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DMA - B2 - Chapter 20 – The Godheart and Pheracorp’s fall
🕑 Added 2024-11-20 14:50:45 +0000 UTCTroxanir recoiled as his physical avatar on Oblivion’s Edge, the Penrose ring world surrounding Oblivion’s Maw, suffered actual damage for the first time since his fight with Star Daddy some thousands of years ago.
“That arrogant troglodyte! That cur! He’ll burn in oblivion’s wrath!” Troxanir felt utter, sheer, incalculable hatred towards the man. Jace Seren. Flicker. Dead man walking. I’ll utterly ruin him!
Few forces could harm Troxanir, and whilst his avatar-form was Tier 9 and was not able to be harmed by a lowly Tier 3, the woman’s body he had possessed with her permission – having sent her mind to paradise already – was only Tier 3 itself. And this Flicker had some item that enabled him to shake off mental manipulation, control, and visions. I should have just gone straight to mind control instead of trying to simply show him the truth.
And he was not truly there on Earth. Just projecting himself. If I was there, my full power would have crushed his mental resistance with no issue.
But that connection enabled some feedback damage to reach him, and once more he felt uncertainty. Here, he had just experienced the truth that this Dark Matter user could absolutely injure him. Perhaps even kill him. If he got strong enough, perhaps even restrain Oblivion’s Maw, the singularity at the center of the universe, in an encapsulating aura of Dark Energy. The true form of Troxanir.
Losing an avatar would set him back a few years. Having Oblivion’s Maw restrained entirely?
The thought struck disquiet into Troxanir, and he had never experienced this level of that emotion before. I need to prepare further and use minions to fight this threat, he thought. He’ll be busy on Earth for some time. And he poses no threat to me until he gets to at least Tier 8. That will be a long, long while, yet.
He turned to Oblivion’s Maw and held out his palm. The surging energy within the singularity’s deepest point flared in response. “I call on you, those who were slain by Flicker, to leave your paradise behind and take your revenge.”
He felt the response. Every Signer of the Black Hole Conclave, every member who devoted themselves to Troxanir’s goal, their consciousness, their ‘soul’ was locked within paradise at the center of the singularity.
And, once, a single time, the consciousness of the singularity given form – Troxanir himself – could bring each one of them back. But only once, as any more would irreparably damage the consciousness, the soul, and would risk ripping them to tatters.
Brom Farkonen, Tier 3 Ascendant Dervkork, looked up at Troxanir. “I answer the call,” he uttered.
Troxanir nodded and pointed to the portal leading to The Cosmic Corridor. “Await a willing vessel. You will get the chance to slay that Flicker, the one who killed you back on Velenar Prime.”
Brom grinned and let out a howl of delight.
>>>---<<<
Commander Victoria was floating in an endless, black void. There was nothing. No sound, no sight, no smell, no movement…just eternal darkness. She tried to talk but had no mouth. She tried to move but had no body.
Where am I? she thought as she tried to make sense of what was going on. Then, she saw a vast ocean of white and was sucked into it.
And she felt pleasure. Endless pleasure coursed through her. Time ceased to function, and she felt nothing but bliss as everything she was, everything she once identified as, was washed away in pure ecstasy.
She ceased to be as her consciousness, her soul, was merged with the mass of other souls beyond the singularity, becoming one of many in endless pleasure. Pleasure to the point that it bled over into pain, and the two became one, and everything ceased to be.
>>>---<<<
Priam and Greg made their way through the carnage. A whole small army, seemingly obliterated by Jace. Some were still alive, and Greg put single rounds through their skulls to end their misery. Priam knew the gesture might seem cruel at first glance, but ending their misery was the more noble path to take.
He saw Jace talking softly with Ollie in the corridor leading to the center of the structure. “You hurt?” Priam asked as he ran over, slipping a few times on the slick floor.
Jace grinned and nodded, “I’m good. We need to wrap things up here.”
Greg walked up and let out a whistle, “Damn, you made a fucking mess.” He held out a hand, and Jace took it as he pulled the smaller man up. “Ready for the center server room?”
Jace nodded, “You take the lead. I’m wiped.”
Pulsar Ward (Rank 20) [Multi-Target], Priam thought as he re-shielded the trio. Greg and him had not suffered any injury – Jace had successfully gotten everyone’s attention. But, having the barrier back up on Jace made him feel more comfortable with the whole situation. He stood right behind Greg, feeling the yearning in his chest as he knew the Godheart was near.
Greg walked forward and opened the door leading to a freezing-cold room. Priam could feel the heat coming off of the large, metal boxes, and saw wires in neat rows all across the ceiling, the walls, and under the glass floor.
“This is the main server room,” Quinn said over the earpieces. “Jace, take that little stick that X gave you and shove it into the central terminal’s USB port.”
Jace walked past Greg and did so. Priam looked around but saw no sign of the Godheart. Where is it? He thought as he circled the room and peeked around every corner, every nook, and every cranny.
The hat on his head tugged down, and whispered to him. His (Insightful) Dad’s Hat providing some information in a time of need. “Hey kiddo, look over there.”
Priam followed the hat’s directions by turning the way the brim tugged on his head, and he spotted a metal cylinder that was nestled up against the central server rack that Jace was interfacing with. Running over, he ripped out the cords tying into the top, and found a small lever that he pulled, revealing a glass cylinder with the Godheart inside.
It was a black, withered husk; not unlike a large seed. A desiccated heart of a dead deity. Finding a release, he opened the tube and gripped the heart itself. Closing his eyes, he repeated the mantra his father had told him was passed down through the Westerfold clan’s oral history. The only clan dedicated to putting the slain gods to rest. Feared by those on their home world as one of the most esoteric and dangerous sects of priests.
“I see you, fallen one. Find solace and refuge within me. Find your peace, and let me take on your burdens.” He felt the heart wither and decay into nothingness, felt the immense surge of divine energy rush into him, and then saw a System screen pop up into his vision as The Cosmic System incorporated this new divine-magic spell into a Skill.
//////////////////////////
[Godheart consumed.]
[New divine-magic spell gained.]
[Converting divine-magic spell to a Skill.]
[…]
[Ishtar’s Embrace – Any number of targets within a 1-mile radius are incapacitated for up to 1 hour by overwhelming pleasure. Will not cause harm.]
//////////////////////////
Interesting, a mass incapacitate spell, Priam thought. That’s handy. And, with my 190% soul coefficient, it’s an even bigger radius and longer period of time. He looked up at Jace, who was looking down at him curiously. “What?”
“You just ate a rock-thing,” Jace replied.
“Oh! No, it just looked like that! I just put a goddess named Ishtar to final rest.”
Jace shrugged, “Never heard of her.” He looked at Ollie, “Can you talk to X-”
“Just call her Xera, we all know who X is,” Quinn said over the comms.
“Oh, okay…can you talk to her-” Jace was cut off again.
Xera’s voice came out of Ollie’s mouth. “Yes, the tech-plague was uploaded. It has already taken effect, and Pheracorp’s servers have been shut down. Make sure you dust all the corpses on your way out.”
“What about destroying the building?” Jace asked. “If everyone’s evacuated, I can bring it down…I think.”
“Well, if they haven’t cleared out after all of the combat and violence – I don’t think they’re leaving,” Greg replied.
Priam frowned, “But we can make sure innocents aren’t caught up in it, right?”
“There’s no innocent person here,” Jace replied sternly. “But we can at least pull the fire alarm. Quinn?”
“Already on it,” Quinn replied. “I’ve sent out urgent notices to evacuate the building. You guys should head out ASAP. Pheracorp reinforcements from other parts of South America are en route. Maybe thirty minutes away, tops.”
Priam nodded, “Let’s go! No time to lose!”
>>>---<<<
As Jace walked back through the atrium and began to descend the stairs to the bottom tower, Ollie dusted the corpses as they passed by.
//////////////////////////
[Stardust Acquired: 112,250]
[Stardust Split: 28,063]
//////////////////////////
“Holy shit,” Jace whispered. “That’s…so much.”
“Well,” Ollie replied, “There are hundreds of corpses, and most of them had advanced equipment and armor, plus you had all those mechs…I mean, it is a lot, for sure.”
The trio got all the way outside of the building, and Jace looked at the massive structure from below. “Alright you two – get some distance. I’ll meet you at the portal. Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) [Group].” The trio vanished from sight.
Greg nodded, “We’ll see you there.”
Priam tapped Jace’s leg, “See you back home!”
Jace nodded. They had agreed to take a quick trip home to take a day off after the constant fighting. And, to plan their next move. Which megacorp would they tackle next, coordinate with Quinn, and restock supplies. With the large amount of Stardust they each now had, they could probably buy a ton of Equipment as well. Plus, get a few level ups.
Wrath’s Embrace (Rank 1), Ruination Razor (Rank 3) [Wrecking]. Jace’s blade surged with crimson and he swung at the tower.
The blade sliced into the structure and it began to spiderweb and crack, the cracks ascending up a good fifty feet as the tower shook and trembled. Jace used his grapnel to move away quickly, and chained swings together until he got to the second tower. Another slice, and it began to crack as well.
One last tower. He got over to it, sliced into it, and then began running as fast as he could. He made it out of the large plaza before he heard the enormous structure begin to fall. Sparing a glance back, he witnessed a megacorp headquarters fall to the ground in ruin, the enormous cloud of dust and debris surging out towards him.
Sprinting at top speed he made it to the portal and got into The Cosmic Corridor without issue. Immediately, he thought of home, and after a minute the world warped, and he walked into the apartment building.
Priam and Greg were both standing there, waiting for him. He dropped the Skills and smiled, “Mission accomplished. First megacorporation dealt with.”
Priam grinned and clapped his hands, “We did it!”
Greg chuckled, “Taking down a megacorp…that’s something crazy, isn’t it?” He let out a laugh, and doubled over as he seemingly lost his marbles for a minute. “It…holy…I just can’t believe it!” He looked up and wiped his eyes from the few laughter-induced tears, “A whole entire megacorp!”
Jace nodded, “About time someone took them down a peg or two.”
Ollie floated out from Jace’s hood, “There are still four more. Pheracorp was the easiest of the bunch.”
That sobering statement did bring the joviality to a stop, and Jace felt very on-edge all of a sudden. That’s right, Myscape Industrial, General Logistics, Cybronics Research, and especially Enduralife Enterprises…they’re all more heavy into cybernetics instead of the bionics stuff. “We should spend Stardust. Level up. Try and hit Tier 4 if possible, so we are harder to hurt.”
“Well, for you, you need 15,500 to hit level 76 and be qualified as a Tier 4.”
Oh, I can totally go for levels. But… “Reach out to Jonsar for me and see if he has any new prosthetics for me.”
Priam was practically buzzing with excitement, “I’m going to go upstairs and level up! You all want to sit down to that family-style dinner thing tonight? Celebrate a bit?”
“Sure,” Greg said. “It’s still early here, right? Time works weird in Khrox.”
Darrin, his Wayfinder, floated out in front of him. “It is the equivalent of mid-morning right now.”
“We’ve got all day, then,” Jace said. “And we can head out tomorrow morning.”
Greg and Priam turned and headed to the elevator, and Jace was about to join them, but stopped as a message came in from Jonsar.
//////////////////////////
[I have had some thoughts about prosthetics. It might seem a bit overt, but I think we should really consider what I’d refer to as a ‘full overhaul’ where we replace pretty much all that’s left of your organic components. Minus your brain, of course.]
[It sounds extreme, but with the nanites, your body is uniquely capable of taking such levels of augmentations.]
[Think on it, but I’ve got the materials, and would only charge you 10,000 Stardust for the service.]
//////////////////////////
“What does he mean?” Jace asked as he turned to face Ollie and the elevator doors closed. “Replace my bones? My organs? My…skin?”
“Everything, it seems like,” Ollie replied. “It is not a bad idea. Sure, your soul-energy coefficient would be practically nonexistent, but because of your Dark Matter power, we already know that EMP and electricity must be extremely potent to even have a chance of shutting down your prosthetics – and only the technology or magitech ones. If he has magic-world prosthetics, we should consider it.”
I…I don’t want to lose who I am entirely, Jace thought. I like my face, and I mean, I like my skin, too. “I should talk to Jonsar and at least hear him out. Let’s head to the hospital.”
