《The Rabbit Knight》 Chapters Maintenance

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I''m currently renovatingthe current chapters. Chapters 14, 35 and 36 will be completely scrapped. I''m putting the rewrites up soon. Rabbit Knight is officially out of its year-long hiatus.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The only change to the plot is that Alexis''s role as Ellowyn''s past lover has been removed due to being too contrived and illogical. More info here Chapters with * after their names have been revised majorly (without any plot change). For those of you who still stuck around and remembered about me, thank you for your support so far. I''ll put as much effort as I can into Rabbit Knight in the next few months. Thank you for your time! Chappy 1: Interrupted Death* The frail figure of Ellowyn lay on the soft hospital bed, hugging her comfy, long white hair, feeling each passing heartbeat weaker than the last. The doctors said her weak heart was in critical condition and would give out in a day or two. Her serene crimson eyes wandered around the room, taking in the figures of her loved ones one last time, those whom she adored and had spent almost everyday of her painful life bringing her happiness. Sitting across from her bed were her parents, tears streamed down their cheeks as they tried to imprint this moment into their hearts. ¡°Thank you¡±, her wispy voice sounded from the bottom of her heart, breaking the silence. ¡°Thank you for always being there for me. Even though my life has been filled with pain, you have brought me joy and filled my days with endless fun.¡±. ¡°It is you who we are ought to give our thanks.¡± her mother said, ¡°For you have always been the light of our life. Everyday, your bright smile had always brings us joy, your cheerful outlook of life had often brought me out of my depression.¡±. ¡°Not to mention being impossibly cute and huggable!¡± her pale cheeks reddened at her brother¡¯s tease. The exchanges continued until she gave in to her tiredness, she fell into slumber as she said her possibly last goodbye. Because of a satisfied life filled with the warm embraces of her loved ones, she had no longer feared death. Ba-dump. Ellowyn opened her eyes, adjusted to the darkness and saw everyone asleep next to her, probably due to exhaustion. Ba-dump. Her heart is so weak that it made her unable to move or speak, it seemed to be just above the threshold to activate her machine¡¯s alarm. I guess this is goodbye, thought Ellowyn as she laid there, quietly accepting her death. Suddenly, her eyes popped wide open as a transparent screen appeared before her.
"You have received a transfer request from Lyon Corporation, would you accept? To make your decision, think the word ¡®Yes¡¯ or ¡®No¡¯ out loud. If you need help, think ¡®Help¡¯"
Stunned, her dazed eyes rereading it over and over, unable to comprehend the odd situation. She took a moment to recompose herself before giving into her curiosity, I suppose I¡¯ll see where this goes, Help. From what she can tell as she read the short 5 pages of help information, the message came from a world named Varius. In that world, there is a procedure named The Transfer, it was extremely costly, and was therefore used only by those who possesses massive resources, even a small country wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it. The procedure was used when the user needs help from a something akin of a miracle, that was exactly what it does. It would choose the soul matching its requirements and gives that soul special abilities suiting the user¡¯s desire, from complete visual camouflage for infiltration to super human strength for task force. However, hers wasn¡¯t disclosed. Either said abilities are top secret, or my mind couldn¡¯t comprehend them because of different world-context. The legal text that spanned dozens of pages assured her of her human rights, if her employer were to break these rules, she was free to retain her abilities and seek work elsewhere. She chuckled, They sure have thought everything over, this kind of job security can tempt even the most wary of businessmen! Her respect for them rose by a few notches. She couldn¡¯t get much information about the world because it is said that most chosen candidates were from Varius, that it was very disadvantageous for those who were summoned from a different world due to the many barriers between language, culture and ideology (she was able to understand the message because it was processed through the language part of her brain). Because of such restrictions, it was extremely discouraged for those who are from different worlds to accept. She was not the only candidate, the procedure would move on to a less compatible suitor. Minutes flew by as she pondered over her choices. For all her life, she had only encountered concepts such as cross-world summoning in novels, there was even the possibility that this procedure was performed using advanced technology as the word magic was not mentioned at all. She chuckled, imagining the scene of someone typing sudo summon --hero into their terminal. Maybe this world¡¯s technology is really advanced, thought an excited Ellowyn. Because of her condition, physical activities were a luxury and so is going outdoors. Her peculiar albino-like appearance only made things worse, as she was stared at by everyone. Technology was the only thing that interested the shut-in Ellowyn. Everyday, she would check her tech websites for new breakthroughs and whether she can get her hands on it. Ever since her brother got her a beast of a machine, if she wasn¡¯t trying to install an exotic operating system, she would try to find new ways to breach various types of cyber security. According to the message, due to security reasons, all organic parts of her body will be transferred, leaving behind clothes and all other attachments, it had also warned that any life-supporting, non-organic mechanical devices will not be transferred. She noticed that it did not mention anything about the subject being in critical condition. Presumably, the procedure had not realized that she was on the brink of death. It worried her a little since she could die during the transfer process. She could refuse and accept death or be thrown into an unknown world with unknown languages and cultures. She would have to deal with people of unknown motives and complex politics. There was even a possibility of having to suffer the fate of a lab rat, locked away in a remote facility and opened up, modified with or upgraded. Sure, they had some legal text, but they themselves were just text.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. For all she knew, the text could have been as invalid as the policies of a fallen nation. She knew how terrible the fate of a lab rat must be, as many of her computers and electrical creations had bitten the dust when she was trying out exotic hardware or custom circuits that she herself had crafted using her 3D printer. Shuddering, she thought of the times her sadistic side cheered as she heard the mechanical screams of doomed electronics. The message stated that she had at least 5 days to make her decision, though she only had perhaps one or two hours before her heart gave in. Of course the answer was yes. Lights engulfed Ellowyn¡¯s body, embracing her with warmth. She lightly breathed out in relief as none of her family members had seen the brief flicker of light released by her body. The screen was filled with activity as the procedure logged its progress.
Scanning body for wounds and deformities. Detected low blood pressure, presumed as sleep state
She sighed, the technology that was possibly light years ahead had yet failed to realize she was dying. Squinting her eyes, she tried to read the rapid streams of text.
¡°Muscle atrophy within acceptable parameters. Scanning Done. Indexing organic mass for transfer. Done. Isolating soul from the body and prepare for separate transfer.
Another screen appeared before her eyes with indicators for various body statuses such as heart rate and temperature.
Preparations completed, transfer in 10 seconds, please note that the automatic translation function will stop once your soul leaves the body.
Every second passed by with Ellowyn getting more nervous.
Now starting step 1: transferring soul to Varius and register with Varius¡¯s soul registry.
An alien feeling invaded her senses, her vision turned pitch black, everything on both screens turned into incomprehensible gibberish. She can still make out the icons representing her body¡¯s status. She grimaced as the status bar of her heart begins to drop and presumably warning icons started popping up. Moments later, she found herself back into her body as the words on screen started to make sense again.
Fatal error! body in critical condition, aborting the transfer. Soul and body sync failed. Please hold...
She blinked, trying to comprehend the message before another one popped up that made her blood run cold.
You¡¯re currently at the default case of our main switch clause, this was never supposed to happen. The system should be working perfectly and we just put this up for fun. Whoever you are, you¡¯re probably fucked. Loading recovery options and sending log so the next poor bastard doesn¡¯t have to suffer from the same fate.
There must be a way for them to restore my state, at least bring my soul to the afterworld or something, panic overtook her.
You¡¯re now at the reincarnation recovery option, this really is the worst of the lot, but since you¡¯re here. You didn¡¯t qualify for the other two so you really have no choice. I¡¯ll tell you about the other modules nonetheless. One was designed to sync your soul back into your old body, it fails if your body was modified or it is no longer functioning. The other one will try to force boot your soul back into Varius¡¯s post soul processing system or heaven, as the religious folks like to call it. It fails when your soul doesn¡¯t meet the requirements, usually when Varius judged that your soul has not died yet or maybe when you¡¯re from a different world. Alright, back to the present, this option is actually much more obscure than the title. It attempts to override your soul¡¯s status to trick Varius into thinking you¡¯re a newly created soul and will hopefully integrate you into the birthing cycle. If succeed, you will get a new body and your memories will probably be formated. Please note that everything here is theoretical and has never been tested. We couldn¡¯t develop it since its impossible to know whether the operation has succeeded. Even if we could, we wouldn''t be able to find heads or tails judging by how crappy this thing was coded. Carl¡¯s code is as bad as his handwriting, Anyway, good luck and maybe we¡¯ll see you again, but you probably won¡¯t remember us anyways. Another thing, if the procedure happens to fail (quite likely actually) you will be one of the very lucky few whose soul managed to be excluded from their world¡¯s processing system, we have a bazillion theories and absolutely no observation to what happens then. Cheers.
Color drained from her soul¡¯s imaginary face as she realized she was one of the very few unfortunate idiots who managed to make a choice to which consequence was far worse than death. A short moment later, another message appeared, it had a much smaller font.
Hi, this is Carl, you''ve probably heard my name mentioned from the other guys'' failure messages. If you¡¯re seeing this message, it means your soul is currently rather beyond recovery, because I felt partially guilty that it might have been caused by the times I skipped the debugging sessions, I''m going to provide you with another solution that might help with your soul¡¯s survival by enhancing your current recovery option, if not by just a tiny bit. If you agree, a part of the system designated by me will be duplicated and attached to your soul to help with recovery and prevent your soul from being garbage collected by the world system. There is also a minuscule chance that your soul is incompatible and will dissolve on the spot.
NO! Ellowyn sweats frantically as she refuses desperately, she would rather gamble her life by accepting help from the other organized, well behaved developers than to have her soul dissolved because a messy programmer didn¡¯t take care of his wild and unstable code. Little did she know, it really was Carl who developed most of her current recovery option.
I¡¯ll take that as a yes
Ellowyn could only lay there, staring hopelessly at the faulty answer detector as it started the attachment procedure made by the insane developer.
This is a cached message, if you¡¯re seeing this, it means the language sync has failed due to unknown reasons
The frustrated Ellowyn squinted at the screen which was filled again with gibberish. Finally, before her consciousness faded into nothingness, another message materialized.
Reincarnation recovery procedure completed
Chappy 2: Second Death* The frail figure of Emilia Lyon lay on the soft hospital bed, hugging her comfy, long silver hair, feeling each passing heartbeat weaker than the last. Her sad, lonely crimson eyes wandered around the empty room, devoid of any other signs of life. Complex machinery lined the dimly lit walls, designed to keep her dying heart alive. Her mother died when she was two from an assassination attempt on her father. Her father, John Lyon, was the CEO of Lyon corp - one of the largest weapon and armor manufacturer in Liona. To her though, he can hardly be called a father. Of the sixteen short years of her life, the number of times she got to see his face can be counted on one hand, the only people that she really had contact with were her personal helpers, who were rotated every few months. She had always wondered why her sickness was not being cured, considering her father¡¯s powerful position. Until she had overheard a conversation from the maids, that the Lyon corp¡¯s finances had been in the red ever since he had to perform the summon hero procedure twice, and that her father is sacrificing her treatment to help the company develops the technology to achieve his goal, he had even invested heavily into his other genetically modified children - her younger siblings. They too had never visited her once, it seemed the fact that she was still alive was being kept as a secret by her father. For all her life, she had not understood why he did those things, What have I done to deserve this? , she often asked herself. Heroes huh, mused Emilia, she had always envied them, she envied at how they are always in good physical condition, how it seemed so easy for them to make friends and how they can travel the world without having been locked inside their own mansion like an imprisoned princess. The tired Emilia clenched her teeth as she stared bitterly at her monitor, watching her ever-deteriorating heart condition that worsened by the minute. Just as when her mother died, when she was locked inside her whole life, when she often lay motionlessly on her bed, she could do nothing to change her fate. Even then, as she laid there, watching her death coming ever closer, all she could do was to welcome it with open arms. While she was not the gentle or brave type of person who would not be afraid of death, she still couldn¡¯t refuse it either. For death might be the only hope that will free her from this pitiful, lonely and painful life. I guess this is goodbye, thought Emilia as she laid there, quietly accepting her death. For years, brief flickers of flashbacks had been replaying through her mind, telling her of a time when she had a loving father, mother, and maybe even a lover. Though she only attributed the incomplete and broken memories to be fantasized by her lonely deprived mind. Yet in her last hours, she took refuge in those delusions. Moments later, the machines sounded their alarms as they voiced their helplessness in keeping her heart beating. Hurried footsteps followed by the servants panic shouts as they tried to keep her alive, and failed. ## Inside the highest office of the Lyon corp building, stood a priced oak desk made from the kind of wood that was extinct around 100 years ago. Various picture frames littered the desks, some were pictures of a man and his wife, and Emilia, while others were with his other children. Sitting in front of the workstation was the figure of John Lyon working tirelessly, streams of text pour on the hologram screen as he checks the latest test results. ¡°Beep beep¡±, he sighed as the incoming call had broken his concentration. ¡°Make it quick.¡±. Answered John with an irritated tone. However, his eyes went wide open as the caller¡¯s identity is revealed. ¡°It''s David, I have some really bad news, make sure you are prepared¡±. John¡¯s body stiffened, he turned off his monitor and steeled himself. ¡°Tell me¡±. His tone was neither rushed nor strained, it was authoritative and demanding, it was the only facade that he can put up as his insides are filled with anxiety and pain. ¡°Emilia¡¯s heart has been stopped for 30 minutes, we are doing all that we can. Personally, I don¡¯t think we can bring her back, John¡±. ¡°Then you should proceed as planned, I will notify my family and schedule an unofficial burial¡±. John¡¯s solemn voice sounded after a brief silence. ##
Beep
Ellowyn opened her eyes as a strange notification appeared. Am I still alive? Bewildered, she started to read the hologram. The message was in a lighter shade of blue and with a different font than the ones she had read before.
This is Carl again if you¡¯re seeing this message, it means that the system I attached to your soul had been integrated successfully. Welcome to your new hero life!Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Begin syncing the dormant soul part with the main body
She would have puked due to the overwhelming disorientation, had she a body.
Soul sync completed, gathering body state data
The familiar screen of her body¡¯s status appeared before her, only this time there was no heartbeat and her blood pressure was critically low.
It seems your heart has been stopped for 4:05 hours, emergency blood circulation has been running for 4 hours. Would you like to view the emergency recovery options?
YES! She thought desperately, had I really been practically dead for over 4 hours?
Loading Carl¡¯s Emergency Recovery Module
Her blood ran cold, then again, why should I think it would get the other more trustworthy recovery modules when it was Carl who had put the system into me.
Looks like your heart has stopped and it seems rather unlikely to be restarted using electric shock, your heart¡¯s muscles are too weak and brittle. Suggestion: maintain and increase emergency blood circulation while reinforcing the heart by repairing and rebuilding heart muscles
¡°Emergency blood circulation?¡± asked the gawking Emilia as another definition window appeared.
Emergency blood circulation is when the system attempts to circulate the user¡¯s blood by various methods such as applying force directly into the bloodstream to keep the body alive in the absence of a functioning heart
For the moment, I will be living without a functioning heart? Despite the critical condition, a chuckle escaped her lips she thought about living and moving around without her beating heart. Does that make me qualify as being heartless I wonder? Yes.
Warning, due to low system sync proficiency, a portion of energy spent will be consumed by light emission
She closed her eyes, the confined space she was in was bathed in the vast amount of lights emitting from her body.
Body condition returned to normal. Starting phase 2: syncing with current memories
She resisted the urge to scream as a foreign stream of images and information started flowing into her mind, overwhelmed by the feelings of pain and loneliness. It took all Ellowyn had to hold on to her thin thread of insanity, as she overwhelmed psyche threatened to bend and break with such pressure. She held onto the happy memories of her life, her loving and doting parents, the friends she gained over her bedridden years and the questionable buddies she hanged out with on the deep web. When the stream of memories finally ceased, she exhaled in relief and started going over them in detail. According to the system messages, those memories were from the life she had experienced after the successful reincarnation. The most astounding fact was that it wasn¡¯t the new memories that were merged with her, it was her old memories from her life on Earth that was merged with her current body. That meant she had in a quite literal sense, took over the new body and life that she had reincarnated into the new world. She, Ellowyn, was the newcomer. Shifting through the rest of the memories, a rather daunting task considering there were eighteen years of it, she frowned deeper. She understood the cause of such strong loneliness and despair experienced by her reincarnated self. To be kept locked in the same place for the majority of one¡¯s life was nothing but brutal cruelty, and she had been through sixteen of such years. She was also surprised that even though her DNA had obviously changed, considering that she took the looks of her deceased mother in this world, it seemed not only had incurable heart disease remained and plagued her for the second lifetime, but also the peculiar albino trait - white hair and red eyes - had remained. So severe was the heart condition that Emilia - her identity in this world - had also been bedridden. She was very intrigued, if not a little worried. What kind of traits would remain even after my DNA had changed, does it mean that they stick with my soul and not body? In addition, the stark difference between Emilia and her was that Emilia never got to experience family love, aside from brief visits of her father a few times a week, she never got to talk with her sisters or brothers, whose identities she had only learned of through the maids gossiping. An indescribable emotion surged up within her as she gritted her teeth. The emotion brought heat to her face and made her weak heart beat faster in fright. Then she realized what it was, anger. There were few times in her previous life that she was angry, so few that she herself wasn¡¯t used to the raging emotion. Loneliness, despair, uselessness, and self-loathing, she had experienced them all often enough, but not anger. Ellowyn was angry at her current father - John Lyon, who did nothing but lock her in that place. Despite his apologetic look and clear determination to take care of her, he was nothing but her jailor. She was angry at Carl¡¯s carelessness that brought her here, and at the system that didn¡¯t restore her memories sooner. But most of all, she was angry at herself for making such a foolish decision. She thought that with a new world she could enjoy more freedom and perhaps a new chance at life, but all she got was nothing but hellish captivity. She shook her head, neither regret nor anger was going to get her through this. She needed to figure out where she was, the blackness around her didn¡¯t help much and she couldn¡¯t move.
Memory sync completed. Suspending consciousness for extensive diagnosis.
Then her consciousness went out like a candle. Chappy 3: Bombing Run* Emilia Lyon¡¯s funeral happened at a remote facility used for incinerating bio and electronic wastes, but to John Lyon, it was nothing more than a secret fancy cremation site for her body. He stood before her coffin, his face sober. He had taken great preparations for that day, the facility had to be prepared for their arrival 24/7. The transportation of Emilia¡¯s coffin had to be done in complete secrecy using only his own trustworthy people. He sighed, he will do all that he can so that the world doesn¡¯t know of her existence so that it won¡¯t try to take her away from him, like it did Lia. Sorry, darling, I have failed as a husband and now, as a father, I hope that you can forgive- ¡°Dad!¡±. His thoughts were interrupted by the furious Sophie Lyon. Following her were the rest of the Lyon household. ¡°Sis, don¡¯t be so rushed, I¡¯m sure father will explain to us in time.¡± Lucas Lyon said, the youngest of the lot. ¡°How can I not be rushed, Lucas? We had a sister! One that we''ve never known for her entire 18 years of life. Dad, how could you have done such horrible things? Locking her in for her whole life, and now that she had passed away, you would burn her at this remote place?¡±. Unable to control her raging anger, she continued. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a rumor for so long that I can no longer ignore it. Is it true, dad, that the reason why you had genetically modified us was so that you could full fill your goal, the one that the supposedly summoned hero had?¡±. ¡°Sophie!¡± she visibly shrunk at John¡¯s harsh rebuke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± the heartfelt words pierced the long silenced that ensued. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I had failed my duties as a father, I love her just as I loved Lia and I had no intention of letting her suffer the fate of her mother¡±, he solemnly declared. ¡°So you just lock her up in her cage, never to be seen again in daylight?¡± was Sophie¡¯s loud inquiry, her tone almost hysterical. ¡°Do you know why I had to genetically modify you to increase your combat abilities? It had nothing to do with the goal I had in mind. It was because of your own safety. As you know, the goal that I¡¯m following will have so big an impact on Varius that many forces are against it. No matter how many guards I hire to protect you, It wouldn¡¯t be enough, you know the despicable acts they can commit.¡± Explained John. ¡°Why then, did you still decided it was a good idea to have us?¡±. John blinked, the taciturn Lucas had never spoken with him so direct and bitter, it was almost a conviction rather than a question. ¡°I was originally against the idea, but I relented as your mother had insisted many times. Please do not misunderstand, there is nothing in this world that means more to me than you and Emilia. ¡°It is because of your and Emilia¡¯s safety that made me pursue my goal, don¡¯t ever forget that¡±. While it is not loud, his clear, calm and almost passionate voice sounded throughout the large room. ¡°Would you ever tell me what this fancy goal of yours is?¡± Sighed Sophie. ¡°You know why I couldn¡¯t, I can''t guaranty that you won¡¯t try to make harmful decisions that would only harm yourselves¡±. The family discussion continued until they wanted to see Emilia¡¯s body for the last time, only to open up to an empty coffin. ## ¡°So she was alive after all these years huh, I thought we had killed her along with her mother¡±. ¡°What do you mean, we? That was done by the top brass, not by you mooks !¡±. Various whispers buzzed around Ellowyn, waking her from the long slumber. Peeking through her closed eyelids, she noticed that she was on an examination table, with various monitors, all of which indicated that she was deceased. Various people were standing around her, oblivious of her awakening. She was startled as some of them were wearing what seemed to be reinforced jackets and various weapons such as mechanical knives, guns, and other unrecognized tools were strapped to their belts and backs. Some of them had spiky mohawks while most of them had numerous tattoos on their body. Where am I? Who are these people? Have I been kidnapped? As she was getting more and more hysterical, two screens materialized. One gave her information regarding her location using GPS and other unknown methods and putting that inside a visual map, the other was matched their faces with the system¡¯s internal database. Had she more free time, her inner nerd would have spent days fiddling with this robust game-like system. She dismissed the map because according to the memories of her other self in this world, the fact that she was locked in most of the time prevented her from locating herself even when she had a map. The identifying screen reported of an illegal mercenary group called the Snake Eye, she had often heard of them being in the gossip of the maids, they had often been hired to attack and harass various places owned by her family. Knowing the situation doesn¡¯t calm her down at all, it was clear she had been captured by this group, possibly for ransom. Why would they do so when I was supposedly dead? Perhaps they brought her here to open her up to research, or for all she knew about the advanced technology of that world, specifically in body reanimation, they might as well modify and revive her as a zombie to have her attack her family herself, something often seen in the novels that she had read. Sometimes, she would see on TV the lunatic act of some deluded and desperate people reanimating their dead loved ones Calm down! Thought the shaken Ellowyn as she tries to control her nonexistent heart rate.
Inject sedatives into the bloodstream to induce calmness?
No! She would rather not have her emotions controlled by a system written by a certain crazy programmer. Oh wait, maybe this system can help me sneak away from this place. She began to inquire about escape routes.
Warning, blood circulation not stabilized and may lose pressure upon strenuous physical activities, muscle atrophy level is above recommended limit, signs of fatigue and oxygen deprivation across several bodily systems...The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
She sighed frustratedly, reading the list of problems spanning several pages. There was no chance she will be able to escape with such a frail body. She suspected her current body condition was far worse than when she was before her first ¡°death¡±. Keeping her eyes slightly open, she began her reanalysis of the situation, there was an L-shaped device sitting ona table 3 to 4 feet away, information regarding it appeared before she got the chance to inquire. It was a common handgun model used for personal defense, there were various knobs and switches and a small screen, the system showed each interface¡¯s function, shot intensity, temperature, fire rate, and other misc info, the system even showed animations for reloading, aiming and tips such as overheating when shooting at short intervals. Am I a moving Wikapedia? Was her poor humor attempt to calm down, there was one strange looking barrel with various warning icons near the group of men. It seemed to be made of some type of combustibles. She inquired whether or not shooting the barrels will detonate them but the system gave no response. It appears there is a limit to how much the system can comprehend me, she concluded. Shouts erupted after one of them had seen her head moving and peeking. ¡°Look! She¡¯s moving, I thought she was supposed to be dead!¡± One of them shouted. ¡°You idiot, she is, look at the monitors, how can she be alive with no heart rate? Lay off the crack man.¡± The others dismissed it and went back to their chatting. However, seeing her discoverer wasn¡¯t very convinced when he began walking towards her, every step sent a shocking jolt of terror as she silently feigned death. To run, or not to run? she silently considered. She can stay and let them inspect her, there was a good chance she could still pretend to be dead, but her thoughts were stopped cold. ¡°You guys wouldn¡¯t mind if I rough her up a little, right? Since she is dead and all¡±. He leered as her face paled by a few shades. Looks like it¡¯s impossible to not take action huh, here goes nothing. She desperately thought.
Warning, based on the situation context, predicted actions are potentially dangerous, injecting adrenaline into bloodstream
Bewildered with the system which had somehow understood the riskiness of her choice, she did not oppose it since for the moment it was a blessing rather than a curse. She would have to adjust it as soon as she finds time, however, as the continuous mind reading was very unsettling. More shouts broke out when some of them brought beer to celebrate her capture, the main group started moving away from the barrel. Perfect. Overtaken by dizziness and lightheaded she stumbled her way to the table with the handgun, making various noises and colliding with it as she picked up the gun. Everything froze as all the gazes in the room turned towards her. ¡°I guess that sly John had drugged her so that her heart halted beating temporarily, maybe he was trying to get rid of her and we had just helped him!¡± One of the men mused. ¡°Whatever, Bob, aren¡¯t you worried that she got your gun?¡± Asked a bald guy. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it''s a custom model, even if she somehow managed to turn it on, there¡¯s no way the little wench can get pass the fingerprint scanner¡±. Smirked Bob. Oh shit, fingerprint scanner? She had never expected such security measure to be on something as trivial as a handgun. Because of the disorientation when her artificial blood circulation tries to fight the gravity shift, she was taking longer than expected to turn the gun on, even with the system¡¯s guidance. She almost yelled in pain when the tip of her index finger became scolding hot.
Unable to access equipment with electronic signal, changing fingertips to generic for bypassing scanner
It sure is convenient being a hero huh. She mused as her fingertips felt hot. Blood drained from the surrounding people¡¯s faces as the gun activated. ¡°Activate your shields and grab her!¡±. A flicker of lights flashed in the shape of spheres, surrounding each of the men with reinforced jackets. She hadn¡¯t expected such sci-fi defensive measures, but even that wouldn¡¯t change her current plan of action. ¡°She¡¯s aiming at the fuel cells!¡± Screamed one of the men. ¡°Damn it, Is she trying to kill us all?¡± Came the hopeless voice of another. ¡°Girl, do you not know what happens if you shoot a fully charged fuel cell with an energy blast? Shouldn¡¯t they teach those in schools? You¡¯ll not only blow us up but the whole fucking building!¡± Bob¡¯s expression turned dark as he scowled. The whole building? she gasped, she would vaporize at such force!
Estimated explosion force: ~12kN, Temperature: 700 F, current highest shield output is 20kN and 800F, expected survival rate: 99%
Activate shield at highest output, emphasize stealthiness, she thought dazedly, still gawking.
Increased activation time due to reduced light emission, est 15 seconds
A very faint membrane of light embraced her. I need to stall for 15 seconds. The first rule of stalling is to ask the villain of his evil plans. She recited in her mind. ¡°What are you going to do with me if I don¡¯t shoot this thing?¡± She asked, feigning a shaken, scared voice. ¡°Oh nothing, little miss. This is just a misunderstanding, you see, your dad hired us to take you to your family reunion, you were sleeping and we didn¡¯t want to wake you up¡±. Bob said, giving her a gentle smile. It took all she had to not roll her eyes at his blatant lie. ¡°So, how¡¯s it going?¡± asked the nervous Ellowyn with a strained, awkward tone as she kept her gun aimed at the barrel. You idiot. That¡¯s something you would ask your friends, not when you¡¯re trying to stall a clich¨¦ gang of mercenaries! She tried to scold her socially awkward self. The accidental tactic had worked, however, everyone was frozen on the spot as no one knew how to respond to such an awkward situation. ¡°Has she a few nuts loose?¡± The incredulous Bob exclaimed, breaking the stiff silence. ¡°500 credits say she won¡¯t dare to pull that trigger, you want to live right, girl?¡± asked the bald man. ¡°You¡¯re right, I won¡¯t die because this world has so much to live for!¡± she answered with determination. To prevent them from interrupting her shot, she decreased the distance by slowly walking towards her target. According to her memories of reading the books brought in secretly by her handlers, this world had genetically modified humans - demihumans, flying bikes, holograms as displays and a ton of other goodies, just the mention of them had already given her serious nerdgasm, there was absolutely no way that she would die then. She scowled as one of them threw a cube towards the barrel, it then activated and deployed a portable barrier. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can shoot through that!¡± Bob gave a devilish smirk. Ellowyn Lyon smiled sadistically as she began running towards the fuel cell. ¡°Holy Fuck! Stop that crazy bitch!¡± Screamed the hysterical Bob as he and everyone else started shooting at the mad running figure. Most shots missed while the few accurate ones were deflected by an invisible field. Disable shield generation stealth, there was no reason to hide her shield now that bullets are bouncing off of it. Everyone squinted at the sphere shaped globe of light surrounding her, shining as bright as the sun. In the midst of the chaos, a light smile bloomed on Ellowyn¡¯s face as the anger she felt earlier started to dissipate. Then everything exploded. Chappy 4: Meeting with a Rabbit The crackling of a burning fire and occasionally, rumbles from a collapsing wall rang out in the smoke-filled air. Sharp sirens set off far in the distance, waking Ellowyn from her slumber. She opened her eyes gently, surveying the situation. A burning wreckage was all that remained of her second most idiotic action ever. Columns of smoke rose to the twilight sky, whatever was left of the warehouse was still on fire. It seemed the people who she intended to blow up has survived, seeing how they were either lying down and groaning or walking around, helping other fallen comrades. ¡°Owie¡±. She groaned in pain as she tried to move her body. She discovered that a large piece of wall had her trapped under. It was impossible for my tired, bruised and battered body to move out of this mess. The fear of being captured again overtook her but was soon dismissed when her captors dragged themselves into a small bus and quickly drove off. The only problem then was the incoming law enforcement, it meant that she was going to be saved, but it also meant that she was going to be taken back to her father. While her desire to know why he had locked her in was almost as strong as her goal to explore this world, she had no intention of visiting him in such weakened state, he could have simply put her in that prison again. She needed to escape from this place. Perhaps the system can help me. She began to inquire the system for the means to get out, trying various methods of body enhancement to teleportation, while she was surprised that some options such as teleport were available, their preparation time was too long, the shortest option needed 2 days. Finally, she stumbled across one that was usable immediately, only to frown.
Warning, 5% energy remaining, reserved for life preservation
Would she die if the system runs out of energy? Probably, since her non-beating heart still needed time to recover. ¡°Could I at least change my hair color? ¡° She whimpered, right before squealing in joy as the appearance change screen popped up. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was the right idea at the time, but since her consciousness threatened to gave out at any moment. She decided to go with the simplest option and changed her appearance back to what she looked like on Earth. Her once slightly convex and long nose was then short and straight, her reflective champagne hair was then hazel brown and her blood red eyes turned dark chocolate brown. ## To Clive Davis, it was just another explosion caused by some idiot''s mis-care in handling the potential bombs that are fuel cells, there were also cases where these things go off by themselves, having been stored in unfavorable conditions. But some bystander just had to see vehicles driving away from the scene, despite the fact that it was natural for humans to flee or in this case, drive away from the nearest explosion, he was still forced to go investigate. The smell of burnt rubble, smoke and dust assaulted him as soon as he stepped off the car. The paramedics and firefighters were busy running everywhere looking for survivors, not that there were to be any, warehouses weren''t very popular gatherings due to its very explody nature. Something stopped him in his tracks, looking at the very center of the explosion, there was a small circle of the clear ground as if the explosion couldn''t reach that tiny area at all. It occurred to him that the area could have only been created by forcefields, but how can such a small field provide complete protection at the center of a fuel cell explosion is anyone''s guess. He also concluded that there was a good reason for those cars to flee, as various broken weapons and armors were laying on the charred ground. Before he had a chance to take in the situation, a tiny scream reached his ears. He cursed and stopped abruptly, almost stepping on a small head and arm which were poking through a piece of fallen wall. "Can you hear me?" the figure''s head turned to the source of his voice, nodding lightly. She groaned as he pulled her out of the rubble. After calling the medics over, besides a few bruises, she seemed to be fine. Despite her obvious well being, what she was wearing could be described as rags. Clive had then understood her predicament, or so he thought. He believed the warehouse was the gathering of a local gang, it was used to house their weaponry and often times, trafficked humans, these things were rare but not impossible. He was glad to leave this wretched place, for his job also included the counsel and interview of people who survived from giant explosions.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ## The silvery streaks of lights poured through the window, landing softly on Alice¡¯s dazed, pale amber eyes. Tom Price sighed as he watched his daughter being examined. "There is no problem with her overall health, but her depression is getting worse. You need to let her make contact with more people, more often." The doctor warned. Alice''s quiet self had prevented her from making many friends, not that Tom''s delicate position as the CEO of Eve Corp had helped. He knew well she also missed her mother very much. All of which had been caused by the choices he made in the past. He sighed, berating himself wasn¡¯t going to make Alice feel any better. A familiar figure walked by as he absentmindedly looked out the busy corridor. "Mister Clive! Fancy meeting you here." the figure turned at his shout. The downside to being the CEO of a large corporation was the many attacks aimed at his family, as a government agent, Clive had often come to investigate the attack site and delivered him the results, not that they have provided much help. "Hi Tom, I''m here to counsel a trafficked little girl who survived a fuel cell explosion. I''ve already mailed you the report of the attack on the 7th". Clive answered casually. Tom showed a surprised look, however. "Is it alright if I see her?" He asked, his toneconveyed his interest. "She is in room 304, I''m coming to see her now, I suppose you could talk to her after I¡¯m finished with my interview. Are you trying to adopt her too ?" Clive concluded. Tom had often told him about his attempts to adopt someone of Alice''s age. They weren''t very successful, for the few that accepted the adoption had quickly given up after witnessing the attacks. So much so that many orphanages had refused his further attempts. Tom prayed silently that this time, he would succeed in finding Alice a friend. ## The ever familiar scene of a hospital room greeted Ellowyn as she opened her eyes. She chuckled at the thought that this life of hers was a video game, and the hospital would be the spawn point for every time she makes an idiotic decision. She then began to contemplate on the events that had transpired. To her conscious self, it had seemed to be only less than a day after she made the life-changing decision, but according to her recently merged memories, 18 years had passed. She grimaced, it was the 16 imprisoned years of her life. Back on Earth, she was able to experience the outside almost fully, despite her innate sickness and albino appearance, even on trips to amusement parks, she would sit on a nearby bench and watched her family on the rides, perhaps with a little jealousy, but she had felt happiness to be with them nonetheless. She was surprised that she hadn¡¯t been overwhelmed by the sad and loneliness of this life, while such emotions still persisted, they had taken a passive role, laying in the back of her mind as a dull ache to remind her of their existence. It seemed that because she had remembered of a satisfying and happy life, the burning thirst inside her had been quenched. It was time to start a new adventure, her eyes filled with determination. There was a knock on the door, a middle-aged, brown-haired man wearing a bowler hat entered, she recognized him as the person who found and rescued her. ¡°Hi there, I¡¯m Clive, It''s alright, little miss, everything will be fine. I know that you have been through quite a lot. You can be assured that I won¡¯t do you any harm, I just need to ask you a few questions about what had happened. But we can always do this another time if you¡¯re still not feeling well, okay? ¡±. He said with a calm voice while looking at her with a warm smile. She was puzzled, why would he treat her as a child when she was already 18 years old? Then it came to her, that with her frail, short statured body, she appeared to be only about twelve to fourteen. She proceeded to tell him her hastily made up story. That she had lost her memories, only remembering events from the last few years. She described her daily life as being locked inside a cage, with her captors telling her she was a very delicate good, they were supposed to transfer her to her buyer at the warehouse, but something went wrong and the fuel cell that they were transporting exploded. She also affirmed him that she was at least sixteen. ¡°Thank you, I can assure you that from this point onward, your life will be much better, you will be given much more care when we transfer you to an orphanage, you will make lots of friends and learn many new things.¡± He spoke gently and passionately, his voice filled with assurance. She smiled in return, he had made her feel safe, that her rough life from then would be peaceful, no more were the dark days of being locked anywhere, no more would she had to run head first into an explosion, or so she thought. ¡°Ah, I how could I forget, there was a man here who wanted to adopt you, his name is Tom Price, he is the CEO of Eve Corp¡±. Clive exclaimed. She was incredulous. What is it with me and CEOs? ¡°Clive, you¡¯re making it sound as if I¡¯m a bad guy¡±. A rough voice came from the opening door, a man in a luxurious business suit entered, he had yellowish-brown skin and his build, while large, did not emphasize his plumpness. The thing that had intrigued her the most, though, was the pair of rabbit ears hanging on his head. Chappy 5: New Family According to her memories, the so-called demi-human style had begun 50 years ago. After genetic engineering had reached its peak, a very ambiguous couple wanted to give their children cat ears which were very popular at the time as accessories. Despite great advancements in the genetic field, the cost of these operations made it nearly impossible for the middle class. Since then, the addition of animal parts to the body had been used to show prestige and wealth. She felt both excited and a little disturbed that real, physical furries exist. "May I know your name?" Tom asked. She blinked, her eyes snapping out of their dazed state. "Ellowyn". She felt more comfort with the familiar name from her old world. "I''m sorry, may I know why you would want to adopt me? It would be much easier to inquire the orphanage or other similar organizations" She asked, slightly tilting her head. Tom sighed, his expression somber as he hesitated. He pulled a picture from his wallet, it was a short, ginger girl smiling while standing next to him. Her small, thin body looked frail, just like Ellowyns. ¡°Alice is my only daughter. I love her dearly, for she is all I have left after Lily passed away. Little did I know that she had developed Thyroid cancer until she was diagnosed last year, in her second stage. You see, Alice wasn¡¯t very talkative and she was home schooled, it was also partially because of my position, not many had approached her¡±. Tom explained. She scrunched her eyebrows, it was understandable that even when the medical field has advanced, cancer was still a major problem, but she was suspicious that Alice wasn¡¯t able to make friends. ¡°I do not mean to offend, but when you are a person of power, would many not want to befriend you and your daughter to establish connections?¡± She asked. Tom¡¯s mouth curled upward in a tentative smile .¡°I don¡¯t want to offend you either, but for someone who spent most of their time in captivity, you seems to know politics. I agree that in normal circumstances, it is only natural for others to want to make connections with people like me. However, in this case, you could say that I hold quite a foothold in mankind¡¯s advancement in the field of genetics. As the CEO of Eve Genetic Corp, I overlook all research and development operations. There are many dangerous and powerful groups who would like to get their hands on my work and they will do anything. Countless times have my offices and home been attacked, though I assure you, my security teams aren¡¯t just a bunch of donuts leeches. They are elites who has stopped even the most forceful of invasions. However, because of the violent nature of these skirmishes, not even the bravest of my friends would bring their children to meet Alice often. I don¡¯t think it makes Alice feel any better seeing their strained and frightened expressions when they stepped in my house. Ha ha¡±. He chuckled bitterly. ¡°The problem here is not whether I can find Alice friends, it''s keeping them from leaving. Ellowyn, I know you have been through a lot. I¡¯m going to be frank here, the reason I¡¯ve asked you was that I hope your circumstances will allow you to sympathize with Alice more, I¡¯m sure you have been in similar, dangerous situations¡± He clenched his fists, looking at her with a strong and focused gaze. ¡°Although there may be a few scuffles here and there, our security team prefers safety over looks, they might bring down walls and blow up buildings. It is your safety that they have to take such actions. I have entrusted Alice¡¯s life to them for the last 18 years and they have not failed me. You will be provided with all necessities, we will treat you as our own daughter. You will be given a brand new life of luxury. You will become our second daughter, as a part of our family. All that I ask of you is to keep Alice company¡±. He declared. The importance of his message had finally hit her. Tom had been serious, based on Clive¡¯s o-shaped mouth and widened eyes. She needed to calm down, is he telling the truth? She silently inquired the system. A screen appeared, graphing Tom¡¯s facial expressions and bodily responses such as subconscious gestures in the last ten minutes, the system had concluded that Tom most likely had been speaking the truth. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°If I¡¯m adopted by you, would that mean I have to continue the family business?¡± She asked, her sarcastic tone almost whimsical. ¡°You sound as if managing Eve is a bad thing. And no, because of the serious nature of our work, the board has very strict regulations on the candidates, if you want to continue my position, you have to train very hard to be experienced in the field¡±. He said with an amused smile. She bit her lip, everything was perfect, she could not resist the urge to help Alice, she knew how Alice must have felt, Alice was like her in many ways, from the chronic sickness to the loneliness she had to endure every day. In addition, her partial hero system would almost always ensure her survival, even if she was stabbed through the heart, theoretically speaking. She was also guaranteed a place to stay, there was no pressure in continuing the business either, she had no desire to waste years studying when there was a new world to explore. The only downside was that she had found herself having to make a decision to be accepted by a stranger in a strange world, full of unknown motives and consequences, again. ¡°This is a big life changing decision for you. I won¡¯t force you to make your decision now, I will be here for the next few days, and if you need more than that, just tell my assistant¡±. His intense gaze betrayed his calm tone. She realized that he was very eager to hear her response, almost desperate. For a minute, she simply stared at him, her gaze focused as she struggled to make her decision. ¡°I accept, I hope that you will allow me to leave if I find the conditions unwell?¡± Her strained voice betrayed her wariness and uncertainty. Tom, however, changed his demeanor completely. His eyes gleamed as he gave a booming laugh. ¡°I will make sure that you do not regret this, miss Ellowyn Price, my assistants will handle the paperwork and hopefully have you transferred you to my, no, our home by the end of today¡±. He paused, holding his breath while smiling radiantly. ¡°Thank you, this really mean a lot to us, I am sure Alice will welcome you home with open arms¡±. He struggled to control his excited tone. She gave a small smile in return, infected by his joyous mood. Shortly after they left, but before she had a chance to reflect on her decision, Tom returned. She narrowed her eyes, Tom¡¯s movement seemed jerky, beads of sweat appeared on his face as he cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯m... I forgot to tell you this, but due to our family traditions¡±. Tom¡¯s voice was strained. He emitted a loud sigh before recomposing his posture. ¡°Ellowyn, because we want to incorporate you into our family, and also, we want Alice to feel comfortable with you, you are going to be fitted with a pair of rabbit ears, just like our own. The operation is quick and painless, although it might take days before your nervous system can sync with them properly. I really hope that you can accept it¡±. His eyes darted away shortly before staring back at her pleadingly. She gawked, she felt as if her eyes would fall out of their sockets. This is just too fucking much! First a world transfer, then running head first to an explosion, and now I will have rabbit ears attached to my head? She screamed hysterically inside her mind. Quietly nodding, she resisted the urge to burrow her face into her hands, her eyes vacant. Tom gave a sad smile and hugged her tightly. She gasped, surprised at his sudden gesture. The smell of his perfume and sweat reminded her of her past when her dad would hug her immediately after coming home, not bothering to change his clothes. Tears glistened her eyes as she welcomed the familiar yet long lost feeling of being in a warm embrace. He gently closed the door, leaving behind a shaken Ellowyn, buried deep under her blanket. What have I gotten myself into? She groaned, but eventually gave into a gentle smile, holding onto the tender feeling that bloomed within her cold, lonely heart. Chappy 6: The Making of a Rabbit Gazing absentmindedly at the golden light which streamed through the window. she sighed for the hundred time. She thought that merging personalities would cause confusion and headache. But her reborn self, the part of her mind that made her Emilia lay dormant at the back of her mind. It was as if Emilia Lyon was gone and Ellowyn had taken her place. Though what worried her was not the personality change, it was the events that transpired ever since her worldly transfer, her mind numbed every time she recalled them and the actions that she took. She groaned from theheadache. She decided to deal with them later so as to not be overwhelmed. Then she remembered, the system indicated that it was running out of power when she was trapped under the rubble. ¡°System status¡±. She spoke out loud, her voice a hint of panic. She got a glimpse of the energy level, which rose to 6% before there was a knock on the door. A middle-aged man entered, she presumed that he was a doctor based on his gloves and the e-notepad he was holding. His suit held a shade of gray and blue instead of the usual white, his calm eyes gave her a once over, making sure of her stable state. ¡°Hi, I am Tom Price¡¯s lead doctor, you can call me John. I will be overseeing the ear attachment operation. It will only take about an hour and is practically painless¡±. He smiled reassuringly. He proceeded to explain to her the basics of the operation, they were going to take a pair of lab-grown rabbit ears with the best genetic combination that was suitable for her body to lower the chances of rejection. For the rest of the procedure, they would remove a small piece of skin and muscle at two areas, then the pair of ears will be attached using bio-glue. It should be a few months before she can feel her ears, however, as the nervous system would need time to grow and sync with the nerve cells in those ears. He pulled out a small syringe from his pocket, she raised her eyebrows. ¡°Are you going to sedate me now? We are not in the operating room yet¡±. She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the details of the procedure and equipment used will have to be kept from your sight to prevent the leak of information, it is our company¡¯s policy¡±. He answered, before gently injecting the syringe content into her arm.
Foreign substance detected in the blood stream, analyzing... Detected sedation components. Will automatically execute removal procedures in 2 seconds
Cancel! She gaped, the last thing she wanted was to let him know of her just discovered poison immunity.
User cancellation overrode due to severity of condition, detected high chance of danger based on predicted context, removing substance
She cursed inwardly, feeling the approaching sleepiness faded away. She scowled, thinking of having to feel the pain of the operation. Reduce pain sensory to 1%, tried the panicking Ellowyn.
Done
She sighed in relief. Emulate sleep mode.
Reducing artificial heart rate and metabolism. Done
She smirked, how convenient. Make me a sandwich?
Very funny, Had you the materialization ability, the system would have made you one already. Since you¡¯re reading this, you don¡¯t. I¡¯ve also put other easter eggs commands like this one, beware that they might have stronger side effects. Cheers, Carl
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Ops. She was glad it wasn¡¯t one of the more severe ones. She sighed inward, loudly. She was bored and nervous at the incoming operation as she heard the clanging sounds of prepared instruments. Show me a movie? She quietly inquired, hoping that it wasn¡¯t some sort of easter egg command.
Would you like to be taken to your soul room?
That intrigued her. What is my soul room?
The soul room is a virtually created soul compartment, designed to temporarily keep your soul¡¯s consciousness. It may be used for entertainment purposes such as meditation and viewing media or training purposes such as battle simulations. Note that you can¡¯t enter your soul room in battle or when your soul is being repaired
Show me the soul room. She requested excitedly. In an instant, she found herself transferred, there was no perception of space for white light completely filled her vision.
Warning! this is not a genuine version of the Hero System, missing soul connection, and hero registry modules. Welcome to your soul room, here are the instructions...
She was ecstatic, the room was for her to design and create, all she had to do was to import objects into the room by focusing really hard on its attributes such as shape, color, and weight, or she could pick from the various default ones. ## In a lush and beautiful garden filled with flowers of various colors, next to a tranquil, clear blue lake, sat Ellowyn comfortably in her meditative pose. This is so much better than a desktop background if only I can get a working Internet connection... She mused happily before calling up the system status window again. After reading about thirty pages of descriptions, she understood the basics of what the system can and can¡¯t do. Firstly, unlike other novels that she had read where a magical computer could simply upload knowledge into her brain, making her an instant genius, the system¡¯s way to communicate was more limited. The system is a soul based mechanical program attached to her soul, to transmit information to her, it had to override her soul¡¯s senses, such as drawing blue windows inside her vision or adding sounds to what she hears. Because it is a soul based entity, the system has to rely on her soul¡¯s senses, what she sees, it can see. It made up to that downside by having a ridiculously large visual and sound database, it was able to recognize most types of creature, devices and even the type of zit on someone¡¯s face. In addition, it can interact with any kind of electronic devices that had a way to accept interaction, such as a port or waves, provided that it had the necessary drivers. However, the energy cost increased exponentially when the interaction happens away from her body. The manual suggested that she attached some kind of communication pads under her skin and connect the device¡¯s port through it. Am I a fucking Android? She retorted, though her lips curled into a mirth, betraying her excitement at the endless possibilities where she could connect and operate electronics from within her body. She could also use this feature to bypass the senses limit, such as connecting the system with an infrared camera or better yet, she could connect to surrounding cameras through wireless and get a bird¡¯s eye view.
Warning Surgical operation detected, estimated strain on the head area while conscious to be above-suggested limit.It is strongly recommended that you remain unconscious during the procedure to prevent more strain
But I just got here! She pouted, unwilling to say farewell to her newly found paradise. She eventually gave in, however, turning everything off and slept. //I''m sorry, this chapter isn''t quite completed yet. I''ll update it in the near future Chappy 7: An Excited Rabbit If one were to look at a particular car¡¯s right side window, one would see the silly figure of a rabbit pressing its cheek hard on the glass, its sparkling eyes danced everywhere, taking in the scene of busy traffic. Tom showed an amusing mirth, observing the excited Ellowyn, her expressions represented that of a child who just discovered the existence of fairies and unicorns. ¡°I guess this is your first time seeing the outside from a car?¡± He asked. Only to conclude that she was too distracted and enthused to respond. ¡°Ah yes, I¡¯m sorry¡±. She hurriedly replied after a long moment of silence. Tom could only smile wryly, it seemed any attempt of communication to her then would simply go from one ear and out the other. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm down and to make sense of the incredible scene. She had known that flying vehicles existed there, but witnessing them with her own eyes had both awed and horrified her. The first reference that came to her mind was fishes, more specifically, like a school of fish. These vehicles moved together in the same general direction. However, the scene was much more chaotic and larger in scale. Vehicles of different shapes and sizes were flying at various height and speed.They ranged from tiny, one rider bikes to gigantic cargo holding ones. Their appearances varied greatly. Some bikes had rusty frames and worn out engines that looked as if they would give in at any moment. Many cars and van were composed of a plain metal box and a few engines sticking out, she concluded that flying refrigerators would look better. A few fancy ones had sharp, modernistic edges or downright creepy glowing spikes and curves. Unequal distribution of wealth at its finest. The way they moved was wild and unruly, it seemed there was no single, encompassing system that guided each vehicle. The aid of computers was obvious based on some of the impossible maneuvers executed by a small number of drivers. She presumed that the decision on which direction and what maneuvers to take was left to the human driver, seeing as the surrounding commuters weren¡¯t all too happy. Often times, a hurried and reckless driver, regardless of vehicle size, would blaze through the stream, forcing the surrounding crafts to move aside, this act always earned them horns and shouts of obscenities. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going you fu¡± ¡°Bob!¡± Tom rebuked her driver before he got the chance to give his share of colorful words. Passes happened all the time, the rush of its driver seemed to determine a vehicle¡¯s speed. She doubted whether regulations on these things exists at all. Many crafts carried far more goods and people than their manufacturer would limit, judging by their bulging cargo hold and crowded cockpit. She saw single rider bikes carrying entire families and other small cars carrying oversizedsacks of merchandise. She blanched every time some of the vehicles from the opposite stream crossed to her side, splitting the stream she was on horizontally, the crafts at the point before splitting would slow down would almost touch the ones behind them, yet everyone including her driver would simply slow down and dodge the slowed traffic nonchalantly. She found it ironic that the smaller the vehicle, the more smooth and speedy was its commute. Whereas larger vehicles would get stuck at turns and crowded intersections, small bikes could simply weave through them effortlessly, essentially preventing a complete traffic jam. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. It was an hour before she reached the highway connecting cities. The sky really is the limit. She thought in wonder. The previously packed stream had spread out greedily, flying vehicles filled the skies, no more were the densely packed buildings of the city they left behind. Most crafts deployed semi-transparent sails, fully stretched by the relentless winds to save energy in the long run. The one she was on wasn¡¯t an exception, it had the shape of a long rectangle with stylish edges running all around the body. She could see a large, body length sail being set up from the roof window. Her wandering eyes brought her back to the figure of Tom quietly observing her. His calm, steady gaze made her uncomfortable. Seeing that she had caught his attention, he nodded. ¡°We are going to a small shopping outlet, you need better clothes than that hospital gown. I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t take you to the more fancy ones, I need to make sure that the place is completely secure¡±. The sun already began its descent by the time they arrived at the shopping mall. The place was rather plain and worn down, blending with the surrounding buildings. A half-lit neon sign of Orange Republic hung next to the rusted metal doors she presumed as the entrance. She squinted, silently assessing whether the partially torn and bent support beams of the landing platform will give out at her limo`s weight, only to sigh in relief that it did not. "Sorry I''ve only enough time to secure a small and simple place, you''re free to pick anything here. I know the fashion trends of your peers emphasize freedom and diversity, but I hope that you don''t go for the rather extreme options yet, I want Alice to be comfortable with your first meeting". Tom reminded her. She nodded timidly, not that I had a good sense of fashion anyway. The rusted gates groaned, slowly opening. Half a dozen guards poured out from the inside, wearing gray and blue uniforms bearing the Eve insignia. The leader with a more distinct uniform saluted Tom, reporting that everything had been checked and secured. Tom nodded and gestured for Ellowyn to enter with him. The interior of the place was much larger than she expected, rows after rows of shelves featuring various goods, mostly clothes and shoes. After having a body scan, she was given a 5-inch platform, a hologram of her body shape appeared on top. Each item display did not allow her to remove them for trying on, but by tapping her platform on the case, it would transfer the item information into the platform so that she can take it to the trying booth which will provide the needed items with correct sizes. She chose nothing fancy, a simple white blouse, a pair of jeans and sneakers. She was glad they still use this kind of clothing despite the advance in technology, however, they were quite hard to find. It seemed the law of restroom placement applies here. She chuckled, looking at the restroom which was down the hall to the right. Finished with her business, she began to walk back to the entrance, only to be stopped cold as several warning markers appeared. Chappy 8: Shopping Goes Wrong Transparent blue boxes of light materialized around three mannequins 5 feet to her right, she figured it was the system¡¯s way of notifying her. A small blue window appeared at a corner of her vision showing the message.
Visual artifacts detected, signs of optical camouflage
The previously limbless mannequins materialized legs and arms along with large firearms. She simply stood there like a deer in headlights. Her widened eyes stared at the shiny object flying at her.
Applying force to left side to enhance jump
She felt as if someone pushed her from her side, hard. A silky net grazed her shoulder and left arm. She tried to stand up but still failed while slipping helplessly before slamming into a shelf. Dizziness overtook her, she shrieked as another net surrounded her before she could stand up. Like a trapped prey, she struggled hopelessly against the elastic webbing.
Force Blade activated, using default position: above right hand
A thin handle appeared within her palm, she immediately grabbed and swing it across the net, slicing it cleanly in half. The three mannequins were running and firing more nets as they aimed their oversize rifles at her. But she was already on her feet, trying to walk faster in a zigzag towards the entrance. She tried to break into a run, before returning to a fast walk as the system warned her. She saw the guards busy fending off a group of four-legged canine creatures wearing body armor. ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed, dropping again on the floor as part of a net caught and pulled her ankles. She tried to cut herself free before a large shadow appeared above her. She used her feeble strength to push herself rolling to the right as another canine landed at her previous spot. It growled at her, preparing to leap, only to yelp after she kicked an already shaking shelve, dropping it on the canine. It struggled, trying to free itself from the fallen shelf and buying her precious seconds to cut her net. She started to stand after breaking free, only to be tackled again by a different canine, knocking the blade out of her hands. It held her down while growling on her face. She was glad those things were given a capture alive command, one bite from those sharp canine teeth and she was a dead rabbit. She closed her eyes for a split second, steeling her nerves. Here goes nothing, again! Before her blade can rematerialize in her hand, she poked its eyes, rolling to its left while it was yelping in pain. She threw the just reacquired blade to the creature¡¯s right. The blade made a crashing sound before it disintegrated into a shelf. The canine took the bait, slamming its head into that shelf, the shelf fell over, trapping it. There was no time to rejoice, the first canine had freed itself and was running at full speed towards her, she felt relief as in the corner of her eyes, one of the guards broke away from the surrounding canines and was running while aiming his gun. To her horror, it wasn¡¯t the canine he was aiming at. Give me a boost!.
Applying force
It was her turn to yelp in pain as the system kicked her underside, sending her flying towards the other side of the place before crashing into a shelf. She rubbed her bruised behind in agony shortly before the shelf fell on top of her. Pinned down, she watched helplessly as the previous guard started running towards her. He made various gestures towards the mannequins and canines, instructions for capturing me, no doubt. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The man and his little army stopped, she saw him scowling briefly before the rest of her guards stood between her and him. The canines and mannequins charged in front, prepared to fight to their last while the man fled towards the back of the store. ¡°Sam, John, and Bruce will pursuit Liam, the rest will protect and recover Ellowyn¡±. The leader commanded. Three of them ran towards the charging army, they shot grappling hooks at the ceiling support beams, propelling themselves above the canines, one of the canines jumped and succeeded in tackling one of the men, the other two continued their chase. She grimaced, the monsters now outnumbered the guards two to one. Numerous flares shot out from the canines back armor, they splashed harmlessly against the guard''s shields, blinding them temporarily. The leader raised his gun sword to block a canine¡¯s claw slash but was pushed back as another dog slammed into his shield. The mannequins adjusted their weapons and were then shooting more deadly, glowing projectiles, but they were deflected and absorbed harmlessly on the guard''s shields. The guards returned fire with their gunblades, she gasped as those shots too had been deflected by the canine¡¯s shields. The battle only progressed when one of the guard¡¯s blade glowed, penetrating one of the canine shields, he then opened fire within it, finishing off the canine as the contents of its skull splattered everywhere. She scowled, while she was not one of the weak at heart who would drop at the sight of blood, the goriness of the battle reminded her of how grim her situation had been, one slip up could bring her back to eternal sleep. From then onward, the monsters lost the momentum of the battle and was slowly pushed back, eventually wiped out after two minutes. She scanned the surroundings, each of the guards had a bloody injury somewhere on his body, whether it be an injured arm and leg or gashes on their faces. ¡°Are you alright?¡± She lightly nodded at the leader¡¯s question. ¡°Ouch!¡± She complained after trying to stand when the shelf was lifted, her ankle was twisted by a low flying net. A guard quickly came and assisted her. Boom! A flying drone blasted a giant part of the back wall. Its head was rectangular with two lights representing eyes, it''s triangular wings had three engines on the left, right and back center allowing it to levitate. Liam jumped and grabbed two handles under the wing. ¡°It''s a Reaper!¡± One of the guards yelled before taking cover. The drone charged towards the front while releasing volleys of missiles, forcing everyone to jump aside. The guard who was supporting Ellowyn threw her aside and jump to the opposite direction before their previous location was blown to pieces.
Applying force to cushion fall
Cancel! She had no intention to reveal the system to anyone. She screamed as her twisted ankle hit the ground. ¡°Ellowyn!¡± She can hear the leader¡¯s panic stricken voice. His face then paled when he realized who it was that Liam was flying toward. Here goes nothing. She chuckled thinking about the many times she had used the phrase. Force knife readied. She laid on the ground with her eyes closed, calmly waiting for his approach while estimating his distance from the system using basic velocity calculation.
ETA: 3, 2, 1
She sprang to life just before Liam reached grabbing distance, he flinched but did not recall his outstretched arm, planning to seize her. Of all her life, Ellowyn had wanted to be many things, a damsel in distress, however, was not one of them. She raised her knife and made a deep gash in his arm. He cursed in pain. Unable to stop the drone, he slammed into her, knocking her back.
Warning! insufficient energy to deploy shield, applying cushion force
She slowed down, crashed into the right wall and fell down. In her shaken vision, she saw Liam making another hole in the front of the store and flying outside before she fell into unconsciousness. Chappy 9: A Pondering Rabbit "What happened?" Tom howled. She slowly, grudgingly opened her eyes, seeing that she had been put on a stretcher. Tom and the leader¡¯s blurred figure appeared in her vision. She winced at the intensity of his voice, sending a pleading gaze, hoping he would lower his tone. Tom¡¯s bloodshot eyes made contact with her own, his glowered expression immediately turned soft as he switched to a hushed voice and brought the conversation outside. Bring me to my soul room, she demanded while closing her eyes again. The serene blue sky shone bright, soothing lights down on the green grassy hills that extended endlessly to the horizon. A frail white-haired figure sat on top of the tallest hill. Memories of the battle knocked impatiently on her mind, wanting to enter. She, however, couldn''t bring herself to accept them, she would have to bear with the fact that she had come close to knocking on death''s door, that she had to expect more of such events in the near future. Despite wishing for the contrary, she remembered clearly the smell of seared flesh from supersonic vibrating blades, the painful yell of Liam as her force knife sliced through his arm and the blood that sprayed on her face as a result. What if I have to take someone''s life? The horrifying question paralyzed her. Closing her eyes, she wished back to the life of her previous world. A quiet, safe and comfortable life devoid of physical violence, one that she spent in the warm embrace of her loved ones. She shook her head, clearing the wishful thoughts, it was her new life and she had to make the most of it, no matter how short it would be. She tried to relax her body, hoping for the merciful flood of sleep to take over. Tom Price sighed deeply inside his limo, next to him was the sleeping Ellowyn. her fragile figure was still wearing the ragged hospital gown. Various cuts and scratches littered its surface, her left ankle was wrapped in a small layer of transparent bandage, her left arm and calf were bruised. His glistening eyes gazed at her, unable to ignore as the flickering street light spilled through the window, illuminating the two rivers of tears flowing down her beautiful, sorrowful face. He was lost in thought, recalling the dreadful events that almost took Ellowyn away from him. While spies and traitors were common in Eve, he was shocked that they have infiltrated his loyal team, they must have concluded of Ellowyn¡¯s importance and had set out to capture her so as to blackmail him. He had a few suspects in mind, it was either the Allied Church or the Freedom of the One, both had savage and cruel goals, stopping them was the reason why he strivedto earn this position for they had taken away and broke his family. Moreover, he had blamed himself the most for making such a mistake, he could have bought the clothes himself and bring it to her. He shut his eyes, it wasn¡¯t the time to push the blame around, he had to face the harsh reality, Ellowyn will leave his family. It was obvious that no child of her age would agree to stay after having to suffer such traumatic events. His heart ached every time he thinks about how she had suffered. He wanted to cuddle her into his arms but was afraid that she would push him away in hate. I suppose I deserve every hit that she would give me. He chanced, hugging her tightly. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. His eyes widened as a small gasp escaped from her lips. He pulled her out of his embrace and looked into her sleepy, bleary eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sor¡± ¡°Its alright¡±. Her eyes immediately regained focus as she interrupted his pity speech. After spending an entire lifetime reading soapy novels and watching chick flicks, she already knew where that was going and decided to save time by telling him her decision so as to ease his conscience right then. She gave him a bitter smile. She planned to speak to him as equals. In her past life, she knew of how cherished she was by those around her. Her sickness had often tried to make her feel useless, but she had long defeated this inferiority complex. For she had decided to be their pillar of emotional support. Every day, she would counsel and listen to their voice, of them telling her of what their life had been and perhaps help them solve their own insecurities. She had done so not out of pure passion and love, but mostly because she had not wanted to be everyone¡¯s pity ball. ¡°To be honest, I have all the reasons to get mad at you right now, I have just gained my freedom and just from being with you, I almost lost my life. But it was me who accepted to be your adopted daughter. I knew that I will have to face grave situations such as this, I simply wasn¡¯t prepared for the fact that it had to happen so soon. Please don¡¯t vex yourself, I am in no way mad at you, I know that you must be quite shaken yourself, seeing one of your own loyal men turn against you¡±. Her wispy but unwavering voice carried her resolution. Her smile turned more gentle as she read his thoughts. ¡°No, Tom, Dad, I won¡¯t leave. While I do admit that I was quite scared of that incident, I have already agreed to help you, changing that decision now would break my heart just as much as it would yours. Even when I¡¯m only adopted, You are my family, I will love and cherish you as my own and I do hope that you would do the same¡±. She declared. He smiled wryly. ¡°Does Alice know of that incident?¡± She asked. ¡°No, it was kept secret from the public and I was too distracted to do so. I will contact her now¡±. He answered shamefully. ¡°Please don¡¯t, them knowing what happened to me will only hinder our relationship. I won¡¯t be able to reach her if all I get from interactions are their pity and worried gazes. I want to approach my new family naturally so that I can understand them more and vice-versa. I¡¯m already a big woobie as it is¡±. She requested. He didn¡¯t bother to hide his surprise and was then gawking. ¡°Ellowyn, I know that this is hard for you, but...¡± Ellowyn interrupted him with a piercing gaze, her limpid eyes grew larger by the second, overwhelming him with her plead. He gulped, unable to fight the begging look that reeks of innocence, finally giving into a long sigh, looking back at her serene eyes. ¡°You are an odd one. You have the maturity of an adult and yet the innocence of a child. I know that story you fed to Clive was a good lie. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t force you to tell me, but I¡¯m rather curious myself. I hope that you would tell me about your past one day. And what is a woobie?¡± He asked, his tone a hint of intrigue. She blinked, she had accidentally used a word from her old world. ¡°A woobie is someone who had been in a very sad and pitiful background, he or she is very likely to get sympathy and pity from those who knew of that history¡±. She tilted her head, her eyes a look of mischief. ¡°And for my past, would you have believed me if I told you that I¡¯m from another world?¡±. She said playfully. He shook his head, ¡°No, Ellowyn, I supposed I would not, you should get some rest, we will arrive in a few hours¡±. He said, his smile gentle. She nodded before drifting off to sleep. Another world huh? He mused, silently considering the possibility. Chappy 10: New Home She groaned, opening her foggy eyes as she was nudged awake. She saw a large floating sign with the Eve icon passing by. ¡°We have arrived at our home¡±. Tom declared, his eyes gleamed as he used his hand to comb his hair. Her mouth dropped open as her eyes gawked, the home that they were heading to looked less like a house and more as a well-defended fort. She had expected it to be big, but big to her was a great understatement. The colossus building was composed of five block shaped towers, with the center one being the tallest. Its spotless walls were pristine white, reflecting the surroundings. Various extruding and intruding orange edges ran along its form, as one would expect to see from a sci-fi picture of buildings. Tiny orange rectangles littered the wall, windows, she presumed. Many square pads were set up along its height, ships docked on some of them while gun batteries and cargoes on others. On a closer inspection, the wall had a few squared frames attached at various places with tiny figures of workers repairing inside. On top of each of the outer four towers, laid a gun battery with long, streamlined and box shaped canons. Thick metal walls ran around the castle with sharp metal blades protruding from numerous places. Soldiers patrolled the forested grounds, she saw more camouflaged batteries half buried in the ground and under trees, according to the system analysis. Scowling, she looked at the various holes on the ground, some of them had been partially filled, they probably were marks of artillery shells. Am I going home or a battlefield? She sighed in her mind, resisting the urge to facepalm. Seeing the distressed and overwhelmed Ellowyn, Tom couldn¡¯t hold back his chuckle. ¡°You have the same expression as most other guests that come here for the first time¡±. He paused, gazing at the window. ¡°For those with power, the rules are different. In the past, all we had to do was paying our congressman to pass impending legislations for our competitors. But now, with the advancement of the technologies of war, the influence goes to whoever has more firepower and tech. Raids happened from time to time, while it is the offenders that lose more resources in these raids, sometimes they managed to get through and cripple or steal their target¡¯s operations, the benefits outlast the cost in the long run. That is why we have to do it whether we want to, to preserve the status quo¡±. His eyes turned somber. ¡°How would the public support such barbaric competitions?¡±. The gawking Ellowyn almost shouted, her face a look of disbelief. Tom smiled darkly, his eyebrows knitted together, making him look like a lewd businessman who just swindled big time. ¡°As I said, the technology of war had advanced, much more than our technology to detect and locate. It meant that for small skirmishes between feudal organizations, it is impossible to detect the source of the attacks due to the numerous way one can be concealed from conventional detection tools, I will let you talk with our chief of security if you want to know more. Nonetheless, to the public, these raids were executed by the media fabricated groups of fanatics and terrorists¡±. His expression turned calm. ¡°Though may not be as barbaric as you think, these skirmishes are rather structured and the attackers are almost never human. It is frowned upon to have human casualties, so we always use androids or the newly developed genetic animals¡±. She nodded, keeping a poker face, trying not to scowl at his words, and at him. It is the law of the land, and Tom is just abiding by them. She tried to convince herself. She knew how brutal politics can be, and this world had it to the extreme. At least she was glad people don¡¯t usually die in these so-called scuffles, or so she hoped. Tom stared at her, shivers ran down her spine as his gaze pierced through her. ¡°You are much older than you look, and your knowledge of how the world works is nothing to scoff at, but they seemed to be out of sync somehow¡±. He contemplated. She paled, realizing too late that her actions were unsuitable for her age. ¡°I am 18 you know¡±. She tried to justify herself. He nodded, closing his eyes before staring back at the window. A long pause ensued before he dropped the critical question that made her froze. ¡°It is true Ellowyn, that you are from another world?¡±. He said, his tone of affirmation instead of inquiry. Her face dropped to the ground, closing her eyes, she harshly scolded herself for being overly curious. Her habit of telling the unbelievable truth in the form of sarcasm hadn¡¯t help either. The silence continued as she struggled to regain her composure. Shrugging helplessly, she already knew the personality that shaped her over her life had made it impossible for her to not be curious, hence this development was inevitable, she would have had to face him sooner or later. She looked back at him, who was still staring out the window, her eyes laced with sadness. ¡°Are you going to -¡±. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I will not abandon you, remember? It was your promise to stay in my family, and I too, cherish your being here. The fact that you didn¡¯t leave despite our previous scuffle had shown me how serious you were. I knew you and Alice would get along, when I first saw you, you had the same look in your eyes as Alice¡¯s, only with a little more determination¡±. He let out a devilish smile. ¡°And besides, it is much more exciting to have a daughter from another world, I am really hoping to hear the stories of your past¡±. His tone filled with interest. She let out a deep sigh, What have I gotten into? She repeated the question with dread. The limo landed on the highest pad of the center tower, numerous guards ran out from within the gate, they all saluted Tom when he stepped out. forming two parallel lines. Now, all we need is a red carpet. She chuckled inwardly, before widening her eyes as a blue glowing rectangle spread out from the gate and stopping at her feet. ¡°Ellowyn¡±. Tom¡¯s gentle reminder broke her dazed state. She realized she had been looking around gawkily, too distracted to notice his outstretched hand. She blushed shamefully before grabbing his hand and trying not to gawk everywhere as he lead her into the gate. I really need to stop gawking. She chided herself, looking at two lines of people in front, the maids on one side and the butlers the other. The butlers were wearing a modified version of the tuxedo, their black jackets were smaller, only covering the shoulder and upper chest area, various blue edges formed around it symmetrically. Underneath was a black undershirt with more blue lines running around its edge, the pants were the same though. She chuckled inwardly, they resembled the citizen of a certain movie that she watched, the one with a cyber city and cool light cycles. The maids were more elegant, she thought. They also wore the new style tuxedos, the jacket encompassed the whole body, ending with wavy folds. Instead of pants, they wore short black skirts and their legs were covered with black stockings, everything was laced with blue lines or edges. Some of them were wearing half-glasses with small glowing patterns which she presumed to be visual guides. They all greeted Tom at the same time, the maids curtsied while the butlers saluted. A butler walked towards Tom. ¡°Welcome back, sir. Miss Alice is waiting for you in the guest room¡±. He saluted again before returning to his position. She raised her eyebrows, they acted more like trained soldiers than housekeepers. The elevator¡¯s design was the same, she was not surprised, though the doors were more stylish, it opened by pulling five layers, one at a time to the side. She gasped, the moment the door had closed, the metallic walls disappeared, leaving behind the scenery around the building, as if everything between the walls of the elevator and the walls of the building had evaporated. Her head turned back and forth, scanning her surroundings, blue skies and clouds covered what used to be the ceiling, forests extended to the horizon at where the walls were. She reached her hands and felt an invisible barrier. It was a projection, she mused, still impressed by the realism of such projections. The elevator headed downwards shortly before stopping, the metallic walls once again materialized as the door opened. More keepers lined the hallway, a white door with a big fancy decorated Eve icon stood at the end. She breathed in deeply. This is it. She thought, bracing herself for her first meeting with Alice. The doors opened, revealing the figure standing inside, Ellowyn stared with widened eyes. It was definitely Alice, with the same face and hair, but she looked nothing like the picture Tom showed her. ¡°Dad!¡± Alice broke into a run, hugging him tightly as they made contact. ¡°I missed you,to¡± She said sulkily. ¡°It has only been two days, you need to be more patient¡±. Tom smiled warmly. ¡°This is Ellowyn, your new sister¡±. His tone awkward as he gently pulled himself out of Alice¡¯s embrace. Alice slowly readjusted her composure before looking back at Ellowyn with a smile. ¡°It is a pleasure for me to have met you. I am sorry if I might seem rude, but I am not used to talking with new people, even when you are my sister. Please don¡¯t worry, I have no animosity towards you, and I hope that we will get along well¡±. She said, before promptly giving Ellowyn a hug. Ellowyn did not fail to notice the sad hint that flashed in Alice¡¯s eyes. She knew that there must have been others in her place, those who hadn¡¯t the courage to stay for long. ¡°You are not alone, I too, am not very comfortablwithnew places and people. But please be reassured that I will not leave you as others had. I just hope that you would treat me well, as I would, you¡±. She then tilted her head at Tom, her look inquisitive. ¡°Although there may have been a misunderstanding on my part, you look rather different from the picture that Tom had showed me¡±. Her amused tone was laced with curiosity. Chappy 11: Family Dinner "What do you mean?¡± Ellowyn stared dazedly at Alice, who was pulling out of the hug. The warm fluorescent light revealed her pale, angelic face. A pair of slightly gaping, chestnut bedroom eyes gazed at her own. Frozen, Ellowyn was completely mesmerized by the orange flame that seemed to burst out within those irises. Alice turned her head to Tom, her wavy cinnamon hair spiraled outward, reflecting the gleam of the surrounding light. So beautiful. Ellowyn almost gasped. She did not fail to notice the hanging pair of auburn rabbit ears on Alice¡¯s head. It gave off a soft, furry cute look that almost made her reach out her hands instinctively to pet it. In the midst of her ogling, She had forgotten about having her own pair of rabbit ears. ¡°When I was telling Ellowyn about you, I might have shown a picture of your younger self¡±. Tom replied, his eyes darting away. Indeed he was. She subconsciously nodded her head. That picture must have been taken at least five years ago, for the Alice in front of her had evolved grandly. Alice¡¯s back faced Ellowyn when she ran towards Tom, revealing a streamlined waist along with an enticing, exquisite hourglass figure. Her small, delicate hands balled up, hitting Tom flimsily. The reaction most girls would get from looking at Alice was jealousy, envy, and perhaps even hatred. But Ellowyn had none of that. not because she had no self-esteem, but for she knew that there was no way she can compete with others in terms of looks, not that she cared much about what others think of her in that short life. She licked her lips, looking at the shifting of those supple, round buns and soft, toned thighs. Shit. She harshly rebuked herself for almost letting her desires free. Her sense of attraction was rather muddled from being inside for most of the time. ¡°Dad! I told you not to use that picture anymore, I don¡¯t want to be pitied like that.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m sorry, I wanted to increase the chances. I won¡¯t do it again, I promise¡±. Tom chuckled. ¡°Though you guys do get along well, if not a little stiff. Your conversation differed little from a political meeting!¡±. He chided, his hands pinching her slightly turned up nose. Alice pushed his hand away and turned around. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you have to see us so¡±. Her succulent lips were still pouting slightly. The silky, tender skin on her cheeks crimsoned. Her tight scarlet t-shirt did nothing to hide the bountiful mounds that swayed with her every motion, it also revealed a section of her midriff along with a cute round navel. She could make Aphrodite envious, starts wars and commences Armageddon. The incredulous Ellowyn thought with eyes wide and mouth agape. Alice¡¯s ethereal beauty can charm men everywhere, coupled with her adorable ears that would give most women a cuteness overdose. ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± Alice was getting nervous, completely oblivious of her potential end world beauty. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry, I was just observing. You two have a really good relationship¡±. Her strained smile was tinged with jealousy. Not with Alice¡¯s looks, but of their intimate relationship, something that she hadn¡¯t had for the last 18 years. ¡°If you¡¯re worried that I will hog dad for myself, please stop. You are apart of our family now and we will treat you as our own¡±. Alice smiled in return. But her smile too was a little stiff. Ellowyn frowned inward, it seemed the mental veil that guarded Alice¡¯s emotions was once again raised. This will take time. She thought, remembering of a certain someone in her past who had also taken much of his time weaving himself into her life. She would try to make Alice warm up to her just as he had, to her heart. ¡°Dinner has been served at the dining hall¡±. A butler announced after he entered through the door. He bowed before he turned around and headed back, followed by the rest of the family. Only then did She had the chance to take notice of the living room they were walking out of. It was easily the size of a basketball court. A fancy chandelier the shape of a tree with glowing, blue leaves hung at the center. Various crystal edges and lines ran around the outer boundaries of the spacious room. They headed back to the elevator, the ground glowed a gentle blue at each step they took. The dining hall was just as lavish as the guest room, the same chandelier clung to the ceiling. A large rectangular white table laid at the center, a glowing blue line outlined its base. She raised her eyebrows, there were no chairs, just small, glowing squared lines surrounding it. So the chairs are only raised when there is someone sitting above it, cool! She guessed, her inner nerd pulsed. She stopped, gawking as suddenly, numerous glowing blue forms of transparent holograms materialized. They were fishes of various kinds, from small schools of tiny ones to those of larger sizes with shark-like features. She did not recognized them however, they all differed slightly from the fishes of her world. Raising her hands, her index finger brushed against a fish passing by, only to have it swam away in panic. Tom and Alice also raised their eyebrows, looking at the excited Ellowyn who was trying to touch the frightened fishes, her eyes as large as saucers. It took a whole minute before she regained her senses. She looked downwards, her pale cheeks reddened slightly as they started walking toward the table again. A white box rose from the ground at where she stood, she brushed her fingers against its smooth surface, making sure it won¡¯t retract before sitting down. The lights around the room dimmed, leaving the shining of the table and chandelier, and the glowing of the surrounding fishes. She slowly looked around dazedly, everything was so surreal, like a scene from a painting. She noticed Tom and Alice staring at her, waiting to catch her attention. ¡°Ellowyn, I will have someone show you around the place. I know you are very fascinated of your new home, but we can¡¯t have you gawking and stopping everywhere we went now, can we?¡± Tom teased her with a slight chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this is all very new to me. I am not used to the glowing of everything yet¡±. Her blush reddened by another shade. ¡°If you¡¯re uncomfortable, I will have these fancy effects tuned down¡±. Tom started waving his hand at the nearest butler. ¡°No! I mean, I am very impressed with these things, and would really prefer that you keep them on¡±. She hurriedly replied. ¡°You really are interested in technology. I can have my building manager escort you around and let you ask your curiosity away¡±. Tom chuckled again. ¡°Thank you, but I am rather tired right now, the events that transpired had left me with little strength, would you mind if I rest after this?¡± She asked her already wispy voice sounded weaker. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal with me you know, I¡¯m your dad now. And again, I truly apologize for my blunder, you will be escorted to your new room after your dinner is finished.¡± He yelled playfully. ¡°You should not be so formal either, dad¡±. It was her turn to smile. She sneaked a glance at Alice, seeing her still form staring back. Alice was smiling faintly, but the vacant look in her eyes told Ellowyn how lonely she was. Ellowyn resisted the urge to walk across the table and gave her a hug right then.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Small rectangle areas of the table retracted inwards, only to emerge seconds later carrying an array of dishes. The fragrant smell assaulted her nostrils. Ellowyn recalled the drool that almost dropped from her lips as she was bedazzled by the delicious scene that was the food. Never before had food smelled so delightful and savory to her. It took all she had not to jump on the table and grovel them all down in one gulp. ¡°Eat your fill, Ellowyn, I know that you hadn¡¯t eaten anything in the last two days¡± Tom glanced at the drooling Ellowyn, his amused smile grew larger. Her stomach grumbled, loudly. I never knew stomachs can make such noise. Ellowyn was astounded and ashamed. ¡°It is alright, the hospital had kept me well with the iv drips¡±. She gently consoled Alice whose eyes were widened with worry. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Is it not polite to eat before your elders?¡± Ellowyn asked, her eyebrows raised. ¡°No it is not, Ellowyn, our custom here says the youngest is the first to start eating¡±. Tom rebuked, grinning widely. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry¡±. She blushed again before reaching for the knife and fork. ¡°Mm¡±. She moaned, the crunchy texture and tenderness of the fish pulled her into eternal bliss. ## It was the most delicious meal I¡¯ve ever had, she concluded, feeling a little nauseated from having eaten too much. She chuckled, her hand paddling her slightly bulging stomach, looking at her empty plate that was littered with tiny uneaten bits of food. She was surprised that she could eat so well, for the days before her last ¡°death¡±, she was so weak that her stomach would expel any food she ate. It seemed that she was the first to finish, for Tom and Alice were still eating their respective share. She stiffened, realizing the fact that she might have violated more than a few unwritten rules of etiquette in her quest for food. She shrugged. It couldn¡¯t be helped, I was really hungry. ¡°You should return to your room and get some rest¡±. Tom suggested after he finished his meal. Ellowyn nodded, facing Alice and Tom and saying her good night before a maid prompted her to follow. It''s like a maze in here. She thought, looking around confusedly at the entwining intersections of hallways and numerous doors. She shivered, it would take some effort to not get lost there. Record map. She tried.
Showing current building map
The system has mapped all of the paths, hallways, and rooms that she had passed by, the downside was that the areas in which her vision didn¡¯t reach remained dark. ¡°At most intersections, there is a small screen that allows you to enable the guiding function to key places within the building. When activated, a blue arrow will appear on the floor to show you the way¡±. The maid read her lost expression. ¡°Thank you¡±. She replied awkwardly, trying to recover her composure. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be formal with us if you don¡¯t want to, the regulations stated that we can speak to you in an informal tone at your request¡±. The maid smiled. ¡°Please do, why is my room so far away?¡± She inquired. ¡°Your room is quite close to Miss Alice and Mister Tom¡¯s room, but they are staying behind rather than joining us. It is in the building center for security reasons and, you know, so you don¡¯t get blown up by missiles easily¡±. She chuckled. Ellowyn did not smile at all, Getting hit by missiles is deemed as a common here? She retorted. ¡°While you are free to roam the place, I¡¯d recommend that you stay put in your room for tonight, reports indicated of a possible raid, don¡¯t worry, these things happen all the time.¡±The maid¡¯s voice was nonchalant, almost teasing. She had to resist from banging her head on the wall. What kind of home receives raids as a daily occurrence? Not in her old world. She scowled, Was the maid asking to speak informally so that she could tease her? ¡°May I know your name?¡± She asked the impish maid. ¡°Its Mary, you don¡¯t have to memorize it though, there are around 200 of us working here. Also, if you¡¯re being chased by the bad guys, just run to the nearest maid or butler, we are trained to kick some arses¡±. Mary smiled mischievously. When they entered her room, Ellowyn tried not to be surprised, only to fail miserably. She sighed, looking at the lecture hall-sized room. A queen-sized white bed lay at the center, there was a large, glowing blue rectangle on each wall, each was filled with the color of the walls, white. The room wasempty otherwise. There were two doors to the right, which she presumed to be the closet and bathroom. They headed towards the two doors, the maid entered one of them and came out with the pair of black pajamas. Ellowyn took them and entered the bathroom. A skinny figure with disheveled brown hair wearing a tattered hospital gown stared at her in the mirror. She gasped, why didn¡¯t they have me change before the meeting with Alice? She looked like a beggar or worst, a psychotic patient who escaped from the hospital. Scowling, she looked at her bruised left arm and calf.
Minor bruise, est recovery time without enhancement: 2 days, with enhancement: 12 hours
Define recovery enhancement.
Enhancing the recovery of tissue by reducing the temperature at inflamed areas, applying force to compress and reduce swelling. Carl¡¯s module addition: redirecting key nutritions and stem cells, beta function, may come with unforeseen bugs. The general cost is between 1% per day to some of the most gruesome injuries at 5%
She decided against it, seeing the system charge speed is only 2% a day. Taking off the gown, her eyes did a once over at herself. Her shoulders were scrawny, her chest was still in development. The outline of her ribs appeared above her taut stomach. I really look like a starved prisoner. She mused. Her eyes stopped, staring at a small pad stuck to the lower right of her pale abdomen.
General health reporter: Reports body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, sugar level and location to the receiver.
She presumed that Tom¡¯s medical team had put it there. Wait, heartbeat, isn¡¯t my heart stopped? She asked in a panic but was relieved to find that the system¡¯s default response to heart rate sensors was to emulate a stable one. She could also fake and emulate the other parameters, except for location, in which the system gave her instructions to modify the device. I am both a walking wikapedia and a hacker. She chuckled. Only after thoroughly assessing her body¡¯s condition that she finally addressed the elephant in the room, her new pair of rabbit ears. The dark brown ears matched the brown of her hair and eyes. They were slightly long and thin, with very fluffy fur. The pair bobbed up and down every time her head moved. With caution, she brought her hand up to feel it. ¡°Mah..¡± An unexpected cry escaped her lips the moment her hand came in contact with the ear. The smooth fur was so soft and warm that she felt not only comfort but a surging desire to furiously cuddle the new body part. She wanted to quickly retrieve her hand and stop any embarrassing actions, but gave in and let her shameful desires take hold. ## ¡°Ah, this is the life¡±. She moaned satisfyingly. Feeling blissful by switching from hot to cold water in 30 seconds intervals. She had only been able to do this with showers in the past, but her bathtub could change water temperature in seconds. Besides bringing her to cloud nine, the bathing technique also helped with blood circulation by redirecting the flow of blood within her body. Walking out of the bathroom with a blissful expression, she immediately snapped out of her daze. Her maid was gone, and in her place was the driver of her limo, all geared up. ¡°Miss Ellowyn, my name is Bob Jackson, the chief of security. I am tasked with guarding you for the duration of the incoming raid¡±. I''m going to tone down the combat in chappy 5 a bit. And also another battle coming up... when I finish studying on how to write battles, this could take a few days >.< Chappy 12: Defend Preparations Bob Jackson sighed, looking at the scrawny figure of Ellowyn walking out of the bathroom. Having worked with Tom for a dozen rough years, he thought that he could understand Tom well, until today. He had tried hard to keep his poker face, not wanting to reveal his utter puzzlement when Tom told him about the adoption. $500 credits says she won¡¯t be staying after tonight. He thought sadly. He was no sexist, but all of the previous candidates, all female, had left. The bravest of the lot managed a month before she collapsed out of fright. He couldn¡¯t blame them, they all had expected a lavish, fancy life, only to have that vision shattered by the brutal scene of battles. And she is what, a sheltered, no, imprisoned damsel, he gave up on guessing why Tom had picked her. ¡°Relax, kid, I¡¯ve been doing my job for the last 12 years, and never had they been able to touch the inner areas. To be honest with ya, I was going to guard outside of your door like I did with the previous... guests. I know you¡¯re not comfortable with me here, but Tom wanted to be extra cautious¡± His sharp, navy eyes gazed at her, extruding calmness and reassurance. ¡°He is probably doing this out of guilt!¡± Seeing her flinched a little at his booming laugh, which echoed through the room. His heart throbbed, he knew for certain the frail thing would cower under the covers, wishing for the sounds of explosions, the screeching of wounded animals and the crunching of metal to disappear. He had urged the building manager numerous times to reinforce the sound proof mechanism of this room, but the screechers always use an improved, more complex pattern of resonate waves to bypass the walls. Taking out 2 ear plugs from his pocket, he looked into those lucid, innocent eyes, trying to express as much reassurance and safety as he could. ¡°When the battle begins, you might want to put these on, they¡¯ll block some of the ... unpleasant sounds. Listen, these sounds might seem a little scary, but they are harmless. You are completely safe here¡±. He said, stressing the last sentence. ¡°You do not have to speak to me like that, I am 18 you know. And will the sounds hurt my ears if I don¡¯t put those on?¡± Her wispy question was calm as she slightly tilted her head. ¡°No, they are harmless, though you might feel more at ease when they are blocked¡±. He raised his eyebrows, She should have started to panic right now. He thought, but the girl in front of him showed no fear, just curiosity. ¡°Then is it fine if I don¡¯t put them on? I also want to watch the battle, I assume that these are screens?¡± She pointed at the black rectangle on the wall. For seconds, he just stood there, staring at her with widened eyes. Has she no idea of what will happen? Blinking and snapping out of his daze, he knelled down at her eye level, his arm gripping her shoulders. ¡°I know that you are very curious, but the battle can be rather ... graphic. I don¡¯t think you will like the violent scenes. There will be screaming, even some blood when the invading ... creatures are brought down. I would really recommend against you watching it, not until you are older¡±. He struggled to find the right words, to not frighten her but in a way, making her feel repulsed at the scenes. ¡°I told you, I am not a child. I think I can handle a little blood and gore. It is alright, I promise that I won¡¯t fret. And I can always turn it off when things gets too ... unpleasant¡±. She tried to reassure him with a modest smile. He shook his head. ¡°There is no stopping you eh. Alright, if that is what you want, then I won¡¯t stop you. Just don¡¯t blame me if you ever get scared, ok? Ah, before I forget¡±. He pulled a small box shaped device from his pocket and handled it to her. ¡°You can use this phone to contact me, Tom or the service maids if you need anything¡±. Ellowyn was ecstatic, Yes! My first scifi phone, but why does it look so similar? She mused, the small phone was the same size as a smart phone of her world, she was expecting it to be at least slimmer. At least it looks futuristic. She mused, staring at the edges at each of the four corners. Now how to turn it on? She fumbled with the phone, counting and guessing at which small glowing square was the power button. ¡°Don¡¯t how to use it?¡± Bob asked, showing an amused smirk when she nodded helplessly. ¡°There is a detachable clip at the back, clip it on your shirt and then press the power button at the top there¡±. He pointed. She gasped, the moment she pressed the power switch, the phone flew out of her hands. Each of the four corners released a jet of blue exhaust. She gawked at the hovering platform. The small rectangle on top started glowing before it projected a hologram of a 3D plane, holding various windows and buttons. ¡°You can interact with the buttons and windows by flicking your finger over them¡± He explained. 3D touch screens, Awesome! Her eyes twinkled as she tried to control her nerdgasm. Most features were already available on the phones of her previous world, but now they looked much cooler with another dimension added. She opened contacts and tried calling Bob. Bob raised his eyebrows, expecting his phone to ring. ¡°Right, I had it on silent, sorry¡±. He had to make sure it won¡¯t interrupt his You¡¯re Safe speech. She scowled, with such a large 3D screen, it would be tiring to have to swing her arm everywhere. ¡°There are also special gestures and voice command, but it will take some time to learn those¡±. He answered her unspoken question. ¡°How do I charge it?¡± ¡°Leave it within 5 feet of the nearest charger¡±. He pointed at a small blue box on the small case next to her bed. Analyze device. She had completely forgotten about the system.
Device not recognized, possibly a newer model, would you like to view the most similar model?
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Yes.
Zyler XK series, ...
She did not bother to look at the features, most of them were put there for marketing purposes. Display components. Blue lines ran out from different parts of the phone, labeling its name. She drooled. Unknown but super advanced processors, Hologram projector, and fucking ION THRUSTERS? She gaped, thinking whether her phone was any different from a state of the art spacecraft. ¡°Ahem! I¡¯m sorry, but I need to teach you how to use the TV before the battle starts, I need to make a few calls after this, could you hand me one of the rings on that shelf? You should also wear one¡±
TV remote control: used to operate XX TV. Gestures: Not found in database
She frowned, it seemed she¡¯ll need to learn the gestures manually. Bob wore the ring and waved his finger, the TV turned on. Three hologram screens materialized, each slightly adjacent to each other. They were showing a news channel. He made some more gestures and the TV changed to the view of a camera, showing the forests outside her home. ¡°This is the highest camera, I suggest you view this first to get the gist of the battle, but if you want to change, just flick your ring left and right, excuse me, I¡¯ll be right back¡±. He closed the door. She chuckled, hearing parts of his yelling conversation. ¡° ... World of Minecraft ... dungeon run ... all night? .... don¡¯t prepare .... I¡¯LL CUT YOUR INTERNET! ... 100 push ups if you don¡¯t invite me next time....¡± She relaxed, if Bob¡¯s only concern was his troops making dungeon runs without him, it meant the incoming raid wasn¡¯t as concerning of an event as she thought. Her subconscious poked, realizing the obvious flaws of that conclusion, but she simply ignored it. She stared at the ring on her hands, thinking of ways to learn the gestures. Her eyes gawked at the new system suggestion. She grinned and made an action that all rational rabbits would. Gulp. she threw the ring into her mouth and swallowed it. Tastes like metal, opsy. The instruction didn¡¯t tell her to swallow. She felt the ring sliding down her esophagus and into her still slightly bloated stomach.
Analyzing device inputs. Done. Running combination tests...
The TV flickered through various channels and functions for 10 seconds.
Done. Ejecting device
She felt nauseated as the ring made its way up. She threw it onto her hands and quickly wiped it with her clothes and blanket. Am I a CD drive? She retorted. Although it was her fault, the system had told her to keep it inside her mouth, not swallowing it. But in her excitement, she had misread the text. Zizz, the other three TVs lit up at her wave, inside her vision were the list of available gestures. She changed each one into a camera channel, except for the last one, which showed the overall mini map of the defense forces, displaying each unit as an icon. Bob raised an eyebrow as he walked in. His mouth curled into a smirk. ¡°You¡¯ll make a great engineer one day¡±. She pouted a little. But I already am. She thought, intentionally dismissing the fact that it was the system that helped her. ¡°Are there any chairs around here? You should take a sit, I don¡¯t want to see you getting tired because of me¡±. He nodded and walked next to her bed. A glowing box rose when he tapped his shoes on the floor. Dynamic chairs, cool. ¡°According to our reports, the battle will start anytime now¡±. He made eye contact. ¡°Just tell me at anytime you feel unease, I¡¯ll change or turn off the TV¡±. Alarms blared for a few seconds. The blue glow of the room turned into a soft yellow. ¡°Yellow means we are under attack, but you should only worry when it turns to orange, starts evacuating at red. It had only turned orange once in my life time. And that was when a new hire forgot to close the door, letting a badly injured wolf inside. It was taken care of shortly when the inner door locked and the security system filled the entrance with fire extinguishing foam¡±. He laughed. ¡°No humans are in the front line right?¡±. She wanted to confirm. ¡°No humans are allowed in the defense force, but accidents do happen here and there. Just don¡¯t go outside, these things do not recognize humans. We have to do this because sometimes the other side would use humanoid units.¡± She studied the machines with interest. A majority of them were various types of androids, from skeleton like builds to large, thickly armored ones carrying large metal shields. The smaller ones were well camouflaged within trees and bushes while the larger stood in the open, shields readied. All of them were using melee weapons. ¡°Why are they using swords and spears, why not guns?¡± She inquired. She doubted they were doing that for fun. ¡°All forcefields, even conventional ones can deflect some of the fastest and heaviest of bullets. The reason why these close combat weapons can penetrate is because they also generate an anti-field at the edge of their blades. It would be horrifically expensive if we have to implement this into each bullet. Mind you, the most elite of forces do, but I doubt we would need such cutting edge, pun not intended, technology for disposable units. And while you may not see it, they all have mechanisms to shoot projectiles. I will ask Tom to get you a tutor so you can satisfy your hunger. For most strategic questions, I may be able to answer, but I¡¯m rather clueless on how most of the technology does it¡±. He shrugged. Stationary structures composed the rests of the defense force, from small automatic mounted guns to large bunkers. Boom! The ground exploded. Sorry for the cliffhanger there *gets stabbed* I''m still trying to learn how to write battles >.< Chappy 13: First Raid //Just got back from my beach vacation [th_084_.gif] //Blast some rock music and grab some popcorn, theres a battle coming up! It was not an explosion, but rather the emergence of at least five gigantic drills scattered throughout the far edges of the forest. Attached to them were the rest of the drone¡¯s long armored body, it resembled the tunnel diggers in her old world. After it was completely emerged, the body split into two parts, slightly sloping and turning them in front of the newly made hole, forming a formidable barricade. Numerous large figures ran out from within, they surrounded the hole before stopping and giving her a clearer glimpse. She gasped. Large Wolves, their snarling mouthes exposed sharp canine teeth and their sizes rivaled that of a lion, their dark green fur engulfed theweak luminescent lights. Slower, bigger forms appeared. Dark green bears that are at least one half the size of black bears, some where rubbing their metallic claws, roaring fiercely, excited for the coming clash. Complex cyber metallic armor mounted their backs, composing of metal pads connected by interlocking joints, some had metal helmets ending with a very sharp triangular nose. There were also various types of androids. ¡°Commence¡± Bob¡¯s walkie talkie buzzed. The giant canons perched on her home started moving. Boom! Multiple explosions around each hole signaled the start. Dirt and debris scattered everywhere. The newly made bunkers stood there, enduring the bombardment stubbornly, releasing a torrent of more moving figures. The invaders spread throughout the forest floor, heading towards her home. She zoomed in to specific areas, observing the battle on a smaller scale. Groups of small androids jumped down from the tree canopies, aiming their weapons downward. Most of them missed, landing on the ground and sending dusts everywhere. She squinted. The ones that managed immediately stabbed their weapon, pulled a trigger and a projectile shot through the body of their targets. Armor piercing shells on melee weapons? A lucky few even decapitated their targets. The drones had little in terms of power and armor, surprise was their only decisive factor. After the ambush finished, the battle turned into a one sided slaughter. Without shields, they were picked off one by one from the invading sniper bots. She frowned, looking at a wolf biting down on a bot and swung it towards the ground like a rag doll. Bears swiped their sharp metallic claws, cleanly slicing anything in its path into two. A very few bots grabbed and stabbed the bears back, but they too were shortly taken care off. Tiny droplets of water littered her screen, signaling the approaching rain. The invading forces continued their march. More exploding shells struck down, devastating their charging formations. The ones wearing helmets were able to avoid the incoming artillery. Visual guidance? Cool! Flares shot out from their back armors, blinding nearby sentries by splashing on their shields. The streams split, trying to avoid the defensive structures like matches and soap. Various traps triggered on their paths, giant glowing metal spikes rose from the ground, impaling anything above. More explosions occurred from triggered mines. Sentries responded by firing missiles, flares and other explosive projectiles, most of them where deflected by the invader shields. Blinded by the flares, some animals slammed themselves into trees and deployed traps. A group of half dozen Eve¡¯s medium bots clustered together, trying to fend off vastly outnumbering groups of wolves circling about. Spears and dual swords readied. Numerous wolves continuously broke off from their circling formation, heading towards the defender¡¯s group from various directions. A spear tip met a rushing wolf head first, impaling it, firing a piercing bullet through its skull. Other wolves dodged, leaping and preparing to tackle the spear holders, only to be stopped by the blocking of the dual sword wielders. The bots retaliated, slashing, stabbing and shooting at the wolves metal armor. Most attacks missed or gazed, a few penetrated their armors, earning injured yelps. She winced, some of the painful screeches breached the walls of her room. ¡°Their vocal chords are genetically modified to resonate through sound proof objects, we are working hard to solve it¡±. Bob shrugged. After each charge, the offending wolves dashed aside or jump backward into their formation. It was a steady stand off until one wolf managed to jump above its defender, landing in the middle and breaking the group¡¯s form. The wolves plucked the disordered bots one by one. Other bot groups held their ground. The giant bots in their ranks helped keeping the formation from breaking. The agile wolves dodged the swinging of their giant swords, a few unfortunate ones were sliced in half. A giant shield wielding bot charged out of its group, its titanic shield sent everything tumbling back. The bot stopped abruptly, it threw a small box forward before slamming the shield on the ground and taking cover. The explosion rivaled the one at the warehouse, she could feel the shaking and rumbling through the walls. The bot emerged from its blacken shield without a scratch, a large bell shaped scotch marked the ground. Walking backward slowly and steadily, it returned to formation, leaving behind numerous charred corpses. The battle leaned towards the defenders, the invader¡¯s losses increased steadily as the bots held their ground. A dark blob descended from the sky, arrowing down like an eagle diving for its prey. The blob landed on a large bot, revealing itself to be a black winged android, its streamlined body was designed for supersonic flight. Its long rifle penetrated the forcefield using a small bladed part at the barrel tip, aiming at the gap under the neck. The unprepared shielder did not have time to react before a piercing bullet ripped through its innards. It dropped on the ground lifelessly. The silent assassin opened its wing, taking flight. Its killing procedure lasted seconds. The ascension stopped shortly as a speeding white blob collided. Their airborne clash happened in a mere second, ending with the torn apart assassin falling straight down. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. An ivory android took its place. Smoke rose from its damaged, beautiful angelic wings as it was assaulted by the pouring rain. Headed towards base, it flew shakily. Flying bots are scary. The battle dragged on for a few more minutes before the invaders retreated under the safety of their tunnels. ¡°Is it over?¡± She asked, staring at the remaining injured wolves as they limped towards the tunnel. The defenders stood there, dripping with water as they made no move to pursuit. Hearing only silence, she stared back at Bob, only to see him with an amused smile. ¡°Technically, it is, but the finale is coming up¡±. He spoke to his walkie talkie. ¡°Under 12 seconds, 500 credits¡± ¡°Alright¡±. It buzzed. Is he making a bet? She was incredulous. RAWWWR! A thundering roar shook the camera. On the ground next to her castle, opened a giant garage gate. A gigantic figure opened its metallic wings as it flew outside. A dragon? She gawked openly. Covering at least half a football field, it stood haughty in front of the gate, roaring again towards the horizon. Such an impressive sight, too bad the thing is designed for aesthetic rather than real combat, she concluded, noticing its obvious flaws. Beautiful blue, glowing metal plates covered its belly and back, leaving the sides completely exposed, displaying the large arrays of weapons mounted there. She knew that a more practical design would protect and cover them rather than leaving them open so flashily. Its tail, ending with a sharp triangular blade and connected by interlocking parts, was left unarmored at the last joint that connected with the main body. While the neck was thickly armored, the unprotected gaps between its cartilages was wide enough to receive various bombs and guided missiles. I really need to stop running those simulations. She thought amusedly, remembering the times she simulated realistic battles between fantasy creatures. She appraised it once more, scanning it from head to toe. Making a long sigh, she stared helplessly at such ridiculous a feature, it would render the dragon completely impractical for joining real battles. Her eyes wandered towards Bob, her confused expression bordered on dumbness. He guffawed loudly upon seeing her cute, speechless face. ¡°The ears were Alice¡¯s idea¡±. A pair of blue glossy bunny ears rested atop its metallic head. Flopping with the wind, they removed all of the dragon¡¯s majestic virtue, making any action it took silly and awkward. The scene was impressive nonetheless, it was the largest creature she had ever seen. Two large drills launched themselves from the ground, leaving one hole that was twice as large as the others. A large, obsidian dragon emerged. It landed a few hundred meters away, roaring just as fiercely. Its design was as impractical as the first, minus the ears. While its armaments are fewer in number, they made up for the increase in size. For a few silent seconds, the two titans stared at each other. The ground quaked and groaned at their charge. The weapons on their backs flashed, storms of projectiles flew forward, from missiles to giant exploding bullets. Each dragon ran on three legs, with left front paw raised, deploying a large shield to deflect everything to the side. The shields were turned off at the last second as their mountainous forms clashed, resounding in a loud rumble. They tried to bite each other¡¯s shoulder, using their front legs to grab hold. Her dragon slipped from the muddy ground and was kicked hard. Metal screeched at its sidewards slide. Standing up in seconds, the gushing rain put out its side fires instantly. It fired more missiles as the two began their second charge. Her dragon deflected the other¡¯s right leg and head butting under its face, knocking it backwards. The two growled, slowly circling each other, watching for an opening. Then she noticed the sparks flying out from her dragon¡¯s damaged left wing. Uh Oh. The other dragon saw it too, it opened its towering wings, taking flight. It leered at her dragon that could only stand there. Reaching the desired height, the dragon closed its wings, diving down with front legs raised forward, ready to tackle hers. Her dragon was ready, lowering its stance, it waited until the right moment before turning around, swinging its deadly tail forward. The other dragon had no time to react, it took the full blunt of the blow and was sent tumbling to the side. It charged almost immediately after the sliding stopped, only to be blinded when her dragon released an overwhelming blue flame from its mouth. With no vision, the black dragon couldn¡¯t avoid the side swing of her dragon¡¯s head, knocking it to the left. All of the lights on its body flickered. ¡°11.5 seconds, you¡¯re one lucky duck, Bob¡±. The walkie talkie said. ¡°I know a short scuffle when I see one¡±. Bob replied, smirking. Her dragon made a loud roar as the other dragon stood up, it limped towards the hole before diving back inside. Her dragon also returned to its base. She was still staring at the screen, entranced. ¡°So how was it, kid. I had to admit, you¡¯re rather different, wanting to watch the battle and all¡± She snapped from her trance, staring back at him. ¡°This battle, was it a group practice?¡± She asked, already knowing the answer. ¡°Of course, its our custom to do practice raids. Your father and the Lyon corp. We would take turns raiding and defending each other to strengthen our defenses and relationship and some other political crap¡±. Bob answered matter of factly. She gulped. My real father couldn¡¯t possibly know of the adoption, right? //This chapter is a bit raw, it might receive some small self-PR edits //LOL I made a giant blunder, it was supposed to be night time *fixed* Chappy 13.1: Q&A //Just a small filler exposition chapter while I think of what to do for the next character introduction ¡°Why underground?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± ¡°Why did they invade from underground?¡± She clarified. ¡°How much do you know about technology, kid?¡± She hesitated for a while. ¡°My family used to teach me about the technology of the old days, of how basic machineries worked. They had wanted me to understand the basics before moving on. Sadly, I¡¯ve never gotten the chance to learn more from them¡±. She made eye contact. ¡°I know how technology worked at its base. I know most major laws of physics. I know how machines of war worked, how jet engines can propel themselves and how radars detect flying objects ¡±. Do Newton¡¯s laws even apply here? How do mechanical dragons spew blue fires and how the hell did they get forcefields to work? Countless questions popped in her head. She dismissed them with some difficulty. I¡¯ll save them for another day. He nodded. ¡°Alright, I suppose I¡¯ll just say anything that comes to mind. I¡¯m no mechanic though, don¡¯t expect fancy wordings¡±. He grumbled. ¡°Our radar technology is advanced enough to detect moving entities as far as the horizon. If your cat were to jump from the window, chances are the radar users from our bordering countries would have noticed. Though no matter how far reaching it can be, we still can¡¯t quite look into the ground yet. Tiny seismic vibrations and the uneven distribution of terrain would make any results unreliable. And the technology to dig through the $#%Q# is freely available, at least in the general black market. There are ways to cloak them, but it would be troublesome to have to hide every single unit. Hence the underground drills. Theres a limit to how far they can dig though, we can still monitor the ground around the base and will give any intruders our share of drill charges¡±. She frowned, one of the terms sounded like gibberish. She can generally guessed it to be the lithosphere. It seemed she cannot comprehend the words that she had not heard in her life as Emilia. She checked the system for any translation feature.
-Automatic Translation using the receiver¡¯s language processing part of the brain- Status: On Desc: only works with soul context
-Translation using existing dictionaries- Status: Off Dictionaries: 0
I can understand more than one language if I get other dictionaries. She almost squealed. I really need a working Internet. Though she then realized the quality of translation might be poor if a dictionary was all it relied on.¡±May I get my own computer soon? I want to be able to read more of these things on the internet¡±. ¡°Oh, one was going to be delivered today, but Tom decided to order the newest and most robust one. It won¡¯t be delivered until tomorrow. I thought he must have gone insane if he thought a kid like you could use it. But I was quite wrong, wasn¡¯t I?¡± He grinned. Returning a small smile of her own, she cleared her throat as another worry emerged. I still have to talk to Tom about the other world thing. She decided to deal with it later, there were many things about the battle she wanted to know and she needed to pester Bob as much as she could. The urge to sleep was creeping in her tired, battered body. ¡°Why did the invaders use genetically modified animals? Shouldn¡¯t they be harder to manage than robots? Why aren¡¯t we using them? Could you try to use some simpler words? My vocab is rather limited. ¡± ¡°Well, Those fuzzy little ball of furs are -¡± She interrupted him with a glare, showing a deadpan look at his chuckle. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Alright, Alright. While its true that live animals are much harder to handle, $%^&* was ridiculously easy. The typical robots needed monthly calibration, joints lubrication and ^&*()* update. The typical Gani, as they are called, only need to be fed, they can heal quickly and even regenerate missing limbs. The reason why we are not using them is because... Alice felt repulsed by the sight of them. Tom really dotes on her you know. At least we don¡¯t have to deal with the horrid fecal stench¡±. He smiled wryly. She was getting rather annoyed at her limited lexicon. From the screen, numerous small lights glittered the forest. The cleaning bots used their tracks to traverse the forest ground, they grabbed the carcasses of animals and robots and dragging them towards the nearest flying dump truck. The work was fast and efficient, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if everything was cleared by morning. ¡°Why are you doing the practice raid tonight, of all times? ¡° ¡°We wanted to you get familiar with the raid first and to see if you¡¯re too weak hearted for the job. Can¡¯t really have a panicking child running around in a real raid¡±. She couldn¡¯t refute it. ¡°How often is there a raid, a real one? How long does it last?¡± ¡°From anywhere between hours to weeks, sometimes months. Their duration can also be mere minutes to hours, but never more than a day. ¡± ¡°Those two dragons, ¡°. She paused. ¡°They are only meant for demonstration right? I don¡¯t think they can fight real battles.¡±. She tried to keep her tone neutral so as to not offend him. He gave a booming laugh. ¡°So you noticed it too huh. Thats a keen eye ya got there. These models are only used to please the media by opting for a fancy look. They can¡¯t do sh - pardon me. We would never use them in a real raid. I¡¯ll show you to the garage sometime so you can see the real one, its design is much more practical. Though most would call it plain¡± ¡°I saw a small group of bots fighting against a much larger number of wolves, but why do the wolves attack with so few at a time? I know about the friendly fire risk. But many of them wore visual guides, shouldn¡¯t they be more corporative?¡± ¡°The guides were only there to differentiate friend or foe. Wolves had always been wild and prideful. While genetic engineering can change its fur and size, it is still impossible to breed fierce warriors that are obedient. The guys probably decided to keep their behavior as is, what you saw there was how they hunt naturally in the wild¡± ¡°Why weren¡¯t the invaders attacking our sentries, they just avoided them. And why didn¡¯t our bots defend the sentries?¡± She yawned, it was getting harder to stay awake. ¡°And another point goes to Miss Ellowyn! I think I¡¯ll tell Tom to make you my assistant.¡± He cackled. ¡°The standard procedure was for the medium and large bots to entrench themselves around the sentries, defending it. Those bunkers are much more fragile than they look. The only reason why they weren¡¯t smashed to pieces was because the practice raid wasn¡¯t meant to be destructive. Our bot controllers probably knew this so they didn¡¯t go through he trouble of entrenching. I¡¯ll give them a piece of mind later. Have you seen a raid before? You are rather knowledgeable on these things.¡± She gave a proud smile. I guess those hours playing rts had paid off. ¡°I suppose Alice had seen many of these raids?¡± ¡°Sorry, but you¡¯ll need to ask Tom and Alice about these things, I don¡¯t think they would like you to hear my opinions on your family. Ha ha. Its not as if I despises them though, I love them as much as I do my own. You should let your body rest, it has been a rough day.¡± She nodded weakly before falling unconscious on her bed. //I am not very good at RTS strategies so please correct me if I say something outrageous xD Chappy 14: Tango Spoiler: Legacy chapter content Gentle ivory moonlight trickled through the leaves, lightly illuminating two walking figures. They trekked quietly through the wooded park at a slow, steady pace. The long haired figure stopped, leaning on a tree to rest. ¡°You OK, Ellowyn?¡± The other asked, his adolescence voice crackled a little. ¡°Yeah¡±. A wispy breath escaped her small lips. ¡°Your dad will be furious if he knows I¡¯m letting you do this¡±. He sighed. ¡°Relax! We have been coming here since forever. You know how I hate being couped up in there¡±. Showing an impish smile, she stared at him with her gleaming crimson eyes. A swift breeze lifted her loose silver hair. It glowed softly, reflecting the pale moonlight. His breath stopped for a second. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m making a deal with the devil here¡±. He smirked. A very enchanting one. Their walk continued until they reached a large clearing. She put her backpack down, pulling out two belt clips. She threw one toward him and clipped the other onto her skirt belt. ¡°They won¡¯t slam into each other this time right?¡± He asked, reaching his hand out to catch the clip. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I recalibrated the sensors already¡±. She pouted, pulling two quad copter drones from her pack and activating them. The drones whirled to life, taking flight and shining a bright stage light on each of the two. Ellowyn¡¯s light was white and His, blue. With a black jacket, short skirt and a white shirt, her attire was both suited for dancing and a light forest trekking. ¡°I¡¯d still prefer that you wear a real dress¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t very fancy yourself¡±. She chuckled. Giving him a once over. ¡°I¡¯m not too fond of traversing forests¡±. Wearing a blue jacket, white shirt and jeans, he had a more casual look. ¡±You know how ballrooms don¡¯t allow flying stage drones. Besides, I¡¯ve done countless practice sessions at your place already. I know you like dancing, I like technology and nature¡°. She closed her eyes, taking in the refreshing scent of the forest. ¡°This is the most that I can compromise¡±. She threw him a challenging look. ¡°There are countless alternatives to your faulty logic, but its fine I guess¡±. He gave a helpless shrug. Opening his backpack, he pulled out a portable speaker and set it on the ground, starting the music. Arms intertwined with shoulders and hands clasped together, their faces almost touched. They moved fluidly with the rhythm, speeding up and slowing down as the violin fall and rise. Their feet moved in unison, hers often stepped in front so as to circle around. ¡°You know, this would look a lot better if you are shorter¡±. He concluded. ¡°Thats what you get for dating someone older¡±. She gave a mischievous smirk, shortly before turning it into a frown as she leaned her head into his firm chest and rested. He paused the music with a tap of his phone, his arms embracing her thin waist. Placing his chin on top of her head, he inhaled the sweet fragrance of peach from her soft white hair. His calm demeanor portrayed the numerous times they spent together in that pose. ¡°Continue?¡± He asked after a minute of silence. She nodded and they continued the dance as if nothing happened. Sometimes, her slender left leg would lift backward swiftly. Other times, she would do a full twirl, her long hair radiated moonlight as it spiraled outward. He would use both hands to lift the sides of her still-blossoming bust, carrying her and spinning around. Despite the few times she had to rest briefly, it was clear to any bystander that they were no beginners. The dance ended with her head leaning on his back, her arms embracing his firm chest. ¡°I wish that I could complete our dance without any moment of rest. She complained, her breathing hoarse. ¡°Me too¡±. He wore sad smile. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Alex!¡± His eyes snapped open, darting dazedly at the source of the shout. ¡°I told you not to sleep during a raid supervision¡± A pair of gleaming emerald eyes stared back, her curvaceous lips curled into a mischievous smile. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault, really. This is rather bogus, the other side didn¡¯t even bother to get their forces into formation¡±. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re doing this for formality or something. And welcome back, Miss Sophie. This is one of the few times you have left without my guard. May I ask of what has transpired?¡± ¡°I told you a thousand times, just Sophie is enough! Can you imagine it if I just call you Mister Alex or Guardian?¡± She pouted before sitting down next to him. Her long champaign blond hair cascaded down his uniform as she leaned her head on his shoulder. A long sigh escaped her lips. ¡°Bad day huh?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe it if I tell you. I just found that we had a sister! A sister, Alex. One whose life was kept a secret until the very moment of her death! I have no clue why dad would do such a thing, locking her up and putting her away like that.¡± Her eyes turned to his. ¡°And get this, she had white hair and red eyes, just like a girl in your past, Ella right?¡± ¡°Ellowyn¡±. He corrected absentmindedly, his mind whirled. She was here? He shook his head, dismissing the thought. There were albino people in this world too, though few in number, most of them had good health and lived normal lives. ¡°Heres a picture of her. Her name was Emilia¡±. She took out her phone and showed it to him. It was a picture of a plump albino girl of around seventeen. She smiled while standing inside a small indoor garden. He sighed inwardly, both out of relief and disappointment. Raising his eyebrows , he mused silently. John can be sly and brutal at times, but he was not the type to lock away his own daughter. Alex knew about Emilia and Lia. John said that they died in one of the assassination attempt that targeted him. He was really curious to know why John would kept his daughter¡¯s life a secret. Nodding pretentiously at Sophie¡¯s hysterical outbursts, his mind wandered back to the memories of the dance. It has been 18 years already since our last dance, it seems. He recalled his bewilderment when he received the summon request at Ellowyn¡¯s death bed. His heart was filled with bitterness and sorrow, he had wanted a quick escape from life. Sighing, he concluded that was the most idiotic decision of his life, having chosen to be dragged into the pointless conflicts of another world. Like Ellowyn, he was a man of logic. He smiled wryly. She would have laughed hard at him if she knew he had gotten himself into this mess. Sophie stopped, frowning. ¡°You¡¯re not even listening to me, and that smile, you¡¯re thinking about Ellowyn again, aren¡¯t you?¡±. Her voice a hint of bitterness, she put her face close to his. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t cling so hard to the past. I know she wouldn¡¯t want you so either¡±. She hugged her luscious rounded waist, emphasizing her heaving bosom. She stared at him, her lustful gaze emitting loneliness and the desire to be loved, physically. He shook his head and pulled her into a soft hug. ¡°I may look only a few years your senior, but you know I¡¯m old enough to be your dad. Whether you like it or not, you have always been like a child to me. ¡± He already concluded long ago, that the desire to be in bed with someone dropped to rock bottom after you have seen and took care of them as a baby. She pouted again, but did not make any attempts to remove herself from his embrace. ¡°I promise with my heart that one day, you will see me as a child no longer¡±. John Lyon sat in his office. The dimly lit lights blended with his sorrowful expression. Beep. He answered his phone before it can ring the second time. ¡°John¡¯s here¡±. ¡°I¡¯ve switched the photos, both digital and in paper. I really pity your daughter, even in her death, her family would morn for the wrong person.¡± The caller was female. ¡°You know it had to be done, they will likely use her for distraction. I¡¯ve gotten reports of recent kidnapping and necromancy cases¡±. His monotone voice quivered slightly. ¡°What I¡¯m really worried about is you. I¡¯ll come see you as soon as I¡¯m done cleaning up the mess.¡± ¡°Thanks dear.¡± Ending the call, he sat in the dark silence, still as a statue. Short Hiatus - adjusting to life in the US Hi all! Its been a while since my last post. I''ve been rather busy, having to get ready for school and unpack my things when I flew back to Texas. My jet lag is stronger than ever :sick: . It''ll take a while to get myself adjusted to life here again. I miss my family very much . Life as an international student can be rough at times. :criesBo: Anyway, I should be back up and running in 2-3 weeks, a month at most so expect a chapter then. I will NOT abandon rabbit knight, there is an ocean of ideas I haven''t extracted yet. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Also, I''m going to start another web serial project, Wrench Prince. Unlike Rabbit Knight, which focuses on creative battles, gadgets and complex politics, Wrench Prince will be filled with exciting and deadly adventures, Wuxia style. Thanks again for reading, cheers :) Chappy 15: A Walk in the Garden A warm stream of honey sunlight splashed against Ellowyn¡¯s face, nudging her awake. Her eyes blinked open and stared dazedly at the ceiling, only there were no ceiling. It was as if the walls of her room were gone. She watched an ocean of twinkling stars slowly fading away, making room for daylight, as herds of clouds moved languidly on an endless field of ember grass. The sky of dawn stared down at her, belittling her wispy existence with its vastness. She simply laid there, for how long, she did not know, mesmerized by the golden abyss. To her surprise, when she reached out, the tip of her fingers brushed against the orange veil. So this is a globe like projection of the sky. ¡°Beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡± Startled, she jolted her head towards the source of the voice. There stood a maid holding a bundle of towers. ¡°Sorry for surprising you.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I tried to enter quietly and clean the bathroom, but you were already awake and I thought it¡¯d be awkward if I don¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, I was just awake myself. Though you should knock next time.¡± The maid gave her a warm look. ¡°I was just like you when I first came here. The projections were so alive and vivid, I just sat there until my eyes hurt from the bright sunlight.¡± Ellowyn giggled and watched as the maid continued her daily work. ¡°Are you feeling well? Breakfast will be ready in a few¡±. As if to answer, her stomach gave a loud growl. ¡°Um, thank you.¡± She could only look down and blush. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell the chief.¡± The maid did nothing to hide her mischievous smirk. ¡°Wait! When do I need to get ready to greet Tom, I mean dad?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to really meet them today, Bob said you looked exhausted and should spend today resting. If you need any help, just pop that call button next to your bed.¡± She gave a quick curtsy and left, only to return moments later, pushing a large, hovering food cart. The cart proceeded to split into two, one part unfolded itself 3 times into a long table while the other opened its lid, revealing various trays of food inside. Suddenly assaulted by the enticing scent of numerous exotic dishes, her stomach couldn¡¯t help but grumble some more. ¡°Hmm, this is the life!¡± She mused, staring at the now empty plate. She briefly pondered whether it was really possible for such a large quantity of food to disappear into her tiny body. ¡°I¡¯m glad you enjoyed the food.¡± Laughed the maid as she looked at the satisfied Ellowyn. ¡°You should eat a lot, your body is so thin and frail!¡± Ellowyn could only nod in agreement, a sick body and a life of imprisonment didn¡¯t give her much of an appetite, but all of that was gone, she had then a new life and a new family. ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave now, take care Miss Ellowyn.¡± Glancing at the back of the leaving maid, her lips parted into a warm smile. To her, the maid was rather mischievous, but she seemed kind too. Maybe this life would work out after all. Before she had the chance to enjoy her leisure day however, a soft chime echoed throughout the room. She guessed it was the door bell the maid never bothered to use. She tapped a glowing bell-shaped button next to her bed. The TV came to life and displayed a familiar face. ¡°Morning Ellowyn, This is Alice, may I come in?¡± Alice¡¯s baggy shirt and jeans did little to hide her Aphrodite figure. ¡°Ah, sorry Alice, I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d come here. Would you mind giving me a few minutes to tidy up?¡± Her voice a hint of panic, as she was in her disheveled pajamas and her hair was a jungle of a mess. ¡°Its fine Ellowyn, there¡¯s no need for formality, I just want us to have a chat, that¡¯s all.¡± Her silky voice was hinted with concern. ¡°Okay¡± Despite wearing such casual clothes, there was a noble air surrounding Alice, her strides were quick and yet both stylish and graceful. Her sharp cinnamon eyes showed their serenity, but within those irises surged intense fiery embers. Ellowyn stared dazedly at the surreal scene. It was as if someone dressed an Amazon warrior in baggy clothes and bunny ears, give her a righteous goal to save her tribes from terrifying dancing cat monkeys and then release her out into the world. A hot Amazon warrior. Ellowyn thought, shortly before shutting her eyes and disintegrating the train of thought that had long lost its tracks. ¡°First I want to apologize for Tom¡¯s behavior until now. Putting you into this mess and even scheduled a practice raid on the night of your arrival!¡± The look on her face was quite apologetic. Just before Ellowyn could say anything, Alice looked into her eyes, her determined but pleading gaze had a tinge of sadness to it, making Ellowyn gulp. ¡°Are you scared, of all of this? Of how you¡¯re forced into our family, having to face danger at every moment?¡± ¡°But I¡¯m not in dang-¡± ¡°I know about the shopping incident, it was idiotic of Tom to try and hide it from me.¡± She sighed. ¡°Just tell me, please, do you fear this way of living? I really don¡¯t want you to keep all that fear inside of you and spend your time with us in misery.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not really scared, just a little overwhelmed by all this.¡± Ellowyn shook her head in a daze. She had to admit, everything was rather overwhelming and she really did not know how to feel about them. Alice¡¯s shoulder relaxed and her expression softened. ¡°How about you get dressed and we¡¯ll take a stroll in my garden?¡± Her lips curled into an alluring smile. Ellowyn was completely befuddled, she walked dazedly while gaping at everything. The garden Alice mentioned wasn¡¯t a garden at all, as giant trees lined her vision. Trees so big and tall their canopies hid the sky completely from her view. Despite having almost no sunlight reaching below the canopies, thick blankets of colorful plant life layered the ground between those giant trunks. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Mushrooms of varied color, from palm sized to soccer ball littered the place like pebbles on the sand. Interweaving between them are patches of flowers, nodding gently to the wind. What impressed her the most though, were the dozen miniature floating suns that provided artificial light that these smaller plant had desperately needed. Floating seven feet above their square metallic pads, these orbs produced light but not so much so that they hurt her eyes, but enough for the plants below them to strive. The lights themselves were of different colors, perfectly complimenting those of the plants below them. Light blue lights on dark blue and yellow mushrooms and flowers, purple lights on pink and white... ¡°Impressive right?¡± Alice gave a satisfying smirk. ¡°I... ah, yes.¡± Ellowyn still hadn¡¯t come out of her stupor, the entire scene was so dreamlike her subconscious simply couldn¡¯t accept it as reality. ¡°Don¡¯t be ashamed, most people had the same reaction as you did.¡± Alice took a small device from her pocket, detached a small pin and took a sample from a nearby mushroom. The device hovered quietly next to her. ¡°Sometimes I also wonder if everything here is real myself.¡± Alice took the pin and reattached it into the device, a faint smile outlined her lips. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t surprise me,¡± Alice said, ¡°if someone were to say I have the most doting father in the world. He made all of this -¡± she waved to her surroundings, ¡°just because five year old me wanted to have a colorful garden.¡± Her smile turned into a chuckle. ¡°It was then that I realized how important I am to him, that we desperately needed each other after mom¡¯s death. Did you know it took him two years, one hundred legislation presentations and almost a billion credits to make this garden a reality?¡± Ellowyn gulped. Must have been a whole lot of work. ¡°The only thing I could do was to care for this garden myself to show him how I appreciate it.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it a little too much, taking care of this whole place by yourself?¡± ¡°We have gardeners too, they do the physical work and repair the equipments. My work is anything but simple, mind you. I¡¯ve had to spend the last twelve years of my life studying genetic engineering so I can check the genetic impurities, make observations on the balance of the eco system and modify genetic components where needed. I also want to impress dad by introducing a new species or give more features to existing ones.¡± She talked while typing into the holograph screen of the device. ¡°Are you going to follow your, I mean our dad¡¯s footsteps and run the company?¡± Ellowyn said, her voice was mixed with awe. ¡°I¡¯m considering it. But we are sidetracked. Let¡¯s get back to the point here.¡± Alice made eye contact as her tone turned serious. ¡°When it comes to my well-being, dad tends to do some very unreasonable things. Such as taking a stranger young girl and making her live with us, despite knowing all of the dangers and mental stress that comes with it. You¡¯ve already know well living with us is unlike any other adoptive families. Again, I¡¯m deeply sorry for dragging you into this mess and endangerin-¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m already fine with it. Let bygones be bygones. Besides, I feel strangely comforting around you, in a sense you very much resemble the me of the past. To be honest, what I¡¯m more worried about is whether you and Tom would truly accept me into your, our family.¡± Ellowyn knew revealing her deepest worries at such a time wasn¡¯t a good choice, but she desperately wanted Alice to understand how much she wishes to be accepted. A smile bloomed on Alice¡¯s face so bright Ellowyn almost had to squint. Her eyes were kind and her expression softened. ¡°While I can¡¯t say for sure you¡¯ll be apart of our family in the near future, I will do my very best to give the support you need. I have to admit, you are the strongest girl I¡¯ve ever met. But you have to be truthful to yourself, the warehouse explosion, the attack at the shopping mall, those things can¡¯t just be ignored. I know it''s been hard on you so please, if you need someone to talk to, I¡¯m here to give you a shoulder.¡± She flew into a tight hug. Ellowyn could only nod dazedly, the grueling events replayed themselves in her mind as Alice spoke and she had to admit, they were terrifying. The only reason why she wasn¡¯t loosing her mind was because everything happened so fast she hadn¡¯t the time to look back. ¡°Ah sorry I got a little mushroom sample on your shirt there.¡± Alice said in a panic. Ellowyn broke away from her trance as she too, started giggling. She considered her current situation, a new family, a new mischievous but kind pair of father and daughter. It might not be safe, but at least its going to be fun. ¡°Say, are you any proficient with computers?¡± Alice said ¡°No, um, not really.¡± As much as she wanted to flaunt her technological achievements, they weren¡¯t made during her current life. The only experience she had with computers in Liona were her time spent reading the ebooks on her tablet during her ¡®captivity¡¯. ¡°I overheard Bob on the phone about getting you a ¡®monster¡¯ of a computer. Why in the world would he get you such complex machinery when he just got you here?¡± ¡°Its probably because he knows I have a knack for technology. But I really think he¡¯s overdoing it, getting me such fancy equipments.¡± Ellowyn shook her head. ¡°Well, they should have it ready in your room now, you might want to check it out.¡± Alice smirked as Ellowyn¡¯s excited expression did not go unnoticed, ¡°I might not be a computer wiz but I do know quite a bit still, if you need any help, just ask me.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be in you care then.¡± Ellowyn said hastily and headed back to her room in fast strides. Chappy 16: Computer 101 Knowing it¡¯d be the first time she get to get access to a computer in this world, she felt more invigorated than ever. Yet despite such excitement, every step sent her into more lightheartedness. She had to leaned herself onto the elevator wall to catch her breath. I¡¯ll have to check with the system about my health after this. She managed to continue but at a slower pace. Awaiting in her room was a middle aged women. Her arms were crossed and she was grimacing. Ellowyn could tell clearly that she didn¡¯t want to be there. She was wearing black work clothes, the type that mechanics would wear, her ash blond hair was tied into a long ponytail and neatly kept underneath a black cap. ¡°Hi Ellowyn, I¡¯m Jane Davis, chief of -¡± Her eyes went wild when she saw Ellowyn¡¯s face. Ellowyn held her breath. Does she know who I am?. She wacked her brain, trying to find out why the women would recognize her, she had already altered her facial details and hair color at the warehouse. ¡°Please, take a seat. You look pale as a ghost!¡± Jane immediately went and supported Ellowyn¡¯s shoulders and helped her sit on her bed. Ellowyn shook her head and closed her eyes, Jane was just worried about her condition. She felt relief both physically and mentally as the lightheartedness softened and her real identity, safe. ¡°I¡¯m fine now. I guessed I was a little too excited.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get you some water¡± Jane said, noticing Ellowyn¡¯s dry voice. ¡°It must have been rough on you huh, these last few days?¡± Jane¡¯s tone turned gentle as she used her fingers to remove a stray leaf on Ellowyn¡¯s hair. ¡°I¡¯ll be alright, thank you. I think I¡¯ll rest here for a while. But I don¡¯t want to waste your time, could we do this on another day?¡± Ellowyn knew that Jane didn¡¯t really want to be helping her nonetheless, seeing as she was very annoyed in the beginning. Ellowyn would figure out how to operate the new computer herself. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry if I might have seemed rude to you. To tell the truth, I really would rather not be here and watch the sight of the new girl fumbling around my state of the art VX-12. But seeing as you really wanted the tech,¡± her lips curled into a smile, ¡°I suppose I could spend some time here to get you started.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care then.¡± Ellowyn couldn¡¯t help but return her smile. ¡°Let me reintroduce myself. I¡¯m Jane Davis, chief of technicians. l keep the servers from hackers, the combat robots from falling on their asses and general infrastructure maintenance. Its a pleasure to meet you. My contacts should be in your phone so if you have any questions, don¡¯t be afraid to text or call me.¡± She chuckled, seeing the confused look on Ellowyn¡¯s face. ¡°Usually you¡¯d expect people like me would wear their fancy white lab coats and whole up inside their lab and offices right? Well I prefer the hands on approach.¡± She pointed towards her suit. ¡°These clothes are water and oil stain resistant and also passive disinfection. I was on my way to a pair of destroyed bunkers from the practice raid last night and was going to install the new force gattling models myself. Hence I was rather annoyed, you see, when Tom suddenly called me back and have me give the new brat the newly arrived VX-12.¡± ¡°Again, I¡¯m sorry to have bothered you so and I really don¡¯t want to keep you here when you have other work to do.¡± Ellowyn bowed her head. Jane sighed. ¡°Its fine, you might have thought that I hate you, but I really don¡¯t. I¡¯ve often been told that I¡¯m too direct and I focus on my work too much. Though I think those are the quantities that got me into this job in the first place.¡± She smirked. ¡°So if I ever bothered you, try not to be offended k?¡± Ellowyn nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know what Tom told you about me, but I don¡¯t have much experience with computers.¡± Jane raised her eyebrows. ¡°Tom told me you are quite proficient around technology. Was it because your family could not afford the necessary equipments?¡± Reminded of her past in Liona, Ellowyn grimaced. ¡°Lets just say that I hadn¡¯t the liberty I needed.¡± ¡°Conservative family huh, I¡¯ve heard plenty about parents who limit the presence of technology around their child, for the sake of their ¡®future development¡¯.¡± The last bit was laden with sarcasm. ¡°Just ask me for whatever it is that you need and I¡¯ll see to it that your ¡®liberty¡¯ be abundant¡± She winked. Ellowyn nodded, having no intention to clarify her captivity with Jane. She pondered and smiled softly, perhaps she could then do the things she had always been doing in her past life, exploring the vast cyber galaxy and its ludicrous unprotected network hubs, messing with experimental electronic components and most of all, having fun. ¡°Then I¡¯ll ask for your help in the future. Could you tell me more about the VX-12?¡± ¡°It is a state of the art model. The V7 processor is capable of over 1 billion cycles per nanosecond. It also comes with special ¡®tweaks¡¯ for special certain quantum calculations. Oh, I might have lost you there.¡± She chuckled, seeing Ellowyn¡¯s glassy eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll jusr boot it up and show you the basics.¡± She walked to Ellowyn¡¯s desk and pointed at a black metallic square box laying on top. Ellowyn examined it closely. Thin and glossy black, it resembled a tablet on Earth. A glowing blue stripe ran across its surface. ¡°To turn it on, just swipe here.¡± Jane sliced her finger on the blue stripe. It glowed brightly for a second, then the entire area above her desk lit up with a holographic pane. A ¡°V¡± icon floated above the plane, rotating clockwise. Ellowyn knew it was Vantum¡¯s symbol, one of the largest electronic manufacturer, even the ebook tablets she used were from Vantum. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. After the icon faded, a series of words flashed through the holographic screen. She knew well that those were the boot information but couldn¡¯t read them for they had scrolled up too quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll remove these cluttering stuff if you want.¡± ¡°Its fine, please leave it.¡± ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll set up the connection to the internet and, generally just make it easier for you.¡± A holographic keyboard appeared infront of Jane and she started typing very rapidly. Ellowyn held her breath, for a world with such technological advancement, I would have expected a more advanced form of human to computer interface, but a keyboard, why would they still be using such a thing for so long? She was expecting some kind of revolutionizing interface like brain waves or at the very least, hand gestures. Jane chuckled upon glancing at the bewildered Ellowyn. ¡°Its not that hard really. Don¡¯t pay much attention to it, I¡¯ll be done in a minute.¡± Her nimble fingers strolled through the keys too fast for the eye can see, as flat rectangular windows, the kind that Ellowyn was ever so familiar with, pop in and out of existence within a mere few seconds. She could see that the user interface components remained mostly the same, from the squarish buttons to text boxes and even drop down menus. I guess they have no reason to fix what wasn¡¯t broken. She shrugged. ¡°There, all done. I¡¯ve set up a simple tutorial to get you used to the interface., just give it a try. I have to get back to work now though. Just contact me if you need help. Or I could also hire a tutor for you, what do you think?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to, I learn fast.¡± She gave out her most confident smile. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll see you later.¡±
Welcome, please swipe your hand over this text to continue
The holograms transformed her desk after she did so. A blank piece of paper laid in the center, a stack of folders piled to her left and a few pens laid to her right.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to organize files, compose a word document and free writing
She was surprised to find that the tutorial looked nothing like what Jane used before. It appeared that these holographic interactions tried to mimic their real life counterpart. To view files, for example, she would have to grab a file with her hand and pull the file¡¯s paper representation from within that file. To write a word document, she could either use the keyboard, read out loud or use the pen and draw onto the paper herself. The keyboard posed quite a problem, as the keys are from the symbols of her current world¡¯s language, which meant she had to relearn and remaster the hand placement. As the tutorials finished, she had learned how to use various gestures to speed up the process. With a flick of a finger, the files lined themselves up infront of her. She made more gestures to sort the files into different orders, from names to size until she was satisfied with her proficiency. However, a sense of discontentment rose up within her. While she did admit that the visuals were amazingly vibrant and user friendly, the problem was that they were too user friendly. A part of her screamed out for its inefficiency. While a child could easily learn how to use it and an experienced office worker would find no problem with its productivity, she however, had always been relying on simplistic interfaces for lightning fast navigation and executions. And most of all, the mental disconnection she felt as her fingers went through the life like hologram images was too unsettling. Websites also did the same, an informational site she visited had their entries inside virtual bookshelves, and a video posting site had small TV boxes with tiny cute antennas above them that showed the videos. Frustration slowly builds up inside her as everything looked little different than a child¡¯s toy. Thats it, I¡¯ve had enough! She threw the little TV boxes away and started searching for a way to toggle everything to simpler graphics, the ones that Jane used in the beginning. To her surprise and relief, countless others have had the same opinion and left all the info she needed to tweak the settings to her liking. Now that its all set up, lets find out what this world has to offer. She grinned in anticipation. She had considered looking more into the Lyon corp to find out why her previous father kept her in captivity, but decided against it since Jane or her staff could have monitored the network. Based on how close the Lyons and her current family were, had they find out who she really was, she¡¯d be dead for real. Lets see, shall I check out the physics breakthroughs that allowed the creation of force fields? Wait, I want to look under the hood of these new computers, and also the genetic advancements they made. Sigh, so much to learn, so little time. Sorry for the late release, I was really under the weather for the past week and couldn''t bring myself to write. All I could do was waste my time hanging around chatango >.< If you want to chat, just come to chatango and since I hang around there most of the time. Chappy 17: Cruising the Interweb It had been six hours since she started her world wide research, her eyes were strained and her mind fatigued. Let¡¯s take a break. She gazed towards the far reach of the sky inside the immersive sky hologram projection surrounding her, watching as the sun making its way past the horizon. Growl. Her stomach grumbled in protest. Ah, its dinner already. She found herself losing track of time. The things that she learned were too overwhelming and yet too little for her to really grasp the situation. Everything had advanced so much in so many aspects of civilization that it was impossible to review through it all in a mere six hours. She presumed that because of the long period of time civilization itself had to develop and the capabilities of technology to record knowledge resulted in some kind of information overload. Sure, overviews and crash courses of any particular subjects were available but they only touched on the most recent and applicable info. One would have to either spend most of their life studying one subject to really know well about it, or risk appearing as a complete idiot at the presence of another specialist. One of the most fascinating examples she¡¯d seen was archery. Back in her ¡°modern¡± time on Earth, archery existed as a somewhat relaxing sport where the contestant only needed to stand still and shoot an arrow at a non moving target board. In Liona, archery was divided into at least 12 major types, ranging from shooting at still dummy targets to wielding advanced force bows and running across a simulated battlefield taking on combat robots. However, the most vexing problems she had was in the technical field, mathematics and electronics. Not only did she had to relabel the names of formulas, there were mountains of fascinating new discoveries and advancements she couldn¡¯t cram them all into her brain. She took a deep breath, lets take it slowly. She had time, there were no urgent problem. While what she wanted the most was to look into her past and the reason for her captivity, she couldn¡¯t find away to do that without getting the attention of her new family. Feeling rather constrained, she knew that her browsing history is open for all to see. She planned to set up private proxies but there was a need to make sure that it really was private. Afterall, nothing is more dangerous than thinking I have the privacy only to find out later that I don¡¯t. The door opened and in came the maid from that morning, pulling her food cart. ¡°You look quite drained,¡± she said. ¡°I suggest you take a break. You¡¯ll get a headache sitting so long on the computer.¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern but I¡¯m fine.¡± She gave a tired smile. Can¡¯t she learn how to knock? ¡°Please make sure you don¡¯t push yourself alright? Mr. Tom would fire me if anything happens to you and I really do like this job.¡± She gave a mischievous smirk. The delicious meal refreshed her mental state and she was ready to continue her research. Let the fun begins. Saving the best for last, she started looking up programing languages - the field she was best at. A good many of them were impressive indeed with their numerous interface options, from using holograms to build blocks of logic like legos to their ability to compile and understand abstract concept, even sentences or paragraphs could be accepted and interpreted. However, she noticed that that was all these fancy frameworks had geared for, accessibility. They were made so that kindergartens and non technical people can use. ¡°Why the hell would I ever buy this crap!¡± She facepalmed after looking under the hood of these so called languages. They were so convoluted and inefficient she couldn¡¯t see them anymore than pricy marketing gimmicks. She knew well that these things existed back on Earth, but to have them fill up most search results was completely unacceptable. She spent more time sweeping the deeper regions of the web before finding the right candidate, ZStar. Lets see, not so clunky grammar, flexible, good support base and compile on a nice number of platforms. A little outdated but it¡¯ll have to do. With the language installed, she immediately began to fill every inch of the hologram space with documentations and immersed herself in an ocean of code. She did everything with uttermost efficiency, from relearning the world¡¯s slightly different programing fundamentals to attempting higher structured algorithms. She was also planning on overviewing all other major languages when she had the time. Afterall, she wasn¡¯t there just for fun, her agenda was to gather as much information about her previous family and the world as a whole, and that meant overcoming security barriers by any mean necessary. However, she began to notice another problem as her studies progressed further. Her mind wasn¡¯t operating as well as she would have wanted. She had much more trouble solving logic blockades and making connections between different sources of information within the code. She knew well in her mind that she had the knowledge and experience regarding these subjects, and yet when she tried to put those into application, she was stopped by an invisible barrier. Then it came to her, the system notice she had read the moment of her revival stated that the system had restored the memories from the part of her soul that existed on Earth. That meant, in the loosest sense of the word, the memories of her past life was imprinted onto the body of her current one. And simply having the memory of doing something doesn¡¯t mean she could do it again. The brain operated differently from man made computers, it relied on the dynamic connections between billions of neurons, and to be able to be proficient in a particular action, the specific connections regarding said action had to be expanded and strengthened. She was no exception. Why would she ever expect herself to be a coding wiz when the previous her, Emilia Lyon, had never wrote even a single line of code? Her current brain had no pathways regarding the act of writing code at all. She pondered over the situation. A faint smile lined her lips, that she would have to retrain her brain to the level of proficiency in her past might be considered a waste of time by others, but to her it would mean she can spend more time remastering all the fun and amusing things the technology world has to offer. It was never a drag when she could, from a messy pile of concept maps and drawings, give life to a new and unique game, or finish typing the final line of code for a devastating firewall proof worm. She looked up the support forum not only because she needed advance help but also she wouldn¡¯t get bored trying to learn everything by herself. To her surprise, she found the IRC - Internet Relay Chat, also existed in that world. She was always fond of the folks on the IRC, they were quite silly at times but very helpful nonetheless. [Welcome to ZStar support channel. Please follow standard chat rules] * snowlion95 has joined. Just finished the run, almost got ganked by some griefers with Mk10 plasmas. Watch your back when you leave k? How about we party up, where you at? I¡¯ll be back at HQ in a min. Hi, I need help with ---. I¡¯ve done everything according to the manual but it doesn¡¯t execute Hi snowlion95, its a known bug in version 8.5, if you really need it then I suggest reverting to 8.4 instead. Thanks, sorry for interrupting your game. Its fine, we¡¯re not even supposed to fill the channel with our game chat but its a bother having to switch channels. yeah snowlion95, don¡¯t mind our talk. WoM is just something we play to pass the time. Just ask away if you have any questions * qu4ntumX has joined what about ---, is it possible to do that with only --- and ---? someone new actually came to this chat. And I thought it was long dead And yes you can do that but you¡¯d need --- too. Whats your ign on WoM so we all can hang out? sorry, I don¡¯t have a WoM account, or any other games for that matter ah, sorry to hear that. Strict parents? No, its just that I¡¯m new to computers... in general wow, and yet you managed to make so much progress in ZStar, thats impressive! I love to code, thats all glad to know you¡¯re enjoy ZStar so far. Just remember if you ever want to get on WoM, we¡¯re always welcome to newbies I¡¯ll remember it * snowlion95 is away Alright, back at HQ. d4ve23, want to go for another run? If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. sure hi again. I¡¯ve made an account on WoM, ign is Sn0wL10n95. Please take care of me. lol that was quick. Just do the tutorials and we should be finished with our run by the time you complete them. Welcome to the club! She was only checking the game out of curiosity, but for every feature she read, another small part of her was convinced that she should give it a try. The game wasn¡¯t by any means revolutionary or top quality, but its versatility, creativity, and dynamic gameplay kept all kinds of players, from the weekend casual to the dedicated endgame seekers. The game featured a vast world with only a tiny area populated by players while the rest remained undiscovered. There were not a single NPC, as all towns and cities were player run. The character creation screen was nothing special, with sliders for adjusting face shape and hair colors. A few finger flicks later and a near perfect representation of herself stood before her. She smiled, taking a moment to observe the realism of the hologram, the her inside the game looked very much alive and real. I know I shouldn¡¯t be surprised anymore, but this is just incredible. She decided to experiment with it more, changing the gender, lowering height and altering facial shape. Chuckling, she stare at the figure which resembled a certain person of her past. It didn¡¯t last long, as more memories flowed through her mind. ¡°I miss you guys...¡± A whisper escaped her lips as she recalled her family and the happy moments of the life she enjoyed. She shook her head, clearing the wistful distant dream. Pull it together, me. She changed the hair color to white and eye to red but kept the male gender and height. Satisfied, she continued to the class selection window.
Please choose an active talent and any two weapons
Already knowing what she wanted, there was no need to read the descriptions twice.
Talent - Blade Dancer
Dance in beautiful steps, flexible movement and having a strong a balance, you will often outmaneuver your opponent and deal steady, deadly blows. Works well using all melee weapons with a weight factor of 2 or less, not suitable for heavier weapons and most ranged weapons except for the bladed bow. Caution: while blade dancers can handle a large number of opponents at once, you will need great concentration and proficiency. The most efficient tactic is to avoid damage while dealing steady blows. Unlike other combat talents, taking risk is not recommended unless it is well within calculated bounds.
Weapon - Light Gunblade (Class F)
A versatile weapon, capable of standing its own against other forcebladed weapons and can fire elemental projectiles with pinpoint accuracy. However, because its slashing power is weaker than a same class blade and its firepower inferior to a same class rifle, it is not a popular weapon among seasoned adventurers. However, with skill, it can potentially outmatch both of its counterpart when used well strategically.
Weapon - Bladed Bow (Class F)
Caution: may not be suitable for new players. This carefully constructed hybrid weapon is by no means outdated. The capacitive electro string allows for arrow propulsion without physical assistant. Designed for stealth, the bow produces even less noise than the best upgraded silencers and has the highest armor penetration rating. However, it is compensated with a lower fire rate due to slower capacitor charging speed. The bladed part of the bow functions as a forceblade, capable of dealing deadly slashing and stabbing damage. However, like the gunblade, its performance is slightly lower compared to its bow and sword counterpart. Her choices were rather unpopular but she had always enjoyed unique experiences. The game brought her to the tutorial grounds. As she was taking her character out for a spin, she realized the controls were surprisingly similar to the games she played in her past. Sure, the hand gestures were new, but she could set it so that she can use a holographic controller or even the keyboard would do. Its designed for multitasking lovers I suppose. She could see the game being popular with those who needs a little stress outlet while working on other tasks. The servers her IRC buddies chose was a post apocalyptic world. She was only given a pair of ragged jean and shirt and a pair of battered weapons. Beneath her newbie shoes lay an ocean of sand, covering most of everything for as far as the eye can see. Ruins of buildings and cars interwoven each other like trees in a forest. Interrupting her stroll was a giant worm that pushed itself out off a fallen piece of rubble. Seeing the approaching worm, she stood calmly, preparing for a skill. Sidestep slash. The worm leaped just as she stepped aside while slashing her gunblade horizontally, creating a deep gash across its side. The worm attacked again, Sidestep shoot! She sidestepped, placing the gunblade inside the previous gash and pulled the trigger, a hole appeared on the other side of its body, killing it. Two humanoid robots jumped through a window from above her. One landed on her front while the other her back. They both seemed very battered and broken. I guess this is the newbie welcoming committee. The one in front swiped its arms, hoping to catch her face, but she leaned back and dodged it by a hairsbreadth, using her momentum, she lightly kicked its legs and stripping it from its balance. As the bot was fumbling forward, she stabbed the gunblade into its chest and pulled the trigger. Without pause, she pulled the blade from the terminated bot and turned around to face other one which was coming at her from behind. She swiped her feet forward, interrupting its running stance and tripping it while holding her blade in place, catching and severing its neck. That was so cool! While the controls were a bit clunky, she had to admit the animations were mind blowing. Wandering around, she picked up various items from crafting materials to worn out patches of the local map. Hey, we¡¯re back. Can you find out where you spawned at? Searching all of the newbie grounds will take too long. I got a piece of rag here that says Alcus city, section 11a Got it, just sit on the nearest rock and we¡¯ll be there in a jiffy k The guys arrived in a junk dune buggy that looked as if someone duct taped a bunch of pipes to a set of wheels. The fiery haired tall and rough looking guy was d4ve23¡¯s character and bit85¡¯s avatar was a blue haired attractive teenage girl. lol, nice ride xD well, our better looking ride got trashed by a digger because bit85 over here forgot to park it on concrete ground >.> wheres qu4ntumX? hes went off for the night cus family curfew aww crap, its really late here too. Could you guys just take me back to your base and I¡¯ll call it a day. sure thing Their HQ was just as she expected. A bunch of rubble stacked together, with various badly crafted tools and furniture inside. As broken as they may seem, she had to admit they do fit the apocalyptic theme very well. Logging off, she jumped onto her comfy bed and recalled the day. She thought about the fascinating discoveries of this world and the potential that the technology and she herself can achieve. A faint smile lined her lips. I even made some friends too. It was too good to ask for. She moved to the soul room and switched to a peaceful meditative environment. As she was slowly dozing away, however.
Warning!
She didn¡¯t have time to read the message before someone yanked her from the bed and covered her mouth. I''m so tired right now, so I''m just going to get this out there >.< And sorry if I get your hopes up, but the MMO won''t become a main part of the plot (its more like an interactive chat room that she uses to play with her cyber friends). But you guys can probably guess how our MC will fight based on her class selection Also, here is theGdoclink. If you see a mistake or have a question, feel free to comment Chappy 18: Hostage ¡°Hold her down.¡± Whispered a female voice. Ellowyn struggled desperately, trying to break loose. But all she had managed was to make the large, rough hands holding her squeeze harder. Almost biting her tongue out of pain, she decided to cease resisting. ¡°Try and stay calm, the last thing we want is to have you hurt.¡± The deep low voice of the man holding her actually agitated her more. It took all she had not to start struggling again. Calming down, she assessed the two who were holding her hostage. They both wore black combat suits which covered from head to toe. The women was holding an odd gun shaped contraption, it was large and clunky like a potato gun. ¡°Hold still, this will be over in a few.¡± Ellowyn could see the women smile behind her mask. She shivered as the women approach. Staring at the potato gun, she invoked system analyze.
Cross referencing with database returned no results
How could you fail me now! Damn buggy thing. As she was still contemplating on what the tool was, one of the hand holding her reached behind and grabbed the back of her neck. A jolt of electricity ran through her and to her horror, the moment she opened her mouth out of shock, the women immediately shoved the gun into the wide opening. She tried to bite down but it was too late. She also tried to move her tongue but it was squashed when the gun entered. Swish. The sound of compressed air being released as a small round object made its way down her gullet and into her stomach.
Foreign object detected, scanning Warning! Deadly substance detected within capsule. Force ejection in 3...
She used what little composure she had left in her mind to navigate through the system menu and cancel the ejection. She knew well that resisting her captives then would only make matters worse. ¡°There we go.¡± The women pulled out a tablet and pointed it at Ellowyn¡¯s stomach. ¡°Its up and running. I hope that you keep your composure, little miss, while we properly explain everything to you. We can¡¯t guarantee your survival if you resist too much.¡± Again, Ellowyn could feel the bone chilling smile beneath the mask. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Failing to hide the fear in her voice, she kept one of her eye on the women and the other on a more detailed diagnostic scan the system was running. ¡°The thing I¡¯ve put inside of you is a capsule that¡¯s designed to release a deadly poison. We can and will trigger the release of the poison is things go unwell.¡± ¡°What is it that you want from me then?¡± ¡°Try not to worry too much, it is not in our policy to harm bystanders, especially for someone like you. What we want, however, is the cooperation of Tom Price.¡± ¡°So you want to make me a hostage?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± She nodded. ¡°However, because of our... administration¡¯s policy, you are allowed to make a choice. If you manage to leave the Price family in the next few days and without letting them know of our deal, we¡¯d remove the capsule and you are free to live as you pleased.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense. Why would it benefit you if I were to choose the option of leaving?¡± ¡°As I said, its our policy.¡± The women sighed. ¡°Nonetheless I wouldn¡¯t recommend you to leave, if you care about your new family that is. You see, we really do need certain things from Mr Tom Price and despite our benevolent ideologies, we¡¯d have to resolve with rather brutal force.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me all this? You know that I¡¯ve only been here for days, why would you think I¡¯d ever choose to protect the Price by risking my own life?¡± The women laughed. ¡°I know right? It is just that we wanted to try to negotiate one last time before using force. And if this negotiation fails, either by you opting to leave or Mr Tom refusing to handover what we need when you choose to be the hostage, which would result in your death by the way, the ensuing violence would be rather ruthless. Whether or not we get what we wanted, there would be many casualties that we¡¯d like to avoid.¡± ¡°So you are making quite a gamble, placing the weight of my family on my shoulders. Did you also do the same things to the previous adopted ones?¡± ¡°Yes, and as you can see, they chose to escape rather than trying to save their precious new family. Its all up to you now isn¡¯t it, will you choose to save your family by becoming our hostage or will you leave and let us handle our own matters, with plenty of deaths to either side?¡± Blood drained from Ellowyn¡¯s face. Thats not something you let a kid decide! Oh wait, I¡¯m 18 years old now, crap. She had to admit, she missed the days when everything was taken care off, whether it be in her last life or when she was in captivity, those around her would be the ones making the decision. It was boring, she agreed, but it also didn¡¯t include having forced to make decisions with probably hundreds of lives hanging in the balance. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯ll be the hostage¡± She sighed. When it comes to her new beloved family, how could she not choose to protect them? And even if that wasn¡¯t the case, the childishly good nature part of her would only nag her to death if she were to choose otherwise. She hated being forced into such a position and also her inability to say no when it comes to the well being of even those whom were strangers just a few days ago. Sigh, I¡¯d have to fix my weak mindedness if I ever want to survive in this world. ¡°Good answer, we¡¯ll make sure you have the support you need during your time as our hostage.¡± She took Ellowyn¡¯s phone and started typing. ¡°Here is our number, have Tom call it when he is ready to negotiate. You are free to text and call it anytime if you have any questions.¡± Ellowyn nodded absentmindedly. ¡°I know you¡¯re shit scared right now, ha ha¡± The burly man laughed, his voice booming. ¡°But do know that I respect your decision, I¡¯ve gotta admit, you¡¯re braver than you look kiddie.¡± He patted her head. She raised an eyebrow, they¡¯re rather lively for a bunch of terrorist. ¡°I¡¯d really prefer it if you stop frightening her, and your voice was loud enough to breach even the sound proof wall, you idiot!¡± The woman turned towards Ellowyn. ¡°To be honest, I pity you a little. Just don¡¯t stress yourself too much, notify Tom in the morning and let the adults handle everything okay? ¡± She watched their backs as they exited through the same vent hidden on a nearby wall. I am being pitied by a terrorist? She looked back at the analysis report and sighed again.
Advance Analysis Failed Unable to find a match in existing database, an update is suggested. Unable to locate electronic components, energy sources not found Basic outline is available
She stared in wonder at the report outline. How the hell does this thing even work? There were no electronic components at all. The only thing holding the two compartments of poisons are two latched hatch. How would they trigger the release of the poison remotely was beyond her. Another problem was that the system could only manipulate electronic components within the confines of her body. While it could still work even without the object having metallic parts, the only option available to her would clearly expose to others her otherworldly system. But she still had to devise it nonetheless since her life was at stake. The emergency plan was to have the system modify her stomach activity to dissolve the glue the capsule used to stick to her stomach walls and propel it through her esophagus by force, all the while confining and transporting any secreted poison carefully through her endocrine system. .There was a small chance the transporting of the poison would fail, but it was only an emergency plan for the moment.She took a break to marvel at the system¡¯s versatility. It didn¡¯t make her a superman, but at least it would do a very good job keeping her alive. She went to the bathroom and removed her shirt pajama. Tracing a finger on her pale taut stomach, over the projection the system made to the position of the capsule. She couldn¡¯t feel anything, but she knew well that it was there. Thinking over the choice she made, a small part of her wondered if it was really the right one, would I really put myself in danger just to save this new family that I had barely even know? The image of Alice¡¯s enchanting, smiling face flashed through her mind, along with Tom¡¯s gentle expression when he looked at both of them. She felt a sense of serenity, that she belonged in that place. She was a true part of the family and she knew she¡¯d do anything to keep it that way. Anger swelled from within the deepest crevices of her mind, a burning fiery emotion that she hadn¡¯t ever felt before in her relatively peaceful past. How dare they threaten to take away what is mine? She gripped the sink hard, letting the foreign emotion course through her veins like a waterfall on a ditch. I¡¯ll show them what I¡¯m capable of. Her faint thin lips parted, revealing a heinous smile. Hold onto your hats, the next chapter is coming in the morning (around 8 hours maybe?) I also have a surprise! I haven''t spent the last week doing nothing >.< Gdoc linkfeel free to comment any edits or suggestions Chappy 19: Breakthrough Back on her bed, she closed her eyes and relaxed her body. Enter soul room. The scenery around her flashed white briefly before returning into the view of a peaceful lake. Only she had not wanted it to be so peaceful. Adjusting a few sliders, the calm landscape around her quickly turned into a relentless storm. Gazing at the flames of lightning streaking across the coal black sky, the clogs within her mind began to churn as they attempted to decode the mystery that was the capsule. She pulled up the outline view once again, boring a hole through it with her intense stare. There has to be some kind of mechanism that operate it. She tinkered with various scanning options, checking for signals and abnormalities but still found nothing. Not giving up, she continued probing it with various electromagnetic waves and watched for any kind of feedback. There were no response still. Sighing, she dismissed the windows and glanced back into the stormy abyss surrounding her. All of her previous life¡¯s knowledge concerning the very existence of technology itself was screaming at her that the capsule did not operate within this world¡¯s normal bounds. It was impossible for her to disable it the say she would an electrical device. Wanting to confirm such an insane theory, she left the soul room and turned on her computer. As she was fumbling through the search page however, a foreign chat program opened itself. ¡°Hi there Ellowyn, we forgot to mention that you can also contact us through this chat too! Also since you¡¯re looking for it, here is the information you wanted about the thing we¡¯ve put inside you ¡± Attached was links to various websites that mentioned the capsule. Ellowyn sighed for the eighth time. Don¡¯t you know what the word privacy means? According to the sites, the capsule, nicknamed ¡°Bargaining pill¡± had been used in various other hostages situation within recent years. The side taking hostages had been called a ¡°fanatical group¡± based on popular media. She hadn¡¯t the time to study what that group was, only focusing on whether there were ways to disable it. As she had expected, the scientists also had no idea how the thing operated and having found no trace of the mechanism behind its operations. This info had confirmed her suspicions, but rather than being discouraged, she had saw hope. Back in her soul room, she began searching through the system¡¯s options, looking deeper and deeper into its confines. To her dismay, some of the modules were unavailable or returned errors when she tried to access, can¡¯t expect anything better from a fragmented system I guess. Her tired eyes slowly drooped over as she looked through more options, many of them are trivial or unusable. But then she found something within Carl¡¯s module.
Trigger scan for world stream system abnormalities
If there were an option to check for otherworldly contraptions, it had to be that one. She selected it excitedly.
Access denied, admin status required
Shit! She had gotten so far, only to find it impossible to continue. Her chest tightened, she wanted to scream and wail, to vent her frustration in some way. Calm down, me. She readjusted the surrounding weather back to its original calmness. Sitting with her eyes closed, she tried to reassure herself. Its not the end of the world, and even if things do go sour, I can at least save my own ass. But if she ever had to use the system to disable the capsule with brute force, her new family would know about the system¡¯s existence and would question her. Chances were she¡¯d even be separated from them once that happens, Tom could fear her of harming Alice. She couldn¡¯t let that happen, ever. She scanned through the rest of the options, slowly taking note within her mind what tools were available for her to exploit. She needed to gain admin access and time was not on her side.
Input Command_
Nice! She found the command line interface in Carl¡¯s module. She couldn¡¯t trust anything made by him anymore than that of a troll hacker, but there were no other choices, after all it was his module that saved her life. -help
Command line interface for easier access of native functions. NOTE TO SELF: delete this before compiling so those suckers can¡¯t abuse the system! List of commands: -xxxx
She rolled her eyes, this Carl guy was clearly the lazy type. Looking over the help files, she was amazed to find that the processing capabilities of the system surpassed much of anything she had ever known. In fact, it was using what was considered farfetched even in her current world, parallel computing. Despite many advances in the processing field, all major computing systems in Liona still used a linear instruction by instruction system as a basis for all operations. While parallel tasks could be done with multi threading, it was not anywhere near the scale of what her system can do. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The smallest processing unit was called a node, with larger clumps of them parent nodes, each assigned to do a specific task. Parent nodes are assigned and reassigned dynamically when the system as a whole distribute its processing load. Kind of like the human brain. She chuckled. She¡¯d even sell her soul in the past had it allowed her access to something that amazing. Shaking her head, she dispelled her daze and started probing the commands to find out the limits of what she could do without admin power. She had a vague idea of the plan, but it was risky. As her fingers glided through the keyboard, she was bewildered at her own efficiency. Just a few moments ago, she was finding trouble trying to connect logic problems in ZStar and yet at that moment, she found herself blazing through the commands like a horse on thrusters. As if the problems created by a previous identity whom never worked on program logic disintegrated and she became her very self back on Earth. She could only shrug and smirked, I guess its one of those -finding strength through adversity- moment that people used to make inspirational speeches about. There. She had gathered what she needed. Pausing for a moment, she reconsidered what she was doing. Failure would mean a fatal crash and there was a chance that the system could never restart again. Without the system, she would die from her mysterious heart disease that not even the futuristic system can cure. Closing her eyes, she recalled the happy memories of her past, of a life once worth living for. If she could make herself a part of something like that, she¡¯d give her life. And if I fail, she shrugged, then I guess my extended journey is over. She felt no regrets. She checked life support status and had the system restart her non beating heart that it was repairing. She was glad to know the heart had been mostly restored and would work well for at least a few weeks. Here goes nothing. She pressed the execute button and watched as numbers whirled by. The plan was to inject a minor node she had access to with a recursive function. The function itself had two goals, to use up processing resources and take over neighboring nodes until it reaches the node storing the user authorization data, then it¡¯d overwrite her account and give her admin power. She knew well they¡¯d have countermeasures against it and was hoping that the system creators had never expected the attack to come from their own module. The other problem would be once the function managed to give her admin status, there would be no stopping it and the malicious code will likely expand until the system crashes into emergency reboot. With the system as fragmented as it was, there was a chance the reboot would fail, leading to her imminent death. She exited the soul room and prepared herself.
Notice
Abnormality detected within running processes, running integrity check No! She frantically searched through the directories and launched more instances of the function in the maintenance nodes near the node where the scan was processed.
Scan interrupted, reallocating processing nodes
She continued pulling the tug of war for processing power as her function crept closer to the user data node.
Warning! Insufficient Processing power, disabling lower priority functions Sensors offline Environment scan offline ...
She swallowed, her hands cold and her stomach churned as she watch the code¡¯s expansion and the system failing. Will the system failure happens before then? The question echoed over her mind.
Warning! Major module failure, emergency reboot in 5
Hurry up! Sweat covered her forehead and she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
Notice: ...
Success! Admin power granted, woooo! She chuckled at her own silliness for writing such message. The system went into reboot mode a few seconds later and all of the virtual windows surrounding her dissolved into nothingness. I''ll have to save the surprise for tomorrow, its not ready yet T.T Next chapter on negotiation should arrive tonight. Gdoc link feel free to comment any edit suggestions Chappy 20: Negotiation
Rebooting
Checking system integrity...done Reloading Modules: Power Distribution...done Basic Life Support...done Basic Body Sensors...done Combat Assist...Failed - Module Missing Basic Force Manipulation...done Advanced Force Manipulation...Failed - Module Missing ... She watched impatiently as the boot log scrolled by, looking for any abnormalities besides the missing modules. The process only lasted for 15 minutes but to her it seemed like an eternity. After checking for any other problems, she immediately probed the capsule using the newly acquired admin commands.
Scanning for world stream abnormalities
Retrieving scan data... Eureka! She had finally found the control source. Connected to the two hatches were two invisible streams that lead from what she believed was the world stream that the system mentioned. She was sure that the capsule worked somewhat like her system, hooking themselves onto that so called world stream to operate outside of the world¡¯s governing laws. However, she still doesn¡¯t have any clue to how the world stream works or what its limits were, there were also no documentations she could find even as an admin. With the support of the new admin power, she could finally use the system to its full potential, writing unrestricted code and assigning them to any priority node. But with the lack of documentations, she couldn¡¯t risk going too far for fear of breaking something unrepairable. Using the command line window, she coded a trigger that will cut off all stream input within the capsule when the system detects any sign of hatch activation. With this, my life is completely secured. Breathing a sigh of relief, she spent the next few hours implementing various interruption and jamming functions . She wanted to have the upper hand so that when the situation arises, she could safely threw up the capsule while making it look like the capsule itself malfunctioned. Warm gentle sunlight poured our from the spherical projection around her bed, trickling on her face and nudging her awake. So tired, having less than an hour of sleep, her eyes were baggy and her expression slacked. ¡°Good morning, Miss Ellowyn.¡± The door opened and entered the maid from yesterday. ¡°Morning¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look very well at all. Did you have any trouble falling asleep?¡± ¡°You can say that again. I was just so fascinated with the things I learned on the internet.¡± And from terrorists. ¡°Ha ha, well I¡¯m glad you liked the new computer. Let me prepare your breakfast. I¡¯d like to advise you not to stay up so late however, since it really ruins your health.¡± ¡°Wait, could you hold off breakfast for a moment and call Mr Tom for me? I know its early but I really do need to talk to him.¡± She grimaced, not wanting to cover the capsule¡¯s escape route with food, nor did she want to instill panic to the surrounding workers by revealing her hostage situation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but Mr. Tom has some scheduled meetings this morning. You can always tell me if you have any problems you know.¡± The maid smiled sweetly and sat next to Ellowyn. ¡°Its not a big deal, I just wanted to talk to him, thats all¡± She gave a stiff shrug. ¡°I can see your nervousness from a mile away.¡± The maid sighed. ¡°But if you really insists, I¡¯ll give a message to Mr.Tom alright?¡± She pulled out her phone and typed in the message. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°No problem, you still have to eat your breakfast though.¡± She gave a mischievous smile. ¡°It is your well being that I¡¯m tasked with. I¡¯ll get fired if you don¡¯t eat you know.¡± Her eyes grew wide and her lips pouting, like a puppy. She opened the food cart, revealing trays upon trays of food. ¡°These are made by our world class chief, it¡¯d be a waste for you not to try them¡± Depleted of food since last night, Ellowyn stomach gave a loud grumble. She was tired, sleepy and hungry. She sighed, deciding that she really should just give in and eat her fill, and then taking a nap afterward to refresh herself before Tom was finished with his meetings. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Tom was standing at the door. ¡°Good morning Mr Tom. Did you meeting end early?¡± The maid bowed. ¡°One of them did¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t you say you had two?¡± ¡°If it is Ellowyn that needs me then a small meeting can wait.¡± He gave a soft smile. Ellowyn returned him a faint smile. ¡°That is a rather important meeting I¡¯d say. I think Ellowyn can wait a little right?¡± The maid tried to make Tom reconsider, but stopped upon seeing Ellowyn¡¯s conflicted expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Miss Ellowyn, it was wrong of me for presuming that as a trivial thing. I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡± She hurriedly left the room with the food cart. Ellowyn bit her lip, not knowing what to say to start the conversation of dread. ¡°Its fine Ellowyn, just speak what is on your mind. You don¡¯t have to worry about my meeting, they can wait.¡± He gave her another reassuring smile. Her expression relaxed, but she still shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid about that right now, there is a more...pressing matter.¡± Tom¡¯s started to frown in worry as he observed Ellowyn¡¯s hand caressing her stomach unconsciously. ¡°Is your stomach hurting?¡± Realizing she was too nervous, she stopped the unconscious gesture. Memories of when she was yanked from her bed began replaying themselves. She shook her head to dispel the feeling of terror bubbling up within her. Its alright, lets just tell him and get this over with. ¡°Ellowyn?¡± Tom¡¯s genuinely worried voice woke her from her daze. She recomposed herself once more and started telling him about what happened. She was astonished, not because Tom resolved the problem immediately for he didn¡¯t, but because of his composure. She can see well the worry in his eyes and the trembling hands on his knees that he really was agitated. And yet he listened to her from the start to finish without yelling or even interrupting her to ask questions. She respected him deeply, he was not just a fatherly figure but a calm and rational one. After she was finished, she looked up, expecting him to ask back or calling for his staff to take action but he did neither of that. He quietly stood up, open his arms and hugged her. Closing her eyes, she could feel all her worries and pain melting away as she was embraced with the warmth of his compassion. ¡°Thank you, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for thinking first about our safety. I know you have just been here for a few days and yet, having been forced through so much hardship, I have no words that can express my gratitude¡± She nodded meekly. ¡°You are my only family, how could I ever say no?¡± ¡°First, lets confirm your safety and then I¡¯ll have that thing out of you as fast as I can¡± He dialed his phone for the medical staff. Two person in white medical suits arrived, carrying what looked like a price tag scanner. They had her lay on her back and pulled up her shirt, revealing her pale tummy as they gently pressed the scanner against it. A hologram of her stomach projected itself before her, along with the clear view of the capsule sticking to its walls. The staff did a few more checks before putting her on a stretcher and moving her to the medical facility. On her way out, she saw multiple security personnel entering her room. Probably to check for that vent. Having been advised from moving or sitting up, she had to lay still on the bed while running a double check on the system to pass the time. ¡°I¡¯ll have a talk with those people and resolve this quickly.¡± Tom patted her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry alright?¡± ¡°I need to see the negotiation too.¡± ¡°Sorry but I can¡¯t have you moving around and stressing needlessly.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget it is my life you¡¯re bargaining for.¡± Her determined stare seemed to bore a hole through him. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Alright, if that is what you wish then I¡¯ll have the negotiation take place here¡± He held his hands up. She sighed in relief, she only did so to prevent him from making potentially devastating mistakes. If push comes to shove, she¡¯ll simply eject the capsule while making it look broken so they won¡¯t suspect her. Tom returned with one butler carrying a projector. ¡°You can see me and the negotiator, but they won¡¯t see you, remember that.¡± She nodded. The projector came to life, portraying the image of a well dressed blond haired man in his twenties. ¡°Good morning Mr. Tom. I hope your daughter has explained everything to you?¡± Tom nodded. ¡°And I hope you stay to your end of the bargain. I never knew you¡¯d result to these...actions. As I remembered, your policy doesn¡¯t involve hostage taking.¡± ¡°Desperate times calls for desperate measures. And right now we have to make some exceptions.¡± ¡°Exceptions including taking a fifteen year old girl hostage?¡± I¡¯m eighteen! She wanted to retort, but remembering that she needed to keep quiet. ¡°She had made her choice. She could have refused and choose to leave instead and you know that.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me she should have left our family.¡± Tom balled his hand into a fist. ¡°Calm down now Mr Tom. I just want to push the negotiation forward.¡± The man¡¯s tone was calm and yet mocking. ¡°The deals changed, for her life, you¡¯d need to provide us with access to project HuB-12 and 100 canisters of high tech biomass.¡± She could clearly see Tom gritting his teeth. ¡°How many lives are you planning to take as your so called experiments continues?¡± Great. What she feared was happening. The villain using her as the bargain chip to extend his evil doings. She shook her head and refocused her mind, waiting for the right time to give her voice. ¡°And as I said before, I know how many lives I¡¯m going to save.¡± This is it. She cleared her throat. ¡°Tom, listen to me!¡± All attention focused on her. ¡°Who is that? The girl?¡± ¡°Tom, dad, you know I¡¯d rather not have my life be traded for the death of who knows how many others. I¡¯m not a goodie two shoes who is all pure and good, but I can¡¯t live with myself either, knowing how many lives were lost in place of mine.¡± Her eyes were pleading, trying to make Tom understand that she¡¯d rather die, in a fake way of course since the system would save her. ¡°You know that even if the bargain fail and the girl dies, we¡¯d still brute force our way in and take what we need right? Girl, your so called ¡®sacrifice¡¯ would only result in more deaths.¡± The man was jeering. ¡°And if Tom gave in, then what? You could have just continue keeping me as your hostage or worse, attacking us nonetheless when our guards are down. People like you are impossible to negotiate with!¡± She yelled, hoping her frail lungs would be strong enough to carry the voice and its determination throughout the room. ¡°You¡¯re a tough one, I have to admit.¡± He revealed a heinous smirk. His hand gestured something to the standby guard.
Stream activation detected, cutting off source
So it begins. She watched as the system cut off the otherworldly stream in contact with the capsule, hoping it was enough. It wasn¡¯t. ¡°Argggg!¡± Pain, pure pain spread throughout her abdomen and all over her body.
Pain inducing substance detected, initializing emergency clean up
Everyone rushed to aid Ellowyn, but not before they got a warning. ¡°You may relocate her, but any attempt to remove the pain inducers will result in the capsule releasing its main poison, killing her on the spot. This is just a warning and you better hope its the only warning I have to give.¡± The man laughed. Fuck you! She screamed in her mind and through her voice. The pain was so intense it shook her very being. She convulsed on the bed while the doctors hopelessly try to hold her in place.
Substance located, concealing and transporting through endocrine system
She breathed a sigh of relief as the pain subsided, but not before setting the system continue to give her instructions on how to act with the same levels of pain. You¡¯ll pay for this. She silently cursed the man in her mind. As her consciousness cleared, she reviewed the log to see why cutting the stream didn¡¯t work. And to her blunder, she discovered once the system detected the signal to release the hatch, it was too late to cut it. It seemed that she couldn¡¯t play the waiting game anymore, another signal for the main poison¡¯s release and the system may not be able to save her. She had to end it then. Phase 1. Operating the console in her mind, she shut off the stream to the main poison hatch. ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve lost connection with the capsule¡± She could hear one of the man¡¯s assistant frantically trying to reconnect. Phase 2. She felt more pain as her battered stomach began working again, the system modified the very kind of acid released and softened the glue holding the capsule. Phase 3. She set the system to activate a force just enough to push her off the bed, it was tricky finding the right angle with so many people holding her down. As she was falling, the system activated another small force to push the capsule from within her stomach up her esophagus. When she landed on the ground, the capsule in her mouth was spitted out. Off you go, you little bugger! She tried all she could to keep herself awake, but everything had taken too much of a toll on her body. She could her Tom¡¯s worried yell before loosing consciousness. She woke up to a familiar figure sitting beside her. ¡°Hi Bob¡± ¡°Glad you¡¯re awake Ellowyn, I heard you had a tough day huh?¡± He gave a small chuckle. ¡°Where¡¯s Tom?¡± She tried to sit up. ¡°Just lay down and rest for now, the doctor said they had cleaned your gut but you¡¯re still too weak to move around.The capsule somehow malfunctioned and popped out of you. You¡¯re probably the luckiest kid I¡¯ve ever seen. Ha¡± She pretended to nod absentmindedly. Looking around, she found herself back on her own bed. ¡°Did they secure the vent?¡± ¡°That they did, it was shameful of us to let you be attacked that way. But don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve put extra measures so it won¡¯t happen again. Would you excuse me for a bit?¡± He picked up his ringing phone and walked outside. Shortly after he stepped out, the alarms blared and the walls glowed a deep yellow. ¡°Hey Tom, whatcha need?¡± ¡°Bob, move to Alice¡¯s room asap, I¡¯ve got multiple signatures heading there.¡± ¡°Shit, I¡¯m on my way, what about Ellowyn?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve send more guards there. You know how it goes.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah I know, Alice takes priority. Bob out.¡± Shutting off the phone, Tom stared at his monitor that was showing two different infiltration alerts, one for each room. He cupped his hands on his face, as if praying. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ellowyn.¡± Sorry for the cliffhanger >.< I''ll work on the next chapter tomorrow, its 3 am. Gdoc linkits probably riddled with typos and stuff because I''m so sleepy right now. Feel free to fix it T.T Chappy 21: Held at Gunpoint Ellowyn covered her ears for the alarms were too loud. Grabbing the remote, she turned the alarm volume down and tuned to the security cameras outside of her home. Before she could view the siege outside however, a loud rumbling noise echoed from a nearby vent, making her jump in fright. I thought they sealed it up already! ¡°Hurry up!¡± She could hear various voices from the vent along with alarm lights flaring from within it. Boom! An explosion rocked her room. She decided it was time to leave the place. Her phone rang while she was heading towards the door. ¡°Ellowyn, get out of there right now!¡± It was Tom. ¡°I¡¯m running!¡± She was almost out, the door was right in front of her. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going little miss?¡± Ellowyn recognized the voice, it was the female terrorist holding a rifle and pointing it at her. She froze. ¡°I never thought we¡¯d meet again.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± Ellowyn could feel Cassie smiling. ¡°Move that door by one inch and I¡¯ll blast your leg. Sorry for the rough treatment but it was you who made the choice to stay.¡± My god, give me a break! She was tired, hungry and her stomach felt like someone wrapped it with thorns and a terrorist was holding her at gunpoint. What a wonderful day I¡¯m having. ¡°Retrieve her¡± Cassie signaled her coworker. Ellowyn surveyed the room, there were six intruders in total, all of them held weapons. Analyze.
Elite Federal Assault Rifle Type: Coil. Capable of firing Class A force field penetrating rounds, even if the rounds are designed to be non-lethal ...
So force fields are useless, its not like there¡¯s enough energy left to put one up anyway. She canceled the system¡¯s charging force field and began looking over the modules for anything she could use for self defense. ¡°You know, I feel sorry for you, after all the brave things you did and yet they still abandoned you.¡± There was a shred of sympathy in her voice. ¡°You see, we knew there was little chance the negotiation would go well. Thats why the back up plan was to once again have you become our hostage. But this time its not Tom that we¡¯re extorting, its Alice.¡± ¡°And why are you telling me all this?¡± Alice frowned, the conversation was going somewhere she¡¯d rather not. There¡¯s gotta be something useful in here. She scrolled through the list of functions from each module with her admin power. ¡°Oh come on, can¡¯t you appreciate a little talk while we wait for Tom¡¯s people to arrive?¡± The woman chuckled. ¡°Call me Cassie.¡± ¡°What do you mean by extorting Alice?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if you knew it already, but Tom is a man of reason. If he had to pick an option between saving 1 and saving 5 people, he¡¯d choose the latter in a heartbeat. That is why we decided to take action against both you and Alice, because we know Tom will try to save Alice first. Unlike her dad however, for the little angel that she is, Alice would never make such calculating actions. When she know of your hostage, there would be no choice but for daddy to give in to his daughter¡¯s demands, your release.¡± ¡°Right, and she would know I¡¯m being taken hostage how?¡± Ellowyn knew Alice¡¯s room was much further away and on a different floor. For each floor only had one master bedroom. ¡°Because all of the units infiltrating her room are duds.¡± When Bob arrived at the hallway to Alice¡¯s room, he saw her and two maids walking side by side at a fast pace towards him. All three of them carried rifles. ¡°Miss Alice, its good to know that you¡¯re alright.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re without a scratch, Bob. How is Ellowyn faring?¡± ¡°Mr. Tom had sent guards to protect her.¡± ¡°What do you mean he only sent guards now? Thats too late! I¡¯m coming to check for her safety.¡± ¡°With all my respect, I believe it is you who is in more danger. Tom said the number of signatures heading towards your room was doubled that of Ellowyn¡¯s.¡± Shit. Bob realized he had let it slip that Ellowyn was also going to be attacked. ¡°Then it mean she¡¯s their target, not me! The ... things that came through my vent were all harmless decoys.¡± Her voice was frantic. ¡°Take shelter in the nearest panic room. I will go check on Ellowyn.¡± ¡°You better bring her back alive, or else.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so tense, have a seat.¡± Cassie gestured Ellowyn to sit next to her. A sense of unease rose within Ellowyn. Had Tom really abandoned me? She closed her eyes and dispersed the thought. If anything, all of the interactions she had with Tom showed otherwise. She knew well that he loved her well as a father. However, she also agreed with Cassie in that he put reason above his feeling. It can¡¯t be helped that he¡¯d focus on Alice first after all. She couldn¡¯t blame him and yet she couldn¡¯t stop herself from being disappointed either.
Self Defense Module (For testing purpose only!)
Finally, something that seems useful.
Note, if you¡¯re looking for the combat module, this is not the one!
OK/cancel Sigh, had I the combat module, I wouldn¡¯t be looking for you.
Warning! Low Blood Pressure Low Blood Sugar Minor Shock symptoms It is strongly not recommended for you to enter any form of combat.
Do you think I have a choice? She dismissed the warning and set it to calculate her escape path.
Insufficient sensor data, please direct visual over your surroundings
Gasping in surprise, she stared in awe as the system take note of everything within her line of sight. The virtual text showed all kinds of data, from the distance to the door, to the weight of the intruders and even the speed of their reactions. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°Its nothing.¡± Ops. She stopped gasping. ¡°Say, you¡¯re pretty calm, kid.¡± Cassie patted her head. ¡°Being in the presence of so many armed people and you¡¯re not freaking out at all.¡± ¡°How can I be calm? I¡¯m just too tired to respond to you.¡± She glared at Cassie. ¡°Aww, you¡¯re just too cute!¡± Cassie hugged her tightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not as unreasonable as Kelvin. I¡¯ll make sure you are comfortable during your time with us.¡± ¡°Kelvin?¡± ¡°The guy who talked with your dad this morning, didn¡¯t you know?¡± I¡¯ll shove a few capsules down his throat the next time I see him.
Running Calculations. Please do not remove your visual contact from the environment. Compiling environment data .... done Gathering detailed body state data ...
A warm current ran across her body.
... done Calculating actions: Pass 1, success chance: 0.1% Pass 2, success chance: 0.3% Pass 3, success chance: 1.2% ...
Hurry up! Cassie immediately pulled out her pistol and placed it next to Ellowyn¡¯s head when a group of soldiers entered the door. ¡°If you take one step closer, I¡¯ll blow her brains out.¡± The soldiers stopped but their weapons still aimed at them. ¡°Get out of the room and close the door. I¡¯ll only talk with one unarmed negotiator, whoever you choose them to be.¡± The lead soldier nodded and treated. ¡°Now that they¡¯re out, we can have our privacy again.¡± Cassie stroked Ellowyn¡¯s hair. ¡°I really won¡¯t shoot you unless they do something outrageous. Please don¡¯t worry OK?¡± ¡°How can I not worry? I¡¯m being put on a bargain table for biomaterials that will be used on human subjects!¡± She stared anxiously at the progress window. ¡°Sometimes life just doesn¡¯t go the way you want. Don¡¯t blame yourself too much for what happened. Take this as a lesson, the moment you make the decision to stay, you should have been ready for the consequences.¡± ¡°You¡¯re rather supportive for a terrorist.¡± ¡°When you grow up, you¡¯ll see that there are more than one way to look at something, or someone.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m eight-¡± Her eyes widened.
... Pass 344, success chance: 88% Pass 345, success chance: 93% Pass 346, success chance: 99% 3952485 potential actions computed. Proceed? Yes/No
Yes!
Accelerating adrenaline surge.
¡°Ellowyn, are you alright?¡± The scenery around her slowed down to a crawl. She could see Cassie¡¯s lips moving, syllable by syllable. A surge of energy filled her body, erasing all of her pain and fatigue. Virtual information in the form of handles with captions filled up her vision, she was briefly overwhelmed with the sudden influx of words, they were too messy for her to really make sense of. When she looked at the nearest handle of information which pointed towards Cassie¡¯s pistol holster, all other handles disappeared and the system showed her a brief animation of what she needed to do. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Seeing Ellowyn reaching towards the holster, Cassie immediately reacted and tried to grab her arm. Anticipating such reaction, Ellowyn changed her momentum and moved her arm away, pushing towards Cassie¡¯s right shoulder instead. Cassie wasn¡¯t prepared for the push and was slightly shoved aside. That was all Ellowyn needed to started bolting to Cassie¡¯s side and towards the door. One of the men stood in her way, prepared to catch her.
Applying force to support balance
As the man pulled his arm forward to grab her, she leaned to her right at an extreme degree with the system¡¯s support. Missing Ellowyn, the man could only stumble forward helplessly. She didn¡¯t miss the opportunity to grab the gun from his holster and open fired on his leg. Not stopping to see the man rolling in agony, she immediately trained the gun towards Cassie who was running towards her at a frightening pace. To her horror, Ellowyn found herself unable to pull the trigger. Knowing this, Cassie quickened her pace even more and was planning to tackle Ellowyn down. The system was quick to respond and gave her a new set of instructions. The gun left her hand and went flying towards Cassie. Cassie reached out and caught the gun. Ellowyn used the distraction to run towards Cassie and reached out her foot to trip her. Cassie lost her balance and fell forward. That was all the time Ellowyn needed to restart her run towards the door. Halfway there. She thought before being tackled by a guard running from her blind spot. She took the tackle deliberately, following the system¡¯s visual guide to reach behind the man¡¯s back and remove his gun from the holster while they were falling towards the ground. She aimed the gun at the running Cassie. The system was giving her a second chance. Oh come on! She knew killing Cassie will make her lose what precious little sanity she had left, but aiming at someone¡¯s moving legs was much harder.
Aim assist activated
She could feel a small nudge to her hand that adjusted slowly to Cassie¡¯s figure. Here it goes. She closed her eyes and fired. ...But not before the aim assist lost its visual input. The shot missed. Crap! The soldier recovered from his fall and was still holding Ellowyn hard. He reached into his holster for a stun baton, only to find nothing there. Knowing that she might miss because the target was Cassie, Ellowyn had her other hand ready on the stun baton. As Cassie grabbed the hand holding the gun, Ellowyn swung her other hand and stabbed Cassie with the baton, the flow of electricity went through Cassie¡¯s body and into Ellowyn¡¯s other hand. The system then guided the flow safely through her lower body and into the soldier holding her.
Applying force
With them both stunned, the system pushed her back and she regained her momentum to run towards the door, ignoring a burning sensation in the left side of her body where the current had been. Almost there. The door opened as she was still a dozen feet away. It was Bob. Beside a bullet proof vest, he was unarmed. ¡°Fire!¡± Shouted one of the terrorists. She quickened her pace, hoping they¡¯d stop if she were to be in their line of fire. ¡°Noooo!¡± She could hear the slow echo of Cassie¡¯s shout. Give me a boost! With her head still turned to the side, she started her jump forward.
Applying force
The system pushed her jump and she made the dozen feet within the blink of an eye. Just as she was about to reach Bob, she turned her head around to see flashes. The soldiers didn¡¯t stop firing.
Emergency perception activated Warning! Energy usage too high. Warning! Energy low
Time slowed down even more. As her hand came into contact with Bob¡¯s shoulder and started pushing him back, she could see clearly the bullets leaving the soldiers guns. Each of the rifles fired at least six bullets in that one-second burst, with each bullet traveling at a slightly different angle. Before she knew it, a hail of bullets was storming toward her. Even Bob with his bulletproof vest wouldn¡¯t survive through that one. Only Bob was then out of the way and she was the one receiving the metal hurricane. The scene terrified her, but a part of her was glad for the system had visual input.
Calculating Emergency Path Pass 1: 20% Pass 2: 46% Pass 3: 73% Pass 4: 86% Insufficient time. Estimated points of impacts: 4 note: DO NOT MOVE!
Do you think I can move? She felt small nudges throughout her body. One nudge lifted her arm slightly up, another pushed one of her legs down, ... Her falling trajectory was slowly being adjusted. And then came the bullets. With her slowed sense of time, she could feel numerous air shockwaves brushing throughout her body as bullets passed her by. That was one of the few times she was glad to have a small figure. ¡°Arg!¡± One of the bullets grazed the skin on her back but strangely, she felt no pain. Another one scraped by her leg while the third one grazed her lower abdomen and the last one slightly above her stomach.
Emergency perception disabled. caution: you will experience some fatigue as a backlash. Pain receptors suppressed.
Time resumed its normal pace while she completed her fall on top of Bob. ¡°Ellowyn! Shit there¡¯s blood. Get me the medikit! Wing one and two, provide us with cover fire.¡± Bob held her delicate figure in a princess carry and moved away from the door. She gazed back and saw two soldiers on each side of the door firing in succession. Fatigue hit her hard, her eyelids slowly slid to a close.
Restoring consciousness
She was jolted awake by an electric current. What is it now Oh right, I need to turn the module off. She looked around and saw that she had been laid on the ground with her back to the wall, Bob was by her side. ¡°Everything is alright now, you¡¯re safe.¡± He gave a soft smile. She looked back on her body. Two other soldiers sat next to her was were giving medical treatment. One of them pulled up her bloody shirt to reveal two gashes, one on her midriff and the other below the navel. She could see traces of blood on her left calf and there was a stinging sensation on her back. The system projected a 3D model of her body and she could see all four injuries well, they weren¡¯t life threatening, but two of them were quite deep. Hey, its not even a week yet and I already got battle scars. She gave a fake chuckle.
Please confirm termination of emergency state
Yes.
Low power, all minor functions will be disabled until power level is above 2%
So you need a break too huh. She could hear the distant sound of explosions. The siege hadn¡¯t finished yet. ¡°Thank you for saving my life.¡± Bob¡¯s whisper brushed her ear before she dozed away. A while later, inside Tom¡¯s office. ¡°Most of the damage control has been reported. We are still trying to find the source of the break in.¡± Bob said, his tone somber. ¡°For now, focus on strengthening the internal defenses. I¡¯ll allocate more funding so you can rebuild some of the more outdated facilities.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I understood that you prioritized Alice more, but why couldn¡¯t you have at least send some of the men to Ellowyn earlier?¡± ¡°We were all caught by surprise, Bob. It was also my mistake to think that Alice was the target. However, I do believe the girl herself can stand more of a chance on her own.¡± ¡°What do you mean, how can Ellowyn even struggle against well-trained terrorists! Have you lost your mind?¡± Bob was incredulous. ¡°Because she has the system.¡± That quieted him. ¡°I¡¯ve done some research, there was a sphere shaped mark on the ground in the warehouse where she was found, it was caused by the force field that protected her. Also when she was attacked in the shopping mall, for a brief moment, I saw her slashing Brian with a force knife. I¡¯ve had the men searched through the site and found no trace of such a bladed tool.¡± ¡°How can that be? For someone so young to possess the system. But she doesn¡¯t look or act like a Hero. All of the ones I¡¯ve met were on the level of monsters, even on casual occasions.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure, she could have been the product of a failed experiment or a procedure gone wrong.¡± ¡°And you still kept her, knowing that?¡± Bob raised an eyebrow. ¡°She is already my second daughter, how can I ever abandon her?¡± His tone came a little stronger than he thought. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Its fine.¡± Tom sighed. ¡°It was partially my fault for leaving her in danger.¡± ¡°I know, you had to make the more statistically correct choice and make sure they both have the most optimum chance of survival.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to remind me.¡± Tom grunted. ¡°Please, I ask of you. Keep the place secure so I never have to make such a decision again.¡± He closed his eyes. Those bastards are going to pay. ¡°I¡¯ll see to it that not a speck of dust can sneak in.¡± Bob nodded. Woo! One more chapter and we''re done with this arc Now if anyone saw me saying something about a surprise in my last author notes, well its not ready yet Short Weekend break - Global Game Jam I thought I could still write Rabbit Knight when I''m at the Global Game Jam, but quite a few problems popped up in the game we''re making. Its not likely that a chapter will come out this weekend, sorry :( So as an apology, have this fan art on Ellowyn I made (this was back in chapter 11 when Ellowyn stood before the mirror, I polished it a little) Spoiler : Its also on my deviant art page. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I''ve also made a small game about driving in Ellowyn''s new world. The idea had been nagging at me for months so I finally started coding it last week. Its not complete and contains lots of bugs. If any of you brave readers would play test it, I''d be grateful :D Here is the game. Please note its still in very early phrase so come back later if you want a fully playable game. (Its not related in any way to the game in the game jam though, I might show you that too when we''re done) Pardon me if there are any mistakes in this post, its 5 am and we''ve been working on the game jam for 12 hours straight >.< Chappy 22: New Objective Gentle wind caressed her face, nudging her awake. She sat up and surveyed the surroundings. I¡¯m back in my soul room? Silvery moonlight bounced off the ever familiar lake on her right. She sat in a meditative pose and closed her eyes, letting the memories slowly trickling into her still fuzzy mind. A part of her was bewildered that she had stood her own against a group of well trained terrorist, while the other terrified for she had almost lost her life to a storm of bullets. Shaking her head, she decided focus on her current situation.
Body status. Blood Pressure: 90/60 - normal/low Sugar Levels: 70 mg/dL - mid/low Body Temperature: 36.7 C Heart Rate: 30 bpm - sleeping Injuries: 4 surface wounds, low priority Mild Circulatory Shock and slight loss of blood, medium recovery priority. Note: your current body is still in sleep mode for faster natural recovery
So thats why it woke me in the soul room and not my body. She nodded and lay down on the soft grass, staring into the sparkling blanket of stars. She knew well that she could operate the system menu with only her mind, but it felt more natural when she used her fingers to flick the options. Scrolling through the module list, she once again reviewed the system commands to pass the time.
Error, code 102 - module missing or corrupted
She sighed, most of the commands besides basic force manipulation and health maintenance were broken. Even the act of displaying their names would cause the system to fill her vision with error messages. She briefly wondered how lucky she was to have just the right working modules left to survive past events.
Clairvoyance Module
Find and display information about future events calculated using prediction algorithms with inputs from world stream data She held her breath. I can see the future? Her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own, typing out the module¡¯s run command without her consent.
No time parameters set, default to max time distance
Ops, should I have set it to something shorter?
Connecting to world stream ... done Gathering environment input ... failed, access denied Retrying using backup admin key ... access granted Gathering environment input ... done Checking data integrity ... done Initializing node clusters for intensive calculations ... done Starting simulation ...
She felt nauseated as her consciousness was pulled away into a black abyss.
Time simulation started, using max time parameters
## What greeted her eyes was a large room with silver metallic walls. A huge, imposing pair of metal doors at least 20 meters high sat across from her with various electronic equipment laying to the sides. A girl with rabbit ears knelt before it, she cried while banging at the door. ¡°Open the door! Let her in! Let her in! I know she''s still alive. Ellowyn!¡± Alice¡¯s desperate wails reverberated throughout the cold, vast room. What distressed Ellowyn was not about her future self¡¯s safety, but that there were two guards behind Alice trying to pull her away from the door. ¡°Miss Alice, it is too dangerous for you to be here, I beg of you to calm down and come with us now!¡± They both tried to console her and move her away from the door but Alice held her ground. She stared gaping at the surreal scene of two burly men exerting their uttermost strength, only to fail at moving the petite figure of Alice. Has Alice ever been that strong? She wanted to yell out, to let Alice know that she was there. But she knew doing so was useless for she only watching the predicted projection of a future event. Looking down, she saw a partially transparent outline of her own body and realized she could move around the scene. She walked towards Alice and tried to hug her, but her arms went through Alice¡¯s body like that of a ghost. She could only stand there and watch as two wet streams flowed down Alice¡¯s face. I have to check out the situation, shaking her head, she went straight through the doors. Her future self¡¯s bloody figure laid on the floor with its back against the wall. She was wearing some kind of black combat suit, but it was impossible to make out the outfit¡¯s details for numerous wounds covered her body, some only scratching away the suit, revealing her pale white skin while others at least inches deep with blood flowing out and forming a large pool on the ground. What surprised her the most however, was the expression on her face. Her eyes were closed and her lips formed a faint smile, she knew it very well. It was the very same serene, satisfied smile she made before her death back on Earth. Just by looking at it, the sense of unease within her vanished. At least I died without worry, or will have died I guess. She turned around, staring into the unknown darkness surrounding her. A humming sound brushed pass her ears. She could pick up the distant beating of insect wings, very large ones. It grew louder until she saw various bee-like silhouettes within the blackness. And then everything disappeared.
Stopping simulation - Time limit reached, no more data can be gathered at this point.
## She groaned as her consciousness was forcefully pushed back into her body, waking it..
Module Clairvoyance triggered a fatal exception. Rebooting system
Great. She braced herself as the system went offline once again. The phone next to her bed rang. ¡°Hi Ellowyn, its Tom.-¡± ¡°Is Alice alright?¡± She interrupted him, her voice coarse and filled with worry. She coughed and grabbed the nearest water bottle. ¡°She is fine. What I¡¯m worried more right now is you, Ellowyn. Is it alright if I and Alice come to visit? We¡¯ll let you rest more if you¡¯re tired.¡± ¡°I¡¯m well, I would like to talk to you both too.¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll meet you there.¡± The system finished its reboot sequence sometime after the phone call ended.
Module Clairvoyance is corrupted. Sending error report.
Wait, where are you sending that to? She hurriedly tried to cancel it but was interrupted as someone ran towards her and threw her into a tight embrace. ¡°Ellowyn!¡± Alice hugged her frantically. ¡°You¡¯re hurting me...¡± Pain flared across her injuries as she endured Alice¡¯s fierce hug. It was comparably stronger than when she was held in place by one of the burly terrorist.
Suppressing pain receptors
¡°Alice, Stop!¡± It was only thanks to Tom¡¯s yell that she came to herself and released Ellowyn. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Ellowyn. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt you so.¡± Alice bowed her head and apologized non stop. ¡°Its alright, Alice. I¡¯m fine, see.¡± Ellowyn gave her a strained smile. ¡°May I check on your wounds?¡± Alice sat on the bed and lifted Ellowyn¡¯s shirt up, showing two blue medical patches covering the bullet wounds. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tom¡¯s voice was sober and to Ellowyn, a little cold. As if he was blaming himself for the wounds on her body. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°I know you are.¡± She couldn¡¯t say more for she was shocked at what she was feeling. One part of her respected and forgave Tom for making the decision to prioritize Alice first, knowing it was inevitable for him to do otherwise. But a small part of her couldn¡¯t accept that he had left her completely alone when she was vulnerable in a dangerous raid. ¡°Dad, please leave the long apology for another time. Ellowyn should rest much more.¡± Alice stared back into her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... it was because of me that-¡± It was her turn to give Alice a fiery hug. ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize anymore. I know well that you feel guilty for leaving me in danger. But it would hurt me a thousand times more to have you harmed. You are my new family now, remember?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alice put her head on Ellowyn¡¯s shoulders and sobbed. No one moved, only the sound of Alice¡¯s sobbing was heard. Ellowyn frowned, it reminded her of the future prediction she had seen. She needed to do something change it, for Alice¡¯s sake. ¡°Dad, I know you¡¯re quite busy with whats been happening. But I really want to ask for something.¡± ¡°Please, just ask me anything.¡± ¡°I want to be able to defend myself. Its quite ridiculous a quest, I know. But you can¡¯t always protect us both. In times of need, you¡¯d eventually have to focus on protecting Alice more and I understand that. I am not angry, I simply want to have some means of protecting myself, to increase my winning chance if only by a tiny bit.¡± She pleaded. ¡°Then you can train with me.¡± Alice said, her smile was beaming. ¡°When you are better, I¡¯ll take you to the shooting range and have you become a professional marksman in no time.¡± Ellowyn nodded in a daze, her mind busy imagining the surreal figure of Alice holding a gun like a real soldier.¡°I¡¯ll be in your care then.¡± Watching the two leaving, Ellowyn sighed in relief. Her body was still very sore from Alice¡¯s inhuman hug. Take me to my soul room. Before she could start reviewing the modules, a message window appeared.
This is Carl, I¡¯d like to have a little chat if you¡¯re free right now.
She stiffened. Does he know of what had happened? A chat client window opened. I¡¯ve read through the logs files of your system. First of all, I¡¯d like to apologize for the ... inconveniences you¡¯ve experienced in your past few weeks. You are one of programmer to the system right? Your name popped up in a lot of places. Yes, as one of the chief developers, I manage a third of the core modules. I see. For the record, this conversation is unofficial, and it will need to stay that way. I want an explanation of whatever that has happened to me I only know as much as the system logs that you¡¯ve probably read. Your health went into critical condition during the transfer and the system had to return you to Earth. Then you activated my experimental module to transport your soul into this world and into the rebirth cycle, with your memories intact. Why did it take 18 years for the system to return my memories? I¡¯m not sure either, my guess is that the system had to wait until your body is in a similar state to the one you had in the past before your death. That explained why it only went online after your heart stopped beating, as your body at that time represented the same conditions. So, even though I was ¡°reincarnated¡± into this world, my DNA stayed the same. But if the system can maintain my health now, why couldn¡¯t it have done so back on Earth? The system needed to bring you completely into this world before selecting you as the host. But your body died before the transfer process was completed and it was against our policy to transfer non living entities. So transferring dead bodies is illegal but souls are? They are not, hence why our discussion is not official. The module you used - my module, was meant to be experimental and should only have worked when our new policies take into effect, they never did though. Anyway, what this means is that if you were to die now, we both would be in trouble for illegally crossing worlds. ... Try not to worry much, I¡¯m taking care of it right now. The bigger problem is your heart. Right now, I have absolutely no clue to why the system overlooked your condition. I don¡¯t even know why you¡¯re sick! Maybe because you¡¯re not a doctor? Ha ha, its a little more complicated than that. You see, I have access to the entire database of known human medical conditions and yours isn¡¯t showing up. What this means is that there is no known cure, in your world or here. Thats why I suggest you always keep your heart maintenance running until I figure this out. Isn¡¯t it just a heart disease? What if I get a heart transplant? Your heart isn¡¯t the problem, Ellowyn. Its because something is wrong inside your body as a whole. Thats why even if you get a new heart, it¡¯ll fail just as fast as the first. What will you have me do? Stay alive. I know I can¡¯t ask you to leave your new family, but you need to keep yourself safe, please. For the sake of both of us. Its not like I plan to die. But can¡¯t you give me some combat modules or upgrade my system? I¡¯m sorry, it took all I had to set up this simple text chat without triggering some type of alarm. While I can receive the logs you sent, me sending any kind of data back to you is against the Terms of Service. All I can do right now is help you clear up the corrupted mess of modules. What am I supposed to do then? The self defense module I got is great but when it comes to actual, non hostage battles, my weak body won¡¯t be able to handle it. You''ll be fine. I¡¯ve to give you credit for brute forcing your way and get admin access, that was ingenious! Anyway, you do have some experience building electronics right? Yes I have, but they were all back on Earth. Doesn¡¯t matter. I can give you a feel pointers that¡¯ll get you started on building some self defense tools compatible to your system. Thanks. Wait, how did you know what I¡¯ve been through, did you get access to video logs too? What about my privacy? Yes I have access to your sensory logs. Don¡¯t worry though there is little I can do with the information. If you¡¯re worried I¡¯m some kind pervert then stop, I¡¯m not even human to begin with. Sigh. Just do whatever you want, you have full authority over your system anyway. I have to go. We¡¯ll continue this chat later, remember to stay alive and safe! Bye Ah, before i forget, whatever you saw in the Clairvoyance Module, try not to take it too seriously. It isn¡¯t known to be accurate. Expect the actual event to be different from the one you saw because the future isn¡¯t set in stone, not when the function only calculate using present data anyways. Bye That doesn¡¯t make me feel better at all! If the things she saw wasn¡¯t accurate, then it could be Alice that lay on the bloody pool behind those doors. I have to get stronger. She clutched her fist. Dismissing the chat, she reviewed the modules list and was glad to find the corrupted modules removed. First things first, have to stop my sensory logs from being sent to Carl. She knew he wouldn¡¯t do anything despicable, but she couldn''t stand the fact that her every sense is being recorded and watched by someone else. The virtual keyboard sprung to life as her fingers glided across the glowing keys. The chat dialog is a bit stiff. I''ll fix them later. Also, I''ve declared Rabbit Knight to be in a state of Rapid Deployment, it means I''ll release at least a minimum of 1k words a day. Why, you ask? Its not because a fellow RRL writer asked me to race with his fiction to the top of the popular weekly list,totallynot! Gdoc linkfeel free to comment mistakes or suggestions Lionet: Attack on Eve Genetic Corp report [Top Stories] The attack on Eve Genetic Corp(EGC) was done by the Anti-Animal Experimentalist(AAE) group, police says. We¡¯ve received the department of Law enforcement¡¯s official confirmation early this morning that evidence suggest the AAE presence in the violent raid on EGC three days ago, causing at least $2 million damages in defense equipments. ¡°There were many graffitis proclaiming their messages on the destroyed equipments such as robot frames and bunker walls. Also the type of drone used for the attack was the AT-51, commonly used by the AAE in their previous conflicts.¡± - Gabriella J. Jackson, chief of Police. While the AAE gained much of the public¡¯s attention and online anonymous support, the movement¡¯s actions as a whole since its founding had been rather violent, with reports suggesting numerous raids, robberies and vandalism of genetic facilities all around the world. Like previous events, there has been no official respond from AAE representatives. Because the association itself isn¡¯t registered officially, there is little known information about where and how they operate. It is advised that you stay away and report any of their illegal activities to the nearest law enforcements. However, despite such behaviors, many people still showed their support for the movement. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°In this society, where giant corporations controls the government, you have to take the law into your own hands. I hope the AAE continues what they¡¯re doing. Using animals for biological and genetic testing is inhumane and we need to stop it.¡± - a bystander. ¡°I respect the AAE. They¡¯ve done the right thing, we need to stop the animal abuse!¡± - another bystander. Tom Price, CEO of Eve Corp has rescheduled our interview, saying he needed to reinforce the building security and upgrade some vulnerable facilities. While initial reports showed no human casualties, the actual damage may have exceeded $2 million since Mr. Price¡¯s had showed obvious concern to their security. We will continue updating this post as soon as more evidence are gathered. I''m sorry if you''re expecting a chapter. I have to rewrite it becuse someone on Chatango pointed out a fatal plot hole xD This is one of the many news article about Ellowyn''s new world. You are not required to read them since I''ll give a quick overview when any of them are mentioned in the main plot. They will be updated(not reposted, just updated) as I develop more depth for the world. PLEASE NOTE: This is a news article, it only represents the view of the press, never is it entirely accurate! Not everything is so morally clear as they suggested. For all you know, everything stated here could be a lie put up for the public. New chappy should be out tommorow Lionet: Eve Genetic Corp - monthly report [Economic Daily] Monthly report on Eve Genetic Corp It had been a rough start of the week for the EGC, their stock prices dropped by 1% after the terrorist raid on Monday. But the overall value still exceeded last month by 2%, thanks to the release of a new Winged breed, the Mini Dragon. Unlike other Winged breed which has bird-like wings, the Mini Dragon is a small, lizard like pet with a flexible membrane for wings similar to that of a bat, or a dragon in popular culture. Reported number of orders was much higher than anticipated. Because of its small size and friendly behavior, it was extremely popular with students and those who were getting their first pet. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Sales on other Winged pets have also increased, we are working hard to breed more well behaved pets and also to meet with sky rocketing demands. In addition, demands for genetic ear implants had increased by 50% so far for this year.¡± - Martha Seals, EGC marketing manager. With the increase in demand for genetically modified winged pets, there are also many questions to whether the EGC will allow for the genetic grafting of wings onto humans. Mr. Tom¡¯s response was somewhat of a denial. ¡°We currently have no plans for human wing implants. Please note that currently such extensive human body modification is against our policy and ideology.¡± - Tom Price. It is reported that other genetic companies besides Eve have had plans for human wing implants. Deep apologies I''m sorry for not posting anything in the past few weeks! Right after posting the last chapter, I ran into quite a few family problems and fell under depression, that''s why I didn''t want to write much. However, now that I''m a little better, I''ll devote myself to writing Rabbit Knight again. The quality might drop a little since I''m not my usual merry self, so I''d like you to help me! If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Just click on the gdoc link on the bottom of my chapters and comment whatever you think should improve my writing, anything from silly grammar errors to better rephrase of my words. Thanks alot! Chappy 23: Zykke Ellowyn was running, a brown haired girl with rabbit ears stood before her, gun trained. The girl pulled the trigger and Ellowyn felt a warm sensation in her chest. Looking down, she saw a red flow of liquid streaming down her black combat shirt. Failed to stop her running, she fell down and rolled on the floor. When her vision stopped spinning, she brought her hand to her chest, only to coat it thick in blood. She stared back at her attacker, the rabbit eared girl¡¯s eyes were emotionless. To Ellowyn¡¯s horror, she was staring at herself. Gasp. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, trying to calm her rapid heart. Only a nightmare huh. She thought back to the moment she held the gun towards Cassie. I would have gone insane, had I ever killed her. She knew that despite all the crazy things she would do to protect herself and her family, killing was not one of them. She would have lost her mind too, had she the time to look back at the man¡¯s bleeding leg after her bullet shattered his femur. Checking her phone, she was surprised that at least 24 hours had passed after her chat with Carl. It seemed the system kept her asleep to help with natural healing. She removed her shirt and caressed her taut abdomen. I can¡¯t believe it already healed. She was amazed at the world¡¯s medical capability, for there was not even a scratch that remained. However, the system did warned her that the teared muscles hadn¡¯t completely mended yet. Standing up, she fought the dizziness from laying down for too long. Let¡¯s go for a walk. It was early morning, the cool, silky mists swirled around Ellowyn as the floating sun orbs glowed softly, making the ambiance around her mysterious and surreal. She took a long deep breath, enjoying the fresh earthy scent of the forest, or garden, as Alice calls it. She shivered, remembering the deep bleeding gashes caused by grazing bullets. Even when there was no pain thanks to the system, she couldn¡¯t help but feeling quite traumatized from being so near death¡¯s door. Shaking her head, she continued walking. Despite having strained her body one night ago, she felt strangely refreshed. Almost breaking into a jog, Ellowyn reminded herself the torn muscles beneath her skin hasn¡¯t finished bonding together yet. ¡°You should visit here at night, the glowing plant life will be beautiful.¡± Ellowyn turned around to see Alice appearing from another forest path. ¡°Hi Alice.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t move around so much. The injuries aren¡¯t completely healed yet.¡± She gave Ellowyn another hug. ¡°I only wanted some fresh air¡±. Ellowyn rested her head on the pair of bountiful bosoms, taking in the sweet earthy scent from the garden that blends in harmony with Alice¡¯s fresh minty fragrance. ¡°I know its been very rough on you.¡± She caressed Ellowyn¡¯s head. ¡°Dad is doing everything he can to improve our security.¡± ¡°How do you cope with such a dangerous living environment?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ellowyn. It had been six years since there was a security breach. To be honest, I was never threatened so much as you did. And I can defend myself. That is probably why they went for you instead of me. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It would be a lie to say that I wasn¡¯t scared, but such is life. Now if you would kindly stop pitying me like some sad ball, I¡¯d be grateful.¡± Ellowyn chuckled. ¡°And I want to learn some self defense too.¡± ¡°I know your doctor will frown at this, but do you want to join me for some shooting range practice tomorrow morning?¡± ¡®Gladly.¡± She beamed. ¡°While we¡¯re at it, would you give me a tou-¡± A white blob flew past her vision, she jolted from Alice¡¯s embrace and looked around. A bird the size of a small dog was flying in large circles around Alice. ¡°Come, Zykke!¡± Alice received the speeding silver bullet head on and warped it in her tight embrace. The creature took Ellowyn¡¯s breath away. It looked like a normal arctic fox but only if one ignores the large pair of feathery wings mounted on its back. Two pair of black thrusters, one of each mounted on the side of its neck and the lower end of its back. ¡°Thrus.. Thrusters? Why would there be thrusters!¡± As much as Ellowyn was fascinated by the marvel of genetic engineering that was the fox, she was more stumped that it needed thrusters for lift. ¡°Zykke is our very first creation of a winged animal. The procedure went smoothly and he grew up quite well and healthy. Although there was a miscalculation and his wings weren¡¯t strong enough to support his bodyweight.¡± Alice paused and ran her hand over Zykke¡¯s soft furry back. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stand seeing him flapping his wings so helplessly, so I and the engineers drafted up the plan to attached the new electro wave thrusters onto his side with bioglue and have him control them with a brainwave sensor.¡± ¡°At that time, the idea itself sounded crazy.¡± She chuckled. ¡°But after two months of hard work and training, here he is, flying all over the place!¡± Zykke barked softly, as if to confirm her. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t the thrusters get too hot, having to provide so much lift?¡± Ellowyn stopped her silly gaping. ¡°The little heat these electrowave thrusters give off is absorbed and distributed throughout his body. Its not any hotter than a normal jog.¡± Alice sounded smug. ¡°May I pet him?¡± Ellowyn leaned in closer. Startled by her movement, Zykke opened its wings and took to the sky. ¡°Zykke!¡± Alice stumbled forward after he came back down again and landed on her back. ¡°As you can see, he¡¯s rather shy of strangers.¡± Zykke¡¯s two front paws grabbed hold of her shoulder while she put both of her hands behind her back to support his legs. He opened his wings wide, preparing to take flight again at a moment¡¯s notice. Ellowyn gasped, the scene looked quite surreal, with zykke¡¯s wings spread behind Alice¡¯s back, making her look like a mesmerizing angel. Illustration:Spoiler : Zykke pose #1Spoiler : Zykke pose #2Spoiler : ¡°Lets take a seat.¡± Alice carried Zykke behind her back and walked towards a nearby bench. Detecting their presence, the bench glowed to life and started cleaning its surface using a blast of air. ¡°He¡¯ll warm up to you soon ,don¡¯t worry.¡± Alice tried to console Ellowyn. ¡°Its alright, I¡¯m never really good, dealing with animals.¡± She put on a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been under attack countless times, both physically and verbally for being a genetic engineer. I¡¯ve had countless failures where I only continued out of pure hope that there was something to be learned and improved. Me and dad have had many research breakthroughs and cured dozens of genetic diseases, and yet all we get is public scorn and blackmail threats from terrorists for our research.¡± She sighed and make eye contact with Zykke. ¡°It is only in these moments when I know I¡¯ve created something beautiful, that I find myself at peace.¡± Ellowyn could only nod, for she had no words that will express her sympathy. ¡°It hurted when my test subjects die. I know they¡¯re just animals, but I always try my very best so that my next creation would live.¡± Alice¡¯s voice sounded desperate. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I don¡¯t have the skills to help you with your work. But now that I¡¯m a part of your family, you can always lend my shoulder when you need someone to talk to.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Alice smiled. Back in her room, Ellowyn began following Carl¡¯s suggestions to improve the system. It seemed doing so was easier said than done, she scowled. Because of how the system¡¯s architecture differ from that of the current world¡¯s, there were no drivers she could use to bridge the system and the devices she had. Her plan for the moment was to override the health sensor attached to her abdomen and have it act as a wireless hub to connect her phone into. She managed to set up the simple interface to operate the sensor, but couldn¡¯t find a way to establish connection, the procedures were too different to bridge with self study code alone. Sigh, Carl wasn¡¯t being helpful either with his ¡°You have to learn these things yourself¡± attitude. ¡°I give up!¡± She threw her hands in the air and dismissed the code-filled windows. ¡°Lets take a break.¡±
Welcome to World of Mindcraft!
Hi snowlion! I thought you got bored and left for good :P The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Nah, I like the game. Though its been a really busy week. Ready for some drone bashing? Alright lets wait a bit for Dave I¡¯m here We¡¯re going to non newbie friendly hunting grounds, so stay close and becareful Oi Bit85, he¡¯s here for fun! Snow, just fight your heart out, die and we¡¯ll revive you in a jiffy. Okay :) They arrived at a robotic graveyard, scattered everywhere where large mounds of broken robotic pieces. ¡°Enemies here are over you skill level.¡± Bit warned, he took a drone from his inventory, its metallic spherical surface was riddled with bumps and scratches, on its sides mounted two rusted cannons. ¡°This is the newbie orb, it¡¯ll help keep you from dying too much.¡± The orb spun to life, its rusted thrusters glowed a soft blue and hovered around Ellowyn. We¡¯ll be doing a quest at the nearby town, pn us if you need anything k She walked cautiously, keeping the noise level of metallic crunches under her feet to the minimum and ducking low. Hearing beeping noises, she stopped and peeked over a large pile of rubble. Three triangular drones were patrolling the area, they flew close together, covering each other weak spots. Two of them were equipped with force blades while the last had a missile launcher. Ellowyn threw a piece of rubble towards the drones, startling them and turning their attention towards the noise while she quietly and swiftly charged. She thrusted her gunblade deep inside the first drone and open fired, destroying its core. Pulling the blade out of the wreck, she ducked just in time before the blade of the second drone passed above her head. She pulled the blade successfully out and spun around to meet the oncoming blade with her own. As she was blocking the second drone¡¯s slash attack, she realized her position was open and vulnerable for the third drone to fire its missiles. Her skill level wasn¡¯t high enough to deflect its blade to the side and her strength wasn¡¯t enough to push the melee drone back. There is only so much I can do with a keyboard. She shrugged and braced for the impact that never came. The newbie orb chose that moment to obliviate the missile drone with its high explosive bullet. The explosion staggered the melee drone and she used the opportunity to push forward and sliced its sword mount off. Stripped of its weapon, the drone was taken care off in seconds. The hunt continue for an hour before she got bored and started to browse the web alongside with playing the game. hey sup Are you good with electrical design? I have a five year degree on it :) I¡¯m trying to override the health monitor HX-65 so that it can establish whitetooth connection with my Endroid phone. ¡­ why the hell would you want to do that? No offense, but I can¡¯t think of a reason. First of all, they communicate at different bandwidths entirely, and the communication protocol aren¡¯t compatible either. I¡¯d strongly suggest you find an alternative to what you want to do. What else am I supposed to do? She whacked her head. The system could only communicate with electrical devices within her body cavity. She shivered at the thought of putting anything metallic inside her. The health monitor was her only choice. I¡¯m sorry, but I really have to do this. Could you at least point me in the right direction? Look, such a problem would give headaches to even a team of developers. If you¡¯re that desperate then I suppose I could get you an invite to the Sentria The hacker group? More like the hacker mob. Most of the time, we¡¯re just a bunch of internet people doing whatever they want. The cases you see on the news are usually done by the elite top or just some random hacker claiming to be part of the Sentria. We¡¯re so big now, even terrorists can steal money from banks and claim to be us :/ why are you admitting to be part of Sentria? Aren¡¯t public chats like this monitored? I¡¯m pretty sure the feds monitor even our lower ranked servers, though I doubt they have the kind of resource to stop every minor Sentria groups. As long as you don¡¯t plan some epic heist on these chat, you¡¯ll be fine. I sent you the link to their recruit site, just follow the instructions. She had to exploit a simple vulnerability to hack in and enter the recruiting server, according to the instructions. Ellowyn smiled, such a piece of cake. She succeeded in no time at all, Inside the recruit server, she found more instructions to hack into subsequences servers. She knew very well that was the entrance exam, for she had done countless of them in the past, even going as far as making the tests herself. While the exploit and penetration methods were different, she had no problem executing them for the logic remained the same.
Sentria recruitment server: access granted
Blazing through the test, she arrived at the main recruitment server within the hour. Her pulse was quick and her hands were trembling. I hadn¡¯t so much fun in years!. She was about to speed through the ranking tests and obtain the highest rank, only to stop and remind herself of the current task. //Welcome to Sentria general chat Holy f* you¡¯re fast! Its not even an hour yet, are you sure you¡¯re not some elite hacker? haha, maybe I am. :P Seriously though, you got some talent, kid. There are no instructions on how to get into the next rank so you¡¯ll have to figure that out yourself, though I think you can just get whatever you need right now in our wiki server. Just gain access to it the same way you got in here. so you guys are all here Server admins nowadays are usually a part of Sentria, its like some unwritten requirements or something. cya in a bit. The wiki server indeed had the documents she needed in a much more unrestricted way, compared to the online articles she read that were strictly monitored. Filling the virtual screen with schematics and modification guides, she once again got to work. The bright golden rays of sunlight hugged the faint features of her sleep deprived face, nudging her awake. She opened her eyes grudgingly and rubbed her numb arms, realizing that she had fallen asleep on the table. Let¡¯s see if that was all a dream. She opened her phone and smiled, I really did it. The phone beeped, signalling it had established connection and the system showed her various notifications. She had successfully linked her phone with the system. While the difference in system architecture didn¡¯t allow her to run apps natively, she could access the web from the system itself, which was a major breakthrough. Before she could celebrate her success, however, there was a knock on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± It was Alice, she was wearing a tight orange t shirt and a very short black gym shorts. ¡°Ready for our shooting practice?¡± Gdoc link, please comment if there are errors or questions/suggestions! Chappy 24: Weapon handling Ellowyn was astonished, not at the sheer size of the underground facility which could easily amount to a football stadium, not at the vast arrays of training equipments shelved on the walls, but at the training robots. Their pillow paddled limbs did nothing to slow them down, for even the trainees seemed to have great difficulties catching up to their swift movement speed. Their forms ranged from humanoids to bears and wolves, with the behavior almost completely identical to that of the invading bots and animals in the raid she saw. A dawning realization came, Will I have to fight those things? "I''ll only have you get used to wielding the firearms, there''s no need to go for live combat right now since you''re still injured." Alice ensured. "I''ll have the equipments prepared, go and change." She gave Ellowyn a white workout shirt and shorts. She came out of the changing room and saw various tools from training firearms to accessories laid out on a white table, next to which stood Alice. "Except for the training guns, these will be yours to use. Please keep them on you at all times." She nodded. "This is a resistance vest." Alice pointed to the workout shirt. "Pull the pad there and it''ll stop tearing on bullets and blade impact. It''ll still hurt alot and provides almost no protection against blunt impacts so becareful." As Ellowyn pulled the soft pad, she felt as if a current ran through the surface of her skin. "The vest only has enough energy for around ten minutes. Make sure to get to safety by then." She nodded again. Alice held up a blue bracelet made of blue crystal bars connected to a diamond shaped crystal. "There is a cap here, if you open it and press this button, it''ll deploy a force field that also last for 2 minutes. You should try it now." There were no visual changes when Ellowyn pressed the button, but the system assured her that the field was up. She felt a little uncomfortable as the bracelet heated up. "I''ll demonstrate with this training gun." Alice held up a training handgun and fired at Ellowyn. The bullet bounced off an invisible wall right before it came into contact with her leg. "Is it supposed to give off so much heat?" Ellowyn started rubbing her overly warm wrist. "When it gets too hot, pull the trigger next to that button to release a heat sink. It''ll be very hot so make sure not to let it touch your feet!" Ellowyn pulled it and felt as the heat from the crystal transferred themselves over to one of the blue bars shortly before it detached and started falling towards the ground. "I know it gets uncomfortable, but in emergency, please wait at least ten seconds before you release the heat sink, it''ll maximize the operation time." "I''ll try." Ellowyn nodded grimly. If worst comes, I''ll have the system distribute the heat over my body and wait two minutes or more before release. She shivered at the thought. "This is a force dagger." Alice gave her a black handle, but did not let it go when Ellowyn held it. "Please, please be careful with it. The power level on this thing is high enough to cut through armor like paper." Alice gave her a stern look. Ellowyn slided the activation switch and saw a soft blue outline of the blade appeared, it was only slightly longer than a fruit knife. She had to turn it off shortly after as the blade heated up even quicker than her bracelet. "It should only last about one to two minutes, you should only use it when you absolutely have to. Also the heat will be forcefully transferred to whatever you stab so don''t worry about getting burned." "Next is firearms handling. While I''ll teach you to hold most weapons, you should always go for the lightest and easiest to handle when in emergency." Alice took a training hand gun and gave it to Ellowyn. She inspected the black firearm, it looked similar to a handgun back on Earth, with the same grip handle and a sleek smooth barrel. There were no sliding mechanism or cartridge ejector because it used the laws electromagnetic to propel the bullet. Her eyes froze as they came upon the Lyon Corp logo. Thats right, they really do produce the world''s top firearms afterall. Perhaps she then had a reason to look into her family''s background without being suspicious. Alice hold up another handgun that had several cube like attachments to its barrel. "This is a coil handgun and the one you''re holding is a rail handgun." "What is the difference?" Ellowyn tilted her head. "Coil guns use less energy and emit little heat per bullet. However due to having many parts, it is more likely to malfunction" Bang. Bang. Alice walked towards a shooting range and started firing at the cardboard targets. Two out of three shots hit the red center. "Rail guns on the other hand, uses at least two times as much energy and heats up very quickly because of that. However, they are known to produce more bullet force and also stay quieter. Their fire rate are among the highest." Pang. The gun emitted a noise louder and longer than that of the coil gun. In the few seconds that Alice fired, Ellowyn counted at least fifteen bullets, more than half of which landed in the red zone. "Now you try. " Alice cupped both of Ellowyn''s hands onto the gun and aimed them towards a cardboard target. ¡°Wait.¡± She took it back and adjusted a few buttons, ¡°I¡¯ve turned on recoil assist mode. Please do not move your fingers into the gun¡¯s back blast zone.¡± "Thats it, now relax your shoulders and arms, its fine if you miss. I just need you to get used to the feeling of wielding it." Ellowyn lined her aim sight with the system''s assist cursor and fired, only to miss the center area entirely.
Gun model mismatched, recalibrating
The second shot landed inside the area, but still far from complete center. Out of curiosity, she looked closely at the gun''s model number and found it to be different from what the system showed. So it can''t recognize training gun models huh. The third, fourth and fifth shot all landed near dead center. Ellowyn found it incredibly easy for she could keep firing with no fear of having the gun''s non existent recoil ruin her aim. "Your aim is nearly perfect! Have you ever held a handgun before?" Alice couldn''t hide her open gape. Ellowyn shook her head. "Its my first time." She switched the gun on auto mode and to her surprise, the recoil was still only barely noticeable. The handgun fired at least ten bullets per second. She had to release the trigger after three seconds, however, as the heat was getting too uncomfortable. The fact that there were so little recoil had also troubled her, I¡¯m pretty sure this goes against Newton¡¯s Third law. But it became clear when she looked at the gun during fire. Two bright flashes appeared at its side, similar to those of thrusters, only brighter. ¡°May I turn off the recoil assist?¡± She wanted to feel the real thing. ¡°Sorry, the recoil will probably make the gun fly out of your hand and you can injure yourself. Only trained personnel are allowed to have it off.¡± She also tried the coil handgun and found slightly more difficulty in handling it the fire rate is almost twice as slow at five rounds per second, however the gun produced much less heat while firing. "I''m giving you both of the guns later. Though in a desperate situation, it is necessary that you know how to use the standard issued weapons too." Alice pointed to the rest of the armaments consisting of assault rifles and shields. Ellowyn picked up a light coil rifle, it was heavier than she expected and the back handle was slightly off compared to the rifles she had seen back on Earth. As she fired at the target, the recoil was quite considerable and she had to micro adjust her aim every time. "All medium sized and larger guns always come with a forceblade of some kind." Alice flipped a switch beneath the rifle and a force bayonet materialized below the front barrel. She took a coil shotgun from the table and placed it in Ellowyn''s hands. "Remember what I said about grabbing the lightest and easiest to handle weapon? Well, if you are really, really desperate or the opponent can''t be attacked from range, use this. It packs a punch when you fire up close." She flipped a switch and two long force blades appeared on its sides. "The shotgun is the most effective close quarter combat tool there is. Though because no rail shotguns are developed yet, you need to be careful of the very high recoil." They came toward a different training area where sand bags dummies were used for melee testing. Instead of aiming the shotgun at shoulder level like other guns, Alice told her to keep the gun at the hip for easier parrying of melee attacks from the sides. "Wah!" Despite having prepared herself from Alice''s warning, the gun jerked back too hard upon firing that she lost her balance and fell on her butt. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Are you alright?" Alice asked hurriedly. "I''m fine. Let me retry." "Looks like the gun¡¯s recoil assist malfunctioned.¡±Alice concluded, ¡±I think thats enough for today, you must have been tired still." "Its alright, I''ve already said that I''m fine." Ellowyn shrugged. ¡°If you say so.¡± Alice took gave her small handheld shield. "You''re usually given one of these when a team is escorting you." The shield itself was slightly smaller than a washboard with two arm straps. After she put it on, Alice flipped the starting switch and a blue transparent rectangular forcefield materialized in front of her , its outline was much more noticeable compared to the shield bracelet. "These things can take a punch, from explosive to shield warding rounds. It can even resist force blades, but only to some the degree. Becareful of the heat though." Alice proceeded to show her how to change the heatsink and battery pack. Ellowyn grimaced, it was rather heavy for its size. "Here." Tiny unseen thrusters on the shield surface came to life at Alice''s press. It was as if the shield itself became weightless, only when Ellowyn moved her arm that she felt the thrusters adjusting themselves to her movement. "Be careful though, during battle, the thrusters may malfunction from impact and you could loose balance and fall." Alice warned sternly. "I''m glad to see that you''re fine, Ellowyn." "I''m glad you too, are alright." She turned around to greet Bob. "I''d like to give you my long thought out apology speech, but time isn''t on my side. I still need to patch up our outdated security." He gave her a hug, his hand caressed her head. "You should know that I hate long apology speeches." She grinned. "Alice, I know you really want to help Ellowyn gain confident in her self defense, but you of all people should know the girl needs to rest." "I''m sorry, I just thought I could show her around for a bit. We were about to wrap it up too." Alice looked down. "Did you at least get to watch Alice doing her practice session?" Bob raised his eyebrow. "No?" Ellowyn tilted her head. "Its, its nothing special, really." Alice''s face turned beet red. "It might be some good experience for Ellowyn to join too." Bob put his hand on his chin. "But you''ve just agreed that she needs some rest!" Alice was flabbergasted. "Its just a small exercise with the non-lethal drones, what do you think, Ellowyn?" She observed Bob, he had a contemplating look on his face, as if he was somehow judging her, if only by just a little. Is he giving me a test of some kind? "Its alright if you don''t want to, I''m sorry for giving such ridiculous a suggestion." He chuckled. "Actually, I might give it a try." Who knows when I''ll have to face these things for real. "Are you really sure Ellowyn? While the bots are designed not to hurt you, you could still injure yourself since your body hasn''t healed yet. We can always do this later." Alice sounded truly worried. "For all we know, there may not be a later." She shrugged. Alice made a long sigh and nodded. "We''ll do it. but you need to always be careful and stay close to me. Got it?" "Roger that." They came to a different section of the facility. "Rearranging rooms, please stay clear." Said an electronic voice. Ellowyn gasped, what was empty space before her was transformed as sections of metallic white walls seemingly rose from the ground, forming different enclosed rooms. "Setting up drone spawns. Simulation ready." "Remember, always stay close to me and only attack if you have to, keep your shield up at all times." She nodded twice. The first room was but empty, except for a simple monitor on the wall with a countdown of ten seconds. Ellowyn looked over to Alice, she was still wearing her shirt and short with two shotguns, one in her hand and the other strapped on her back and a forceblade strapped on her side. "Why aren''t we wearing armor?" "This is an impromptu combat training, do you think we are to wear armor all the time?" Alice chuckled. She shook her head and checked her equipment, a shield and a handgun. "2...1. Simulation starting now." The electronic voice declared. The section of wall in front of her sunk to the ground, revealing a tight passage just wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side. Right after they entered, the wall behind them rose up once again. "Incoming!" Alice yelled and raised her shotgun. The approaching drones were spherical shaped with thrusters dispersed evenly on their surface. Just like the newbie orb. Ellowyn trained her gun on them and fired, only to watch as the bullets helplessly missed when the drones shifted to the side, predicting her aim. She quickly hid behind her shield at the system''s attack warning. The drones fired shortly after. She open fired again immediately after the attack warning disappeared, this time two hit landed on the closest drone Because they all used training bullets, there were no visible signs of damage on the drone but half of its surface still flashed red and it thrusters stopped working, indicating damage. She decided to check on Alice only to be stunned by the scene before her. Alice deployed a shield on each arm, but they were much smaller than the shield strapped to Ellowyn''s own arm. She aimed her shotgun forward and shot the closer drone while leaning to her left to avoid the second drone''s fire from the right. She then brought the gun to her side and blocked the second''s charge head on. The drone open fired again, only to find its gun barrel blocked by Alice''s gun. She then quickly moved the gun out with her right arm and put her left arm with the shield in its place. The drone tried to back away but not before she placed the gun on top of her left arm, right above her shield and fired. Alice ignored the falling disabled drone and looked over at Ellowyn, only to widen her eyes. "Watch out!" Only then did Ellowyn realized she had been entranced for too long. The system didn''t warn her either because it needed visual confirmation of her targets. I''m screwed. She immediately turned around and brought up her gun, but the drone was faster and knocked it out of her hand. To her horror, the drone didn''t stop its charge. The drone did try to change projectory to not hurt her, but it did so too late. "Wah!" The drone crashed into Ellowyn''s shoulder, sending her flying backward and rolling on the ground. "Stop the simulation!" Alice screamed. "I''m alright." Ellowyn said as Alice helped her up. She resisted the urge to wobble from the dizziness. Alice still performed medical check ups to make sure she really was well. "Ellowyn, I know that you really want to train, but you need some serious rest for now." Alice turned to Bob, her eyes flashed a trace of anger. "Please be more considerate. You of all people should know that Ellowyn needs a rest." "Sorry Ellowyn." He rubbed the back of his head. "I over reacted from your enthusiasm. But did you have fun at least?" He gave a playful smirk. "Bob!" Alice yelled. "I''m sorry alright. Anyway, I have to go." He gave Ellowyn another hug and left, but not before she heard him whispering in her ear, "Thanks for saving my life." "You''re welcome." She mumbled. Back in her room, she changed into her pajamas and immediately dived onto bed. Access soul room. She set the environment to a white practice room, similar to the training facility. She then opened the assets window and looked at the list of available weapons. The system didn''t have the latest models, but that was fixed easily by entering data using Lyon Corp''s online weapon catalogue. "Let the real training begins." She fiddled with the control panel.
Spawning live practice targets
Weapon illustrations will come in next chapter! Gdoc link, please comment edit suggestions if you spot any grammar errors or have questions. Lionet: Lyon Corps latest weapon catalog [Market] The weapon manufacturing giant once again released information on its top of the line products in this quarter. ----- The HG Z6 is Lyon corp¡¯s newest model. Designed for versatility, it boasts 3 force blades, the main middle one for stabbing and piercing attacks. As with any new model, it is lighter than its predecessors and has a higher firing rate at 40 per second (60 with recoil assist off). ----- The AR X12 not only has better accuracy, its improved cooling system allows for a longer sustained rate of fire. The clip can now be folded back in close combat mode for more flexible movement. It is also equipped with a holo screen and basic environment sensors. The reinforced force blade gives it an edge in close combat, inferior to nothing but the most advanced shotguns. ----- Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The SG Z5 is possibly the toughest and most deadly shotgun ever produced, boasting two force blades covering each side and two force handguards. Its slight weight problem can be adjusted easily with the new support thrusters system. ----- The Zlet 5 is the top of the line shield bracelet, capable of withstanding well over two minutes of sustained attack and its upgraded heat sink that can last over 20 seconds before detachment. By projecting a bubble force field surrounding the user¡¯s entire body, it can repel any force and kinetic attacks(as long as they doesn¡¯t surpasses the stated limit). ----- Unlike the Zlet, the ZGuard 3S is geared towards specific area protection. When placed well strategically, it can protect the user from most threats including large explosive blast to even thermic attacks from lasers. It is the first choice for protection and escort personnel. Model base credit: rika-dono Chappy 25: Combat Training RAWR. Despite having heard the roar for countless times, Ellowyn couldn''t help but freeze in place as a primal sense of terror gripped her heart. Not again. She sighed, staring transfixed at the charging bear. The bear raised its arm, ready to tear apart the trembling girl beneath its claws. Clang. Ellowyn raised her shield just in time to hear the sound of scratching metal right after the impact send her flying backwards. "Gah." Even as the system suppressed her pain receptors, the fall still knocked the air from her lungs and made her vision spin. Dissatisfied that its target was still alive, the bear charged once again, rawring louder than ever. Come on come on! She struggled to stand up and aimed her handgun at the beast. Bang. Bang. The two bullets landed squarely within its chest, but that did nothing to slow the creature down. She cliched her tongue and dived to the side.
Applying force
Assisted by the system, her dive turned into a high leap as she flew for seven meters. Her vision spun as she made a rough landing on the ground.
Damage: Light concussion Light Rib Fracture Dismissing the warning, she stood up and fired twice again before repeating the dive. Damage: Serious concussion Lung punctured Left femur fractured ...
She frowned, her body was getting too battered for efficient movement and she was slowly suffocating as blood filled up her lungs. A quick glance at the energy meter told her the system only had 4% left, not enough for any more aerial manures. Her lips curved into a bitter smirk. I guess this is where the hero puts up her last stand. Kneeling on one knee, she switched the gun to close combat mode and wielded it like a dagger. Her left arm held a force blade the length of a short sword and her shield also shrunk in size, allowing her to perform more flexible movement. The bear continued its relentless charge and pounced on her frail looking body. "Gahhh!" The bear flinched at her scream. She thrusted her gun upward, letting the force blade shred through its arm like paper while firing on auto. The bear retaliated by bashing its other arm on her shield and sending her rolling on the ground with the gun knocked out of her hand. Cough. Her tongue sensed a foreign iron taste as blood surged up her throat. Even with her blurry vision, she could still see one of the bear''s arm nearly torn off and one of its eye blinded. There were no blood gushing out because the force blade sheared its wound shut. The bear stood before her battered and bloody figure, declaring its victory with its loudest rawr yet. Staring at its wide open jaw, she gave a faint smirk before using all of her strength to throw the blade in her left hand upward. Assisted by the system, the blade flew with pinpoint accuracy into its open maw and pierced its skull. "Yes!" She exclaimed, but her joyous expression quickly faded as the bear''s standing corpse started to lean forward. She tried to crawl away, but her battered limbs refused to move fast enough. Darkness overtook her vision. "At least I killed it." She whimpered, trying to console herself.
You have died. Stopping simulation
The white training room dematerialized, in its place stood the familiar scene of a tranquil forest and a lake. Ellowyn watched the replay of the previous scene in a virtual window and sighed. This is my limit. She sent the combat log to Carl. She laid her back on the soft blanket of grass and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of wind blowing through the leaves and letting the fresh smell of nature permeate through her nostrils. Good job Her eyes jerked awake at the chat notification sound. She had been asleep for two hours. Still sleepy, she splashed her face with the fresh water of the lake. Not good enough, I still can''t handle more than one enemy at a time. She wanted to tell him about all of her frustrations, from her weak body that often ran out of breath even with all the adrenaline the system pumped into her bloodstream, to the inefficiency in her dodging tactic that drained too much system power. But she knew well that he already knew from the reports. I know you want to do better, but I doubt you can''t progress anymore with your current strength and skills. Focus on improving your health and physical abilities for now. If you really want to improve your combat abilities then I suggest you do some more research on modern combat strategies. Why can''t you at least give me more specific suggestions? You know more about the system than I ever would. If you''re trying to play the part of a mysterious wise man then you''re doing a terrible job. You know I''d love to, Ellowyn, but my hands are tied here. Our interactions can be revealed, so I have to keep my influence to the absolute minimum, at least until I get these legal things solved out. Whatever you''re doing to fix this, please hurry up. I am doing all I can alright. Talk to you later. She left the soul room just in time for dinner. With a full stomach, she began looking around the net for various combat strategies, from footages of trained soldiers in close combat to group battles, all of which she had seen many times before in the soul room simulation. She had to admit that Carl was right, attempting any of the movement she saw was too difficult if not downright impossible with her weak body. However, she doubt that even were her condition to improve, she''d still be far too weak compared to the professionally trained and the system had nothing that would help in physical strengthening. Perhaps I can improve myself mechanically? She started looking up power suits and mechanical extensions of limbs, but quickly gave up on the idea. For the power suits were too expensive and clunky and while even prosthetic limbs were stronger and faster, they had too many moving parts that might malfunction during battle. She put her hand on her chin and reconsidered her priorities. If she only focus on survival and evasion, there was no need to be on the offensive. Granted she still needed to have speed and precision to dodge incoming attacks, but that could be solved by giving the system a full 360 view of her surroundings and calculate the required body maneuvers. There was still the issue of movement speed that one was harder to solve. While the system could change her movement vector by applying force in a specific direction, the energy cost was too high to maintain if the battle ever dragged on. And then the image of Zekke appeared in her mind, a smile lined her lips. Alice, if you think what you did was crazy, then what I''m about to do would be borderline insane. Back in the soul room, she opened sandbox mode and began experimenting with various ways to attach thrusters into her suit. She started by simply strapping them into the fabric itself, but their strong propulsion would often rip the fabric. The simplest cost effective design was to strap the thrusters onto a modified climbing harness. She held it up and marveled at the odd creation. From afar, it looked no different than a normal climbing harness, only with various small boxes strapped to its surface. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it What impressed her more was the technology of the world that allowed for the production of such advanced thrusters. At the size of half a phone, only around ten of those things were needed to make her hover on the ground. They also came with individual power supply that could be recharged wirelessly. The idea still sounded insane to her and perhaps to any sensible weapon manufacturer. The chances of something going wrong was simply too high, the individual thrusters could fail and send the user into an unstable trajectory, there also were no brain wave control system reliable enough to allow a human to control them effectively. However, she had the system. It would calculate the most effective movement and all she had to do was to move her body in accordance with the thrusters that it controlled, like a marionette. With the prototype suit completed, she still needed to update the code from Carl''s self defense module. The seemingly trivial task took her nearly five hours for Carl''s coding style was not very back track friendly. It was nearly one in the morning, determined to test out her creation, she ignored the nagging of her sleep deprived mind and started the combat simulation. The white training room materialized along with a new instance of the modified harness. She put it on and made sure the harnesses were tightened. Hover mode. She held her arms to a T shape, and waited for the thrusters to turn on their axis towards the ground, like turrets. Gasp. Her eyes opened wide as she was carried up and hovered at one meter above ground. She felt uncomfortable when the tight harnesses tugged at her skin and potential restricting blood flow. I''ll have to pad them later. However, the sensation of being lifted into the air was quite thrilling to her. She had to turn them off half a minute later because the thrusters produced too much heat. Looks like Zekke didn''t get overheated because his wings supported most of his weight. It wasn''t too much a problem however, since she had no intention to use the suit for flying or hovering. Yawning, Ellowyn decided to do one last combat test before she sleep.
Simulating body status: Releasing Adrenaline Heightened mental state
She felt energized as the virtual adrenaline flooded her bloodstream.
Spawning target
A large green wolf materialized across the room. It stared at her and snarled. "Come at me you ugly puppy!" The wolf started its charge at her jeer. She stood still, her eyes trained on the massive figure of the wolf. Calm down, its just a simulation. Even when she already knew what to do according to the instructions, the familiar sense of terror still ran through her spine. Everything was too real, from the foul smell of its body to the sharp canines mounted in its snarling jaw. But after having been through countless quick time events in games, the gamer within her responded the moment the system signaled. As the wolf was leaping through the air, she made a leap to the front right. Four thrusters, two on her back and two on her hip thrusted downward to keep her in the air longer, while the rest of the thrusters pushed her forward to increase her speed. Like a spaceship. She grinned The wolf turned its head towards her and tried to bite, only to meet the force blade of her handgun head on. "Awoooo!" It howled in pain as she used her jump momentum to make a wide gash on part of its face and side. Shit. Upon her landing, the system wanted her to do a barrel roll on the ground and stand back up, an impossible task for her. She could only roll on her side helplessly. By the time she managed to stand up, the wolf was already half way to her. There was no time for moving or jumping, all she could do was fall to the left, assisted by the thrusters on her arm. Surprised that its target managed to fall faster than the law of gravity, the wolf missed her body but still managed to make a deep gash on her arm with its claw. "Arg!" The ground knocked the air from her lungs and smashed one of the thrusters on her arm to pieces. She immediately stood up and ran backward while firing at the wolf. Two thrusters on her back and two on her belt kept her balance. The wolf turned around and restarted its chase, ignoring the stream of bullets showering its body. Come on come on. She watched helplessly as the wolf got closer, its speed unaffected by the metal slugs lodged in its flesh. Despite her unsteady aim from the injured arm, her last bullet managed to pierce the wolf''s skull, killing it instantly. It was too late, however, as the wolf was already in mid air. The body hit her at full force, pushing her to the ground and sent them both sliding for a few seconds. She grimaced, feeling the broken pieces of the two thrusters stabbing into her back. She stared at the trail of blood of both hers and the wolf on the floor and sighed. At least I killed it, I guess. Stopping simulation There was much to-do, she needed to reposition the thrusters so they''d less likely stab her with broken pieces when she fall, the self-defense module needed to be recalibrated to fit more with her current skills. But most important of all was her ability to perform the needed actions. The more movements and poses she could do, the more flexible was the plan the system could make to increase her success chance in battle. She needed to practice choreographing new movement combinations and implement them to the combat algorithm. Like a dance. She chuckled at the notion but couldn''t refute it. For all she had done was to perform a set number of body movements in accordance with a precompiled plan. In the loosest sense of the word, she was dancing. Overtaken by a wave of fatigue, she fell asleep while scrolling through the schematics. ## "Why do you like this so much, Ellowyn? It just look like a bunch of people flailing their limbs to me." Alex hugged her from behind as she was watching a video on her computer. "For the last time Alex, its called Freestyle dancing. Get it right." She chuckled. ¡°And its not that I want to be able to do it since you know about my condition.¡± ¡°Then why?¡± Alex pressed on. ¡°Have you ever had that one desire to achieve something that you know you may never can?¡± She stared into his eyes. ¡°Not really, but I can understand what you mean.¡± ¡°I know you put logic before feeling, but please think twice before making such questions. They¡¯re rather rude.¡± She sighed. He held his hand up and laughed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try to think more before I speak.¡± I have not PR it yet, too busy with school. Tell me if you think there are too much sciency jargon and I''ll try to trim them down. GDoc link Please comment if you find any grammar errors of have any suggestions for better wording Chappy 26: Newbie Cyber Pet Owner ? You get on with life as an engineer You''re a logical kind of person ? Ellowyn leaned back, so much so that a normal human body would have already yielded its balance to the unforgiving pull of gravity. Her right knee bent at a 45 angle while her other leg stretched straight, like a ballet dancer held in place by an invisible partner. She could feel sweat dripping down her back as the four thrusters on her shoulder and arms overworked themselves. Stretching her hand towards the ground, she lifted her straight left leg up and does a 360 upper kick in the air, her body supported only by her arms and the thrusters on her belt and legs. ? You like to contemplate logic. But when you start to daydream, Your mind turns straight to dance. Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom! ? The music pace changed the moment her foot touched the ground. Her graceful ballet like movements became faster and more energetic. She spun her foot forward, swype kicking an invisible target in front of her before breaking into a backward run. Holding two handguns, she fired at the non-existing threat chasing after her. Without stopping, She pressed her right foot hard and began a no handed cartwheel to the side while still firing at the invisible threat. Even with the upward push of thrusters, inertia still pulled her body backward and kept her a good distance away from the imagined threat. ? You like to talk about physics. You like to talk about math. You like to talk about science. But when you start to daydream, Your mind turns straight to dance. Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom! ? She put one hand on the ground to change direction and continued cartwheeling around the target, continuously pelting it with bullets. ? Do you love to dance more than you love to science? ? Slowing down with the beat, she performed the ballet like movements once again while catching her breath. ? You''re not too fond of socializing, You really hate misspelled formulas, But you just think back to dance, And you''re happy once again. Boom boom shake da boom-boom-boom! ? She picked up the pace once again. As she was in the middle of a cartwheel, however.
Bonus Recovery Action - Simulating Thruster failure
The notice came too sudden for her to react. Two thrusters on her right arm and one on her leg went offline, breaking her mid air balance. Despite seeing the clear instructions to recover from the fall, the lack of experience forced her to simply abandon the movement and roll on the ground.
Overall Score: 85/100 Movement Accuracy: 8/10 Movement Timing: 9/10 Pace Consistency: 10/10 Bonus Recovery Action: 0/10
Ellowyn groaned, had she succeeded in the bonus action, she would have broken her previous record from six hours ago. It was morning, one full day after her decision to practice the dance like close combat style. ''I need a break.'' She exited the soul room and woke up to find a thick layer of sweat covering her body. She had system put her body into a hyperactive mode to increase reflex and encourage blood flow. The method was inferior to intensive exercise, but it would at least make her body more responsive should an emergency arise. She closed her eyes, letting the refreshing cool water caress her sweat soaked skin and taking in the sweet minty scent of the soap. She could simulate those comforting feelings well within the soul room, but nothing felt better than experiencing it in reality. "Good morning Ellowyn." She almost dropped the tower cover her body at the sight of Jane sitting on her bed. "Good morning to you too, Jane. As you can see, I''ve just taken a shower. Would you mind waiting a bit until I get dressed?" ''Why couldn''t she learn to knock?'' However, as Ellowyn walked to the closet to pic her clothes, she saw Jane still sitting on the bed, not moving an inch. She could only stand awkwardly in front of the closet door, resisting the urge to give herself a face palm. "Umm, would you mind giving me some privacy, so I can change?" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It was Jane''s turn to open her eyes wide. "Ah, sorry about that." She quickly stood up and left the room. ''Has she no common sense?'' She shook her head. "My coworkers often told me I lack sensibility." Jane laughed playfully and plopped herself on the bed. "Sit next to me." "Wah!" Ellowyn sat down, only to have Jane lift up her shirt and place a scanner on her belly. "Hmm, no firmware changes." "Can''t you at least respect my privacy?" Ellowyn pouted, knowing well Jane had read the chat log. She was glad to have returned the monitor back to its default state when there was no need to connect to the internet with the system. "Normally, I''d simply stay silent. But the monitor is vital to check your health condition. You couldn''t just mess around with it." She sighed. "Sorry." Ellowyn lowered her head. "Its fine. I know you liked techy things, I just didn''t know you like them that much." Jane gave an amusing smirk, "Don''t be so down. I''ve got something that you might like, but I''m still busy with renovating the security system so you''ll have to figure them out yourself." "What things?" Ellowyn asked. "You''ll see." Jane stopped at the door and showed her a taunting smirk, "If you want privacy, you''re going to have to earn it." "Is that a challenge?" There was no answer. Ellowyn shrugged and started working on various methods to make her connection as private as she can, from tunneling through various proxies to encrypting the upload data. She doubted the crude methods would work against someone as experienced as Jane, but she needed to start somewhere. Before she could make any notable progress, two men carrying a large box arrived at her door. She stared at the big label ''Tarkon''s General Robotics Kit'' and opened it. A wide stretched grin appeared on her face as she stared at the components. It was all she needed to create a working robot, from thrusters to flexible mechanical joints and a 3D printer for making custom components. It took her no time to flip through the e-manual and started working on her very first robot. "And I''ll name you RB-1" She said to a small metallic cube in her hand, attached to its sides were four thrusters. She knew the soul room had more than enough processing resources for her to design and simulate any electronic contraptions with a push of a button, but there was much pleasure in assembling the parts herself. The cube''s edges glowed a soft blue and its thrusters came to life, flying around her in circles. "Wah!" She had to duck as it flew past where her face was previously. "And I''ll name you RB-2" The blue sphere seemed to respond to her naming by rolling around her feet. It fired off its thrusters and hovered at her chest level. She flipped through the schematics and debug information the system showed her as it connected to RB-2 wirelessly. Her goal was to create a cyber assistant to aid should a close combat battle happen. They''d be her eyes and ears of the surrounding environment and also perhaps for scouting. There was much progress to make, from establishing a concrete enough connection to last even in jamming environments to giving it enough protection to withstand some bashing. She also wanted to make it small enough to keep it inside her clothes. She spent almost all night tinkering with various designs and part combinations. Even the morning sunlight couldn''t stir her awake. Ding. Her weary eyes pried themselves open at the doorbell. "Morning Alice." "Morning Ellowyn. Sorry I intruded on your sleep, but there is something urgent." Alice sat on the bed and stared into her eyes. "What is it?" Ellowyn asked in her sleepy voice. "Would you mind changing into something formal and come with me for a visit at the Lyon''s place?" It took all she had not to open her eyes wide and gape. "L-Lyon?" ''Did they find out who I am?'' "You know about Lyon Corp right? They''re the biggest weapon manufacturer in Liona. Me and Tom has a really good relationship with them. And just this morning, they requested that I come to visit. Seeing as you have been cooped up inside for almost a week, I figure you might want to see some change in scenery?" A gentle smile lined her face. Ellowyn could only nod, trying her best to hide the tension rising in her chest. I hope you enjoyed the short chapter. I was planning to write 2k words describing how Ellowyn designed the bots, but I figured everyone would fall asleep before the chapter ended >.< We''re entering the next arc, the ride will get a little bumpy from now on. Song lyric is inspired by http://www.song-lyrics-generator.org.uk/ Gdoc link, please comment if you find any errors or have better phrasing suggestions! Lionet: about Tarkons General Robotics Kit [marketing] As one of the leading producers of robotic components, Tarkon is the first to release the newest state of the art building kit in this year, with new components and various performance improvements. With the latest advancements in electromagnetic technology, Tarkon is able to produce a one of a kind robotic joints that can snap in place with little adjustments and its connection strength nearly equal to that of conventional joints. A well designed bot using JX joints can, with little difficulty, replace and repair its own joints with the provided components. The only drawback the JX series has for the moment was its vulnerability to electromagnetic jamming and instability in environments with intense electromagnetic fields. Note that electromagnetic fields produced from common households items and industrial machinery has no effect thanks to its well insulated case. ------ Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. As the second product of its series, the TX2 features a faster turning turret for a much more responsive change in thrust vector. Designed to be used on lighter and more fragile models, it produces less heat at the cost of slightly inferior thrust to its predecessor. Its casing is weaved from type 3 microscoping carbon fibers, capable of withstanding pressure almost twice as much as before. ------ Part of the popular Zeta printer series, it has a larger working area when deployed, along with a slightly faster print speed. The most notable point is its much improved micro scale printing which now allows for creation of objects as small as a fingernail while maintaining tough structural integrity(much smaller when some consistencies are sarcrificed). ------ According to Tarkon, the kit''s most major selling point would be its top of the line sensors. Never before had such a versatile sensor been mass produced. Within its tiny 3 inch capsule, the SS-21 offers a full panoramic camera, a dimensional echolocation sensor and a high depth recorder. While there are only one SS-21 included in each Kit, the user also has access to dozens of separate sensors, abielt not as compact. Chappy 27: Sophie Standing in the bathroom, she looked at the frail figure staring back from the mirror. Her hand caressed the strands of hazelnut hair and her fingers felt around the bridge of her nose. Because she was uncertain of what her previous dad, John, would do if he found her again, all of the characteristics that might have identified her with Emilia Lyon had been changed while she was laying under the warehouse rubble. Will I get discovered? A sense of dread ran through her spine. She wanted to further change her appearance but stopped because Alice might notice. She looked nothing like the Emilia of this world, but if she were to meet anyone from Earth, they would immediately recognize her as Ellowyn aside from her brown hair and brown eyes. Ellowyn sighed and wore the pair of jeans and shirt Alice gave her. They were for casual occasions but looked neat nonetheless. ## As their limo approached the Lyon''s headquarters, She couldn''t help but keep a slack-jawed gape at the scene. Unlike the fortress that was her home where all mounted weapons and turrets were well camouflaged within the walls and underground, the defensive structures there were not only in the wide open but also painted with black, a contrasting color with the rest of the white painted walls. In addition, numerous patches on the walls were of slightly varied shades of gray, as if they intentionally painted it so. Craters of various sizes and depth blanketed the ground, even a little ground work could cover those up easily, so why? "The Lyon take pride in the fact that they are attacked. Their livelihood depends on whether the weapons they sell are effective. Hence it¡¯s a good sales tactic to flaunt how much beating they received. Though I do see that they might have taken this a little too far." Alice smirked. Ellowyn gave a faint nod. The landing was similar to the one she had when Tom first brought her home, butlers and maids lined themselves on both sides of a blue glowing carpet on the landing pad. "I''m sorry, but Miss Sophie has had some urgent work for the moment and would like you two to wait for her in the guest room." The lead butler bowed and escorted them inside. The guestroom was one of the most lavish she had ever seen, countless weapon models lined the walls, from force blades of all sizes to guns and shields, ten glass cases scattered around the vast room featuring fancy products. A short, petite blond girl was staring at a large holographic screen several times her size. "Keep me informed on the situation, I''ll contact you again tonight." She held her head in her hands and sighed. "Is everything alright, Sophie?" Alice said. Sophie jerked her head at Alice''s calm voice, her gloomy expression replaced by a cheerful one in a flash. She broke into a run and hugged Alice tightly, "I''m glad you''re here!" With such short posture, Sophie''s head only reached Alice''s tall shoulders, they looked like a pair of loving sisters. Before Ellowyn could enjoy the scene, however,
Scan detected, initiating emergency shutdown
She winced, trying her best not to hold her head as the system forcefully pulled itself away from her consciousness, giving her a stinging headache.
Negative scan trace signature, restoring system
Words and numbers once again filled her vision. "You must be Ellowyn." Sophie pulled out of the hug, only to give Ellowyn one. Surprised and still tired from the system''s backlash, Ellowyn only managed a weak affirmation. Even in her weakened state, she could feel very well the two prominent bulges on Sophie''s chest that somehow managed to beat Alice''s record. How are they so impossibly big? "I''m sorry to have Alice brought you here when you''re still tired from the attack. I just wanted to see what my best friend''s new sister looks like. You can rest in my room, it¡¯s right next to here." Sophie smiled sweetly. "Thank you, but I''m fine though," Ellowyn said. She looked at the source of the scan after the system fully rebooted. It originated from a lean guard standing in the corner, he had combat gear and his face was partially covered by his cap. "Ah, let me introduce you to our personal guard and hero, Alexis," Sophie said proudly. "I told you not to reveal my hero status." Alexis sighed. "Oh come on, Ellowyn is now part of Alice family, she''ll be with us a lot more from now on," Sophie said. It was only then that the faintest strand of memory came to her of the time in captivity when she eavesdropped a pair of maids talking about her siblings, Sophie was the name that came up. Are you by any chance my sister? Was the burning question that almost blurted out of her mouth. A wave of emotions overcame her, sadness for she had never been able to meet her blood-related sister in this world and anger, for Sophie too, had never tried to contact her before. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. Taking rash actions then would only lead to disaster. She still didn''t know why it was that John locked her in for all of her life. I need to tread carefully. And my other sibling''s name, Lucas was it? "What is the commotion?" Ellowyn turned her head toward the source of the sharp voice. A blond young man stood there, his thin and tall statue along with the long concave nose gave him a haughty aristocratic look. "Lucas! Meet Ellowyn, Alice''s new sister." Sophie said. A shiver ran down Ellowyn''s spine as he gave her a cold emotionless glance before turning back to Sophie. "Don''t pester me for I have not the time for trivialities. How were the reports?" "Can''t you be more polite to our guests? And the reports are the same as always, no progress so far." Sophie gave him a glare. Lucas frowned shortly before he turned around and left. "Please excuse my brother, he is too engrossed in our family business for his own good." Sophie massaged her temples. Ellowyn returned an awkward smile. "It¡¯s alright." "You''ll get used to him." Alice said, "He''s not as much of a jerk as he sounds." Will I be going here more often? Ellowyn felt the dread of being discovered. "Before I get to the point, it¡¯s been quite a while since we had our last practice. Would you mind if I tell you while we spar?" Sophie did nothing to hide the excitement in her voice. "It¡¯s my pleasure." ## The Lyon''s training room was not only larger but more lavishly decorated than her own, the walls were lined with stylistic practice equipment of varied colors. The spar took place in an enclosed practice room the size of a basketball court. Ellowyn and Alexis stood outside the room, watching numerous projected holographic screens recording from different angles. Sophie wore a blue exoskeleton suit with sturdy metallic arms and legs. Limited by its weight and thickly armored joints, its movement didn''t seem as fast as the defense humanoid bots. However, the suit seemed to have much more flexibility in its movement. She held a large force axe in each hand.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Alice was in her usual practice light armored gear, holding a shotgun with forceblades attached. "Ready?" Sophie asked. "Ready." They lunged at each other at speeds faster than the eye can see. It seemed Ellowyn misjudged the suit''s combat speed, as it exceeded any of the robots she had seen in the raid. Sophie attacked first, swinging both of her axes downward. Alice dodged the first and blocked the second axe with her shotgun and pulled her shoulder around to dodge as blue flashes appeared from the tip of the blocked axe, signaling the firing of bullets. "You remember when Lucas and I found out that our dad had been visiting an enclosed, off the grid facility in the outlands?" Sophie said while pulling the axes back and giving out a kick. "Yeah, what about it?" Alice said, dodging the kick with a side roll. Ellowyn could only gape as she didn''t know what was more astounding, the fact that Alice was strong enough to block the axe strike of a powerful mechanic exosuit or that they were having a nonchalant conversation despite being engaged in intense combat. "It was only last week that he revealed what it was for. And can you believe it, the place was used to house my sister!" Alice froze for a second, before doing a side step to evade Sophie''s lunge. "But you don''t have a sister. At least you''ve never told me that you do." "Because I never knew!" Sophie leaned her body almost 180 degrees back as Alice''s forceblade swept past her face, her suit deployed a tripod stand from her back to prevent her from falling flat. "Dad never told any of us. It was only when she died that he decided to show us the body. And guess what." "What?" Alice did another side roll. "The body went missing before it got to our burial site. We found traces of break in, someone stole the body of my dead sister." "Okay, Stop!" Alice held her hand up to signal a break, "I don''t quite get what you''re saying. You have a sister that John had kept a secret from, only to reveal it on her death. And now her body was stolen? None of this is making sense!" "I know right? I''m having trouble wrapping my head around it all." Sophie threw her arms in the air and sat down. "Thank you though, I haven''t had a chance to vent my frustrations for a while now." "You''re certainly welcome. Let''s tidy things up and head back to the guest room where you can tell me more about it." Ellowyn sighed. It was as she had expected, John had kept her existence a secret to everyone including her own family. Although she still didn''t know why he had done so. Back in the guest room, they all sat on the sofa and Sophie explained everything in detail. That the news of her sister''s death arrived out of the blue and that John had mentioned Emilia, Sophie''s dead sister, dying along with his first wife in a car ambush eighteen years ago. Why it was that he kept her secluded in such a place, Sophie didn''t know because he never explained. Ellowyn frowned, it had only been one week since the name Emilia was used to address her. It had then belonged to a dead identity. "I''m sure there must be a good reason for John to have done so, you of all people should know that he is much more sensible than he seems," Alice said. "But it tortures me to know that for the past 18 years, I''ve had a sister whom I never knew, that she had to suffer being locked inside that place for all her life." Sophie sighed, "I seem to be the only person who cares, even Lucas simply said it doesn''t concern him." Ellowyn clenched her teeth, suppressing the desire to reach out and give Sophie a hug and to comfort her with the news of her being alive and well. "What about you, you should have known something. Or is it in your contract that you can''t talk about it?" Alice looked at Alexis. "I think it is because I''m not required to withhold information to Sophie and Lucas that he did not inform me with any info regarding Emilia," Alexis said. I know this voice, Alex? Ellowyn widened her eyes. The tone was much deeper and clearer than what she remembered, but the timing and wording were nearly identical to the Alex she knew. Peering at his face, her quickened heartbeat slowed down as she was filled with a sense of disappointment. His nose was long and concave instead of short and snub and his eyes were slightly lower, making his forehead stand out more. He was also much taller. An idea popped into her mind, that he really was Alex and that he could change his features easily using the hero system. She shook her head and dismissed the thought almost instantly. The odds of meeting someone in that world who bore similar characteristics to Alex vastly outnumbered that of him being Alex himself. Even his name is similar. She wanted to chuckle. "Are you alright? You have been spaced out for quite a while." Alexis said, raising his eyebrow. Ah, crap. Ellowyn realized she had been staring at him the whole time. "I''m fine, sorry. It¡¯s just the first time I get to meet a hero." "I''m just a normal human being like you. Although with just a few extra perks." He raised an amused smile. "Hey! I just lost my sister here and you''re going to leave me for that girl?" Sophie gave him a light slap on the back. "Let me clarify this again Sophie. I''m here as your bodyguard, not your boyfriend or lover." "You just had to ruin the mood just as I was feeling better." Sophie pouted. "You two do look great together though." Ellowyn chimed in, repressing a wave of jealousy in her mind. Quiet down, my heart. He''s just an imitation of Alex, not the real thing. She patted her aching chest. Silence filled the room as the atmosphere turned serious once again. "Thank you, Alice and Ellowyn, for being here and helping me share my frustrations." Sophie said, "but now I have more pressing matters to discuss that affects all of us." "I''m all ears," Alice said. "Do You remember the Allied Church had been lobbying very aggressively to pass the Educate Every Child Act?" "Yes? Although I had been too busy lately to keep up with the news. Had they succeed?" Sophie nodded. "To our surprise, they managed to push it through Congress and it had been passed just yesterday." "How did they managed that? The whole thing was more of a joke than anything else. This is bad." Alice frowned. "By doing a very effective media campaign. I have to admit that was some phenomenal work to have convinced people to agree to that ridiculous a policy." Sophie rubbed her temple, "We''ve tried our best. But they had much more influence in the public''s eye. Now that shit has hit the fan, we can only brace ourselves." "This is certainly alarming. When will it come into effect?" "At the start of this school year. All students who aren''t eligible to be exceptions are required to attend a government-approved institution. Homeschooling of any kind is outlawed unless the child has more disabilities than a zombie." Sophie said gravely. "Do we at least know why they are doing this?" "So far I can''t find conclusive evidence. But you probably know already. In the worst case scenario, they''re planning a mass kidnapping to coerce as many as they can into following demands, the lightest case, still selective kidnappings and perhaps forcing us to do under the table bargaining and generally just making life hell for everyone." "I guess it¡¯s too late to do anything now. Which school are you planning to have us go, the Armadillo or Sapphire Valery? I haven''t the time to really look into them yet." "You really should pay more attention to what''s happening in the world and stop overexerting yourself. I guess I can see why Ellowyn is needed to keep you from working to death." Sophie chuckled. "Anyway, I''m staying on the positive side. If we''re going to be forced to attend school then might as well use the opportunity to socialize with the children from other influential families. Though I doubt there''d be enough time for that." "So the Armadillo? I''m assuming you don''t want Sapphire for its all girl policy." "I find an environment with solely one gender to be dull. And perhaps you two can find yourselves some men of your taste?" Sophie gave a mischievous smirk. "Sophie, we need to take this seriously." "I''m just trying to lighten the mood." Sophie''s phone beeped. "Ah crap, I have to take this." "Take your time, I have to return and tell John to have everything ready as soon as possible." Sophie nodded before answering the phone and walking out of the room. ## Back inside the limo, Ellowyn contemplated over the events. It was a relief knowing that her siblings had no idea of her existence until now, but she still hadn''t find out Tom''s motive for locking her up. The conversation about the Allied Church and the new policy also confused her. "Sorry Ellowyn, after all the hardship you''ve been through, I would have thought you deserved a break. But now there''s another storm on the horizon." Alice hugged Ellowyn''s shoulders and leaned her head on top of Ellowyn''s head. "You don''t have to worry so much, I''m a lot stronger than I look." She gave a silly grin. "I know you are." Alice returned the smile. "Could you explain a bit more about the policy? I''m a bit lost." "You heard Sophie talked briefly about it right? It basically forces all student aged citizen to attend an educational institution. That means people like us whom because of various security risks, have to learn within the confine of our home. Going to any school would be inviting kidnappings and possibly public assassinations." "Then why did the government approve such an insane policy?" "You see, the Armadillo and Sapphire Valery are two of the many so-called secure private schools that recently opened. They have a much more secure environment, with professionally trained guards and defense equipment. The thing is, we can''t really be sure of their credibility and their security level doesn¡¯ really match up with that they advertise. The two schools I mentioned are the most reliable for the moment." "So the worst case scenario Sophie mentioned was based on the fact that these institutions can be easily attacked?" "Worse, the offenders could simply bribe the school staff to let them in. Wait, I''m making this sound really terrifying to you aren''t I?" Alice chuckled, "Don''t panic, all is well for now. Everyone is allowed to have some measure of security such as personal weapons and one or two guards to accompany them. And if it is the Church''s intention to kidnap or kill, they can''t do it too often or else there''d be too much public outcry and the policy will be scrapped." "You make it sound like the Allied Church is some evil organization." Ellowyn raised an eyebrow. "That''s an interesting way to look at it. No, not really. They are the most influential organization in our country and they have their own agenda. We did some poking and found that they''re trying to conduct some sort of experiment, ''Soul Stream'' is a fancy name, isn''t it. Anyway, they''re much more aggressive recently, trying to recruit researchers and scientist alike. I can only imagine the passing of this policy is them trying to gather even more resources by coercing from other influential factions." "And they don''t get any backlashes?" "They do, and quite a lot too. I''m surprised they''re still holding up with all the negative propaganda that almost everyone is throwing at them. I guess being the largest religion means they can take quite the beating." Alice decided to put the conversation on hold after seeing Ellowyn''s tired expression. Chappy 28: Subspace Storage
Overall Score: 94/100 Movement Accuracy: 9/10 Movement Timing: 9/10 Pace Consistency: 10/10 Bonus Recovery Action: 5/10
Ellowyn stared at the screen, a bitter smile formed on her lips. *I supposed this is my limit for now.* She had spent the last two days tinkering with various movement combinations that would fit best with her poor choreographing skills and practicing them until her tired mind couldn''t take it any longer. She wanted to try practicing with live simulated targets but stopped from the mental fatigue. She exited the soul room only to wake up in a sweat drenched body. *Ew.* Beep. Beep. A small glowing blue sphere flew around her as she opened her eyes, giving out a series of beeps and indicating its excitement. "Good morning to you too, RB-121" She reached out her hand and patted it. RB-121: Beep [happy]. The small bot cuddled itself by rubbing at her open palm. She stood up and took a moment to marvel at the bed''s self cleaning mechanism, had it been any normal bed, the room would stink beyond measure. She took some water to refill her dehydrated body and dived into the cool shower. How are you doing? I''m okay. Although I''m worried about the new education policy, you''ve heard of it right? Yes, thats what I''m going to address. Do you know the motive behind the Allied Church? Ellowyn, I''m not even a living entity in your world. I have neither the means nor the authority to look deeper into the world. The only access I have currently are from the logs you sent me. Thats too bad. I was looking for some advice to live through this. From the look of it, I''d say theren''t much to worry about. Being the largest religious organization, I''m sure they won''t resort to mass murder unless they have a death wish. There might be kidnapping attempts though, those shouldn''t be life threatening. So you''re saying I shouldn''t be worried about getting kidnapped? You''ll be alright. You can handle small threats with your current skills. I will need a way to carry the thurstered combat suit though, would people not give me weird looks if I carry a bunch of thrusters around? Hold on.
Module found: Subspace Storage
I just made the storage module available. It is still broken however. If you can fix it then you can use it to store your combat gear. And I''m supposed to repair a interspatial storage module how? My knowledge of physics is hardly useful. You''re a smart girl, go figure it out. She wanted to make sense of the broken module, half of its code were corrupted and the other half weren''t very clear on what they were doing either. Cough Cough. Only after reading through the whole module did she realized her body was freezing from being in the cold shower for too long. She walked out of the bathroom and began working immediately on the module, ignoring the subtle shaking of her still cold body. RB-121: Beep beep beep [agitated] Ignored by its creator, the sphere flew around her while beeping incessantly. "Quiet down will you, I''m trying to focus!" She reached out her hand again to rub its surface. RB-121: Beep [happy]. "I have some really important work so please don''t bother me. I''ll make you some friends later." RB-121: Beep Beep [confused] The bot''s simplistic firmware couldn''t understand her complex statement. "Sorry, I''ll have to keep you deactivated for now." RB-121: Beep [sad] Understanding her intention, it flew reluctantly to the wireless charging station and went into sleep mode. Try as she may, the code functionality was too obscure and incomplete for her to patch it together. From what she could gather, each person with a hero system was allocated a certain amount of storage space depending on their contract terms. The procedure to safely connect to the subspace and modify its content was completely broken and trying to backtrack to restore it was impossible. She decided to take a break and play WoM to relax her tired mind. Looking at the figure of her character pulling various combat moves against its enemy, she could help but let out a chuckle. After three days of experimenting and practicing various aerobatic maneuvers, her mind could see well that the moves performed by the in game character was not only useless and unrealistic, they even managed to look less graceful than some of the more intuitive ones she came up with. I haven''t seen you on Sentria lately, lost interest? I haven''t the time to for the last few days. Though I''m free right now so I''m going to try to get some ranks Thats great! Tell me when you get to Knight rank and we can do some requests together. I''ll show you the ropes. You don''t have to waste time helping a noob like me. I can figure things out myself :) I just have a crap load of free time right now so I figure I could earn some extra income. I know you are more than capable, but wouldn''t it be more fun if you can learn things with another human being? Alright, I''ll pm you later. Her fingers glided across the holo keyboard as she hummed a long forgotten pop song of a different world.
Assessment completed, you are now ranked Serf
She took a moment to stretch and grabbed a drink before continuing.
Assessment completed, you are now ranked Baron
Assessment completed, you are now ranked Knight
Hmm, that wasn''t so bad. She leaned back and smiled. It was quite challenging to gain three ranks within the hour, but not as hard as she thought. I knew you can breeze through it, but not that fast. I also got 2 more levels in WoM. ... What? It was easy Lets just get to the request board and pick one that you like. I''ll show you the dos and don''t. Try not to get cocky for getting caught can lead to jail time. She was glad to find the Sentria server much more secure at Knight rank, while it meant she had to put more effort to bypass the authorization checks, it meant there was less chance to get traced. The list had requests of various difficulty and reward, from hacking into various websites and change user information to fabricating personal backgrounds on government sites and even rendering entire servers inoperable. As a hacker with a moral, she couldn''t bring herself to do petty theft and vandalism. What she looked for were requests to expose the misconduct of business competitors by gathering evidence such as logs and emails of their illegal activities. Not exactly white hat work, but it''ll have to do. She accepted a medium difficulty job. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The operation was rather simple, she only needed to bypass the target server''s outdated firewall and do a quick port hack. Then she''d grab the target data and listen to Dave''s speech on how to erase her trail, which she already knew from previous researches. The procedure went smoothly as neither of them were inexperienced in the field. Ellowyn decided to take it a little further by accepting progressively harder requests. At their fifth task, however, things went sour as the security rating of the target site was much higher than what the client had stated. She only discovered the horrid fact after the server started its trace operation. With a dwindling time window, she had to slow the trace down by tunneling back from her complex web of proxies while waiting for Dave to nuke the server. A small cluster of data caught her attention as she was erasing the server logs. They were hidden quite well, as if the data were kept from the server admin himself. Are you done yet? We need to pull out now. One sec. She made quick a copy before disconnecting and watched as Dave crashed the entire server to stop the trace. The data was of a business transaction between two unidentifiable people, however, she did a small trace on their origins and what she found caught her full attention. She had gained access to the Crystal Lane, one of the largest online black market in Liona. She decided against looking into it for the moment, as previous experience with such entities told her without security precautions, she could easily be caught or blacklisted from the place. She needed to polish her skill more before attempting to access it. Let¡¯s do one more request Okay It wasn''t a coincidence that the last request involved acquiring a thesis on subspace storage from a University''s database. She wanted to get a hand on the data in hope of repairing her module.
The Usage of Subspace and Its Relation to the Soul Stream Prof. Alizka Zander University of Saramay
Was the research''s title. She blinked. Soul Stream, Isn''t that a top secret thing? She knew well that besides those who had the system, the Soul Stream to the rest of the world was simply a myth. For someone to have detailed research on the stream itself was both terrifying and exciting to her. Then a thought came to her, Alice said the Allied Church was looking for more resources to research the Soul Stream. She concluded that the researcher or the client could be related to the church, but dismissed the idea since other parties might be involved. Still, she decided to keep in contact with the client by offering them a cheaper payout in exchange for a monopoly in accepting their tasks. Look at what I found ~Ellowyn has uploaded a file That is alarming Can you stop them? Its not against the World Law to have knowledge of the Soul Stream, but it is illegal to exploit an existing Hero system for those information. And if my guess is correct, they have access to someone with a partially exploited system similar to yours. What are you going to do then? Nothing for the moment. If I were to reveal this, my superiors would know about you. Just keep an eye on them for now, both the client and the researcher. But don''t do anything rash. Okay. She started working on the broken module again, using the research as reference to fill in the incomplete blanks left by corrupted code. The article wasn''t very helpful for it consisted mainly of assumptions and mismatched info when she compared it to her system data. However, it did have a well planned design for how to set up a working subspace After hours of rewriting the whole module from scratch using the little knowledge she gained, Ellowyn managed to set up a minimal working version. She put some unused robotic components onto her table and started the testing procedure.
Connecting to allocated subspace... success Validating arguments..... done Starting space transfer
A small outline of a box surrounded the components, glowing brighter every second until she had to close her eyes.
Begin transfer... Energy overflow detected, venting excess energy
She had to step back as blue electric sparks were surrounding the box. The storage procedure lasted five minutes, producing so much light and heat that the temperature of the room became warm. Everything on the table was then inside her subspace. Checking over the logs, she was glad to know it worked well aside from some minor errors. However, there was a serious efficiency problem as the system used almost a quarter of its total power to store only a very small area. The energy required to store and retrieve larger areas would increase exponentially. At least it works right? That is some impressive results when you had to rewrite the whole thing. But the energy efficiency is so low and it takes too long I can''t use it in battle at all! I never said its for use in combat. You only need it to smuggle the combat gear to school. Maybe if you spend more time to fine tune, it wouldn''t cost so much energy? Maybe, but I need more info before attempting to streamline it. Don''t want to blow myself up. Its fine if you just mess around a little, the system has its own countermeasures to prevent the ripping of space. If you say so. She continued experimenting with the module until sleep overtaken her mind once again. ¡°Ellowyn!¡± A hug from behind pulled her awake. "Don''t sleep on the table, it will ruin your back!" Alice said. "Good morning. What bring you here so early?" Ellowyn made a long yawn. "Did you study so much that you forgot, silly?" Alice knocked gently on her head, "Its assessment day." Ellowyn could only widen her eyes at the alarming realization. She had been too focused on combat practice, bot designing and module repair to do any study for the school assessment day. Very sorry for the late release! I was rather busy for the past week. HOWEVER! It is now Spring Break and I have ... slightly more free time to write now >.< (Still have 3 months worth of math homework and a website to design for a client) GDoc link feel free to edit suggestions for errors and better phrasing. Chappy 29: Assessment Exams "I''ll get ready then." Ellowyn darted her gaze away from Alice, trying not to let her anxiety show, "Who is that?" "Good morning Milady, my name is Rexis Nandia. I will be your guard and guide during your time at the Armadillo." Said a soldier-like voice behind Alice. She was a petite girl with blackberry shoulder length hair and gray wolf ears, her posture spoke clearly of her training, from her straightened back to the seriousness in her expression. Ellowyn could see the toned muscles beneath her arm and thighs. "You are too stiff. Please speak with Ellowyn in a more casual tone." Alice said. "I''m sorry." Rexis apologized, but her militaristic tone remained. "Take your time, we are in no hurry." "Okay." From the air, she could see layers upon layers of black metallic armor protecting the campus buildings. I guess that''s where the name comes from. Defensive structures from gun and missile turrets to shield stations nearly blanketed its walls and parts of the surrounding ground. Most of them were in a retracted state. The landing process was more tedious than usual, as they were subjected to a vehicle wide scan before getting permission to land. Two armored guards arrived and did individual body scans as they stepped out of the limo. Staring at the armored structure and countless guard posts along with flying patrol drones scattered throughout the entire college, Ellowyn hugged herself to calm herself from the fear that clung to her spine. Am I going to school or a maximum security prison? Probably both. Unlike the rough military exterior, the campus looked much more aesthetically pleasing on the inside. With colorful silhouette art lining the wall and flowery designs layered the floor. A vast projection of the sky with countless moving artistic cubes covered the ceiling. The security features were designed to blend in with the colorful decorations, but she could still pick up numerous camouflaged cameras and retracted turrets. Two guards stood in front of each doorway and many more patrolled throughout the campus, to the extent that she was sure one of the guards had his sight on her and every other students present at all times. "I am Mitchell Anderson, Chancellor of Armadillo College System, I would like to welcome everyone to our institution. We provide education to the best and brightest students in the safest environment..." All holographic screens on the walls were replaying the same introductory message. "Stay close, I don''t want either of you get separated." Alice said. "Alice!" Sophie yelled and ran up to hug her. "Sophie, please behave yourself." Alex sighed as he slowly followed. "Where is Lucas?" Ellowyn asked. "The policy has an age limit of 22, Lucas had just turned 23." Sophie said while still clinging onto Alice. Looking at the large streams of people entering the crowded hallways, Ellowyn an odd sense of nostalgia. They reminded her of the short time she spent in high school, when everyone would shower her with stares, some were curious of her white hair and red eyes while others acted as if she was a freak and kept their distance, not that she really minded the extra personal space. Unlike that time, she received no stares as everyone else had the same expressions, nervous, fear and a little excitement for what was to come. From jeans or shorts and T-shirts, they wore clothes that were easy to move in, some even had light bullet proof suits. Accompanying many of the students were bodyguards, dressed in their respective combat suits, they each had a stern expression and their gazes scanned the surrounding crowd for any sign of threats. The students weren''t the only ones feeling nervous and fearful, as the system''s threat detection pointed out signs of constant leg shifting, sweating and the wringing of hands from the faculties. They too, don''t want to be here, do they? She raised an eyebrow. It was only in the large speaker hall that she realized how surreal it was to see more than half of the students with animal ears of some kind, all standing in the auditorium and staring at the tiny figure of the Chancellor behind the podium. A giant holo screen appeared showing Mitchell''s image. Angelic. Was the word that came to Ellowyn''s mind as she stared in a daze. Everything about the woman spoke of beauty and charm, from the wavy champagne hair cascading down her delicate shoulders to a straight classic nose and luscious ruby lips. But the most striking features were her unfathomable azure eyes that seemed to draw everyone''s gazes into its deep crystal abyss. Unlike the intense fiery beauty of Alice, hers was blindingly dazzling in a haughty way. She knew that the world''s technology allowed for very impressive cosmetic changes, but what she was seeing completely transcended her expectations. "Thank you for being here today. As your chancellor and friend, I would like to express my sympathy that some of you may have chosen our institution out of compulsion. And I completely understand that when the current political situation is resolved, many of you will not be staying with us." She bowed her head. "But please be assured, for I will do my very best to make your experience here at the Armadillo as safe and enjoyable as possible." She is rather frank for someone of her stature. Ellowyn raised an eyebrow. Something tugged at her from deep within her memories, that the chancellor''s voice and facial expressions were hauntingly familiar and yet strangely alien. She could only shrug and concluded that her tired mind was throwing noise at her from its lack of sleep. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "Today is our academic assessment day where we will be...." Ellowyn stopped paying attention to the formal speech as she started going over and organizing the mass of files she hastily downloaded from the internet. Had Jane been monitoring the net, she would have seen Ellowyn downloading a monumental amount of data she could find on each test subject just before she left with Alice. "... And with that I would like to thank everyone again for coming here today." Mitchell bowed and left the podium. The idea of having to cheat left a sour taste in her mouth, as she had been well taught by Maribelle, her beloved mother from Earth, to try her best and live through life without taking any loathsome shortcuts. But she also taught Ellowyn that life is precious, that letting one¡¯s life go over some strict moral code was just plain silly. Ellowyn closed her eyes and contemplated some more, failing any of the tests meant being put in small substitute classes devoid of students which will invite easy kidnappings. I''d rather have some academic dishonesty than getting kidnapped and killed in a warehouse somewhere. She shivered. "Remember, you don''t have to try too hard. Just pass the elementary level." Alice said. "Did you look into the robotics class for me?" "Sorry I almost forgot. Yes, you can take them along with the computer science classes too, according to the previous semester''s roster, those two classes had a high number of participants so you should be safe." "Thanks." The two classes were not in the core curriculum but Ellowyn was determined to take them. "Good luck and don''t try too hard." Alice waved as she entered a different testing room. The test room was divided by numerous blue test booth, each with a chair and holo computer. There was a chair outside of each booth for the bodyguards to wait. The exams for minor subjects were simplistic in nature, only requiring minimal knowledge and with short, easy exercises. They really went great lengths to make sure nobody fails these tests. She resisted the urge to chuckle. They were simple enough for her to only rely on the memories of her captive self, listening to the small lectures made by her bored personal maids. When she chose to take the robotics and computer exams, however, the difficulty skyrocketed. With each question requiring answers in paragraph form or by giving precise answers on complex mathematics problems and showing competency in using the required software. Because Ellowyn had no formal academic experience in that world, she had to relearn making answers in essay format and try her best to give as detailed an answer without giving away the fact that she had access to the full documents herself. The task was much more taxing than she expected, as one of the supervisors had to give her a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her face. It was at the practical test that troubled her the most. For she had no documents on how to use the software and fumbling around with the controls would take too long. I''m not giving up though. She plopped her head on the table and pretended to take a nap, while starting the soul room to launch simulations and jotting down their readings.
Starting Soul Room Waiting for input on components data...
She had to spend the majority of the time trying to set up the simulation itself, but once that was done the system gave her the results almost instantly. Fatigue took over the moment she finished her test. "Ellowyn, Are you alright?" Alice ran upon seeing Ellowyn''s pale face and grabbed her shoulders. "I''m fine, the tests were a bit harder than I thought, that''s all." She returned a tired smile. "I know you want to study in robotics, but even if you didn¡¯t pass on those two subjects, I can always hire tutors." Alice shook her head, ¡°And it¡¯s not like we are staying here for long. The policy could be reverted within a month or two.I doubt we¡¯ll be staying here any longer than that. Let¡¯s get you some rest.¡± All Ellowyn wanted to do was sleep when she arrived home, the many late nights spent in combat practice and drone design had put a toll on her tired mind. Before she could yield herself to the sweet embrace of slumber, she had to get ready for the first day of class in the following morning.
Connecting to allocated subspace... success Starting space transfer...
She replaced the useless components inside her subspace with the combat rifle, shield strap and a backup armored vest Alice gave her. She also wanted to assemble a working thruster suit but lacked strong enough thrusters to combat effectively. Unable to resist the need for sleep, her eyelids slowly closed. Let¡¯s hope nothing happens in opening day. I hope you enjoy my short chapppy! GDoc link feel free to edit suggestions for errors and better phrasing.[/size] Chappy 30: First Day "Are you ready?" Alice said. Ellowyn checked her items, a small satchel holding an Epad, her phone and the shield bracelet on her arm. "Yeah, I think." "Let¡¯s go." Alice urged her to walk faster. "Why are we in a hurry? It is still earl-" "Good morning Alice" Ellowyn turned around to see the figure of Bob leaning his back on the wall. "Morning to you too, Bob." "May I ask where it is that you ladies are going at this early hour?" A smirk lined his lips. "Oh nothing, just a jog in our garden, right Ellowyn?" Alice nudged her shoulders. "Umm." She hadn''t a clue on what to say. "Oh don''t drag her into this. Now give me a good reason why you''re trying to stop me from coming." "It¡¯s just, " Alice twiddled her thumbs and looked down. "I just wanted some time between us girls." He gave her a knock on the head. "Do you know how dangerous it is, oh you probably do." "It¡¯s not my fault! I thought you weren''t coming since you never showed up." "I was too tired from trying to put the new recruits in order." He sighed. "So I overslept a bit yesterday." "It¡¯s mostly your fault then." Alice grinned. "Don''t tell Tom okay?" He returned in impish smile. I''ll never get used to this. Ellowyn stared absentmindedly at the Armadillo as her limo made an approach to land. Perhaps the tension from the assessment day had waned for she noticed a significant decrease in the presence of armed security. A brief system analysis, however, showed that they simply rearranged the guard and drone patrol routes to make the lack of security an illusion. Some people were probably scared by their display of force yesterday. She shrugged. "Let¡¯s see, outdated turret models, impractical patrol routes and subpar security drones. If there''s a siege, I''d give it around 10 minutes before outer defense fails, another 5 minutes for minor infiltration..." Bob whispered ominously. "Stop that, you''re making Ellowyn panic!" Alice smacked his shoulder. "Did I at least managed to scare you? Don''t worry, we''ll live." He laughed. Ellowyn raised an eyebrow, Bob was trying to lighten the mood, but his eyes weren''t laughing. Entering the school, she could see the atmosphere had loosened a little, for everyone''s expressions were much lighter than the day before. Some were chatting and laughing merrily while others simply stared at their phones. The first class took place in her last exam room, only the twenty to thirty blue booth walls were removed, each leaving a u-shaped table and chair facing the front podium. Most of the bodyguards including Rexis sat on the same desk with their VIPs, while Bob and a few others walked towards the back of the classroom. She and Alice each chose a table next to a waving Sophie. "I had to pull some magic to get us the same class schedule. Aside from Ellowyn''s afternoon robotic class." Sophie said excitedly. Shortly after everyone had taken their seats, a short and thin man in his seventies entered the room. There was a distinct frown on his face and he walked at a slow pace in a low posture.The pristine militaristic green uniform of the Armadillo staff looked disheveled and awkward on him. "Ahem, good morning class." He swept his melancholic gaze around the room. "I am Professor Gibble Stanford." A series of giggles echoed throughout the room. "You may call me by Stanford. Before I get started on our class material, which is General History if you have not read your class schedule, I would like to go over a few things." She tilted her head, the laughters mocking his name did nothing to change the cold somber air surrounding him. "I know well that some of you would rather not be here right now, if not for the new fancy policy. That is why I will make some changes to my teaching methods to perhaps lighten your workload. However, I have to remind you that this is a formal education institution and you will need to act accordingly. Any violation of school rules can be considered a misdemeanor and you may be prosecuted according to the law. Please keep that in mind." "As much as I''d like to listen to you treating us like kids, we paid you to teach this class, not to bumble around with your annoying little nagging." A redhead at the back of the class said. She crossed her legs on her table and tossed her hair back while chewing gum. "I''m sure he is only giving advices for our sake. Please calm down and keep your composure." Alice said with a soft and tranquil voice. "Miss Alina, I''m afraid I may have to have you leave our classroom if you disrupt our class again. And Miss Alice, I understand that you want to give me support, but it is unnecessary. Now let us begin our first lesson in General History." He began to teach in a composed manner, as if Alina''s previous jab had never happened. "Wait." Alina stood up and pointed at Alice. "You, you''re Alice Price! How many poor little critters have died today for the sake of your ''science''? How many victims have had a wretched piece of animal ears stitched to their heads because of your foul marketing scheme?" "Do you know I hate every single moment with these floppy dangling pair of flesh just sitting on my head?" Another girl joined the quarrel. "While it was my grandfather that started the trend, he only did it as a personal request. Never had he any intention to turn it into an international trend. Please contact my office after class if you have any other questions. You are disrupting our class." Ellowyn had to marvel at Alice''s calm response, it seemed she was completely used to handling those kinds of situations. "Oh shut up bitch, I bet that your pretty face was also made by genetical mojo." "Please excuse Miss Alina. We''ll be taking our leave." Alina''s bodyguard bowed before bringing her outside of the room while restraining her with his arms. "You know, it was thanks to the deaths of those test animals that my aunt was saved from Rout, it¡¯s a genetic disease to which the cure was made by Alice herself." A male student at the back stood up. "So? It doesn''t excuse the fact that many more are sacrificed for the sake of some exotic new engineered pets." The second girl continued the loud bad-mannered debate. "Why do you value those animals so much anyway? The guy said. "You''re defending her because you just want to get in her pants!" Ellowyn face palmed, the discussion was going nowhere and no one was stopping it. Even the professor only stared with his arm folded, there was no change to his sober expression. "With all due respect, I doubt this discussion is of any beneficial to our class." A student next to Alice spoke up. He had falcon''s nose and attentive eyes on an artist''s face. His burgundy hair was of a darker shade of red than Alice''s fiery crimson. "And another white knight decided to come forth to save our princess." The girl mocked. "If anything, I''m only defending her because we are of the same profession. My name is Jake Daniel, I''m the son of the CEO of Xenetic Corp." "Then you also helped in the vile spreading of the animal ears marketing campaign. It¡¯s people like you and Alice that put a stain in our history and culture." "I believe the spread of the Animal Ear Attachment procedure helps give a much more colorful variety to cultures around the world. I''ve seen very many creative and beautiful ways it had been done. Now I understand to some family, this procedure has been made mandatory despite the unwillingness of some of the family members and I want to express my sympathy. But there are laws to prevent the abuse of such proceedings and independent individuals of over eighteen are free to remove them." He continued, interrupting the other girl who was about to talk back. "While our discussion is very interesting, I think it would be much better for everyone here if we do it at another time. Our class had already been interrupted for too long and professor Stanford needs to continue with his teachings." The angry girl stood up and left the room. "Thank you." Alice smiled, her eyebrow raised with interest. "It¡¯s my pleasure to be able to meet you. Perhaps we should have a talk after class?" Jake said. "Certainly." The professor continued his teaching as if the previous commotion had never happened. "Usually I''d have left around five to ten minutes so you can have time to change classes but we ran out of time today." Everyone had to leave class quickly to make it on time in their next one. "Its too bad that there aren''t time. Lets meet at lunch?" Jake asked. "Sure, see you around." Alice said. "Are you alright Ellowyn? It must have been rather stressful back there." Sophie said. "I''m fine. I already knew well the polaric nature of Alice''s work after some research. Though I wasn''t expected for that to happen so suddenly." "Yeah, even I who work in the weapon manufacturing firm don''t receive such public outlash." "Is Alice alright though?" Ellowyn asked in concern. "Oh it¡¯s fine, she is used to these kinds of things all the time." Alice must have been through a lot huh. . Ellowyn contemplated. Boom, boom! Many loud explosions shook the building as they were halfway to their destination. "Take cover!" Alice and Sophie yelled in unison as they ran into the nearest classroom and hid under the desks while deploying their shield bracelets. The tables themselves also deployed into their defensive positions, with the middle part opened and covered up their U-shaped openings. "While there is no immediate emergency, it is recommended that all students take cover and try not to stay in the open." Alarm bells rang and the scenery around Ellowyn flashed from red to yellow as the school speaker roared. "What is happening?", "I don''t want to be here!", "Please make it stop." Ellowyn could hear the panicked yells from the other students hiding under their tables. After a few minutes, the explosions stopped but everyone still stayed under their tables. "This is Mitchell, the attack is over and we have made sure that everything is safe. Please make your way to the speaker hall for further instructions. There is no need to worry as our school is completely safe. This is Mitchell..." "Let¡¯s go" Sophie stood up first to beckon Alice and Ellowyn. "Are you sure it¡¯s safe?" Ellowyn asked, her voice shaky. "Yeah, it was just a missile strike, possibly from an underground source that just opened up a tunnel near here. Based on the sounds I''d say those were mid ranked VS models, nothing this school missile defense system couldn''t handle." Sophie answered smugly. "If you say so" They proceeded to walk cautiously to the speaker hall. Looking around, Ellowyn saw many students still hiding under their desks while the rest walked slowly and turning their heads restlessly. Fear, surprise and caution were few of the many expressions on the countless faces she saw. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Please be at ease, we have handled the missile attack with no trouble at all. It was a surprise attack aimed towards our parking lot, but our defense system took down every single invading missile. The slight vibration you felt earlier was because a few of the missiles got deflected and landed on the ground 300 meters away from our walls." "I bet that the attackers were aiming at those who were leaving." Sophie whispered. "You mean the two students that left our class?" Ellowyn was shocked, How could they have known their targets were in the parking lot. Then she realized a simple reconnaissance would have done the job. "No we can''t be sure of that, but it is a possibility." Alice pointed out. "While I understand that some of you are scared. I am sure, with all my heart, that we are safe right now. There are no other threats, no one has been hurt and nothing has been damaged." Mitchell continued. Ellowyn can see well why the woman was hired, her soothing gentle voice gave calmness to even the most agitated of students. She also knew why Mitchell wanted to gather everyone to the speaker hall, not to give an important speech -she could do that with the school speakers- but so that everyone could see her serene expression, the brilliant smile on her lips and her glistening crystal eyes . Even the tiniest shred of fear inside Ellowyn''s heart vanished at the vivid sight. "Now that I have everyone''s attention, I''d like to say that classes will continue with a slight delay in schedule. I do understand some of you would like to leave for today and I will not stop you. However, please do mind that too many absences can lead to serious problems and even prosecution by court. Please be careful and I hope that our day go smoothly from now on." Mitchell bowed and left the podium. Ellowyn could hear the various objections in her surroundings. "How can she expect us to study with all that explosions?", "What if my head gets blown off in the middle of the lecture!" "Are we going to continue classes?" She asked. "I don''t see why not." Sophie shrugged. "From what I can see, it was probably a probing attack. They wanted to test out the waters before throwing in the real thing. Of course I doubt that would happen today though." Bob crossed his arms. "Then let¡¯s continue with classes. I don''t want to miss a day if I can help it. We need to leave the backup absence days just in case." Alice said. The next few classes were much less interesting, as teachers and students alike were in a frightful mood. Ellowyn could sense the trembling voice of her teachers and the constant shifting of legs in the students around her. Many still looked around uneasily, expecting another attack. After lunch period began, she could feel the mood became lighter as students started talking to each other in a more relaxed manner. There were three long lines in the lunch hall, but they moved quickly. The students would pick out the food they wanted from the menu and receive their meals prepared by hand from the cooks. "Excuse me, coming through!" A rude voice sounded behind them. She turned around to see Alina running up and cutting through the line right in front of Alice. Whether she saw Alice or not, Ellowyn wasn''t sure. Alice decided to take a few cautious steps back. "Ops!" After Alina received her lunch tray, she pretended to trip and threw the tray behind her towards Alice. Ellowyn wanted to face palm, it was such a deliberate action that no one aside from the girl herself would think it was an accident. Unfortunately based on the tray''s trajectory, it''d hit both Alice and Ellowyn. Unfazed by the incoming food rain, Alice immediately grabbed Ellowyn and threw her towards Bob, she then jump forward into a roll and stood up again just a fraction of a second after the food landed where they were. "Wah!" "Easy there." Bob caught Ellowyn and pulled her into a hug. "Genetic freak." Ellowyn could hear Alina cursed under her breath as she left leaving the tray on the floor. A series of claps and cheers rang throughout the hall and all the attention came upon Alice. "That was some impressive display." Jake said and sat down at their lunch table. "Please be more sensible. We are at school, not a circus." Alice returned a faint smile. Jake had a curious look on his face, his eyebrow was raised and his lips closed. "Is there something you want to ask?" Alice said. "I''m very curious about something and please forgive me if I accidentally offend you, but why did you withdraw from the new trend of wing implants on humans? I know it has to be more than just a moral code." "This is our first meeting ever, why would you expect me to reveal a corporation wide secret to someone I''ve just met? And even the son of my major competitor at that." Alice chuckled. "Ah, I''m sorry. I just thought it was a minor reason. Forgive me." "It¡¯s fine, I''ve had to answer that question quite a few times last week. I''m not angry at you or anything." "That¡¯s great, because it''d pain me very much if I make such a beautiful lady mad." Alice returned another chuckle at his broad smile. And they are hitting it off. Ellowyn stared incredulously. Though she had to admit the two would make a great couple. "I''m going to get some ketchup." She stood up and left the flirt scene awkwardly. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of an odd boxed machine next to the sauce dispenser. Wow, they actually have a food printer. After a few button presses, she stepped back and marvelled at the scene of a hamburger being materialized from a tiny nozzle that circled around it. "I''ll have Jane get you a food printer if you want." Bob said. "Okay." Ellowyn was excited. I''ll get to print my own snacks. Because food printers relied on food cartilages that could last for months and years, people considered them no more price worthy than canned foods. They were much more popular in middle and lower classes. "You don''t have to follow me here." "Do you think I''m comfortable staying with those love birds?" Bob shook his head. "You too should get a boyfriend, Ellowyn." Sophie arrived and said. "I don''t think it¡¯s the best time." She gave a confused smile. "I''m still a little disoriented with everything." Sophie gave her a hug. "Aww you poor thing. At least promise me you''d get one before this semester is over, please?" "You''re making her uncomfortable." Bob laughed. It was the afternoon that she was looking forward to, for the period after lunch was robotics. The first thing that she noticed was that no one aside from her had animal ears on their head. Various gazes fell upon her, some of surprise and bewilderment while others fear and even hate. "Are you sure you''re in the right class, this is robotics." One of the students said. "Yes, I am aware." She took a seat. "Damn those rich kids turning our fucking school into a death trap." A guy sitting behind her mumbled. "How did you even managed to pass the test? It was designed so rich snobs like you don''t get in here." A haughty girl stood in front of her desk. Another student put his hand on the girl''s shoulder and stopped her. "What she mean is the test was designed specifically for students who took prerequisites classes from the last semester or from AP high school graduates. I''m Paul by the way." "Her family probably paid the school to put her in here." The guy behind her said. "Thanks Paul, I can assure you that I passed the exam by my own accord. You can call me Ellowyn." "Why are you here anyway? It¡¯s probably because your family wants to buy you a robotics degree isn''t it?" The girl mocked. "Please don''t be rude Jenny. Also Ellowyn, you can always ask me anytime if you have questions." Paul winked before pulling Jenny away. Was that supposed to be a flirting attempt? She tilted her head. Aside from a few sickly months in high school, her social experience with those of her peers was nearly nonexistent. "Robotics class right?" Ellowyn turned around at the smug voice. There stood a small flaunt kid around fifteen with a mohawk wearing a black and blue pair of shirt and jeans. He reminded her of the time she first met Alex. "Yes, though aren''t you a little young to be in our college?" With everyone looking at him in a daze, she was the first to recover. He strode in and took a seat next to her. "Yup, My parents paid for me to be in here." There was sarcasm in his voice. "Oh look, another rich snob." Jenny grumbled. "I can do better than you though, probably." He nodded to himself. "You think a sniffy kid like you know more than me? I spent years studying this stuff." It was his turn to laugh. "And I spent my whole life being with the damn people who invented the stuff you''re studying." "You''re Tommy Tarkon?" Ellowyn blurted out. She had read about him in her search for the online component manuals. "What a surprise, am I that famous on the net already?" He gave her a wolfish grin. "My name is Ellowyn Price, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand. "The Price huh, I thought you would be more interested in genetics, not in carving moving hunks of metal." He kept his arms crossed. "Alright then..." She pulled her hand back. "My passion lays more in technology." "Cool." He reached out his hand and shook Ellowyn''s, only that her hand was already pulled back and it was very awkward for her. I''ll just ignore what happened I guess. She shrugged and noticed the professor entering. "I am Professor Damion Larington, while our class is named Intro to Robotics, we will be covering quite a lot of material over our short semester. So please be advised that any missed classes can potentially throw you out of grip on our subject matter. In regards to our two international competitions at the end of the semester, yes, we will be attending both of them. I''m sure some of you are here solely for that and I don''t mind." "What competitions?" She asked. "Are you sure you''re in the right class? Most students should already know by now if they''re in this major. The two are the Robotics Racing Competition and the annual Metal Brawl where two robots will engage in combat." Damion continued his lecture, completely ignoring Ellowyn''s sparkling eyes. I''m so gonna beat every one. She rubbed her hands under the desk while chuckling darkly. "Are you alright?" Tommy''s question dispelled her crazed daze. "I''m fine, totally fine." Not edited yet, I have a site to present this afternoon ;~; GDoc link please comment for any errors and mistakes I made Chappy 31: Progress
Combat simulation initialized
Ellowyn stood still with her arms folded by her side, her lips bent into a smirk. Let the dance begin.
Spawning surveillance drones
Nine glowing blue metallic spheres materialized around her, they immediately flew up and spread into her surroundings. Various windows popped up in her vision after the drones established connection. Most of them were of video footage from the drones and also a 3D model of the entire area.
Spawning enemies
Three large green wolves appeared around her, they snarled and growled, wanting to tear her to pieces. I can do this. She gripped her rifle harder and deployed its close combat mode. "Come at me!" The wolf behind her answered by lunging from her blind spot. So quiet was its leap that the sound was completely muffled by the others snarling. Seeing the sneak attack from a drone''s camera, the system urged her to turn 90¡ã and roll, to which she did. It took less than a second for her to recover and stand up with the help of thrusters. She readied the rifle and fired. "Wauuu!" The wolf howled in pain as numerous metallic slugs tore through its flesh, but it did not stop. The wolf''s second lunge completely missed for she was already out of reach by doing a one handed cartwheel to the side. She had to use one hand to support the cartwheel because the stabilization thursters on her legs and hip were turning themselves to the front. Another attack warning came after the second wolf leapt towards her side as she was in mid air. Any normal human target would have been unable to react since they were already airborne but she was different. Using the thrusters on her legs and hip, she turned the cartwheel into a backward roll in mid air. Before she made her landing, her rifle was already stretched out and launched a grenade towards the two wolves in front. Boom. The explosion wasn''t enough to injure them, but it did disorient them enough for her to recover from the fall and began charging forward. One of the wolves regained its senses just long enough to see the bladed part of her rifle entered its skull. Its body went limp right after she pulled the trigger. Panicking, the remaining two decided to drop any pack hunting tactics and pounced at her together. Big mistake. She grinned before jumping back by five feet and watched as they slammed into each other. Had the wolves looked down then, they would have seen the grenade she left on the ground before jumping. Disoriented from the second explosion, the wolf could do nothing as she stabbed her rifle through its chest and fired into the heart. The last one backed away from her in fear. Before she could] end its misery, however.
Spawning enemies, wave 2/¡Þ
Three more wolves materialized and surrounded her. What? Ah crap I forgot to turn off the wave mode.This is going to be tough. She welcomed a rush of excitement that was running through her veins. She watched patiently at the circling pack, waiting for the first strike. After the wolf behind her leapt, instead of rolling to dodge, she leaned her back to the side at an impossible degree and swung her rifle''s blade at the surprised wolf while firing on auto and letting her bullets rip through its flesh. With blood dripping on its sides and legs, the battered wolf limped hurriedly to behind its other comrades. The wolves seemed to have evolved their tactics, two wolves in her blind spot started their charge, but not at the same time as one was in the lead and the other trialed, perhaps to make sure that the second one can grab her while she was dodging the first. Ellowyn mentally clapped for them because it was a good tactic. Even with bird''s eye view and a superior thruster movement system, she still couldn''t handle multiple attacks from different angles at the same time. I guess its a retreat/ She started to run backward while firing. Despite it being commonly done in shooter games, trying to aim while running backward in real life could only lead to the user losing balance and tripping. Even with stability thrusters, she still had trouble keeping her aim on the charging wolves. Another attack warning flashed from behind her, for she was running backward towards one of the other wolf that was circling around. It was very confident in its stealthy movement since her back was turned. She made a backward jump and used the thursters to turn herself around while grinning at the completely befuddled wolf.
Impact warning
Her grin turned to a frown however, as she was flying straight at it rather than to the side. It was too late to adjust the thrust vector and she could only raise her forcerifle forward with one hand while covering her body with the shield on her left arm. The collision knocked the air from her lungs and killed the wolf instantly with the forceblade of her rifle piercing through its skull. Laying next to the fallen wolf, she tried to muster the anemic strength of her bruised body to pull the rifle out, only to fail and waste the few precious seconds as the other wolves charged. Unable to stand up in time, she had to pull an emergency somersault high in the air to evade the incoming wolf. "Arg!" Even with her pain receptors dulled by the system, she could still sense the heat from the overworked thrusters burning through her skin.
Spawning enemies, wave 3/¡Þ
Three more wolves materialized and joined the other three. She had no time to panic because the wolves all charged at her like a herd of bulls. With the thrusters almost disabled from overheating, she could only take the charge head on. Taking out two back up handguns, she deployed their close combat mode and began running forward.
Injecting backup adrenaline
She could feel her body kicking into overdrive from the excess adrenaline as time slowed down to a crawl. Two wolves in the front pounced in unison. She turned her body sideways and maintained a crabwalk while her hip thrusters helped her lean towards the exact angle that allowed her to slip past the tiny space between the two. The next wolf jumped at her from her side, but missed as she made a roll. She found herself suddenly cornered as the last three wolves stood still. There was no opening she could use for any movement on her part would take her into their attack range. So I''m checkmated. She sighed and went back to a standing pose, ready for her last stand. Instead of circling her, the six wolves decided to form a ring surrounding her while slowly stepping forward. The only opening she had was up. She bent her knees shortly before making a straight vertical jump. She was glad the clothes she wore in the virtual simulation wasn''t flammable, for the thrusters were hot enough to give her third degree burns. She accelerated upward to around five feet. However, before she had the chance to move, the largest wolf made its own powerful leap and tackled her to the ground. Fuck! She felt the thing''s claws stab into her belly after they landed.
Health monitor offline, signal lost
She lunged both of her handgun''s blades to the sides of its skull, blasted its brain, and rolled out before its body could pin her down. The stab she received wasn''t enough to damage her internal organs, but it completely destroyed the monitor which was the link between the surveillance drones and her system. With no means to survey a battlefield full of hostiles, the system could only make approximate guesses which were terrible in a close combat brawl. A fact which she learned shortly after.
You have died. Stopping simulation
She cleaned her bed and hit the shower right after waking up, so as not to let Alice see her sweaty mess. Flipping through her mails, she checked with the payment confirmations from the Sentria requests she did the night before. The money she received in her remote virtual account was piling up but there was no plans to spend them. ---- Thank you for your work, I have received the decrypted file. A payment of 500 credits has been transfered to your account. XXX. ---- Its confirmed, good job on bringing that porn site down, they were pain with all the pirated material and even pedophillia. It wasn''t legal, what you did, but at least it was the right thing haha. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Even though I made it clear that you won''t really get paid, here''s 100 creds as my personal thanks. Best of luck, XXX. ---- Hey Sam, did you get the test bees ready yet? I haven''t heard from you in the last few days, too engrossed in your work again huh. I just hope your love for bees doesn''t get in the way of the project. And contact me when you''re done messing around. We need to keep in touch. Sincerely, Ramien. ---- Sorry about that. Please ignore that last email for I seem to have sent to the wrong recipient. Anyway, about your request for being our digital agent, we''re fine with that. While we already have a guy over here, he''s usually busy with bigger things so I don''t mind if you were to receive our minor errands. Cheers, Ramien. ---- Her eyes popped wide open at the last two messages. The images of her bloodied body lying infront of the metallic gates replayed themselves in her mind. A terrifying realization struck her. Will I really die before this semester is over? She wanted to backtrack the email, find out the source, and the reason why these people are making giant killer bees. But most of all, she needed the actual data on how the bee was structured and how it fought so that she could put it in her combat simulation. Simply enlarging a normal bee and force it to fight wouldn''t do. A part of her mind childed her, that they could be mentioning normal bees for a bee farm project somewhere, but she dismissed the notion when she made the connection between their search for the soul stream and the bees. Her current conclusion was that they either have some connections with the Allied Church or some third party who wants their hands on access to the Soul Stream. And they would go to any lengths, including releasing a swarm of giant killer bees to attack wherever she and Alice was in the system clairvoyance replay she saw. She wanted to watch the replay scene again, but Carl had took extra effort to completely erase the module from her system, saying that it wasn''t something any living entity should have access to. Its still early. She decided to put on some light clothing and head to the garden, wanting to erase the unease she felt within her gut. Deep inside the forest-like garden, Ellowyn found the figure of Alice crouching down and gathering samples from a nearby mushroom. Zekke walked around her, occasionally barking and pulling on her clothes to get her attention. The moment he spotted Ellowyn, Zekke unfolded its wings and flew away in a hurry, leaving her standing there with a sad frown. "Morning Ellowyn, did you have a good sleep?" "I''m feeling well, what about you?" "There are quite alot of work that needs to be done. And I can''t do most of them at school." Alice said while putting her specimen into clear pouches and moved onto the next one. "I''m sorry for bothering you then." "No, its fine. I''d rather prefer some company. And you probably have something to ask me too right?" "Not really, I just wanted to see you." She was speaking the truth, "Though there is something on my mind. Its alright if you don''t tell me." "Just ask away." "The conversation between you and Jake sparked my interest. I''ve done some research and see that you and Tom went great lengths to deny Eve corp''s involvement in human wing attachments. And I can''t think of a reason why. It doesn''t violate any humane ethics, nor is it hard to achieve." "It lays more in our work ethic, really. We prefer not to work on very large and time consuming projects that doesn''t really give any benefits to the general society. And to take on the project is a big risk. Unlike what you think, putting such a large foreign body part onto the human body isn''t easy and it is much harder to not have failures with the human test subjects. But most of all though, the project doesn''t really do anything to progress the field of genetic science. Not as much as the other projects we''re working on anyway." "But don''t you also work on the genetically engineered pets?" "Those are my hobby project that happens to give some side income. What we''re talking about, however, would cost us time and money to achieve something ... useless. Did you know that to make a human fly with bird-like wings, we''d need wings so large and tall they would touch the ceiling? The kind our competitors are trying to make would be purely for cosmetic purposes and also a burden to move around in. It is simply a risk we do not want to take." "I see." Ellowyn nodded, "I guess I''ll return and get ready." "Do you really want a pair?" Alice said, her tone filled with interest. "Ah no, not really." Ellowyn quickly shook her head. Such a pair of wings would only slow her down and make it harder to maneuver in enclosed spaces. But it''d be awesome if I ever get one. The atmosphere in the campus remained gloomy and timid. However, she noticed many of the students without animal ears chatting normally. I suppose they''re not worried because its not their problem? She shrugged. Like the rest of the students, all of her teachers aside from Mr.Stanford -whom still had a mechalonic air around him- showed signs of anxiety. Despite the lectures being done using vibrant holographs with stunning imagery, the lecturers anxious and dull voices was funny at first but quickly bored her. She plopped her head on the table and pretended to sleep while using the system to check the Sentria request board. She then proceeded to remote access her computer at home and started to do some of the easier request. "Miss Ellowyn, you might be missing important class material by sleeping during our session. " "I''m sorry, its just that I am a little tired. But I was paying attention." She sat up and pretended to yawn. She could she that the professor was trying to break the dull mood by calling out a random slacker. But she pitied him because she was no slacker. "If you were, then answer me this: ..." Ellowyn raised her eyebrow, the question required an answer that had not been covered in class yet, based on a quick search of the system''s lecture recording. She didn''t miss the look of surprise on his face when she answered correctly. The day and nights writing her combat algorithm had paid off.I might be new to this world, but math is never new to me. It was the robotic class that she looked forward to the most. Too bad Tommy''s not here. She thought of the many questions she wanted to ask him while staring at the vacant seat besides her. All of the other students took a seat away from her, but she didn''t care. The lecture itself wasn''t very interesting for she had already covered such topics before. Although she had some difficulty operating the clunky software, her soul room was leagues better. "... and that is it for today. Also If you haven''t got your robotics kit already, you can buy get one or order separate components in my office." That got her attention. It didn''t take long for her to follow him to his office. "Why on Earth do you need so many thursters?" Daimon was flabbergasted. The girl in front of him had make an absurd request. "Its for a personal project I''m working on. Are there any problems?" Ellowyn said. "No, there are no problems. Its that none of my students have ever ordered so many thrusters of that size before. Please be careful with whatever you''re doing. These things aren''t toys." "Thank you for you concern, professor. But I know what I''m doing." She gave him a confident smile. "Be Careful, I don''t want to be responsible for your death." He shook his head and gave the box of components to her. The frail thing looked like she could barely handle the weight. "Can you carry all of that home?" ¡°Let me help.¡± The red haired bodyguard girl beside Ellowyn said. "Its no problem." She put everything in her backpack and activated the small support thrusters on its side. "Thats a fancy backpack you got there." "Its the newest model I think. Have a nice day." She bowed and left. "Rich kids these days." He mused. Ring. He answered the phone. "Daimon here." "Its Ramien, did everything go well?" "Better than expected. No one is suspecting a thing." "Good, I''ll contact you later, don''t forget to use a secure channel when calling me, last time you almost got us traced." "It was just an accident okay. Anyway, I need to prepare for my next class. Talk to you later." GDoc link please comment in any errors you see. Its not that I¡¯m lazy, but I¡¯m too busy to proofread my chappies. >.< Chappy 32: The Calm Before the Storm A metallic white floor littered with dirt greeted Ellowyn''s vision as she opened her eyes. Looking around, she found herself in a damp and dark tunnel with small flashing blue lights hanging on a string to each side. The tunnel was at least as wide as a subway tunnel. Water droplets dripped around her forming puddles, many of which she stepped on as she walked. A distinct sobbing sound echoed from the distance, beckoning her to follow. She could feel the mysterious weight tugging at her heart getting heavier by the second. Various broken pieces of what used to be small metallic spheres laid on the ground. She crouched and took a closer look, the electronic components inside were very familiar but she couldn''t recall why. She shook her head, trying to clear the persistent mind fog to no avail. She gave up and continued towards the end of the cave to investigate the source of the crying noises. "Ellowyn, wake up. Wake up! I''m begging you, please wake up." It was Alice''s voice. Ellowyn quickened her pace. The tunnel widened to show Alice sitting on the ground, a bloodied body laid on her lap. She was hugging and and nudging its bloodied face but the figure gave no response. Then a shred of memory came to Ellowyn. That is me? She wanted to open her mouth and call Alice''s name, but nothing came out. Desperate, she started to run towards Alice. But every step made the distinct humming in the background louder. The humming became loud enough to muffle out the sound of her footsteps. Then darkness. Ellowyn opened her eyes wide and sat up. "Crap." Another nightmare huh, that makes it what, 6 times so far? The distinctive nightmares that haunted her from night to night were getting vibrant and creative. They were the reason why she trained so hard every morning, to make sure that she was ready to grab onto any silver lining that would appear. She wanted to survive, not for her own sake for she was already satisfied with a life well lived back on Earth. She wanted to survive because the look on Alice''s face holding her tattered body was too painful for her heart to bare. Before launching herself into the familiar combat simulation, she pulled out a box from under her bed and admired at its content. She spent the entirety of last night making a workable thruster harness. It wasn''t as good as the one she had in her simulation, but in an emergency it could perform to around 80% of her virtual design, enough to help her fight on par with a small pack of wolves. After doing another integrity and battery check, she watched as the box glowed and disappeared into the system subspace.
Entering soul room
First, I need a bee. She pulled up the creation panel and materialized a small bee from the standard library. She then enlarged the size until it was as big as a backpack. Because size increased linearly while weight cubically, the large bee had a lower movement speed than before, but still fast to the human eye. It was only after she gave it a hostile AI and let it attack a human dummy that she realized how deadly it can be. One bee could kill a grown human with its stinger alone. And while the bee would lose its main weapon after stinging, a swarm of hundreds of thousands of them could potentially kill just as many people. She could also see ways in which the stinger be genetically altered to pierce through metallic armor. The only weakness was that the bee was generally useless against forcefields and nonliving targets such as drones and turrets. Though through sheer number they could disable anything in their path by colliding with them. Full body force fields would keep them off, but one usually couldn''t keep such a power hungry field up for a long period of time, especially with their extreme heat output. She racked her mind for a solution. Simply packing herself with armor would do nothing as these things could attack through the crevices of her suit. And the system analysis proved useless under such immense numbers, she simply didn''t have the speed to dodge them all. Then a thought came to her, another weakness lay in its poisonous stinger which was one use only. If she could figure out a way to let them attack her with their stingers and deflect them away. "Got it!" She grinned broadly. Carbon nanotubes was the answer. They were available everywhere, with the top quality ones designed for either extreme tensile or shear strength. She materialized several shear resistant carbon nanotubes weaved into wire forms along with small mount heads that could retract and release them. She then attached the wired mounts onto the strap suit. With the wires outstretched in front of each of her arms and legs, she began testing them by turning on the small mounts and let them vibrate at a fast frequency, effectively making them wired saw blades. She had to shorten the wire on her left arm to make space for the shield strap, but still left enough to receive and deal attacks with the upper part of her arm. Spoiler : Illustration: She wanted to use the outstretched wires to receive and deflect or cut off the bee''s stinger by swinging them at the bee as it attacked her. Its a little tricky, but lets see if I can do it. There was an extreme need to be careful for she could easily cut herself. I''ll need to keep my hair under a cap or something. She launched the combat simulation and faced a bee. Upon seeing her, the bee with its simplistic AI began to fly straight at her while holding out its stinger. It was crucial to get the timing right since slipping by half a second and she would have the stinger buried deeply in her flesh. Thank to countless practice hours, she flung her arm up in time as the bee''s stinger headed for her head. The wire blade sawed through the part holding the bee''s stinger and flicked it away, leaving the bee disoriented. She had to lean back to avoid the bee as it flew past where her head had been. She swung her rifle''s blade upward and sliced the bee in half an instant later. While the bee''s agile movement speed and compact build should have given her trouble hitting it, the system assist was able to predict its movement pattern perfectly.
Spawning enemies, interval: 10 seconds
Imitating yesterday''s failure, she set the spawn timer to repeat at a faster interval as she survive more waves of bees. Three bees materialized and attacked. She leaned forward and used the momentum to slash the bee in front and dodge the second bee while bashing her shield on the third one. The stunned bee died shortly after she fired her rifle. They''re too dumb. Simply attacking in a straight line was not likely something a well engineered bee would do. She set their AI to swarm behavior shortly before another wave of five spawned. The bees gathered together into a chaotic swarm before charging her altogether,stingers raised. She frowned, it was only a small swarm and yet the system assist had almost reached its limit, not from the lack of processing power but from her limited speed and fragile body. She ran forward, firing on her rifle while raising her shield to bash the nearest bee. Her bullets killed one bee and stripped the wings of another as she sliced the third one in half. The last two were taken care off within seconds. Another wave of bees appeared, seven in total.
Warning, insufficient resources for optimal avoidance. Prepare to receive damage
The mass of bees hit her like a storm, she managed to cut one down and shot another, but one of the stingers grazed her thigh, making a deep cut. She grit her teeth then slammed the shield into a bee. The wire on her right arm was used to slice off a stinger of another. Then she fired her rifle at the third one. She cut the stunned bee with the wire saw and bent her head to duck but still got grazed on the shoulder. The last bee decided to fly around and attack from her blind spot but got slashed half way there. Another wave materialized, not leaving her any time to take a breath. Ellowyn fell asleep shortly after she got on the limo to school. The training exhausted her both mentally and physically. At least I learned a few things. She added two more wire blades to her virtual suit, each running from the back of her thigh to the top of her shoulders. The biggest problem was she had no body armor aside from a shield strap. It was a blessing that the system could remove any poison entering her body. But it could not heal injuries and close her open, bleeding wounds. The best thing she could do was to fight and evade until too many thrusters got destroyed or she lost too much blood. Thinking back at the image of her bloodied body leaning on the giant gates, she concluded that the her in that clairvoyance video died of the same reason. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I need to survive somehow. "Guys, guess what?" Sophie usual cheery mood was more excited than usual. "What, besides the cancellation of that cursed policy?" Alice said. "So you know already. Can''t you at least wait until I finish telling you with exhilaration?" She humphed. "Wait, if the policy is cancelled, we are we still going here?" Ellowyn said. "Because of numerous attacks received on many schools, the policy was taken down from emergency. However, the application of the cancellation won''t apply until next semester." Alice said. "Yup! I would be surprised if they didn''t take it down. At least 12 people had been kidnapped so far, 70 if you include the lower area schools, 10 injured, and 2 deaths." It seemed the school''s gloomy atmosphere had died down, she concluded, judging by the lively debate between Alice and Alina the moment they stepped in class. Having taken an online philosophy class out of boredom, she could see well who was in charge of the debate. Alina had a stronger tone and used a more direct way of speaking, but her arguments were only fallacies. Alice was more composed, only responding when she needed to and her face remained emotionless the entire time. The other classes were less active, but Ellowyn also noticed everyone''s expressions getting lighter. Because of Jake and Alice''s lively talk, Ellowyn and Sophie had to sit at different tables to give them space. It was due to Jake''s absence that day that everyone got to sit together again. "Aren''t you glad this nightmare is almost over? Its too bad we won''t get to see each other every day anymore, not after this" Sophie said. "Of course." Ellowyn said. "If I''m not bogged down by work, I would have seen you everyday, Sophie." Alice smiled. "I think we should be more cautious rather than glad. For whoever wanted the policy in place would be taking more desperate actions now that it had been reverted." Alexis said. "Don''t ruin our mood, you thickheaded guard!" Sophie pouted and nudged him with her elbow. "I''m just doing my job." He grinned. "Don''t you guys get tired from standing all the time?" Ellowyn said, she had seen Alexis, Rexis and Bob standing throughout all of her lunch periods. "There''s no need to worry, our suits are designed to stimulate blood flow to our legs to prevent the lack of oxygen." Rexis said with a soldierly voice. "We only need to stand during lunch because its the most vulnerable time. Everyone tend to relax when they''re enjoying the meal." Bob added. Ellowyn stared intently at Rexis. It was only then that she realized how easy it was to ignore the girl. Rexis was only around Ellowyn''s age and yet her demeanor and expression were that of a soldier''s. Because of such stiff posture and quietness, She often found herself forgetting that Rexis was there at all. "Is there any problem, Miss Ellowyn?" "I''m a little curious. May I know how old you are?" Ellowyn asked. "I will be 17 years old next month." Ellowyn opened her eyes wide. How can someone so young work as a trained guard? She wanted to ask more but restrained herself. I don''t want to make her uncomfortable. Robotics class was livelier than usual. Everyone talked about the removal of the policy and expressed their excitement that the VIP students will leave the school soon. "Hey rabbit girl." Tommy took his seat next to her. "Where have you been yesterday?" Ellowyn said, unaffected by the jest. She actually took a liking to the boy for his resemblance to her childhood friend, Alex. She was disappointed that the grown up Alex lost his playfulness. Not that he''s in this world anyway. "School was boring as hell, so I sneaked to a RBA to have some fun." He gave a smug smile. "Let me guess, you got your butt spanked and forced to go to school today?" Ellowyn smiled back. If she recalled correctly, RBA stood for Robotics Battle Arena. "Nah, they just removed all the cars from their garage so I can''t hack myself into them anymore." "Living on the edge much?" It was her turn to laugh. The top model cars had autopilot function, but it was still illegal for minors to drive and there were many emergency situations that required manual piloting. "Mind you, I can drive better than most folks out there." "So you say." She still kept her grin. They proceeded to ignore the professor''s lecture and started discussing various ideas she had. "You''re way more crazy than me, to try and put thrusters on yourself just to move around? Heck even I wouldn''t do something that loony." He chuckled, earning the professor''s glare. "I never said that I''ve done it myself." She pouted. "But from the things you said, I can only conclude that either you have access to an incredibly precise simulation with the help of a professional human physics animator, or that you have tried them on yourself." "Alright, I''ll admit it. But please don''t do what I did. Crap, I shouldn''t have asked you in the first place." She frowned. Now I bet he''s going to try it. What if he is injured because of me? "Don''t worry, I do want to live you know." He said, "I can''t believe that someone like you would try such a thing." "I have my circumstances." "To see such a cute rabbit as yourself hurt is against my wishes. Thats all." She couldn''t hold her laughter. After an angry scolding from Damion, they switched to texting. Tommy gave her various tips on power management, weight balancing, and some tinkering to improve performance. He also taught her a special method to maintain communication with the drones against various signal jamming techniques. At the end of class, she went to his office and bought some carbon nano wires to make her wire saws.
Please Login username: Carl password: xxxxxxx Login successful. Decrypting messages...done Retrieving message log, time period - 2 weeks
//Showing messages from March 25th, 2512 I got some nice tips from Tommy today. He doesn''t know why I''m doing this so don''t worry. There, I''ve sent you my combat training log. I''ve also equipped the suit with wire blades. At least its good to know I''m ready to face some bees. Good night. //Showing messages from March 28th, 2512 It seemed the policy''s cancellation is moved to three month. I hope nothing goes wrong until then. Crap. I raised a flag, didn''t I. Are you there? I haven''t heard anything from you in the past few days. Anyway, combat logs sent. //Showing messages from April 1st, 2512 Help, I''m dying! Just kidding. Happy April fools day. Oh wait its a different day in this world huh. Nevermind. Still no response, I hope you''re alright. Combat logs sent. //Showing messages from April 2nd, 2512 Tommy told me of some new combat moves inspired by a movie he watched. They seemed pretty useful so I added them to the database. I also had more time to practice since its the weekend. I managed to port a simple pacman game to the system too. Maybe I can make a game engine and sell it to you for millions? I''m off for today. Good luck, whatever you''re doing. //Showing messages from April 3nd, 2512 I bought two heavy boxes of components today. Looks like my dream of having an army of reconnaissance drones will come true. //Showing messages from April 4th, 2512 Okay, I''m getting worried that you''re not coming back. At least find sometime to respond, please? Not much progress today. Missile strike managed to scour a part of the wall clean. I had to stay on alert until classes ended. Too tired now to do much. Alice is considering to take tomorrow off. Sophie wanted to skip school altogether but we''d get into too much legal trouble. //No message for today, April 8th, 2512 Hey Elllowyn, sorry for responding so late. I got buried in work and couldn''t find the time to sneak on We''re under attack! What is the situation? Alice is dying I¡¯m sorry but I suck at making character developments. So I decided to end the school arc a little early. >.< GDoc link Please, please comment in any errors you see. Its not that I¡¯m lazy, but I¡¯m too busy to proofread my chappies. >.< Chappy 33: A Taste of Despair //Cliffhanger warning Inside a wide room with white metallic walls, Ellowyn sat, a figure lay still in her shaking embrace. "Alice, why, why would it be you?" The flickering light illuminated two wet lines on her face. "Miss Ellowyn, what should we do?" Rexis said, her voice wavered. "I don''t know." Sometime before "Every robot design has to have these four parts: a controller, ..." Ellowyn and Tommy chat away, oblivious to the droning tone of professor Damion. Ring. He answered his phone.
Analyzing unencrypted signal... connection established
"Hold on a minute." She signaled Tommy to stop talking and listened in using the system. It was a neat little trick taught by her new friends at Sentria. She could tap into any unencrypted phone calls in her surroundings using her own phone. She set the system to pick up and relay to her any calls it detected. "Are you sure this line is secure?" "Not really, let me use an encrypted line." "There is no time for that. The attack has started, get out of there as soon as you can." "What! Okay, okay Let me grab my things." "No! You have to leave now." "Shit." Damion muttered, grabbed his coat and left the room. It took Ellowyn a few seconds to register what she heard. Never had she thought tapping into calls would work, she only did them to cure her boredom. So it begins huh. She clenched her fist to steel herself. Then she tried to call Alice but the signal has already been jammed. "Rexis, are there anyway I can contact Alice? Its an emergency." "Is your phone not working?" "They''re jamming the phone signal." "Who?" The alarm muffled out Ellowyn''s answer. "We have been breached, get in the tunnels now!" Bang. Bang.A man desperately yelled through the speakers before gunshots followed, and then silence. Even the alarms have stopped. "They got to the broadcasting room!" Came a panicking cry. "There is no time to panic, we need to get to the underground passageway." Contrary to his calm voice, the student already sprinted towards the back of the class. Each classroom in the Armadillo had a small underground passage that all lead to one big tunnel to the bomb shelter. "Miss Ellowyn, I think we should stay under the cover of the desk. I believe it is not safe to be in the open." Rexis said. "Alright." Ellowyn deployed the desk into cover mode and hid with Rexis. Many other students did the same. "Why does it not open?", "Come on!", "Let¡¯s try again, we''ll all lift on the count of 3" She could see a red glow surrounding the lid of the passage. Its locked. A series of explosions rocked the building much more so than the previous missile strikes. The alarms restarted with an automated voice telling everyone to take cover. Deafening gunshots, turret fires and more explosions followed. The other students ignored the warnings and continued trying to pry open the passage hatch. Another explosion, she was sure then that the campus walls have been breached. She crutch her handgun and looked around, trying to suppress the terror rising up her spine. "Please stay calm, Miss Ellowyn." Rexis''s tough voice only managed to agitate Ellowyn further, but she tried her best not to show it. Should I retrieve my gear? Taking out her gear that will materialize from nothing would lead to Rexis knowing she had the system. She decided against it unless they were forced to fight for real. A familiar growl emitted behind the classroom doors. Wolves. Rexis immediately shut the openings surrounding the desk to prevent any light leaking in. Ellowyn wanted to cup her ears to ignore the screams and the sound of bones cracking as the creatures put the bodies of students at the mercy of their jaws. There were a few gunshot sounds here and there as some students fired their weapons. Aside from Ellowyn and Tommy, the class had no other VIP students and therefore few came equipped with good gear to defend themselves. She could see then how important it was to be equipped with a full body shield like her bracelet. Even with their short battery span, they could still provide almost complete protection. Looks like its impossible to hide the system anymore. A sense of unease sat in her stomach as she prepared the procedure to retrieve her gear.. She knew that Alice and Tom won''t disown her for having the system, but she wasn''t sure what they''d do exactly. What? "Arggg!" A agonizing headache hit her hard as all of the system''s visuals distorted in her vision. "What''s wrong Ellowyn?" She couldn''t answer for the pain stopped her from doing anything but hold her head. There were growling and scratching from a side of her desk, a wolf had found them. By the time the aching subsided, the wolf had ripped a piece of the desk and was about to lunge its head inside. "Stay back!" Rexis gave it a fistfull of shotgun pellets. The wolf howled and pulled back quickly, but another one took its place. It shoved itself into the hole, trying to worm the rest of its body in. Ellowyn had to retreat to the other side of the under-desk while shooting her handgun. "Don''t use low caliber bullets, they just bounce off its fur and can injure you." Rexis warned. They could hear the sound of metal scrapping on their side of the desk. Another wolf was trying to get in. "We need to break out." Rexis thrusted her shotgun forward just as the wolf opened its maw and fired, blasting its insides. "Are you alright?" Ellowyn saw blood trickling down Rexis''s hands when she pulled the shotgun from the limp jaws. "Its just a scratch, help me push it out." She was glad that the morning trainings had helped improved her body''s constitution. But her still feeble strength wasn''t of much help to Rexis. They pushed the carcass and made it out the other hole just in time before the second wolf tore a new opening on the other side. She looked around at the gruesome sight, blood smeared on the floor and walls as the students desperately struggled. She looked away from the tattered bodies in fear that she might loose her already trembling composure. The system visuals were still distorted and unresponsive. Some kind of jamming I think. Nonetheless, she needed to pull herself together. "Stay close to me." Rexis said. She nodded and grabbed a rifle lying on the ground before following Rexis. "Watch out!" Ellowyn responded instinctively to the shout and jumped to the side just before the wolf behind her desk lunged. Without her thrusters, she couldn''t control her fall and slammed into a nearby desk, knocking the wind from her lungs. The missed wolf jumped on another desk and faced her. Before it could lunge again, Rexis forced it to retreat with her shotgun and reached out to pull Ellowyn up. "Ellowyn!" Alice''s shout gave her the attention of everyone. She was holding a shotgun with two shield straps to each arm. Two wolves near the door attacked but were kept away by a blue force field surrounding her. She promptly dispatched one with her shotgun up its nose and sent the other sliding back with a kick to its side. "I''m glad you''re alright." Ignoring the rest of the hostiles, she made a straight dash towards Ellowyn and Rexis. "Give me a hand here." Bob entered the door but had to turn around to face another wolf that entered. He had a force field but his wasn''t as visible as Alice''s. Making a sidestep as fast as lightning, he avoided the wolf''s lunge and slashed/shot its side. The wolf didn''t stand back up. "What are we to do?" Ellowyn asked, rubbing her temples as the ache returned. "We can try to blow up the hatch and enter the tunnel. I have some explosives." "I''ll set up the charges." Rexis said. "Then Bob and I will keep the perimeter clear. Ellowyn, save your shield bracelet for now and give me support fire but don''t get too close to me." Alice said. "Everyone, either take cover under the desk or stay at the back wall but away from the hatch." Bob yelled towards the students. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. There were three wolves in the room but more were coming. "Alice, stand back!" Bob charged towards the door. A black humanoid robot stepped in, it wielded a rifle and was protected by a forcefield. Seeing the charging Bob, it open fired but the bullets bounced off his force field. The bot then raised its rifle to block Bob''s slash when his gunblade penetrated its field. It then attempted to stab Bob using its own gunblade but he was faster. With a quick jab to put his gun barrel inside its field, he fired and shattered its chest. Bob then jumped behind a nearby desk before the ground he stood on exploded. Two more bots entered. "Can you take care of them? I need to protect Ellowyn." Alice said while facing two wolves. Without the system support, Ellowyn could only hide behind a desk and aimed her rifle, hoping not to hit Alice. "Just shoot when you can Ellowyn, I''m protected by this force field for now." She nodded and managed a headshot right from the start. Glad to know my aim is still good. "Good job." Alice said before finishing the other wolf with a stab to the head. The students killed the last wolf by stuffing it full of bullets. She could do nothing when Alice and Bob faced the two bots, her bullets couldn''t penetrate their force fields. She sat still and waited for the system to come back online, which it did moments later. "No!" She watched helplessly as the system cancelled the procedure shortly before it was distorted again. "Everyone, take cover!" Rexis yelled shortly before the explosion blew the hatch wide open. "Be Careful." Rexis warned as some of the students were burned by the hot metal. "Give my thanks to Alice and her tough looking bodyguard guy." Tommy and his bodyguard got out from under his desk and headed for the opened hatch. "His name is Bob." She returned. "I''m hearing buzzing." Alice said. Every muscle in her body trembled at the sound. So they come. Without the system, will here be my death? Four giant bees entered the room, two tried to bury their stingers into Bob only to slam into his field. The other two aimed towards the disordered students in the back, only a third had made it down the hatch. "Watch out!" She screamed, attracting the attention of a larger one that had a different pattern on its abdomen. Oh crap. She fired three rounds but all missed the bee flying towards her in a chaotic pattern. "NO!" Alice put herself between her and the bee. The bee slammed into Alice''s field, but its stinger somehow managed to pierce through and shot at her belly. "Fuck." The stinger managed to stab through her light combat shirt. "Alice!" She saw Alice taking the stinger out, but the area around her abdomen had been dyed purple. No, this can''t be happening! "I''m alright, Ellowyn, turn on your bracelet now!" Alice still urged Ellowyn despite keeping pressure on her stomach. Ellowyn didn''t know whether it was by chance or her desperate determination, but the system came back online again. She took Alice''s shotgun and charged towards bob who was cornered by two bots and three bees. "Ellowyn, what are you doing?" She ignored Alice''s cry. I need to help Bob first. Without Bob, they would all be dead. "The bees can stab through your field!" She yelled. Bob heard her warning and raised the shield on his arm just in time to block two stingers. One bee hit her force field but she ignored it for it wasn''t the type that could stab through. She stepped back to avoid as one of the bots slashed forward, penetrating her field where she stood earlier. The bot open fired when its gunblade was in her field, but the system predicted it and she leaned to the side, letting bullets grazed her shoulder. She retaliated by stabbing her shotgun forward and blasted its head. Bob finished the other bot shortly and looked at Ellowyn. "What is your combat capability with the system?" "You knew?" "Tom told me he knew the day after he picked you up." She couldn''t hide the shock from her face, but there was no time to lose. "My system is being disrupted by something, I can only use it once every few minutes." She looked towards Alice leaning on a desk. "Alice was stung. I think she is poisoned." "Crap, let me check." "I should be alright for now. We need to get down." Alice grunted, shook away Bob''s hand, and walked towards the hatch. "I can''t let you walk, it''ll spread the poison faster." Bob forcefully took her into a princess carry. Beneath the hatch was a ladder leading down. Everyone else had already made it down. Bob ignored the ladder and jumped down while holding Alice in his arms. Ellowyn and Rexis followed. Ellowyn could see the pain on Alice''s face. Why am I so useless at the crucial moments? She shook her head to clear the self depreciating thoughts. If only Sophie and Alex were here. She clenched her teeth, remembering that Sophie had an important errand and had to go absent. The small tunnel lead to a much bigger one, unlike her nightmares, the large tunnel was protected by gray metallic walls, mounted with various defensive weaponry. All of which directed their firing at the far end, where a drill bot made a giant hole from the surface and various bots, wolves and bears were streaming in. A giant pair of metallic doors stood at the start of the tunnel. Looking at it, Ellowyn could feel as if she was inside the clairvoyance module''s video again, only it was much brighter. "Thats the bomb shelter." Alice said. Students came out from various other small tunnels and were running toward the bomb shelter. Bomb shelter tunnel illustration: Spoiler : Right click/open image in new tab to view it better She frowned, the system was starting to distort on her again. There was a message from Carl. Hey Elllowyn, sorry for responding so late. I got buried in work and couldn''t find the time to sneak on. We''re under attack! What is the situation? Alice is dying, the system keeps getting disrupted as if someone is using a soul stream jammer or something. She quickly pulled up the chat window and sent him all of her logs before the system became unresponsive again. Let''s hope he can do something about it. More explosions followed behind them, she could feel the defense of the place falling apart, step by step. By the time they made it inside the bomb shelter, the giant doors had started to slowly slid into a close. Few if any students were still outside, there were only bodies and the scene of the invading forces heading towards them. "Is there a way out of here?", "Are we going to be stuck here until they break in and kill us?", "What do we do now?" The voices around her were beginning to panic. "Don''t worry everyone, this shelter is made with walls so thick even drillers can''t go through." The speakers said. While heavily armored, the shelter was too small to be housing the hundred of surviving students for a long period of time. Many of whom were injured. "Ellowyn and Rexis, watch over Alice while I go to confirm the situation. Maybe they''ll have the antidote" Bob laid Alice leaning on the wall and left towards the command room. She stared at the unconscious Alice, her eyes wet. Are you going to die because of me? She sat down and held Alice within her arms. "Alice, why, why would it be you?" The flickering light illuminated two wet lines on her face. "Miss Ellowyn, what should we do?" Rexis said, her voice wavered. "I don''t know." The system came back on. Tell me if you think the battle description is too convoluted or confusing. I¡¯ll try to fix it. GDoc link Please, please comment in any errors you see. Its not that I¡¯m lazy, but I¡¯m too busy to proofread my chappies. Chappy 34: An Expected Sacrifice
Applying mandatory update...done Receiving incoming call: Carl
A slightly high pitched male voice rang within her head. She took a deep breath and recomposed herself. Ellowyn turned to Rexis. "I need you to listen to me carefully." "Yes, Miss Ellowyn." "I have the hero system. But an incomplete one, I''ve been keeping it a secret out of fear that Tom will reject me." Rexis widened her eyes. "Why are you telling me now?" "I couldn''t use the system earlier because something was jamming it. But I can use it now and I need to save Alice. The things I''m about to do are... strange but I need to pay full attention or else she might die. Therefore, please don''t interrupt me." "Understood." Ellowyn switched back to the call. Without thinking, Ellowyn lifted Alice''s shirt to show the exposed purple skin of Alice''s abdomen, swollen blood vessels interweaved like spiderwebs. She used her fingers to pinch the stung area, making purple blood flowed out from the wound. Here goes nothing. She bent down and used her wet lips to lick and suck the poisoned blood into her mouth, ignoring the gasps in her surroundings. The blood tasted a strange sweet metallic with a hint of bitterness from the poison. Ellowyn blushed and cursed at herself. She could feel the smirk in his tone.
Analyzing blood sample...done Analyzing poison....done Initializing antibodies production
She clenched her teeth.
Initializing adrenaline production(storage) Starting retrieval of energy from fat cells Warming up muscle tissues
She felt a burning sensation throughout her body. Its like I''m jogging at full throttle. Carl urged.
Initializing subspace storage retrieval
"Rexis." "Y-Yes?" Rexis came out of her shocked daze. "Do you have any food, protein bars or snacks, anything?" "Not on me, but I think Bob has some in his pack." "What''s going on?" Bob returned just in time. "Bob, I need any food that you have." "Here." He passed her a bundle of energy bars from his pocket. She gobbled the bars down like no tomorrow. Taste like rubber. "Is she alright?" Bob asked Rexis. "She told me that she needed to use the system." She reported truthfully. Bob simply nodded.
Processing food at hyperactive rate
The burning sensation became hotter, spreading from her stomach area. "Ellowyn, you''re glowing!" Rexis exclaimed. Ellowyn looked down to see her stomach glowing brightly along with the blood vessels on her arms and leg. Am I a damn lightbulb? She drank a nearby water bottle laying on the ground and the glowing subsided. More gasps ensued as a glowing box materialized on the ground next to her. She hadn''t the time to go look for a changing room in such a chaotic place. For Alice''s sake. Closing her eyes, she stripped into her underwear in front of everyone. Because her baggy jeans and shirt would restrict her movement when she wore the tight combat suit that consisted mostly of thruster straps, she had to include a very thin body-hugging shirt and short shorts to at least look half decent while fighting. It was why she couldn''t bring any piece of wearable armor that was desperately needed. She finished the combat attire with a small black cap. Because her hair was too long to be squeezed entirely under the cap, she let a short pony tail tucked under the back of her shirt. She was glad the pair of rabbit ears were soft and flexible, though squeezing them inside the cap did make her rather uncomfortable. I¡¯ll cut two holes in the cap, if I live through this that is. Colored illustration: Spoiler : I cut out a screenshot from the game Love Beat (its like Audition) I can''t care any less right now. We all could die. It appeared that aside from Alex who was with the absent Sophie, there were no other heroes aside from herself. And even if there were, they would have been affected by the system jam she experienced earlier.
Antibodies production completed
She opened Alice''s medical pouch, took the syringe, and placed it at the dozens of spots the system indicated on her body. "I''m going to give Alice the antibodies. She should be stable after a few hours." She injected the syringe into Alice''s major blood vessels. "Aren''t you being a little too confident? You''re facing potentially hundreds of hostile in a short and shirt." Bob''s voice was laced with worry. "I have the support of a system admin." Ellowyn showed him her most serene gaze. She wanted to express her true thoughts, that a single hit from the things out there could take her life, that whatever she was attempting to do was bat shit crazy even to herself. "I know how tight lipped they are so I''ll refrain from asking. Just tell me, Ellowyn." He stared into her eyes, "That you''ll live." She could do nothing but return him a soft smile, a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Ellowyn..." A groan escaped Alice''s lips. Ellowyn sat down and brought her face close to Alice''s. "Where ...are... going?" She whimpered. "I''m going to be a hero." Ellowyn kissed her forehead.
Initializing Teleport, distance: 10 meters, est: 20 seconds
She was surrounded by for blue transparent walls, glowing brighter by the second. Carl laughed. She wanted to bury her head. She inquired. <30 minutes ago, I received your log and examined it. The invaders are using a certain soul stream jamming technique that renders any hero system useless in the vicinity. This is against the Terms of Service within this world. So as compensation, I have been assigned by my sector manager to assist you in stopping the jamming.> She closed her eyes and thought back of all the training she did in the past two weeks.
Teleport complete
She appeared on the other side of the gates instantly, dashed forward, and hid herself behind a large turret wreck to survey the situation. The enemy forces had reached almost 100 meters from the gate, with the last few standing turrets near her heavily damaged. Carl said. Boom. she could feel the heat when a stray explosive round hit the ground near her. She did just that. Sigh, pull yourself together Ellowyn. It took her three day and nights to assemble nearly seventy cam drones, most of the components she bought with her Sentria account. And with Tommy''s help, she had made upgrades so that they could withstand light damage and be extremely agile in flight. Virtual video feeds of the drone and the 3D map of the tunnel appeared in her vision. The battle inside the tunnel could only be described as chaotic, with the school''s defense bots mingled with bots, wolves and bears of the invaders, numerous explosions took place every second from turret fire support of both sides. No one noticed the small dashing figure of Ellowyn heading towards the fight. A moment later, one wolf saw her heading towards them and signaled the other four to charge. You can do this. With her blood pumped full of adrenaline, she followed the system''s split second instructions and slipped between the small gap of two wolves. She could feel their thick fur rubbing against her chest and back as they passed her sides. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. By the time the four wolves turned around, they had already lost sight of her behind all the other alarmed and chasing hostiles. A large imposing bear stood in her way, its sharp claws slashed towards her face. She leaned her body to the side and slipped under its arm and by its side. A horrifying stench assaulted her nostrils as she slipped by its arm pit. Two wolves spotted and lunged towards her, but they were a second too late. She rolled forward and passed them effortlessly. She almost slammed herself into the force field of an attacking bot, but managed to thrust her rifle in her right hand forward and blasted its chest. Ellowyn swapped the rifle with two handguns, pointed at her blind spot, and hit the flying winged drone. Her other hand shot down a second one at her left blind spot. Then she jumped and climbed on a bear that was fighting a defense bot, and jumped off, leaving two bots chasing her stuck behind it. It didn''t take long for her to reach the halfway point. However the drones there were bigger, some equipped with shields lining up to stop her. The gap between the row of units were getting smaller. She lost her focus for a second and a stray bullet grazed her thigh. Come on! A stray bee attacked from her blind spot but she bashed it away with her shield. Another bee split itself into half when it slammed into her wire blade. A white flying humanoid bot with metallic wings hovered above her, watching her every move. She tried shooting it but her bullets did nothing to its force field. Then an attack warning came, a yellow spark and bullet hole appeared at the ground she sidestepped from. The flying bot was firing at her. Carl said. More bullets followed, forcing her to use the surrounding hostile bodies as covers. Oh give me a break! A second flying bot appeared on her left and started peppering her. Occasionally a few bullets would graze her skin, making red shallow cuts. One of the bot changed its target to her surveillance bots and fired clusters of small homing missiles. However, Carl maneuvered the agile spheres to evade with ease. She said. She approached a giant drill bot that headed towards the gate. More attack warnings came, she made a high leap before a loud explosion blew away everything behind her. The enemy support turrets near the entrance were targeting her, disregarding any friendly fire. She ran past slow turning turrets, jumped over a few more wolves and ran up the slopped hill made by the drill bot. The outside view gave her no hope, as an army of hostiles lay just outside of the hole. Each unit stood too close for her to slip her way through.There is no way I''m getting through this. Blood drained from her face when she only realized what Carl meant by guiding on top. She leapt high into the air and landed on the back of a wolf. Then she continued the dangerous game of leapfrog on the backs of wolves and bears. She found it easier to hop on the force fields of unsuspecting bots since they made sturdier foot holds. A large hover airship towered over her and released its barrage of missiles. Bang. Bang. Bang. She managed to leap in a pattern so precise that every missiles missed, hitting somewhere within her close surroundings. She could feel parts of her skin being burned from the heat. She followed the directions and slipped under and behind the ship. The airship turned around and fired its second barrage, but Carl directed one of her drones in front of the missile rack. The fired missile detonated upon hitting the drone, blowing up the entire rack. The large explosion sent the airship tumbling backward, crashing it landed right in front of the jamming station next to the school wall, blowing away the surrounding guard bots. She knew all the attention was on her, even the system assist couldn''t help her dodge as her force field tanked the shots. In the corner of her vision, one of the flying bot flew towards her, gunblade ready. She jumped, raised her own rifle to block it, and used her airborne momentum to do a backward flip. The bot landed and charged towards her. She turned around and dashed towards the jammer turret. The bot slashed down, penetrating her shield and towards her head but she already side stepped and shot at its foot to make it loose balance. She jumped and leapt on top of the few surviving guard bots fields and finally landed on the jamming turret. She put her hand on it, palm down.
Operator override Executing script: N/A
Did he really disable the thing in one second? There was a chance she could die. Her force field only had a dozen seconds left and the fatigue effect from running the mile long tunnel was seeping in. She asked. The two flying bots stopped pursuing her and went towards the jammer to inspect it. She ditched the scolding bracelet that ran out of power and had to put her full focus on dodging incoming fire. Numerous shallow wounds scattered around her skin and two of her thrusters were nearly out of commision. She managed to make it back in the tunnel but one of the stray bullets lodged itself in her abdomen. She padded the scolding force blade of her handgun on the bleeding wound, searing it shut. The flying bots came back inside the tunnel to look for her. She told them of her location by peppering them with the rifle. One of them headed straight for her while the other hovered above. Knowing that she can''t block the incoming slash, she side stepped and returned her slash. Its armor was so sturdy that her bladed didn''t leave a dent. <1 minute left> Carl said. She grimaced, dodged to the side, and slashed at its neck to no effect. "Arggg!" Because of their close proximity, the bot lunged forward. She had no time to dodge and its blade gouged a deep cut in her upper chest area, severing the thruster strap on her arm. It kicked her and she slammed her back to a turret wreck. Seeing that the bot can handle her, the other one turned and left. Damn it! She rolled to the side to dodge a downward slash before jumping back up. She hopped on the back of a wolf and used it as leverage to jump higher, onto the force field of the flying drone. She quickly slid from the field''s slippery surface but managed to stab her rifle''s blade onto the bot''s back. The blade found its way between a small crevice in its wings. The bot spun in mid air, trying to shake her off but crashed into the ground afterward. She was flung into the wall.
Warning 3 ribs cracked 1 rib broken internal bleeding ...
She sat leaning to the wall, looked at the enraged bot that was flying towards her, and smiled. Every other bots aside from the two flying ones opened fire, lighting the two force fields a blaze. The two bots panicked, flew high and towards the exit. But she had lured them deep within the tunnel. Within seconds, their force fields were down and the sound of metal being scraped by bullets rang out. Their casing were tough, but not tough enough to withstand the assault of hundreds of rifles and support turrets. More than half way through the tunnel, the two broke down and crashed. With the primary targets disabled, the other bots executed the rest of Carl''s command to attack every other units that were not robots. The ensuing battle was more chaotic than the first, with the confused wolves and bears attacking their own allies. Her body was a mess, internal organs bleeding, broken ribs and bleeding open wounds, with half of the thrusters broken from the fall. She stood up, looked over the battlefield again, and limped back towards the gate. The system chose the least exposure route, where the enemies around her were so busy fighting each other that they hadn''t notice the small figure limping pass their backs. The journey back was agonizing and slow, she could feel her body slowly shutting down as a river of blood streamed behind her path.. She gave a bitter smile. Carl didn''t answer. Stepping in front of the giant metallic gates, she exhaled, sat down, and leaned her back to it. She saw in her mind the images of Alice banging on that very gate, calling out her name in desperation. Live for me, Alice. She welcomed flashback of her life with Tom and Alice and of the life she had on Earth.
Warning, energy low: 2% Estimated emergency life support failure: 5 minute(s)
A series of explosions rocked the tunnel. Six or seven figures descended from the invader''s hole. Two of which had metallic wings and were flying. They were too far away to see her at that point, but she could see them well. A very buffed man swung around a giant sledge hammer that crushed everything in its path, even force fields popped like bubbles on impact. A woman held a giant cannon that spitted out lightning bolts, frying anything they touched. It might be because of her fatigued mind and the excessive blood loss, but she was seeing Alex wielding two swordblades and whirling around the battlefield at a frightening speed, ripping his targets into shreds. Had she not had her surveillance drones, he would only be a blur.Wouldn''t it be cool if I get to fight by his side? Overtaken by exhaustion, Her eyelids closed one last time. She opened her eyes to find herself in the soul room, her gaze met that of a short red haired boy of around twelve years old. He smirked. The silence lasted one short moment. Unknowingly to those who were fighting, various dark figures sneaked around the place. They dragged any human body they could find towards the nearest small tunnel. "I got one with ears. We might get some good pay out of this one." One of them said, staring at the bloodied body of a frail rabbit-eared girl. GDoc link Please, please comment in any errors you see. Its not that I¡¯m lazy, but I¡¯m too busy to proofread my chappies. >.< Now that Volume 1 is done I''m planning to do a thorough edit of the volume to remove wordiness and clear some plot holes. But not right now though. I want to at least work on this part of volume two because the cliffhanger is killing me xD. That aside, did you guys enjoy my story so far? You are not reading because you pity me right, right? *stare* This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Nonetheless, I''d like some thoughts on what to improve during my edit. Please comment what you think, should I give more detailed descriptions, develop Alice and Ellowyn relationship more? Please tell me! ...Or do you want me to do revise this volume at all? Side Chapter: Rabbit Ears Dawn spread its first silvery strand of light, giving the lush garden a twinkling glow. Ellowyn enjoyed the fresh air, colorful plants, and the unique wildlife while walking beside Alice. "I wonder." "You wonder?" "Why rabbit ears? I mean why did your family choose it, why not cat ears or fox ears?" "The question is, why not?" Alice smiled. "Nothing portrays the symbol of fertility better than the rabbit. They have one of the fastest breeding rate of mammals. And in evolutionary terms, that is a great survival advantage. Not to mention they''re pleased to look at and make great pets." "But you.. you know, wouldn''t some of those terms be applied to us too?" Ellowyn''s face reddened. "Are you uncomfortable, being associated with such?" "No, not really. Okay, maybe just a little." Ellowyn drooped her head. "You shouldn''t care about the way popular media bashes on the very concept of copulation. The ability to produce life itself is a beautiful thing and should be cherished." She had a longing look. "While medical technology had advanced far enough to allow safer and faster human reproduction cycles, its too bad that overpopulation and poor infrastructure planning slows the general reproductive rate. Had it been better, I would have loved to work on the projects that will enhance our ability to procreate." "Umm can we, can we change the top-" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "I''ve always been fascinated by the various way we as a species respond to the concept of intercourse. Some regarded it as the most nobleness of goals while others scorned as if the act itself is against the well being of humanity." She put her hand on her chin. "For me though, I''ve always wanted to try doing it at least once to see how it would feel, physically. I was too busy to plan it well and it wouldn''t be socially acceptable to simply request someone else to give me such experience." "Are you alright Ellowyn?" Ellowyn''s face was beet red and her heart banged on her rib cage, wanting to burst out from her chest. "I''m fine, fine. Just a little out of breath, that''s all." They sat on a nearby bench. Alice waited patiently until some of the redness faded away from Ellowyn''s complexion. "Ellowyn?" "Yes?" "Would it be alright if we engage in an intercourse? It will not only satisfy my curiosity but also give us many crucial experience for our future partners." "I...I can''t. I''m sorry Alice!" Ellowyn stood up and ran back to her room. My heart can''t take this. Did you get April Fooled? xD Real chapter coming tomorrow. Emergency Poll! Temporary hiatus Spoiler:Obsolete Poll Some readers are against the idea of Ellowyn having two bodies at once. And I understand that they don''t like the added complexity of managing two separate identities. But you see, I''ve dug myself into quite a hole now. For the past few months, I''ve planned out nearly the entire story outline. And what happens from now will depend on Ellowyn having two identities to solve problems and progress with the plot. Here are the pros and cons I can think of: Pros One body(identity) is completely separate from the other, therefore:
    • One identity can gather information freely without the constraint of another (spying, infiltrating, Ellowyn''s identity with Alice doesn''t allow her to move outside unless with an army of bodyguards)
    • Can look at an issue from different perspectives
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
  • Make it much easier to do things behind the scenes, such as one identity making the actions that the other identity can''t in a large plan.
Showing the world in a more close and personal way.I want to use her second identity to show the daily lives of the vast futuristic city, to show how changes made from top corporations( by Alice and other influential people Ellowyn know) would affect the lives of the everyday people.
  • Slight spoiler: I want the second identity to be a semi-vigilante to be more engaged with the city life.
Cons Increase in complexity
    • Two identities means two separate PoV that needs to be managed
  • May confuse some readers
-more to be added Here is the poll link. Note that the third choice doesn''t really affect my decision, only vote for it if you''re okay with both. Please think carefully before voting, this decision will affect the story very much! Also, COMMENTS! Tell me what you think. Chappy 35 (new): Waking Up Behind Enemy Lines A dull metallic sound nudged Ellowyn from her cold slumber. She opened her eyes and was immediately greeted with...nothing. All around her stood a dark, empty space that expanded into infinity. Am I dead? She looked around and pondered. Then a familiar blue notice appeared.
Starting System
She ignored the streams of startup code and glanced downward, stretches of lush green grasses began materializing underneath her feet and expanding towards the horizon. She gazed at her own reflection in the familiar lake, letting the playful wind nudge at her hair.I¡¯m back in my soul room, it seems. In her mind settled a sense of calmness as she assessed the situation. ¡°Welcome back to the land of the living, Ellowyn.¡± She turned around and almost jumped back upon seeing someone standing right behind her. ¡°Ah sorry, I didn¡¯t want to startle you.¡± ¡°Carl?" "That''s me." He gave an awkward smile. ¡°Before I can answer any more questions, I need to check your condition. Take a deep breath, and tell me if you feel anything out of place.¡± She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She probed the inside of her mind, sending and bouncing various thoughts around. All she could feel was a slight sense of sleepiness from having woken from a long slumber, and a strange sense of tranquility. ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing wrong that I know of.¡± She opened her eyes to see Carl working on a few holo screens, on which were the outlines of her body and various statuses. ¡°That''s good, it seemed there were no complications from the reanimation of your soul and body.¡± She grimaced. ¡°How long was I dead?¡± ¡°Around 2 hours, the system managed to salvage the last of its energy to keep your brain alive and stop decomposition. Though in general, your body is a wreck.¡± ¡°Nothing that a little time can¡¯t heal.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± He averted his eyes, ¡°Time is what we don¡¯t have for the moment.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. In the first place, why am I still alive?¡± "It took me a while, but I managed to convince my superiors to revive you. Well, revive is a bit of a stretch. I only used my limited admin privilege to restore your system¡¯s energy. Officially, the reason is that we¡¯re compensating youfor helping to detect and stop the use of a system jamming device.¡± ¡°And unofficially?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to be working as our temporary agent. It¡¯s a completely voluntary job of course, and you¡¯re not in anyway forced to do it. The system¡¯s governing council is asking you to investigate John Lyon¡¯s activities.¡± Her eyes went wild. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°They know of your...unique situation and concluded that you¡¯d be the best person for the task. We found evidence that suggests he is violating our terms of service, though we can¡¯t be sure.¡± ¡°I really do have a good incentive for the job.¡± She nodded. ¡°But why me? I have no experience in espionage whatsoever.¡± ¡°None of our agents have a close connection to John Lyon like you do. And they¡¯re already burdened with other tasks. I¡¯ll inform you more after you¡¯re out of your current situation, if you¡¯d still be alive that is.¡± She gulped. ¡°I tapped into your body¡¯s visual and audio sensors, it seemed your body is inside a medical facility to be operated on.¡± He folded his arms. ¡°And these people aren¡¯t friendlies, based on what I heard.¡± ¡°But I thought whatever I did had stopped the invasion.¡± ¡°They probably snatched your body before they retreated, who knows.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I apologize that it took me so long. You¡¯re now probably deep in a hostile establishment.¡± ¡°I¡¯d gladly accept your apology if you help me get out of here.¡± ¡°Sorry, as of this moment, I am not allowed to provide you with anything else. As a low-level system admin, my authority is limited.¡± He smiled sadly. ¡°If I die, I¡¯ll be haunting you for an eternity.¡± She gave an exaggerated sigh. ¡°Do whatever you want. Though if you can, gather more information on how these people get their hands on the jamming device and send it to me. I might be able to promote you from your temporary rank.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°And you guys can¡¯t do this yourselves because?¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°We¡¯re not omnipotent, Ellowyn. The outside world is only seen through the eyes and ears of our contracted agents, you included. For now though, just focus on staying alive and perhaps this won¡¯t be our last talk.¡± His body started to fade away from the soul room. "You know, Carl." "What?" "In case this really is our last talk, I just want you to know that you look adorable." A mischievous smirk lined her lips. Carl gave a long sigh as the image of his child-like body faded into nothing. Perhaps it was the fresh memories of the previous battle that gave her a strange calmness, Ellowyn wasn''t perturbed at all. She who should have died was able to live again, but her current situation was rather dire. How many more times in this life will I have to ''die'', I wonder. She opened various windows to check on her body''s status. No infection or necrosis formed, but her energy reserves were low and in her abdomen lodged a metallic bullet. Before Carl''s intervention, the system managed a very weak blood flow throughout her body, but there wasn''t nearly enough oxygen that her body desperately needed. Pain assaulted her the moment she reconnected her consciousness to the body. This is going to be tough.
Suppressing pain receptors
Garbled voices entered her ears, becoming clearer by the second. "... do we need to cauterize it? It''s a dead body, not a person. There¡¯s no need to waste time on the safety procedures." A shiver ran up her spine. "Let''s start already!" The women continued impatiently. "Please tone down your excitement, this is our first hero specimen ever. If you mess up just once, we won''t be able to keep our heads. And also Randall isn''t here yet." "Did someone mention my name?" A gruff voice entered the room. Ellowyn scanned further and found various medical sensors connected to her body. She immediately probed them and accessed the medical mainframe monitoring her presumed dead body. She froze the sensor''s output to hide her body''s increased metabolism rate and then advanced further up the connection into the main servers. "Is that frail little thing really the so called hero?" The booming voice sounded in mockery. "She is without a doubt, according to the bots recorded footage. She was the one slipping through our entire front lines and disabled the system jammer. It is still unclear how the little bugger did it though." After a little probing, Ellowyn concluded that the security servers are too protected for her to brute force through with so little time. With limited employee access, she scanned through all the unclassified work emails of everyone. There has to be something I can use. It didn''t take long to retrieve a minor maintenance update passkey. Then she gained access to some minor utility functions. Just look a little deeper and this baby is mine. In less than 3 minutes gained access to the surveillance system of the facility. Looking through the cameras of the operating room, she could see the situation from every angle. "Are you sure it is dead?" A burly man stood towered over Ellowyn. The white lab coat covering his bulky muscles along with the surgical mask that covered most of his face made the scene rather surreal. ¡°Even heroes die you know. I¡¯ve made sure to check three times, not even the faintest heartbeat. And with those injuries, I doubt she can do much even if she wakes up.¡± ¡°Haha, for the most dangerous entity in this entire facility, you sure are being unguarded.¡± ¡°Are you saying she¡¯s stronger than our hero? I¡¯m sure Chase would love to correct that statement.¡± ¡°I never said she was stronger.¡± He smirked. ¡°If you guys don¡¯t start now, I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± The other impatient girl interrupted. ¡°Before we begin, let¡¯s make sure we all know what we¡¯re doing. Our main goal is to find out why the subject is immune to system jamming, but it is also important to figure out how the system makes its connection to the main body. We¡¯ll start by¡­¡± Ellowyn was never idle, in the past minute she had been working on ways to create distractions and to ensure no attention would be focused on her. The room¡¯s intercom beeped. ¡°Is the operating procedure in progress?¡± ¡°No, sir. We are still starting the preparations.¡± ¡°Then pause what you¡¯re doing. There is a problem in the adjacent room M-23, the malfunctioning maintenance robots are not responding to commands and their erratic behaviors might jeopardize your operation. They do not pose a threat, however. You can wait until the technician crew arrives or disable them yourselves.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do it ourselves.¡± The man gestured to the others. ¡°You two stay here to guard the girl, keep your comms open just in case.¡± He left with the impatient woman. With two out of four hostiles gone, Ellowyn proceeded to the next part of her plan. Each side of the room stood imposing metallic turrets, designed to fire electrically charged slugs that release 2 million volts on impact. She watched as the turrets quietly turned. ¡°Hey, I thought those turrets are supposed to be off.¡± The guard standing near the door asked. ¡°That''s odd, usually they only respond to emergency protocols or breakout alar-¡± Two million volts interrupted the woman as she convulsed on the ground and flailing about. The same fate awaited the guard. Screams filled the room, echoing through the comm microphones on their shirts, but Ellowyn already intercepted all signals coming from the room, including the camera feed. The two went limp after a few seconds. She gave the medical terminal the command to release her restraints, and it worked. The moment she tried to sit up, however, the muscles on her arms and back decided to twitch and spasms just like the two unconscious hostiles. It seemed the lack of oxygen had brought all her muscle cells into disarray, making them unable to respond properly to nervous signals. It took a good minute for the system to finally stabilize her muscle tissues. By then the other two were already halfway through disabling the malfunctioned robots. She decided to make the distraction robots act even more erratically and harder to catch to buy more time. It took great effort, but Ellowyn managed to stand up feebly, her body still shaking and she had to use the IV stand as a clutch. Her hijacked connection to the facility¡¯s server was still strong thanks to the wireless medical sensors attached to her body. Let¡¯s see if I can get out of here. Chappy 36 (new): Escape She limped towards the door as fast as she could, her strides getting faster by the second as more and more muscle cells came back to life. By the time she exited the room, the IV stand was no longer needed. The facility she was in was clearly underground, with the floor and ceiling of the dimly lit corridor lined with dirt. Her target was the storage room that held her captured gear, the problem was she had to pass the room with the malfunction bots that the burly man was still in. The camera footage of the room showed the two still struggling with the distraction bots, but not for long. Unfortunately, the door of that room was wide open and Ellowyn couldn¡¯t risk closing it and bringing attention to herself. She decided to walk stealthily pass the door. Just after she succeeded in passing, however. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± The burly man¡¯s voice boomed. Her spine froze as she held her breath. ¡°What?¡± His companion asked. ¡°Nothing, I thought I saw someone move by, was gonna ask them for help.¡± Ellowyn exhaled and continued. The storage room lay straight ahead and she entered with ease. The armored locker that kept her thruster suit opened at her command. She frowned, looking at the tattered straps.Will it hold together any longer? She looked around the room and spotted a maintenance locker. Then she brought the suit over and opened it. The haphazard repair proceeded quickly. She grabbed the fabric adhesive glue tube, reconnected the ripped straps and reinforced partially torn places. For any torn wires and loose connections, she welded them in place and replaced broken cables with temporary electric cables. The result was a thruster strapped suit that barely held together and will with all certainty, fall apart in a lengthy battle. She wore it over her white medical gown and took the rest of her weapons - a rifle and two handguns. Then she began scavenging the room for any other useful items. She took a small satchel from one of the lockers and began stuffing it with first aid kits and batteries she ripped from other electrical devices. She also found a few protein bars to restock her energy. The looting stopped once the alarms started blaring, the burly man had returned to the operating room and found her missing. While she was looting the room, her crawling scripts had already scoured the servers and downloaded the map of the entire facility. Having no time left, she bolted to a nearby vent, unscrewed its magnetic bolts and squeezed herself in. The narrow vent corridor was only designed for maintenance bots to traverse, but her small frame allowed her to slip through. But the restricted space forced her to stay in very stretched poses that put even more pressure on her battered body. Even with the system¡¯s pain suppression, she could feel it radiating all over her limbs. Various trap and laser detection mechanisms lined the walls of the vent to prevent intruders, but she already disabled them beforehand. Ellowyn carefully navigated through the vent maze with the map, at times she had to use her leg thrusters to propel herself upward or to reduce speed from a long drop. The traverse proved much more difficult than she thought, as she had to watch her footing and posture so as to not stress her injured body while fending off the server¡¯s security measures that were becoming stronger by the second. Her target destination was the hangar where she could choose a suitable escape vehicle. However, none of the vents reached the hangar because the place had its own venting system. She exited through a vent opening in a lower floor and into another storage room, it was the safest option since countless armed robots and guards roamed the upper floors and movement between rooms would be impossible. There were still many patrolling bots on the lower floor, but the numbers were much more manageable She attempted to disable them through the network but gave up as their systems ran independently from the facility¡¯s servers, and that she was beginning to get locked out of the server as the security measures took over. Still barely having control over the camera systems, she managed dangerous a cat and mouse game with the security bots by hiding and moving outside of their field of vision. A seemingly impossible task as all of the bots had full 360 degrees of vision. Had the system¡¯s predictive module not kick in, she would have been long dead. She moved stealthily between rooms using their local vents, sometimes crossing a corridor to reach the room on the other side. Progress was slow since she couldn¡¯t move down the corridor itself as bots patrolled them too regularly. Then she reached a very large hall holding various advanced machinery that she couldn¡¯t make out through the building map, but upon entering she knew it at once. It was a breeding room. The entire space was as long as a football field and tall as a basketball court. She inspected the glass capsules lining the walls, inside each laid an embryo of various sizes. She walked further, inspecting other tools. Larger incubators followed, allowing the artificial growth of the animals. She could see the outlines of their bodies, mainly wolves and bears. There were no security bots in the room so she was able to move about freely. It seemed the place was only for incubation, as there were no sufficiently large containment cages and that specimens reaching a certain size might be moved out using the elevator at the end. Ellowyn had to pick up the pace, however, the server could be booting her from its system at any moment. She already lost ? of the total camera feed. Standing in front of the elevator, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When the elevator reached the hangar floor, she would have to traverse 200 feet of hallway with no rooms for cover in between. Around a dozen security bots and guards patrolled that area and possibly more that she couldn¡¯t see through the camera. Looming fear gripped her shoulders, sending its cold tendrils down her spine. What if I really don¡¯t make it out this time? Is there a less risky way? She pondered for a second but dismissed the thought. There was no time left and she needed to act if she ever wantto see Alice again.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Ellowyn shook her head and entered the elevator. It didn¡¯t take long for it to reach the desired level, but she kept the doors closed to compose herself and give the System time to calculate movement patterns. The moment the door opened, she threw her satchel out as far as she could. Inside it was a makeshift bomb created by short-circuiting the batteries within. The ensuing explosion covered a good part of the hallway in scolding smoke. She dashed forward and used the smoke as cover. Her muscles screamed in agony, but she didn¡¯t slow down. Some bots sensed her location by sound and attacked but with little accuracy. The human guards could only stand still and wait for the smoke to pass. It was after Ellowyn passed the smoke cloud that the struggle began. All eyes focused on her nimble moving figure. Bullets ripped the air apart but missed by a long shot as she made rapid changes in direction by using her thrusters and bouncing off the walls.
Applying course correction force
Her injuries prevented the actions from being executed efficiently and the system substituted the errors. She wanted to deploy shields but decided to hold off until near the end to save the precious System energy. More seconds passed and the System¡¯s predictive module¡¯s accuracy began to drop, making more stray bullets and blade strikes gaze her skin, creating more scratches. An imposing bot stood in her way, its large frame did nothing to slow down its movements as the behemoth charged towards her at breakneck speed. She too had begun running at full speed towards the giant bot. Rifles perched on the bot¡¯s front started firing while it raised its force blade arms sideways, anticipating her charge. However, the armor-piercing guns had slow fire rate and not designed for nimble targets. She turned her body sideways and let the rounds slip by. Just before she gets sliced by the force blades, Ellowyn jumped down to the sides and dodged them by a hair¡¯s breadth. She immediately stood up and continued running, giving the bot no time to turn around. Reaching the halfway point, she decided to turn the System¡¯s built-in force field on to tank through the oncoming enemies. Though it needed a few seconds to be operational. Three human guards moved in a more organized formation, their more coordinated movements made it harder to bypass by speed and agility alone. Ellowyn tried firing at their foot, but the bullets bounced off their force field. They stood still, ready to receive her in their welcoming deadly embrace. Here goes nothing! Using the System¡¯s push and firing her back and leg thrusters at max, she lunged forward and met the guard¡¯s blade with her rifle¡¯s. Overwhelmed by Ellowyn¡¯s push, the guard lost his balance and fell down. She used the momentum to roll on the ground, dodge another guard¡¯s strike and kicked his foot to make him stagger. She ignored the third guard as he was out of reach and continued dashing towards the door to the hangar bay. Just as she was 10 ft from the door, it opened and out came a man in a distinct red on black combat suit. A calm and composed expression sat on his face. His appearance wasn¡¯t in her calculations, which meant he just arrived within the hangar bay. A revelation hit her just as she jumped aside to dodge a large piece of the wall being thrown at a mind-boggling speed. A hero. The man¡¯s unchanging expression as he tore apart sizable chunks of the wall just to throw at Ellowyn gave her chills. Despite his large build, the man¡¯s speed rivaled hers and his strength seemed within the realms of impossibility. And he wasn¡¯t a muscle brain either, knowing that he can¡¯t hit her even with well-aimed shots, he used large pieces of the surrounding walls and floors as projectiles with wide-reaching hit areas. She had to use everything she had to move out of the way. The wind pressure generated by the thrown pieces alone had slammed her into the wall. There was no choice but to continue, the man stood between her and the escape route. ¡°Give it u-¡± He stopped speaking as she began charging straight at him. He held his arms up and activated his shield arm strap. The strap glowed brightly as the shield projection blocked the entire hallway in front of him and leaving her no opening to get through. Ellowyn did not faze. With such a spread out shield, its efficiency must have dropped. And while the small force blade on her rifle wasn¡¯t nearly enough to break through, the wire blades on her arms and legs would do the trick. She lunged, braced her arms in front while pointing her rifle forward and fired her thrusters at full throttle. The forcefield bent under the pressure and finally let her through. But something hit her out of the air and knocked the wind from her lungs.
Warning! Lung punctured Internal bleeding Ribs broken x2 Ribs cracked x3 Body in critical condition
Ellowyn looked down at the basketball-sized chunk of metal that he threw at her and coughed a mouthful of blood. ¡°Looks like you didn¡¯t heed my warning.¡± The man remained expressionless as he slowly walked towards her. ¡°Sorry but I don¡¯t take orders from strangers.¡± She sneered and slowly stood back up to face him, her bloody lips curled into an unnerving smile. Then she bolted towards the hangar door. He lunged to intercept her. Now! A loud explosion shook the entire building to its core, everyone except Ellowyn lost their footing due to the floor vibration. It was the last measure she put into the servers, a small script that caused the power generators to overheat and explode on her command. She came upon it by chance while searching for a more efficient way to power her thruster suit. With his posture broken, the man¡¯s grab missed her and he landed on the ground. All the lights went out, shortly before the emergency lights turned back on. Within that brief moment, she threw herself away from the man¡¯s grasp and entered the hangar. A faint blue sphere surrounded her as the System¡¯s crude force field finally activated. She dashed straight towards the Armored Personnel Carrier that she already unlocked beforehand through the facility¡¯s network, ignoring all the shots that bounced off her forcefield. Reaching the APC, she slid herself inside the hatch just in time before missiles arrived and exploded on the vehicle¡¯s back armor, making only minor dents. The APC she chose was a state of the art model designed for fast raids and infiltration. It had the highest armor to weight ratio and an impressive array of defensive armaments. She enjoyed a brief moment of comfort shortly before bracing herself once again. Major Plot Change Notice After much consideration, I''ve come to the conclusion that the potential romance development between Ellowyn and Alexis is not only too contrived to maintain but rather straight on illogical. At first, I wanted to create a thrilling star-cross lovers'' romance that would bring tears to my eyes. But at this point, I''ve realized that it is easier to force a donkey to fly than to pursue the particular plot development. Forcing the two to be together will violate the story''s consistency and prevent me from following the planned plotline. Therefore, I''ve decided to remove Alexis''s past as Ellowyn''s lover.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Please note that this does not change the story much so far, as the fact had only been mentioned twice in 35 chapters (chapter 14 and27), but it will drastically change the story from now on, allowing me more freedom to change the world and Ellowyn''s future adventures. To be brief, Alexis will remain as John Lyon''s hero, but his role as Ellowyn''s past lover has been removed (by deleting a few paragraphs in chapter 14 and27). This doesn''t mean there will be no romance for Ellowyn in this story, so don''t be sad! This will be the last time I make any major changes to the story. If you have any opinions and suggestions, please give me a comment or apm. Chappy 37: Rough Landing
Impact imminent!
A bike hit the APC at breakneck speed, sending it into an uncontrollable spin. The fragile bike itself broke into countless pieces and left a noticeable dent on her APC. Already predicting the attack, she ignored the dizziness and grabbed hold of the steering joystick to reduce the spin. In his attempt to make Ellowyn lose control, the hero threw more things at her, from storage creates to other vehicles, but she managed to maneuver out of the way. The few that gazed her apc had left shallow scratches. The throwing assault ended, presumably because they needed some vehicles left to pursue her. The apc¡¯s force field had finished activating and deflected any further shots as it sped towards the closing hangar door. Knowing she won¡¯t make it, Ellowyn used the rail turret to pelt a small portion of the door with high explosive rounds to weaken it. Then she used the apc¡¯s momentum and armored front to break through into the open. Unfortunately, the impact jolted her body hard and making her cough another mouthful of blood and her vision blurry. For a brief moment, blinding sunlight filled the screens of the cockpit before they adjusted their brightness, showing the vast landscape of sand surrounding the base. The wind current generated by the apc¡¯s hover thrusters blew outward, stirring a snake-like cyclone in its wake. The rear camera showed no signs of pursuit yet as she quickly put the apc on autopilot toward Carl¡¯s marker. Then with clumsy movements inside the APC, Ellowyn made her way to the compact medical bed to strap herself in place. She watched anxiously as the nimble robotic arm punctured a hole in her abdomen, removed the bullet lodged within and then searing it shut. Along with the System¡¯s help, the on board automated medical tools helped stopped her internal bleeding and resupplied her body with temporary synthetic blood. The entire procedure lasted no more than 2 minutes. But her pursuers had long caught up. Of the countless missiles coming at her, many got pass the apc¡¯s point defense and missile interceptors and pounded on its shield, knocking the apc off balance as the onboard computer couldn¡¯t steer clear of such heavy firing. More alerts came as the shield generator overheated from the onslaught of shield basing rounds. She took control and gulped upon seeing the sky above her littered with pursuing aircraft. Immediately she made desperate evasive actions by pushing the apc¡¯s thrusters to their limits but it wasn¡¯t enough. She had to toggle the force field off to let the shield basher rounds splash harmlessly against the hull, and then turned it back on to soak the devastating close range miniguns. While unshielded, she drove in an unpredictable zig zag motion to partially deflect the armor piercing/high explosive rounds and missiles. Ellowyn couldn¡¯t have been gladder to pick the apc. Despite its slowness and low hover height, its advanced light armor protected the critical components much better. While other fast flying vehicles will loose most of their mobility from the loss of just one or two thrusters, the apc can take much more damage since the armored underbelly had protected the critical propulsion systems. More drone bikes approached from behind, each with their own unpredictable movement patterns making it difficult for the apc¡¯s rail turret to land a hit. She decided to shoot the ground near them with HE rounds to keep them at bay. The situation turned grimmer by the second. As the apc ran out of interceptor rockets, more and more missiles pounded the apc¡¯s shield. She stared at the empty marker, sweat dripping from her eyebrows. She screamed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Carl gave a nervous laugh. After checking the apc¡¯s condition, she shook her head and gritted her teeth. What do I do now? Then she looked at the agile bike drones and an idea materialized. She shook her head again out of exasperation, but frowned as it seemed to be the only option available.I¡¯ll consider it when there are no other options.
Damage report Rear proximity sensors offline Steer thruster malfunctioned - restarting Left side hull puncture - estimated 20% ¡­
The apc¡¯s condition worsened by each second as the cockpit jolted constantly from the explosions outside. Then came a blinding flash of light around 500 feet from Carl¡¯s marker. The faint outline of a ship slowly emerged out of the subsiding light, its long and tall figure blocked out the sun. Ellowyn exhaled in relief, only to freeze in horror. She was still too far away. A high explosive round landed right under the apc, knocking it from the air.
Critical thruster failure Propulsion system compromised Warning, impact imminent!
The apc dropped down and tumbled across the sand. Instead of bracing herself, she unbuckled her seatbelt and tried her best to get to the emergency exit. Even with the System controlling her thruster suit to counter the tumbling, she could feel the extreme pressure pushing on every part of her body. The hatch flew open, flinging her out into the air at 50 m/s. Like a flying squirrel, she spread her arms and legs outward to let her own thrusters stabilize her flight. Not designed for sustained flying, the thrusters began to overheat but she ignored them. She paid attention to the most minute details of the flight, aiming towards her target. Will I make it? Landing on the unsuspecting bike with a thud, she latched onto it with her dear life and began extending the System¡¯s control area into the bike, hoping to reach its controlling unit. As tested before, the operation took an immense amount of System power. But she succeeded and gained access. With so little time, she could only deactivate its AI and switch to manual piloting mode. A small latch opened, revealing two bike handles. She grabbed hold of them and watched another hologram appeared depicting the bike¡¯s current speed and condition. There was one problem, she had never ridden a bike before. It only took a moment for her pursuers to realize what happened and resumed their chase.
...3 2 1 Shield online
Luckily, she didn¡¯t need to lean her body since the bike could make turns by itself. The bike¡¯s agile nature helped her shake off most oncoming missiles while the few that followed through were deflected by her force field. Ellowyn watched as her shield braced storm of bullets. No shield basher rounds could deal damage because the System¡¯s shield operated differently than normal shield projectors, but the System energy was dwindling quickly. She had no more than 12 seconds of shields left. Please make it. The ship¡¯s figure grew bigger by the second, but still, it remained out of her reach. Its vast armaments began firing at her pursuers, holding them back. But that did little to ease the number of attacks aimed at Ellowyn. The HE missiles exploded on her shield, threatening to push her off the bike. Then the bike¡¯s detectors gave an alert and her face turned pale upon reading it. A Mini Nuke was on its way to her location. While the large warhead carried no radioactive payload, it packed more explosives than three cruise missiles. Never was such a weapon to be used in a firefight for risk of friendly fire.They are really desperate now it seems. To prevent friendly detonation, the warhead itself was too well protected to be shot down with her small rifle and handgun, not that she could ever land a hit on such a small and fast object. Before she could contemplate on her death, a small interceptor missile flew at the warhead from the ship and detonating it. The resulting explosion instantly destroyed the surrounding pursuing aircraft, its powerful shockwave pressed against her force field, flinging her into the air while tearing the unprotected bike to shreds.
Energy low, deactivating force field
The protective force bubble around her disappeared, letting the extreme air shockwave pushed her away like a leaf in the wind. She tried to stabilize using her thrusters, but the wave overpowered the tiny thrust they gave. The hard, unforgiving ground coming toward her at breakneck speed was the last thing reflected in her eyes before darkness took over. Chappy 38: Reunion ¡°Make an incision 5 cm long over the right lumbar region and begin extracting the residue blood.¡± Ellowyn¡¯s eyes snapped open at the voice, only to be blinded by a glaring white light. Then the scenery slowly unfolded as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. She was lying down on a bed, three large hologram screens floated above her and two giant robotic arms with countless smaller arms, each equipped with a different tool for cutting and slicing, stood to each side of her body. One screen depicted the close-up image of her bruised belly, while the other two showed outlines of her body and various statistics such as heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure. While she couldn¡¯t feel any pain due to the System surprising her pain receptors, she could tell that her body was in a critical state from the grave data on the screen and countless warning notices the System was giving out. One of the robotic arms used a marker to put an X on a small area next to her navel, then the other arm¡¯s circular blade started to spin. ¡°Wait, she is awake!¡± Yelled the same voice over the intercom. All procedures halted as an alarm went on in the operating room. Ellowyn slightly moved her neck to see a glass window with five doctors in green scrubs operating what appeared to be holographic controllers. ¡°Give her more anesthesia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± A doctor rushed into the room and frantically waved his hand. ¡°Miss Ellowyn, please remain calm. We are performing critical operations to maintain your condition. There is nothing to be afraid of.¡± Ellowyn felt a strange pressure in her arm as more anesthetic was pumped in.
Detected tranquilizing drug, removing substance¡­ done
Too late. She rolled her eyes and sent a sorry gaze at the guy before he showed a confused look. ¡°Why isn¡¯t the anesthetic working? We already gave her 50% over the limit.¡± Ellowyn opened her mouth and spoke, only to result in dry coughs as her throat was long dried up. The doctor rushed out and immediately ran back with a glass of water. ¡°I¡¯m fine. You can continue the operation.¡± She said, after gulping down the water. ¡°Are you sure? We do not want you to be in pain.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have suppressed pain. I won¡¯t feel a thing.¡± For a moment, the doctors looked at each other with lost expressions. Then one of them received a phone call. ¡°Alright, miss Ellowyn, we will continue the operating procedure. If you feel there is any problem, please notice us immediately.¡± Was their decision after the call. They still covered her eyes and ears, despite her protest. She still could get complete gasps of what the doctors were doing through the System, but her curiosity had no bound. Using the System, she accessed the medical sensors attached to her body and began tracing the connection back to the operating network. There, she piggybacked onto the camera¡¯s signal and viewed the procedure. It was only through another¡¯s eye that she could see her body¡¯s battered condition, after the ordeal it had been through. Massive bruises enveloped her arms, legs, and abdomen. Her chest caved in a weird way, and one of her legs was bent at an impossible angle. After days of combat practice against simulated flesh and blood opponents, she was used to seeing the gore but never had she seen herself so dreadfully injured. The gruesome scene sent shivers down her spine.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Still, she wanted to witness the operation and perhaps gain more insight when she performed her own body modifications in the future. The operation lasted three hours. They opened her up, cleaned the dried up blood that bled within her innards, and put her limbs inside casts thicker than the biceps of the extremely muscular hero she saw back in the tunnel. The doctors then moved her bed towards the exit. Her eyes widened the moment they came outside. The towering figure of the titanic vessel earlier hovered before her. The golden light of dusk bounced off its gleaming armor. Based on the ship''s location relative to her, it seemed they never moved her body from the place she made the rough landing earlier. Probably because her body¡¯s condition was too grave to be transported back to the ship. She concluded they had built the entire medical center just to treat her. A transport quickly landed on the ground in front and the doctors pushed her bed inside. Inside the ship, they then moved her to a larger medical room to be monitored. The doctors asked if they could put a virtual reality headset onto her so that she could gain access to a remote-controlled body. With her exhaustion reaching its limit, she could only nod absentmindedly.
Detected foreign electronic wave-emitting device affecting brain wave activities. Block interruptions?
No. Was her last thought before giving in to the exhaustion. ## ¡°Ellowyn!¡± Alice¡¯s voice woke her up like a bright beam in the endless void of darkness. Ellowyn sprung up and immediately pulled Alice into a strong hug. The first thing she noticed was that her arms and legs were no longer in a cast, the second thing was either Alice had gained a lot of muscle mass while she was gone, or the person she was hugging wasn¡¯t Alice. Ellowyn timidly opened her eyes and found out it was Alex whom her hug was directed against. She quickly released herself and glanced at the other side of the bed. Alice was directing a hostile glare at Alex, while Sophie, at her. The hostile atmosphere lasted only for a fraction of a second, but the terror remained in her heart. ¡°Sorry!.¡± She hastily replied. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Alex waved dismissively. Then she noticed a strange problem, her right ear and left ear seemed to have been switched, as Alex was on her left side, yet she heard his voice in her right ear. Realization hit her as she glanced onto her own body. It was only a humanoid robotic drone. The System¡¯s last message replayed in her mind as she pieced together the facts. That was a proxy robotic body the doctors gave her to use while her real body rested in recovery. The hearing problem was obviously a glitch. Before she could fix it, a pair of arms reached out from behind and pulled her into a fierce hug. ¡°I thought you were gone.¡± Wet droplets landed on Ellowyn¡¯s shoulder. She tried to turn her head around, but the hug was too strong. She could only reach her hand behind and patted Alice¡¯s head. ¡°Me too, Alice, me too.¡± The hug continued for a long time. Sophie and Alex decided to take their leave to give the two some time alone. Alice released the hug reluctantly and turned Ellowyn around to face her. Before Ellowyn could speak, however, a resounding slap echoed throughout the room. Ellowyn could only stare agape at the glaring Alice. ¡°Why?¡± She whispered. "Were you happy?! Were you finally happy that you could Sacrifice yourself for me?" Alice hissed. Still not comprehending the situation. Ellowyn could only nod. ¡°Did you feel relieved before you were about to die?¡± Ellowyn nodded again. ¡°Then don¡¯t!¡±. Alice¡¯s scream threatened to break the room¡¯s glass windows. ¡°Don¡¯t feel happy for what you did, you have no right to feel that way.¡± Alice cupped her face in her hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, as it had only been two weeks. But I feel more attached to you than any other strangers in my life. You, Ellowyn, is one of the most precious things in my life that I never want to lose. ¡°You may feel happy that your death had helped preserve my well-being. But in fact, it doesn¡¯t. Without you, how can I ever be happy?¡± The question stabbed at Ellowyn¡¯s heart. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry for what? You need to know what exactly it was that you did. You tried to take away one of my most precious thing - yourself. Do you know how painful that felt?¡± ¡°When I saw you teleporting outside that gate,¡± Alice continued, ¡°I felt like I was abandoned like a lost puppy on the side of the road. That you, the one most precious person with me, was probably not going to return through the gate, to me.¡± Then the two embraced each other in another sobbing hug. It was then that Ellowyn realized she was the most selfish person in Varius. So selfish was she that she didn¡¯t realize in her vain attempt to satisfy her desire for Alice¡¯s well-being, she didn¡¯t take into account that her own death would bring immense sadness to Alice. That the foolish sacrifice she attempted was nothing but a selfish act done by her blinded ego. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Alice, I¡¯m really sorry for doing something so stupid.¡± Two wet trails traveled down her cheeks. ¡°Can you forgive me?¡± ¡°How can I not?¡± The touching reunion was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry for the interruption. I will come back later.¡± Said a familiar voice. Ellowyn turned around to see the intruder. ¡°Mister Clive!¡± ¡°Glad to know that you still remember me.¡± A faint smile formed on his surprised face. Delays and Apologies I''m sorry, I''m so sorry¨i©n¨i I''m currently on an eighteen-day family vacation in California. I thought I could set aside some time to write Rabbit Knight, but it appeared I had neither the time nor the internet to do so. Now that we''re in an inn with a decent connection and some rest time, I can finally give you this message.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I am trying my best to do the next chappy, but it''s going to take some time with my current schedule. I can get a ton of coffee and finish it all in a few hours, but the quality would be horrible. Again, sorry for anyone who expected a chappy! I will definitely release it in the next few days. Chappy 39: Battle Report ¡°Have your new family been treating you well?¡± Clive¡¯s calm voice resonated throughout the room. ¡°Of course. They¡¯re very dear to me.¡± ¡°I see, I¡¯m really glad that you were doing well,¡± His smile turned a little sad. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what happened. I know that you have suffered immensely over the past two weeks.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, in mind, at least.¡± She stared at her temporary robot body. ¡°Very well then, would you mind if I ask you a few things regarding the events that took place starting from the attack on the Armadillo? ¡°Before you start, I just want to let you know that it is completely within your rights not to reveal your hero abilities. This is part of your privacy as a hero in the United League.¡± Ellowyn nodded and began her story, starting from the moment the invaders shook her school with high explosive warheads. ¡°...The first to barge into the classroom were wolves, at least a dozen students were still trying to escape down the escape tunnel¡­¡± A shiver of terror brushed her skin as she recalled the fear of being attacked for real, the fear that Alice was in danger. Then she continued the frantic escape. ¡°...We ran desperately towards the bunker, fearing that its thick gate was about to close any moment. It was fortunate that we made it in, but the terrifying things were still out there, tearing down the last of the defenses¡­¡± The storying telling continued until the part where she teleported outside the gate, Ellowyn was stumped. She didn¡¯t know whether Carl would want her to disclose what happened. ¡°The moment you came outside that gate, it felt terrifying, wasn¡¯t it? Even I couldn¡¯t possibly figure out how terrifying it would feel, facing an entire hostile army on your own.¡± ¡°How?¡± Ellowyn could only gawk at him in surprise. ¡°It seemed the footage of your battle within the tunnel had been revealed to the general public through an unknown source. Everyone now knows that you¡¯re the brave little hero that saved the school that day. Right now, you probably accumulated more fans than you can count.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be happening!¡± She hugged her head in her arms. They had seen through her moves, through all the hard work she had put in the past few days in order to put up even the tiniest resistance against her rather violent fate. Not to mention her identity was then being spread throughout the city without her consent. She somehow felt naked under all the unwanted attention. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t realize you would be so frightened. I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned it.¡± Clive¡¯s forehead wrinkled in worry. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, I would have found out about it sooner or later. Let¡¯s continue, I have more pressing matters to discuss.¡± She shook her head to clear the embarrassment. ¡°Go on.¡± He urged. Ellowyn continued the story, describing her confusion upon waking up in an unfamiliar operating room with some very unfriendly folks who wanted to open her up. Then she recalled her frantic escape from the base and the chaotic chase that ensued. Throughout the session, Clive dutifully typed everything down as Ellowyn spoke, but she could clearly see the facade that was his calmness as occasionally his indifferent expression would morph into one of shock and surprise. But the juicy part was yet to come. She explained that in her mad venture in the hostile base¡¯s vents, she was able to temporarily disable the base¡¯s data server encryption and download some of the data stored in there. The gathered information was in bits and pieces, but it wasn¡¯t hard to figure out the gist of their operations. What astonished her the most was the source of the building material for the operation¡¯s massive genetically modified army of beasts (and possibly within other hidden bases as well). It was food. Compared to Earth, Varius was vastly superior in terms of technological development and infrastructure. But still, much of the inequality within society remained. Unequal distribution of wealth always meant that somewhere, someone wouldn¡¯t have enough money to eat. That was especially true among the Harena Empire, with over 40% of their land being a dry desert. Ellowyn knew that the severe food shortage was actually an economic problem in disguise. Yet numerous non-profit organizations still rose up to ¡®combat¡¯ it. While they had been very helpful in keeping the number of deaths from starvation to close to zero, everything had changed in the past three years. The worldwide food demand in impoverished areas skyrocketed, leaving these organizations unable to keep up with the demand, despite the influx of more food supporters, or so the media reported. Ellowyn knew otherwise. The reports she gathered indicated that not only was the illegal operation able to zap into the supply lines of the food drives, they could also falsify the reports generated from those food drives. So draining was the food leak that as much as 50 to 70 percent of all donated food were gone by the time they arrived at distribution. And even when that was taken into account, the official donations still rose. That meant the overall donation rate towards the Harena Empire rose by at least 150% in the past three years, giving those people more food than ever for their illegal army production.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. To steal from even the poor to fund your acts of terror, you know no shame. Ellowyn grit her teeth and mentally glared at the still hidden enemy. After her report was finished, she was free to ask away her curiosity. ¡°What happened to the base and my pursuers after I got knocked out?¡± ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, they were promptly obliterated by the flagship¡¯s defenses within mere moments. The hostile base, however, had self-destructed before we could arrive and recover anything useful.¡± ¡°I see. Still, how did such a large airship make the jump here all the way from the United League¡¯s territory?¡± Ellowyn was dying to know the answer. Her current location was thousands of miles away from the nearest border between the United League and the Harena Empire. Aside from the fact that current technologies still didn¡¯t allow for teleportation, to jump across such large distances with a titanic object such as the flagship would probably cost more energy than the entire world could produce in a month. Not to mention the clear hostility between the two worldly superpowers. To put the United League¡¯s main combat powerhouse in the middle of the Empire¡¯s territory was a clear declaration of war. Why would they risk such a dangerous move to rescue her? The question burned within her mind, but she dared not to ask for fear of what he would answer. Did I start a major war? Am I to be responsible for the thousands, possibly millions of deaths that is to come? Terror gripped her heart. ¡°Are you alright? You look pale.¡± ¡°Will, will there be a war?¡± The yearning question escaped from the depths of her terror. ¡°No, Ellowyn, there will be no war.¡± Clive shook his head reassuringly. ¡°In fact, all current major conflicts in Varius as of this moment is to be ceased, according to the Administrators¡¯ order.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t quite get what you¡¯re saying.¡± Her eyes grew as wide as tennis balls as her mind tripped over itself trying to understand the meaning of his words. How can a ceasefire order be given to an entire world? ¡°Everyone was just as confused as you are. Alright, let¡¯s start from the beginning.¡± Clive took a deep breath. ¡°Approximately 24 hours ago, shortly after the incident at the Armadillo, the entire world received a broadcast message. Okay, not the entire world, but all leaders of globally registered organizations have received a message from the Administrators. To be brief, the message stated that the Administrators have detected an unauthorized exploit of the World System and that they were currently working on finding the perpetrators. For the duration of at least 48 hours, all conflicts within Varius are to be on a forced ceasefire to prevent any foul play from the exploiters.¡± ¡°You mean, the entire world is banned from any conflicts?¡± She asked dazedly, still not comprehending. ¡°Yes, in a sense. This is not the first time something like this had happened. If history were to be believed, the Admins wouldn¡¯t respond to small incidents such as minor crimes or skirmishes. But if any sizable groups were to violate their order, the retribution was swift and horrific. Their agents would quickly arrive and annihilate everything within a certain radius, so powerful and physics-defying were they that no amount of weaponry can even slow them down.¡± Clive stopped for a moment to catch his breath. The Angels of Death. She nodded gravely, countless times had she come across the term while researching what she could about the System and the Administrators on the interweb. ¡°Here is the important part. The Admins then contacted the leaders of the United League and the Harena Empire, commanding them to respond immediately and attack a hostile base located within the Great Harenian Desert to rescue a key individual holding critical information.¡± ¡°That particular individual, was it me?¡± She asked the obvious. ¡°You betcha. Since you¡¯re from the United League, the Admins deemed it unsafe for the Empire to perform the rescue operation due to the very hostile relationship between the two. So they requested that the United League prepare a rescue task force within the allotted time to be sent to your rescue. The teleportation procedure would be performed by them. And the rest is history. Any questions?¡± Silence reigned the small room as Ellowyn was speechless still. She had read countless records of when the Admins had exercised their power in this world¡¯s past, sure a few involved some kind of command that affected the world. But to experience one for real was entirely different. The Administrators were like Gods in that world, reigning over everything with their set of rules which was the System. ¡°No,¡± She quickly shook her head. ¡°Sorry for wasting your time with my trivial questions.¡± Ellowyn¡¯s desire to continue her interrupted reunion greatly overwhelmed the need to clarify the world-changing situation. She was going to get more details from Carl and Tom, but not now. ¡°I will send you all of the data I gathered on their operations. Is there anything else that you need?¡± She continued. ¡°Not for the moment. I have to go and report this asap. But we will probably meet again. Before I leave, I just want to say that you are one of the bravest people I¡¯ve ever met. Not even the most hardened of veterans have experienced the things that you¡¯ve been through. Now that you¡¯ve made it back, please be completely at ease because you are safe with us. Everyone aboard this ship is giving their best to protect you. ¡°Also, you can always call me if you need anything. Well, at least after a few hours because I¡¯ll be swamped with my report.¡± He chuckled and left. A familiar figure swiftly entered right after. ¡°I wanted to brief you on the current situation. But it seems no longer necessary.¡± Alice pouted. ¡°Anyway, do you guys want to go shopping in the port city?¡± Sophie chimed in. ¡°How are you guys allowed to leave?¡± ¡°Wait, Ellowyn is still too weak to move around, even in that temporary body.¡± Alice protested. ¡°I should be fine. But isn¡¯t it much more dangerous for you guys to leave? We are practically in enemy territory.¡± Ellowyn raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how if you agree to come with us. It¡¯s 100% safe since we won¡¯t really be leaving after all.¡± Sophie winked. Ellowyn slowly nodded. Sophie and Alice left shortly before returning. ¡°Tada!¡± Sophie laughed. ¡°Oh, I should have seen that coming.¡± Ellowyn wanted to facepalm as she stared at the two¡¯s robotic bodies. Chappy 40 (part 1 of 2) Ellowyn could see that Alice and Sophie¡¯s robotic bodies were of the same model as her own. As much as she was fascinated by the close-up view of the robotic parts, the perspective from her sitting allowed her to view the entirety of the model as a whole. The whole contraption reflected a silver metallic glint. Because it was designed for users to not feel like they¡¯re controlling a stiff metallic body, the model focused on mobility and flexibility. It¡¯s frame was both lightweight and tough but still provided some defense against most types of damage. Thin plates of kevlar covered the numerous vulnerable joints throughout the body. Overall, while the suit wouldn¡¯t withstand much combat, it was superb for an evening out when her real body got healed. To her disappointment, all senses but smell and touch wasn¡¯t present in the body¡¯s virtual feedback, that meant she couldn¡¯t smell the air or taste anything. ¡°Have fun, I have some errands to take care of.¡± Alex waved to them and left. ¡°So, where do we go first?¡± Asked an excited Sophie. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of taking the shuttle from here to the Port City twenty miles out. The paperwork for our departure is taking longer than I thought because of the political tension.¡± ¡°Damn it.¡± Sophie plopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV. The cooking channel featured an exotic dish made from steamed red fang snakes with some diced raw scorpions, to which she immediately turned the TV off again. ¡°The paperwork is done,¡± Alice announced. ¡°Yes, finally.¡± Sophie sprung from the sofa with her arms in the air while Alice followed behind, dragging Ellowyn¡¯s hand. Warm ocean breeze played with Ellowyn¡¯s artificial hair the moment she entered the huge airship¡¯s bridge. The boundless crystal blue ocean slowly revealed itself before her eyes as they adjusted to the warm light of dusk filling the copper sky. They proceeded down a long sky escalator connecting the airship to the docking gate, then walked for a short while to the shuttle station. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just get our own ride? Shuttles are slow and stuffy.¡± Sophie complained. ¡°A personal vehicle departing our flagship would gather too much attention. We¡¯d be followed by the Empire¡¯s agents.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s not like three top of the line remote controlled robot models from the United League would tickle someone¡¯s fancy.¡± Sophie grumbled. ¡°If we¡¯re gonna get noticed anyway, why not do it in style?¡± ¡°Stop trying to get us in trouble. ¡± Alice chidedher, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to start a major conflict. More lives would be lost.¡± ¡°But I do.¡± Sophie said defiantly, earning a glare from Alice. The dilapidated port saw much more activity than what Ellowyn deemed as safe. She could hear the screeching of the strained and rusted metallic cranes as they struggle to unload numerous containers from absolutely massive container ships, each rivalling the flagship in size. ¡°Is that the shuttle?¡± Ellowyn pointed at the approaching flying metal box that looked like a double decker bus with a bunch of thursters strapped to it. People poured out of its doors like a dam, shortly before it received another stream of bodies with the three girls following suit. Ellowyn realized that Sophie was right, the inside of the shuttle was crowded and badly ventilated. But thank to the lack of a biological nose, she didn¡¯t have to experience the surrounding bodily odor. She was glad to not receive much attention from the surroundings, as the place was a popular tourist attraction with many opting to visit the place remotely using their remote control bodies. Though she could see the stark contrast in quality between their bodies and the other lower-ended remote tourist robots. ¡°Be careful guys and don¡¯t wander around any alleys.¡± Sophie warned, ¡°Bot hunters are probably everywhere. It¡¯s best if we stick close to each other.¡± ¡°Bot hunters?¡± Ellowyn¡¯s curiosity flared up. ¡°They¡¯re illegal traders that attack and capture tourists bots to resell them. It¡¯s like human trafficking, but for bots.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Yup, Alice got to experience it herself a year ago. She was depressed for an entire week after losing her favorite remote bot.¡± Sophie chuckled, shortly before earning a quick knuckle on her head. ¡°Ow, hey!¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The shuttle finally arrived at the Port City. The ember sky slowly darkened in tandem with the brightening city lights. Countless stalls lined the side of the road leading out of the station, each selling a different kind of mouth-watering treats, from grilled or fried fishes to even raw insects and boiled snakes. ¡°The local cuisine here is very¡­ interesting.¡± Ellowyn furrowed her brow. ¡°They¡¯re a lot more delicious than they look, especially the insect dishes,¡± Alice commented. ¡°Only you would say that.¡± That earned Sophie another head knuckle. ¡°Pff.¡± Ellowyn chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Sophie groaned. ¡°You guys are really close.¡± ¡°We are, we have known each other since kindergarten.¡± Alice smiled. Then a pang of disappointment permeated Ellowyn¡¯s heart like a dark cloud. If Alice is already accompanied by Sophie, then what am I here for? Questions swirled in her mind, did Tom lie, or did he simply not know that Alice already is happy with Sophie around, did Tom really have a need for me to join the family? Most importantly, will I be discarded? ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you though Ellowyn, that Alice is much more cheerful and alive.¡± Sophie beamed. ¡°She used to be so reserved, quiet, and sad. Despite being best friends, we never got to meet each other much. Even with Alexis as my bodyguard, my over protective dad wouldn¡¯t let me visit her more than two times a week. When I get strong enough, I¡¯m going to knock some sense into him. ¡°In the meantime though, Ellowyn, please take care of Alice. You are after all a part of her family, and that automatically qualifies you as my best friend. Whatever you do, don¡¯t make her sad, okay?¡± Ellowyn could only nod dazedly as the darkness rising within her dissipated. But then a stunning realization hit her harder than a ten-ton truck. If aside from me, Alice also has Sophie as a crucial emotional support pillar, that means even if I were to lose my life in the future, Alice won¡¯t be sad forever. That revelation opened countless other options she had that will ensure Alice¡¯s safety. They had to momentarily stop walking as massive crowds blocked the road. The crowds were divided into different groups. Large floating holograms floated above the center of each crowd, each showing different exotic performances from snake charming (but with very large genetically modified snakes) to force blade swallowing. It was then that Ellowyn realized most of the performers, regardless of gender, wore extremely revealing clothing, their dresses, shirts and pants were made from soft see-through fabric, despite living in the middle of a scorching desert. This strange sense of fashion applied through every local she saw. Their skin were also palish-white, a fact that went completely opposite to what she expected to see in a desert. At first she thought it was advancements in fabric technology that gave them resistance against the sunlight¡¯s radiation, but she was wrong because most non-local visitors still had to wear fully covered cotton clothing. A brief research revealed something astounding. The people here were called the Yamas, meaning Desert Dwellers. Two hundred years ago, all of their offsprings had a sudden drastic change. Not only did their skins become immune to the harmful effects of sunlight, but also they could convert some of the absorbed light into metabolic energy. This allowed the Yamas to save dramatically on food expenditures as they didn¡¯t need to eat as much. Instead of feeling scorched by the scolding sunlight, they felt a pleasant sensation that gave more energy to their bodies. Hence what little clothing they wore were made from special see-through waterproof fabric that breathed, allowing sweat to evaporate rather than getting trapped between the folds of clothing and skin while absorbing as much sunlight as they could. This beneficial trait was dependent on the pure percentage of Yamas heredity within the person. Someone with one Yamas parent would have a 50% reduced trait and so on. Ellowyn was completely befuddled to find that the scientific explanation for the amazing trait was nowhere to be found. The Empire was very strict in regulating the Yamas, not allowing them to move out of their region. The few researches done and published online showed no explanation whatsoever, there was no distinct skin mutations, no metabolic or DNA changes. The Yamas, at least biologically, were the same as any other human beings. Great, another mysterious medical condition that can¡¯t be explained. She gave up after scouring whatever she could. Ironically, there was another condition that shared the same scientifically unexplainable, mysterious characteristics, her heart-sickness. ¡°So, where to next?¡± Alice asked. ¡°The shopping district, of course. Did you live under a rock all this time, silly.¡± Sophie laughed, ¡°The Yamas are known for their excellent soft, comfortable clothes that allows your skin to breathe. The trade Empire¡¯s trade restriction prevented us from getting any of that cool stuff. So this is our perfect chance to do clothes shopping for Ellowyn.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Ellowyn tilted her head. ¡°Of course, all you¡¯ve been wearing so far are a plain pair of shirt and jeans, you need to be more stylish.¡± Sophie childed. ¡°But how are we going know if the clothes really fit?¡± ¡°Have you ever gone shopping before?¡± Sophie widened her eyes. ¡°Yes, but not in a robot body.¡± Ellowyn shivered, recalling the terrifying memory of being pinned down by giant dogs as they loudly sneered at her face. ¡°Your robotic body¡¯s three sizes have been adjusted to your own. There is also an overlay feature that projects the holograph of your body into the robot as it try on the clothes.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Ellowyn nodded. Is this bot designed solely for exotic shopping trips?