Re: The Grand Battle [Starring Eximo Pulvis!]
11-17-2009, 11:01 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.
Lutherion looked at his new "puppet" with surprise. "Wasn't expecting that. But I'm not complaining!" He laughed, looking back at the island with the crystal. "Hmm. That crazy boy and the old man are busy with each other. No need to get involved there just now." He turned around, and noticed something moving in the wasteland. "Ahahaha! That must be the stupid vacuum. Perfect. There's your target, strawberry girl." Lutherion pointed Amethyst over towards the wasteland. Unable to resist, she flew swiftly over there.
This is a problem, she thought, unable to do anything more than watch as her body followed Lutherion's orders. Up to now, I have been on relatively good terms with Eximo. This attack will jeopardize that loose alliance. It will see me as a threat, and even if I regain control of my body, I may have difficulty convincing it otherwise.
She flew ahead of Eximo. The vacuum paused, puzzled. It had not expected to be interrupted.
"Is the assistance of this unit required? The cleansing is currently top priority."
She did not respond. Lutherion had not given her specific orders for what to do upon reaching the target. As he watched in the distance, he grew irritated.
"Don't just float there, strawberry girl!" he yelled. "Attack him! Use that wind storm or something!"
The body responded almost immediately. Amethyst's hand reached for her armband and used one of the presets to summon the wind. The sand was blown around wildly, some of it getting into Eximo's circuitry.
"Sudden attack seems inconsistent with previous behavior of lifeform Amethyst. Life signal suggests, however, that this is lifeform Amethyst and not a mimic. Unable to analyze situation further. Must focus on defense until an opportunity to escape arises. Mechanical components not operating at full capacity due to foreign objects in circuitry."
Eximo extended four of its skeletal arms, with knives in two. It was, strangely, feeling conflicted. The situation would have been straightforward enough for its usual programming, but suddenly that programming seemed... insufficient.
Even while under attack, it did not want to harm Amethyst. Nothing in its programming could explain this - it made no strategic sense. An attacker must be stopped, by any means necessary. Yet, Eximo now found itself reluctant to do so.
Amethyst noticed the hesitation. Strange... It seems to be struggling with the idea that I might attack it. I suppose... it trusts me? Fortunately, Lutherion does not quite seem to have fully grasped what he can do with me now. Yet, I can do nothing but watch...
Finally, Eximo brought itself to attack Amethyst... but with an empty hand, not with a knife. It grabbed her leg and pulled her down towards the ground. She did not resist; Lutherion had not ordered her to, after all. In the distance, he groaned.
"Useless thing! Get back in the air!"
Her body responded to the order, and flew up, with Eximo still grasping the leg.
"This is boring," Lutherion muttered to himself. "The vacuum isn't even fighting back that hard! Maybe all that sand blowing around is messing with its head."
At least neither of us is in danger of dying any time soon, Amethyst thought. And now that I think of death... This landscape reflects a dead world.
Despite the situation she was in, Amethyst couldn't help but reflect upon the worlds she had seen this round. She had little else to do. The cubes... Structured. Monolithic. Order. The crystal in the plains. A source of healing. Life. The world with the strange staircases and waterfall, where I left the message. Disorganized. Chaos. And now, this desert. A wasteland. Death. Order and Chaos. Life and Death. Is it coincidence, or design?
The battle was not very intense, and as Amethyst could not influence it regardless, she found herself with nothing better to do than ponder this riddle. The winds soon died down, and Eximo continued its attempt to ground Amethyst's body, which continued to attempt to fly again. Lutherion, bored, pondered how he could make the fight more interesting.
Lutherion looked at his new "puppet" with surprise. "Wasn't expecting that. But I'm not complaining!" He laughed, looking back at the island with the crystal. "Hmm. That crazy boy and the old man are busy with each other. No need to get involved there just now." He turned around, and noticed something moving in the wasteland. "Ahahaha! That must be the stupid vacuum. Perfect. There's your target, strawberry girl." Lutherion pointed Amethyst over towards the wasteland. Unable to resist, she flew swiftly over there.
This is a problem, she thought, unable to do anything more than watch as her body followed Lutherion's orders. Up to now, I have been on relatively good terms with Eximo. This attack will jeopardize that loose alliance. It will see me as a threat, and even if I regain control of my body, I may have difficulty convincing it otherwise.
She flew ahead of Eximo. The vacuum paused, puzzled. It had not expected to be interrupted.
"Is the assistance of this unit required? The cleansing is currently top priority."
She did not respond. Lutherion had not given her specific orders for what to do upon reaching the target. As he watched in the distance, he grew irritated.
"Don't just float there, strawberry girl!" he yelled. "Attack him! Use that wind storm or something!"
The body responded almost immediately. Amethyst's hand reached for her armband and used one of the presets to summon the wind. The sand was blown around wildly, some of it getting into Eximo's circuitry.
"Sudden attack seems inconsistent with previous behavior of lifeform Amethyst. Life signal suggests, however, that this is lifeform Amethyst and not a mimic. Unable to analyze situation further. Must focus on defense until an opportunity to escape arises. Mechanical components not operating at full capacity due to foreign objects in circuitry."
Eximo extended four of its skeletal arms, with knives in two. It was, strangely, feeling conflicted. The situation would have been straightforward enough for its usual programming, but suddenly that programming seemed... insufficient.
Even while under attack, it did not want to harm Amethyst. Nothing in its programming could explain this - it made no strategic sense. An attacker must be stopped, by any means necessary. Yet, Eximo now found itself reluctant to do so.
Amethyst noticed the hesitation. Strange... It seems to be struggling with the idea that I might attack it. I suppose... it trusts me? Fortunately, Lutherion does not quite seem to have fully grasped what he can do with me now. Yet, I can do nothing but watch...
Finally, Eximo brought itself to attack Amethyst... but with an empty hand, not with a knife. It grabbed her leg and pulled her down towards the ground. She did not resist; Lutherion had not ordered her to, after all. In the distance, he groaned.
"Useless thing! Get back in the air!"
Her body responded to the order, and flew up, with Eximo still grasping the leg.
"This is boring," Lutherion muttered to himself. "The vacuum isn't even fighting back that hard! Maybe all that sand blowing around is messing with its head."
At least neither of us is in danger of dying any time soon, Amethyst thought. And now that I think of death... This landscape reflects a dead world.
Despite the situation she was in, Amethyst couldn't help but reflect upon the worlds she had seen this round. She had little else to do. The cubes... Structured. Monolithic. Order. The crystal in the plains. A source of healing. Life. The world with the strange staircases and waterfall, where I left the message. Disorganized. Chaos. And now, this desert. A wasteland. Death. Order and Chaos. Life and Death. Is it coincidence, or design?
The battle was not very intense, and as Amethyst could not influence it regardless, she found herself with nothing better to do than ponder this riddle. The winds soon died down, and Eximo continued its attempt to ground Amethyst's body, which continued to attempt to fly again. Lutherion, bored, pondered how he could make the fight more interesting.
Spoiler
There's no reason for this | Or this | Death is inevitable | You can't challenge fate | The smallest change | I'm overwhelmed
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse