The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The trail of blood at the entrance to town was now clean. The smell was significantly lessened, though there was still more to do. Eximo's data suggested that the largest spill was the one north of the courthouse; however, it noted that the smaller pool at the south end of the trail of knives on the eastern road would be more difficult to clean, as knives would have to be removed from it. For that matter, the knives themselves would have to be dealt with. Aside from cluttering the ground, carelessness walking could lead someone to cut their foot, and that would only mean more blood to clean. It would be best to act preventively.

As it headed to the east, Eximo passed Emily and Nathan. The old woman scowled at the demon vacuum, as it headed over to the south end of the "trail" of knives, and began picking out knives in the blood pool as it began mopping it up. However, at the moment, she didn't have time to deal with it, and headed west, motioning to Nathan to follow her and stay quiet. Once she thought they were far enough away from the vacuum, she turned to him.

"There's something you should know about that man you were just talking with."

"Aeon? He seems decent enough..." Nathan sounded doubtful.

"Don't be fooled. In the last round, I saw him carrying the bomb around with that tool of his. And then the next I saw of it, it was on Alcarith's vehicle. It's not hard to draw a conclusion from that."

Nathan recoiled in shock. "You think Aeon planted the bomb? He's the one who killed her?"

"Yes, I do. But don't say a word to the others. If Aeon knows anyone saw him, he might do something rash."

"Wait," Nathan said, thoughtfully. "There's something you should know. Just before that round ended, Lutherion attacked us. With monsters that looked just like you and the vacuum."

Now Emily was taken aback.

"I see. So it could have been another monster that planted the bomb..." She paused, looking doubtful. "Although, I find it hard to believe a monster could hide it so well. And Lutherion would probably brag about killing her to no end..."

"Unless, that is, he was hoping it would be seen. To make Aeon look untrustworthy. Lutherion may be insane, but that doesn't mean he's not clever."

Emily nodded. "I suppose we can't rule it out. Still, we shouldn't be too quick to trust Aeon. Agreed?"

"Agreed. I'll be careful around him."

As it turned out, Emily had underestimated Eximo's hearing range. The vacuum had overheard most of the conversation. However, it was having trouble processing the new information.

"Analysis: Lifeform known as Aeon may have planted explosive device on vehicle piloted by lifeform known as Alcarith."

It paused, continuing to pick up knives and put them in a safe storage compartment.

"Had explosive not been planted, lifeform known as Alcarith may have contributed to a solution to imminent nonexistence of location yet to be cleansed."

Eximo paused again. It wasn't really programmed to process the logic of the cleansing this much. At least it was making progress on the knives.

"Conclusion: If data is correct, lifeform known as Aeon poses a threat to the cleansing."

It picked up some more knives as it reflected on the other data it had. Fortunately, this was easier to process.

"However, further data indicates lifeform known as Lutherion may be responsible. Lifeform known as Lutherion is already classified as a severe threat to the cleansing."

It picked up some more knives. It had now gone almost a full block.

"Classifying lifeform known as Aeon as a moderate threat to the cleansing. Threat level may be reassessed pending more information."

Eximo was satisfied, for now. It could focus on the task at hand. Scanning for life forms, it noted six in the overall area, and none of them were close enough to be at risk of stepping on the knives. It turned west and got to work on the large pool of blood.

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SpoilerIf you think you spotted an error in that last paragraph, it was intentional.