Re: The Wretched Rite - Round Two - Inferno Alpha
09-03-2012, 07:03 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.
Deep within Taelia's mind, the Omen stirred.
The Godbot was losing. The Omen's contract, however, had specifically required it to delay the Godbot. If the Godbot were destroyed, whether by the demon's own machinations or not, that would be regarded as a failure. And even in a synthetic Hell, failure to fulfill a contract would carry severe penalties.
Were it in control of this body, the Omen could act directly. Unfortunately, it had to settle for merely influencing Taelia. And as she was currently more afraid of the Godbot than of the fallen angelbot pulling wires out of it with a lance, she was unlikely to respond to a simple suggestion of "save the big one".
No, a more subtle approach was needed.
"A flood," Taelia muttered, only half-aware she was even saying the words.
"Ooh, I like floods," Adelaide said suddenly, much to Taelia's surprise. "Sounds much more fun than a boring old wedding."
"What... How long have you been there?"
"Not sure," Adelaide said with a grin. "Was chasing after the minister and my fiancee, but I got lost somewhere along the way. But more importantly, what's this about a flood?"
Taelia looked back towards the battle between Lucifer and the Godbot.
"It's... just an idea," Taelia said, sounding very unsure of it. "But the big robot's circuitry is exposed. If we could flood the area, it might short it out, and get rid of those plants too."
The Omen knew that the idea would fail; the contract had listed the Godbot's technical specifications to give the Omen a better idea of viable options. Most of it had been a confusing mess, but one point that had stood out was that the Godbot was completely waterproofed; even exposed circuitry would resist a shock. A flood would do it no harm, but the resulting chaos might allow it to regain the advantage.
"Oh, there's Lucy!" Adelaide noted, glancing at the battle. "She looks to be holdin' out all right. Maybe we can have this silly wedding after all, just need to find the bride... Oh, sorry, thinking out loud there. Yeah, that whole flood idea sounds good."
"But where would we find enough water?" Taelia mused, ignoring Adelaide's ramblings. The rusalka laughed.
"You just leave that to me, dearie. I know where there's plenty o' water."
And she ran off before Taelia could ask for any further explanation. She grabbed an impbot selling transfers to Inferno Beta before jumping into a stray puddle.
***
Olivia was lost. Worse, she was increasingly aware that she wasn't alone in her mind.
Her plant's whispering had grown to an unintelligible scream when the trees had emerged. It was frightened by them, somehow, and it was making that very clear to its host.
The distraction was such that Olivia didn't even notice Alice until the Tsote shook her by the shoulders.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Olivia said. "My... mind is on other things at the moment."
"Did you do something with these plants?" Alice demanded. "And have you seen Adelaide? We're supposed to be getting married, and our minister is busy fighting a god or something."
"It wasn't me!" Olivia protested. "Or my unwanted guest, either. The stupid thing is screaming at me about the rest of these things, not that I have a clue what it's trying to say."
She paused for a moment. "Wait. You and Adelaide... we are talking about the rusalka, right... married?"
"Look, I don't expect you to understand," Alice grumbled. "I was about to get married and then suddenly Hell is about to blow up or freeze over or get overrun by plants, I don't even know, I just know I was promised a wedding and I am not letting any apocalypse or whatever get in the way, do you realize how many times I have been disappointed in my life, it is not going to happen again this time, I am marrying Adelaide and I don't need your approval or anyone else's."
Olivia blinked.
"All right, fine, let's find your fiancee," she sighed. "If only to give me something to think about besides how upset my plant is."
***
"Damaging Inferno Alpha property is punishable by having your punishment suspended!" the impbot shouted. Adelaide bashed it against the floor again.
"Aw, shaddup," she grumbled. She'd hoped that the imp would short out in the water, but there had been no such luck. She might have stopped to consider that this could mean the Godbot wouldn't be affected either, if she wasn't so eager to cause a flood for its own sake.
"If you continue, I will report you to management and recommend against your transfer to Inferno Beta!"
"Wherever that is, sounds borin'," Adelaide mumbled. "Now break the damn floor already!"
She slammed the impbot against the floor one final time, creating a large hole. She quickly vanished into the water, as the Styx began draining into the Sixth Circle.
***
The Omen watched the torrent of water as it began to pour down from the distant ceiling. Excellent. The water would offer the Godbot a chance to fight back, and would likely delay it enough. And if worst came to worst, Taelia could likely be persuaded to drown one of the other contestants for a quick escape. There was plenty of time to prepare; the floor was holding steady, and the distance between circles was immense. It would take the water at least fifteen minutes to hit the bottom and actually cause a flood. At the rate Lucifer was fighting, that would be well before the Godbot took any serious damage.
All that remained was to keep Taelia's body safe, which took no prompting from the Omen at all. It just had to ensure she kept an eye on the battle, in case it needed to act swiftly.
Taelia searched for a safe spot, but continued watching the battle. Lucifer's strikes were hitting more often, and tearing out more and more wires; but the Godbot was resilient, nevertheless. Hopefully the flood would do its job.
"What the fuck, Adelaide," a voice behind her grumbled. "What. The. Fucking. Fuck."
Olivia just stared awkwardly. The distraction wasn't working, her plant seemed to be trying to yell something at her but it was incomprehensible. It also seemed to be desperate to take over, but she resisted as best as she could; she was not about to lose her freedom just because the plant was shouting loudly.
"Uh, it was my idea," Taelia said nervously. "I thought a flood might short out the big robot..."
"Yeah, that's great," Alice snarled. "Did you ever stop for a moment and think the fuck about what it might do to everyone else? Where the fuck are we supposed to go?"
"The elevator's probably safe?" Taelia shrugged. "Or, you know, higher ground in general. I don't think that river's going to flood the whole circle."
"Yeah, just fucking most of it. You are so fucking dumb, I don't even care, I just want to find fucking Adelaide and get fucking married and then who gives a fuck what happens."
"Oh, there you are, love!" Adelaide said, emerging from a nearby puddle. "Lost track of you in that whole chase."
"Adelaide, what the fuck is this, you've started a flood!" Alice screamed. "Now come on, let's go see Lucy and get this fucking wedding done, I am not letting the world end without a fucking wedding."
"Works for me, love." Adelaide turned to Olivia, who was holding her head and groaning. "So are these two our bridesmaids?"
"Sure, why the fuck not," Alice grumbled. "Let's go." She grabbed Olivia's wrist and dragged the dazed botanist off with her; Adelaide grabbed Taelia by the arm and followed closely behind.
This had not been part of the Omen's plan. It considered breaking free, but it was not confident that Taelia could handle three potential opponents at once. Better to play along for now, and flee at the first opportunity.
***
"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked. "Can't you see I'm trying to die?"
She poked a large hole in the side of the Godbot's head.
"Don't seem ta be doin' too great a job of it," Adelaide remarked.
"We're here to get married," Alice said firmly. "You can die after that if you really want to, but I was promised a wedding and I'm not leaving without one.
Lucy sighed as she sliced off the Godbot's fist.. "All right then. Take your places, everyone."
Alice and Adelaide stood next to each other, while a baffled Talia and distracted Olivia stood behind them. Lucy began reciting her preprogrammed lines.
"Dearly beloved..." she began, uppercutting the Godbot in the chin. It stumbled back slightly in surprise. "We are gathered here today..." Lucy swiftly flew back as the Godbot awkwardly punched at her with its remaining hand.
"...to join this woman, Alice..." Lucy countered with her spear, making a small gash in between two of the Godbot's fingers. It swung its handless arm at her in retaliation, to little effect; it seemed to be factoring its detached hand into its range calculations.
"...and this woman, Adelaide..." Lucy saw the discarded hand and had a thought. As the Godbot flailed ineffectually at her, she flew down to the ground and pierced her spear into its wiring.
"...in holy matrimony!" Lucy lifted the hand into the air on her spear, and then flew back up and slapped the Godbot in the face.
"Why can't more weddin's be like this?" Adelaide mused.
***
Poran had gotten lost somewhere along the line; wherever Taelia had gone, it wasn't here. He briefly considered heading back to Alluvion for more protection when he heard Lucifer's words. They were strange enough to draw his attention.
He looked back, and saw four women, Taelia among them, gathered not far away from the Godbot. He briefly considered greeting them; it would be chivalrous, and there was safety in numbers.
And then he noticed the incoming torrent of water, and concluded that for the moment, chivalry was a luxury, and there was more safety in not drowning. He scrambled up to the highest ground he could find.
The same shouting drew Alluvion's attention. He turned towards the great battle, and saw Olivia standing nearby. Oh good, now he could find her and take her to safety. He rushed past a pair of angelbots, shorting them out, and called out.
"Olivia!" he shouted. "I've been looking for you!"
She didn't seem to respond. He decided to move closer.
M., for its part, was satisfied that Olivia was in good hands. It noticed the incoming water with some concern, but not much; the new plants would be resilient to any impurities, and the water would merely help them to grow.
It was more concerned for itself and the Ivy/walker. It decided to follow more closely in case the river spirit could not help her, and once her safety was assured or the risk of flooding was too great, it would retreat.
Olivia was, by this point, largely oblivious to her would-be rescuers, as well as to the wedding she was ostensibly attending. All of her concentration was focused on keeping the plant from taking over.
Somewhere along the line, it switched tactics, choosing to focus its control on just one small part of Olivia, but the one part that might allow her to understand.
And Olivia felt herself lose control of her eyes.
They stared at the rapidly-growing plants, and Olivia could see them as her parasite did. There was something unnatural surrounding them.
Her plant wanted to save them.
Satisfied, the plant relinquished control. Olivia looked around her, at the machines and the sinners and the raging torrent of water. The plants might tear this world apart, but honestly... Was such a place as this worth saving?
She walked toward the nearest plant, just as Alluvion rushed up to her.
"Hello," he said. "I need to take you to the top level."
"No," Olivia said. "I am... we are needed here."
Before Alluvion or Malus could react, she touched one of the plants, and it began to grow over her.
***
"Do you, Alice, take Adelaide to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"Yes, definitely, hurry up, that water's heading this way."
"Won't be any problem for me, love," Adelaide said with a smile. "Besides, that's the same water you didn't drown in before."
"I almost did!"
"Details, details."
"Ahem! If I may have your attention, ladies..." Lucy continued, knocking out a chunk of the Godbot's shoulder with its severed hand. "Do you, Adelaide, take Alice to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"Hmm. Gonna have to think about that," she mused. "Give me a minute here."
Alice sighed. "You always have to be so difficult, don't you?"
"Wouldn't be any fun if I didn't."
By this point, Taelia had already decided to leave the wedding party. It wasn't as if they really needed her. She climbed up the nearby slope.
With any luck, the Tsote would drown and the Godbot would win and the Omen could get back to its plans... wait, why was Taelia climbing back down, didn't she know how dangerous that was?
She couldn't do it. She couldn't leave Alice to the mercy of that water. She'd help Olivia too, if she could find her. Taelia grabbed Alice and ran.
"Oh, sure, leave me for another woman!" Adelaide shouted. "Maybe I won't marry you after all!"
And then the waters rushed over her.
The Godbot was unaffected by the water, but the sheer force of it pushed Lucy aside. She flew away to regroup; this was unusual enough that her programming allowed her to flee. But she was only delaying her fate. The Godbot's programming would lead it to deal the final blow soon, however, and she was not allowed to avoid that. She was even programmed to fly right into it if necessary.
She saw it make the first motions of a process embedded deep into her programming. This was it.
She was going to die.
And the wedding wasn't even finished.
The water did not concern Alluvion; he was made of it, after all. It didn't seem to be particularly pleasant water, but he was sure he could keep himself purified.
Olivia had no such luck. But she was already tangled up in the vines, doing whatever it was she was doing. Alluvion had tried to pull her free, but found it impossible. He could do nothing except allow the water to catch him, and then he did his best to swim to the surface.
As it happened, the path he chose took him right by the Godbot's leg. And the Godbot was not, as it turned out, protected from belief.
Lucy watched in surprise as the electricity poured through the Godbot's damaged body. It collapsed into the flooded waters.
The Omen was worried. Its fears seemed well-founded when two especially large demonbots flew in behind it.
"You have failed in your contract," one of them said. Alice stared at it blankly, as did Taelia, though she had a vague fear in the back of her mind.
"The punishment is immediate termination," added the second robot. It pierced her heart with a pitchfork.
Olivia could feel the plants. She could feel the nanomachines feeding them, and when the waters of the Styx rushed over her, she could feel the pollutants.
She decided to let one problem take care of another. Throughout the planet, the nanomachines followed command processes they didn't realize they had, and made their way to the Sixth Circle. They leapt from the plants into the Styx, purifying it and then destroying themselves.
Her work done, Olivia's life force left her, and flowed into the plants.
Deep within Taelia's mind, the Omen stirred.
The Godbot was losing. The Omen's contract, however, had specifically required it to delay the Godbot. If the Godbot were destroyed, whether by the demon's own machinations or not, that would be regarded as a failure. And even in a synthetic Hell, failure to fulfill a contract would carry severe penalties.
Were it in control of this body, the Omen could act directly. Unfortunately, it had to settle for merely influencing Taelia. And as she was currently more afraid of the Godbot than of the fallen angelbot pulling wires out of it with a lance, she was unlikely to respond to a simple suggestion of "save the big one".
No, a more subtle approach was needed.
"A flood," Taelia muttered, only half-aware she was even saying the words.
"Ooh, I like floods," Adelaide said suddenly, much to Taelia's surprise. "Sounds much more fun than a boring old wedding."
"What... How long have you been there?"
"Not sure," Adelaide said with a grin. "Was chasing after the minister and my fiancee, but I got lost somewhere along the way. But more importantly, what's this about a flood?"
Taelia looked back towards the battle between Lucifer and the Godbot.
"It's... just an idea," Taelia said, sounding very unsure of it. "But the big robot's circuitry is exposed. If we could flood the area, it might short it out, and get rid of those plants too."
The Omen knew that the idea would fail; the contract had listed the Godbot's technical specifications to give the Omen a better idea of viable options. Most of it had been a confusing mess, but one point that had stood out was that the Godbot was completely waterproofed; even exposed circuitry would resist a shock. A flood would do it no harm, but the resulting chaos might allow it to regain the advantage.
"Oh, there's Lucy!" Adelaide noted, glancing at the battle. "She looks to be holdin' out all right. Maybe we can have this silly wedding after all, just need to find the bride... Oh, sorry, thinking out loud there. Yeah, that whole flood idea sounds good."
"But where would we find enough water?" Taelia mused, ignoring Adelaide's ramblings. The rusalka laughed.
"You just leave that to me, dearie. I know where there's plenty o' water."
And she ran off before Taelia could ask for any further explanation. She grabbed an impbot selling transfers to Inferno Beta before jumping into a stray puddle.
***
Olivia was lost. Worse, she was increasingly aware that she wasn't alone in her mind.
Her plant's whispering had grown to an unintelligible scream when the trees had emerged. It was frightened by them, somehow, and it was making that very clear to its host.
The distraction was such that Olivia didn't even notice Alice until the Tsote shook her by the shoulders.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Olivia said. "My... mind is on other things at the moment."
"Did you do something with these plants?" Alice demanded. "And have you seen Adelaide? We're supposed to be getting married, and our minister is busy fighting a god or something."
"It wasn't me!" Olivia protested. "Or my unwanted guest, either. The stupid thing is screaming at me about the rest of these things, not that I have a clue what it's trying to say."
She paused for a moment. "Wait. You and Adelaide... we are talking about the rusalka, right... married?"
"Look, I don't expect you to understand," Alice grumbled. "I was about to get married and then suddenly Hell is about to blow up or freeze over or get overrun by plants, I don't even know, I just know I was promised a wedding and I am not letting any apocalypse or whatever get in the way, do you realize how many times I have been disappointed in my life, it is not going to happen again this time, I am marrying Adelaide and I don't need your approval or anyone else's."
Olivia blinked.
"All right, fine, let's find your fiancee," she sighed. "If only to give me something to think about besides how upset my plant is."
***
"Damaging Inferno Alpha property is punishable by having your punishment suspended!" the impbot shouted. Adelaide bashed it against the floor again.
"Aw, shaddup," she grumbled. She'd hoped that the imp would short out in the water, but there had been no such luck. She might have stopped to consider that this could mean the Godbot wouldn't be affected either, if she wasn't so eager to cause a flood for its own sake.
"If you continue, I will report you to management and recommend against your transfer to Inferno Beta!"
"Wherever that is, sounds borin'," Adelaide mumbled. "Now break the damn floor already!"
She slammed the impbot against the floor one final time, creating a large hole. She quickly vanished into the water, as the Styx began draining into the Sixth Circle.
***
The Omen watched the torrent of water as it began to pour down from the distant ceiling. Excellent. The water would offer the Godbot a chance to fight back, and would likely delay it enough. And if worst came to worst, Taelia could likely be persuaded to drown one of the other contestants for a quick escape. There was plenty of time to prepare; the floor was holding steady, and the distance between circles was immense. It would take the water at least fifteen minutes to hit the bottom and actually cause a flood. At the rate Lucifer was fighting, that would be well before the Godbot took any serious damage.
All that remained was to keep Taelia's body safe, which took no prompting from the Omen at all. It just had to ensure she kept an eye on the battle, in case it needed to act swiftly.
Taelia searched for a safe spot, but continued watching the battle. Lucifer's strikes were hitting more often, and tearing out more and more wires; but the Godbot was resilient, nevertheless. Hopefully the flood would do its job.
"What the fuck, Adelaide," a voice behind her grumbled. "What. The. Fucking. Fuck."
Olivia just stared awkwardly. The distraction wasn't working, her plant seemed to be trying to yell something at her but it was incomprehensible. It also seemed to be desperate to take over, but she resisted as best as she could; she was not about to lose her freedom just because the plant was shouting loudly.
"Uh, it was my idea," Taelia said nervously. "I thought a flood might short out the big robot..."
"Yeah, that's great," Alice snarled. "Did you ever stop for a moment and think the fuck about what it might do to everyone else? Where the fuck are we supposed to go?"
"The elevator's probably safe?" Taelia shrugged. "Or, you know, higher ground in general. I don't think that river's going to flood the whole circle."
"Yeah, just fucking most of it. You are so fucking dumb, I don't even care, I just want to find fucking Adelaide and get fucking married and then who gives a fuck what happens."
"Oh, there you are, love!" Adelaide said, emerging from a nearby puddle. "Lost track of you in that whole chase."
"Adelaide, what the fuck is this, you've started a flood!" Alice screamed. "Now come on, let's go see Lucy and get this fucking wedding done, I am not letting the world end without a fucking wedding."
"Works for me, love." Adelaide turned to Olivia, who was holding her head and groaning. "So are these two our bridesmaids?"
"Sure, why the fuck not," Alice grumbled. "Let's go." She grabbed Olivia's wrist and dragged the dazed botanist off with her; Adelaide grabbed Taelia by the arm and followed closely behind.
This had not been part of the Omen's plan. It considered breaking free, but it was not confident that Taelia could handle three potential opponents at once. Better to play along for now, and flee at the first opportunity.
***
"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked. "Can't you see I'm trying to die?"
She poked a large hole in the side of the Godbot's head.
"Don't seem ta be doin' too great a job of it," Adelaide remarked.
"We're here to get married," Alice said firmly. "You can die after that if you really want to, but I was promised a wedding and I'm not leaving without one.
Lucy sighed as she sliced off the Godbot's fist.. "All right then. Take your places, everyone."
Alice and Adelaide stood next to each other, while a baffled Talia and distracted Olivia stood behind them. Lucy began reciting her preprogrammed lines.
"Dearly beloved..." she began, uppercutting the Godbot in the chin. It stumbled back slightly in surprise. "We are gathered here today..." Lucy swiftly flew back as the Godbot awkwardly punched at her with its remaining hand.
"...to join this woman, Alice..." Lucy countered with her spear, making a small gash in between two of the Godbot's fingers. It swung its handless arm at her in retaliation, to little effect; it seemed to be factoring its detached hand into its range calculations.
"...and this woman, Adelaide..." Lucy saw the discarded hand and had a thought. As the Godbot flailed ineffectually at her, she flew down to the ground and pierced her spear into its wiring.
"...in holy matrimony!" Lucy lifted the hand into the air on her spear, and then flew back up and slapped the Godbot in the face.
"Why can't more weddin's be like this?" Adelaide mused.
***
Poran had gotten lost somewhere along the line; wherever Taelia had gone, it wasn't here. He briefly considered heading back to Alluvion for more protection when he heard Lucifer's words. They were strange enough to draw his attention.
He looked back, and saw four women, Taelia among them, gathered not far away from the Godbot. He briefly considered greeting them; it would be chivalrous, and there was safety in numbers.
And then he noticed the incoming torrent of water, and concluded that for the moment, chivalry was a luxury, and there was more safety in not drowning. He scrambled up to the highest ground he could find.
The same shouting drew Alluvion's attention. He turned towards the great battle, and saw Olivia standing nearby. Oh good, now he could find her and take her to safety. He rushed past a pair of angelbots, shorting them out, and called out.
"Olivia!" he shouted. "I've been looking for you!"
She didn't seem to respond. He decided to move closer.
M., for its part, was satisfied that Olivia was in good hands. It noticed the incoming water with some concern, but not much; the new plants would be resilient to any impurities, and the water would merely help them to grow.
It was more concerned for itself and the Ivy/walker. It decided to follow more closely in case the river spirit could not help her, and once her safety was assured or the risk of flooding was too great, it would retreat.
Olivia was, by this point, largely oblivious to her would-be rescuers, as well as to the wedding she was ostensibly attending. All of her concentration was focused on keeping the plant from taking over.
Somewhere along the line, it switched tactics, choosing to focus its control on just one small part of Olivia, but the one part that might allow her to understand.
And Olivia felt herself lose control of her eyes.
They stared at the rapidly-growing plants, and Olivia could see them as her parasite did. There was something unnatural surrounding them.
Her plant wanted to save them.
Satisfied, the plant relinquished control. Olivia looked around her, at the machines and the sinners and the raging torrent of water. The plants might tear this world apart, but honestly... Was such a place as this worth saving?
She walked toward the nearest plant, just as Alluvion rushed up to her.
"Hello," he said. "I need to take you to the top level."
"No," Olivia said. "I am... we are needed here."
Before Alluvion or Malus could react, she touched one of the plants, and it began to grow over her.
***
"Do you, Alice, take Adelaide to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"Yes, definitely, hurry up, that water's heading this way."
"Won't be any problem for me, love," Adelaide said with a smile. "Besides, that's the same water you didn't drown in before."
"I almost did!"
"Details, details."
"Ahem! If I may have your attention, ladies..." Lucy continued, knocking out a chunk of the Godbot's shoulder with its severed hand. "Do you, Adelaide, take Alice to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"Hmm. Gonna have to think about that," she mused. "Give me a minute here."
Alice sighed. "You always have to be so difficult, don't you?"
"Wouldn't be any fun if I didn't."
By this point, Taelia had already decided to leave the wedding party. It wasn't as if they really needed her. She climbed up the nearby slope.
With any luck, the Tsote would drown and the Godbot would win and the Omen could get back to its plans... wait, why was Taelia climbing back down, didn't she know how dangerous that was?
She couldn't do it. She couldn't leave Alice to the mercy of that water. She'd help Olivia too, if she could find her. Taelia grabbed Alice and ran.
"Oh, sure, leave me for another woman!" Adelaide shouted. "Maybe I won't marry you after all!"
And then the waters rushed over her.
The Godbot was unaffected by the water, but the sheer force of it pushed Lucy aside. She flew away to regroup; this was unusual enough that her programming allowed her to flee. But she was only delaying her fate. The Godbot's programming would lead it to deal the final blow soon, however, and she was not allowed to avoid that. She was even programmed to fly right into it if necessary.
She saw it make the first motions of a process embedded deep into her programming. This was it.
She was going to die.
And the wedding wasn't even finished.
The water did not concern Alluvion; he was made of it, after all. It didn't seem to be particularly pleasant water, but he was sure he could keep himself purified.
Olivia had no such luck. But she was already tangled up in the vines, doing whatever it was she was doing. Alluvion had tried to pull her free, but found it impossible. He could do nothing except allow the water to catch him, and then he did his best to swim to the surface.
As it happened, the path he chose took him right by the Godbot's leg. And the Godbot was not, as it turned out, protected from belief.
Lucy watched in surprise as the electricity poured through the Godbot's damaged body. It collapsed into the flooded waters.
The Omen was worried. Its fears seemed well-founded when two especially large demonbots flew in behind it.
"You have failed in your contract," one of them said. Alice stared at it blankly, as did Taelia, though she had a vague fear in the back of her mind.
"The punishment is immediate termination," added the second robot. It pierced her heart with a pitchfork.
Olivia could feel the plants. She could feel the nanomachines feeding them, and when the waters of the Styx rushed over her, she could feel the pollutants.
She decided to let one problem take care of another. Throughout the planet, the nanomachines followed command processes they didn't realize they had, and made their way to the Sixth Circle. They leapt from the plants into the Styx, purifying it and then destroying themselves.
Her work done, Olivia's life force left her, and flowed into the plants.
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