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Dragon Fogel · 10-07-2009, 09:52 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Lutherion looked behind him. There was no sign of Nathan. He concentrated for a moment, and looked through the eyes of his clones.

The first thing he noticed was that two of them were destroyed. It wasn't surprising, though it still angered him. Through the eyes of the third, he saw Nathan, wildly attacking. Good, he was distracted... although, it seemed odd that he was doing so poorly. He wasn't even hitting the mimic at all. Out of the clone's peripheral vision, he noticed the other three. Well, he still had one clone to spare, perhaps he could pull off a sneak attack. He focused on the final clone.

Through its eyes, he saw something on the ground. A children's pop-up book, with the title "MASTER OF THE WORLD" written on it in colorful letters. Lutherion was curious, despite himself. He ordered the clone to retrieve the book and bring it to him.

***

Eximo could not see the demon's influence as Amethyst could. But, it could detect the anomaly in Nathan's life-signal, and realized it was getting stronger. It almost seemed as if there were two life-signals in the same body, but Eximo could not quite grasp this concept.

Aeon, meanwhile, had noticed Nathan's ineffectiveness. He couldn't detect the cause directly, but from what Amethyst was saying, he had a pretty good guess. "Nathan should have beaten that clone by now. But he's not hitting at all. The demon's doing that, isn't it?"

"It appears to be the case," said Amethyst, confirming his suspicions. "If we are to help him, we may have to destroy the mimic... but the demon is manipulating his mind. It may well decide to come after us next."

Aeon nodded. "So it seems." Emily would have taken that risk, he thought. She wouldn't have thought twice about it. Amethyst was probably thinking the same thing... and the way things had been going lately, he wouldn't have been surprised if the vacuum thought it, too.

***

The clone made its way to its master. It handed the book over to him.

"Excellent. I'll take a look at this. Meanwhile, you head over and deal with the strawberry girl, the vacuum, and the old man. But leave the boy alone, he's more trouble than he's worth right now."

"As you command. Heheheheheh." It flew off.

Lutherion opened the book. Try as he might, he could only open it to one page, showing a grassy field with a crystal in the middle. After a few minutes of struggling with it, he turned his attention to the pop-up tab instead.

"Might as well," he said to no one in particular.

As he pulled the tab, the bushes, trees, and crystal popped up... and started growing. In an instant, they were full-size, and there was nothing to be seen of the cubes.

***

The dilemma of whether or not to kill the clone was soon resolved. As the cubes faded and gave way to a field of lush greenery, the clone stopped moving completely. Even Nathan, overcome with rage as he was, couldn't help but notice it.

"This isn't Lutherion. THIS ISN'T LUTHERION. WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THAT BASTARD?"

"...I think we'd better run," Aeon said. Amethyst followed. Eximo, however, seemed still. Aeon tried to motion to it to follow, but it ignored him completely.

"What's wrong with the vacuum? What's it doing?" he asked Amethyst, desperately.

"You will notice that Lutherion's mimic has stopped moving," she replied. "The same has happened to much of Eximo's body. Only its mechanical parts are still functioning, and it appears they do not respond to your requests."

"So... it's just a vacuum now?"

"To be more precise, a robot vacuum with numerous useless parts. But yes, it seems to be. I believe it is trying to locate filth to clean..."

She looked at the scenery. It seemed... fake. And unnaturally clean.

"Ah, there is the problem. It cannot locate any. It must have set itself on standby. If we can create a mess, it will follow us."

Aeon grinned. "Then I guess I'd better start making a mess."

Dragon Fogel · 10-07-2009, 10:38 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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GBCE · 10-10-2009, 02:28 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Nathan shouted at the top of his lungs, slashing his knife downwards. A massive slash of energy launched forward, tearing up the ground. Bits and pieces of scenery were ripped up, pulled apart almost as though it had all been made of paper. Eximo quickly began following this trail, vacuuming up the shreds of paper as it went.

He spun around again, sending another slash in the other direction. It collided with several trees, some of which were cut down. However, as it struck a much denser collection some distance away, it merely faded.

Finally, he turned to Amethyst.
"You're always scanning everything right?! Where the hell is he?!"

"I do not know." She calmly answered, only to be struck in the head by Nathan's fist.

"Useless!" he shouted, before running off again.

Amethyst fell to the ground, but the pain quickly faded. She looked up first at the sun in the sky, and then off at the crystal in the distance. ETA until full mana recovery was most likely 10 minutes, but she decided not to say that out loud. It would probably be best if Aeon did not realize she was helpless at the moment.

"I believe I have located the source of the healing energy" she said aloud, pressing a few buttons on armband to attempt to confirm it.

Dragon Fogel · 10-12-2009, 06:12 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Diagnostics complete, Eximo thought. To the extent it still could think, now that only its mechanical brain was functioning. Systems affected by failure of organic components: Defense system, vocal processor, lifeform scanner, higher recognition functions, prioritization protocols, memory banks.

Eximo no longer truly understood what most of the words meant; now, it was only concerned with the cleansing. It could no longer speak, and would not even recognize its own master if he were to appear. It remembered nothing that had happened to it so far. Its defenses no longer functioned, and even if they did, it was no longer capable of detecting any threat in advance, nor of setting its own defense to a higher priority than the cleansing. If there was no cleansing to be done, it would automatically revert to standby to conserve energy - even though it had no real concerns with energy use.

The diagnostic had been triggered automatically upon entering standby mode, and continued even as Eximo began cleaning - it could not be stopped once begun, not with Eximo's programming stripped to its most basic. None of the malfunctions would directly interfere with the cleansing, so the vacuum now considered them irrelevant.

It quickly swept up the remnants of Nathan's first strike, and moved on to the second. The paper-thin quality of the filth did not strike it as unusual; it no longer had the capacity to find anything unusual.

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Aryogaton · 10-12-2009, 07:11 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

Aeon approached the Lutherion clone, unmoved from the previous round. He kneeled down and touched it, and a significant portion of its body collapsed into a fine dust, presumably ground bone. "It seems that the healing energy in this area intereferes significantly with Lutherion's necromancy," Amethyst said, "as well as Eximo's biological components." She looked backwards, seeing Eximo swiftly sweeping up the mess, paying little attention to Nathan's actions.

"...Which means that anything can happen with Lutherion. The fact that we haven't seen anything from him yet proves that. I think it's best that we be fairly close to that crystal when he does show up." Aeon said. Amethyst silently agreed.

The two made their way towards the centre of the field, both keeping an eye on Nathan. Once they seemed to be out of range of his attacks, they turned to the crystal. It towered over them, easily visible throughout the field. The surface was unnaturally smooth, the inside opaque yet comprised of a multitude of colors, as if the being who created it was indecisive as to which color to use. The grass nearest to the crystal was subtly yet distinctly taller, sparse flowers facing directly towards it, as a sunflower faces towards the Sun. Regardless, its power meant that the particular area was a strong, yet obvious defensive position.

Aeon looked back at Nathan, now barely visible in the distance. The reverberations caused by his phantom attacks could still be felt, and a subtle wave of the grass demonstrated as such. However, with each shockwave Aeon made a near-invisible flinch, remembering his situation in this 'game'.

"You said earlier that the demon posessing Nathan can be considered a ninth contestant." Aeon said somewhat quietly.

"Yes. In fact, Nathan may not technically be in this game himself."

"That would mean that if it were to die, Nathan may be considered eliminated, yet still alive. Likewise, if Nathan were to die and leave behind the demon, the demon may become an uncontrolled variable in all of this."

"Are you saying, then, that it is possible for Nathan to leave this without dying?"

"Yes. Actually, this situation probably means that any two contestants may be allowed to survive, as long as the people behind all this don't have some kind of backup plan."

Aeon looked at Amethyst. Both of them were thinking the same thing.

GBCE · 10-12-2009, 07:37 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by dexexe1234.

Everything seemed so clear. Everything seemed so chaotic. I dont know whats happening. It all just happens right now. Nothing happens right now.

Lutherion stood and looked in his hands. At once, they where decomposing and rotting away, yet they where also healing, and growing through different stages of life. He looked around himself, but his eyes could not focus. Everything seemed smeared and destroyed, but a green grass meadow was also perfectly clear.

He looked at his wightmaw arm. It was screaming. Not literally, but in his head he could hear its voice: AAAAEEEEERRRRGGHH!!!!! IT IS EATING ME!!! Help me Lutherion. HELP ME LUTHERION!!! Luther looked around in pure agony. What he could get out of his vision, was the green meadow, and some trees. He could see that he was laying on the ground.

Everything seemed so silent. Everything seemed so loud.

Lutherion suddenly feeled like his chest was being ripped from the inside. And then again. At a steady pace, his chest was being ripped, and repaired. This continued for some minutes. He then tried to stand up, but fell down again. The he heard a faint thump.

Thump. Thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump.

Lutherion cringed and screamed all that he could. He held his normal arm to his chest, and felt the ripping again. His own hand suddely ripped open, the flesh pointing everywhere. The blood was flowing and dripping into the ripped holes near his now alive and beating heart.

Lutherion kept screaming for five whole minutes.

GBCE · 10-12-2009, 09:11 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

The screams were barely audible from the crystal. After a few minutes simply listening, Amethyst stood up. Roughly half her mana reserves would be sufficient provided she wasn't pushed to use another superweapon. She pressed a couple more buttons on her armband, before speaking aloud.

"Load Preset--"
And then some garbled half-speak came out of her mouth. But the armband responded in the usual manner, causing two of the usual black crystals to form. However they were shaped differently, each was long, and pole-like, ending with a cone shape, the large base facing outward.

One of the crystals floated towards Aeon, Amethyst grabbed the other.

"What's this?" Aeon asked, fairly perplexed.

"It would be best for us to not be without any information. I propose investigating the screams. This device will move based on the intentions of any lifeform in physical contact with it. It should continue functionality independently of my own intentions so long as my armband remains in tact and I remain conscious."

"Okay, but what exactly IS it?" Aeon asked again.

Amethyst frowned, as she sat upon her own, and it began carrying her up into the air.

"I was hoping it would be easily recognizable as a crystal broomstick."

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Dragon Fogel · 10-13-2009, 01:19 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Transmitting diagnostic report to main database. Error. Receiver out of range.

The error message repeated. It was of no concern to Eximo; the vacuum was now a pure automaton, and had no concept of annoyance.

It moved towards the fallen "corpse" of the mimic. Now that it was crumbling to dust, the vacuum considered it filth.

As it approached it, however, something stopped it. The vacuum made no effort to identify the obstacle, though even if it were functioning properly, it would have detected nothing. Instead, it attempted to move mindlessly forward, still somehow blocked.

Get away from there! I may not be able to use that body any more, but that doesn't mean I want you vacuuming it up!

Eximo did not respond. It could not. The voice had no more effect on it than the looping error message.

But within the machine, something stirred. A new voice spoke - or rather, several new voices, speaking in unison.

Leave us. The cleansing must be completed.

The singular voice shot back.

Leave my body alone!

And then the choir of voices spoke at once, again.

Do not interfere with the cleansing.

The argument continued, but the machine ignored the internal cacophony. To Eximo, it was all meaningless. The vacuum merely continued to struggle, futilely, against the strange force holding it back from the filth.

It would have been a strange sight, had there been anyone to see it. The vacuum circled the dusty remnants of the body, unable to get close enough to begin its task. The other combatants had directed their attention elsewhere, however, and were as unaware of the machine's physical awkwardness as they were of the struggle taking place within its mind.

GBCE · 10-16-2009, 09:50 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Robust Laser · 10-16-2009, 09:51 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-16-2009, 10:26 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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GBCE · 10-16-2009, 11:13 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by OddGuy.

Nathan could hear the screams. It would have been hard not to hear them really, they were so loud. They were definitely, positively those of the Necromancer, he was sure. How different from the usual cackling. Nathan thought about this difference as he sprinted towards the source of the scream.

A disturbing sight laid on the ground, screaming out whatever remained of its lungs, an otherworldly, awful sound constantly coming out of it's mouth. Nathan found it quite annoying. Nathan started to kick the screaming, pulsating mass of flesh, but it just wouldn't shut up, wouldn't stop moving, wouldn't stop being so irritating.

After mulling over the situation for a moment, Nathan realized that, because the writing mass below him was undead, this slightly distorting healing force was the thing that was causing him to reform and decompose like he did. Nathan then picked up the reforming not-corpse in his arms, and started walking towards the crystal, the source of this healing force.

However, Nathan soon found that the reforming, screaming necromancer was nearly impossible to hold for long, and decided to just kick it to the crystal. After a few moments of playing Lutherion soccer, he wondered why he hadn't just done this in the first place.

Nathan soon came next to the crystal, where he left Lutherion at the base of the crystal, now screaming louder than he would of thought anything could. As he watched the rapidly composing, rotting, and reforming Necromancer, he felt, just slightly, like what he was doing just might be wrong. The thought continued to linger, bugging him.

Dragon Fogel · 10-18-2009, 01:03 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The voices continued to argue within Eximo, as it struggled against the force keeping it away from the filth. In its current state, the vacuum was too simple-minded to cease the struggle and go somewhere else to cleanse.

For several minutes, it seemed like a stalemate. Then, Eximo moved a fraction of an inch closer.

The singular voice took a worried tone.

What's going on? Why can't I hold it back?

...hold it back...

The chorus of voices echoed the words. The singular voice was surprised.

What's going on? Why did you repeat after me... the cleansing... What the?

The vacuum inched forward slightly more.

It's... cleansing... sucking me in!

...sucking me in...

I've got to get away! I've got to get away!

...get away...

Suddenly, a new voice joined in.

Gotcha!

The force holding back the machine stopped completely. It proceeded to vacuum up the mimic's remnants. Inside, the chorus of voices quieted down.

The vacuum could not understand what had happened, and did not even have the curiosity to wonder. All it knew was the cleansing.

The vacuum was no longer Eximo Pulvis. It had no concept of names.

But Eximo Pulvis still existed, as the chorus of voices. And it had discovered a new thought.

Hunger.

You will not escape us.

It had not occured to Eximo before that it could leave its body. Even if it had, it would have been satisfied remaining there, as long as the cleansing continued.

But something within it had been awakened. Thoughts of the cleansing, the battle, and hailing Konka Rar had left it. All it wanted now was a meal. And it could still taste the one that had gotten away.

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Aryogaton · 10-18-2009, 02:56 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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"Well this is mildly awkward." Aeon said as he steadied himself on the broom. Amethyst was already several meters above, patiently waiting for him to adjust himself.

"Shall I conjure a more suitable vehicle?"

"No, I'll get used to it." Aeon said as he joined Amethyst in the sky, flying as if he had been using the broomstick for years. At this height the entirety of the field was visible. Overall, the shape of the field was rougly circular, with all forms of natural life poised towards the crystal. Eximo was busily vacuuming up what ever it could find. However, it moved erratically, as if being distracted by an outside force. Nathan was kicking a mangled and writhing mass whose screams revealed it to be Lutherion.

Aeon turned his attention to the environment. The sky was an unexpectely rough blue, significantly lighter and darker in some places. At the edge of the field there was a ring of trees, presumably blocking escape. However, something was strange about them.

"The trees..." Aeon murmured.

"Yes?" Amethyst replied, assuming he was talking to her. She had been looking at the crystal in the center.

"The perspective is entirely wrong. What we should be seeing is the tops of the trees; the rest should not be visible. Right now it looks as if someone took the image of a tree at ground level, rotated it, and simply pasted it on our views."

"I have noticed a similar phenomenon with the crystal."

"What?"

"There is no depth to it. Regardless of the angle of which you view the crystal, it appears with the same image, as if it is a two-dimensional sheet that is turning to your perspective," Amethyst noticed Nathan literally bouncing Lutherion off the crystal, "though its three-dimensional properties do not seem to have any anomaly."

Aeon looked down, towards Nathan. As Lutherion hit the crystal and bounced back, he let a continuous scream. However, when he was in very close proximity to the crystal, its power seemed to temporarily overcome the necromancy, changing him into the fully alive 'Luther' for a brief moment. His screm oscillated accordingly, changing back and forth between the genuine human scream of pain and that familiar lifeless voice.

The crystal itself was also affected. Although it did not seem to show and visible signs of damage, a strange shockwave was created with every hit. The shockwave had no intertial 'force' as a normal one would, but rather the grass and flowers within the ring momentarily wilted and withered before resprouting a fraction of a second later to the crystal's power.

Nathan didn't seem to notice any of that.

Dragon Fogel · 10-18-2009, 10:11 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Robust Laser · 10-18-2009, 10:21 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-19-2009, 01:54 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-19-2009, 05:07 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Across the countless worlds, many cultures believe in a "spirit realm". The details vary between cultures, but the basic concept is the same - there is a plane of existence, separate from the physical world, in which beings known as spirits roam free. Contact between the worlds is impossible except under special circumstances, though generally the spirits can interact with the physical world more freely than the other way around.

Eximo Pulvis was now in the spirit realm. It could see the physical world - indeed, it could see it better than those who resided in it. But it could not touch anything around it.

Its physical body had been largely slapped together from countless corpses, along with parts from an old, broken-down vacuum cleaner. Its spirit reflected this - rather than a single mind, it was an amalgamation. The spirits of all the beings it had once been had fused together, with none being dominant. What personality it had was largely formed by its time as a vacuum cleaner.

But recent events had awakened a baser instinct. Being composed of so many spirits, it was naturally inclined to draw other wandering spirits into it. At first, this had not been intentional - the process had happened gradually on its own, without Eximo's conscious awareness.

That changed once it had gotten a "taste" of the new spirit. Now it was a hunter, seeking its escaped prey. All else paled in importance.

***

On the other side of the battlefield, two spirits came across a strange wall. If they were visible, they would have resembled Lutherion.

Even we cannot pass this, one "said" to the other, in a voice that could not be heard. The two had agreed to call this one "the Elder", and the other "the Younger".

That means that... thing cannot either, noted the Younger. If we could find a way past it, we would be safe. Perhaps the living ones can aid us?

Why would they want to? They would detest us. After all, we serve Master Lutherion. The Elder's "voice" would have sounded annoyed, if it could be heard.

Do we still? asked the Younger. We are no longer bound to those bodies. Thanks to that infernal machine, I no longer even have one I could be bound to.

It hardly matters, replied the Elder. They will not trust us. Even if they did not know who we were, they would likely think it a trick by these "Gentlemen". No, if we are to escape... whatever that was... we will need to do it ourselves.

I could help you, a third voice said, suddenly. For a price.

The spirits turned towards the voice, and saw Nathan, staring blankly ahead... and on the spirit plane, they saw the demon, grinning.

GBCE · 10-19-2009, 06:32 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

Amethyst muttered a few more incoherent commands. Four black icicles formed around her, each firing off in a separate direction. A more efficient scan would finally be possible.

"The Director of this battle seems to have a liking to non-euclidean space. Such space is a curious thing. On a small scale, ordinary beings are completely trapped when dealing with such factors. However I do not believe this system will hold us completely- the more complicated a system, the more likely complicated approaches will find a loophole."

"Makes sense I suppose," Aeon replied "But it's a little over my head. Had you told me two days ago there was a fourth dimension, I would've just laughed it off. And now we're dealing with... whatever the hell this is."

"Keep in mind we are still in the domain of a humanoid mind, thus far he has followed largely humanoid themes in his actions. I suspect this realm also follows some sort of 'theme.' Are you at least familiar with something that might follow the idea of a paper world in which dimensions are 'faked' like this?"

"Well, I guess it's kinda like a pop-up book, if you stretch logic a bit."

Amethyst contemplated for a moment.

"My previous assessment based on the cube field had been a retro videogame theme, however pop-up book may be a more accurate theory. If this is in fact a perfect map of the concept of a pop-up book into a 3D space..."

She looked around, a couple of beeps on her armband indicated new data.

"We may be in the presence of the 4-dimensional matter I require in order to construct an escape."

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Dragon Fogel · 10-19-2009, 07:05 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-20-2009, 06:05 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Why should we trust you?, the Younger asked. Your boy there gave me a lot of trouble.

The boy did, it's true, replied the demon. But not me. In fact, I did you a favor and kept him from laying a finger on you. I could charge you for that, I suppose, but it was entertaining enough that I won't.

The Elder cut to the point. What exactly do you want from us?

Simple. Right now, I'm bound to this knife. He pointed to it. The boy has, foolishly, given me some freedom, but ultimately I'm bound to him as well. I could use some unseen helpers. The others are aware of me, and they might pose a problem in the future.

So, you'll protect us from that... thing... in exchange for our assistance later on? The Elder considered the offer.

Exactly. I'll give you five minutes to think it over. Of course, by that time, the amalgamation will have made it here... I can already feel it getting closer.

How do we know you can protect us? asked the Younger, defiantly.

You don't. The demon's grin grew wider. But do you really have any other choice?

***

Eximo followed the 'scent' of the Younger, then stopped. There was something stronger. And it seemed... trapped.

Its new instincts drove it to investigate. It headed towards the crystal.

Coincidentally, that area was now the messiest part of the battlefield, and so it became the main target of the vacuum cleaner. Eximo's body and spirit headed in the same direction.

**btp** · 10-21-2009, 03:00 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-21-2009, 08:27 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Eximo's spirit easily reached the crystal before its former body did. But as it approached Lutherion's still body, it was held back.

At this distance, the crystal's power was strong enough that it even leaked onto the spirit plane. Though it was not actively harmful to a spirit, the energy itself forced them away. From what Eximo could tell, the spirit it had sensed before was within there; but the amalgamation that was Eximo was now nearly feral, and did not stop to wonder why another spirit could be within that protected zone. Instead, it tried to find another approach, and went behind the crystal.

Amethyst had observed the crystal's apparent lack of depth. Here on the spirit plane, though, there was no trickery - it appeared as a two-dimensional paper cutout. Behind the crystal, the energy did not radiate at all; but no physical being could get there easily.

There was a book on the ground, in the shadow of the crystal. Lutherion would have recognized it as the same pop-up book he had opened before, changing the shape of this world. Eximo, however, paid it no mind. The amalgamation attempted to reach out a spiritual "limb" in front of the crystal...

And quickly retracted it. The energy was just as strong as before. It seemed this meal was beyond its reach, at least for now; despite its maddening hunger, Eximo could see that this was a waste of its time. It resumed the search for the meal that had escaped it before, and drifted away from the crystal.

At the same time, the now-mindless vacuum cleaner continued its advance. It had nearly reached the filth.

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Aryogaton · 10-21-2009, 10:46 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Dragon Fogel · 10-22-2009, 08:14 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

It's coming closer again. Have you made your decision? asked the demon.

I'd sooner take my chances with that... thing. You demons aren't exactly known for your trustworthiness, the Younger replied.

I am inclined to agree. In general, the better a deal with a demon seems on the surface, the worse it actually is, said the Elder.

Then so be it. The amalgamation should be arriving any minute now. If you change your mind, let me know. Maybe I'll be able to rescue one of you from its grip. The demon's grin widened, as Nathan walked off, still staring blankly and unaware of the conversation his "other half" had been having.

Well. It felt good to tell that guy off, said the Younger, but I have to admit, I don't have any other ideas. How about you?

Perhaps if we... become one... The Elder's voice suddenly took on a familiar tone. AAAAAGH! It's got me! Join us...

The Younger panicked. It could not even see the attacker. Suddenly, the Elder's shape changed.

A half-dozen formless heads came out of the Elder's shoulders. Its own face changed, no longer resembling Lutherion - now it was a blank slate. It grew multiple arms, and the heads turned to speak in unison.

We are Eximo Pulvis. And we hunger.

The Younger turned to flee. The monstrosity tried to follow, but stood in place, as it something was holding it back.

He must still be fighting it! the Younger thought. The spirit considered trying to rescue its "brother", but decided against it - that might not even be possible, and the Younger had its own survival to worry about.

It had come to a decision.

Demon! it shouted, with all the energy it could muster. Help me! I accept your offer!

***

The vacuum cleaner had reached its target - Lutherion's prone body. Unlike the spiritual Eximo, the machine had no problems moving closer to the crystal.

Normally, it would have numerous tools available for corpse removal, if it even proved necessary; its master usually had other plans for bodies than simply cleaning them up. But without its arms, it could not use any tools; and the programming which allowed it to consider them necessary relied heavily on its undead brain, which was no longer functioning. Instead, it attempted to simply vacuum up the "corpse".

But even this was more a complicated process than the lobotomized machine could handle; it had no way of determining the best angle to approach the body. Its attempts resulted in little more than it bumping into the still form of Lutherion, moving it ever so slightly.

Towards the crystal.

After a minute or so, the vacuum's single-mindedness caused it to push Lutherion's body right up against the crystal, where the full power of the healing energy flowed into it.

The strange mix of life and death convulsed wildly. It would have been a disturbing sight to a living observer, had any been close enough to see the display in all its gruesome detail; as it was, the only witness was the vacuum, which merely continued its futile attempt to clean up the body, accelerating the process.

When it ended, Lutherion tumbled away from the vacuum and knocked it over. Its storage compartment came open, and several objects fell out.

The necromancer looked over himself, and looked into the crystal, hoping to see a reflection; when that failed, he spotted a strange disc on the ground near the vacuum. He picked it up; one side was reflective enough to show him his face. His human face.

"I... I'm alive!" he shouted with glee.

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