> Sineul: executing wakeup sequence...
- Complete…(17s)
Her dilated pupils contracted and her colorless irises slowly pulsated orange. She gazed at the calibrating lights on the ceiling for a few seconds as her internal systems came to life from 12 years of slumber. With her vision restored, she raised herself off the pod and announced her presence as was customary.
"Liera, Awake"
There was no recognition of this.
> Sineul: calibrating internals....
- servo clusters 9833/12880
- [knee_r] suboptimal
> Analysis: target [self]
- maintenance incomplete
Her eyes focused on her hand as she flexed it a few times. Everything above the waist worked as anticipated. Her knee was supposed to be the hardest to fix. It didn’t surprise her to find out that it still remained suboptimal after 12 years. She didn’t expect it to be fixed for 39.
> Sineul Recommendation: contacting maintenance officer: AEGIS
- contact offline
- last active 3 minutes ago
- last active nearby (15m)
Liera blew out the remaining fluid, spurring a thick stream of viscous yellow from her mouth. She wiped her red lips with the back of her hand.
"Aegis? Are you here?" her voice came out a bit rough as some stasis fluid still bounced on her vocal cords. It cleared up when the pores in her mouth began producing its own fluid, flushing all others to the furnace in her stomach.
"Facility?" She chimed, clearly this time. "Is there anyone here? Why am I awake?"
> Sineul: contacting facility administrator...(10s)
- transmission failed
- facility offline
Liera frowned; something was off about this situation. The faithful of Illuviets would not wake a red priestess in this manner. Such events were celebrated for days, as it was rare to experience the awakening of a red priestess in their finite lifetimes. It was odd to wake up all by herself. Reading the logs left by her pod puzzled her even further. A failed firmware update caused her to wake up. She decided to use one of her core functions.
> Scanning....
- no life signs detected
> break scan result
- heat signature detected (47% confidence)
- does not meet life signs thresholds
> Sineul Recommendation: approach and verify
The scan pointed her just behind the open pod. She found Aegis, her maintenance officer on the floor.
> Analysis: maintenance engineer AEGIS is deceased
- no life signs (97.4% confidence)
> Sineul Recommendation: contact facility medical personnel immediately
> Sineul: contacting facility administrator...(30s)
- transmission failed
- facility offline
This was indeed odd. The facility itself did not function as usual. She needed a more comprehensive scan to detect even the remote possibility of rescuing her maintenance officer.
> Sineul Recommendation: inspect the deceased
Liera’s internal system would not allow this action because it was already sufficiently confident in its assessment. She knew this without having to try it first.
> Override
This command came somewhere from deep within her. She saw red for a split second when it flashed through her brain. She perceived it as a whisper, a commanding voice that snapped her systems into place.
> Deep Scanning (3m)...
- complete (3s)
> Analysis: re-evaluated probability of survival (0%)
> Sineul Recommendation: perform last blessings
- L0-98 designated role: Red Priestess
- maintenance officer AEGIS
- registered faith: illuvium order
- third wave reformist temple
- ideological compatibility (74%)
> action approved
Liera stood over the corpse and formed the symbol of farewell by tangling her fingers around the wrists of both hands.
"Praise be to the final light, that which is all ending. Blessed are those in its reach, bright in death as were in life"
That was all she could do for now. Her eyes fell on the small camera next to Aegis, lying next to her twisted face. She picked it up.
> Analysis: standard wearable camera
> Sineul Recommendation: investigate
- equipment registered for personnel: AEGIS
- placement implies recent use
She touched its port, allowing the receptors on her fingertip to adapt to its interface.
> Interfacing...
- complete
- VID-83956 extracted from device
The video she found was less than a minute. It was Aegis, leaning against the pod. Liera breezed through it in milliseconds.
Aegis coughed, blood and black liquid spurted from her lips.
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> Sineul: invalid directive
- unauthorized director
> Analysis: ongoing emergency situation
- involves dome reactor
- warrants military enforcement of the district wall
- disaster class B or above
- imminent catastrophic meltdown
- low chance of survival (98% confidence)
Liera dropped the camera and turned to the door.
> Sineul Recommendation: prioritize soul preservation
- transmit an unquantized data copy to satellite
> Analysis: ground level signal interference risks data corruption
- available options:
- establish line of sight with the satellite for data transfer
- locate spacecraft or cargo launcher for physical transfer
She opened the door and walked into the corridor. Several corpses lay strewn about.
> Scanning...
- no life signs detected
She found the lobby area destroyed by an airlifter. She looked outside at the perpetual sunset over the clouds.
> Analysis: containment facility breached
"H-hey, red kid..."
The frail voice came from behind her, beyond a chunk of concrete. It was a soldier holding his stomach with a trembling hand. The helmet lay open, revealing a pale white face with black lips and black cybernetic eyes.
> Analysis: tier 3 special operator #734
- name: Sigmund L
- facility security detail
> Scanning...
> Analysis: probability of survival (0%)
- heavy blood loss (97.7% confidence)
"Do you need my assistance operator?" Liera asked, her tone polite and reassuring.
"I think...you’ve met Aegis..." he croaked, clearing blood from his throat.
"Yes, unfortunately, I found her dead"
"THAT FOOL OF A WOMAN!" His red eyes glowed with hatred. "serves her right if she’s as dead as everyone she killed"
"She did this to you?" It was uncharacteristic of Aegis she knew but people adapted differently to catastrophes.
"Oh she would’ve done worse. She just didn’t see me. I was under rubble the moment she crashed that ship..." he coughed. "Looks like it’s all fucked anyway" He looked at his right leg which remained flattened by a heavy chunk of concrete. "We’re done for. what’s it matter how at this point"
"Do you mean the reactor meltdown?"
"Its going to warp everything...to god knows where..."
> Analysis: speculation
- dome reactor energy output is well below levels required to warp spacetime
> Sineul Recommendation: do not respond
- irrelevant information given subject's current predicament
- do not cause unnecessary tension
"What is my directive? You are authorized to direct me under emergency provisions," Liera paused. "Should I attempt to stop the reactor?"
"What?" Sigmund scoffed and it rapidly turned into a cough. "No, you weren’t supposed to wake up. The reactor’s already in meltdown. What can a priestess do about that? All you ever do is... being all red and pale and... walking around places being worshipped”
“That’s not all I do”
“I know what you can do. It’s not going to help with the reactor”
"I’ll operate without a directive then"
Sigmund looked up at Liera with a strange expression and narrowed his eyes.
"You see, I never liked your kind. We Asmolan have stories about you. They say..." he coughed. "Red priestesses were built from war-kids"
> Analysis: heretical rumor
- manufacturing process of red priestesses is highly classified
- controversy in the absence of public information
- propagandized language from a rival faith
- Asmolan is 27% of rhea population
> Sineul Recommendation: disengage
- conversation on this topic is prohibited
Liera examined the fierce expression on Sigmund's face.
> Analysis: subject is sincere
- tonal analysis: moral outrage (76% confidence)
- subject strongly condemns manufacturing of red priestesses
> Sineul Recommendation: disengage
- conversation on this topic is prohibited
Something about him urged her to investigate this gathered insight
> Override
"do you believe them?" she asked, breaking the slightly awkward gap in their conversation.
"See, I was a war-kid once and I had nothing to my name for twenty-three years. Now, if some cultist perverts bled me dry, cut my brain out, and replaced my bits and pieces with whatever magic-metal dust they invented that day, oh I’d be pissed. I’d be pissed for the whole four thousand fucking years" He chuckled at his own words.
> Analysis: heretical beliefs and harmful opinions
- heavily biased against Illuvium faith
- red priestess manufacturing process is exagerated for shock value
> Sineul Recommendation: Report subject for discrimination
- rhetoric designed for degrading Illuvium Order
> Sineul Recommendation: disengage
- conversation on this topic is prohibited
His words piqued her interest even further. If nothing was wrong with the world, this conversation with a soldier would be unnecessary. This was a novel and unique opportunity. She liked to collect those.
> Override
Sigmund's chuckles trailed off as she focused on him.
> Analysis:
- tonal analysis: humor (87% confidence)
- subject is in significant physical pain
"You see how funny that is, don’t you? I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why these Illuvium lunatics worship walking corpses of kids..."
> Sineul Recommendation: dis-
> Override
"I don’t either," Liera smiled pleasantly at him.
A sliver of amazement passed through his cybernetic eyes. His expression momentarily switched to shock before resting back on amusement. He did not expect her to respond that way. He expected her to stick to her uncanny politeness and ignore the topic. That is part of the reason he found this situation funny in the first place. He had no status to protect now that his death was all but certain, He could tell everything he ever wished to tell to an audience of one.
"You don’t either...Is that so?" He grinned. "Who would’ve thought?" He tilted his head back, leaning on the concrete block behind him. "Enjoy your freedom I guess, machine kid," a smile appeared on his bloodied black lips. "That sounds good enough for a damned directive?"
> Sineul: invalid directive
> Analysis: sarcastic remark
- tonal analysis: sarcasm (66% confidence)
"Enjoy...freedom?" Liera repeated. "That’s not a valid directive, operator. I think I’ll try and get to the orbit"
“Oh, everyone else had the same idea,” Sigmund whispered. “Didn’t work out for them. They got vaporized.”
“I can attempt to transmit my soul”
"What? Then leave this magical body of yours behind?" He asked mockingly.
"It takes 87 years to manufacture a replacement. 218 to refine it" Liera answered.
“Ah, the horror. I’m glad it’s not my problem” He sighed. "I’ll watch you from here"
"I can carry you," Liera offered. It was not a genuine effort to save him. She wanted to confirm his resolve and she knew the flavor of his answer before she made the offer. There is no coming back from his injuries. Lifting the concrete block alone could cause enough damage to finish him off.
"It’s pointless..." he coughed. "...to die tired"
Liera gazed at his eyes. "I can give you death if you wish for it" This offer was genuine.
"I can... do it myself" He showed her his sidearm.
There was nothing she could do for him now. She committed this interaction to her long-term memory. Something within her wanted her to experience it later.
"Farewell, operator"
> Navigation: path mapped to [nearest subsection] of [central district wall]
- destination: 1.4km away
Liera stood at the edge of the smashed window, Her red hair dancing in the wind.
> Sineul: enabling field generator
- cold start....(3s)
- complete (1s)
- calibrating emitters…(7s)
- optimizing klin shield for impact landing
- estimated energy cost: 2.4%
A thin layer of microscopic orange dots danced over her skin as emitter arrays beneath her composite skin projected active shielding around her. Klin shield was the product of the highest Materium art. It came from the golden age when humanity was at its most advanced. It was rare even then, exclusively used to protect jump ships from high-velocity impacts. It was a key invention that allowed civilization to spread as far as it did. Liera’s Klin shield was a marvel of topoquantum engineering; it shrank the complicated shield infrastructure on a city-sized jump ship down to the size of a human. It was built to give an individual the ultimate sovereignty.
Dust flew from her feet as the emitters on her lower body increased their output, creating a steady orange gradient towards the soles of her feet, in preparation for an impact landing.
With one last look at Sigmund L, she stepped off the ledge.