Nova steadied her breath after a moment. All this time and she, nor her newfound companions, had realized they were under literal mind control. She severed the connection, then thought of a few ways to play the situation.
“Kade, we need to let the others know.”
“They won’t believe us. They’ve been working with her for years. At this point she might not even have to use her tricks on them.”
“Then, we need to stop the flow.”
“Yeah, get her well and drunk. Maybe drive a knife through her heart too.”
Nova shook her head.
“Why not?”
She looked up at him without moving her head, “How might the others feel about that?”
“They’re a problem that we can solve, don’t you think?”
Nova paced the small room. She didn’t even know Mila had cyberware. Like her own it must have been hidden pretty well.
“Any EMP’s left?”
“No.”
“Maybe we could get Cage to make something?”
“Ah, if he’s not ‘brain-waved’ then he’s definitely ‘brain-washed’.” Kade smiled to himself.
“So it's four against two, not bad odds.”
“What about the android? And she has the whole cantina on her side already I bet. She might even have Baixu backup waiting for a signal.”
“I don’t think so, about the backup at least, it seems she can only use those who are in control of themselves. As for Pinky, I can’t say anything for sure but he seems capable of handling himself.”
“Five on two, the bartender.”
“I’ll take care of him, you go straight for Mila, as soon as she’s dead, the connection will be gone between her and the rest. We could–” She stopped herself. The shock of it all, those years behind Mila. Maybe they were better off dead.
Kade looked at her questioningly, “We could what?”
Nova swallowed and turned away, “You get Mila first, then come behind the bar and we’ll pick off the rest.”
“I guess getting her well and drunk is off the table?”
“How would we do that? She’s on edge because of your previous outburst. No, we just need to be quick.”
The door was slightly behind and to the right of the bar, so if they were quick, taking those two out and getting behind the bar should be quick and easy.
“Oh, and what’s this?” Kade pulled a dataslate out from his pocket.
Nova felt for her own, not finding it, “I believe that’s mine, Kade.” She put a hand down near the back of her jacket, felt for a blade.
He put his hand out, the dataslate in it. Nova took it smoothly. I’m gonna have to do something with this soon. Else Kade might pawn it off for me. They opened the door back into the Cantina.
Kade put a hand on Nova’s shoulder, “We could try being polite?”
The knife flew from Nova’s hand as the door slammed behind them. The bartender fell to the ground with a thud. Chaos ensued.
The patrons lost it immediately.
Tables flipped, Kade pulled his gun far too late and Mila ducked behind cover.
People started scattering, sideways, tripping over each other in drunken haste.
Unluckily the room was occupied by mostly humans, so grace was not going to be part of the fallout.
“Fuck you, Kade, Nova!” Mila shouted over the noise.
Nova sat with her back against the bar, eye level with dirty dishes and cups. Really? A barkeep without a shotgun hiding under here? What if a fight broke out?
She looked at the bartender, blood spurted from the wound as she slid her knife out. She wiped the crimson red onto the man's shirt.
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“What’s *burp* going on ‘ere?” Garrick shouted towards the bar. We can save him. Nova said a silent ‘thank you’ to nobody in particular.
She looked to her right, Kade was crouched down looking for an angle. He moved out quickly, towards a hovel where another table was– along with the sound of gunfire ringing out.
Damn it. Nova clutched at her side, feeling warmth and a bit of pain. She pulled out the dataslate along with a dense *thud* on the floor. Damn it.
“Ha, you’re fucked now Mila,” Kade yelled. Then returned his attention to Nova, “I got Garrick, Elynn took a bullet too. I can’t see Cage or Mila.”
Nova sighed.
“I don’t have a weapon, Kade.”
He slid his pistol over to her, “I– I don’t have any cyberware, but you do.” He took a daring peak around the corner, then: “I need you to kill her.”
Nova nodded, quietly sneaking to the far end of the bar now, she waited for a signal from Kade. He sprung out, a knife and a scream as weapons. Nova peeked over the counter, and pulled the trigger at the slightest movement. Gunshots, and then Kade dropped to the floor, Mila dropped her pistol with a yelp.
“I’ve got it!” Cage yelled from behind a table in the middle of the large room.
Nova shot until she depleted the guns ammo. She heard a small thump, then saw pooling blood, and then a glowing orb rolled out from behind it.
Mila poked her head around the wall. The two locked eyes.
Nova looked back at the orb. It feels like its calling to me. Then back at Mila.
“Damn it. You should’ve died in that facility, Nova.”
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, but I don’t think you’re going to get the chance.”
They both stood, walking as they stared each other down. Nova put a hand behind her back, then felt it– not the blade, but energy.
“You think some mock, level one Eidolon is going to stop me?” Mila said, almost laughing.
She felt the energy against her head, gray matter mixed with the magic. Then she smiled and it vanished. Her head cleared of the fog, she bit her lip and looked Mila up and down.
Mila’s smile was gone, replaced by shock. A whiz, then blood. A knife protruded from her thigh. Then the other. She fell to her knees, agony and tears crossed her face. Nova walked closer and grabbed her by the hair.
“I learned a long time ago what this ‘level one Eidolon’ could do. It seems you need an update.”
Mila reached for the glowing orb. Nova scoffed. She plunged a long knife up through her jaw and into her mouth. Then slammed her head down onto the hilt, making sure to avoid the blade as it came out through her head.
She looked at the orb curiously, and then walked over and picked it up. She turned it in her hand. Then she looked closer.
Lines of code were seemingly floating inside, she could feel energy. But, an innate feeling told her it wasn’t harmful. She looked at the metal brackets around it. Odd. Then her OS appeared in front of her.
Nova OS: Level One
Eidolon Core (_Iron_)
Title: None
Skills: (Locked)
Stats: (Locked)
Specials: (Locked)
(Would you like to use the Shard of Eternis?) Y/N
She read it twice again. The Shard of… what is this? She thought back to everything she knew about cybernetics. The Orgo Mechs, the AI upgrade modules. Everyone was essentially stuck after the Blackwall Event. There was no way to level up, and even if you did you just put yourself in a position to be taken over by Thanatos.
“Yes.”
Nova OS: Level One
%$&@#$*%&$@ Upgrading…
Title: None
Skills: (Locked)
Stats: (Locked)
Specials: (Locked)
“Hmm.”
Nova OS
Omnia.v2
Title: Flux Core
Skills: Watchful Gaze, P!
Stats: …
Specials: Sever
“Wha- Whoa. This is new.”
In all of her reading, she had never seen an OS change this much. What is Sever? And what are these Skills?
“It’s not as roomy as I thought it would be. If you’d like, I can change that.”
Nova stopped everything.
“Yes? Nova, did you hear me?”
“Who’s there? What’s going on?” Nova said at last.
“Why, it’s just me, Nova. You’re the one that uploaded me to your OS.”
“Pinky?” She said loudly. She looked around and found his body on the floor, unmoved. She moved closer and saw that Cage had cut open a giant hole in the android. His red veins had dissipated.
What am I hearing?
“Ah, you don’t quite get it yet. Do you?”
Ok, he can hear my thoughts.
“I can hear… everything.”
Are you in my brain or in my OS, Pinky?
“If I said both–”
No. No. No. I did not ask you to tag along. I have a hard enough time with just one voice in here.
“The more the merrier?”
She sighed. P!?
“That’s correct.”
A groan from her right, then coughing. Kade pushed himself off the floor and got on his knees. Blood dripped from his lips as he looked around the room.
“Let’s get moving, Nova. He will die without an Orgo Mech.”
