December 19th

Ripley's conversation with Starlight within the Meta-Mind

Starlight had taken the knowledge of my deal with Bladedaughter with… surprising calmness. "So… you're really going to betray Diana?"

"What choice do I have?" I muffled my voice with my hands. "I care about Diana, but… let's be honest, would the police really use those Implants for good? Not when they're working with Skeleton. I just… need to make a tough choice, probably lie the fuck out of everything, but… Diana's trapped by her definition of 'right'. It's not compatible with mine."

"That's… ironic." Starlight nervously chuckled, her eyes flicking around as though searching for what to say. "I'm sure there's a way both of you can come to an understanding."

"Maybe." I rubbed her head. "I'm also tired of the lies."

"Just… maybe no more secret deals. Glad you rejected War-Watcher."

I choked, and she noticed. "There's… something his offer made me sure about."

"Which is?"

"Muramasa's future." I knelt down. "The Bladefather, the way he talked to Kim. He's… dying of something, but it's been a long time coming. His children likely know. He's been training them to one day take after the organization once he dies, but… I doubt he's the type of person to sit and idly pass by on a hospice bed."

"I can see that." Starlight nodded.

"That brings us… into the concept of who gets his Implant after he dies. You've seen it, the ability to convert biomass into weaponry, and those with Mutations are turned into Bioware-like tools capable of expressing their original abilities."

"Something that Yuzhou's likely the reason of. If we can tell from Goliath. He used to work for them, right?"

"Exactly." I let her step into the palm of my hands. "And I'd imagine Yuzhou wants it back. That's one destination, but the other… there's the consideration of Skeleton's revival mechanism. If he gets Bladefather's corpse, then he'll have a MAL capable of the same — and it doesn't even need the Implant. The third, is that goes to someone else in the family…"

"But who?"

"That's what I'm growing suspicious of… War-Watcher would like to keep that power for himself. Meaning he'd prefer Yuzhou getting the Implant and Skeleton, who is likely in alliance with him, using his father's corpse. Putting that thing into a fresh Adapter can go wrong in many ways, and there's little chance that whoever inherits it will be a tenth as good when the Swarm's so close. If that Implant goes into anyone…"

I paused, remembering the blade that sunk into my head. "Why would Bladefather be dying? I think I figured it out… not to mention, I doubt a Mutation is how he manipulates flesh into weaponry, there's a biological aspect… but to control the specific science and chemistry behind it? Adding in that he stabbed with a blade that sent Warpcode…"

"You think… The Bladefather is a Dual Adapter?"

"Was. It appears as though removing an Implant past Tier I leaves… residual effects. But the Bladefather was undoubtedly capable of manipulating Warpcode…" I corrected. "I'll need to ask Kim, if she makes it out alive. But that means that Bladefather likely only has a SIM, while someone else has his BUG. We both know who that's most likely to be."

Starlight looked at the image of our target. "What do you think she's planning?"

"They." I sighed. "The Bladedaughter has allies, on our side."

———

Dreadwire

Dryder's lance of red died out as The Bladedaugher cut it down, a stray spark grazing my mask. He growled, Diana's eyes hardened, Kim looked indifferent, Sabrina was surprised while Archangel was just tired. Anomaly gritted.

In their reactions, I already knew who the traitor was. The Tetradyne expanded behind me, their very movement broke them apart but internal repair tools soldered every bit back into itself as they rewired until four machine-gun barrels pointed at my once-allies. Under my breath, I whispered. "It's her blade you seek, isn't it?"

A mask of black steel covered Bladedaughter's eyes, but there was shock in her quiet voice. "Astute, yes… my father can't be killed without it."

"Thank you." I replied, as my weapons turned down to her. She didn't react; instead, she knew from the beginning that I was lying, but not for the reason she expected. We had traitors on our side. I knew who to suspect now, but my reasoning for getting up close was never to backstab her.

It was to touch her. This was the only way I could get close enough.

Four thick streams of gunfire from my Tetradyne collapsed upon her like judgement, her forearms expanding into windmill-like blades that precisely blocked each bullet. In that moment, Hypermind slowed her down enough that I could see the kick of a cleaver on her shin, aiming for my leg.

I focused on the rotation of those blades, ignoring the low scythe. I needed to hit close to her Frame, so my brain deciphered angular velocity as my index finger shot out. Her blades were locked onto the exact rate of fire of my machine gun, and in that brief gap… a single finger made it through unscathed — only the Livewire cutting apart.

The finger's sharp nail stabbed into the side of her neck, hooks clamping in place. During my talks, I'd made sure to detail everyone's abilities, drawing their attention away from one key individual.

Twilight.

The finger glowed purple, digging corruptive Warpcode trenches through Bladedaughter's Shardware. In fact, she seemed to have absorbed it on instinct. Having her father's BUG, it was likely she had some level of Shardware assimilation and corruption of others. I saw it in the way my finger began to disintegrate.

But Twilight had already breached, she braved Mirage's onslaught of Dogwhistler echoes for more than scouting. That violet glow had the faintest splotch of black within it, of Titanium.

My left leg came apart, and a katana swung down on my falling form. A silver one blocked her black blade, Diana's fiery eyes hidden behind her mask as she weaved lightning across the weapon I forged for her. "You incorrigible bastard."

Kim descended at the same time, along with Archangel, as a twist of sharpness dragged out of Bladedaughter's body to make space between her and Diana. In seconds, all four of them engaged in a heated display of telekinetic bladesmanship as Dryder hurried to my side. "Uh, you were just pretending the entire time, right?"

The Tetradyne grabbed my ankle and stuck it back onto my stump, the Arachnodyne briefly mimicking my right Claw's Rebuild Feature Link to bond the two. "Yes… just pretending."

Getting onto my feet, I observed the clash of blades — heavy, whirling, and bright with a storm of sparks — before whispering in my head to Starlight. "It's gone as planned, now… think we can do it?"

Starlight gulped. "Let's hope Bladefather put the right type of Warpcode in your head… I think… oh I am so sorry for using my mother as a tightrope."

Synchronize me to the Bladedaughter.

———

Silvereye

I'd already 'triggered' the moment Ripley made his betrayal, and then he just as quickly rescinded it. Why hadn't he told us that part of his plan? I didn't have the time to question it, not when the Bladedaughter's limbs each moved like snakes to block all three of our assaults on her.

A fan-blade chipped at my katana, Kim's psychic enhancements were curbed by a crescent-blade whipping from Bladedaughter's wrists, and it curved into Archangel, who shielded herself. Exchanges like that occurred every passing second, neither of us managing to get past her violently brutal defence.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Ripley's voice echoed in my head. "Apologies for that. I needed to get access to her Implant."

"Her Implant?"

"It's her father's." He said, something I couldn't quite grasp as Bladedaughter shot out a knife from her knuckles. "I'm going to mimic its Unique Feature."

"You're going to what?!" I dodged, but that was the wrong move, as the knife curved in the air and jabbed into my heart -- or would have, if Ripley's resonance disk didn't create a veil of force that let it glide off-course into my clavicle. The Bladedaughter descended upon me as like a wraith of steel, somehow finding the space, despite my other three comrades, to drag her blade down on my head.

Dryder shot the sword, angling it so it only shaved a layer of my armor as I slid back using my telekinesis. Anomaly pulled the blade out of my clavicle, her grip on it vibrating the weapon which caused it to crunch up.

"Oh, that's interesting." Ripley said, the steel limbs of his Tetradyne pulsing. "She has two Unique Features."

———

Dreadwire

The premise was simple, I could now more or less gauge Adapter's Tier development and even their Features with Frequency Sync like I'd done with Diamante, but I considered how it had been formed in the first place. It occurred as a result of me attempting to mimic The R0N1N's unique Feature, the result of possessing a Fragment of a Source-Shard.

It's true merit wasn't only pretending to be dead, but to delve into the secrets of Source-touched Adapters. Into reading their Warpcode past the surface, to connect with the very essence their powers were founded upon. I wasn't detecting the Frequency of their Warpcode… I was deciphering the Frequency of their Implants.

Of their histories.

Memories flashed in a brief glance as Starlight and I pushed into Bladedaughter's mind. She noticed it, I felt her notice me, and that moment catalyzed a reaction to my own Shadows.

Shadow Tendency is now Bronze I.

Shadow Tendency Iron-Boon: This Tendency greatly improves the Adapter's ability to decipher Implant-Warpcode.

I saw a shadow of the man guiding her, of her doubts and reasoning behind these actions. Of her actions and her father's actions. A city fell under the might of The Infinite, and my Implant pulsed like it was proud of that. Of the chain of events sprawling out as Yuzhou used it's distraction to dig into SynTec's activities. I held on, desperately digging through to acquire what I wanted, my Implant struggling to find balance with hers.

But my Implant had more than one Fragment now. Starlight took to The Future, while I had Becoming, Change and Stability now residing in my Gold. Two antithetical Fragments… but they refused to click. They were just Fragments, they had to be whole first to truly fuse into one.

Last time, I tried to mimic a Unique Feature created out of a Fragment I didn't possess… but this was different. Her Implant reacted to mine, at the same she threw a knife at Diana and staggered away, rendering space between her and everyone else as a panic built into her.

I felt her thoughts. What… are you doing?

We both saw it then, The Bladefather standing in between us. The one who'd blessed us with his power, and I saw what he'd bestowed upon his daughter. Reaching towards Diana, my mind shuddered. "Oh, that's interesting… she has two Unique Features."

Implant deciphered:

Adapter: Error

Development: Metamorphosis [Tier III]

Compatibility: Error

Features identified: Overclock V.5.27; Jailbreak V.6.08; Technomorph [Stability] V.5.13; Legion [Connection] V.5.09

I viscerally grabbed that bond between us, while her mind reeled as she tried cleaving it apart.

'It' being Twilight, who was not enjoying this. "Oh, I am never doing this for you again!"

Simultaneously, Bladedaughter was attacked by Archangel, Kim and Sabrina; spears, frost, and ectoplasm uniting as they exchanged blows as the air tore with wind and static.. This was an opportune moment as any, but it was a testament to her fighting ability that she expertly dealt with all of us coming at her with a lazed calmness. Even well-placed shots from Dryder and Anabelle didn't do much to stop her, merely whizzing past her or ricocheting from precise placements of her blades.

That was because of her second, unexpected, Unique Feature. Legion.

Its secrets came out to me, along with Technomorph, Starlight grunting as she explained.

"All this damn scrap around us isn't to level the playing field! It's fuel! Technomorph is similar to your Shardweave, but focuses on integrating and assimilating technology rather than creating it. She can rebuild herself as many times as you break her, and it's damn corruptive, any Shardware she stabs can turn against you since she has Jailbreak! As for Legion… It's different, effectively allowing her to split her mind across every piece of Shardware connected to her, allowing her maximum control and reactivity… Even without a head, her body would be able to fight! And…"

Twilight screamed, Starlight's eyes going wide as her mother reeled back into us. Bladedaughter's gaze sharpened against us, and she charged towards me, ignoring Sabrina and Kim.

Diana appeared between us, her body scarfed in lightning that condensed into the disks she'd fit around her suit. They harnessed her power, feeding as they formed precise waveforms that wrapped over her body, enhancing her output while minimizing loss of electricity.

But right now, she let herself be stabbed in the abdomen by the blade as she pinned it between her hands, the electromagnetic film keeping a barrier between her and the edge of the blade, which refused to be pulled out of her. That electricity was discharged through Bladedaughter's body, and Diana flung her backwards.

At the same moment, I had grasped it. The final threads needed to weave perfection through me. It reacted with the dense Warpcode gifted by her father. How couldn't it? It was his power in the first place, now being grafted within me.

"Okay… um… this isn't even spaghetti… this… is actually great?"

Data Mimicry V.3.22 has updated to V.4.00

Effects:

Frequency Sync is greatly attuned to detecting Source-Shard Fragments.

Frequency Sync increases ability to read Warpcode from a distance.

Increased ability to mimic Unique Features touched by a Fragment contained within the Adapter.

Protocol: Rewrite has been reconfigured to Overwrite. Overwrite has expanded the capabilities of influencing active Implants mutagenically and through their coded data.

Feature Mimicked: Technomorph

Summary:

Protocol: Bio-machination can be mimicked; allows cellular integration of Shardware components, bypassing the need for Neurowiring and reducing Capacitance.

Protocol: Retrofit is already present within the Adapter…

Protocol: Bioware integration can be mimicked with reduced effect- Error; risk identified.

Protocol: Corruption can be mimicked with reduced effect; allows a minor ability to manipulate the Shardware of others and link with them.

The framework was built, but for me to take hold of all of this required two things. I pulled out a Silver Implant, one that I'd just collected from War-Watcher's corpse… a Tier III Implant would have been too much for me to take hold of, but what I sought was something deeper in it.

He, too, had been touched by Stability.

I'd only received a fraction of what The Bladefather offered his children, and the thought of what I'd manage after all of this entertained me more than those Implants so close to us. The feel of its lurid strength was sweet wine to the appetite of the Catalyst.

I should have been undergoing Warp Burns, but that blade of divine knowledge which had poured into my brain had transformed me into a scabbard, and I was willing to take advantage of every moment of this. Bladefather wasn't the one directing my development; I was. And so I reached Diana, who still had a blade lodged in her stomach. I yanked it out of her, blocking out all of the sounds of battle behind us as my focus settled on the wound in her stomach.

"I need to Synchronize with you, and I need your blood." I explained. "And I'm sorry for not telling you, I just needed to get close to-"

"Just do it." She rasped, her displeasure clear. Starlight bonded our minds together, fusing our psyches so that she understood my intent. And she was terrified.

"Ripley, that's not a-" My claws already speared into her wound, drawing fresh blood out as five vials filled with crimson. She shook her head, reeling a bit from the pain. "Are you sure?"

You know I am. Our Implants converged in thought, in pattern, and they were just as wanting as I was. As War-Watcher's power fed me, I reached deep into the mimicked Feature and drew from it's Bio-machination Protocol as the armor around my neck steamed open.

I stabbed all five vials right into my jugular, bleeding Diana's strength into my own. Her blood didn't sit well inside me, immediately I felt heat bubble through my chest and brain, but then her Warp Energy reached me… her Mutations did.

I'd been suspecting something for a while, especially with Diana's comfort in handling Starlight, that we'd stopped being just BUG or SIM Adapters. Hexblood and Heart Seeker confirmed that possibility, of people with Implant from the same MAL… being able to affect one another. Hexblood was by all means brain dead, just like Diana had been when she was shot in the head.

I thought it was her electrogenic organs keeping her alive, but I was wrong. It was me, my Warp Energy convinced Diana's SIM that its host was alive. And my Warpcode affected her Mutations, providing control and structure to them through Starlight…

And it was with Starlight, with our Synchronization, that the barriers between minds were eroded. And right now, I dissolved the barrier between our bodies. That heat which was so blistering became more comfortable, melting with the Warpcode I'd absorbed and reacting with the Feature I mimicked.

And so… I focused everything down into a focal point. At the same time, burning a new pattern over Database and Shardweave. To merge blood and steel.

I didn't care if this was reckless, I learned that my Implant had a tendency to correct its own faults by lowering its Grade. And this was worth so much more than that march towards Titanium.

I felt wetness drip down my mask's crevices, and Diana was also changing as residual Warpcode flooded her just like her mutagenic cells did to me. The proof was all around us. That wetness dripped down through the cracks, blood.

Database V.4.11 has been updated to V.4.14

Effects:

Protocol

Nanomachine Reprogramming has- Error- is unstable.

Error: Massive Alterations to Nanomachine Reprogramming will be occurring.

Shardweave V.3.15 has updated to V.3.19

Effects:

Significant improvement to organic cohesion with Nanomachinery.

Error-

Error-

Error-

Grade has been reduced to Gold III

And my blood was black. Black, because Goliath was fusing with me.

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