968. The End of The Final Tribulation

“…”

The child watched the big figure with long hair and a giant dangling mass with wide eyes.

They had never seen that kind of monster before.

He wondered what it was – that thing that was draped in black cloth and spiky feather.

Explosions reverberated around him. They shook his bones and tore inches of metal from the ground. Shrapnel was flung at him, but he didn’t move or attempt to shield his body.

All he did was stand there, as if expecting it to phase through him.

Or worse…

“…?”

The young boy was surprised when the shrapnel trickled down his body. They were not able to rip even a strand of cloth from the rags on his body. A faint, pale-gold layer of light had protected him.

By the time he looked up at where the monster was, they had already vanished.

“…”

His hollow eyes didn’t know what to think of them. Or what was happening around them. The lights were bright. The explosions seared his eyes and yet he did not flinch.

He was only drawn to the split second that he was able to view that thing again as they went around removing the cables from… other things who looked like that monster.

Slowly, he trailed off to a puddle of red liquid and gazed upon it, surprised to find that his face was similar to theirs.

“…?”

Moments later, a vibrant circle of light surrounded them.

Black and white particles lifted from his body. It cleansed the holes on the bodies of these monsters.

That was where the red liquid seemed to flow from.

What was that liquid?

Did he have it inside of him too?

The little body looked down at his body, his mind devoid of thought.

The experiences he felt did not seem to register.

Nor did he care about the colors, the scent, the taste – all of these sensations that humans took for granted was meaningless. If anything, the darkness was better.

“The Amalgam’s putting in work. Not too surprising she’s going all out. Look at the mess. Hey, Amalgam’s kid.”

“Mal?”

“Hold onto you’re your mommy’s hand. Or daddy’s?”

“I’m both to Frost, thank you very much.”

Voices spoke from behind in a language he didn’t seem to understand. He didn’t turn to them. Instead, he froze and held out a hand. He was driven by muscle memory alone, knowing well that once ‘words’ were spoken – whether he understood them or not – one had to be prepared to respond accordingly.

These words were not heard. But were

felt

through vibrations.

Indeed. He felt them speak before their voices registered in his mind.

He wasn’t alone in doing this. Others who looked similar to him, with grey hair and grey eyes stuck out their hands as their hollow eyes gazed down upon their miserable forms.

Suddenly, a voice called out to him.

“Grab your friends! Gather them for me!”

He looked around, meeting the golden gaze of the monster.

“…?”

“Bring them together! It’s easier for me to protect you all that way! Jury! Help me out here!”

“On it!”

The child had no idea what the monster was saying. Clumps of overgrown machinery and flesh were ruined by superheated purple blades.

Nearly all cables had been cut down. He was aware that the cables were a lifeline. They were ‘Mother’s hands.’ Bodies that were cold and unresponsive were almost always those who weren’t holding Mother’s hands anymore.

The child also wondered why there were so little of them here, when he knew that it used to be so crowded that he couldn’t even breathe without having to shove someone under him.

Sometimes, they wouldn’t get back up.

The voice spoke to him again.

But this time, in a much more solemn tone.

“Why aren’t you moving?”

“…?”

He looked up again. Nearly all the pillars had disappeared. The cables, and the thing in the center of the room was scrubbed away or melting into a hazy pit of slag. This monster had destroyed it all.

On their own.

Held in one hand, and now attached to their hip was a mechanical organ in the shape of a heart. It belonged to the machine. The thing he recognized as the ‘Mother’.

Were they coming to kill him too? To take his head as a trophy?

… did it matter?

“… It’s fine now.” They said as they approached with the purple blades which had melted steel by mere proximity. “I’m not as useless I was when it came to rescuing people. Hey. Why are you still standing here? It’s ok. You’ve got nothing to worry about anymore.”

Yet somehow, he did not feel heat radiating from them.

Nor did he understand why this thing was interested in him instead of the others who looked like him.

“Can you understand what I’m saying?”

They reached for his head with an ungloved hand.

Suddenly, light filled his eyes.

“…?”

“You can’t understand me?”

Somehow, this thing’s face warped into an expression he had never seen before.

Why did they look so sad as they knelt in front of him? Gentle hand cupped his face as the monster wore a look as though something was eating them from inside. But it never reached a breaking point.

The incandescent light above their head shivered.

“Gam?” Another monster that looked like a cross between the black feathered one and the white feathered one came into view.

“…?”

“Malga?” Like the one called the ‘Amalgam’, they offered a head pat before zipping away to offer the same thing to the others.

It was a gesture that the child couldn’t understand.

But one that managed to break the dazed spell on those look-alikes.

* * *

“Morgause. Jury. Horus. Round them up.”

“What do you plan to do with Denizens of the Derma Layer?” Morgause could not help but ask. “It may be difficult integrating near Shell-like humans into society.”

Frost glared at Morgause. It was pure killing intent. While she didn’t mean to utter these words in an adverse way, the message did not resonate well with Frost. In fact, it went entirely against Frost’s personal code.

Morgause carefully swallowed as she chose her next words.

Her life depended on it.

“By an objective lens. Your rationale I agree with. I was once in their stead.”

“No human deserves to live like this.” Frost cut her killing intent the moment she saw the child tremble. “I couldn’t give a shit whether they’re a Shell or not. Even Shells can live normal lives. Morgause. We have the resources, and I have the authority. Don’t ever forget that.”

She brushed his with her thumbs, wiping away invisible tears as she internally wept for him.

Frost didn’t want to look into those eyes, but she forced herself to.

Because those eyes belonged to a child who was born into this cruel world, in a barbaric place without love or compassion. The hand that held him since birth wasn’t warm like a mother’s.

Instead, it was a cold, artificial cable meant to leash him. Yet those eyes looked upon the cables with a sense of longing.

She was once again reminded of the horrors that lurked beneath the world of Elysia.

The hell where billions likely existed believing their suffering was normal. Slowly, she brought him into an embrace, whispering:

“We’re gonna get you out of here.”

Brining the Hired Arm and the Taleor was the next logical move. Stars should already be moving to assist in the collection, and another should also be moving to speak with the Golden Index.

Carpalis will accept them without any strings attached.

That was perhaps the only certainty in this world.

They are departing immediately

Good timing too. The Hyperlink Relay Sites are coming online across the Nex Megalopolis. H5 included

Relief filled Frost.

But that was short lived.

Morgause saw a peculiarity in these people.

“Bizarre. Same hair and eye color as Icara.” She commented.

Indeed. Most had grey hair and grey eyes, as if to say they’re part machine.

But this wasn’t the strangest thing.

Far from it.

“Amalgam. You can see their stats clearly, but does it say for you whether they are a Blessed or not?”

“No. It’s a guessing game for me. Why?”

Morgause’s face darkened suddenly, afraid to be the bearer of this terrible news.

“I can’t view their stats. These people, aside from the ones captured from Emershine – they’re Blessed. I don’t believe it. Child. Do you understand me?”

No response.

To be reduced to a level where not even a Blessed – who could understand all languages no matter how broken or archaic it was – could not even recognize what they were saying. Even a Blessed newborn would know what their mother was saying.

It was an inherent ability of the Blessed.

But for it to be this broken revealed the level of psychological damage these people had endured.

“… Fuck…”

A second piece of the golden halo permanently glowed above her head.

< The Will of the Amalgam Has Reached the Fourth State >

< Manifesting the Crowned as the Fourth State >

A crown of burning thorns formed around her head, the tapped on the mechanical heart at her hip.

“Nav. Give Ignis an assignment.”

What kind of assignment?

“Integrating sensation into prosthetics. We’ll develop it. And we’ll implement it into Infecta Rot machines.”

The heart on her hip quivered.

This was the Core of the Mother.

* * *

//////// < ALERT > ////////

< TRIBULATION ENDING >

INFECTA ROT

Complex

Feel the absence that we have endured. In the void that remains thereafter will we finally be the same