The room reeks of blood and physical manifestations of fear. Bodies in different states of completeness are all over the place and paint it red.
There is no light left. All the fancy looking equipment is broken and a relaxing silence surrounds me.
I would take a deep, refreshing breath to relax more, but because of the stench that already fills my field of perception, I refrain from it.
\\I'm scary.
Insufficient information, Can not be processed.
\\Hmm… silly me would get this.
Affirmative. Neither my purpose, nor my field of expertise.
\\You are no fun, calculating me.
Numbers.
\\That was just a saying, of course numbers are fun.
Affirmative.
\\Haa~ they are waiting outside…
Affirmative. Carry on disposal of the root.
I'm still convinced, that I'm terrifyingly scary.
It's not the fact, that I can kill humans, I could have done that all along. It's the simple fact that the calculating me awakened as a personality… but without a real personality. Like a running program, that just fulfils the purpose of it's creation. I probably send the silly me to sleep, so the calculating me can function as intended, without getting corrupted by emotions, like the rational me.
So the rational me is just a broken version of the calculating me?
Rejected.
\\Huh? Can you elaborate?
Affirmative. Rational me choose emotions to support and protect the silly me.
\\Oh… thank you. Calculation me is very nice.
I chuckle and a minimal wave of confusion coming from the calculating me enters my mind for a moment, as I carry on.
The building I'm in is quite small and mostly consists of the room I am currently in. There are some small storage rooms, a few changing rooms and something like a canteen, but all are empty. Looking at this place, it seemed to be created for someone like me, but it's construction must have begun long before I got found out…
Assumption.
\\No, let's not think about it.
The people either fled or choose to get annihilated. I'm not a monster, so when they want to run, they can run.
Or to be more honest; I only care about those, who get in my way.
Once they show their hostility, I kill them. Neither the rational me, nor the calculating me are really able to comprehend the concept of mercy. But none of my mes is dumb enough to let someone alive, who already made the decision of attacking me. If they do it once, I won't let them go, as they will just get more firepower and try again another time.
I quickly move through a small corridor and leave the weird building. Being outside feels refreshing.
There is just one little problem.
A small detail, that ruins the refreshment of being outside.
I'm surrounded.
It was already confirmed before, as I could [see] the small army, but seeing those weird cars with canons on them with my eyes completely ruins the mood.
Those are tanks, right?
Like, tools for war – tanks… right?
Why are they here?!
Just to kill a little imp like me?
They could just let me leave the city and everyone would be happy…
Of course they wouldn't.
Still, tanks… there are even people with portable canons in the small armies rows...
That's a bit overkill, you know?
No, actually it's not.
The piercing sound of a high pitched whistle rings in my ears and not even a second later, the tanks shoot.
My body is fast, but not that fast. Dodging the first few impacts is quite easy, but the fifth one throws me of balance. The sixth one directly hits and my lower body is just gone.
I can't evade any more and instantly everything gets aimed at where the rest of me falls down.
My clothes!
They get turned to nothing, like my body with the bombardment going on. Ahh, not again.
I need new ones when this is over.
Producing spare.
The calculating me sounds a bit annoyed, as my body gets recreated behind the line of tanks within only a second and the center of my field of perception shifts over to it.
The tanks only need a very short amount of time to spin their canons around, but they won't open fire, as I now just stand in the middle of the small army.
Predictable.
The tanks lost their value in just one moment and are not a priority target anymore. The people try to get away from me, so that their strongest weapon could be used again, but I am faster.
Because of that it's sadly one-sided.
Their guns? I just heal up the moment a bullet penetrates through me.
Their spears? They are so slow, they can't even reach me.
Their swords? Laughable, even the spears are better.
Magic? It's even slower than the swords that always miss me. They probably refrain from using anything big, out of the same reason the tanks are just decoration of. But this makes everyone with a high amount of Aether who I [see] a high priority target.
The calculating me just annihilates them.
Next would be the tanks. As the amount of people decreases and there are more and more empty spaces, the canons will be used again soon.
I can't even scratch them and my explosions of failed magic just barely do anything to the hard metal the tanks are made out of. There is no pilot in them but creating a few explosions inside of each tank is still very effective.
There are countless – 1355 –, delicate magic circles in every tank that makes them run and most of them are on different, softer metals that transmit magic faster. Bending those parts with the pressure of my explosions disrupts the delicate circle and the whole machine shuts down.
Within half an hour all 200 tanks are disabled and with the magic users also gone, I could move more freely.
As there is nothing left that should be able to just delete me, I take another jacket from a corpse and put it on while decimating the number of recognised enemies.
A feeling as if I just accomplished the most important task overcame the calculating me for a split second, as soon as I got clothes again.
\\I see, the calculating me is stupid, too.
Rejected.
I chuckle in my mind, well aware how terrified my other me would be about this small interaction within me, while there is hell within my field of perception.
Seconds turn into minutes.
Minutes turn into an hour. Two hours.
The small army contained of 450 people. All are soldiers, recognisable by those black military clothes, or more commonly known as guards.
But by now there are 512 corpses in my field of perception. I won't count the tanks, little golems and other devices within those numbers.
Not all of the corpses wear that uniform…
Of course I left the area where I was kept underground, but random civilians started to attack me, too. Just because they are not part of the guards, doesn't mean that they will get a free pass. They start it, I end them.
Simple.
Even though I didn't got that far, the small building should not be in my field of perception anymore. And yet, it clearly is.
The more bodies drop, the bigger the field gets…
Assumption. I-
\\No, I don't want to think about this either. Only the calculating me should be able to keep secrets from me.
...Affirmative.
I let out a sigh.
Even though it is way too large, I still trust my field of perception completely, as I can clearly [see] everything in it.
I can [see] a large group of potted pixies, at the edge of my field of perception, where they seemingly just wait and I can also [see] animals fleeing as fast as possible. I am very happy to receive the information, that none of them is afraid of me.
What they are afraid of, scares me too though.
In front of me, about 200 metres away, is the largest group of humans I've ever seen. They just wait there, seemingly blocking my path on the big road out of the city. Roughly counting, they number around 2000. Even though it itches my brain, I won't count them… yet.
My concentration is needed somewhere else.
To my right and left, closing in fast from several roads, is a huge amount of those car-tanks. The first rows of them are equipped with canons that I can't [see].
They will soon be in shooting range, but I don't move.
I could still turn around and run in the direction I came from to flee the city. But I won't.
I will not flee and instead leave the city! And they will acknowledge that.
I take a deep breath and concentrate on the streets with tanks in them. More precisely, I focus on the surrounding buildings there.
Just how many brains does the calculating me have?! And how fast am I thinking?!
Uhhh~n…
I get dizzy from following all the calculated coordinates and the flow of Aether that is manipulated into circles there and decide to just observe my weird me.
All circles are inside of some walls. All of them are completed at the same time and without fail, all of them fail in the creation of magic and just explode instead.
The walls collapse…
Supporting walls for big buildings.
Of course the buildings collapse, too, burying the masses of tanks underneath them, crushing them and breaking them. A pseudo earthquake is created, but the well planned city absorbs most of the shock and no other buildings come crashing down. Only seven and a half minute pass in tremor and then silence returns from all directions but in front of me.
I am definitely scary, but in more ways than I thought before.
My body breathes out as I now set my focus on the 2213 people in front of me.
I would really appreciate it if you now understand that this is futile and just let me leave.
There is unrest among them.
Most are concerned about the masses of explosions and the tremor that shook the area as the buildings collapsed. But only a few seem to know what happened, as the tall buildings around them block their view to the collapsed streets.
They are discussing, if they should spread that information or keep it, so the moral stays higher. Are you stupid? You should discuss how to retreat, without getting any of you hurt in the confusion.
Sadly, the conversation isn't changing into that direction. Not that I'm really sad though. Sadness is a privilege reserved for the silly me only and [looking] at the faces of the ones blocking my path would definitely make me more than just sad. All the more reason that this part of me is fast asleep.
I take a step forward.
Another…
And another.
Slowly closing the distance, as I walk leisurely and my legs aren't that long.
You still have so much time to leave. All the time you need.
Just let me pass through and I will be the one who leaves, no violence is needed.
If I say this loud enough, they could hear it already, but I won't talk and I'm not even sure if I can shout. On the other hand they wouldn't know, that everything could be fine, so I take that information and mix it with the Aether of everyone.
Unghh~ this is hard… but one after another, now they know.
They will let me go, right?
I already crossed more than half of the path towards them.
Still no change.
Weapons are still aimed at me. Magic is still prepared.
The discussions are getting even more heated.
Another step.
Click.
A quick step to the side.
A 'blind' bullet that just passes next to me.
A body that bursts open in the frontlines.
Chaos breaks loose.
I genuinely feel sorry for you.
There is no empathy behind this, just the logical sadness of not understanding something.
I don't get why you hate me so much, that you throw away all common sense, but to make up for that, I promise myself, that I will find out. Maybe there is a possibility to get rid of this hate? For the silly me's sake I will search for it.
But right now, even though I seem to be everything that you can think of, I don't care about any of you.
The gunfire could actually be ignored, but I still dodged as much as possible. Smaller magics aren't a problem either, but I need to dodge the big ones.
So much effort and yet… my new jacket still gets destroyed piece by piece. Slowly but steady it will be gone soon and I need a new one again.
Of course if they attack me, I have no problem with creating a magic circle inside of people. But still, the amount of gunfire and magic won't decrease.
That is to be predicted.
Weirdly enough there is a space with not bullets in them.
A young man with a weirdly heroic aura is running towards me. A sword flickering with electric energy lifted with both hands he shouts something I don't even care to understand.
Wherever he is, the gunfire and magic are not aimed at and the moment he reaches me, the gunfire stops entirely. I still [see] magic being prepared, but nothing big, so he won't get hit by it.
I don't get you, humans!
You hate me so much, that you will die for it, but at the same time you are unwilling to make a small sacrifice? Get your eleven together!
The blade is swung towards my neck, but I don't even dodge it.
There is Aether forming into a circle inside the young man's head already. It will be completed long before the blade connects and even if I take a step back, I won't be able to get out of the explosions reach nonetheless. I should just prepare for the impa-
Eh?
What?
My circle just vanishes and a split second later my head is cut of.
…oh…
Now that is disappointing.
I hoped so much, that you would have left and even when I saw you, I hoped that you won't interfere. Mixing this information into the cool magic gramp's Aether, I [look] at him.
I somehow still wish for him to leave. Just dispersing the Aether isn't a sign of hostility, right?
No, that thought is just the fading wish of a sleeping me. Ijin's eyes are filled with the same mix of disgust and hate that everyone shows me. But behind that is more. Fear.
I know what real fear is like, so he can't hide it from me.
He still doesn't give in to that and moves. What a strong person.
Not even half a second passed, since my head got cut of and because he knew that it would be successful, Ijin already aimed at my head in the air.
A ball of light is shot and my head burns up in it within the rest of the second.
I can't deny it, this is shown hostility…
But first I need a new head.
Oh, I already have one, thanks to the calculating me. Good job.
As if he knew, the sworduser again aimed at my neck. This time I dodge while creating a circle.
The circle vanishes again and the sword misses.
I get a step closer to the herolike man. Even without my failing magic, my claws can be as deadly.
He dodged?
That's cool!
My body is abnormal fast and he can still keep up.
Heat is generated below my feet and we both jump backwards at the same time to evade from the appearing pillar of flames.
He runs around it and jumps, to let his big sword fall towards me. I use the moment he took for that to [look] closer at him.
All in all he is human, but there are some weird electric signals stimulating his muscles and brain. What a creative way of using this swords imbued magic!
I jump to the side so his cool sword won't split me in two. There are already enough of me.
Another circle within him and I create another one in the cool magic gramps. They vanish.
That was to be expected.
But what now?
I can't use my failing magic and even physically I'm not able to hit the young man. He also stays at the same site, so I won't be able to get past him.
On the other hand they can't kill me as long as there is Aether in my field of perception… and Aether is everywhere.
So, this is a true stalemate…
But I don't get exhausted and from everything that happened, they should be aware of that.
Are they playing for time?
That is very likely, as there is no method of killing me here right now.
\\I can't afford to wait until whatever they wait for is here, so I wont keep you from using it anymore.
Affimative.
I dodge another swing of the blade and barely evade a flash of lighting that burns the tip of my tail, while concentrating on the young man.
He appears to be in good health, but I can make it even better. Using Aether in the sworduser's body I [glance] at Ijin, but I can't figure out if he doesn't notice if it's like this or if he can't cancel it.
Doesn't matter.
For now I need to evade his magic and the physical attacks from the one in front of me.
The sword strikes are getting more and more unrefined with every second and start to slow down a lot.
The not so young sworduser looks at me in a panic.
The muscles break down. The bones getting more and more fragile. His eyes become slightly clouded and wrinkles appear on his loosening skin.
His shaking hands can't hold the sword anymore and it falls to the ground.
I stop my movement to look at him. There is no magic aiming at me right now.
In a last, confused attempt the old sworduser reaches out for me, but the hand won't reach me.
He falls over and his body shuts down.
I was once very afraid of what just happened, because I couldn't stop myself from regenerating.
But my body doesn't work like that… A human one does…
Cell division is limited after all…
Dying of old age within three minutes. I hope it wasn't painful.
If it was, I'm sorry… but you wouldn't let me kill you otherwise.
A second of silence followed by screams of agony and hate.
The gunfire is back and magic rains upon me once again.
But less than before and there is no order.
Many people run around in chaos. Some still attacking me, others just trying to flee in a panic.
You finally understand, huh?
Well, it's too late.
The ones running to the cars they used to get here? Explode.
The ones still trying to kill me? Explode.
The ones running into the side alleys? Explode.
The ones hiding in nearby buildings? Collapsing rooms.
The ones nearby? I have claws.
It is more one-sided than the previous attempt.
...
I'm covered in blood and my jacket needs to be replaced again.
I feel exhausted. Not physically, but mentally.
At least they're all gone now.
Well, all but one.
I stand in front of him…
The moment the sworduser fell over, the cool magic gramps sat down on the street and closed his eyes.
I look at him and bow down in the same way everyone did towards Pura an eternity ago.
"I ... m … so...y. Than-k … y-you … for … evr...thing"
My voice sounds like rusting metal from the rare use, is cracking and even I can't overhear the strong lisp. What a fitting voice for the grotesque me.
Ijin still smiles as he hears it and slightly nods.
I stand back up again, go backwards a bit to create more distance and draw a beautiful, round Aethercircle in his head.
…
Silence.
…
The city is calm.
No, the city is dead.
\\Don't wake the silly me yet.
Affirmative.
"Hmm… that was very nice, but I like the other part of you more."
I freeze up in shock.
There was the hoard, quiet voice of someone right behind me.
I heard it and I [heard] it, but I can't [see] anyone. Apart from a few animals and pixies at the edge, there is nothing alive in my field of perception.
"Hohoho no worries I won't bite.", the seemingly old voice chuckled behind me, even if there still is no one there.
I turn around with sluggish movements and instantly freeze again.
Still no one to [see] but there is a tall, very old man right in front of me.
"You are cuter in person.", he chuckled for a moment but then looked at me in slight confusion. "Am I scary like this?"
There is no tall, old man in an expensive looking mantle. There probably never was.
Right in front of me is a young girl, about half a head taller than me and dressed in simple shorts and a shirt.
"Wow, being this small is weird, how can you be like this? Hmm… I will try it for a while.", she mumbled in a soft voice for a moment. "Anyway, I hope this is better. I have a proposal for you."
My mind can't comprehend the situation.
What is this?!