IV-31 Anticipate (I)

Inconsistency is the greatest wound a soul can sustain. Beyond just damage, beyond losing parts of your own history, there is the danger of being seeded by someone else’s Legend—for your soul will see to right the scales by destroying the inaccurate. If the progress of your feats, challenges, successes, and failures are rendered compromised, then your skill will be as if a cancerous tumor rather than a power you can wield. 

Such is the greatest danger posed by Animancy: a misrepresentation of who or what you are, inflicted by the caster.

There are spells specifically meant to induce these negative effects in path bearers, either to torture them or simply to leave them as permanently broken fixtures of who they were. These spells have a specific name: Entropic Revisionism.

To cast an Entropic Revisionist spell, you simply have to do a few things. First, you must access a Pathbearer's skills and install bits of your own history into them. After 20% of their skills are compromised, usually, they will begin a process of narrative rejection, and the mana within them will also become unstable due to spiritual destabilization.

Note that you cannot drastically change what happened before, or the system will turn its ire on you instead. However, if you've made a few incorrect changes, minute though they be, and they add up over the many skills you compromise, the effects will follow without impediment, for you are simply transplanting someone's flesh back into them, as the analogy goes. Yet, you are moving pieces wrong, placing them in the wrong order, and now the body does not know what it is anymore. It accepts the flesh, but the architecture and the function is broken, and soon the organism can only do one thing: die.

That's all. And a story is not so different. After all, you can tell a story with mixed chronologies, using the end as the beginning and the beginning as the end, but if there are flaws in the beginning and end, and enough details are missing, and should these details not be of your own legend—details that build up to a critical mass of apocrypha—then dissolution is the only path a soul can take.

-Valor Thann on Entropic Revisionism

IV-31

Anticipate (I)

"Now, before I begin my demonstration of this Entropic Revision spell, let us give thanks to Vicar Sullain for being our most stalwart volunteer." Udraal clapped the badly mutilated Sullain on his shoulders, and the Vicar let out a piercing screech of pain.

The orcs around Shiv laughed at Sullain's misery, but the Deathless just frowned. He cared little for Sullain as a person. Indeed, Sullain had a great many things coming to him for what he did to Blackedge, for what he tried to do to the people Shiv cared for. But ever since Shiv emerged from his Legendary Skill Evolution, something in him had changed. 

The weight of his actions felt heavier, especially after facing everyone who died because of his carelessness. Sullain wasn't exactly the same as the slave boy someone killed or Guardshead Leu, but something within Shiv's awakening ethics told him that this was wrong, that this was pointless torture.

Worse, usually Adam would be the one outraged. Right now, the gate lord glared at the badly burned Vicar, his eyes filled with venom and hate. Shiv couldn't blame Adam. Sullain had done catastrophic damage to Blackedge and killed countless people there, all for the sake of murdering Roland Arrow. More than that, he unleashed an Undying Tarrasque that now threatened all of Integrated Earth. But it wasn't a matter of death or being slain, but of living with torment. And it just seemed like such an orc thing to do. A vile thing to do.

Something tightened inside Shiv. And I don’t want to be this kind of animal…

Psycho-Cartography: You can torture someone to punish them. That is true. But ignoring morality and general ethics, if you're trying to torture someone to feel your own pain, it might not be that effective. It's also just as possible that our appetite for revenge can be boundless as well. That's probably why we just want to kill Sullain and move on. Because torturing him might be fun for a while because we hate him, but if we start enjoying it, then maybe that'll give us another bad habit. That'll make us like an orc. And there’s no easy way back from that.

That thought made Shiv cringe. For all the orcs were capable of, for all the benefits and advantages that came from being their leader, Shiv didn't want to be anything like them. Existentially, enjoying struggles and challenges was one thing, but becoming addicted to pain and suffering, that seemed like a poor drug to choose.

"Let’s begin," Udraal began, waving his hand. A burst of Animancy came free, and from the vagueness of faint blue mana came shapes of all complexities and sizes. They coiled around the mutilated vicar like chains, and then a few of the larger shapes spread out, becoming as if planetary bodies orbiting a star. 

With every passing second, more of these shapes sprung free, and Udraal continued gesturing at Sullain, even as the vicar struggled and cried out to the Great One for deliverance. “Great One! Please! Deliver from this misery! Deliver me!”

Udraal mouthed Sullain’s words as he wailed them and giggled. "This, as I mentioned before, is an Entropic Revisionist spell. It is meant to do one thing: to collapse the soul into a state of instability and cause the death of a path-bearer or a mana core it is connected to." For the first time, Adam flinched. For all the hate he had in his heart regarding Sullain, the concept of collapsing a soul was still a staggering thing to face. "How it works is quite simple, but it's best for you to do rather than to observe. Now, please, Deathless, join in. Use your Vitaemancy. Press yourself upon his soul and follow my spellcraft. Your unique magical lore has its own eccentricities, but it's close enough to Animancy that I can control it to some extent, and that means that you can mimic some of what I can do as well."

Shiv hesitated for a moment. His Psycho-Cartography warned him that participating in this act of torture would cleave both ways, yet the eyes of his orcs were upon him. Surprisingly, it was Adam that broke his stalemate.

"Do it," Adam said. There was a hint of venom in his voice as he glared at Sullain. "Do it. We'll need to bring down the mana core and leave this place. And he deserves worse." As Adam fell silent, he frowned. "Wait, why can't we just strike the mana core using Necromancy? If I can recover my equipment?"

"The mana core here is closer to a Category 20 core than a Category 1," Udraal replied. "You know what that means, Young Lord Arrow. It means that even if you spend all day firing arrow after arrow into it, the damage you deal will be paltry at best. And mana cores are well guarded, well defended, and are overwhelming compared to a singular Pathbearer. For the same reason why I cannot just assail it with my Animancy; yes, it will suffer some extreme damage, damage that will be near impossible to fix for someone who does not wield animancy. But it will not be enough to break the prison immediately. No, to do that you need to induce a structural vulnerability, and that is what I am teaching you right now. So, Deathless, if you would please."

Tentatively, Shiv hooked a few tendrils within Sullain, who flinched and wailed. Udraal's grasp held the Vicar still. He shuddered and fought with all his might as he saw the white and red of Shiv's mana slowly encroaching. A fear chain, harder than anything Shiv had felt before, solidified between him and Sullain.

"No, no, Deathless, no, please! I was wrong! I was wrong, Shiv!" Sullain's shrieks were near hysterical now, and it was bad enough that Shiv stopped.

Udraal noticed his hesitation and narrowed his eyes. Then, with his other hand, he channeled a burst of translucent mana into Sullain. At once, the tears and screams came to a halt, and a smile pulled at Sullain's nightmarish features. His melted flesh swung from the barred bones of his skull, and the joy he offered Shiv was a hollow thing; his grin the kind found on a lifeless doll. "Please, reach into my soul. Twist me to your heart's content. There is nothing I would enjoy more." He grinned at Shiv. His few remaining teeth felt glistening, like pearls upon a patch of melted flesh and ruined soul-stuff.

Shiv's stomach churned. The disgust in him only grew.

"Does that make it easier?" Udraal asked, almost oblivious to Shiv's true discomfort. “Or is it the deed itself?”

By now, Adam was shaken as well. He still hated Sullain, but to watch Udraal just casually twist someone's thoughts, someone's mind into yearning for torture...

Psycho-Cartography: Uva does this all the time. To some extent, at least. You don't complain about her. Her actions don’t burden you with worry.

Shiv nearly shuddered at his skill's declaration. A feeling of offense followed. No, she doesn't. It's different with her.

Psycho-Cartography: It's different because you are romantically and sexually attracted to her. She is also more aware of what she is doing to some extent compared to him. Perhaps she even cares more in certain ways. But fundamentally and functionally, she is not much more moral than he is. He is simply self-serving. She does things with the justification that she operates for our benefit, or to help and protect you and Adam.

The sourness inside Shiv became near unbearable. Supposed to make me feel better, Skill? Feel like shit now.

No, I am not supposed to make you feel better. I am supposed to make you realize the psychological truths you are avoiding. Now, either commit to a bad decision or tell Udraal no. You are wasting time.

"Can you do this?" Udraal asked.

The feeling of disgust lingered in the back of his throat, but he accepted that he needed to understand the spell Udraal was casting. He didn't have to like it.

"No, no. Halt," Udraal said, interrupting Shiv. The Deathless looked to his maker, and Udraal shook his head. "Before we begin, explain to me why you are so uncomfortable."

"Aside from the fact that you just twisted someone's mind and soul without any care whatsoever?" Shiv replied.

A contemplative look filled Udraal's gaze, and then he nodded. "I see. You value personal agency. That makes sense, especially after a lifetime of being treated like something less than human."

Psycho-Cartography: Be very careful what you reveal to him. He is learning to manipulate you, just as you are learning to understand him.

The Deathless flinched as he realized that, but Udraal moved on without a care in the world. "I do find it odd that you are so shaken by such a trivial matter. You are a lion of the flesh, fearless when it comes to pain or risking your own life, and yet this..." Udraal frowned as he hummed. "It's best that you be fearless, Deathless. There will be many uncomfortable choices you have to make, so be the lion of your heart as well as of your flesh. I will not judge you if you think poorly of my methods and means, but I need you to be committed. These spells cannot be learned halfway. Information in science is not something you can master while holding yourself in reserve. Commit, always commit fully, or back away. Are you committed?"

Shiv met Udraal's gaze without flinching. "Just show me the godsdamn spell."

The Abyssal Lord nodded as a faint smile flickered across his features. 

For the next hour, Udraal instructed Shiv on the finer aspects of entropic revisionism. The process of learning the spell, however, was far harder than Shiv expected. Shiv and Udraal's understanding of magical theory were light years apart. Udraal, though, had mastered practically every magical lore in existence, on top of pre-integration science, and was possibly the foremost genius of integrated Earth when it came to Animancy. 

Shiv, meanwhile, didn't even have the Magical Theory Skill yet.

Compared this with the fact that Animancy required in-depth knowledge of both necromancy and divination for one to fully begin their journey of weaving another's soul, and Shiv found himself asking for clarification regarding every other word Udraal uttered. His explanations then begat more explanations, as Shiv found himself faced with a deluge of magical theories he had never heard of. Shiv even lacked the context to fully understand. Even Adam looked overwhelmed. He knew a few things Udraal was talking about, but only at a surface level, not truly deep enough to contribute or aid Shiv in his endeavor.

To Udraal's credit, he was a patient and superb teacher. He adapted halfway through teaching Shiv to utilizing the Deathless's intuition. Ultimately, it was about teaching Shiv the process he needed to engender and the intent he needed to hold in his mind for his spell to truly take shape. Shiv saw echoes of Valor in Udraal. He did things strategically, with oversight, and had personalized plans for everyone he spoke to when it came to training them. 

The difference, however, was the feeling of detachment. Valor still prodded and mocked, albeit in a warm way, when Shiv disappointed him or said something stupid. Udraal simply treated everything as an experiment. There was a sense of alienation there, that he had divorced himself from his own humanity at some point, and was now going through the motions of social interaction when dealing with Shiv, or anyone else for that matter.

Even so, Shiv's understanding gradually built. An entropic revisionist spell was a horrible thing to comprehend. Effectively, you were breaking someone's skills apart from the inside out, changing small pieces of them, and then shuffling them, too, until they became a mess. Thanks to Shiv's Vitaemancy, he could do this directly. His skill infusions allowed him to infuse pieces of his own skills inside Sullain. 

Udraal had to use Animancy like a surgical tool. He cut away at himself and moved it into Sullain. The process for the Abyssal Lord was far more complicated. Every cast of Animancy mana would use the user's own soul as a foundation. There was far more danger involved for Udraal. One mistake, one miscast or drastic incongruence created while rewriting a skill's legend would see him suffer soul damage—or worse. And unlike Shiv, he couldn’t fix himself so easily either—or so it seemed.

But Udraal never made a mistake. And as he showed him just how much of a skill needed to be broken and reshuffled until the collapse began, Sullain never stopped smiling throughout the process. He cheered Shiv on and whispered about how he deserved this. It unnerved Shiv the most about the entire process.

Sullain wanted to live. Sullain deserved to die. And now there was practically nothing left of Sullain, nothing behind those eyes. All it took was a single wave of the hand from Udraal, and Sullain was practically gone before he was truly slain. A mind was a fragile thing, and a Psychomancer was a murderer of the ego before they were a slayer of the flesh. But Udraal, Udraal was an absolute killer. He could take your mind from you, and then he could reach in and mold your body, and finally, he could collapse your soul itself.

An unsettling realization dawned on Shiv. He felt like a frog that had spun out from the bottom of a pond, and as he got to shore, he realized there were still mountains looming in the distance, and still a sky above that mountain. Legendary Tier seemed like the culmination of many a Pathbearer's journey. Shiv had reached it. Shiv thought he knew power. But when faced with the Ascendants, and now Udraal, he realized it might never be enough. 

He had to keep growing, keep learning, across all disciplines, across all fields, if they wished to face the true monsters that lurked across Integration.

After Udraal showed Shiv how to compromise the first skill, he made him do the second alone, correcting him every time he made a mistake. By the time he got to the third, Shiv was mostly moving on instinct and memorization, repeating the actions he performed earlier.

Udraal sighed as he watched Shiv progress. "I must confess a certain envy as to your Vitae," he said. As Udraal spoke, a ghostly effigy that resembled Shiv manifested over him, superimposed upon his body. A swirl of vitae twisted around that Shiv, and he grinned at the original.

"Cut that shit out," Shiv growled under his breath. He made a mistake then, and part of Sullain's skill collapsed. A section of the vicar's lower back burst apart in a spray of red, but it was immediately remedied as Udraal did something. A sealing symbol of Animancy slammed into the Vicar's wound, and as it ground deeper, burrowing past the point of Sullain's physical body, it reconstructed the damaged skill in an instant, allowing Shiv to try again.

The Deathless blinked at how easily Sullain's skill was reconstructed. Udraal held up a hand. "Don't be disheartened by failure now. Remember, be the lion for your mind as much as you are the lion for your flesh. Failure is just another data point. It is interesting to encounter failure. Fail, review, study, move on. Such is how you should live."

Shiv centered himself and began pulling bits of detail out from the depths of the skill. He still didn't fully understand what he was doing, only that he was drawing away specific legends recorded in Sullain's past. He started with Sullain's Legendary skills because they were wider, and with a great many more places for him to insert his own legend. The effect was even greater as there were bits of Sullain inside Shiv’s history as well.

As Shiv worked, Vitae bubbled free from his torso, becoming spell shapes that vaguely resembled a few of the patterns Udraal created with his Animancy earlier. Shiv's spells were quivering, unstable, but ultimately they came together. Despite the awkwardness of his process, Shiv learned to ape Udraal's Animancy. While he failed to grasp the greater nuances of magical theory, he could still follow the basics of analogy, and his Vitae made it easier for him to alter the skills from within.

By the time he was done, a profound change overcame Sullain. He shuddered, and the burns coating his body briefly faded. He returned to who he was a few moments ago, untainted by Shiv's vitality cycling. His flesh was whole, his beard flowed pale and white, and between blinks, his mind was his once more.

"Udraal why! How could—" and then Udraal reasserted his Psychomancy over Sullain, and the complaints ceased right then and there. As Sullain seemed healed, Shiv looked at him, expecting the Abyssal Lord to instruct him on what he did wrong. This was supposed to cause some kind of collapse, but thus far Sullain looked better than he was moments prior.

"Just wait," Udraal said, holding up a single finger.

And so Shiv did. After about five seconds, the first sign that something was wrong arrived. Cracks began to spread across Sullain's being. They weren't cracks that fit on someone's skin, however. Blood didn't spill through. Instead, Sullain was coming apart as if he was wood. Mana began to seep free from his compromised being, unattuned mana that choked the lobby of the cube as a dust cloud of a dull gray color. Shiv took a step back as Sullain started to dissolve. Bits of him flaked away, and even the unattuned mana began to die down. The pressure choking the air softened, and Udraal began his explanation.

"His skills are attacking one another, you see. It's a bit like..." Udraal paused. "Do you know much about immunology?"

"Some," Shiv said. "Not fully versed in it, but I got the basics."

"Well, with what you do know, it's a bit like having your immune system attack your eyes. Your immune system usually doesn't notice your eyes. But with what you just put in him, you made his soul notice his so-called eyes. And now it’s tearing itself apart, trying to expel these foreign elements. But since everything has been mixed in, and the changes are only minute, it is effectively collapsing the overarching architecture holding itself up."

And soon, as Udraal got to this point, Sullain's legs crumbled, and he crashed down to the ground. He splattered apart, not as a melting corpse, but as a collapsing pillar. More unattuned mana flooded the air. Sullain reached upward, his gaze vacant and blissful. Did he even know that he was dying? Did he even care? Bit by bit, his body came asunder until he was dust dancing through the wind.

Vitaemancy 110 > 112

An orc held out a massive paw, allowing Sullain to trail through his fingers.

"This is what I need you to do to the mana core," Udraal said. "As mentioned before, it would take far too long to break through it, and you won't have that much time. But you will be able to compromise it far easier than I can. And now that you know the basic principles and have conducted the act once, you'll be able to do it again."

Shiv wasn't sure about that.

"Don't doubt yourself now," Udraal encouraged, reading Shiv’s expression. "It's not that complicated. You know the process. If you're missing anything, you'll at least have a direction to work toward. Failing that, I recommend you try to make a run. I am certain you can escape, but the others?" Udraal shrugged. "I have doubts about that possibility, to be honest. Maybe Young Lord Arrow can come with you. But there will be a great many losses with how tightly the Ascendants hold this prison now. The longer we give Veronica, the worse our odds get. Which is why I intend to distract her and the other Ascendants for as long as possible. To that end, I have something I need from you."

"Golem?" Shiv said. He began constructing a golem before Udraal even finished talking. He drew from his Vitality Drain skill first, and then he followed up with his Leviathan of the Shapeless Tides, Inertial Overdrive, Pillar of Orichalcum, and Strider of the Unbending Path. The golem emerged from Shiv in a burst of vivid color, and Udraal looked it up and down.

Golemancy 22 > 24

“Ah. So. Directly from the substance of your soul. How efficient. Do you know most golems take years to make? Extremely tedious and difficult. It is one of the few major advantages the ancients had over us: Their machines could be created and built in a day. As intelligent as people—more, even.”

“Not in terms of vitality,” Shiv grunted, trying to stay upright. “It has a Vitality Drain Skill. You might need to consider kidnapping a warden or something because—”

Udraal waved him off. He marched up to Shiv’s golem and let out a quiet sigh. The humanoid mess of Vitae stared at Udraal, and Shiv prepared give it orders. "There isn't a need, and I'll keep it bound to myself." Before Shiv could ask what the Abyssla Lord meant, Udraal extended a finger, and a thread shot out. It was a thread of the faintest blue, and it connected the Udraal to Shiv's golem. At once, Shiv felt a strange presence pierce him. It was as if he had been the one threaded instead of his golem. Just then, a scene took shape before him. His golem vanished, and it was absorbed into Udraal. A moment later, it emerged behind him, acting as if Udraal's shadow rather than a separate entity. Their vitality flowed as if a conjoined river then, and Shiv found himself flabbergasted at the feat Udraal just performed.

"You're not the only one with a Unique Skill, Deathless," Udraal said with a slight smirk. "Truth be told, you've offered me quite a few useful tools for life and for testing. Returning so quickly was worthwhile."

"Was it worth abandoning the conquest of a new world?"

Udraal frowned as he considered that. "That is uncertain, but I have time to finish that at a later date. For now, I will be off. The moment I leave, I expect you to have around two hours or so to raid and take this place's mana core. After that, there are no guarantees. I only came back with so many vessels, after all. And facing gods, false though they may be, is ultimately a costly endeavor."

"And what happens after it's done?" Adam asked. His jaw was set as he glared at Udraal. "What happens once we're free?"

“Free.” The Abyssal Lord chuckled. "What a naive and intoxicatingly innocent notion. But I get your meaning. After you escape from this prison, I advise that you try fleeing into capital during the chaos. The moment this Rubix Well collapses, Veronica will adapt immediately and place the entirety of the capital under quarantine. You might be fast enough to get through, and you should if you can. If you fail, find a place to disappear. Perhaps the little bird among you might know somewhere.”

Five shifted uncomfortably. The wolf-man didn’t much like being noticed by Udraal.

“I’ll try to find and bring you out of the encirclement with me once that happens. If you do manage to escape, I would like to meet you at Blackedge, or wherever Blackedge used to be. There are things we must do there. People I wish to meet again. So much to catch up on.” Udraal looked away then, and Shiv realized he was thinking of his father.

Adam, however, found himself worried about another as his stare hardened. "I won't let you hurt my father, and I won't let you lay your hand on the Starhawk. I state this now to make things plain. Prove yourself an enemy, and I will strike you down. I find a way.”

Udraal studied Adam for a moment, and Shiv saw him consider several replies. Ultimately, Udraal settled for a shrug. "Alright, you stated it plainly. Not wise, in my opinion. Shooting someone in the back is the best way to fight. I don't think it matters so much what you intend to do, but I respect the resolve. Who knows, you might surprise me, as your father did."

Udraal turned and regarded Shiv thereafter, and an inquisitive look overtook him. "I assume you're going to side with your friend against your Maker if this comes to blows."

"Is that even a question?" Shiv asked, his voice low. “You’re not blind, Udraal. You know something’s coming down the line between us.”

Udraal squinted at Shiv. “Why are both of you so openly aggressive?”

“He’s having an exceptionally shitty day. It’s just how I am.” Shiv grunted. “And there’s no point in hiding from this. You know its coming. I know it. Pretending doesn’t do anything.”

“Hm. Very good. Understandable. And maybe.”

"Maybe?" Adam asked, confused as to what Udraal was saying.

"Maybe the two of you combined can bring down one of my vessels. It will be difficult, though. You're immensely gifted, with a plethora of skills, but emotional and easily goaded. My Deathless is rough, sloppy, but powerful, with a growing grasp over his own psychology to boot. I've been surprised by weaker Pathbearers.”

Shiv’s eyes fell on Sullain, then, and he saw that only a portion of the Vicar’s head remained. A coldness flooded Shiv’s bones. One second ago, he was still there. And now, he was gone—a Legend slain as a tutorial, gone with a whisper and smile rather than fire and triumph.

And across from him, Udraal studied Shiv’s Vitae Golem without a care in the world. There stood a true legend—a true monster. One that had stepped beyond humanity, and was more than capable of dipping a foot back over to exploit any empathy or psychological weakness present in another.

Psycho-Cartography: The fact he can admit that without shame means you won't be able to exploit his ego. It also means you can't beat him like you beat Sullain. He's not interested in proving himself to you, or to anyone. He has no emotional wounds you can reach into. If you wish to beat Udraal Thann, you have to be better than him. And we are far from better. Right now.

Only right now, Shiv thought to himself. But I'll find a way. Someday I will find a way.

"See that you do," Udraal said suddenly. Shiv's eyes widened. The Abyssal Lord's smile grew sweeter. He winked at Shiv.

But my Shapeless Tides... Shiv looked down at his hands and saw the kinetic vectors were still circulating through him.

"Oh, there's more than one way to guess at what you're thinking," Udraal shook his head. "Truthfully, you have the potential to be a bit more unpredictable. But you hesitate a bit too much still. I didn't make you to be entirely human. I mantled your mind to the greatest monstrosity the system has ever known. Let the beast guide you every now and again. It will take you to places that surprise you. At least it will surprise me."

Anyhow, Udraal reached out and grabbed hold of his Animancy banner. At once, his body was consumed by a soul-rending flame. And he began to shrink and splash, merging with the banner. The faint blue grew so bright that Shiv had to look away. A tickling presence crawled over his skin and then made his very soul shudder as the banner flared one final time and then collapsed inward. The next second, only a glass scar remained where it was, cleaving a deep gouge into the Orichalcum floor.

"Remember," Udraal's voice suddenly echoed through the room. "Two hours. Quite a bit of time for some things, but never enough. Not nearly enough. Time is the great betrayer.”

As the abyssal lord's voice fell silent, Shiv and Adam shared a look, and they broke into motion.

"Orcs, to me!" Shiv called out. The grayskins responded immediately and began to arrange themselves in neat rows within the lobby of the cube. They growled and chuckled with glee. Some of their number had been lost during the rescue earlier, but those who remained were undiminished of morale, and more than a little excited about keeping this war going. At the same time, Adam gathered the escaped prisoners and checked over each one of them.

"What's your composition?" Shiv said to the orcs. "Tiers and Paths. I wanna know.”

Leadership 4 > 6

"The ones that didn't get lucky enough to die fighting the Tarrasque," Whisper said. "So we'll have to make do with the consolation prize of saving you." A unified chuckle went up among the orcs, and Shiv couldn't help himself from smirking as well. Whatever the orcs lost, they were down for blood, and he needed that right now.

"How about the consolation prize of going down fighting against the Ascendants?" Shiv said. He saw a gleam light up in some of their eyes.

"Oh, are we not doing what He Who Walks Beyond says?" Tequila asked, with a taunt at the end of his voice, as if he wanted Shiv to defy Udraal. “I thought we were supposed to make a run on the core?”

"No, we're still doing that," Shiv said, "but I got another idea on top of it. Consider it a bonus objective. Adam, a moment."

The Gate Lord gave him a nod, and once again they conferred privately. As Adam activated commander's foresight, he asked Shiv what this new plan was.

"You still got Cripple's reactor core?" Shiv asked.

"Yes, it's a bit cracked now, but I managed to preserve what's left of it. I'm surprised I didn't manage to drop it in that chaos."

"Yeah, you and me both. But I was just thinking. We don't really have any way to counter Udraal. He's too powerful."

A feeling of discomfort and frustration passed through Adam. "We can find a way."

"No, Adam, let me finish. He's too powerful, he's got too many high-tier skills, and he has too many bodies he can spend. That, and the damn flag-thing he has my hairs standing up. So we need something to balance him out, right? Or someone."

And now Adam caught on. "You wish to free Cripple?”

"Wish to make contact with him at least," Shiv said. "If we can ‘kidnap’ Cripple's avatar, then whatever Udraal does, he'll find himself faced with a force he can't just walk through. And… maybe I'm going for more than just Cripple. I think it's time I had a bit of a family reunion. See what she can offer me against the Abyssal Lord.”

"What?" Adam said, alarmed. "Shiv, we barely escaped from her minutes ago. Are you insane?"

"Yeah, I know it's shit idea, but right now we have multiple shit options in front of us. I don't trust Udraal worth a godsdamn. He doesn't much care about us beyond the fact that we're interesting, and I’m his experiment. Sooner instead of later, he's going to do something that we don't like. And we won't be able to stop him. I'm not waiting for that to happen. I'm dealing with that right now. With the only options we have. You said fuck the Ascendants earlier, right? Well, I say fuck Udraal, and we use both of them to fuck each other."

Psycho-Cartography 76 > 77

Deception 33 > 35

The young Gate Lord was utterly speechless. “This is absolutely mad.”

"One of us has to be," Shiv replied. "The other one has to be sensible and strategic. Tell me this is a bad plan, Adam. Tell me where the flaws are. Talk me out of it." And Shiv realized he was practically pleading.

The Gate Lord hesitated. "Too many things can go wrong. If we try to collapse the mana core... damnation, just collapsing the mana core itself is a difficult operation. It'll be heavily defended. And we need to find it first as well. Then, I need to track the Ascendants and their avatars too. Cripple, Chandler. Godsdammit Shiv.”

"But you can do that?" Shiv said.

"Of course I can do that!" Adam scoffed. "Who do you think I am?"

"Lord Scorn's favorite boy."

"Exactly—oh, go eat shit, you bastard." 

Shiv laughed. 

"But the Ascendants," Adam said as he continued looking for flaws, "they can recapture us. They can. Well, they definitely want to recapture you and me both. We're risking a lot dealing with them. But... oh, god damn it, you're right. Shit options all around. Fine, talk to her. But do you have a plan to get out?"

"I've got a few," Shiv continued. "I'm going to leave a temporal anchor here blink back.”

"No, not here," Adam interrupted him. "I'll find you somewhere else. We don't stay in one place for long. The risk is too high. Here's what we're going to do in order of operations. First, we're going to find out where the mana core is. Second, we're going to try to triangulate where the Ascendants and their avatars are, if they're all together or if they're scattered. After that, we strategize. If you're going to talk to your grandmother and if you want to seize Cripple's Avatar, we need to do that first. And we need to make it fast. At the same time, as soon as you're done with that, or if it goes awry, you need to get to the core immediately. And then compromise it. Otherwise, you will re-center the ruling council's attention on us. And we can't afford that."

"Right," Shiv replied. "I know it's bad, Adam, but the way I'm thinking about it is this. If we have Cripple's avatar with us, the Ascendants might not be able to do whatever they were going to do against him earlier. And we'll be able to contact them at any time if Udraal gets too much to handle. I don't think Cripple's going to be that fond of his own people after what they just tried. It might be close to turning.”

"Right, there's logic there," Adam said, "but we don't know if we can fully trust Cripple, or if Cripple's still itself right now. The other Ascendants might have done something to it already. The part I'm more worried about is your grandmother."

"Yeah, maybe don't call her that," Shiv said, feeling the bitterness pounding inside his chest. "But she's still going to be useful. She seems to have history with Udraal, so maybe she can tell me something. He revealed a bunch about her, so maybe she can give me something about him, something that we can use."

"That's..." Adam hummed. "Maybe. There's no guarantee there, either."

"No guarantee for anything anymore," Shiv said. "The world's going to be coming after me."

"Us, you mean," Adam said.

“This doesn’t need to be your life, Adam.”

"I'm not going to let anyone kill you."

"Ah, can't stand the idea of living without me now, huh?"

"Can't stand the idea of someone else getting ten Legendary Skills," Adam shot back.

Shiv snorted. "Hey, that's pretty good. I'll make a bastard of you yet, asshole."

Silence passed between them. Then Adam spoke once more. "There is something else I want, too. Something selfish."

"You want your armor and bow back?"

"Yes," Adam said. "I don't think I want to leave my things with the Ascendants. Especially not something gifted to me by a proper goddess.”

The Composer smiles upon you.

"Got it. And I have a feeling that Cripple might just be able to tell us where your stuff is."

"All the more incentive to follow through on this mad idea," Adam sighed.

***

Where Shiv was individually and psychologically calculative, Adam was structurally and strategically brilliant. It didn't take him long to locate the mana core. Immediately, he was going to prove a problem. It was surrounded and warded by 36 cubes. Each of them were interlocked around the other and all were festering with wardens. Spells crawled across the surface of those cubes, preventing any telepathy or spatial magics from spilling through. Functionally, this meant that if someone wanted to access one of these cubes, they needed to enter directly through one of the exterior doors. 

The exterior doors were made from Orichalcum, but it was further reinforced by some manner of glistening silver material that neither Shiv nor Adam had ever seen before. To make matters worse, Adam caught sight of a crawling darkness coiling around the core. Harlock the Midnight was present, and his presence was felt throughout the prison.

After Udraal left, he cast a massive spell that seemed to shroud the cube Shiv and the others were in from Harlock's awareness. The spell was created from several interconnected rings that cycled faster and faster, but slowly the mana empowering it was fading. Furthermore, if they wished to move outside, they were going to have to get past Harlock's notice. Or at least distract him. Adam came up with a solution to that relatively quickly: Golems. 

There was nothing stopping Adam from firing necromantic arrows into a series Golems Shiv created. Harlock had been burned earlier; Shiv remembered hearing the Ascendant scream. Burning him a few more times might force him to retreat from the area, but it would definitely draw his attention as well, and they could exploit that. After they created an opening, however, they needed to move fast.

This is where Five came in. He knew the general layout of one of the inner guard cubes. Beyond being a structural hardpoint, they were also literal hardpoints as well. Even if someone managed to breach the exterior of the cube, the insides were built more like a fortress, with multiple checkpoints in the form of protective spells, dense walls, elite wardens, and more. A direct assault would be costly, and if one cube failed, it would simply be moved out and replaced by another. The mana core didn't need thirty-six cubes to protect it. The outer structure could shrink until there were only eight. Hence, if they wanted to make a raid on the mana core, they needed to do it fast, or find a way to bypass it altogether.

"How about we just blast our way through?" Shiv suggested. Everyone turned to look at him. "I drain some more vitality, I create a bunch of golems, and then, after Adam briefly burns Harlock, we send the rest of the golems in and he keeps shooting them. We blow a hole through the cubes."

Adam tilted his head. "It could work, but that silvery substance..."

"I don't know what it is," Shiv said. "But I don't think it can take one of my soul detonations."

"That's an assumption," Adam replied. "And this is one of the most defended places in the Republic. Assumptions kill here. Nonetheless, it is an option, but I want to work on a few other avenues first."

"Yeah, what are they?" Shiv asked.

"The avatars and Ascendants will be trying to track us down. Udraal has led the bulk of them off on a wild chase, and they will likely not be able to respond to matters happening across the rest of the prison." Adam's eyes were glowing then, and Shiv realized he was jumping from point to point using his Seer of Horizons. "I think that we could use a recruitment drive. There are a great many more legendary tier prisoners here, aren't there?"

"Yeah," Shiv said. "There were. Well, we already got about 80 Master-Tier orcs and 32 more Heroes."

"Not nearly enough," Adam said. "We need something properly overwhelming or a way to infiltrate."

Five cleared his throat. "Well, if you need someone to slip in, I might be able to provide some options." All heads turned to the Aviary agent, and the Gate Lord nodded at him. "If you manage to find me a high-ranking automaton warden, I might be able to perform a bit of persuasion.”

“That is in progress," Can Hu declared. Shiv saw a chain of ones and zeros spilling out from the penitent's eyes. "The local automata need to improve their firewall skill. They have also unwisely chosen to develop the radio frequency skill. I will see several diverted to our vicinity. You may have your pick."

The wolf-man's jaw dropped open, and Shiv wasn't far from making such an expression himself. Truth be told, he still wasn't over the shock of seeing Can Hu mostly restored. What a restoration this was. The penitent was more focused, more powerful. But ultimately, it was the now-banished fragility that made it seem so imposing.

"You... you're a Penitent," Five breathed. A note of awe entered his voice as he bowed before Tanu. "New Albion remembers its debts. Always"

Can Hu regarded the wolf-man. "So you say. Now let's see if your words prove true. Make use of your skill. Find us a vulnerability. I shall do the same." Can Hu shifted, and as he did, his body made no noise. No wails came from his joints, no screeches from his chassis grinding against itself. There were still dents and cracks lining its armor, but overall, Can Hu was a Pathbearer reborn. And it was mostly thanks to Udraal. That brought a note of bitterness to Shiv. But right now, he wasn't going to be a choosing beggar. He was going to take what he could get.

"Pathbearer Adam," Can Hu said. "I recommend that you assume the pilot's position within me. You are deprived of your armor and you lack magical resistance. My interior is the safest place for you at present."

The Gate Lord just blinked. "I... Can Hu, I understand that you have been restored somewhat, but I don't think there is a need."

"Get inside the pilot's seat," Can Hu said more forcefully. "Please, do not be foolish. I have need of additional firepower and Toughness, and you have need of redundancy."

Adam blinked once more and almost swallowed. "Now?" he squeaked.

"Yes," Can Hu replied. "We are on an active battlefield. The best time for you to assume the position was an hour ago, when we first met." As Can Hu finished addressing Adam, he turned to Shiv. "Pathbearer Shiv, I apologize if this induces any jealousy. My apology is muted since I see you are still wearing that mistake.”

“It’s a good piece of armor,” Helix called from nearby.

“And you are a piece of meat that turns to a function of physics when struck by a projectile moving at sufficient velocity,” Can Hu declared.

“Holy shit,” Shiv said. “It’s like your spine regrew as well.”

Can Hu’s optics turned to dots. “Do you disapprove of my present demeanor.”

Shiv waved him off. "No, it's fine. It's, uh, I'm just glad to see that you're feeling better."

"It is in part thanks to you," Can Hu said. "I will be always grateful." And then the penitent looked at the knife Shiv was holding. "And I will express my gratefulness in another manner towards you, should we survive this endeavor."

Shiv looked down at his Orichalcum blade and nodded. "Looking forward to it."

Adam did as Tanu asked. He approached the restored penitent and gasped as Tanu opened up. Where the penitent was little more than a skeletal frame, barely holding together before, now it was a multi-limbed behemoth, sprouting six guns, dense but cracked titanium plates, and thrusters that allowed for flight. 

Shiv suspected Can Hu wasn't nearly as durable as Adam was right now, but with the Gate Lord's Physicality, they might just work together with a whole new level of synergy. Tanu's insides were altered as well. Instead of it just being some kind of rig for a path-bearer to lay upon, there was a full capsule there, with padding and a protective window that could be lowered over their body. 

As Adam leaned back in place, the window came down and quickly pixelated. It turned opaque before Shiv, and he found himself unable to see Adam. A few moments later, the rib plates that lined the outside of the penitent closed, clasping like closing fingers. Tanu's eyes flashed as its helm came down and sealed in place over Adam's head.

"Pilot integrated," Can Hu said. "Skill improvements applied.”

"Skill improvements?" Shiv asked.

"I gain boosts to all my skills when I have a pilot inside me," Can Hu declared.

"Pretty goddamn neat," Shiv said. He considered Uva When they found her again, maybe Can Hu could serve as her Penitent.

"This is just uncanny," Adam's voice echoed out from inside Can Hu. There was a crackle to the gate lord's words, but aside from that, he came out loud and clear. Can Hu held up a hand, looking at it, and Shiv realized it was Adam performing the action. The second set of hands Can Hu had resembled human digits that had guns sticking out from the wrist. The guns looked awkward to Shiv, and he wondered why the Republic automata didn't develop such projectile-related skills.

Just then, a heavy tremor shook through their cube, and Can Hu stiffened. He turned his head leftward and stared up at the corner of the lobby. Shiv didn't know what he was looking at, but then Adam spoke once more.

"Udraal's on the move," the Gate Lord said in a hushed tone. "I think he just shattered an entire portion of the prison."

"He what?" Shiv said.

"He just devasted a fourth of the bloody Nadir… All of it. It's gone. It's fading into motes of Animancy. Gods, how many people did he just kill? Wait, wait. I have eyes on her."

"Veronica?" Shiv said.

"Yes. She doesn't seem to be with the other Ascendants. She's... I lost her," Adam growled in frustration. "She's teleporting too often."

"What about Cripple?" Shiv asked. "You got eyes on him?"

A moment passed, and then another. And then, as ten seconds dragged on, Adam shivered. "Yes. He's in the field as well. But he's with the other Ascendants. They're all going hard after Udraal. It's going to be hard to separate him from the others."

Shiv frowned, and then his features flattened. He looked at Kura. "Kura. I need your help. And also, I need to borrow your Chronomancy skill again.”

The elven Chronomancer frowned. “What is your plan, Deathless?”

“Your time clones can swap places. I need one to get a hold of Cripple while my Vitae Golem distracts and confuses the other avatars. You up for helping me kidnap a god?”

Kura said nothing for a beat. 

Then gave a near feral grin.