It had been a whim. A moment's impulse. Talking to Sophia in the only way she could understand. I had threatened her, a child, and I would follow up on it. Though I truly hoped that she would change, even so little as to prove that she was indeed capable of change. That she was more than her power.Humans were incredible beings. Full of love, hate, beauty, ugliness and much more. I hated having to hurt any of them. But circumstances forced my hand.I would not tolerate monsters hidden in human flesh. Be they parahumans or regular people. Not now that I had the means to do so.And right now I was on my way to begin the hunt for what this world deemed as the worst of the worst.Wind whistled by me as I moved at high speed across the rooftops. It had taken a week of healing, but now my body had the bare minimum specs for actual combat engagements. My arms and legs had been substituted with powerful cyberware. I had repurposed the Dragonflight suit and combined its part with some intricate synthetic muscle fibers. It was decent work, even by my standard. Low caliber bullets were now no longer an issue, and the multiple internal cyberware meant even heavy weaponry couldn't kill me easily. Redundant and spread out organs increased my survivability drastically.What I had would've been the top of the line of commercially available implants in my old world. Nowhere near the specs of corporation enforcers, unfortunately, nor close to the true high end of the spectrum that had been available during the corporate wars.The same could not be said for the weapon I carried with me. Those made use of tinkertech, meaning that they were able to hit way above their weight class.Cars and people moved in slow motion as the Neo-Kerenzikov kept running in the background.A week had been too long. Most of my plans had needed to be slightly changed, as I had miscalculated the behaviour of some key individuals in the city. Once again numbers failed to predict humans.Luckily, it seemed that nobody had decided to lit the fuse that would turn Brockton Bay into a war-zone.Stopping at the edge of the docks, my contact list began being displayed in my HUD. All it took was a small flick of thought to make everything work, now that my body was fully interfaced.The call connected."Tattletale.""Murder-robot, what can I do for you?"Unlike most others, Tattletale knew very well that I did not mind her provocations. I found them endearing, if anything."Any result on what I asked you?" I did not have to open my mouth to speak, only subvocalizing the words."Ah… That… Nothing, we know the Nine are in town but I did not manage to catch even a glimpse. Extremely annoying, that."The details of her power escaped both of us, but from what I had gathered she should have been more than able to accomplish this task. I did not suspect her of tricking me - not only had she no reason to do so, if anything it was advantageous of her if I began a fight with the Nine.What else was at play here?"Understood. The processors?""I'm making some progress on that one. Protectorate keeps quite a close eye on any advanced tech, looking for Tinkers hiding out and building something dangerous, especially after what happened with the Blasphemies. But I've been managing! You should find the latest batch at the agreed location.""Good. I've sent payment. Goodbye." I let the call drop.Tattletale had revealed herself to be a useful ally. Not only was she close to Taylor, someone with a decent enough moral compass to steer her… if not to the right direction, towards a better one, but she was already getting wise to the greater things at play.I myself had found little more info on the parasites that granted parahumans their powers. Except for a little snippet on being able to 'buy' powers, and some signs that showed that Faultline was making progress in her own investigation on the same topic, there was nothing else. The net had been scrubbed clean.Climbing down from the roofs, I reached the agreed-upon location. An initial scan did not reveal any heat signature inside, nor did echolocation return any presence.The processors I had bought were hidden to the side of an abandoned warehouse, inside a sealed box that was buried among ruined crates. I personally did not need all of this subterfuge, but I appreciated the attempt.The moon was full on this night, as stars filled the sky. Brockton Bay had always been dark because of the large sections of the city that were abandoned, but after Leviathan it had become even more absent of light. One could easily appreciate the universe beyond the stars now that there was little light pollution.I wished to explore what was out there, especially with the confirmation now that there was something out there. Other Earths, aliens and who knows what more.Again I was distracted by thoughts, something that had never happened before I had a flesh body. I did not mind some human habit sticking to me.I never let my guard down in any case.And it was only because of my paranoia that I barely dodged the striped hand slashing at my head.
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The crystalline dimension was a key advantage that I had yet to make use of. Not that I knew how.Each island was divided by an infinite void that was both empty space and unclaimed territory. I had cannibalized some simple algorithms that could send a request to increase my space, which would likely involve turning part of that void into the same substance that made up my island. To whom the request would be sent I did not know.There, at the boundary, the annoying connection still attempted to communicate.Until it didn't.At some point it had stopped trying to reach me, and merely observed me. What it could see I did not know.I was frustrated over being unarmed in this strange dimension, or at least not able to understand the way these alien gods acted and communicated between each other.The intruding god was gathering information, which I could only guess thanks to the sheer frequency of connection it had to the other island that surrounded me.Some of those islands were giving more, some less. A handful, two or three, were basically subservient to it, immediately following its instruction without any question.But where was this god's island?To answer the question I had to increase my sight. It was a challenge to repurpose some of the parts that were left behind, especially because they followed a logic that I had yet to fully decipher.There it was.It wasn't an island. Barely a raft. It was by far the smallest of the territories that I had seen in this space.This god was using its size as an advantage, skillfully moving and connecting to other islands for a purpose yet unknown to me. It had begun contacting the ones that surrounded me specifically, no doubt in order to find out why I did not allow the communication to take place.So that was it. This god, small as it was, clearly wished me harm.The 'why' could come later, now I had to prepare my counterattack.Because at that point I was also certain that this small god was connected to the ones that were attacking my physical body.To the Slaughterhouse Nine.
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A small vacuum was created where the striped claw passed. The air was not displaced as much as completely removed. With it, a section of the wall to my left was carved out.Even with my speedware I was barely faster than the creature in front of me. I tried using my legs to get some distance but could barely gain any. I was faster, but not by much.I looked into the eyes of my enemy. Her yellow pupils reflected the weak light coming into the warehouse, bloodlust apparent in her expression.This creature was no human. Not in the ways that mattered.The Siberian did not stop in its chase, claws extended to try and carve my flesh. A single brush would mean grievous injury, from what I had gathered on the beastly murderer.Thankfully, while fast, the Siberian lacked technique. Her movements were raw, lacking in the finesse necessary to bridge the gap between us.I made much better use of my speed.But I could not hurt her.Just as I thought that, the Siberian stopped her wild swinging and crouched, piercing the ground with her claws. A precise application of her power - making only a section of the concrete floor invulnerable - allowed her to take out a large debris.She threw the massive rock with ease. It traveled much faster than either she or I. There was no way for me to dodge it.Thankfully I had not only upgraded my body.I had already begun to charge the gun before the Siberian had launched the projectile. The whirring of its magnets signaled that it was ready.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.I fired. The recoil was strong enough to knock me backwards, even with the augmentations.An explosive bullet reached the rock and ignited. Blue fire filled the air as an explosion reduced the stone to dust.If a normal Burya was near the pinnacle of hand-cannons in terms of fire-power, this here was beyond that pinnacle. Improved with tech from Kid Win and Dragon, I had gone beyond what my old world could manage.While the Siberian was blinded by the fire and smoke I quickly aimed the Burya at the side, towards the closest wall. Another explosion rang out.Cold air hit me as I ran outside, using the hole I'd just made.My priority now was to escape. There was nothing I could do against the Siberian except slowing her down. And even at that I had few options.All the while I was thinking how this didn't fit her profile. Or the profile of the Nine. They liked to toy with their victim, and the Siberian wasn't usually deployed so early on, not in this manner.Suddenly, my scanners detected something else. A vibration, resonating with the broken windows all along the road.A storm of glass formed all around. Sharp shards flew towards me, some cutting the fabric of my clothes but no more than that. My skin was far too reinforced for them to make even a small dent, and I had made sure that no silicate material was on me.Still, they did slow me down.The Siberian cut through the smoke itself, leaving small air vacuums that sucked up the smoke behind her, each small movement clearing the area around. She had spotted me, and so the chase was once again on.I felt my heartbeat quicken. Panic? Adrenaline?All normal reactions for a human. Mh.No matter, focus on the task at hand.Shatterbird's addition would make an escape even more unlikely.New plan.A voice cut through my thoughts. Coming from one of the rooftops."Sorry for the rough greeting, but you should have played nice."A male voice. Jack Slash.On a nearby rooftop, a spider construct was running behind us, keeping its distance. A loudspeaker had been roughly welded on top."It was really rude of you to ruin my surprise!" This time the voice was female, young. Bonesaw."Yes it was! The game hasn't started yet and you've gone and given an unfair advantage to one of the players. That really can't be allowed to happen, you understand?"I pointed the Burya at the sky and shot upwards. A blue fire, similar to the one I had caused near the PRT's headquarters, lit the night sky. This was all the warning I could spare to nearby civilians.The Siberian and Shatterbird really didn't like that. Glass began to form in the shape of large manacles, trying to wrap around my arms and legs to restrain my movement. The Siberian leapt forward, ignoring inertia and shooting towards me at her top speed.Luckily it was still only glass. My arms broke through the manacles, even as some of the shards flew towards my eyes, bouncing off. Of course I had reinforced my eyes as well, if anything my head was the most defended part, the hair was there only as a distraction… and because I had to admit that I did find the aesthetic pleasurable."Oh! I'm sorry! Don't bother answering yet, we can't hear you. But we'll talk. Eventually. Hopefully soon! Bonesaw here is quite intrigued by what you did with your body and I myself want to find out how that mind of yours works. I'm sure Siberian won't be too rough in taking you apart!"I could not afford to get on the rooftops. Not only would climbing slow me down, but Siberian would surely not mind just bulldozing through the structures. Anyone inside would be killed.Still, I was getting to higher ground.A call tried to reach me. Tattletale. I hung up.Then a message, still from her.'Was the explosion you?!?' I typed an answer with a thought.'Siberian is chasing me.'Some of the glass began gathering in thick panels, moving to try and weaken my footholds. The Siberian was gaining ground.Sensors began pinging in alarm, I barely ducked down as a car passed over my head at high speed. It crashed against the road, rolling and catching fire.Behind me, the Siberian was beginning to pick up cars and other heavy objects all the while chasing me. It didn't slow her down."Blackwall is it? You've already made quite the name for yourself, impressing a large part of the candidates we were going to choose. Nobody really knows where you came from. But I have to say! I like that you don't wear a mask. You get it, don't you?"I could barely dodge each projectile, my agility allowing me to twist in the air and barely avoid each blow. But each time I did so, I slowed down and the striped parahuman got closer."This… This game that they play. It's so silly! Why use nicknames if they are going to hide their faces?! Embrace the stupidity! Embrace the game! Don't try to weasel out of it with delusions of 'heroism' or 'villany'."Finally, the inevitable happened.Siberian found a large truck and it flew through the air like an arrow. I could have dodged it, barely, but just as I began to shift my weight, two glass panels appeared on either side of me, slowing me just enough to keep me pinned.I still tried to twist and dodge, synthetic muscles groaning under the strain. I avoided a direct hit, but even a grazing blow from a truck was enough to send me flying forward, crashing into a wall. The suitcase I was carrying flew to the side, skidding across the ground.Concrete cracked behind me. My HUD began being filled with red. Bones broken, servos failing, muscles torn.Within a heartbeat, glass surrounded me, pinning me in place by the arms. Blood was pouring out of my respirator. I'd likely punctured a lung. Not fatal in the short term.The Siberian slowed down. She took her time walking towards me. Her feral smile was a toothy grin as she licked her lips and enjoyed the moment."Looks like the hunt is over. See you soon, Blackwall!"Now that I was so close to the glass I could feel the vibrations running through it. Resonance. Unable to do anything else, I focused on it, trying to triangulate where Shatterbird could be.The Siberian finally reached me. She crouched over me, claw reaching to my free left arm, the one that hadn't been pinned by glass. Her grip was unbreakable, leaving deep ridges into the black metal of my implant as she brought her arm close to her mouth.There was no resistance by the metal as she crunched down on one of the fingers, leaving it severed.She did not stop there.Her grip tightened, digging deeper and deeper into my arm. She could've just done it in one smooth movement, but decided to take her time. To see me suffer. How childish.Slowly she tore the arm off, from below the elbow, placing a foot on my chest to keep me stead. Blood began to pour out of the stump.But not before I was able to send a last signal to the implant inside the arm.The Siberian's lips were now tinted red by my own blood, her smile even wider. Her eyes then glanced down to my legs, and her next move was obvious. She would remove them as well, leaving me helpless for Bonesaw.Everything slowed down as I forced the Neo-Kerenzikov into overdrive. The smell of burning reached me: the few processors incorporated into my body overclocking beyond their limits to give me additional speed. Without the burden of the arm implant, I could allow myself to push my processing power further.My right arm opened, a blade tore to shred my sleeve and cut through the glass holding me in place. My ankle - the implant within it - began swelling as the gel charged up.At the precise moment the Siberian went to bite another finger off my left arm, the last instruction I had embedded into it went into effect, reducing the arm to nothingness as it exploded in her face. Obviously it didn't hurt her, but it did blind her for a single heartbeat.More than enough.The world became a blur as I shot forward, the implants in my legs sending me flying away from the Siberian. I barely managed to grab the fallen suitcase before I rolled across the ground, crashing against the asphalt below and leaving small cracks.Glass was already beginning to follow me, but as long as I was using the overclocking I could avoid it.Having lost an arm, my body was much lighter. Heat continued to build up, the overclock about to melt my insides. I had only a few seconds left.Using those seconds I charged the leg-cyberware again, pointing myself towards the docks closeby. I let go of the overclock as soon as the pressure in the ankles reached its maximum. My eardrums burst as I shot forward once again, wind crashing against my skin. I flew beyond the docks and much further, reaching the open water, slowly decelerating as the momentum died off.The ocean welcomed me to its depths, water around me evaporating under the immense heat of my body.