《Fallen Kingdom》 In the ruins a child wakes. (1) ¡°Nooooo! Don¡¯t leave me here please don¡¯t do this, please I wouldn¡¯t have signed up for this if I knew what was going to happen! Please let me out!! LET ME OUT!!!¡± *Sniff* pleeeaseee¡­. let me out¡­.I just¡­want to go h...o¡­.m...e.¡± Pshhhh¡ª- ¡°The subject has been knocked out sir just as you commanded¡± ¡°Good, ready the subject for the next procedure, we have a long day ahead of us.¡± Signal received, booting stasis chamber¡­. Retrieving data¡­. Error, data retrieval failed, searching for backup¡­. Backups corrupted, attempting to restore files¡­ Crafting subroutines- success Combat subroutines- success Medical subroutines- success Ecology Database- success Spell Database- success Personality suppression- failure Mission objectives- failure Administrator code- failure Memory files 0,1, 2,-success Memory files 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, -failure Updating Unit memory¡­ Success! Scanning unit¡­ Error, scan unavailable, please call for maintenance Accessing flash generation network¡­ Out of range. ¡­¡­¡­This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The first smell that greeted the child was that of the earth. Immediately the child kicked the metal in front of them until they came right out of the pod that was holding them. As they looked around the crumbling ruins overrunned by plants. The child just stared off into the surroundings¡­ ¡°Hello?¡± the child¡¯s call was only met with echoes in this ruin. ¡°Is anybody there?¡± ¡°If so I can¡¯t hear you!¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± ¡°Who am I?¡± Why am I here?¡± The child asked, taking a pause between each one waiting for an answer but there were none. This continued until finally the child got up and took a better look at its surroundings, seeing words on the door it just kicked off. She walked over and picked up the door. ¡°Synthesis Unit 00¡­ huh, not gonna use that.¡± The girl tosses the door to the side. ¡°Let¡¯s see a name¡­¡± the girl took a stick and started drawing in the dirt that had accumulated in this ruined falcity. ¡°No no, don¡¯t like those, this one looks terrible, Alex? Boring¡­.Ash? A solid maybe. Syn? Hrmmm. I really like Aunt May¡­ AUNT MAY! or I can just go the name pending route?¡± After a moment of thought, the girl named herself nothing because she can¡¯t decide and decided to refer to herself as Name Pending. And as soon as Name made her decision, she found that her stomach was growling. ¡°Oh right food.¡± said Name as she smacked her open palm with the side of a fist. Name got up again and searched for an exit, and soon enough she found herself outside in the middle of nowhere...trees were everywhere and the ground is made of dirt now, not just broken tiles covered in dirt anymore. Most importantly, there was food in the form of apples on an oak tree? Must not be an oak tree then, Name thought. Why did I just assume it was an oak tree? Name wondered as she pondered how to get up there before realizing the obvious answer, which is not to punch the tree but to climb it and pick some fruits seeing that it¡¯s trunk is a bit too thick to be shaken. Name just took a fruit and directly ate it, then another one, and another one, and another one. There she stayed until the branch was emptied and peacefully slept as the Sun set over the horizon, and the creatures of the night crept. The Night came with many dangers that doesn¡¯t exist in the day, in some ways it¡¯s easier as most of the creatures can be easily blind, and somewhat weaker than their day time counterparts, though their ability to hide in the dark was a bit troublesome as Name can¡¯t see as well as they can in the dark but that is the situation that Name found herself in as she woke to the the shaking of the trees and the groans of the creatures below. ¡°Oh dear god¡­ what the hell is, woah!¡± Name raised her voice a little as she caught herself. As soon as balance was found once more she looked down and saw creatures scratching at the tree she was in. ¡°That can¡¯t be good.¡± she said as she looked around for another branch she can jump to but they are all too far away or don¡¯t look sturdy enough to hold her weight. ¡°Great¡­guess I¡¯m stuck here then.¡± She said a bit disturbed that she is this calm even in this situation. She looked around for a pointy but sturdy branch she can use as some sort of weapon club or something. She doesn¡¯t know why she is doing it, only that something inside her is compelling her to do so and they have never led her wrong, something like a gut feeling? Let¡¯s go with that. She soon found a suitable branch and climbed over and promptly snapped it clean off. ¡°Strange.¡± She commented as she swinged the branch around for a bit before settling down, returning to her original position and carefully observing the strangely aggressive creatures, still clawing the tree trunk as inefficient as that may be. The trunk has a sizable dent in it as Name grimaced and shivered as she imagined the state of their fingers or paws after digging through all that wood. Imagine the splinters Ugh. Name stared in silence as the groans, hisses, and various other sounds filled her surroundings until daybreak. When the creatures finally moved all she can do is sigh in relief that none of them are strong enough to knock the tree over¡­ or able to climb up the tree. She waited until the sun was well above the horizon before she jumped down the tree and took a look at the trunk. The wood was splintered and frayed as pieces of flesh and blood speckled the hole about the size of a large watermelon. Terrifying. Name immediately put finding shelter as a priority seeing that tonight almost ended in disaster. Something for future her to worry about as she sets off once more. Away from whatever freaky forest this place is. Her antics childish, her past forgotten, wandering in the night (2) It¡¯s been a week since Name made her way out of the forest and soon, she had made it to a village. The villager¡¯s immediate response being screams that she doesn¡¯t understand and the covering of their children¡¯s eyes. Eventually the village elders manage to draw attention to the fact that she has no clothes. And now clothed she sits on the village¡¯s well, observing the locals. Day 9- I have finally got my hands on paper, from my observations the villagers seem kinda dumb, at least not smart enough to bulid the automation that guards their village, though that might change as I learn their language more and get to know them more. There are numerous automations but their methods of production are unknown as I have not observed any tools or a spellshaper with enough reserves to make such a complicated, heavy, and large golem. Basic enchantments are something this group is capable of though it takes them a few days to perform a ceremony to do so. The most particular thing is that they fear the night if the forest is of any indication of what is to come, then similar creatures might be present here. Reports of the village are done now questions about me, who am I and how do I know these things? I have not seen others like me other than these villagers which something tells me are not the same as me as well as something about a user interface glitch? More information needed. Name closed her book and willed the storage of it along with the ink and quill. The items specified started to glow as it¡¯s outline was traced as cubes of light appeared on its surface before breaking into motes of light that flew into her palms. Name shivered. ¡°Useful but still hasn¡¯t gotten used to it.¡± ¡°Name!!! Akn fweuf sovnuf fwiw fopfm play!¡± Name turned towards the source of the sound and found villager children with their leather ball. ¡°Ah. Wait a moment!¡± Name called back as she got up. For the past few days, she has been testing what she can do. ¡°Storage¡± being one of them. Another being ¡°Knowledge¡±, knowledge and gut feelings about things she really shouldn¡¯t. The last thing she has figured out in the past few days is¡­ Name took a deep breath and jumped onto the well¡¯s roof before launching herself towards the kids, cracking the tilings on the well¡¯s roof. Extending her legs caught the ball in the hook her feet and leg makes. Now on the floor she slides as she turns around to face the kids again, kicking the ball up and catching it on her open palm, then spinning it on her fingertip. ¡°Tada!¡± Name exclaimedThe author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The kids just looked impressed, vigorously clapping while whispering to each other as Name bowed, the ball still spinning. -Crack! ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°jidhd hisne j!!!! Jaonfur iansjir BACK HERE!!!¡± The kids immediately ran and so did Name, as an old villager lady chased them with a wooden cooking utensil chewing them out. Probably for the broken well¡­. Again. For the rest of the day Name played with them like, well, the past two days, hide and seek, tag, their own personal acrobatics show, and wrestling a bear(?)(pretty sure it was a bear). Testing her own physical limits as well. Of course the kids taught her some well, frankly let¡¯s not talk about the words the kids taught her. By the end of the day she rounded them up and carried them back to their houses asleep as the sun started to set. The villagers have offered her a house but it barely has room for a bed. And she had a feeling she was always more comfortable sleeping outside under the night sky anyways. Taking place on the well roof she had to fix (again) and looking at the barely visible lights in the sky¡­ ¡°...¡± Name got up and took a look at the lanterns that lit the village a bit salty she can¡¯t see the stars like in the forest (again). The lanterns fascinate her to no end as it¡¯s just a dull piece of rock mounted on a wooden stick that glows brightly in the nighttime inside a metal frame, almost as blinding as the sun if one gets too close and warm too like sunlight yet it doesn¡¯t burn when you touch it. But during the day, it¡¯s cool to the touch, cold even, black as coal as it bathed in the sunlight. Name hasn''t figured out why, all she can tell is that the stone exerts a lot of ¡°pressure¡± like one of those heavily enchanted items that the priest has in their storage. The lanterns themselves hangs off posts all over the small village. ¡°murmum murmur magic murmur mummur no no not that¡­¡± Name mumbled to herself almost in a trance until steam came out of her head and she had to stop. ¡°Damn, how long was it.¡± She took a look at the moon, cracks run across its surface. She can even see the fragments drifting behind it. ¡°Hrmmm about one and a half hours? That should be a full moon.¡± Name looked around and noticed that the usual villager guards are not patrolling nearby. ¡°Huh. Someone should be here¡ª¡± Boom! ¡°Errrrrrrrrrre¡­ that answers where they are.¡± ¡°Jaiunr! Aldine ais tomat Aidan¡± ¡°Aiding siisnxu Sichuan aind!¡± ¡°Stranger!?!!! Kinfjisons isjnfud j get away!¡± The Captain of the guards, at least what seems to be the captain as they have wings on their helmet unlike the others and they do what seems to be paperwork, though all Name can see is a child¡¯s crayon drawing. Anyways, the captain of the guard shouts at Name. ¡°Who? Me?¡± Name points at herself what is making that-¡° Boom! ¡°Ahh that answers it.¡± Name turns her head, and sees mossy creatures creeping out of the tall grass. Name ignores the captain¡¯s words, taking a deep breath, she takes his sword, The captain falls silent at the sight of her face, contorted like a maniac¡¯s. In a trance, Name soon found herself running towards the creatures. Steam coming out of her mouth each time she breathes. A smile of her face and a wicked laughter under the moonlight sky. (2.5) A Demon she is, Hrmmm? The stranger strange, Came out dark forest with no hurt marks and no clothes. Me no likey. But Elder wise, so I listen. Gave Stranger clothes, fed stranger food, make her one of our own. Stranger as for white bark. We provide. Stranger ask for dry skin, we provide. Stranger ask for feather, strange needs for feather, but we provide. What Stranger asks, we provide. But hard to understand Stranger is. Our tongue she does not speak. Through motion and games we guess her words. Stranger does not like our bed, She likes sleeping on the well. Too small she said, I don¡¯t agree. Bed really big, she no need for house bigger than that. She also destroys well roof, twice. At least she fix roof fast. Overall me no likey but she like child, plays with child, and bring child back. I appreciate. But Stranger still cause more trouble than she helps. Me am big man guard, and big man guard must lead. Big man guard must organize other guards. Make sure sharp plate and hard plate are not broke and like new so they don¡¯t break when we fight. We must prepare for night crawlers. The ones that go hiss. The ones that go boom, the ones that steal our stuff. We must fight. We must defend. Our iron friends help. They strong but they too dumb to do everything, so we must do for what them can not do, which is plan. Lots of pictures, for different plans, pictures to show to many shapers and prayer leaders our thoughts, requesting elder for things we need. Stranger is weird, no sleep at night, stare at lamps, make weird noises always going barbarbar when me pass by. Broke Well again today, old lady bread shaper chased her and the children. Time to sleep. The next is bright moon, when the crawlers come in big groups. Always hard, but will be no different. Much rest needed before fight as well as many hands. So tell guards take break. Cause at bright moon we fight, that time that light ball rises, we can eat much and rest. The darkness returns, bright moon rises. Night crawlers come again. Many this time. Most fell in trap, Worth the work, as now danger much less. But need people clean traps. Everything good until Boom happened. It was deafening. Broke me ears but me will be okay. An Iron friend broke, it was old one, me childhood friend. But fight continues. Trap destroyed, now much harder, but night crawlers must not make it to village.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Me was telling other guards what to do when stranger appeared. Stranger weird. I no likey but Elders wise, tell me to guard her but I can¡¯t guard her if she in danger, so tell her to go away, But she will not. She walk toward me. And took me sharp plate. I gonna tell her more, but lost me words, her eyes only desire for blood, her smile, cruel and wicked. I no likey, I now afraid as she slow walked towards the crawlers. Then fast walked. Finally running fast towards them and took their head. One hit, Two hit, Three hit. Me has never seen anything like it. A dance with a sharp plate under pale light. A rain of blood and flesh. As evil laugh spread across the field, Me want tell her stop but too afraid, afraid sharp plate would turn to me, instead of the crawlers she kills with ease. As naturally as she breathes. Moving away form shooter¡¯s shooting sticks, weaving between groaner¡¯s number. She fight. She fight. Until a corpse mountain under her feet. Water air coming out her mouth, like a night crawler herself. Creeper spores growing on the corpses e later must burn. Then we see them. The traitors. Always sneaking when bright moon when we fight monsters, trying take what is not theirs. Seeing Stranger has it taken care of, we chase the traitors. ¡°Drats, not Big Man Guard, You, you, you, you, follow me, We go distract Big Man Guard, rest of you. Get Big beast, and break wall. No failing or big punishment follow.¡± ¡°Yes Big Man.¡± ¡°Good¡± The Traitor Big Man Smart, but I hear good. Tell guards to ignore Traitor Big Man¡¯s Trick. Wall must not break, if break, not only traitors get in, crawlers get in too. If crawlers get in dead villagers. If dead villagers, then big man guard failed and be alone. Me don¡¯t wanna be alone. So me fight, so others can be happy and make me happy. Me no like dying alone. ¡°Big Man Guard! We met again!¡± ¡°Traitor Big Man, you fail again. Like last time!¡± ¡°Oh really, haven¡¯t happened, in progress, how would you know?¡± ¡°No confuse me with big word, only know I defeat you! Cause that¡¯s what Big Man Guard Do! And me Big Man Guard!¡± ¡°Bar bar barbar barbar?¡± The stranger appeared on the wall. When she got there? Same smile as when she kill many crawlers. Same eyes. Covered in blood. Still afraid, ¡°Barbar barbarbar?¡± Stranger point to Traitor Big Man, ¡°Yes that traitor must kill. Stranger understand?¡± Me motioned as me tell Stranger, ¡°Barbar¡­ barbar barbar barbar?¡± ¡°Uhhhhhhhh¡­..Me no understand this part¡± ¡°Barbar bar bar barbarbar.¡± Then the Stranger disappeared, as Traitor Big Man¡¯s head rolled. Finding something unknown, now aware of its influences, it seeks to understand. Trap, in a well (3) ¡°So¡­want me to kill them?¡± Something¡¯s itching around the back of Name¡¯s head, her plastered, smile, and bloodshot eyes, no. This isn¡¯t her. Only someone who is using her body for a long time, a familiar while she was asleep. Why asleep? Who is she? Name has no clue, and something about May. Whoever she is. She¡¯s definitely better than her at using her body. Even if she is a bit psychotic. ¡°Hello!¡± But her mouth made no sound. Nothing responded. ¡°So nobody can hear me here, or the other me is not responding.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna take that as a yes,¡± said Fake Name as she gave her sword a twirl and promptly decapitated the NOT villager. Fame then flicked the sword to the side, like habit before resting the blade on her shoulder, holding onto the handle. ¡°I¡¯ve taken care of the monsters over there, the ones that explode seems to be some kind of moss-fungi thing on a metal skeleton or something. You might want to burn them before more of those moss fungus sprouts on those walking corpses. Annnnnnnnnnnnnn back!¡± Name exclaimed. The Guard Captain only looked at her with a confused face, not quite sure what was going on. ¡°That was an experience.¡± Name said dropping the sword as she stretched, reaching her arms over her head. She looked around and saw the dropped sword at her feet. ¡°Huh¡­. mind filling me in? Was only half awake during the second half hehe¡­¡± The Guard Captain facepalms. Daybreak has arrived as the pyres built to burn the remains were just starting to die. The priests were brewing potions and tending to the injured. Also attempting to heal those that manage to catch in the horde that has turned. Treatment may take a few weeks. ¡°Golem men¡± were called to repair their automatons, but it would take a few days for them to arrive. But seeing the inner workings of one of them when it broke last night, Name wasn¡¯t sure if there was anything to fix other than the broken exterior, as none of it should work at all. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that of her failures to put it back together, she would also doubt her ¡®knowledge¡¯ as well. At least she got chirp chirp out of the whole ordeal. The elders were still discussing the events of last night when suddenly Name felt a peddle hit the back of her head. She looked up and it¡¯s just as she expected. The kids. ¡°Heya what cha doing?¡± She said to the kids. ¡°Okwofhwnk skdj dnsibei wienq khfbe?¡± ¡°What? Sorry can you repeat that?¡± The kids repeated what they said but slower, with one talk as he waved his arms around, and the other two kids contorting themselves trying to imitate the the words they were saying. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. After half an hour of Name guessing what they mean one word at a time, she finally got the question. ¡°Ohhhhh, why am I in this well?¡± Name motioned and the kids nodded. ¡°How to do this¡­¡± Name thought for a moment before motioning the kids to touch the water. Drawing the water up in a bucket they touched their haul, ¡°Hot!¡± they replied shaking their hand as soon as they pulled their hands back, dropping the bucket, hitting Name on the head again. ¡°Yes very hot.¡± Name said in their language while rubbing the part where the bucket hit. Feeling hot again, she dunked her head underwater again. It seems extended use of ¡®Physical¡¯ or ¡®Knowledge¡¯ seems to heat her up by a lot. Not so sure about storage as she only stores the book quill and ink currently. The elders finally turned around and walked towards the well shooing the children away and looking inside to see Name in there. One of them cleared their throat, the same one that told her she was unclothed, and said ¡°You? Alright?¡± ¡°Yes very much though I want more water but I¡¯m happy to stay here for a bit.¡± ¡°Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.¡± The Elder thought a bit before turning around to tell the others what they understood at least. After another lengthy discussion. ¡°Alright. Stay. You. Hero.¡± The Elder said once more before leaving. ¡°...Me hero? Wat.¡± Name climbed out to the well¡¯s water, and to the edge of the wall. ¡°WHAT? HOW?¡± She exclaimed. But no one answered her. ¡°Alright then.¡± She slid back down into the well water. ¡°Keep your secrets.¡± She muttered as she sunk her head back down into the waters. Stewing in her own thoughts as the water boiled again. It was night by the time Name cooled down enough to get out of the well. Still hot enough to be considered a fever but at least it is not enough to boil the water she was sitting in, or vaporizing like she did when she first got in the well. She took a look at the well roof. Poor thing has taken a beating the past few days, being broken yet again. She pats the broken posts which now holds a pole horizontally across from someone¡¯s broom. ¡°I¡¯ll fix you when I¡¯m not quite as feverish as I am right now.¡± She whispered. She located a watchtower and climbed up meeting the Guard Captain. ¡°Oosnfeuis psfcscmje jiijvmc mihjiwmici jcnevnnmw xjnnmued!¡± ¡°Mind if I stay here?¡± Name replied as she found herself a comfortable spot and layed down. Ignoring the Captain¡¯s exacerbated look and ramblings she frankly can¡¯t understand. Giving up the Captain shook their head and went back to his job. Leaving only the sounds of crickets and the crackling sounds of the still burning pyre. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Signal received! Booting stasis chamber. Retrieving Data¡­. Success! Updating Unit Memory¡­ Success! Scanning Unit¡­ Success! No errors detected. Accessing Flash Generation Network¡­ Success! Exporting Blueprints¡­ Fabricating Equipment¡­ Unit Equipped. Opening stasis chamber... Coming to grasp, unaware she can climb out, trying to find knowledge within the well walls (4) Day 11. More words has been added to my repertoire, The villagers not as dumb as I thought, but still plenty stupid. I don¡¯t understand their automaton golem things, I asked the kids about it and all I was able to glean was something about belief is what summons the aberration. After a night of sleep, somehow I have come to the conclusion that it¡¯s held together by something called focus(?) And that there should be a core that contains it. Anyways at least they are kind enough to do what I wish with the scraps. Presenting Chirp Chirp! Which is literally a wind up toy that goes chirp chirp¡­ why did I make this? Name took a long look at chirp chirp, not quite sure why she made it or how or even why she decided to call it chirp chirp. Just that she did with her ¡®knowledge¡¯. Closing the book, Name stored it along with the metal toy that entertained her for most of yesterday and jumped off the watchtower and promptly fixed the well roof again. She picked up the broken pieces, fitting them back together along the cracks and breakage ¡°Duct tape.¡± Name muttered under her breath half heartedly as she lifted the broken well roof over her head, hoping it would trigger another ability similar to ¡®storage¡¯ or ¡®knowledge¡¯, and carefully backing away, the now barely held together roof has been carefully put back on the broken posts, it¡¯s splintered pieces put back together held in place by nothing but friction. ¡°There! Done! Good as new! (as long as nobody uses it)¡± Name exclaimed. Admiring her (not) handy work. ¡°Now that is finished¡± She turned her head and saw the blacksmiths are at the burnt out pyre picking out the metal shells for their forges. Then the ash is thrown directly to the compost pile along with any food scraps and hay. Bones are ground to dust before put in the pile. And other things. Name followed the blacksmiths as they carried away the metal shells, threw them in and smelted them. Taking out the melted shell they pounded on it, shaping it into a flat rectangle before folding them and hammering down again. Name watched in silence as they did their work, waiting until they took a break to ask, ¡°Why don¡¯t you just mine the ones inside of doing all that work to salvage the metal from the pyre and making it usable?¡± The blacksmiths only looked at her in confusion. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Oh right you don¡¯t. Uhhh¡­¡± Name looked around and called out. ¡°Hey! Kid! Here! Help!¡± Name exclaimed in villager tongue waving her arms around wildly. Name just repeated this until kids came over. Holding the leather ball they were kicking around earlier. ¡°Huh¡­ sorry. I need help¡± The blacksmiths got to enjoy some Uhh¡­ interpretive dance while eating their lunch. The blacksmiths just looked at each other then quickly finished their lunch to get back to work. Just in time for the old lady who used the well Name had ¡®fixed¡¯ to catch up and find her. Ending with Name getting dragged by her ear as the lady once again chewed her out in a language she only understands a little bit more compared to the last time she got chewed out. Which is another way of saying. She still doesn¡¯t understand and hasn''t learned her lesson. Absolutely not regretting what she did. She properly fixed the well this time. With help of carpenters, lifting the wood needed to be cut. Holding them in place, removing the old posts to place in the new ones. Then finally tiling and waterproofing the roof. ¡°Done!¡± She exclaimed before getting a smack on the back of her head. ¡°Okay Okay! I (will try my best to) not break the well again!¡± The Carpenter face softened and gave Name a pat before gathering her tools and left. The old lady who chewed her out earlier handed over a broom. ¡°Guess I¡¯m cleaning the rest of this up huh¡­¡± Name sighed and took the broom, and swept for the rest of the day. Day 12- I¡¯m continuing to observe the blacksmith and their work, the skeleton of the exploding one apparently contains enough metal to be smelted, Though the process seems to be less of them refining the metal but more of them salvaging metal that they ruined. I¡¯ve been trying to question them with the help of the kids, but they seem to have no imagination outside their work. Why are they doing this? Why can¡¯t they just go mine the ore itself or buy it instead of thos tendious process of melting, shaping, and folding to rid the metal of its carbon only to add it back in again. Another thing is that their movement is really precise, unusually precise, more than it reasonably should have been. Why how? Well, I can say the same about myself so I guess I¡¯ll leave it at that. Name closed her book and stored it. Looking at the blacksmiths again, seeing them swing their hammer and shaping the metal again. Name closed her eyes just listening to the sounds of the hammer as she waited. Feeling the comfortable ambient noise around her. Her breathing slowing. Sinking deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper¡­. dark but familiar, comfortable even. Calming, calmer, calmest. In¡­out¡­ In¡­ out¡­ steady as a melting glacier. Name felt a slight discomfort, something foreign and letting it go. Slowly it went away melting into absolute bliss, her head clear, as if something has been taken off her. The only thing left is her in the purest and most concentrated form, a state of just is. Nothing but an empty shell and the slow dripping of water. By the time she awoke she found the kids on her head, in her lap, and another one on the ground all groping her? More importantly the priests who had jumped back when Name moved. ¡°Uhhhhhh¡­. what in the Empire¡¯s name is going on?!????¡± The past even if unknown, can never be severed, slowly creeping until it swallows you whole (5) Name got up and moved closer to the fallen priests in the silence. ¡°Hello??¡± She said waving her arm in front of one of the priest''s eyes. ¡°Woah! When did you get here?!?!!!¡± Name exclaimed at the child which is apparently on her arm. ¡°Wait¡­¡± she looked down and she saw another child on her leg, and one dangling on her waist. ¡°(Onetwothreefour...)¡± she quickly counted the kids attached to her body. ¡°Huh. Weird (I swear there were three)¡± and tried to get the one on her arm off. As she was trying to get the children of her body. ¡°Oh come on! Come on! Let goooooo¡± winging her left arm around. The children only shook their heads and grabbed on tighter, responding, unlike the adults. ¡°To your right¡± Name heard a whisper in her head and did as it said, seeing a bolt of ice. ¡°Sssscrap bucket¡± the ice bolt exploded and covered the entire village in ice. ¡°Pathetic, to see you act like this, with malfunctioning sub-units¡­ Ros-¡± a pebble was thrown at the figure. ¡°Oi, what do you think you are doing?¡± (Fake)Name said her irises red and her usual iridescent white hair now a vivid red, almost as if her head was on fire. Tossing and catching another pebble in her hand, she once again shot at the figure. The figure quickly erected an ice shield only to have it shatter, but it''s only as the shot has defected. ¡°Ah, an ice mage I see.¡± The figure turned around and saw Name behind her. ¡°What-¡± was all she managed to squeal out before Name swung her heel down, launching her downwards. ¡°Ugh...should have expected this¡­¡± The figure slowly peeled herself away from the ground. Name soon landed. Her hair turning from green to a pale blue this time as she landed. Turning her crimson eyes towards the figure. ¡°Who are you and why did you attack us? Silence filled the air before laughter came from the figure ¡°Hahahaha, seriously? You don¡¯t remember? Pffff¡­ Imagine being the Administrator, an Overseer directs and manages everything from the production of our units and you don¡¯t remember what I am? Hahaha¡­ you can drop the act already, Synthesis.¡± ¡°Synthesis? You know me? Oh, we got quite a catch here!¡± ¡°Not dropping the act Synthesis? Alright, let¡¯s play your game then.¡± The figure got up. Her face masked, a valve opened, releasing an exorbitant amount of steam before closing. A pale almost grey purple and white armour, with numerous frills and ribbons with an indecipherable amount of runes and what seems to be circuits woven into it, folded on top of each other, forming a ¡®dress¡¯, as air moved through them and expelled the hot air. Name whistled. ¡°Looks like someone had fun designing that.¡± ¡°Still at it with your snarky remarks I see¡± the ice mage immediately covered themselves in ice, forming another set of armour on top of her existing one, leaving the frills and ribbons alone so they could still expel the heat.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Name didn¡¯t wait until she finished her preparations, her hair changing to green as she immediately rushed at the ice mage, the wind pushing her behind her as the air in front of her parted. As she closed in her hair turned back to an icy blue as a hastily made blade of ice swung down at the mage. The mage only barely blocked it with her staff, followed by a barrage of icicles. Name immediately backed away. ¡°(Arghh¡­ Shut up, oh really? From what I see you can barely control this body...uh not a bad idea.)¡± Name growled to herself ¡°Give up Synthesis! Perhaps I can make this easier for you. Even if you can fight against all of us together, you are still undergeared for this fight.¡± ¡°Oh really? From what I¡¯ve seen, I¡¯ve been absolutely crushing you even without all the fancy gear I supposedly have. (You alright kids?)¡± the kids nodded. ¡°(Alright, Just Little More)¡± ¡°What the hell was that gibberish?¡± ¡°Oh, you can hear that?¡± Name responded Smiling she continued. ¡°It is a secret.¡± Her hair shimmering between red, green, and a pale blue. Name once again, dashed towards the ice mage. ¡°Oh no, that is not gonna work again this time.¡± Dense ice spikes appeared in front of her as well underneath Name which she avoided ¡®beautifully¡¯ ¡°Ha! Is that really the best that you can do? (denser, colder, denser, colder)¡± A giant fist broke through form behind the ice curtain, hitting Name. ¡°How did you like my Ice golem, Synthesis?¡± the mage quipped back, confident she had Name done in. Slowly the Golem¡¯s fist rose despite its efforts. Underneath was Name, an ice shield on her right hand as her left hand joined in to keep it up. Name has frozen the ground below her and attempted to spread her weight across it. Her voice straining, ¡°Uhhhhg¡­ how...you...like...my¡­.oomph!¡± The ice cracked underneath her. ¡°My¡­ ice shield? Ha. haha. HA! Uhh.¡± Name said with a smile on her face while gritting her teeth, as the wind blew in, moving towards her at a high velocity, so cold and dense, it almost felt solid. The mage¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°Oh no no no no, she can¡¯t possibly be this stupid.¡± Name took a deep breath in and out. Wincing in pain. ¡°Yes, I am this stupid Miss Ice Princess,¡± taking another deep breath, ¡°Arggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgawrrrrr!!!!¡± Despite the golem¡¯s best effort, Name managed to escape from under its fist, sliding off to the side as Name pushed back at an angle. With another blast of wind beneath her feet she jumped into the air and blasted herself towards the ice mange. ¡°And it¡¯s not Synthesis Unit 00, whatever that means, It¡¯s NAME PENDING! Get it right!¡± ¡°Are you-¡± Name crashed into the ice mage at full speed. ¡°*cough* *cough* frickin¡¯ *cough* serious? That¡¯s is arggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!¡± ¡°*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*¡± in a strained voice, ¡°still better than what you can come up with hehe.¡± Name stood back up using an ice blade to pull herself back up. Step by step, she slowly approached the ice mage. A dense layer of ice formed around the kids, the ice attaching to her clothes and flesh. Step by step as pieces of armour made of ice formed around her. Cooling her breath down and circulating it around her through the intake of well, liquid air. Stopping in front of the recovering mage. ¡°Quit trying¡­ *cough* *cough* I¡¯ve already disabled your golems, what do you think I was doing underneath there? *ahem*¡± Name pointed to the collapsing ice golem and the sea of giant hands that were a second too late, collapsing. ¡°God this hurts, seriously what the hell is up with your control? All I had to do is give a little nudge to unbalance the entire thing. Eh?¡± ¡°You have never changed, have you Synthesis?¡± her eyes moist, whether from rage or melancholy, Name can¡¯t tell, regardless, the ice mage fainted. The self, an reflection, sometimes foreign, sometimes unknown, sometimes unchanged (6) Name pokes the ice mage¡¯s cheeks. Back to normal, her eyes blue with a bit of red at the bottom. ¡°Are you sure she¡¯s not dead?¡± ¡°Hrrrrrrr¡­.¡± the priest replied. Their arms across their chest, if Name didn¡¯t see evidence to the contrary, she would think they are permanently fused together that way. ¡°Arggggghhhhh!¡± Name exclaimed grasping her hair. ¡°I can¡¯t understand you!!!!! Please learn faster stupid brain¡± ¡°Oi, Oi, Oi! That¡¯s my head as well idiot.¡± ¡°Ah! Sorry. Still not used to having another voice in my head.¡± a bit embarrassed, Name nervously laughed. ¡°Tch, what are you saying? I¡¯m always here, you¡¯ll just not stuff aware enough to separate my ramblings from your thoughts¡­I forget I can¡¯t flick you on the forehead.¡± ¡°Nooooo! Please don¡¯t!!!¡± Name ducked covering her forehead. The priest just stared at Name, wide-eyed as they only see Name talking to herself like a madman, and slowly backing away. ¡°Nope. Nope. Nope. I Anoion dpsirno asgisnd soine rvodanjn iandoaif¡± ¡°Idiot.¡± ¡°NOOOOOOOO!!!!! My Image is ruinnnnned¡± Name kneeled and proceeded to curl up into the fetal position ¡°What do you mean? Your image has been ruined from beginning to end, I mean who is airheaded enough to walk in without any clothes on? Seriously, I mean most people would at least cover themselves for protection, no not you, the first thing you contempt the moment you stepped out of the pod is: oooh! whether I should punch this tree or not¡± (Fake) Name did her best impression of Name for the last part. ¡°IT¡¯S NOT!¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± Name gave her best pouty face. ¡°Uh-huh. Yeah, that¡¯s not gonna work on me.¡± ¡°Oh, come on! I tried my best!¡± ¡°Sorry, but your best isn¡¯t enough.¡± Fame (Fake Name aka (Fake) Name) said smugly ¡°NNNNN!!! BAKABAKABAKASTUPID*****BAKABAKA¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha! Where in the nine hells did you learn that. Are you pulling from my vocabulary? That¡¯s hilarious.¡± Fame just died laughing as Name continue to whine. ¡°Nnnng.¡± Both Fame and Name turned their head towards the ice mage. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Let me handle this.¡± Fame said Name nodded and closed her eyes as her iris turned crimson once more. The ice mage opened her eyes and rubbed her eyes. It took a moment for her to register she is in an unfamiliar environment. Quickly she jumped up back on her feet. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!?!! Where am I?!?!!! State your affiliations!!!¡± ACK! Where¡¯s my gear?!?!!!¡± ¡°Woah there claim down young lady. We took your gear to better care for you, at least those idiot priests tried, you¡¯ll be save as long as you cooperate.¡± The Ice Mage turned to the sound of the familiar voice. ¡°Synthesis!¡± she growled and dashed towards Fame. Only to get a super-charged flick to her forehead, knocking her head backward as her body fell forwards. ¡°Oowwwww¡­¡± the ice mage sniffled as she covered head. ¡°wait... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?!?!!!!¡± Ice mage shouted get back on her feet. Fame just held her at an arm¡¯s reach and yawned. ¡°SIT.¡± with a certain gravitas to her voice, letting go of the ice mage¡¯s head and point down. Signaling the mage to sit down or else. ¡°yes.¡± the ice mage squealed out quietly, suddenly afraid.¡± ¡°Good¡± Fame smiled and the atmosphere lightened. ¡°Now, where are you?¡± ¡°The enemy camp.¡± the ice mage responded as quickly as she is sweating bullets ¡°Now what are you suppose to do at an enemy camp?¡± ¡°Not make a fuse, wait for an opportunity to strike or escape.¡± ¡°Good, good.¡± Fame¡¯s smile grew larger ¡°Now what did you do?¡± ¡°I-- wait a minute¡­¡± The ice mage squinted before coming to a realization. ¡°WHY THE HELL AM I LISTENING TO YOU?!?!?!!! YOU¡¯RE NOT MY SUPERIOR ANYMORE!!!¡± ¡°Up up up up!¡± ¡°yes.¡± The ice mage quickly returned to her previous position. ¡°Now¡­¡± Fame said, taking her time to mess with the ice mage. ¡°The answer is¡­ I dunno.¡± Name turned around, tilt her head, and shrugged.¡± The ice mage collapsed as if a weight has been lifted off her. ¡°There there. Feel better now?¡± Fame said patting the mage¡¯s head. ¡°HOLD ON!¡± The mage grabbed Fame¡¯s hand and threw it towards her feet. ¡°I DON¡¯T YOUR PITY!!!¡± The mage only got another flick on her forehead for that remark. ¡°In all seriousness, it¡¯s because you are still recovering from the stupid amount of magic you used. I won¡¯t even be here if it isn¡¯t the same for me, but even if you are better than me at ICE magic, I¡¯m still better than you at physical combat and the other attribute, not to mention your shoddy control, I mean its the first time I tried using it and I can just easily...not this again.¡± At this point, the ice mage just felt like a clown being toyed around by an idiot of a superior. Even if her memory loss is real, she is still being played like a puppet by her and it frustrates her to no end. How is she still this strong? Am I really just this weak? Does it really not matter how much advantage she has, she will always be defeated by this daft, insensitive¡­ ow! The ice mage snapped out of her train of thought and took a look at Synthesis. ¡°Oi, don¡¯t drift off to wonderland when I¡¯m talking to you, in fact, don¡¯t think too hard about anything¡­¡± That foolish superior, even if she has forgotten everything, she¡¯s still the same. Always the same. Form her attitude, to her manner of speech. ¡°How are you still alive?!?!?!!!! We thought we destroyed every one of your facilities and subunits, Damaging your body to the point of no return!!!! How can there still be more of your subunits even malfunctioning?¡± ¡°Eh? Really? I don¡¯t care about things I don¡¯t even remember. So keep the chit chat to a minimum and ask the important question here.¡± ¡°How the in the nine hells did you track me down here, and why are you so intent on killing us?¡± Life goes on, slipping through your grasp, until one seizes it (7) Fame came out of the tent that served as a temporary shelter as they rebuild the village, leaving the ice mage tied to her bed. Fame hands went through the motions as if she was removing a pair of gloves before noticing catching herself as she tried to dispose of it. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Fame said, ignoring yet another habit she doesn¡¯t know the origins of. ¡°...honestly I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t feel any compulsion to do anything or hear you tell me to do anything. If we are embedded with a directive, then it¡¯s clearly broken. But I have no comment on the metal pod that housed us¡­¡± ¡°.........¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep now, have fun playing with those children of yours,(it was a pain in the butt to keep them alive in the first place), don¡¯t call me unless you¡¯re live¡¯s in danger.¡± ¡°Wait what?!?!?!!!!! I was hoping you could¡­¡± Name exclaimed but it was too late, she was in control of her body again and Fame is gone. ¡°Help...me...train¡­¡± and Name trailed off. ¡°Darn it AHHHHHHHHH Idiot! Idiot! Wake up, you Moron!!!¡± Name shouted stomping the ground but no response. ¡°NNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!¡± Name stomped over to the broken well again and sat on it and summoned her book and started her routine of writing. Day 13- I finally was able to contact the other person inside me!!! If I¡¯m going to call myself Name, then, I will name her Fame. Fame to be, well I don¡¯t know how to describe her other than commanding and demanding. Maybe more will be revealed when we talk more! The village was a wreck and we weren¡¯t sure if we are going to able to live as Fame basically crammed our lung with really compressed and cold air. I didn¡¯t know air could turn liquid, well, ¡®Knowledge¡¯ says it does but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen it with my own two eyes that I remember, so I¡¯ll count it as something new I learned. Another thing I¡¯ve learned is our blood is silver in color, I want to gather some but they were gone by the time I woke up. There was also a faint smell I can¡¯t put my finger on. Fame just immediately got up and picked up the ice mage. She grabbed the ice mage¡¯s staff and used it as a crutch, slowly and wordlessly making her way towards the village as I watched her control my body in silence. It seems like she has a better grasp of what my body can do than I have! Isn¡¯t that embarrassing? Then again, it¡¯s not like she¡¯s an outsider as she also uses this body. Funny how disassociated I am from my own body. I was really hoping she would help me get a better handle on my abilities¡­ Anyways, the village. There is multiple iceberg sized pieces of ice, well, at least as big as the part that pokes out of the surface of the water, not to mention that the ground is frozen solid for who knows how long, and the entire village is buried under the several feet of snow, ice, and water. Needless to say, there is a lot to do as we can¡¯t plant anything near here, and the houses need to be rebuilt. None of the villagers are buried though and they are moving now. Though looking at the remains, either they or someone else dug them out. That¡¯s all from me!Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Name closed the book and stored it. Sitting there watching the villagers while propping her head up. Nobody bothered to fix the well as the water is still frozen. Day 14- Still no response from Fame as of it. I tried to do the same fire magic thing she did when fighting ice mage but the most I can do consistently is a spark, anymore, the results are...inconsistent. The villagers have managed to locate wood, and are sending people over to start chopping them down. And the ice, large chunks of it are evaporating into thin air as if they don¡¯t exist in the first place. And if I close my eyes and just try to feel for it, I can sense a pressure that is quickly fading though there are still a long ways to go before it is completely gone. Seeing those ice are the results of the mage¡¯s magic, I have come to the conclusion that the pressure I feel whenever I close my eyes is magic¡­ That explains the lanterns then. Name looked up from her book, not sure what else to write this afternoon, and soon closed the book. The villagers were able to retrieve their food stores, form under the ice. Name took a look at one of the giant ice chunks and touched it. ¡°I really wished I understood more about magic, no, me in general¡± ¡°Alright, head towards the pod we came out from.¡± ¡°AHHCK!!¡± ¡°Hrm? What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Sorry, just startled me¡± Named sighed. ¡°(right after I wrote you won¡¯t respond)*Ahem* Why?¡± ¡°Just want to check on something.¡± ¡°Hrmmmmm?¡± Name put on a smug face ¡°Why should I?¡± ¡°Sigh, I¡¯ll tell you what I am able to put to words. BUT! Even I don¡¯t know how to explain how I am doing this, I just do it, it¡¯s like I lost all the knowledge but the muscle memory is still there. IF, you are the original owner of the body, your inability to use your own body¡¯s capabilities is highly suspicious.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°No matter, the answer should reveal itself soon enough, as long as continue to look for them, they should be amounts the ruins of the ¡®glorious empire¡¯ as that ice mage puts it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Want me to drive for you?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m perfectly fine at operating my own body thank you.¡± ¡°Then show me, I¡¯ll try my best to guide you.¡± Name took a deep breath and held it. ¡°NNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!¡± ¡°...What are you doing?¡± ¡°Trying to do hair color changing thing you did in that fight.¡± ¡°...Uhg, Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself, just start with mastering basic enhancement, you should have figured that out, right?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, right.¡± Name took a deep breath again and took her mark. Pushing off the ground, she accelerated, moving at high speed. ¡°Arggh, no, top speed what is that? One, you aren¡¯t even moving anywhere near the max speed, and two, you aren¡¯t even moving in the right direction, you came from that way, the opposite direction.¡± Oops. In this journey, there are many who are with you, even if you cant see them (8) ¡°No no no, deeper breaths, and the by the emperor¡¯s name control your empire-forsaken output as it is all over the place, no wonder you are failing over all the place like a newborn, you no sense of control!¡± ¡°Hey! You try it if it¡¯s so easy! I personally think I¡¯m doing this pretty well for my first time!¡± Name/Fame are jumping from branch to branch, with Name driving as Fame, well, instruct but to Name its more like one-sided nagging. ¡°If it was good enough, then I would be praising you, in fact, trying to use your skill level to fight, hecc, not even that ice mage, just any creature in can sense in this forest, much less anybody stronger than the local bear.¡± ¡°Wait you can do that?¡± ¡°Of course you can! You are just so clueless I doubt you are the original owner of the body.¡± ¡°You said that before¡­¡± ¡°Of course, and I¡¯ll repeat it until it no longer applies.¡± Name lept off a branched and landed in front of the ruins with her arms out to her side and feet together in the shape of T. ¡°Tada! See! Who¡¯s not good-¡± Name begun to swing her arms wilded swaying back and forth before falling on her face and tumbling forward until she¡¯s back on her butt again. ¡°Hm-Hm!¡± Fame said smiling, Name can just picture it. ¡° I¡¯ll give that a ten out of ten for sticking the landing but since you fell as soon as you landed, I can only give it it a 2, buuuuuuuuuut, since you entertained me I guess I can spare some bonus points, 6 out of ten your final score.¡± Fame said while suppressing her laughter. Name just sat that pouting as Fame just verbally rubbed salt on her wounds. ¡°Now, shall we?¡± Fame finally said after all that, humming. Name continuing to put on a pouting face, just stood up and with heavy footsteps, walked back into the ruins where she first awakened. Name slowly moved through the empty ruins, taking a closer look at their surroundings, step by step. After scarping the floor with her foot, she slowly approached a wall, scraping away the vegetation. Revealing iridescent metal, the same color as her hair, unmarred by any form of weathering or rust, covered in numerous runes for enchantments and circuits for power that has long stopped flowing into this place. Looking up she can see a collapsed roof, yet the metal plates remained and frames remained unscared, the remains now held together via the thick vegetation that grew between the plates and frames, where whatever material that used to cover it has turned to dust. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. As Name continued to walk see noticed numerous glass panels and pod-shaped objects similar to the one she climbed out of. When inspected, most of them have been broken, leaving only bones and various unknown material inside. The few intact was filled with fluids and withered or incomplete corpses with not only exposed flesh but wires and metals all meshed together as amalgamation. All except one of the corpse looked closer to dried meatballs than human bodies, with bodily parts that should be there missing from the tank completely. An exposed bone had multiple saw and two extruders. Name sees multiple groves, a deeper set in the form of runes, awaiting for an enchanting medium to be placed inside and a shallower set of grooves for yet more circuits and another extruder that filled it with liquid metal. The one whole body had multiple circuits ran down on the surface of their peeled back skin and many robotic arms, their blades stuck in the flesh as if they lost power in the middle of a process. The fluid itself that each corpse was suspended in didn¡¯t look like water but some kind of gel, at least most of it is. There was a top layer of well, Name was pretty sure it was fluids from the corpse combined with whatever stuff that was separated from the gel. ¡°What the-¡± ¡°Interesting looks like they were growing bodies.¡± ¡°Wat?¡± ¡°Moving on.¡± Name moved on. Walking towards her pod. Fame seemed particularly cheery right now, humming the entire them they are here. Name spotted the door she threw off to the side and picked it up again. ¡°Ah, just where I left it, Synthesis Unit 00.¡± Name said reading it again. She carried it as she moved towards the pod, placing the door back on pod again, where it should be.¡± ¡°Ahem, we¡¯re trying to search the pod for clues, NOT repairing it¡± ¡°Oh right teehee.¡± Name closed her eyes in embarrassment, sticking her tongue out, and shriveling a bit. She removed the door again, this time she gently put it to the side. Name then went around clearing the vegetation off the pod. Like the other pods, it was made with the same metal as this ruins¡¯ remains. Though Name noted that their pod is significantly bigger and the only one still labeled. ¡°Hrmm, remove the panels on the sides and let me see the inside¡± Name jumped ¡°Oh wait, it¡¯s you. Are you sure? Because I can only see it as one whole piece¡± ¡°Of course you can access the insides, or otherwise, how are you suppose to do maintenance if it breaks?¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Fame can feel her rolling her eyes if she had eyes to roll currently. ¡°Anyways, don¡¯t you find it peculiar that our pod is the only one running?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°If you see the other pods, they are filled with corpses, and more importantly they are off. If we are in this pod, seeing that we are still alive, I can only say someone was powering this thing and keeping it running.¡± ¡°Wat.¡± ¡°Let me put it in simpler terms. Someone made us or kept us alive.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah that makes a lot of sense.¡± ¡°Anyways try to pry the forsaken thing open.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care how just fine a way while I think.¡± ¡°Fiiinnne.¡± Name contemplated in silence as she looked around the pod, trying to find a way to pry it open as Fame instructed. Memories forgotten, still haunt us, even when forgotten others will take up the torch and remember. Memory fragment of one most precious, the little bird that taught me to sing. ¡°Hmm mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmm.¡± it filled the air with its pretty melody, sweet like honey glaze, spread amongst those who cared enough to listen. Up on an open window, a pale lady was swaying to her tunes as she watched the crowd below. Her humming interrupted by footsteps as the administrator approached, her crimson eyes shined like jewels in the light that shined in from the window. A sleek black coat that hugged tight on her body, its coattail opening and flaring out below the waist all the way down until halfway down her shin, warped and shielding her legs. Decorated with multiple straps made of countless ribbons all stacked and folded on top of each other, ready to be unfolded. The coattail has eight lines running down it, splitting it into nine parts, multiple thin but larger ribbons layered and folded underneath. ¡°What you are doing?¡± the administrator said leaning to the side and meeting the pale lady¡¯s face. The pale lady smiled. ¡°Who knows?¡± The Administrator smiled back. ¡°As the Administrator, I command you to state your unit number and purpose.¡± ¡°I am Archipelago 00, an information, entertainment, and espionage unit, I gather, organize, and control the flow of information to the populace. The only one of my kind.¡± ¡°So can you tell me what you did there?¡± ¡°I cannot.¡± ¡°Why?¡± the administrator¡¯s tone getting more serious. ¡°Orders by the council¡± ¡°Council be damned¡­¡± The pale lady only looked back with a smile on her face as she began humming again. The administrator only sat down, following along after a while, souring the pale lady¡¯s melody. The pale lady only smiled her eyes shining. ¡°Oh my, you are terrible.¡± After hours of trying, Name managed to open...something. She isn¡¯t even sure what she did but it worked. The metal turned liquid and retracted, exposing its inner machinery, like always is covered in numerous circuits and runes, though there are numerous other mechanical parts in her view as well. Unlike the metal that covered it, a lot of the inner machinery are flat out broken, she can see rust and age that have crept upon them, some of them sparking. They were definitely not new, yet judging by the rest of the ruins, someone definitely did regular maintenance as shoddy as a job it is with parts that barely work. The only thing in good condition was the parts of it that were made of the same metal as the pod¡¯s casing and the ruin¡¯s remains. As Name rummaged about Fame was quietly taking note, humming quietly again. Overall, aside from the parts made of the iridescent metal and the tank of fluid she was presumably submerged in in the pod, all of the parts are at various stages of rust, with some look like they were polished or repaired recently. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Name suddenly came to a realization. She climbed back out and grabbed the door, inspecting it, and looking for hinges but found none. Looking at the pod, she finds whatever mechanism is either removed or hidden. Only the presence of a mixture of glue and sealant coated where the door¡¯s and opening¡¯s edges met. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Looks like someone tried really hard to try to keep the thing running while we are in there despite their¡­ lack of expertise.¡± ¡°Why though?¡± ¡°Perhaps we are valuable to them in some way.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Hiss!!!¡± ¡°Ah great.¡± Fame and Name said throwing the door at the mossy creature. ¡°We got company¡± ¡°It¡¯s night again.¡± Fame and Name each said respectively. Name retrieved the door, the moss creature, its metal skeleton bent out of shape, unable to move properly. Its stubby legs slowly curling up like a plant wilting. ¡°If I remember correctly, these things are flammable and explosive.¡± Fame said ¡°Ooh! Ooh! Fireball?¡± ¡°No, kick it to left, and make sure to augment it.¡± ¡°Sure thing boss lady.¡± Name replied a bit giddy, took a breath, and kicked the moss creature as she was told. The immobile body hit the bodies of two crawlers. Their flesh peeling off their bones covered in glowing runes as the fire in their eyes flickered. Name instantly made the connection. ¡°Wait what-¡± ¡°No time for questions, Name, turn about 120 degrees to your right, stepping into it, throw your shield forty-five degrees upwards between where the ceiling meets the walls.¡± ¡°Sheild?¡± Name threw the door as Fame instructed. ¡°You can correct me later, jump and grab the shield and stick the landing this time.¡± And Name manages to land without falling. Picking the shield up, Name looked down. ¡°What did we know down?¡± ¡°None of our business, for now, survive, these creatures fear the light if the village always being well light even at night is any indication.¡± ¡°But what about- Gah!¡± Name fell backward avoiding a shot from below. ¡°Get up, we¡¯ll need a light source.¡± Like this Name got up and fought One after another she kicked, slammed, and dodged each creature, slow and steady is her breath as she maneuvered according to Fame¡¯s instructions. Even with guidance, she¡¯s still considerably less skilled than Fame, as scratches appeared on her body, one by one, as her silver blood was split. But still, she continued tirelessly. Even as she drowned in her own blood and injuries, she wants to live, no, she WILL live. Eventually, Fame¡¯s commands faded from her mind, and she stopped thinking. Letting her Instinct guide her. Until the sun came, there she stood, lifeless as her silver blood ran down the mountain of corpses. ¡°I...will¡­..live¡­.I¡¯m sorry¡­.other me.¡± The next time Fame(?) opened her eyes, she was submerged in liquid, a mask on her face. Still too tired to move, she can only feel the pain and her labored breathes. She hears voices from beyond the door of her tank. The sound of sobs and apologies. Her eyes crimson-blue, Name(?) smiled. ¡°So it was you¡­¡± Name(?) smiled closed her eyes once more. The sound of Fame¡¯s(?) humming was heard, now familiar, filled with melancholy, filled with longing. Blood will be spilt, but there will be those who crave more, spilling the blood of others (10) Memory Fragment, Therefore I sing. ¡°Terrible she says¡­¡± The administrator mumbled to herself. ¡°Never had tried for anything before¡­¡± The administrator, her mask feeding her more aether, more air, more spirit, more energy. She sent her energy to the black stick, forming a sharp edge, and swung down. ¡°Sir, the rogue unit has appeared again and it just has wiped the Nightmare subunits and disappeared.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been months and still no leads on where it comes from. How has Archipelago''s report?¡± ¡°Archipelago has made contact with the target though is soon unable to track it, Archipelago has said it has taken an interest in its spell-song, and that it has said it¡¯ll be back¡­¡± The Commander put his hand to his brow as he groaned. ¡°Report to me when Archipeligo makes contact again...I need a drink.¡± In a lab, far far away, a girl with crimson eyes who has never seen sunlight humming to herself with a determined look on her face, her white, iridescent hair flowing and split on the floor. Name woke up inside a wooden mansion, covered in dust and cobweb in the corners. ¡°Ow¡­. where are we? Fame?¡± No response. ¡°Okay¡­¡± as the haze lifted she noticed that she was inside a cell, behind the iron bar. ¡°Huh¡­¡± She turned around and saw that she had a roommate, a pale lady, her clothes covered in silver blood. Name turn her head again and saw other cells parallel to hers. She approached the bars and poked her head out, seeing cells on both sides. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a door to their cells but Name can see the crawlers in a cell, as well as various other animals, and a villager see doesn¡¯t recognize, bleeding as its blood was collected. Name heard the sound of a door opening and quickly closed her mouth, stifling whatever reaction she had and pretended she was unconscious. ¡°Niem moan seods osdfm oim djna sasdas¡± Yet more gibberish she can¡¯t understand but it was similar to villager speak. Footsteps approached and faded a bit as they moved closer and then further away, talking to each other, then, a loud snap followed by the sound of creaking metal. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Name opened her eyes and took a peek and saw two villagers, their skin grey like ash, collecting the blood bucket and the villager¡¯s body. As soon as they stepped out of the cell, the grey villager with the pointy hat and floppy robe clenched their fist, followed by the creaking sound of metal as they slowly bent back into place, a crackle what appeared to be arcs of electricity appeared as the metal connected back together as if they weren¡¯t broken and bent in the first place. Then footsteps. Name closed her eyes and listened as the footsteps approached and faded away, followed by the sounds of a door being closed and locked. All was quiet as Name waited. ¡°So this is where the Traitor¡¯s base is.¡± ¡°Ahhhhhh!...Oh, it¡¯s you, welcome back Fame.¡± ¡°Hrmmmm...yes, follow them¡± ¡°Uhhh...I can¡¯t bend metal like them.¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± Name felt her left arm fell out of control, alien even. She shivers at the thought, thinking that Fame can easily take control. Turning her eyes, she noticed she completely lost the left side of her field of vision. Her hair turned grey on her left, Fame snapped her fingers, the metal in front of her instantly crumbled. ¡°Pick that lady up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Just do it.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Name cooperated with Fame as they walked over. Name took a breath and slung the pale lady onto her shoulder. They got out of the cell and Fame snapped her fingers and the cell bars restored itself instantly. Name just followed Fame¡¯s footsteps as her left hand swiped to the left, unlocking the door. Name suddenly found her unable to speak and panicked, Fame only put her finger to her mouth and ¡°Shhhhhhhhh¡­¡± Name vision soon turned to black, then nothing. Fame quickly took note of the shadows and other potential spots she could hide in. Her hair turning black as her crimson eye¡¯s glow fade into nothing as she retreated into the shadows. ¡°Sorry, she muttered under her breath.¡± As she silently moved through the mansion, careful to keep herself out of sight, she spotted two traitors, both of them carrying a body and a bucket of blood. Making a decision between sating her curiosity and getting them to safety, she decided to follow the traitors. Down and down they went. Fame noticed they weren¡¯t very concerned with spilling the red blood. Soon, seeing a trail of blood that they never bothered to clean up, then more as they all lead down a set of stairs. Fame followed hoping there was nobody behind them. Soon, it opened up to a dark stone chamber, its floor swept clean yet still covered and stained by blood. The two traitors dumped the buckets onto an altar, where one elderly traitor with a particularly more decorated hat and robe, the skin on its face cracked in multiple places, chanting. Two more traitors entered the chamber as Fame watched them pour their bucket, too, onto the altar. As the red blood spilled from the altar onto the floor, Fame could see silver blood as the blood covering its surface thinned. The elder traitor, with trembling hands, dipped them into the altar filled with silver blood, two cuts on their wrist that have long dried up. As they continued to chant, Fame could see the pool of silver blood glow as the veins on their arms glowed as the silver blood moved up their veins through the cuts. The cracked skin fell off in pieces, revealing a more youthful appearance. As the glow from its veins faded, the elder motioned for the other traitors for the villager bodies. The cuts on their wrist healed. Fame only slowly backed away as they cut open the bodies, not wanting to know what they will do next as she heard a skull crack open next. Out the chamber into the stairs, down the hall until she made her way out. An empty feeling of lost, the feeling of being lost, not needed, and hunted. (11) Fame made her way through the forest, devoid of life, only the rustling of leaves as she shook them or when the occasional breeze blows. Fame kept running until the sun was way over their head. Exhausted, Fame sat down on a branch, exhausted, the pale lady still unconscious and slung over her shoulder. It was then Name finally woke up. ¡°Gaspppppp!!! DON¡¯T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!¡± Name suddenly feel the exhaustion hit her. ¡°*Huff* *Huff* what the hell did you do?¡± No response as Fame is already gone. ¡°Ahhhh you stupid forsaken piece of¡­.. AHHHHHH!!!! Why don¡¯t you respond when I want you to!¡± Name just sat there, catching her breath. And she feels hot, feverish even, though it¡¯s not so bad that she needs to dive into a well. There, Name spent the night, quietly breathing as her fever died down, unable to sleep. Thankfully, not creatures attacked her like the first night. When morning came, Name spoke again. ¡°Turn North and run-¡± ¡°Your council be damned, I want answers Fame. What did you do?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Faaaaamme¡± ¡°I just took us out of the mansion as fast as I could¡± ¡°The lady?¡± ¡°I felt like I should save her.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Now turn north and go straight until I tell you to stop, I¡¯ll-¡± ¡°Sigh.¡± ¡°What is your complaint now?¡± ¡°Nothing, guide the way Fame, I¡¯m just tired.¡± Carrying the pale lady, Name continued to follow Fame¡¯s instruction. With Fame noting her improvements. They wandered around for a few days before finding themselves in a familiar stretch of woods. Soon, they came across the ruins they came from. ¡°Enter the ruins again.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ what? Why?¡± ¡°There is something I want to try.¡± and that was all Fame said. Name walked into the ruins, approaching the pod she came from. ¡°Now what?¡± Name said out loud for everyone to hear. ¡°Throw her in.¡± ¡°Wat. Seriously? Throw her in? We don¡¯t even know how to turn this thing on. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to.¡± Fame replied, taking control of the left arm again.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Name slapped the arm away. ¡°No. bad, we are not doing that again.¡± ¡°Then would you please?¡± Name threw the pale lady into the pod and closed it. ¡°Now what? I don¡¯t know how to operate this thing.¡± ¡°Now we wait. Make sure that door is sealed as well.¡± ¡°Uhg¡± Name went over back to the pod and sat on it. ¡°There, happy now?¡± The pod hummed again and Name yelped. She turned her head down and saw the pod is filling up with liquid. The pale lady was soon suspended in the liquid as needles came out and stabbed her, presumably injecting something. Soon a glowing spot appeared where the pale¡¯s lady¡¯s hair would be. The silver continued to travel down her veins before fading. ¡°Okay, when did you know how to figure out how to operate this?¡± Name demanded. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just vaguely remember something about the period we were out, though this confirms something.¡± ¡°What? I don¡¯t get it, what does it prove?¡± ¡°Something inside us is still recording and processing the events and just dumping the information into our brain. Though we just have a hard time actively retrieving it actively.¡± ¡°...I-¡± ¡°It''s what you call ¡®Knowledge¡¯, at least part of it.¡± ¡°Ohhhhh, that makes a lot more sense. So what do you reckon what is happening to her? Did you ask me to carry her out just to be your test subject?¡± Fame frowned¡­ ¡°Hrmmm...I...you¡¯ll see when she awakens.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she dead? She looks really dead to me.¡± ¡°No, not dead, but hibernating.¡± ¡°...its ¡®Knowledge¡¯ isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Not just that¡­ I think¡­ it also applies to us as well. We don¡¯t exactly die, just into hibernation.¡± ¡°What makes you say that?¡± ¡°Do you think that a normal creature can survive having their entire body drained of blood?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°We lost a lot of blood, yet not only we didn¡¯t die, we were able to wake up as well. And I have a feeling that this pale lady is another unit like us and the ice mage in the village¡­¡± Name snapped back up and turned her head towards the village. ¡°Ah, scrap bucket, I forget about that ice witch.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t-¡± ¡°Why should I listen to you this time Fame?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I thought so.¡± ¡°Let me do something first.¡± Name¡¯s currently black hair had the left side turn into a brown color, as a mud-like substance was generated in her left hand, Fame put her hand on the pod¡¯s down, the brown substance now filling the crack and holding the door in place. ¡°I¡¯m done. Name took a deep breath and pushed against the pod¡¯s door, sending herself flying out the ruins. She caught a branch on her way out and swung herself up and land on top of the branch. And pushed herself off it again, this time with less force so she doesn¡¯t destroy the branch. She quickly made her way to the village¡¯s location. When she made it to the spot, the village is, honestly, fine. The giant ice chunks are gone. The villagers have managed to retrieve the lanterns and made new posts for them. Though there are still a lot of buildings that need to be rebuilt, the rumble is cleared and they are well on their way on the path of recovery. They even manage to plant a new set of crops. Name slowed down and walked down the new dirt path and towards the well. Its roof fixed and the water has long since thawed. Name looked down the well, and it''s just like she expected. She suddenly feels a tug on her clothes behind her. She turns around and sees the kids. ¡°Where ipsum you? We amet find you, can¡¯t!¡± Name only smiled and replied. ¡°Far away¡± Name continued to search the village but the ice mage was nowhere to be seen. Her belongings have been all taken back and gone from the village. Almost like she never existed if it weren¡¯t for the damaged buildings, though it could have something else that wrecked the village. Name turned back towards the forest. One of the children grabbed her clothes again. ¡°Gone? Again?¡± the child asked. ¡°Play?¡± another asked. Name kneeled and patted the child. ¡°Yes, back soon.¡± Name turned to the other child. ¡°No play¡± She got back up and left the village again. Into the ruins, back on top of the pod, she waited. lost. confusion. frustration. lost motivation (12) The liquid in the pod drained, then, followed by somehow hitting the other side of the door and coughing. Name got off the door and let the pale lady out. The pale lady hit the floor in a coughing fit. Name was silent through all of this, watching the pale lady get a handle on her bearings. Her eyes half crimson as she marched forward. Commandingly, ¡°So, would you tell me what is the deal with you?¡± The paled coughed a bit before replying. ¡°I am Arche-¡± ¡°So just another unit like me and that ice mage, huh?¡± ¡°*cough* *cough* Yes, I am another unit like you, ordered to guard you and keep you safe.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Of course, you should know, I have no further instructions other than following your orders.¡± ¡°...On who¡¯s exactly?¡± ¡°The administrator¡¯s. They order me, along with other units, to protect you specifically, Synthesis Unit 00.¡± ¡°...so who is this administrator exactly?¡± Name asked, calming down, her interest drawn in by the pale lady. ¡°I...I don¡¯t know, only that I must obey their orders over my superiors.¡± ¡°That...that was a disappointing answer.¡± ¡°I am sorry that I am unable to give a satisfactory explanation to your questions.¡± ¡°So, what were your superior¡¯s orders?¡± ¡°To kill and destroy Synthesis Unit 00 at all costs and rebuild the empire in the aftermath. It took many tries but they were never able to completely destroy you. I took great pains to resurrect you as soon as possible.¡± ¡°... then what is this place?¡± ¡°A production facility. Of what, you can probably understand from your recent exploration of this place.¡± Name groaned as she put her face to her hand. ¡°THIS ISN¡¯T HELPING!¡± Name exclaimed ¡°All this did was make me more confused than before. ¡°At least we got some answers.¡± ¡°But we still haven¡¯t gotten to the root cause of this, Fame! All this did was give me more questions, more headaches knowing that there are probably even more of us out there somewhere trying to exterminate us!¡± Name the curled up and drew circles on the ground. ¡°(And I thought it was gonna be an adventure by myself in this mysterious world without anybody trying to kill me¡­)¡± Name continued to mutter to herself. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°May I please interject, there is a high chance that most of the current units are nonfunctional. Even if they are in functioning restoration pods, it should take a while before they are capable of being active again.¡± ¡°So we are probably not gonna get killed now, but later? That doesn¡¯t sound very¡­ reassuring¡­¡± The pale lady rummaged through her clothes and took out a black orb with a constantly shifting pattern. Name stared at the object. ¡°What is this thing?¡± ¡°Something that the Administrator fabricated.¡± the pale lady replied with no further explanation and dropped it into Name¡¯s hand. As soon as it touched Name¡¯s hand, the sphere broke apart, its pieces floating in midair as black tendrils grew from them, reaching for each other. Then all of them flew towards Name¡¯s heart, entering without leaving a mark. Name felt a sharp pain like her head was getting pierced., forcing her to close her eyes, and then, it was gone. Like it was never there. Name felt something has changed but couldn¡¯t quite grasp what. ¡°Okay, what did that do?¡± Name asked but nobody answered. Name looked around and saw that the pale lady, like the ice mage, disappeared. Probably doing what else that Administrator ordered her to do. ¡°At least I got some time.¡± Name made it back to the village just as the sunset. She jumped on top of the well roof. Another day wasted, but she was frustrated. What did she do? She didn¡¯t even remember it. Was it Fame? Name wasn¡¯t sure if Fame existed before now. And the Administrator, why did the ice mage refer to her as such? Why did the pale lady call her by the name on the pod¡¯s door? Staring at the stars as more and more questions popped up. Name organized her thoughts as she pondered on the recent events. Morning came and the villagers welcome once more. The Guard captain was cold as usual. She spent the day helping with various tasks. In the afternoon she wrote about her thoughts last night before closing it and, as usual, storing it away. She looked down the well and noticed her hair was still black. ¡°Huh, I wonder why it isn¡¯t turning back.¡± ¡°Because you are holding on to that form and haven¡¯t released it yet.¡± ¡°Gah!!!¡± Name almost fell into the well but caught herself. ¡°You need to stop doing that!¡± ¡°And you probably should have learned to expect me to wake around this time.¡± Fame flatly replied. ¡°I don¡¯t care just staaaaaapppppp.¡± Fame paid her no mind as she suggested to Name that she probably should be practicing to get a better hold on her powers. Name too paid Fame no mind and went to mess with the children until night came and went back on top of the well roof. As the sun rose again, she was once again, greeted by the villagers, and again she helped them with various tasks until the afternoon, where she wrote in her journal again, played with the kids until sunset, then repeat. Again and again and again. Slowly the village was rebuilt until the last building was restored. Soon, the crops have become ripe and harvested just in time as the winter snow came. Not that name felt cold as the village¡¯s lanterns warmed the area around them. Though it was still very very wet. Thus, Name stayed indoors most of the time when it snows. The villagers, still planting their crops despite the season for they do not need to worry about it as their magic lantern¡¯s warmth and light would just keep the plants growing. It was snowing again as Name laid in her itchy bed. ¡°Name, what¡¯s wrong? Why aren¡¯t you responding?¡± Fame exclaimed. Name¡¯s hair, though some of its original colors have returned, was still mostly black. Name turned onto her sides, ignoring Fame, as she continues to blankly stare at the small hut¡¯s wall, wondering when all of this can end. Ill be back Exactly like the title says. It''ll be a while but I am frankly insulted by my own work. I''ll be back within a month or two, actually, it might be less. MY sense of time is WONK. bye for now and thanks for reading my trash.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Once upon a time there was a dog that liked a cat very much. and with a strange set of circumstances they made this catdog. I have no clue what you are but you exist. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. aliens magic need more walls