia," Pelsin said.

"Yeah, I got that," Giridin said as a wide grin formed on his face. "Lower your arm. I don't think she is going to harm us."

Tirella relaxed when the massive arm dropped to the ground with a solid thud.

"Lucky for you, we don't like Scathia either," Giridin said, and his smile turned ugly.

Although curious, Tirella knew there wasn't time to go into someone else's s problems right now. She turned to the gated exit.

"I've got to hurry. Good luck getting to Skulltown," she said.

"Wait, wait!" Giridin shouted as he jogged after her.

"What?" Tirella asked as she turned back to the zombie.

"How about we come with you and help? I know you said you weren't going to walk back, whatever that means, but if we help, perhaps you can put in a good word for us?"

Tirella was again surprised by the sharpness of the zombie, and she wondered if his pattern greatly enhanced his intelligence. It had to, from what she could tell.

"No need," she said. "I'll put in a good word because you helped me get out of the room and didn't attack me. And because you told me where to find Scathia!"

Giridin grimaced, seeming unhappy with her suggestion. He visibly hesitated, then sighed and nodded. "Alright, suit yourself."

Tirella turned and ran away, wondering why Giridin seemed so intent on coming with her. When she reached the gate, she looked around and saw a massive gap between a few of the buildings, the next row only tiny in the distance. She knew from when she was hovering high above the city that this was where the Wyrm was.

Let's see what kind of AI that thing is, she thought.

She began running, noting how sluggish and heavy the body moved. If she wasn't in such a rush, she would have evolved it into something more graceful.

--

Giridin stared after the odd undead, and his smile disappeared as soon she disappeared into the ruins.

"Are we going to Skulltown now?" Pelsin asked as he moved beside him.

"No," Giridin said. "First, we are going to see where that one is going."

"But she said she was going to-"

"I know what she said," Giridin muttered, his eyes narrowing. "But she is heading straight for the giant Wyrm, and although she wasn't lying, she also didn't tell us the whole truth."

When there was no reply, Giridin turned to Pelsin and grinned. "Don't worry. As long as she doesn't agitate the big one, we don't have to interfere."

The two undead ran out of the city, heading in the same direction Tirella had gone.

--

"That's not a Wyrm," Tirella muttered as she gazed at the rolled-up dull-black behemoth that lay in the middle of a massive crater. Black spikes stabbed outward at the sky, the occasional blue lightning flickering around it. Even the smallest spike on its tail was taller than she was.

Jumping from the first floor of the ruined building, she landed hard but without any damage. Although the new body was slow, it was also immensely sturdy, as she had found when the side of the building toppled on her. She hadn't been even remotely close to dodging it, but it hadn't mattered. The stone just shattered on her horns and wide back, barely slowing her down.

I still prefer my own body, she thought as she got up and made her way down the slope towards the massive Wyrm.

She was fifty feet from it, dodging what looked like a part of smaller Wyrms that stuck out of the ground when a soft voice echoed around her head.

"That is close enough. Stop where you are, or I'll be forced to open fire."

Tirella's mouth fell open, and she slowed down, staring at the Wyrm. That choice of words was definitely not normal.

"Are you the AI that awoke Solus?" she shouted.

"Oh my! Now that's a name I haven't heard in a very long time! Os Solus, you say?"

Tirella felt her tension fade. Solus had been right. This was the AI, and with some luck, it could help them!

"Yes. He sent me here to call for your help. We have big trouble heading our way."

"I see. You may approach, but I warn you, any sudden movement and you will be reduced to dust. I don't know exactly what you are, but you can't fool me with that proxy body," the voice said in an odd and archaic accent.

Tirella grinned as she moved forward. "Solus told me that you had a tendency for drama. I understand what he means now."

Soft laughter came from the Wyrm, and the voice changed from elderly and archaic to a more youthful, exuberant one.

"Yes, well. I haven't been able to talk with anybody more intelligent than a sludge since Dealla left," he said. "So forgive me for my theatrics, and my name is not AI. I am GD18, although some undead know me as Grogaldragh."

Tirella barked a surprised laugh as she reached the side of the Wyrm. She'd heard weird names before, but both of those were not what she knew. She saw a few massive uprooted sections of earth and stone close to the Wyrm, and she sat down on the nearest one.

"That's one interesting name, but I think I'll use GD18. It's shorter," she said. "And don't worry, I've met worse."

"Oh? Now I'm curious," GD18 said. His voice changed to a smooth, deceivingly simple one, and Tirella suspected it was the AIs regular one.

"I'll introduce you two if we are still unended in a few weeks," Tirella said, her humor rapidly fading.

"That sounds fantastic," GD18 said deadpan. "Now, tell me then, what kind of problem exists that Solus the great builder of Skulltown can't fix by himself?"

"You know of all that?" Tirella said, feeling stunned. Then she shrugged. "Never mind, we can talk about that later. What do you know about Kaots and Kaot Lords?"

It was quiet for a moment, then GD18's voice returned, any humor gone.

"I presume you are not asking for me to explain all that I know, so let me suffice by saying, I likely know more than you."

Tirella smiled sadly. "I wonder… There is a large mana-nebula passing through the solar system with enormous Wyrm-like things feeding on it. Surrounding it are-"

"Massive Kaot Lords, and one of them is approximately four days, three hours, and a few minutes from us," GD18 said, interrupting her. "Yes. I know."

Tirella gaped at the Wyrm for the third time in a short period, stunned silent. How did he know, and even more, how could he know the exact moment?.

"You knew?" she muttered.

"Seeing as my goal is to explore this solar system and the rest of the galaxy beyond, it was in my best interest to gain abilities to scan the immediate space around what remains of Earth," GD18 said slowly. Then a weary sigh echoed around the area.

"Do you know of a way to stop it?" Tirella asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I can't implement it fast enough," GD18 said. "If I could complete my evolution, I can likely dispatch it. The thing is, my evolution won't be ready in time."

"Puss stinking bile stained Kaots," Tirella roared as she slammed her hand on the ground. "That's the same problem we all have!"

It was quiet, the only sound the small debris clattered to the ground from the damage she had done to the stone.

"I presume you mean that you and Solus are still not done evolving?" GD18 finally asked.

"How do you know all this?" Tirella snapped, her annoyance at not finding an answer getting the better of her.

"A friend of mine, Dealla, comes back now and again, telling me rumors," GD18 replied calmly. "She has skills that make her uniquely suited for finding what others try to keep hidden."

"She's a spy?" Tirella asked with a sniff.

"Something like that," GD18 said, his voice still as calm and smooth as before.

"So, I presume there is no other way to finish your evolution before that thing gets here?" Tirella asked.

"A mana-core," GD18 said calmly.

"... how many?" Tirella responded as she jumped up.

"One," GD18 said, his voice for the first time betraying some emotion. "Why? According to Dealla's findings, there are no more mana-core's on the planet. Only those pseudo-cores."

"I don't know who that Dealla is," Tirella said as she moved closer to the wyrm body. "But she is or maybe was right. Solus is currently entering one of the rifts to destroy a smaller kaot-lord and return with its mana-core."

"Where is he?" GD18 asked enthusiastically.

"If he is back? In the hills behind Skulltown," Tirella said as she lay down beside the Wyrm.

"I see.. May I ask what you are doing?" GD18 asked, sounding confused.

"Guard my body. I'm going to return to Skulltown and make sure they don't use the mana-core but bring it here," Tirella said, closing her eyes and waiting for a moment.

"You can use mana-projection?" GD18 shouted.

"Yes. I'll be back as soon as I know more," Tirella hissed, ejecting herself from the body.

She hovered above her body for a moment, then went further up in the sky, gazing down at GD18's massive body. It didn't look anything like a Wyrm.

Let's see what Solus thinks of this plan, she thought as she turned and sped up into the air, back towards Skulltown. She wasn't planning on just trusting this AI. But if Solus trusted it, that would be another thing.

--

As Vingria's small shape disappeared into the distance, a momentary silence hung around GD18's massive body.

"She's gone, so why don't you two just show yourselves?"

GD18's voice echoed around a building at the edge of the area of destruction that had once been the center of the metropolis.

After a moment, two shadows distanced themselves from the building, and Girigin and Pelsin slowly made their way across the debris until they were a hundred feet from GD18.

"If you can talk, why didn't you do so before?" Girigin said as he put his hands on his hips. "Do you have any idea how much trouble we had keeping those smaller Wyrms away?"

A burst of laughter echoed around the massive area of destroyed buildings, uprooted streets, and bits and pieces of bone and scales.

"You did a great job, Girigin!"

"You know who I am?" the fleshy undead shouted as he took an involuntary step back.

"I've been watching you for as long as you have been here. It's one of the few distractions I have here," GD18 said.

Pelsin stepped forward, interrupting whatever Girigin was going to say.

"Why?" he asked, sounding more curious than angry.

"Because I was bored, and you were here," GD18 said. "Without Dealla, there isn't much else to do!"

"Did we really help by stopping those wyrms?" Girigin asked, sounding upset.

"Yes, but not like you think," GD18 said softly. "But, if your question is if you have to remain here to guard me? No, there is little outside of what is already going on that might stop me from finishing my evolution."

Girgin roared as he kicked a bit of debris, but unlike before, his arms were in the air, and a wide smile covered his face. "Finally! Can you tell us how to get to Skultown?"

A soft blue light emerged from one of the black spikes that adorned GD18s back, and a beam shot towards Girigin and Pelsin. Both jumped back, Pelsin raising its arm at the beam. The light shone on the ground before them, and a large image appeared. Two red dots sat on it, one blinking.

After a moment, Girigin moved towards it.

"I recognize this," he muttered as he pointed at the area around the blinking dot.

"That's where we are," GD18 said. "This is a map. Skulltown is the other red dot."

Girigin's hand moved across the map as he muttered to himself for a while. Then he looked up with bright eyes. "I recognize things on this. I can find it!"

"I thought you might," GD18 said. "You always were one of the brighter cleaners."

Girigin shook his head in confusion. "Cleaners?"

"Don't worry, it's not important," GD18 said before a soft sigh echoed from all sides at once.

"As the two of you are the last ones here, I think you deserve a reward for all the good care you gave me over the years. Would you like me to evolve you? It will also remove the malicious code the ancients implanted in your current pattern."

"Malicious what?" Girigin asked before shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Yes," he shouted. "I don't care what you just said, but if you can evolve me, that would be great! Can I pick what I want?"

"Yes, of course," GD18 said as his laughter rang out again.

"Something that won't turn lethargic," Girigin said. "I don't care what it is. Even back into a skeleton is fine."

GD18 was quiet for a while, then he sighed.

"I can do a lot, but not that. Removing the curse of the ancients will stop it from spreading as fast as it is in the others, but in the end, the Lethargy will happen. It is the natural course of an undead's life cycle."

"There is nothing I can do to prevent it?" Giridin asked, his voice cracking.

"If you manage to find a mana-core, you might be able to prevent it. There is so little known about what happens when someone uses those. Although, I guess I'll be one of the first to find out soon!"

Giridin sat down, his gaze on the ground as his eyes gazed into the distance.

"And you?" GD18 asked, his voice ringing beside Pelsin.

"Something smarter," Pelsin asked immediately.

"No more desires?" GD18 asked curiously. "A better cannon-arm? Flight?"

"No," Pelsin said quietly. "Just… smarter."

"Easy enough," GD18 said. "Show me your mana-field, and let's see what I have to work with!"

As Pelsin's mana-field appeared around him, Giridin looked up, staring at the city.

"There has to be away," he muttered, and his eyes gained a dangerous gleam.

--

Pain, sleep… pain.

The red haze of pain slowly receded, but an eternity seemed to pass before something stirred.

Wake up!

A slight silver of consciousness tried to push through the dense layer of mist that surrounded it, screaming in rage. All around it was a mass of green, dense mana, bubbling and swirling, sucked into the same place the consciousness was like a whirlpool.

The consciousness knew who it was… but it just couldn't recall. All it knew was two words. Wake up!

Rushing straight into the stream of mana that poured down into the seemingly endless space, the consciousness knew it needed to get out, needed to recall.

Wake up, it screamed.

Anger and fear warred inside the sliver, and it pushed through the mist. Although the resistance became less dense, it also moved faster, pressing against him. Far in the distance, a bright golden spec shone.

Wake up, the spec roared.

Solus? another voice, another consciousness asked.

The voice shook the small consciousness to its very foundations, and it froze, dragged back to the mist. It knew that word… that word… he was that word!

The second consciousness didn't speak again, but the small consciousness cared not as it rushed into the mist. This time it shouted three words.

Solus wake up!

The sliver of consciousness that was Solus fought its way through the fog, into the thick stream of green mana, and towards the golden light. The closer it got, the stronger the current became.

Waakkkeeeee, he roared, pushing through the last bit and finally touching the golden light.

--

In a cavern deep below the ground, dry and cracked lips opened for a moment, and a deep voice rumbled through the room.

"Awake."

The lips of the sleeping giant stirred for but a moment, but all around it, the ground shook, cracks appearing in the ceiling and the walls. Then it stopped and quietly returned, only interrupted by the occasional crystal that fell from the ceiling and cracked on the ground.

A green figure burst from its head, hovering above the body.

"What was that?" Solus muttered as he felt what seemed like an odd nightmare slowly fade away.