10:43 AM

December 19th

Diana

"Sabrina…" I shook her. She felt so cold and dead. She was dead. "Sabrina!"

My heart instantly ignited, my senses burning to catch a whiff of Ripley. Electricity stormed, a veil of sparks ripping through my skin. "That bastard!"

After everything we did, of course this was my fucking luck!

"Investigator Ulrich." Anabelle said sternly, snapping her fingers to create a resonating sound. "Control yourself."

Her words multiplied in my head, forcing down upon my mind like stone to entomb my thoughts according to what scripture was carved upon them. I burned right through that earth. "I'm going to find him. Now!"

"Investigator Ulrich!" Anabelle's voice grew harsh, her throat straining. "You do not decide that without my order."

Once again, my thoughts twisted to her directive and I nearly snapped at her. I would have, if Starlight didn't brave the flame of my mind and try to calm me.

"Hold on, my dad would never do that!" She appeared in my vision as her fairy-like image. "He- he wouldn't leave me like that, he would have taken me along with him!"

"Not if you weren't spying on us for him." SI Koli's eyes glowed yellow, and Starlight suddenly plucked away from my vision as I heard her yelp.

My breath was hot, my eyes sharpening as I scouted for any electrical sign of him. "He'll be below us, no… he'll-"

Kim slapped me, the sting carrying on into my Warp Energy as it felt disturbed. "Your eyes."

My mind was briefly staggered by the slap, thoughts coming slow… my eyes must have turned red and silver again…

The Lieutenant squinted her gaze on me, but chose to ask more important questions. "We'll deal with him, but for now, we focus on the Warden's office."

Reluctantly, I nodded. I reached down towards… the woman who I'd been thinking off as a friend, tears begged to release, anger even more so. But as I reached for her hand to carry her corpse somewhere safe, it lurched away from me.

Sabrina's corpse twisted up, a snake-like arm breaking from her chest that shot towards the Lieutenant. Kim slashed it down with her blade, intercepting the attack on the Lieutenant but failing to stop the bullet shot out from Sabrina's fingers.

It pierced right through SI Koli's eye and he flung back and fell onto the floor as blood pooled from the wound. Everyone fired at the… thing immediately except me. Sabrina's… corpse moved inhumanely, arms bending backwards to crawl like an insect towards the edge and falling down the railing, before skittering away as she morphed with steel-like skin as hair sank inwards and all flesh twisted back inside her.

A woman made of smooth steel and no facial features laughed as Kim growled. "I fucking knew it."

"Ah, but I got one of you, didn't I? Sister? Don't worry, I'll be back." The strange woman said before her body twisted down the railings out of our bullet fire and out of sight.

My heart hammered in my chest, I was relieved but also… I looked back at SI Koli. He was dead, he hadn't even had a moment to react.

Everyone was in shock, but we couldn't linger on like this in the open… we picked up his body and began to move but Archangel stood still. Her wings, which had been supporting her movement, were shaking slightly. "She… killed him."

"Yeah." I said quietly. "Don't waste time. Let's get back in cover."

———

We had to scrub all information off his Frame, and leave his corpse for our Assault and medic team to retrieve. Hopefully, Muramasa wouldn't find and defile it. Or worse, Skeleton. Starlight poured into my sight, her tiny body shaking as flakes of light failed to find proper shape, I felt her clinging to my mind specifically.

"I was… I was in his mind when he…" Her voice was on the edge of breaking. "I- I felt him-"

It's okay Starlight. You're with me.

"We were just talking a few minutes ago…" Her gaze was blank, looking in mine as though trying to find some meaning in my eyes. "I- I don't understand. I- is this what we're doing to them?"

It's complicated, Starlight. I… wish things were different, but we have no choice.

"I- I know. Logically, I'm aware of all the facts of the situation but I never understood the weight of what it means to die until-" She grabbed her face, tears breaking from her skin, her voice pleading to anything. "I… can I just stay with you until my dad comes back?"

Of course, take your time.

I felt her relax and settle into my head, her fear becoming mine… and hopefully some of my strength became hers.

Strength — was that even the right thing to call this numbness? This desensitization?

I'd died once before, Starlight had been in my skull that time too, but she was asleep. She didn't have that fortune this time…

"Heart Seeker." Kim Liyung whispered. "Third Princess of Muramasa."

My records opened up for her, the information on her was dry. "Says she's their assassin who can manipulate her appearance… but since when could she look like a corpse? She even had a SIM dig out of her."

Kim lifted the SIM up, and crushed it. "A decoy, if your emotions weren't so easily swayed, you would have noticed it with your psionic senses."

"I won't fall for the same trick twice." I bit my lip, staring at the corpse of the Special Investigator.

"She never does the same trick twice." Kim responded dryly. "And she fooled me too, even had fake organs stitched inside of her… or… I see."

"See what?"

"Her twin sister…" Kim chuckled. "The bastard finally found a use for the Fifth Sister."

I looked through some records, the Fifth Sister was dubbed 'Hexblood', a Mutant with powerful blood manipulation. She was labeled dead, eliminated by none other than Kim Liyung three years ago.

"Her… corpse?" I questioned, was this like Skeleton raising the dead?

Kim shook her head, lifting her katana up as she veiled with a green aura. "Went through her heart once and her brain twice, should have killed her. She'd been able to regenerate from worse, but my wounds stay lethal. Hexblood and Heart Seeker share sympathetic Implants from the same MALignant, both allow for manipulation of shape and appearance… Hexblood, she would have been in a vegetative state and Heart Seeker has no flesh for a SIM to attach to…"

"Which means…" The Lieutenant prodded.

"Our father must have grafted her vegetative body into Heart Seeker. Giving both twins one shared vessel. Effectively, Heart Seeker can control her sister's remains to become whatever flesh or organs she wants — even imitate death, as we saw. The Implant won't recognize Hexblood as dead if Warp Energy from her sister's Implant keeps flooding into her."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It was the same situation as when my head was blown out. But… permanent.

Two Adapters who shared an Implant from the same MALignant, pouring Warp Energy to keep the other alive. Or recognized as alive. My SIM had been tricked into thinking I was alive because Ripley was with me every second, feeding me Energy from his BUG, if he left for even a minute then I would have…

"The more I hear about your father, the less I like him." I muttered, and Kim's gaze fell to her sword.

"You don't know the worst of it." She tightened her grip, pushing it into her scabbard.

Rachfeld sat beside Koli's corpse, I didn't know much about them other than that they were both members of the esteemed Intelligence 1 Squad. Whispering, he bowed his head to Koli's body. "Astaghfurillah."

I squinted. "That's… a religious saying, right? From before The Collapse?"

The Lieutenant nodded, a sad smile on her. "Ahmed was one of the few guys who still believed in a God and a place to go after death, the least he deserves is to pass with someone praying for his ease."

Letting my head rest against the wall of this jail cell, I wondered… how many more would share his fate? How many more times would we have to pray?

———

A few minutes later, Dreadwire and Sabrina — alive and healthy except for some burns on her hand — landed next to our cell. I couldn't help but feel relieved, Ripley hadn't turned against us and Sabrina was alive. They both stared with shock and confusion as the corpse of Koli rested on the bed of the cell.

"What… happened?" Sabrina said slowly.

I recounted the events to her, both her and Dreadwire took it in silence. Dreadwire's gaze only shifted when I told them about how Heart Seeker claimed him to be a traitor. The sensation from him... was... strange. Not quite fear, something along the lines of guilt, but wrapped in anger. It all coalesced into drive, a need to work harder and better. He paid no more of a response, otherwise…

"We should move, Shadow Son is dead." He stilled, as he reached me through the Neuralink. {And there's been a development.}

As he told me about the fallen Prince, I wasn't sure what to think. Muramasa had once been allied with Soul Killer, but switched sides over to Skeleton some years ago… and now, they've begun completely culling all links to Soul Killer — even going so far as to kill one of their own Princes. That was roughly a few months before the Toxin Club was destroyed.

And using his corpse to corrupt another. If this prison really was where they ran experiments, then we'd likely see more cases of Dragons and royalty experimented on by the Bladefather. As far as anyone knew, there were sixteen current royalty among Muramasa, seven daughters and nine sons — not ranked by age but according to the favor they had to their father.

Two of the Princes were dead along with one Princess in Hexblood, technically, and another was on our side as Kim Liyung. That left twelve more. But was their goal really independence, or to rile up a sizable force to fight their father? The Lieutenant reported that we'd now been contacted by Yuzhou, and it was almost definite that they'd soon send their own attack force…

Assuming we failed.

As grim as everything was, there was good news. Ripley's experimental cure worked on Sabrina, she felt… normal to me. I knew his nanites were involved in the process, along with my cells he cultivated from the bone marrow, and it showed in how easily I could feel the contours of Sabrina's soul and her… fear. Guilt. Shame.

Whether the effect was permanent or temporary, we didn't know, but it worked. It was a step in the right direction.

As we carefully traversed the prison, Ripley repaired his armor and Shardware from various pieces that pulled out of his armory, also taking the time to tinker with Muramasa weaponry to work with our systems. I gripped the assault rifle, while not my preferred weapon, I was still good with them.

Eventually, we found our way to the Warden's office with relative ease, a part of me even thought they'd abandoned the North Wing. But as soon as we reached the door, my stomach twisted.

Beyond that steel frame, was a presence I would never forget. Soul Killer…

Again?

Strangely, even the Lieutenant paused. Then I saw behind her visor, not with my eyes, but my soul. Although not visible, I knew she had red and white eyes now, and they were confused. "That… is not me."

"What?" I looked at this confusing mess of a woman.

Sabrina and Kim knew about the Lieutenant's case because they were a part of ASK, while Kipper and Rachfeld also didn't look surprised, but rather disappointed. It was our other two Special Investigators, Pouler and Grey who took to asking. "Everything alright, Lieutenant?"

The visor on her eyes darkened, but I could feel the Titanium clouding her mind. "Be prepared, something… strange is inside. Dreadwire, get the door open."

With a powerful thrust from his Arachnodyne, the door broke off its hinges and fell inwards, revealing the lavish warden's office which was starkly home-like in comparison to the rest of the prison. There was plush furniture and paintings, alongside a decorative diaroma of Yuzhou's grand tower in the Third Precinct.

Behind the desk sat the warden, Arihiko Yamashi… and his eyes were soulless, but the Nexus controlling him… felt off.

"Bow down." He said simply as he flicked his finger, a wave of Gold rising through it.

"Bow!" The Lieutenant, or was it Soul Killer, shouted — the Titanium amplifying her as my head practically smacked onto the concrete. Everyone else followed suit, even Dreadwire, but then a part of him severed.

All four Arachne fell to the ground, the warden clicking his tongue. "Not low enough. How dare you keep your weapons raised against me. Now rise."

A chill burrowed through me, this wasn't Soul Killer and that Gold wasn't… the Warden's. Looking closer, the finger the warden used to swipe through the air was now severed and bleeding… but I still knew that was Soul Killer's Mutagen inside of him.

"This isn't possible." The Lieutenant said, but it wasn't her speaking. "How? Unless…"

"I used Shadow to test the possibility, he succumbed to The Revenant, but the answer rang true. Your network can be infiltrated, controlled, even exploited — severed one. A shame I won't let you live to tell your others about it." The Warden's body slowly grew etched with cuts that formed with no apparent reason. "Unfortunately, my son just happened to be too weak to wield your kind. You'll find that I'm much more capable at harnessing your power for my own benefit."

Son? Then was this…

Kim gritted. "You old bastard… what did you-"

"The Revenant's Nexus made a fine blade… but I don't understand why you've returned, daughter. Was it not mercy that I let you live? Let you both live? You both know I only needed one of you."

"You let us nearly die before that." Kim stood up, and took a step forward. Right by the edge of her toe, the floor cleaved into splinters despite there not being any visible weaponry on the warden.

"Not another step." The Warden said, a second finger now severed from him. "I thought you of all my children would not betray me. But even you covet my death."

"I'm here for my sister." She unsheathed her katana from her scabbard. "And you know I'm the only one who possesses the power to kill you."

"True." He smirked, the edges of his lips growing a long cut to extend his smile. "Your siblings have been very clever. This ruse, it's remarkable how they planned it — of course, they didn't. But their execution was impeccable, I'm proud of that, even if the intended result they seek is my death. They're fortunate I could find mercy in my aging heart, a willingness to give them such time to enact this."

"You… you surrendered?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The Warden laughed. "Is it not a father's burden to heed to the voice of his children, I feel regret at times… but what had been done cannot be erased. If this is what my work has resulted in, then I shall prove it's merit on my own — let them come and face The Dynasty's wrath. Let it be reborn, let your government and the corporations throw all of its force against me… and I'll let them know why they're fragile."

The Warden clicked a button, a screen popping up of… the bases we'd set around the Sixth Precinct. There were a frantic group of evacuees from the area, local citizens and others such as reporters or those hoping after a paycheck for their steel.

And suddenly, more than a few grew soulless eyes on the video feed. Long enough for those around them to notice, for them to question and for reporters to grow confused. This was all being broadcasted live.

The Lieutenant's parasite growled. "Oh, you bastard! What are you doing!?"

"It's not so fun when you're the one being controlled, isn't it?" The Warden laughed, a gash on his chest forming. "Ah, Revenant, how I longed for this moment. You should be thanking me, too, Silvereye. I truly regret not having done more the day you were sold to them. The world will finally care about this monster after today."

I could only watch as each of the screens showed the soulless thralls growing with cuts as the world… severed around them. In no order, limbs from civilians and officers alike dropped to the ground, steel from cars and buildings cleanly cut apart, as buildings began to unravel. The soulless were both being cleaved, and cleaving the world around them. They were just… alive one moment, and dead the next.

Rubble crashed down and bodies piled one after the other. How many…

"That's five of your eight bases dead without me raising a finger. Of course, I've left your main base of operations untouched for the purpose to ensure you can still maintain a proper front." He chuckled. "I've been eager to fight your Captain for ages, it isn't everyday a man with a CyberGene offers to combat you — of course, he will need help. And now, you have no reason to refuse it. The false Gods know you would need that support against me."

I couldn't focus… on what was happening. Did he just... reveal Soul Killer's existence to the public?

"Muramasa Dynasty will never be forgotten after today, and neither will The Revenant, and your government will forever bear the scars of refusing me. Remember, my children offered you the easy way out of this predicament, your refusal has garnered you the consequence of that."

He cupped his hands together, a sinister smile on his face. "Me."

Blood burst as an invisible horizontal slash severed his head from his shoulders. That smile never left his head even as it rolled on his desk and down to the ground.

Kim shuddered in place, her knees falling to the ground as fear overwhelmed her. "Father… you…"

"Diana Ulrich." The Lieutenant turned to me, her eyes still soulless behind her visor. "I would like to propose a truce."

"A truce?"

Soul Killer nodded hastily. "Against The Bladefather."

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