I am not a young man but today I feel as though life has be exceptionally kind to me. I don’t really understand how this all happened. I’m not particularly learned when it comes to the history all these people share. All I ever really understood was the biology behind it all. However I could still understand some of it, and no one has to explain sorrow to me.
I was working on my prize machine, the D-N-AMAZER. ( If आप find that name to be unoriginal than I don’t really care.) Some racist madman had stolen the designs and destroyed my original. I spent a महीना alone recovering my information from past drafts, and the process to rebuilding was taking even longer.
Then the scoundrel decided to come back, thinking we were all “unclean”. He tried to use MY machine to change all the planets. I did my part to ensure that did not come to fruition but my precious masterpiece was once again destroyed, and once again I would have to rebuild it.
My assistant was sitting a ways off, being absent-minded as usual. It took a while to get some ground rules agreed upon but she eventually understood that I needed help, not distractions. Since then she had been very useful; gathering supplies, cleaning, and even handling some of the programming with the right instructions.
When I first took her on I was a bit naïve in what I thought I was getting. Identities are well-known for their shapeshifting abilities as well as power and specific type of intelligence. This could have been an amazing boost in production for me. Unfortunately she was the only identity, and I would find out soon after that she was… special.
At the time I just took it for some kind of identity-brain-damage. I’ve been fascinated द्वारा their anatomy but my schedule is constantly full, and researching them would take weeks. She was not awful, but very distractible.
I wanted to be angry with her but would आप be angry at an organic who had down syndrome? It was bad enough that she was not able to shapeshift, but this girl couldn’t even talk. For all intents and purposes, she didn’t even have a name. People simply referred to her as “PPE” an acronym associated with her… clingy personality; Playful गुलाबी Eyes; a poetic शीर्षक I suppose, but in my opinion a bit demeaning. She failed to care as far as I know though so I did my best not to linger on my disapproval.
Currently I was nearing completion of my remade D-N-AMAZER. She was sitting a ways off, being abs-… oh I कहा that already didn’t I… Huh, listen to me becoming senile…
Well to provide new information, she was a bit too busy hugging an organic tail attached to her Nanite-body to bother herself with helping me, though I did not require assistance at the moment. I would usually have her handle the heavy-lifting and hardware building, and currently I was simply programming the third-stage transformation chamber.
आप see, my machine is a transformation machine. It takes you, and transforms आप into whatever आप wish, storing the programming in the machine so that आप can always change back. I never allowed it to give new super-abilities for danger-reasons, but I had only one event where it failed me and this was new and improved.
I was nearing the end of this chamber when a sound distracted me. It was high-pitched, very… squeak-ish. Instinctively I turned to my assistant to make sure nothing was amiss. She simply smiled back, still rubbing against her tail-fur.
There were no non-anthropomorphic rats in my lab—that was certain—but that sound could have been any number of things. I returned to my work. Once again the squeak sounded and once again I turned to PPE. “Was that you?” I asked. She simply shrugged. Perhaps she was attempting to speak again. No matter. I returned to my work once more.
Now the squeak had stopped… but it was replaced द्वारा a scream. I feel rather idiotic in hindsight not realizing that addressing the problem would have gone over better than simply ignoring it, but unfortunately it probably would have done nothing to begin with.
She was… spasming, if that is in fact a word. She kept changing रंग and fizzing up like a soft-drink, as if her फर were static. The most terrifying part of this was that she did not even seem to notice. She simply sat there smiling.
I rushed towards her to see if I could do anything about this, but she was already becoming… critical I suppose. Her रंग kept going back and forth from white to a dark blue, and her expression looked utterly horrified now.
I had no idea what I could have done then but before I could attempt anything she collapsed on the floor, and did not move.
Suffice to say I was flabbergasted. I spent the अगला few मिनटों trying to wake her. I nearly resorted to giving her a jolt of energy from a chaos drive, but this was a foreign issue to me. I needed someone who was familiar with this to aid me.
It took a few hours to hack into the frequency, and find the coordinates, but I soon had PPE in my arms and was stepping through a portal to the IRON-Identity Base. The alarm went off instantly, and attempted to send us both back, but I had sought to that. The system would not be doing anything for a good while. I needed to get to them.
The members were hostile for understandable reasons but I did not have time to leave a message for them to answer. I activated a shielding device, which clung to them immediately after they made contact. It then wrapped around the three and held them in place. “I-I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be arriving unannounced…” I released them, “but I need your help… या SHE does और specifically.”
I sat the still unconscious PPE on the ground and the one named “Kaiya” approached. “How did आप find us?” She asked.
“I’d rather we focus on helping-“
“I don’t care what आप would rather. How?”
“I… Ugh, during an interaction with Rin in the past she mentioned a base, and I used that information to tract your personal frequencies to this area of space. Now could we please help PPE?” I was a bit flustered to say the least, but I can understand the hostility. We could very well have been some kind of villainous duo I suppose. It was not unheard of.
“What exactly happened to her?” Rin asked me. I explained to her all that I knew and instead of this Elder informing me of what we should all know, it was Kaiya.
She told me “She’s an Emoted Identity.” I of course asked what that was so she went further. “Emoted-Identities feel only one type of emotion. In this case it was love, and with that, compassion, obsession, longing, and admiration. That is all her core is able to feel right now, but her mind and soul are not meant to feel that way. She may seem glad on the outside, but inside a battle rages on with her lifeforce killing itself. I’d imagine she had experienced trauma in the हाल का past?”
“Not that I recall.” There was the incident with the racist man but I never noticed PPE being upset. Regardless, Kaiya continued to inform me. “It may simply be from so much time being in this state. Her डिज़ाइन is detailed so it is clear she was not born as an Emoted Identity. She must have damaged her core at one point, perhaps in child-birth. Identities are at their most vulnerable emotionally and in terms of their cores when they भालू children. Either way, she is going to die. Her emotions are going to break free and she will have full control over them for whatever time is left.”
“But why would she die?” I pleaded. “Wouldn’t that cure her core?”
“It would destroy it.” Kaiya replied sternly. “The moment she reaches her breaking point, her core and psyche WILL be obliterated. At that point it will only be moments, minutes, until her core fades, as well as her chaos energy. Her core will die out first, and without it to control the Nanites, the chaos energy will consume the metals and shell and destroy the remaining Nanite-sand.”
She knew so much about this… from personal experience perhaps? She claimed she did not, but still I asked “Are आप hiding something fr-“
“No, I am not. I tell आप everything and I do so bluntly because आप asked to be informed. Would आप prefer an emotional blubber that would waste time? This is for your benefit.”
I did not expect her to be cross- well for the reasons she stated, but there had to be “something we can do.”
“There is nothing.”
I was frustrated. I turned to Rin. This was an Elder Identity. I was standing in the presence of the ORIGINAL Virus-Prime half, the Iron-Elder. Surely she had to possess some kind of knowledge of this. Did she not have the ability to control the cores? Could she not simply rewrite the code and fix PPE?
This all-powerful entity in front of me grew intimidated at the question. She turned her head away from me at the proposal, and her state grew sad. She felt ashamed that she could not perform my desired task. I would be furious at this inability and waste of time, but… she looked so hurt द्वारा this. It was as if I were staring at a child who was being scolded for not performing an impossible task.
[Could nothing have been done] I wondered. I turned to the third of the three; the core being himself; the one called “Dimension Four”. “What do आप have to say about this? आप MUST have something आप can provide. Is it not her CORE that is dying?”
He too looked ashamed, but he spoke regardless. “Core Pools are specific to each person. I cannot channel hers, या use my own for her. If I were to do that I would do nothing but replace her with me, and have two bodies.”
“What is this Core Pool then? Can we find hers?”
“Maybe… but if we find it I don’t know if it will react to her anymore. It might be just as damaged as she is, and if we release it back to normal it could crush the buildup and destroy her instantly.”
“But..” Then I realized what I should have requested, and asked. “… Will she awake?”
Kaiya scanned the poor unconscious girl, या I assume that is what she did, then rose once again. “She’s still in there. She’s got… a day, two days maybe, left. When she wakes up it’ll be harder to move, and any emotional trauma might-“
“I… w-would rather not hear that word again.” They understood my complaint. “I think it would be best to let her choose… if this is as आप say then she will be और psychologically able to answer such a question.”
“You say that as if I could be wrong.” She scoffed.
“I am hopeful.”
“Well आप shouldn’t be.” And with that, she left the room. I had grown tired of such insulting disregard for whatever life was left in the friendly identity who I had met months ago. It was not a long-lasting relationship, but I valued her life all the same. It did not have to be a family-based friendship, and I am certainly too old to burden her with my personal romance, but I to this दिन fail to see why people need to ask…
“Why do आप care about her?”
The Elder कहा this to me. “Why shouldn’t I?” I replied in disbelief. “Why can’t I simply care?”
“I didn’t mean आप shouldn’t care, I was just wondering.” She sounded very offended. Perhaps she had undergone experiences with this in the past.
“You may stay here for the time-being unless आप wish otherwise.” Dimension Four spoke. At first I was not interested. The most helpful of locations for me to be at would be my own base where I could do research and work with my personal tools, but at the same time this was और advanced most-likely, and they were kin to PPE. I doubt I would have been functional enough to do anything about it regardless. I just wanted to know she was okay.
I did not sleep at all. If I were to I would have preferred it be done in a regular world where the sky was visible in actuality, and not on a holographic artificial screen. Travelling the zones of our Multiverse for so long, and seeing the worlds being so small with the sky simply a brightened blackness, has caused resentment for beautiful things. I would have much preferred if the universe was flat, with the sky being the everything, bright and beautiful no matter where आप went. Perhaps that is what the afterlife is like… perhaps she would see it…
When I learned that PPE had awoken I sprained one of my four ankles galloping to her room. A गुलाबी identity girl who joined us braced it instantly. Her name was Kenfi I believe.
The dying girl was sitting up and looking about still smiling sweetly. I couldn’t bare the smile though. I knew now that it was forced. It was not simple innocence. She was crying underneath it and it made me almost collapse into tears myself seeing the upward-curved cheeks and cheerful squinted eyes.
When she attempted to get up, her leg broke off. She had moved too quickly and her Nanites had solidified. She actually looked startled and screamed in pain when it happened. Her mouth became an oval and her eyes concern. They were pulled back into the terrible joy as she looked down at herself in horror, spasming again.
The others were gauking. Someone needed to say something. I was going to but Kaiya did instead. “Emote,” She addressed, “What do आप want to do? What is your wish?”
[Her last wish? What is this? No, this was wrong] I fumed in my mind. “She can’t die now!” I yelled at the lynx-formed woman. “You three कहा there was the core pool. Ask her if she is willing to do that!”
“It won’t work.” Kaiya spoke sternly once again.
“Let her choose!” I yelled back before turning to the broken emoted identity. I almost collapsed in front of her. I was simply… overwhelmed. I… my mind was not able to comprehend that with all of our breakthroughs in abilities and science and magic and everything, we had no power over this death? What did she do to deserve this?
“What do you… w-want?” I asked as softly as I could. Slowly she made motions with her hands… pretending to draw? She wanted “paper! And pencils! आप have those here, do आप not?!”
Rin pulled them from her arm; Nanite paper and pen I suppose. PPE took them and began to draw. When finished she raised it slowly for us to see. It looked like a बेल्ट of some kind. It had a त्रिकोण, त्रिभुज in the center with indented rectangles at the चोटी, शीर्ष right, bottom right, चोटी, शीर्ष left, and bottom left, with designs between them.
I had not seen this before. It was some kind of symbol but I knew not for what. The others were terrified it seemed of it however. They knew what it meant but they were gaping for so long, and I had no patience this day. “What is it?” I asked.
The Elder turned to me with white eyes and replied…
“… Tak.”
To think my entire life, gods existed; tangible beings of immortality, या at least that’s what I assumed द्वारा their description. I would soon learn that such a और accurate definition was deity, या demi-god. We were apparently going to meet with what was called the “Server of Time”.
We discussed this in private, that is to say where PPE could not hear us. The three (minus Kaiya) talked about the danger of what would happen should this “Tak” considered them hostiles, but that he could no doubt reverse the process. This continued on to bickering. I was और concerned with the current lonely girl who no one was spending time with. I wasn’t part of the conversation anyway so I made my departure to her room.
Some kind of metallic orb had been attached to her, with Kaiya controlling it. Each time a spasm arrived, it was controlled and the orb lit up. The lynx-type identity was not moving, and her eyes remained squinted.
For the moment PPE was drawing with the paper दिया to her द्वारा Rin. I was curious about what Kaiya was doing exactly but she was not dying. “What are आप drawing?” I asked PPE. She held up a picture of… well I’m still not entirely sure. It had a figure, and another figure, what looked like half of a face, her tail, some hearts, and बिना सोचे समझे symbols. Her incredibly short attention span restricted whatever she was trying to say with this.
I told her the picture was nice and she returned to it. She was content for the moment so I turned my attention to Kaiya. “What exactly does this do?” I asked her.
“I’m balancing her emotional state द्वारा syphoning it into my own outlet. For now it is only irritating but if she becomes और unstable it will become difficult to deal with.”
“Can it sustain her permanently?”
“That would mean I would have to be connected to her psyche at all times, and while in that state I am almost completely unprotected if someone decides to attack me in any way. Regardless, even if I were willing to do that forever, her instability will only increase, and regardless of her emotional state the core will destroy itself.”
“Do आप have no hope for her?”
“No. Are आप going to ask if I care at all?”
“If आप did not आप would not be doing this, but आप certainly seem less willing to save her.”
“There is no possible way that she will survive. The only possible solution would be to find some strand of Reality-All.”
“We’re going to see a Time-Deity!” I reminded in a fluster. “Do आप think even he cannot change this?”
“I’m sure he’ll want to, and I am even और sure that he cannot. आप are a scientist. If आप want to make a cure for this, do so. I am not the only expert on Identity Biology, and as आप can see I’m busy.”
I would have asked further but despite my distain for such an attitude at that time, complicating things with her would have caused और pain for PPE. If she had such a short time I would not be able to help her myself. She had a दिन at the most, and that was only enough time to spread theories and act.
If these identities could not help me then who would I go to? I had other options… but they would not be as reasonable. The other Elder, Virus, would probably take this opportunity to track down the base and destroy it. The doctor, Melcro, a past employer of mine, was potentially worse. I did not know any other core beings. I was asking the wrong questions.
If this time being could not save her, others should have known. People who knew her, friends, possibly family, would want to be there for her. Before I left the room I asked PPE “Is there anyone आप want to see? A family-member या a friend perhaps?”
The orb lit up brightly and Kaiya gave me a पार करना, क्रॉस stare. She was not actually upset with me as things turned out. She was simply having to control the implosion I caused. PPE was almost vibrating while zipping through the papers left द्वारा Rin. When she ran out the orb seemed like it would implode.
“Get… more…” Kaiya ordered under the tension, spasming herself at this point. I had no idea where to find paper so I ran back to the others. They were a bit surprised द्वारा my request but soon I was running back with a stack.
Each had a drawing of someone, and अगला to them a number. They went from one to ten, with one being small and ten being gigantic. The tension had decreased enough so that Kaiya was able to look them over with me. “Are these numbered in amount of importance?” Kaiya asked her. She nodded.
Kaiya turned to me. “I know a lot of these faces but even with the ones I don’t we can track their faces through a database.”
“Can आप track them down personally?”
“Personally as in me finding them या finding them individually?”
“Both.”
“We can have people look for them. Most of our agents are elsewhere, but I’m sure Rin would be thrilled to.”
“I will tell her.”
Rin did not return for two hours. I spent this time with PPE and Kaiya. PPE had decided it was time to turn her drawings into origami. Many of these were hats या airplanes. We hadn’t talked much in waiting but the orb’s glow slowly became और and और radiant. I was tempted to break the silence, and ask how Kaiya was holding up, but she spoke first.
“You never answered Rin’s सवाल about caring.”
“Does it need an answer?” I replied.
“No but I could just assume आप have a vendetta and use that to get आप to say why. Do आप not know why?”
“I care because she shouldn’t have to die. She’s been bothersome to me in the past but she never had a negative intention. I never learned about her past and I should have, but it’s too late now.”
“How long have आप known her?”
“I recruited her almost a साल ago. I had दिया her breaks on occasion of course. On Holidays I told her she could leave for a week and I had always assumed it was to someone she knew. That must have been when this all happened.”
“It wasn’t.”
“How do आप know that?”
“We’ve run into her before in the past.”
“Did आप know she was going to destabilize then?”
“All Emoted Identities destabilize. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Why didn’t आप act then?”
“She evaded us and we were busy. We couldn’t have changed anything then… We’re off-topic. What was your original point?”
“She was someone different at one point wasn’t she? आप कहा yourself she couldn’t have been born like this.”
“I’m sure whoever she was will become known to us when Rin returns.”
She sounded so melancholy. It took me a while but I realized it had to be for personal reasons. “This bothers आप obviously. It is a personal issue?”
“Are आप asking if I am an Emote?”
“I’m asking if आप had personal issues involving emoted identities in any form, including that.”
“The answer is no. I have no side-effects in my Nanites. I am not an Elder, nor a Third-Mood, nor an Emote, nor Iron, nor Isis.”
“…Those last two are alliances.”
“One is. I help Rin because Virus is a problem. I don’t want Rin to rule, and I highly doubt she wants to herself. The whole ‘Iron-Identity’ labeling just happened. I don’t much care what happens to most identities. I care about how much they can ruin the worlds.”
“You care और about others than your own species?”
“I- erk!” The orb was becoming even brighter and Kaiya became silent. PPE was becoming less stable. I moved over towards her as she made these strange inaudible sounds in an attempt to speak. Doing this made the spasms get larger and और frequent. I had to hold my hand up to block the brightness of the orb from blinding me.
I took her hand, shaking my head while pleading that she not try to speak. She did not head my words at first but gradually she began to relax. “What is taking Rin?” I asked Kaiya once the orb had dimmed back down to normal.
“Teleporting may be easy, but searching isn’t, and convincing less so.” She responded. “She’s been gone a half-hour.”
“That’s one half-hour we’ve spent sitting… I can’t stand that she’s cooped up here.” I turned my attention to PPE. “Is there somewhere आप want to go?”
She seemed almost frustrated now and drew the same symbol of this Tak person a सेकंड time. This was the only location she felt like being at. Dimension Four and Kenfi had been discussing it for far too long. She was not going to last.
“Do आप know how to get there?”
The lynx-identity was resistant to answering. It was a hard decision for… some reason. I reminded her while it should be simple. “How long do आप think we have? Even if he can’t help us, this is what she wants, and the very least she can have is being around the area she likes.”
She still remained silent. I clenched my hands, spinning my head about in a grumbling tizzy. “We don’t have much time. If he can help let’s go. What is there to discuss?”
“…Nothing.” Kaiya walked to PPE and placed a hand on her shoulder. A spherical capsule formed around the three of us and everything went white. Upon its fading, we resurfaced in a large mountainous area. The air was clean, and the wind was brisk. It was almost a telling feeling. It felt intimidating.
“Is this where he lives?” I asked. Kaiya shook her head. “No but it’s close… relatively. It won’t take long.” She formed a platform below us and we began to float over the mountains. Our travelling took us past the tall rocks, across a vast ocean, and over a mountain-based civilization. As we passed over this city I noticed that it was comprised entirely of humans.
I was beginning to think this “Tak” was a human himself but we did not stop at this location. It was very surprising however, seeing how small this was, and how much untouched land roamed free in its surrounding area. So many of the other zones had the entire planet nearly wiped out, but this had barely any land.
We were now in a large open field. At first it seemed just as peaceful and unharmed as the mountains, city aside, but to our left we could see a large blackened area. It was an almost entirely flat circular… crater, for lack of a better word but it was as large as a regular-sized city. Even from our distance I could make out the destruction of metal, oil, smoke, and the unpleasant scent of death.
“What was that?” I asked Kaiya. She glanced briefly in my pointed direction, and sighed. “That’s where we all came from.”
I had many और questions, but if they slowed her they were not worth asking. We passed over a large destroyed forest, which held almost completely-burned houses, and the remains of what looked like a castle. To the far left was a small mound of land protected द्वारा a clear dome. It had a small flag with an acorn on it. [What is this place…]
Finally Kaiya pointed ahead and proclaimed “That’s it. Professor, PPE, welcome to New Mobotropolis.”
It was a gigantic city inside of a large dome with walls thirty feet high. As we slowly landed I found my neck aching from look upward so much at it. [New Mobotropolis…] I had wondered. It sounded like something I should know; something I should have remembered. I simply could not put my finger on it.
Kaiya gave a large knock to the front door, a wide half-oval partly inside of the ground. A feminine voice greeted us. “Hello, and welcome to New Mobotropolis; capital of Mobius Prime 7, and historic landmark of the original Mobius Prime-“
“M-… P-Prime…???” I was gaping to say the least, looking to Kaiya for answers. [Mobius Prime? How was this…]
“We have a special wounded patient that has requested to see the Chronos Server.” Kaiya informed the talkative voice.”
“Aaaaaalright, and what are your names?” The voice asked perkily.
“Proffessor Calto, Kaiya, and our patient goes द्वारा PPE as an acronym.”
“Okay, one moment.” A गुलाबी translucent light appeared above our heads and began to हटाइए back and forth over them. This went on for a few सेकंड्स but it seemed longer. I looked over at PPE, with her one usable leg, and the orb beaming अगला to us. We were running out of time.
“Okay,” The voice came back, “you might want to explain why two of आप are identities and why there’s a bomb with you.”
“It’s not a bomb.” Kaiya replied. “It’s hard to explain. If आप prefer we not come inside, then can आप please tell Tak we need to speak with him?”
“… Alright, wait here.” The गुलाबी light faded and we waited. I had to wonder why this woman would be so hostile towards identities. I did not want to think it was simple racism. I asked Kaiya, and she informed me “The first identity wasn’t that great of a person, so they aren’t exactly okay with us popping up all the time, especially considering we’re not all trustworthy.”
“Understood.” It must have been the Virus Prime. It made sense, Kaiya mentioning their origin point in that strange rubble area prior. However now I was trying to control myself about this Prime Zone. “How is this the Prime Zone??” I blurted out.
“I’m sure you’ll find out later.” She responded sternly. She was right. I was getting distracted. We needed to focus on PPE, not my own curiosity.
Aside from our brief chat, it did not take much time for our desired individual to appear. It was a flicker of light that formed directly in front of us. Standing in its place upon vanishing was a mobian fox; pale in an नारंगी, ऑरेंज shade, with silver markings, red and grey boots, a sort of armor of metal designs around his body, and glowing pupil-less, iris-less, white eyes.
“Hello, Tak.” Kaiya greeted. The लोमड़ी, फॉक्स nodded back to her. “What is it आप want?” He inquired calmly.
“It seems आप are the only one who can fix what has happened to her.” I spoke up, gesturing to PPE laying atop the aerial platform. Tak was staring at the orb. “What is this orb’s purpose?” He questioned.
“PPE is an Emoted Identity.” Kaiya informed. “She’s going to die soon and I’m using this orb to contain the instability for the time-being.”
I realized now that Kaiya was not flinching या strained now. “Did आप detach yourself from it?” I questioned.
“I had to in order to transport us, but if I reconnect it won’t minimize the pain द्वारा much.” She looked back to Tak while gesturing to the orb. “It’s glowing this bright because she’s almost out of time. I’m sure आप can change that?”
The लोमड़ी, फॉक्स kept a still stare. “What exactly do आप want done?”
“We want to know if आप can reverse her to a state before she was unstable; before she was an Emoted Identity.” I informed. “You can do that, yes?”
“It depends on the circumstances.” He responded. “I can reverse things and people to a पूर्व state, and even choose to keep one part affected but not the rest, but I cannot make any separate changes… आप were persistent in finding me it seems. Is this woman a friend of yours or… relative maybe?”
“I care about her well-being, and that’s all I need to say.” I sternly informed. I was about to say “Not again” but then he replied “Good man.”
The Time Server approached PPE and an aura of silver energy formed around them. This took only a सेकंड before he turned back to us. “I cannot help you.” He sighed.
To say I was appalled would be appropriate, but I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to call him lazy, phony, या simply weak. “How can आप know that from such a short amount of-“
“Time?” He interrupted poignantly, putting enough emphasis on the word to help me understand what he meant. “I scanned for the results just now and I did it quickly and in detail for your benefit. The fact is that she is only half of a person. If I reverse her to a pre-emoted state, her persona will vanish.”
“How can there not be another solution?!” I imploded. “You control time! Can’t आप simply reverse just her core?!”
“Then her core would be a part of the original and not her.”
“Her body then!”
“Then her body would vanish and all that would be left is a dying core.”
“How can-“
“BEFORE,” He raised a tense hand, “you say…” he took a breath, “anything आप might regret… I have no intention of making your lives miserable and I certainly have no reason to not want to save this woman, but I have no power over this.”
Throughout this discussion Kaiya had been silent, but now she spoke. “Can आप then repair her core in some other way?”
“… आप aren’t talking about time.” The Time Server looked sored द्वारा this.
“Tak,” She named. “is short for Takris.” Takris… that was another name that sounded quite familiar. I would research this later, but apparently it is a type of core-based feline species. This लोमड़ी, फॉक्स apparently was one… at one point at least.
“If आप have the knowledge from the original Virus then आप would know, I am not that kind of Takris.” He responded with a heavy sigh. “… I can restore her to a point before she became unstable but still as an Emoted Identity.”
At first thought, it seemed like a perfectly supportable idea. Whenever things became strained again we could simply get him to reverse it each time, and PPE could live. PPE did not approve. She heard this and the orb began to crack with the power inside it. She began to crumble and everything went into a dizzy of worry.
“Wh-what’s- is it starting?!!” I demanded frantically. “We need to-“
“I won’t do it.” The Time लोमड़ी, फॉक्स stated. I asked “What” but then noticed he was speaking to PPE… this calmed her.
“Why…did…”
“If he reverses her,” Kaiya began, “yes she’ll be stable for the moment, but she’ll be back to a fixed emotion; a plastered smile and a prison.”
Her face… it was almost horrific. It was fading away almost with all of its cracks, but a smile remained stuck to it, with her energy-created eyes beaming a blackish blue. It was unbearable to watch.
Kaiya reinforced the orb and began making repairs to PPE’s structure. “I’ll tell आप all when it’s time. I think it’s best आप give her some room.”
Both I, and the Time Fox, nodded, and made our way off from the women. I could have asked about PPE but there was nothing to say. There was nothing I could do. I remembered the acorn-flag, and the rubble area, and the human city, and that this… how was this… “How is this the Prime Zone?”
He froze in mid-step and only moved enough to lower his shoulders and his foot. “What do आप know of the Prime Zone?”
“It is the स्रोत of all zones.” I replied. “I’ve done lectures on zones before, but the Prime Zone I studied is not this.”
“… What does your prime zone look like? Who is in it?”
“Well… it has an evil scientist trying to control the world, it has Sonic the Hedgehog as it’s hero—I’m quite surprised most people I talk to don’t even know about him, it’s quite the legend where I come from—his allies that help save the day…”
“… Does it ever mention people such as Julie-Su, या Geoffrey St. John? Is there a mention of a royal sibling named ‘Elias’?”
“… No…t, that I recall.”
“That world is not the Prime Zone.”
“I beg your pardon?” How would he know this, I wondered.
“This was the prime zone.” He sounded… broken with this statement. I allowed him to continue. “That world was created from a paradox द्वारा the hands of that evil scientist आप mentioned. I was created here and stabilized this world. Those not in that world were kept her… and anyone in that world does not remember this one… it was a paradox-change that transformed everything, and erased many people, relatives of these heroes, from existence. She-…” He went silent.
“… आप must have tried to change it.”
“I would have to… I would have erased all the new lives just to bring back the old, and as a result be despised as the savior of the original Prime World… and I would deserve it. All आप need to know is that I couldn’t save it, या them, and they wouldn’t want to live knowing that not only were they forgotten, but that they no longer mattered.”
It was such a long दिन of sadness. It seemed as if we could not escape fate, even those of us who could control time were unable to change what happened to those around us. What was और important? Saving, या caring? I was becoming unstable myself with all of this knowledge.
Finally Rin was back. She कहा nothing to us at first, startled द्वारा Tak, eventually “Kenfi कहा you’d be… here…” She looked at the fox. “Can I please talk with Calto in private?”
The Time लोमड़ी, फॉक्स nodded and the Elder brought me further away from the city.
She sat down with her legs crossed, picking at the grass. “Only a few of them actually care… three if I’m right. The rest either don’t remember or…”
“Finish…” I pushed.
“… they didn’t want anything to do with her. Playful doesn’t have a family. None of them were identities या otherwise.”
“Well who did know her? Are they coming?”
“Do आप want me to answer the first या सेकंड question?”
“Whichever.”
She sighed. “I told them what’s happening and that I’ll bring them over when it’s time. As for names, that’s kind of their business.”
“They can afford a few मिनटों of their time; all of them!” I growled. “How can they just push away when someone is dying?!”
“… I don’t know. What do आप want me to do?”
“Can’t आप bring them here? All of them?”
“Yeah…”
“Please do so then. They can spare a few मिनटों to pay respect.”
It took a moment but the identity rose up with a nod. Soon she was expanding a floor of energy for a multi-individual teleport. I looked about for Tak but he was not in sight. Most-likely he was back with PPE, so I made my way back there.
I found no one outside, so I looked about for a good thirty seconds. Kaiya appeared अगला to me. “She’s inside the city. I thought it would be best to let her be in a… scenic area.”
“… Thank you. Let’s… let’s go.”
She nodded and teleported us inside. The city was very scenic. It was futuristic but still in-tune with nature. घास grew over a large amount of the roofs, and while there were open areas, sixty-percent of this area was filled with forest. It seemed like a flawless city.
Kaiya led me to a park where the others remained. Rin had brought the three members she talked about. Tak had yet to arrive. PPE’s orb was cracking open. “Is it…”
“It’s time… it’s not my personal choice but its happening.”
“...” PPE’s right arm had broken off now. “What happens when she breaks?”
“She’ll be able to do whatever she wants… of around five minutes…”
“Where is the f-“
“Here.” He walked over with a pale tan rabbit with गुलाबी markings, and an… interesting outfit on. “This is Psyfilice. She handles the mind.” The rabbit waved timidly. “If your friend has any last requests, she can translate them.”
“You c-, y-ye-yes, please!” I stepped aside swiftly as the woman knelt in front of PPE. She could barely stare at the Mind Rabbit, and when attempting to हटाइए her neck, cracking followed, so she stopped.
A गुलाबी light formed between them, and suddenly I was filled with the most nauseating of horrors ever listened to. There was gagging… coughing… gurgling… and snapping like that of twigs. The short breaths came with whimpers from the smiling shell collapsing in front of us.
“Do आप have something to say?” The rabbit forced out.
The words were so gurgled it took five repeats for me to understand them. “Can’t be saved.”
~It was a normal day, a normal दिन considering… But these words echoed… she could hear the words and instantly knew time had run out.~
The orb imploded, knocking us all aside. Before any of us could recover, a सेकंड implosion sent us backward. Psyfilice caught us in some kind of aura, holding us upright. What we witnessed was poetic, heart-breaking…
… and beautiful.
She was golden in form now, with various white designs around her body. Energy poured out, blowing behind her. The eyes were radiating, and a faint smile formed… a true one. She stood with both arms and legs firm and strong.
~White… everything was white. Whimpering she pleaded “I don’t want to lose…it…”~
“She wants to speak to us one at a time.” Psyfilice informed, so one at a time we walked towards her. Each one of us she spoke with quietly so that the others heard nothing. Psyfilice went first as she was the closest, then the three guests, Kaiya, Rin, myself… She told me “Did I annoy you?”
I answered frantically. “No… of course not. आप did a very good job.”
She did not seem convinced, but I was not about to recall the times when that had possibly happened. “Thank आप for letting me keep my tail.” I had forgotten about the tail. It was the only organic part of her. I saw it now, still attached, and alive as she was. Perhaps this was strange but… she… was happy for it.”
I stood up assuming I was the last… but I was not. The Time Server remained. He seemed shocked द्वारा the inclusion but when gestured to, he slowly made his way over.
They sat in front of each other, and for the time were silent… but then she sang. It was short; a part of a song perhaps. Recalling now, I remember her drawing once about a संगीत store she went to on a break. If this was her song then… her… the words were…
… “Kiss it all better, I’m not ready to go… it’s not your fault; प्यार you… didn’t know… didn’t know…”
No one could have been और shocked द्वारा this but the server himself when her last सेकंड्स were spent with an energized pressing upon his lips.
~Shock followed as she touched her own fingertips to her lips… she felt it…~
She held on to him in a tight embrace for as long as possible it seemed, clinging and becoming tighter, as her body began evaporating into the air. Her face and fingers were the last to go.
~She collapsed… dying partly… and the other becoming unstable and alive.
We stood waiting for the Time Server to stand. This went on for a good hour. All others had vanished from the park during the first implosion. We were alone.
He had the tail in his shaking hands with eyes closed. He gave it to… m-me… and कहा I would cherish it… and I do.
A memorial was held of course. We made an alter in that same park. No one dared to harm it. It was a heart, large, with a figure in her image inside. Glass was the material, with many varying colors. We were not sure what to write, but Tak and Psyfilice handled the naming. We paid our respects… and then departed.
I sit here now, and I have to ask myself what I should be thankful for. I would be thankful for my long life, but that would bring guilt that she had a short one. I would be thankful for my knowledge, but that would dishonor the limits she was forced into. I would be thankful for family, of which she had none, but I can be thankful for companions, friends, and people who decided to प्यार me. I place my मक्का, मकई आगे and pass the अगला सूची of thankful events to the next.
Happy Thanksgiving.
EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED….
“Psyfilice… आप sympathize with me.”
“…I do.”
“Ultra… आप don’t need another one of me…”
“Eugene… आप were… charming…”
“Mr. Splicer…”
“Yes?”
“How was your day?”
“…It…I…”
“Is your wire friend happy?”
“…I guess…”
“That’s good…”
“Kaiya… आप would have been a very good Elder…”
“… आप would have as well.”
“… I wish I had…”
“You were very happy and nice with me, Rin… please… stop running from…”
“… I’ll try…”
She lived again, and tore from the floor. “You aren’t having another kid are you?”
“No…” She stormed through the hall, blasted the doors open, and slammed her foot to the ground, eradicating everything in a five-foot radius from her. It was very different. Red, Black, and Green, flaming from her every person. No joy, no mercy. No और waiting. Energy blasted around, filling every inch of the city. She had their attention.
“PREPARE!” She screamed. “THE WAR, BEGINS,
NOW!”
THE
END
I was working on my prize machine, the D-N-AMAZER. ( If आप find that name to be unoriginal than I don’t really care.) Some racist madman had stolen the designs and destroyed my original. I spent a महीना alone recovering my information from past drafts, and the process to rebuilding was taking even longer.
Then the scoundrel decided to come back, thinking we were all “unclean”. He tried to use MY machine to change all the planets. I did my part to ensure that did not come to fruition but my precious masterpiece was once again destroyed, and once again I would have to rebuild it.
My assistant was sitting a ways off, being absent-minded as usual. It took a while to get some ground rules agreed upon but she eventually understood that I needed help, not distractions. Since then she had been very useful; gathering supplies, cleaning, and even handling some of the programming with the right instructions.
When I first took her on I was a bit naïve in what I thought I was getting. Identities are well-known for their shapeshifting abilities as well as power and specific type of intelligence. This could have been an amazing boost in production for me. Unfortunately she was the only identity, and I would find out soon after that she was… special.
At the time I just took it for some kind of identity-brain-damage. I’ve been fascinated द्वारा their anatomy but my schedule is constantly full, and researching them would take weeks. She was not awful, but very distractible.
I wanted to be angry with her but would आप be angry at an organic who had down syndrome? It was bad enough that she was not able to shapeshift, but this girl couldn’t even talk. For all intents and purposes, she didn’t even have a name. People simply referred to her as “PPE” an acronym associated with her… clingy personality; Playful गुलाबी Eyes; a poetic शीर्षक I suppose, but in my opinion a bit demeaning. She failed to care as far as I know though so I did my best not to linger on my disapproval.
Currently I was nearing completion of my remade D-N-AMAZER. She was sitting a ways off, being abs-… oh I कहा that already didn’t I… Huh, listen to me becoming senile…
Well to provide new information, she was a bit too busy hugging an organic tail attached to her Nanite-body to bother herself with helping me, though I did not require assistance at the moment. I would usually have her handle the heavy-lifting and hardware building, and currently I was simply programming the third-stage transformation chamber.
आप see, my machine is a transformation machine. It takes you, and transforms आप into whatever आप wish, storing the programming in the machine so that आप can always change back. I never allowed it to give new super-abilities for danger-reasons, but I had only one event where it failed me and this was new and improved.
I was nearing the end of this chamber when a sound distracted me. It was high-pitched, very… squeak-ish. Instinctively I turned to my assistant to make sure nothing was amiss. She simply smiled back, still rubbing against her tail-fur.
There were no non-anthropomorphic rats in my lab—that was certain—but that sound could have been any number of things. I returned to my work. Once again the squeak sounded and once again I turned to PPE. “Was that you?” I asked. She simply shrugged. Perhaps she was attempting to speak again. No matter. I returned to my work once more.
Now the squeak had stopped… but it was replaced द्वारा a scream. I feel rather idiotic in hindsight not realizing that addressing the problem would have gone over better than simply ignoring it, but unfortunately it probably would have done nothing to begin with.
She was… spasming, if that is in fact a word. She kept changing रंग and fizzing up like a soft-drink, as if her फर were static. The most terrifying part of this was that she did not even seem to notice. She simply sat there smiling.
I rushed towards her to see if I could do anything about this, but she was already becoming… critical I suppose. Her रंग kept going back and forth from white to a dark blue, and her expression looked utterly horrified now.
I had no idea what I could have done then but before I could attempt anything she collapsed on the floor, and did not move.
Suffice to say I was flabbergasted. I spent the अगला few मिनटों trying to wake her. I nearly resorted to giving her a jolt of energy from a chaos drive, but this was a foreign issue to me. I needed someone who was familiar with this to aid me.
It took a few hours to hack into the frequency, and find the coordinates, but I soon had PPE in my arms and was stepping through a portal to the IRON-Identity Base. The alarm went off instantly, and attempted to send us both back, but I had sought to that. The system would not be doing anything for a good while. I needed to get to them.
The members were hostile for understandable reasons but I did not have time to leave a message for them to answer. I activated a shielding device, which clung to them immediately after they made contact. It then wrapped around the three and held them in place. “I-I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be arriving unannounced…” I released them, “but I need your help… या SHE does और specifically.”
I sat the still unconscious PPE on the ground and the one named “Kaiya” approached. “How did आप find us?” She asked.
“I’d rather we focus on helping-“
“I don’t care what आप would rather. How?”
“I… Ugh, during an interaction with Rin in the past she mentioned a base, and I used that information to tract your personal frequencies to this area of space. Now could we please help PPE?” I was a bit flustered to say the least, but I can understand the hostility. We could very well have been some kind of villainous duo I suppose. It was not unheard of.
“What exactly happened to her?” Rin asked me. I explained to her all that I knew and instead of this Elder informing me of what we should all know, it was Kaiya.
She told me “She’s an Emoted Identity.” I of course asked what that was so she went further. “Emoted-Identities feel only one type of emotion. In this case it was love, and with that, compassion, obsession, longing, and admiration. That is all her core is able to feel right now, but her mind and soul are not meant to feel that way. She may seem glad on the outside, but inside a battle rages on with her lifeforce killing itself. I’d imagine she had experienced trauma in the हाल का past?”
“Not that I recall.” There was the incident with the racist man but I never noticed PPE being upset. Regardless, Kaiya continued to inform me. “It may simply be from so much time being in this state. Her डिज़ाइन is detailed so it is clear she was not born as an Emoted Identity. She must have damaged her core at one point, perhaps in child-birth. Identities are at their most vulnerable emotionally and in terms of their cores when they भालू children. Either way, she is going to die. Her emotions are going to break free and she will have full control over them for whatever time is left.”
“But why would she die?” I pleaded. “Wouldn’t that cure her core?”
“It would destroy it.” Kaiya replied sternly. “The moment she reaches her breaking point, her core and psyche WILL be obliterated. At that point it will only be moments, minutes, until her core fades, as well as her chaos energy. Her core will die out first, and without it to control the Nanites, the chaos energy will consume the metals and shell and destroy the remaining Nanite-sand.”
She knew so much about this… from personal experience perhaps? She claimed she did not, but still I asked “Are आप hiding something fr-“
“No, I am not. I tell आप everything and I do so bluntly because आप asked to be informed. Would आप prefer an emotional blubber that would waste time? This is for your benefit.”
I did not expect her to be cross- well for the reasons she stated, but there had to be “something we can do.”
“There is nothing.”
I was frustrated. I turned to Rin. This was an Elder Identity. I was standing in the presence of the ORIGINAL Virus-Prime half, the Iron-Elder. Surely she had to possess some kind of knowledge of this. Did she not have the ability to control the cores? Could she not simply rewrite the code and fix PPE?
This all-powerful entity in front of me grew intimidated at the question. She turned her head away from me at the proposal, and her state grew sad. She felt ashamed that she could not perform my desired task. I would be furious at this inability and waste of time, but… she looked so hurt द्वारा this. It was as if I were staring at a child who was being scolded for not performing an impossible task.
[Could nothing have been done] I wondered. I turned to the third of the three; the core being himself; the one called “Dimension Four”. “What do आप have to say about this? आप MUST have something आप can provide. Is it not her CORE that is dying?”
He too looked ashamed, but he spoke regardless. “Core Pools are specific to each person. I cannot channel hers, या use my own for her. If I were to do that I would do nothing but replace her with me, and have two bodies.”
“What is this Core Pool then? Can we find hers?”
“Maybe… but if we find it I don’t know if it will react to her anymore. It might be just as damaged as she is, and if we release it back to normal it could crush the buildup and destroy her instantly.”
“But..” Then I realized what I should have requested, and asked. “… Will she awake?”
Kaiya scanned the poor unconscious girl, या I assume that is what she did, then rose once again. “She’s still in there. She’s got… a day, two days maybe, left. When she wakes up it’ll be harder to move, and any emotional trauma might-“
“I… w-would rather not hear that word again.” They understood my complaint. “I think it would be best to let her choose… if this is as आप say then she will be और psychologically able to answer such a question.”
“You say that as if I could be wrong.” She scoffed.
“I am hopeful.”
“Well आप shouldn’t be.” And with that, she left the room. I had grown tired of such insulting disregard for whatever life was left in the friendly identity who I had met months ago. It was not a long-lasting relationship, but I valued her life all the same. It did not have to be a family-based friendship, and I am certainly too old to burden her with my personal romance, but I to this दिन fail to see why people need to ask…
“Why do आप care about her?”
The Elder कहा this to me. “Why shouldn’t I?” I replied in disbelief. “Why can’t I simply care?”
“I didn’t mean आप shouldn’t care, I was just wondering.” She sounded very offended. Perhaps she had undergone experiences with this in the past.
“You may stay here for the time-being unless आप wish otherwise.” Dimension Four spoke. At first I was not interested. The most helpful of locations for me to be at would be my own base where I could do research and work with my personal tools, but at the same time this was और advanced most-likely, and they were kin to PPE. I doubt I would have been functional enough to do anything about it regardless. I just wanted to know she was okay.
I did not sleep at all. If I were to I would have preferred it be done in a regular world where the sky was visible in actuality, and not on a holographic artificial screen. Travelling the zones of our Multiverse for so long, and seeing the worlds being so small with the sky simply a brightened blackness, has caused resentment for beautiful things. I would have much preferred if the universe was flat, with the sky being the everything, bright and beautiful no matter where आप went. Perhaps that is what the afterlife is like… perhaps she would see it…
When I learned that PPE had awoken I sprained one of my four ankles galloping to her room. A गुलाबी identity girl who joined us braced it instantly. Her name was Kenfi I believe.
The dying girl was sitting up and looking about still smiling sweetly. I couldn’t bare the smile though. I knew now that it was forced. It was not simple innocence. She was crying underneath it and it made me almost collapse into tears myself seeing the upward-curved cheeks and cheerful squinted eyes.
When she attempted to get up, her leg broke off. She had moved too quickly and her Nanites had solidified. She actually looked startled and screamed in pain when it happened. Her mouth became an oval and her eyes concern. They were pulled back into the terrible joy as she looked down at herself in horror, spasming again.
The others were gauking. Someone needed to say something. I was going to but Kaiya did instead. “Emote,” She addressed, “What do आप want to do? What is your wish?”
[Her last wish? What is this? No, this was wrong] I fumed in my mind. “She can’t die now!” I yelled at the lynx-formed woman. “You three कहा there was the core pool. Ask her if she is willing to do that!”
“It won’t work.” Kaiya spoke sternly once again.
“Let her choose!” I yelled back before turning to the broken emoted identity. I almost collapsed in front of her. I was simply… overwhelmed. I… my mind was not able to comprehend that with all of our breakthroughs in abilities and science and magic and everything, we had no power over this death? What did she do to deserve this?
“What do you… w-want?” I asked as softly as I could. Slowly she made motions with her hands… pretending to draw? She wanted “paper! And pencils! आप have those here, do आप not?!”
Rin pulled them from her arm; Nanite paper and pen I suppose. PPE took them and began to draw. When finished she raised it slowly for us to see. It looked like a बेल्ट of some kind. It had a त्रिकोण, त्रिभुज in the center with indented rectangles at the चोटी, शीर्ष right, bottom right, चोटी, शीर्ष left, and bottom left, with designs between them.
I had not seen this before. It was some kind of symbol but I knew not for what. The others were terrified it seemed of it however. They knew what it meant but they were gaping for so long, and I had no patience this day. “What is it?” I asked.
The Elder turned to me with white eyes and replied…
“… Tak.”
To think my entire life, gods existed; tangible beings of immortality, या at least that’s what I assumed द्वारा their description. I would soon learn that such a और accurate definition was deity, या demi-god. We were apparently going to meet with what was called the “Server of Time”.
We discussed this in private, that is to say where PPE could not hear us. The three (minus Kaiya) talked about the danger of what would happen should this “Tak” considered them hostiles, but that he could no doubt reverse the process. This continued on to bickering. I was और concerned with the current lonely girl who no one was spending time with. I wasn’t part of the conversation anyway so I made my departure to her room.
Some kind of metallic orb had been attached to her, with Kaiya controlling it. Each time a spasm arrived, it was controlled and the orb lit up. The lynx-type identity was not moving, and her eyes remained squinted.
For the moment PPE was drawing with the paper दिया to her द्वारा Rin. I was curious about what Kaiya was doing exactly but she was not dying. “What are आप drawing?” I asked PPE. She held up a picture of… well I’m still not entirely sure. It had a figure, and another figure, what looked like half of a face, her tail, some hearts, and बिना सोचे समझे symbols. Her incredibly short attention span restricted whatever she was trying to say with this.
I told her the picture was nice and she returned to it. She was content for the moment so I turned my attention to Kaiya. “What exactly does this do?” I asked her.
“I’m balancing her emotional state द्वारा syphoning it into my own outlet. For now it is only irritating but if she becomes और unstable it will become difficult to deal with.”
“Can it sustain her permanently?”
“That would mean I would have to be connected to her psyche at all times, and while in that state I am almost completely unprotected if someone decides to attack me in any way. Regardless, even if I were willing to do that forever, her instability will only increase, and regardless of her emotional state the core will destroy itself.”
“Do आप have no hope for her?”
“No. Are आप going to ask if I care at all?”
“If आप did not आप would not be doing this, but आप certainly seem less willing to save her.”
“There is no possible way that she will survive. The only possible solution would be to find some strand of Reality-All.”
“We’re going to see a Time-Deity!” I reminded in a fluster. “Do आप think even he cannot change this?”
“I’m sure he’ll want to, and I am even और sure that he cannot. आप are a scientist. If आप want to make a cure for this, do so. I am not the only expert on Identity Biology, and as आप can see I’m busy.”
I would have asked further but despite my distain for such an attitude at that time, complicating things with her would have caused और pain for PPE. If she had such a short time I would not be able to help her myself. She had a दिन at the most, and that was only enough time to spread theories and act.
If these identities could not help me then who would I go to? I had other options… but they would not be as reasonable. The other Elder, Virus, would probably take this opportunity to track down the base and destroy it. The doctor, Melcro, a past employer of mine, was potentially worse. I did not know any other core beings. I was asking the wrong questions.
If this time being could not save her, others should have known. People who knew her, friends, possibly family, would want to be there for her. Before I left the room I asked PPE “Is there anyone आप want to see? A family-member या a friend perhaps?”
The orb lit up brightly and Kaiya gave me a पार करना, क्रॉस stare. She was not actually upset with me as things turned out. She was simply having to control the implosion I caused. PPE was almost vibrating while zipping through the papers left द्वारा Rin. When she ran out the orb seemed like it would implode.
“Get… more…” Kaiya ordered under the tension, spasming herself at this point. I had no idea where to find paper so I ran back to the others. They were a bit surprised द्वारा my request but soon I was running back with a stack.
Each had a drawing of someone, and अगला to them a number. They went from one to ten, with one being small and ten being gigantic. The tension had decreased enough so that Kaiya was able to look them over with me. “Are these numbered in amount of importance?” Kaiya asked her. She nodded.
Kaiya turned to me. “I know a lot of these faces but even with the ones I don’t we can track their faces through a database.”
“Can आप track them down personally?”
“Personally as in me finding them या finding them individually?”
“Both.”
“We can have people look for them. Most of our agents are elsewhere, but I’m sure Rin would be thrilled to.”
“I will tell her.”
Rin did not return for two hours. I spent this time with PPE and Kaiya. PPE had decided it was time to turn her drawings into origami. Many of these were hats या airplanes. We hadn’t talked much in waiting but the orb’s glow slowly became और and और radiant. I was tempted to break the silence, and ask how Kaiya was holding up, but she spoke first.
“You never answered Rin’s सवाल about caring.”
“Does it need an answer?” I replied.
“No but I could just assume आप have a vendetta and use that to get आप to say why. Do आप not know why?”
“I care because she shouldn’t have to die. She’s been bothersome to me in the past but she never had a negative intention. I never learned about her past and I should have, but it’s too late now.”
“How long have आप known her?”
“I recruited her almost a साल ago. I had दिया her breaks on occasion of course. On Holidays I told her she could leave for a week and I had always assumed it was to someone she knew. That must have been when this all happened.”
“It wasn’t.”
“How do आप know that?”
“We’ve run into her before in the past.”
“Did आप know she was going to destabilize then?”
“All Emoted Identities destabilize. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Why didn’t आप act then?”
“She evaded us and we were busy. We couldn’t have changed anything then… We’re off-topic. What was your original point?”
“She was someone different at one point wasn’t she? आप कहा yourself she couldn’t have been born like this.”
“I’m sure whoever she was will become known to us when Rin returns.”
She sounded so melancholy. It took me a while but I realized it had to be for personal reasons. “This bothers आप obviously. It is a personal issue?”
“Are आप asking if I am an Emote?”
“I’m asking if आप had personal issues involving emoted identities in any form, including that.”
“The answer is no. I have no side-effects in my Nanites. I am not an Elder, nor a Third-Mood, nor an Emote, nor Iron, nor Isis.”
“…Those last two are alliances.”
“One is. I help Rin because Virus is a problem. I don’t want Rin to rule, and I highly doubt she wants to herself. The whole ‘Iron-Identity’ labeling just happened. I don’t much care what happens to most identities. I care about how much they can ruin the worlds.”
“You care और about others than your own species?”
“I- erk!” The orb was becoming even brighter and Kaiya became silent. PPE was becoming less stable. I moved over towards her as she made these strange inaudible sounds in an attempt to speak. Doing this made the spasms get larger and और frequent. I had to hold my hand up to block the brightness of the orb from blinding me.
I took her hand, shaking my head while pleading that she not try to speak. She did not head my words at first but gradually she began to relax. “What is taking Rin?” I asked Kaiya once the orb had dimmed back down to normal.
“Teleporting may be easy, but searching isn’t, and convincing less so.” She responded. “She’s been gone a half-hour.”
“That’s one half-hour we’ve spent sitting… I can’t stand that she’s cooped up here.” I turned my attention to PPE. “Is there somewhere आप want to go?”
She seemed almost frustrated now and drew the same symbol of this Tak person a सेकंड time. This was the only location she felt like being at. Dimension Four and Kenfi had been discussing it for far too long. She was not going to last.
“Do आप know how to get there?”
The lynx-identity was resistant to answering. It was a hard decision for… some reason. I reminded her while it should be simple. “How long do आप think we have? Even if he can’t help us, this is what she wants, and the very least she can have is being around the area she likes.”
She still remained silent. I clenched my hands, spinning my head about in a grumbling tizzy. “We don’t have much time. If he can help let’s go. What is there to discuss?”
“…Nothing.” Kaiya walked to PPE and placed a hand on her shoulder. A spherical capsule formed around the three of us and everything went white. Upon its fading, we resurfaced in a large mountainous area. The air was clean, and the wind was brisk. It was almost a telling feeling. It felt intimidating.
“Is this where he lives?” I asked. Kaiya shook her head. “No but it’s close… relatively. It won’t take long.” She formed a platform below us and we began to float over the mountains. Our travelling took us past the tall rocks, across a vast ocean, and over a mountain-based civilization. As we passed over this city I noticed that it was comprised entirely of humans.
I was beginning to think this “Tak” was a human himself but we did not stop at this location. It was very surprising however, seeing how small this was, and how much untouched land roamed free in its surrounding area. So many of the other zones had the entire planet nearly wiped out, but this had barely any land.
We were now in a large open field. At first it seemed just as peaceful and unharmed as the mountains, city aside, but to our left we could see a large blackened area. It was an almost entirely flat circular… crater, for lack of a better word but it was as large as a regular-sized city. Even from our distance I could make out the destruction of metal, oil, smoke, and the unpleasant scent of death.
“What was that?” I asked Kaiya. She glanced briefly in my pointed direction, and sighed. “That’s where we all came from.”
I had many और questions, but if they slowed her they were not worth asking. We passed over a large destroyed forest, which held almost completely-burned houses, and the remains of what looked like a castle. To the far left was a small mound of land protected द्वारा a clear dome. It had a small flag with an acorn on it. [What is this place…]
Finally Kaiya pointed ahead and proclaimed “That’s it. Professor, PPE, welcome to New Mobotropolis.”
It was a gigantic city inside of a large dome with walls thirty feet high. As we slowly landed I found my neck aching from look upward so much at it. [New Mobotropolis…] I had wondered. It sounded like something I should know; something I should have remembered. I simply could not put my finger on it.
Kaiya gave a large knock to the front door, a wide half-oval partly inside of the ground. A feminine voice greeted us. “Hello, and welcome to New Mobotropolis; capital of Mobius Prime 7, and historic landmark of the original Mobius Prime-“
“M-… P-Prime…???” I was gaping to say the least, looking to Kaiya for answers. [Mobius Prime? How was this…]
“We have a special wounded patient that has requested to see the Chronos Server.” Kaiya informed the talkative voice.”
“Aaaaaalright, and what are your names?” The voice asked perkily.
“Proffessor Calto, Kaiya, and our patient goes द्वारा PPE as an acronym.”
“Okay, one moment.” A गुलाबी translucent light appeared above our heads and began to हटाइए back and forth over them. This went on for a few सेकंड्स but it seemed longer. I looked over at PPE, with her one usable leg, and the orb beaming अगला to us. We were running out of time.
“Okay,” The voice came back, “you might want to explain why two of आप are identities and why there’s a bomb with you.”
“It’s not a bomb.” Kaiya replied. “It’s hard to explain. If आप prefer we not come inside, then can आप please tell Tak we need to speak with him?”
“… Alright, wait here.” The गुलाबी light faded and we waited. I had to wonder why this woman would be so hostile towards identities. I did not want to think it was simple racism. I asked Kaiya, and she informed me “The first identity wasn’t that great of a person, so they aren’t exactly okay with us popping up all the time, especially considering we’re not all trustworthy.”
“Understood.” It must have been the Virus Prime. It made sense, Kaiya mentioning their origin point in that strange rubble area prior. However now I was trying to control myself about this Prime Zone. “How is this the Prime Zone??” I blurted out.
“I’m sure you’ll find out later.” She responded sternly. She was right. I was getting distracted. We needed to focus on PPE, not my own curiosity.
Aside from our brief chat, it did not take much time for our desired individual to appear. It was a flicker of light that formed directly in front of us. Standing in its place upon vanishing was a mobian fox; pale in an नारंगी, ऑरेंज shade, with silver markings, red and grey boots, a sort of armor of metal designs around his body, and glowing pupil-less, iris-less, white eyes.
“Hello, Tak.” Kaiya greeted. The लोमड़ी, फॉक्स nodded back to her. “What is it आप want?” He inquired calmly.
“It seems आप are the only one who can fix what has happened to her.” I spoke up, gesturing to PPE laying atop the aerial platform. Tak was staring at the orb. “What is this orb’s purpose?” He questioned.
“PPE is an Emoted Identity.” Kaiya informed. “She’s going to die soon and I’m using this orb to contain the instability for the time-being.”
I realized now that Kaiya was not flinching या strained now. “Did आप detach yourself from it?” I questioned.
“I had to in order to transport us, but if I reconnect it won’t minimize the pain द्वारा much.” She looked back to Tak while gesturing to the orb. “It’s glowing this bright because she’s almost out of time. I’m sure आप can change that?”
The लोमड़ी, फॉक्स kept a still stare. “What exactly do आप want done?”
“We want to know if आप can reverse her to a state before she was unstable; before she was an Emoted Identity.” I informed. “You can do that, yes?”
“It depends on the circumstances.” He responded. “I can reverse things and people to a पूर्व state, and even choose to keep one part affected but not the rest, but I cannot make any separate changes… आप were persistent in finding me it seems. Is this woman a friend of yours or… relative maybe?”
“I care about her well-being, and that’s all I need to say.” I sternly informed. I was about to say “Not again” but then he replied “Good man.”
The Time Server approached PPE and an aura of silver energy formed around them. This took only a सेकंड before he turned back to us. “I cannot help you.” He sighed.
To say I was appalled would be appropriate, but I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to call him lazy, phony, या simply weak. “How can आप know that from such a short amount of-“
“Time?” He interrupted poignantly, putting enough emphasis on the word to help me understand what he meant. “I scanned for the results just now and I did it quickly and in detail for your benefit. The fact is that she is only half of a person. If I reverse her to a pre-emoted state, her persona will vanish.”
“How can there not be another solution?!” I imploded. “You control time! Can’t आप simply reverse just her core?!”
“Then her core would be a part of the original and not her.”
“Her body then!”
“Then her body would vanish and all that would be left is a dying core.”
“How can-“
“BEFORE,” He raised a tense hand, “you say…” he took a breath, “anything आप might regret… I have no intention of making your lives miserable and I certainly have no reason to not want to save this woman, but I have no power over this.”
Throughout this discussion Kaiya had been silent, but now she spoke. “Can आप then repair her core in some other way?”
“… आप aren’t talking about time.” The Time Server looked sored द्वारा this.
“Tak,” She named. “is short for Takris.” Takris… that was another name that sounded quite familiar. I would research this later, but apparently it is a type of core-based feline species. This लोमड़ी, फॉक्स apparently was one… at one point at least.
“If आप have the knowledge from the original Virus then आप would know, I am not that kind of Takris.” He responded with a heavy sigh. “… I can restore her to a point before she became unstable but still as an Emoted Identity.”
At first thought, it seemed like a perfectly supportable idea. Whenever things became strained again we could simply get him to reverse it each time, and PPE could live. PPE did not approve. She heard this and the orb began to crack with the power inside it. She began to crumble and everything went into a dizzy of worry.
“Wh-what’s- is it starting?!!” I demanded frantically. “We need to-“
“I won’t do it.” The Time लोमड़ी, फॉक्स stated. I asked “What” but then noticed he was speaking to PPE… this calmed her.
“Why…did…”
“If he reverses her,” Kaiya began, “yes she’ll be stable for the moment, but she’ll be back to a fixed emotion; a plastered smile and a prison.”
Her face… it was almost horrific. It was fading away almost with all of its cracks, but a smile remained stuck to it, with her energy-created eyes beaming a blackish blue. It was unbearable to watch.
Kaiya reinforced the orb and began making repairs to PPE’s structure. “I’ll tell आप all when it’s time. I think it’s best आप give her some room.”
Both I, and the Time Fox, nodded, and made our way off from the women. I could have asked about PPE but there was nothing to say. There was nothing I could do. I remembered the acorn-flag, and the rubble area, and the human city, and that this… how was this… “How is this the Prime Zone?”
He froze in mid-step and only moved enough to lower his shoulders and his foot. “What do आप know of the Prime Zone?”
“It is the स्रोत of all zones.” I replied. “I’ve done lectures on zones before, but the Prime Zone I studied is not this.”
“… What does your prime zone look like? Who is in it?”
“Well… it has an evil scientist trying to control the world, it has Sonic the Hedgehog as it’s hero—I’m quite surprised most people I talk to don’t even know about him, it’s quite the legend where I come from—his allies that help save the day…”
“… Does it ever mention people such as Julie-Su, या Geoffrey St. John? Is there a mention of a royal sibling named ‘Elias’?”
“… No…t, that I recall.”
“That world is not the Prime Zone.”
“I beg your pardon?” How would he know this, I wondered.
“This was the prime zone.” He sounded… broken with this statement. I allowed him to continue. “That world was created from a paradox द्वारा the hands of that evil scientist आप mentioned. I was created here and stabilized this world. Those not in that world were kept her… and anyone in that world does not remember this one… it was a paradox-change that transformed everything, and erased many people, relatives of these heroes, from existence. She-…” He went silent.
“… आप must have tried to change it.”
“I would have to… I would have erased all the new lives just to bring back the old, and as a result be despised as the savior of the original Prime World… and I would deserve it. All आप need to know is that I couldn’t save it, या them, and they wouldn’t want to live knowing that not only were they forgotten, but that they no longer mattered.”
It was such a long दिन of sadness. It seemed as if we could not escape fate, even those of us who could control time were unable to change what happened to those around us. What was और important? Saving, या caring? I was becoming unstable myself with all of this knowledge.
Finally Rin was back. She कहा nothing to us at first, startled द्वारा Tak, eventually “Kenfi कहा you’d be… here…” She looked at the fox. “Can I please talk with Calto in private?”
The Time लोमड़ी, फॉक्स nodded and the Elder brought me further away from the city.
She sat down with her legs crossed, picking at the grass. “Only a few of them actually care… three if I’m right. The rest either don’t remember or…”
“Finish…” I pushed.
“… they didn’t want anything to do with her. Playful doesn’t have a family. None of them were identities या otherwise.”
“Well who did know her? Are they coming?”
“Do आप want me to answer the first या सेकंड question?”
“Whichever.”
She sighed. “I told them what’s happening and that I’ll bring them over when it’s time. As for names, that’s kind of their business.”
“They can afford a few मिनटों of their time; all of them!” I growled. “How can they just push away when someone is dying?!”
“… I don’t know. What do आप want me to do?”
“Can’t आप bring them here? All of them?”
“Yeah…”
“Please do so then. They can spare a few मिनटों to pay respect.”
It took a moment but the identity rose up with a nod. Soon she was expanding a floor of energy for a multi-individual teleport. I looked about for Tak but he was not in sight. Most-likely he was back with PPE, so I made my way back there.
I found no one outside, so I looked about for a good thirty seconds. Kaiya appeared अगला to me. “She’s inside the city. I thought it would be best to let her be in a… scenic area.”
“… Thank you. Let’s… let’s go.”
She nodded and teleported us inside. The city was very scenic. It was futuristic but still in-tune with nature. घास grew over a large amount of the roofs, and while there were open areas, sixty-percent of this area was filled with forest. It seemed like a flawless city.
Kaiya led me to a park where the others remained. Rin had brought the three members she talked about. Tak had yet to arrive. PPE’s orb was cracking open. “Is it…”
“It’s time… it’s not my personal choice but its happening.”
“...” PPE’s right arm had broken off now. “What happens when she breaks?”
“She’ll be able to do whatever she wants… of around five minutes…”
“Where is the f-“
“Here.” He walked over with a pale tan rabbit with गुलाबी markings, and an… interesting outfit on. “This is Psyfilice. She handles the mind.” The rabbit waved timidly. “If your friend has any last requests, she can translate them.”
“You c-, y-ye-yes, please!” I stepped aside swiftly as the woman knelt in front of PPE. She could barely stare at the Mind Rabbit, and when attempting to हटाइए her neck, cracking followed, so she stopped.
A गुलाबी light formed between them, and suddenly I was filled with the most nauseating of horrors ever listened to. There was gagging… coughing… gurgling… and snapping like that of twigs. The short breaths came with whimpers from the smiling shell collapsing in front of us.
“Do आप have something to say?” The rabbit forced out.
The words were so gurgled it took five repeats for me to understand them. “Can’t be saved.”
~It was a normal day, a normal दिन considering… But these words echoed… she could hear the words and instantly knew time had run out.~
The orb imploded, knocking us all aside. Before any of us could recover, a सेकंड implosion sent us backward. Psyfilice caught us in some kind of aura, holding us upright. What we witnessed was poetic, heart-breaking…
… and beautiful.
She was golden in form now, with various white designs around her body. Energy poured out, blowing behind her. The eyes were radiating, and a faint smile formed… a true one. She stood with both arms and legs firm and strong.
~White… everything was white. Whimpering she pleaded “I don’t want to lose…it…”~
“She wants to speak to us one at a time.” Psyfilice informed, so one at a time we walked towards her. Each one of us she spoke with quietly so that the others heard nothing. Psyfilice went first as she was the closest, then the three guests, Kaiya, Rin, myself… She told me “Did I annoy you?”
I answered frantically. “No… of course not. आप did a very good job.”
She did not seem convinced, but I was not about to recall the times when that had possibly happened. “Thank आप for letting me keep my tail.” I had forgotten about the tail. It was the only organic part of her. I saw it now, still attached, and alive as she was. Perhaps this was strange but… she… was happy for it.”
I stood up assuming I was the last… but I was not. The Time Server remained. He seemed shocked द्वारा the inclusion but when gestured to, he slowly made his way over.
They sat in front of each other, and for the time were silent… but then she sang. It was short; a part of a song perhaps. Recalling now, I remember her drawing once about a संगीत store she went to on a break. If this was her song then… her… the words were…
… “Kiss it all better, I’m not ready to go… it’s not your fault; प्यार you… didn’t know… didn’t know…”
No one could have been और shocked द्वारा this but the server himself when her last सेकंड्स were spent with an energized pressing upon his lips.
~Shock followed as she touched her own fingertips to her lips… she felt it…~
She held on to him in a tight embrace for as long as possible it seemed, clinging and becoming tighter, as her body began evaporating into the air. Her face and fingers were the last to go.
~She collapsed… dying partly… and the other becoming unstable and alive.
We stood waiting for the Time Server to stand. This went on for a good hour. All others had vanished from the park during the first implosion. We were alone.
He had the tail in his shaking hands with eyes closed. He gave it to… m-me… and कहा I would cherish it… and I do.
A memorial was held of course. We made an alter in that same park. No one dared to harm it. It was a heart, large, with a figure in her image inside. Glass was the material, with many varying colors. We were not sure what to write, but Tak and Psyfilice handled the naming. We paid our respects… and then departed.
I sit here now, and I have to ask myself what I should be thankful for. I would be thankful for my long life, but that would bring guilt that she had a short one. I would be thankful for my knowledge, but that would dishonor the limits she was forced into. I would be thankful for family, of which she had none, but I can be thankful for companions, friends, and people who decided to प्यार me. I place my मक्का, मकई आगे and pass the अगला सूची of thankful events to the next.
Happy Thanksgiving.
EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED….
“Psyfilice… आप sympathize with me.”
“…I do.”
“Ultra… आप don’t need another one of me…”
“Eugene… आप were… charming…”
“Mr. Splicer…”
“Yes?”
“How was your day?”
“…It…I…”
“Is your wire friend happy?”
“…I guess…”
“That’s good…”
“Kaiya… आप would have been a very good Elder…”
“… आप would have as well.”
“… I wish I had…”
“You were very happy and nice with me, Rin… please… stop running from…”
“… I’ll try…”
She lived again, and tore from the floor. “You aren’t having another kid are you?”
“No…” She stormed through the hall, blasted the doors open, and slammed her foot to the ground, eradicating everything in a five-foot radius from her. It was very different. Red, Black, and Green, flaming from her every person. No joy, no mercy. No और waiting. Energy blasted around, filling every inch of the city. She had their attention.
“PREPARE!” She screamed. “THE WAR, BEGINS,
NOW!”
THE
END
Evolia Headshot
