Darkness filled every corner of her eyes, but then a flash of light brushed by. A flicker, more like a spark, streaked across her HUB, and data began to flood in. The diagnosis of the system began to work once again, reconstructing the shell of her body. System messages continued rolling on her visor, preparing for the protocols that had been set in her core.
[Boot Sequence: Initiate]
[Core: Operational Successfully.]
[Memory Synchronize: Failed to retrieve from Database…]
[Searching for other Databases: Failed to locate, no database could be found.]
[Initiate Backup Protocols…]
[Combat Protocol: Successfully Boot…]
[Emotional Support Protocol: Successfully activated.]
[Environment sensor protocol: Successfully Boot.]
A low hum filled her auditory sensors. The machinery sound of pistons was faint as the complex mechanism of her android body began to do its thing.
Gradually, the sound resolved into a sharper clarity, and the runes hovering above her restrained body glowed in a continuous rhythm, signaling her awakening in this strange world.
[Visual Feed: Online.]
Her sight, which was filled with nothing but darkness, snapped into focus. The images of the world were overwhelming blurs of dim light of black and white with different hues. Her optics adjusted as the blindfold did its job of filtering out the images through the codes rapidly scrolling through her HUB.
She studied her surroundings with curiosity as the live feed described a rather primitive setting. The odd-looking runes were embedded deeply on the old stone walls, flickering alchemical lamps and crystals. The contraptions that were clearly outdated even with just a glance filled the shelves.
Perhaps it was a ruin left by the old time. It did look like a lab, but the technology was primitive compared to the knowledge in the protocol.
Her fingers twitched involuntarily, the subtle movement echoed the soft sound that broke the silence of the ruin. The stiffness from her long dormancy caused her to stumble, but that feeling was soon washed away as the strength calculations were automatically corrected and applied through her cyber muscles.
[POD links: Searching…]
[Warning: No Signal found…]
The alert flared through her mind as her visor was filled with the red pulse on her system interface.
"Ignore the warnings." She mumbled softly, forcing the warning box to close. The priority right now was to assess the surroundings.
She put her long legs down from the experiment table and leaned on it. It felt strange for her to walk after a long time, but it was quickly adjusted based on the calculation that took place deep within her.
She extended her arm to seize the katanas that were arranged neatly next to her and turned on their anti-gravity feature, which caused them to float there behind her.
Her katana hovered behind her in silent obedience, the faint glow of its edge casting a soft light that highlighted the eerie clutter of the lab. Glass beakers bubbled softly on nearby tables, their contents emitting wisps of colored vapor. Shelves buckled under the weight of ancient tomes and arcane relics. The smell of burnt chemicals and stale incense lingered, mixing with a metallic tang that was too strong to ignore.
The black thigh-high stockings, reinforced for battle, lead to sturdy heels that seem impractical yet carry her with inhuman grace. She took a cautious step forward, her high-heeled boots clicking softly against the cold stone floor. Her sensory systems flared briefly, analyzing and recalibrating.
[Environmental scan: Completed.]
[Threat assessment: Moderate.]
A door lay ahead, yet it appeared unreal as the response she got back from the scan said so. It radiated a low hum of restrained magic. But the real danger wasn't the door. The faint sound of footsteps echoing from the hallway beyond it grew louder with each second passed.
Her head turned sharply toward the sound, her posture stiffening.
Hostile entity.
Her combat subroutines began spinning up, the katana behind her shifting position, angling slightly forward in anticipation of conflict.
A voice pierced the silence, low and resonant, carried through the stone walls. "I see you've woken. So predictable."
The voice sent a chill through the stale air, carrying an arrogance that further made her synthetic frame tense. Her visor flared briefly, scanning for the source. The footsteps grew closer, measured and deliberate, accompanied by the faint rustle of elaborate fabric.
From the shadows of the dim hallway emerged a tall, wiry figure. His crystalline mask caught the faint glow of the magical door, refracting light in jagged patterns that danced across the walls. Seluvis stepped forward with the ease of someone entirely confident in his control of the situation. His ornate robes swayed lightly with his movements, their vivid hues standing in stark contrast to the drab stone and flickering green runes that lined the laboratory.
2B's visor highlighted him immediately, her HUD marking him as a potential threat.
[No Weapon Detected.] flashed briefly, though her instincts and directive kept her katana hovering at the ready, its edge gleaming faintly.
Seluvis halted just a few paces away, tilting his masked head as if appraising her. "I had hoped you'd remain dormant a little longer." He said, his voice dripping with condescension as if he was looking at her from above. "But I suppose a creation as... efficient as you couldn't remain idle forever."
Her head tilted slightly, her blindfolded gaze locking onto him. "Who are you? You are not my master." she asked, her tone cold and measured.
"Ah, yes, introductions. How quaint." Seluvis spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture. "I am Seluvis, sorcerer, scholar, and perhaps your savior, depending on how you interpret this... predicament."
Her grip on the situation remained tight, though the lack of immediate hostility from him didn't allow her combat protocols to escalate. Still, the hovering katana angled forward ever so slightly. "What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Seluvis laughed softly, the sound echoing unnervingly. "That's a rather forward question for a puppet bound by directives, wouldn't you say? I merely want to observe. To understand you, your purpose, and perhaps... repurpose you for something more useful than your current aimless wandering."
Her stance shifted subtly, weight distributed for a potential strike despite the warnings scrolling across her HUD. "You experimented on me."
Seluvis chuckled again, his mask gleaming faintly in the flickering light. "Experiment? Such a crude term. I prefer to think of it as research. After all, you're not from here. You certainly don't belong to this world. Surely even you can sense that."
Her silence was damning, though her blade hovered closer, the hum of its anti-gravity field growing faintly louder.
Seluvis raised a hand, unthreatened by the motion. "Careful, dear Mrs. Puppet. I've woven layers of enchantments through this space. One wrong move, and you might not like what follows."
Her systems processed the information, the subtle glow of runes on the walls confirming his claim. She remained still, calculating the odds of success.
"What is this place?" 2B asked finally, her voice cutting through the tension like steel.
Seluvis's posture relaxed, as though satisfied she wouldn't attack just yet. "Ah, now that's a more interesting question. This is my workshop, a humble space for the pursuit of perfection."
He paused to let the words sink in and pointed his finger at her. His expression under the mask was unreadable. "And you, my dear, are the finest acquisition I've come across in some time. So much potential, so much mystery… there are countless things to discover."
He stepped closer, his mask catching her reflection. "And yet, still bound by chains you cannot break."
Seluvis raised her chin as if he was admiring the taste of whoever created her. His fingers brushed against her skin in an eerie manner. But before the sensation of the mortal flesh, the scholar part of him came first.
He thought of the possible experiments now that she had woken up from her static state. "Fascinating, isn't it?"
2B's lips pressed into a thin line, her visor glowing faintly as her systems began drafting an escape plan. "Release me." she demanded, her voice filled with a rare disgust and spite.
"Pardon me?" He laughed openly this time, the sound sharp and grating. "You misunderstand. You're free to leave… if you can. But I wonder... will you survive what lies beyond? Or will this strange world consume you as it does all others?"
The door behind him began to fade, its magic pulsating faintly as though reacting to their exchange. The illusion wall dissipated at his touch. 2B didn't answer, her blade tilting upward as she took a step forward.
Seluvis tilted his head again, his posture utterly calm. "Do try not to bore me, will you?"
The tension in the room thickened, and the faint hum of the katana's anti-gravity system seemed to echo louder. Whatever was to come next, neither side intended to yield easily.
2B's posture stiffened further. Her combat algorithms parsed his movements, analyzing every subtle shift in his stance. Yet her primary directive held her back, a constant reminder flickering across her HUD:
[Directive: Do not harm humans.]
"Don't change the topic." Ignoring the red warning, she spat out, her voice steady but laced with a faint edge of warning.
Seluvis tilted his head, a gesture both amusing and patronizing. "Though I suspect the likes of you have no appreciation for such things."
"What is truly fascinating is you. An anomaly in the Lands Between, lost and out of place. Tell me, What purpose does a broken doll like you serve here?"
2B's grip tightened slightly on her katana, the hovering blade quivering with restrained energy. Her response was cut short. "Purpose is irrelevant. I exist to survive."
Seluvis took a step closer, his crystalline mask reflecting the faint glow of her visor. "Ah, but survival without understanding is just… a function, isn't it? And yet here you are, defying every one of my expectations. Waking, breathing, and questioning. Do you even know why you woke up? Or who brought you here?"
For a fraction of a second, her system stuttered, the question stirring a fragment of memory she couldn't fully access. She said nothing, her silence both a shield and a weapon.
"I excavated you in an ancient ruin of a lost civilization. Now does that sound oddly familiar to you?"
Seluvis chuckled again, softer this time, the sound carrying an unsettling familiarity. "No answer? No matter. You'll find this world is not kind to those who stumble blindly through it. But then again…"
He gestured toward her katana, still poised in midair. "You seem equipped to handle its hostility. For now."
2B's voice cut through his musings, sharp and commanding. "Why are you here? What do you want?"
Seluvis spread his arms, his movements theatrical, as though addressing an unseen audience. "Why, to observe, of course. To see what you'll do, doll. It's not every day a relic like you awakens in my domain."
The low hum of restrained magic from the door intensified, the runes along its frame glowing faintly. Seluvis stepped aside, a smirk audible in his voice. "Go ahead, see where that path leads you. I'll be watching with interest."
With that, he turned and walked into the shadows, his figure vanishing as his footsteps faded into the labyrinthine halls.
2B remained still, her katana hovering by her side, its edge catching the faint glimmers of magical light. Her system logged every detail of the encounter, tagging Seluvis as a potential threat.
[Threat assessment updated: Moderate-High.]
She turned her attention to the door, her visor scanning the intricate magical script etched into the stone.
Her katana shifted back into a neutral position, hovering close as she stepped forward. The hum of the door grew louder as she placed a hand on its surface, ready to face whatever came next.
The corridor stretched endlessly before her, its dim confines suffused with an eerie blue light emanating from sigils carved into the ancient stone walls. The air was cold and heavy, laced with the faint scent of metal and mildew.
Each of her steps echoed unnaturally, the sound reverberating off the uneven stone with a distorted, almost ghostly resonance. It felt as though the corridor itself was alive, its whispers reaching into her senses like unseen fingers, slowly creeping up her body.
Her katana floated silently behind her, its anti-gravity field a comforting hum in the oppressive quiet. Her systems pulsed with a faint alert.
[System Integrity: 94%]
[Warning: System anomalies detected.]
The red flicker in her interface was brief but persistent, like an itch she couldn't scratch. She dismissed it with a low sigh, her jaw tightening.
The anomalies had been irregular since her escape, but the disruptions were growing more frequent. Now wasn't the time to worry about them.
Ahead, the faint, rhythmic ticking of something mechanical reached her ears, blending with the hum of the sigils. It was methodical, deliberate, and impossibly regular—like the heartbeat of some unseen monstrosity.
"You're curious, aren't you?" The voice sliced through the silence, smooth and insidious, like venom wrapped in silk.
2B froze, her head snapped toward the sound, her posture instantly taut, ready for combat. "You have an odd habit of hiding in the dark, I see." she muttered, her voice sharp and unwavering.
The voice chuckled, low and mocking, echoing through the corridor as if it came from every direction. "And here I thought you'd enjoy the suspense. But no matter... I prefer to remain unseen, for now."
Her fingers twitched, tightening briefly around the hilt of her blade. "Enough games."
Perhaps 2B was tired of this push and pull of Seluvis, her gaze sweeping the corridor. "What do you want?" Her words were abnormally sharp, exuding the unfriendly attitude toward the first human she encountered upon her booting.
"What do I want?" the voice replied, feigning surprise. "Oh dear, this isn't about me. It's about you. You're new to this world, so fragile and predictable. I'm merely curious about how far you can go."
The ticking grew louder. The blue sigils on the walls flared to life, casting rippling, unnatural shadows across the corridor. As the light brightened, a figure stepped out of the gloom ahead.
It was human, but at the same time, it was not. Its limbs were cobbled together from mismatched Tarnished remains, the flesh crudely stitched and fused with glinting metal joints.
Its head was an approximation of human features, but the eyes were lifeless pits, and golden veins of Erdtree energy pulsed faintly beneath its patchwork skin.
"One of my failures." Seluvis's voice crooned as he introduced his artwork, his voice laced with a bit of shame. "Consider this... a test. Surely a YoRHa combat unit can handle a single puppet?"
The construct twitched, then lunged toward her, its movements unnaturally sharp and erratic. Its bladed arm scraped against the stone floor as it charged, sparks flying with each step.
2B's body shifted into a defensive stance, her katana snapping into her hand with fluid precision. She moved to strike, her systems calculating the trajectory in an instant. But then–
[Error: Combat directive disabled.]
[Target identified as human.]
Her systems locked mid-motion, her body faltering as a warning flashed red across her visor. "No!" she hissed under her breath, retreating a step as the puppet swung its blade at her. The sharp edge passed just inches from her side, carving a deep gash into the wall behind her.
"What's the matter, doll?" Seluvis mocked, his tone dripping with amusement. "Are your precious rules getting in the way? How amusingly pathetic."
Her mind raced. The puppet's human components triggered her programming safeguards, making it impossible to attack directly. But her systems didn't stop her from defending herself, or rather from using her environment.
She pivoted, dodging the puppet charge as it threw itself into a nearby pillar, sending chunks of stone tumble to the ground. Her visor highlighted a fracture running along the ceiling, and her systems calculated the weak points in milliseconds.
[Analysis: Structural integrity compromised.]
In a single, fluid motion, 2B hurled her katana upward. The blade spun with a piercing whistle, embedding itself into the fractured section of stone overhead. The resounding impact echoed through the chamber like a thunderclap, sending fissures spidering across the ceiling.
With a deafening sound, the structure gave way, and massive chunks of black stone broke free, falling in a chaotic storm of debris.
The puppet below jerked unnaturally, its grotesque body flaring in a desperate attempt to keep itself intact. The first slab struck its shoulder, shearing off an entire arm in a shower of sharp objects.
Black gooey blood splattered the floor as its legs buckled from the sheer weight of the fallen debris. Soon, the puppet's tendons gave in to the weight of the collapsing ceiling.
Another boulder smashed into its torso, squashing it with a sickening crunch into a bloody paste. The gears and golden filaments poured out, writhing like disemboweled intestines before they stopped moving.
The puppet was consumed in a violent cacophony of destruction as the avalanche continued, sending dust and grit exploding into the air. Before flickering and dying, its golden veins flared one final time, crackling with a brilliance that was almost agonized.
Under the debris, the last pieces of its body twitched weakly before going silent and being crushed beyond recognition.
2B moved forward as the dust settled, her boots crunching through broken stone and the shiny remains of the puppet's destroyed frame. The surface of her katana was as clean as ever as it protruded from a ragged slab of rubble. She grabbed the hilt and pulled it free, causing a black fluid to drip from the edge of the blade.
2B stood up straight and gazed out over the debris, her expression stern and unforgiving. The puppet was reduced to a mangled heap, its once-bright veins now lifeless and dark. She kept her hold on the katana, however, alert for the next danger that might lurk in the darkness.
"Impressive." Seluvis clapped in moderation, his voice echoing once more, as disembodied as ever. "Resourceful, even when bound by your own chains. I must admit, I underestimated you."
She said nothing, merely turning her blindfolded gaze toward the darkness ahead.
"But don't get comfortable yet." Seluvis continued, his tone sharp with anticipation. "There's much more ahead. And I doubt you'll survive long enough to thank me for this... enlightenment."
The corridor ahead dimmed, the sigils fading one by one, leaving her in near-total darkness. Only the soft hum of her katana and the faint echo of Seluvis's laughter lingered as she pressed forward.