The Hunt Renewed

Trying to process so many questions at once froze Ego in her tracks. Her balance gave out, and she toppled back into the white with a thick splatter. She couldn't think - no room in her head for her own thoughts. She couldn't tell the caustic voice apart from the rest anymore.

When the outside voices quieted, Ego chanced a peek at her memory log. The last query had been a simple one, but upon thinking, she realized, "I...don't...know." She couldn't seem to lift her arms out of the white. "The voices call me Egomorph. The white calls me Administrator. The human called...me..."

Overwhelming hunger roiled in a wave she felt through her entire body - the human. Nausea and despair tangled in her belly; even knowing she had no face to express it, she still doubled over, retching into the white.

"No, no no no no no, have to warn him, he's not safe, the human's not safe," Groaning, the faceless girl made to crawl forward, and found she could not. Gelatinous stalks of white had merged her wrists to the pool, a connection she lacked the strength to break.

Something was oozing out of her head.

Another surge of understanding, of once-tasted, of <heartwood/fractal/unguarded>; all Ego could get out was a garbled, "stay away, it knows you're here." Her halos crackled, casting their bloody red malevolence over her back.

Egomorph? Administrator? These weren't names! Well, one of them wasn't even a real word and names weren't really words so that had to be the name! The wooden puppet gave a firm nod and then stared in horror as the girl was shackled to floor, her words almost forgotten. Something was curling in the doll's code, something nudged the back of her head and she remembered the grip of the shadowy hands on her feet and she inhaled noisly, her torso rising and then falling as she let out air.

"Oh man she looks like a zombie! Wait- the human's not safe?" Sophia asked in alarm, her rising voice distracting Vasilia from her current thought-line. The young woman shifted closer to the camera on the PET, her eyes gazing past and above it. She was looking at the TV above the bike Vasilia realized belatedly. "You mean your NetOp isn't safe?"

"Oh-no! That's awful! Sophia what do we do?" Vasilia asked, her hands flying up to her face. Everything about this situation was going terribly! The witch-doll had met a maybe-friend but she was very clearly in rough shape, there was a human in danger, and Vasilia didn't know what to do.

And now something was oozing from her maybe-friend's head.

"Get back, Vasilia! That goo doesn't seem to like you." Vasilia's feet were only too happy to comply and the hands in her shadow seemed to have no objection to her hurried backwards movement this time, a reluctant one-two step that carried her another panel away.

It felt strangely relieving to walk away.

She felt bad about that at first but then an idea sprung to mind as she put her final foot down and she snapped her fingers before holding one up in the air. She was

"Egomorph! If I help your human, maybe that'll help you too! Tell us where your NetOp is, we can call the police or-or an ambulance!"
A tentacle stretched out from the void of Egomorph's face.

The little projection felt her shape twisting, curling around itself, stretching instinctively towards this new voice, this bright cluster that so surely called its own name. "Vasilia...it sounds...pretty." - she repeated the pretty sound in her head, hanging onto that little nice feeling as she lost herself bit by bit. As she twisted around to match her feeler's pointing and face the Navi properly, feeling and hearing so much she felt thin enough to snap, she thought about how much Vasilia's creator must have loved her, to give her a name so sweet and human.

Hearing her name brought her back a little; behind her, the Conduit's crackling hushed a few decibels. Ego hunched small and buglike in her pool and tried to keep herself still. She's trying to help, she repeated in her head, she's trying to understand, help her understand.' She had to know, she had to know or the human-

N҉̧̢͟͠O̧͏҉̧ ̸̶̷̢͠P͞͏͡͝͝L͡͡E̸̸̡͘͟Á̵̶҉͝S̴̨̛E͝͏̸͜ ̷̨͜͝Ń̛Ò̸̕͟͡

A rope of thin black veins threaded itself down the length of Egomorph's feeler. Through the humming red halos, the veins fed information into her one pulsing trickle at a time, making her whole body ripple and shudder like cloth underwater. There were things in her head, memories of a place she had never been to. "Where he lives...its a dead space. In this world." Ego spoke in a hushed whisper, afraid to raise her voice, desparate to get out as much out as she could. It tumbled out in a jumble, "He's alone. In a locked box. Walls are thick...built them thick. Can't hear any other humans. Blocked out this world too, it's like there's nothing there - but he has the machine it lives in. Is he the Creator? No...no, he found it." Realization jolted her upright. Her voice cracked, "He took it inside. It's locked in with, no, he's locked in with it!"

There was that feeling again, hunger like a whirlpool in her belly, a swirling pit that will never fill. Static caught the edges of her voice as she choked on revulsion, "Now it just needs resources - material to build̷ t̢he ̸c̨ońn͢e͞ctiòn͠. " She wanted to clutch her head. She wanted to scream. Instead she shook herself and moaned, "no̪̲b̡͙̗͓̟̦̰od̖̹̜̲̤͕y̼̜̠'͉̥͙͕̙s͙̳͕͚̮ ҉̙̤̬͚̮g̥͓̻̼̯ǫ̦̪ͅi̬̖̤̳̯ṉ̱ͅg͔̼͔̦̹̖̖ t͠o̙͓ ̥̗̳̕k͚͙̭͈̙̟͘ͅn̘͖̳̺o̖̣̯w.̮͇̝̰͟.͚̰.̝ͅt̗͓̺̺͕ͅh̨͓͙̥͍̟̖̬e̫̺̦͉̙re'̥͎̻̘̬̯̀s͓̗̭̰̞ ̥̠̻͉̰̥͢n͔̦̩̣͙o̞̥̭̘̠̘͙b͕͈̗̣͚͜o̯̱̫̦͖̗d͓̺̦̮̖͠y̤̹̠̤̹͍͡ ̫̯̘̗͍t̖̝͇̼o͚̻̪̙ ͍͍͍͍͍͍͍͍h̫͔̞̰͍ẹ̰͔͖a͔̦̗r ̢̖̣̼h͈̲̠̝́i̢̩̬̳̱ṃ͙͇̙̝͍͕͠.̷̰͕̳ ̮͈̞̀."

She could taste heartwood. "No...no, please, do͘n̕'͠t wak̡e ̛up̷, just a little longer," Ego begged. The pool was starting to spread towards Vasilia; ankles dragging on the ground behind her, Egomorph's neck began to stretch, the white filling her body trying to project beyond the boundaries of her brittle skin.
The compliment on her name came as a pleasant surprise to Vasilia and Sophia. Something they were doing must be working if the ragged doll in front of them was able to string that much clarity together. The wooden puppet bobbed her torso forward and down, her hands pinching the air then raising to the sides as if spreading an invisible skirt. The doll straightened up.

Vasilia held onto that moment of clarity from the pale girl as a sign of hope. They would do something!

Egomorph started to speak and Vasilia paid strict attention. Her NetOp wanted to help Egomorph and so did she! No matter how confusing, no matter how weird the situation got she would do her very best!

Except maybe the confusion would beat her after all. Her head spun, literally, as she repeated some of the words Egomorph had said, trying to make sense of them. "Lives, world, locked, thick, machine..? I don't understand!"

"Oh Vassie, get a hold of yourself!" The puppet's hands reached up and slammed into either side of her head, stopping it in place. "...Not what I meant but I'll take it! If we want to help we have to understand. It sounds like he locked himself in a closet with a rabid dog or something..."

"Eeh? I thought doggies were nice?" She swung her hands freely at her side, her feet tap-tap-tapping on the ground as the shadows beneath them coalesced for a into solid form before being swiftly and sternly returned to insubstantibility via concussive force. The hands were making it hard to concentrate, and it was already hard to understand! "Wait, dead space in here? So where he lives in the real world doesn't connect to the net or is it really scary?"

"Good thought! If it didn't have a presence here then how would Egomorph get here? I'll pull up a list of the Nets...somehow." There was a pause as Sophia manipulated the ancient pet to find what she needed. Vasilia could feel the processes struggling to work as if they were struggling through a thick muck.

Or maybe like a little girl covered in white goo.

"Oh! Is this stuff slowing down your processes?" Vasilia slapped her hands to her face as a large exclamation point appeared over her head. She dropped both hands to point at the white that clung so tightly to Egomorph's frame. She didn't really need the girl's reply, as she said the words it 'clicked' in her head as if it were a fact she had just been reminded she knew. One hand cupped the bottom of her head, the index extended to tap at her smooth 'cheek'. "Hmm, if that's the case this is going to be tricky. If we seperate you from it will you be able to speak better?"

"Wait, does that make this stuff dangerous? You shouldn't touch it then!"

"Got it!" A light bulb appeared above Vasilia's head as she twirled her hands in front of her, a small glowing blue line appearing before her. She reached it and pulled out her broom with a flourish that included tossing it over her head. "Alright Egomorph! I'm going to hand you the end of my broom and use it to pull you out, are you ready?"

Suiting action to words, and not waiting for a reply, the witch doll stepped to the side and gave the cleaning instrument in her hands another twirl before extending the bristles towared Egomorph. "Grab hold!"
"Vasilia...Vasi...lia..." The voice echoed strangely. Something was sticking in Ego's head, something one of the voices had said. She murmured the pretty name a few more times to ground herself - the words came slowly, "how would I...get here?" The thought had never occurred to the creature before. She knew where she came from, where she was kept when it wasn't connected to this world. Where it came from, and how it got here, those were both unknowns. She would have to think.

[<heartwood/fractal/unguarded> offers a vector for transmission]

[Still dormant, still gestating new rootcode, Administrator is for the moment inaccessible to the white. An autonomous peripheral node, growing from Administrator's client, accepts the vector, and begins directing new growth.]



"Where it grows into this world from...I don't know. Somewhere...outside. Outside, all around." The voice wasn't coming from the little girl on the ground, not quite. It rang from her echo chamber-face, hissed from the rents in her skin. Whispered, with the halting cadence of a child, from the white tendril that oozed and slithered over Vasilia's proffered broomstick. Ego didn't seem to notice the veiny feeler was a bare arm's length from Vasilia's head - the tiny voice whispered as though right next to Sophia's window, or Vasilia's ear, "I think - I think I'm a part of it."

The tendril drew on more mass, more veins, more white. Ego's neck cracked like dry plaster.

Her head fell off.

"It's - stretched - from outside, into the human's machine. It - it talks to him." she continued. She gave no sign she'd felt or even noticed her head shatter from the inside. Didn't seem to realize she had sprouted a tentacle as long as she was tall, slithering towards Vasilia across lazy, creeping seconds. Seeping out her wrists and ankles, echoing from the reaching tentacle - from the vague blob of white ooze that hung from her ruined neck, was a crackling stream of, "Please, you have to find him - it wants - wants in - it wants - the human - he can build - build it a way in - it's going to - Ņ̷̧̛͇͔͎̠͍͍̭̣̻͂́̈̀͆͛̏͂̇̏̈́͊̚Ỏ̵̡̱̱̟̤̣̗̜̹̠͍̪̙̞̖̓̿͝ ̶̡̯̹͉̤͉̖̪̳̠̦͎̳͕̠̃͂́͆̽̉͑͒̃̌̉̾̎͝P̵̨̢̮̬̙͎̹͓͈̥͚̭̈́L̴̢̤͕̠̫̲̲̳͐͌͆̈́̑̍̔̌͛̐͘͜͝E̶̢̨̢͈͓͈̯̻̬̳͔͎̻̪̾͜A̸̛̠̔͑S̸̨̖͇̦̻͖̩̪̩̑̾̃̀́́̔̓̐E̵̳͇̅͊͝ ̸̧̠̰̱̋̃̈͑Ņ̵͈̰̝͖̥̬̊̓̄͆̔̚O̴̲̎̀͛̈́̎̕͝ - nobody will know he's - it wants in-"
Maybe it was the outdated systems of the PET struggling to work that slowed her reaction.

Maybe that was why she found it easy to brush off the feeling that this situation was familiar.

When she examined the feeling telling her this, all she found was a fragment that pointed to memory space that no longer existed or had long ago been overwritted. Like a loose page torn out of a book and left on the floor.

"Yes, that's me! I'm glad you like my name. You have a weird one but it's kind acool too!" She chirped. She took a hand off the broomstick to give a little encouraging wave to Ego. The way the other Navi took the broomstick though...


"Outside...do you mean the real world or outside that current Net? Hm.." Sophia asked while Vasilia gave her broomstick a little wiggle, almost as if she was attempting to shake the tendril off.

It looked like the slime the witch-doll wasn't suppose to touch. It sounded like Ego who the witch-doll was trying to help. A sticker-like sweatdrop rolled down from under her hat to dash itself against the floor below. It was getting closer, maybe closer than she should allow?

[color=#CD7F32]"Wait, you're part of the white?" Sophia abruptly dropped her thinking pose, her face looming large in the video window that floated near her. "Then-Vasilia! Drop the broom and get away!"

"Okay!" She let go. Her hands released the handle as Ego's neck cracked loudly and then they flew to Vasilia's face, both of them covering the area where her mouth probably should have been. There was a sharp hiss of indrawn breath from Sophia as they watched the slime grown and consolidate, Vasilia leaning back to avoid it as it reached for her. Something scratched and scrabbled at her soles and finally when her body had long since appeared to be off balance she stepped back. Away from the tendril. Away from the head. "Oh no, oh no no no no i don't like this!"

"Vasilia!" Sophia's voice was sharp with something splintered and high. It brought back memories of a similiar cry as it rose above both Ego's stream of pleading and Vasilia's own denial of the situation. The doll pulled her hands from her face to knock them against her hat then shook her head wildly.

"I've pulled myself together! But what about Ego? She's in more pieces than I am!"

"I think... I think it might be too late for her. Her NetOp- if this thing wants to do something to him then we need to stop it! Or at least slow it down." The puppet's hands clenched and unclenched, bunching the hat in their grip as Vasilia stared. The scrabbling at her feet was worse now, but she didn't care about that. Was there really nothing they could do for Ego?

Something hurt in her core but she lowered her hands from her hand and gestured to dispell the broom back into bits of data. "Okay, I'm ready!"
A sickening sort of relief started to spread through Ego at Vasilia's protests. Being scared of her was good, she thought as firmly as she dared - scared meant they understood, or at least they were starting to. Scared meant the sweet voice with the pretty name was still alive, still discrete, and not just one more mindless shriek from somewhere in her head. Being scared would keep her safe.

Still, she wondered what she must look like now, to make the human shriek so.

"Yes...slow it...down. Th-the twins!" she startled herself by recalling, "i-in the lab. The one-in-two-bodies. They were..." where had they been? The blue one had told you, it hadn't been long ago...right? "..what did they call it? Po...lice? They didn't...understand - tried to help - it escaped - have to - warn...them..."

A gurgling moan cut her off. The tendril coiled over Vasilia's abandoned broomstick, pulling it down Ego's hollow neck with sucking squelches. "Heartwood...fractal...unguarded...familiar..." Egomorph gasped out, swaying from side to side, "this taste...Vasilia...is that you?"

[Prey is nearly within reach. Alerts are circulated into the main system from Administrator's client: with new rootcode nearly finished distributing, the white prepares to reactivate.


"N-no!" The pool eddied and swirled underfoot, "it - it knows you, why does it know you?" Ego's voice was starting to break at the edges, asking questions that made her shake to consider. Tendrils were creeping now from the edges of the pool; she felt herself being dragged slowly forward, towards Vasilia. There was a nauseating weight pressing all over her, like being deep inside the white. She shook her head; it was getting harder to hold up with every second. She saw herself from every angle but her own eyes, walkingslithering into - "...a dome? So full...so many scents to follow. It ate something there...a Navi? No...no, something else. It just...reached out there. Reached out, and - it tasted you. It recognized you-"

The realization burned as hot and sudden as acid - all at once the panic returned, redoubled, and slid straight down into stark, screaming terror. The pool drank deep of her unrest, a dozen new feelers writhing and churning their way out the edges of the pool. There was a feeling like sliding feet-first down a giant's gullet: Ego felt the pressure creep up her legs, balloon in her belly, swallowing her up from the inside out. She was out of time.

Irregular shapes drifted beneath the pulsing surface of the white. Egomorph's halos crackled, casting their bloody light in jagged arcs - above the rising hiss of static, the Support Program cried out, "It...IT FOLLOWED YOU HERE! R-RUN! RUN!!""

<(ACCEPT PVP REQUEST? Y/N)>
"Twins in a lab? That could be more specific." Sophia muttered as Ego spoke. Eventually though the pile of parts that use to be a girl (or still were a girl? Ego's condition was a mystery) spit out the word 'Police' and even Sophia knew she could do something with that.

Surely the country didn't have that many twins in a lab who worked for the police.

Vasilia snapped her fingers and her broom disappeared! Just not in the way she had wanted. She froze as the broomstick was ingest and leaned forward as Egomorph spoke.

"Familiar? You know me?" The puppet asked, wonder in every word. She had been ready to flee but- those crumbs of not-quite-memories still nudged her awareness. Despite her yearning, despite her attempts to chase that thought-train any further the tracks stubbornly refused to magically extend past where they abruptly dead ended. One hand crept to the witch-doll's emblem, an unconcious act as the puppet started to babble. "I'm, I, I don't remember you! Were you there?"

"That is not good sign." Sophia said as horror crawled up her spine and Ego continued to talk. The scary-creepy white goop apparently recognized her Navi, remembered her from some time when it had eaten something that wasn't a Navi? That part was confusing but it didn't really matter. There was only one real option here. She jammed her finger on the jack-out button only to be met with a pop-up message box and a loading bar.

ER̴ROR: Unable to q̸u̸i̴t̴ until active processes a̵r̷e̴ closed. Now closing processes. T̷i̷m̸e̵ remaining: µ2:7¢

"You glitchy piece of-" Sophia snapped her mouth shut as her eyes landed on the many search tabs she had been using while Vasilia spoke. Her fingers scratched against the control panel for the bike. Distantly she was aware a few people were gathering to watch the events on the screen. She caught whispers of commentary but she couldn't spare the brainspace to translate. "Vasilia, you have to start running! I can't jack you out yet, there's a delay, a timer but it's broken, you have to run! Run so that that thing doesn't catch you!"

She broke off as Ego's weird halo-thing sent off spikes, as the support program started to yell. The witch-doll didn't hesitate any further. As much as she wanted to stay, as much as she wanted to help it was obvious that she couldn't, not now anyways.

"I'm sorry! It'll be different in the future, I promise!"

(PVP Request: Accepted)
What started as a cautious desire to help had rapidly spiralled into horror and madness as Hex woke, Ego fell away and all that remained was panic amidst the impulses of fight and flight. Vasillia was not safe, and in that moment she became aware of just how deserted the empty back-alleys and rarely travelled by-ways of the remote area of Sci-Lab actually were right now. There was no-one around to help, or to witness her plight. She could run, but how quickly could the amorphous monstrosity move? She could fight, but how exactly did you fight something like that? Ego's screams echoed between the high-rise structures that cast the light from above into tilted rays.

In this moment, they were in a small oval-shaped plaza, raised and suspended between walks that moved between the many tall structures all around. There were only two pathway out of the normally peaceful rest space – one lead back behind Vasilia, between two buildings before curving away to the left. The other was at the far end, behind the swelling mass of nightmare-fuel, and seemed to lead to a down-ward curving ramp.

The plaza itself had a small garden feature in the centre, with a single tree, as well as a neat park bench on either side. There were railings, but a glance off the edges revealed more walk-ways below, leading in different directions – a fair jump and a drop for a navi throwing themselves over the side, but against staying where she was, it was perhaps another option for the desperate.

-=The White=-
Hex: 180Hp [Metal]
Egomorph.SP: 90Hp [on Hex]

-=The Witch=-
Vasilia.Exe: 120Hp [Metal]

-=The Walk-Way=-
60% Metal
  • Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
  • 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.
[large ovular plaza]
20% Grass
  • Wood Elementals get +5 HP/action.
  • Fire attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Soil.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Wood.
[Small greenery feature in the centre]
20% Solar
  • Elec Elementals get +5 HP/action.
  • Wood attacks: +100% Source Damage, change terrain hit to Cracked.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Stun1.
[thin strips along the edges of the area, like edge-guards]

-=Fight or Flight, Begin=-
"Battle routine set! Execute!" The video screen disappeared as the PET prioritized the Navi's functions to the exclusion of all others. Her voice stayed with Vasilia, and the puppet only.

"Vassie! We're going to get a bit tricky here, okay? Make for the path behind you but don't run that way yet."

"Okay! I can do it!" The witch-puppet's fingertips began to glow and she lifted her shoes in sequence to tap her fingers against them and activate the defensive spells imbued within. Immediately they began to stomp in place, prepared to intercept attacks directed toward the main body and Vasilia readied herself to run.

The hands below her moved themselves to assist. They squirmed out of the confines of her shadow and raced across the net to scratch and tear at the metal, wearing the area away and turning it to dust and dirt.

"Goodbyyye~ creepy goop!" Vasilia waved a still glowing hand above her head as she took several steps backward, her body already turning to the path behind her. It was the obvious, safest path away from the goop monster and the doll wondered why they weren't taking that route but she trusted Sophia! Her NetOp was smart!

"Incoming, Vasilia! Use this then make a break for it!"

"Oooh...I'm really sorry about this Egomorph! We can still be friends later, right?" Magic flooded Vasilia's system and she sketched a horizontal cylinder in the air and then slapped her hand against it twice. With loud 'pop' a log appeared for each slap and went bouncing toward the White and the it's unfortunate lure. Now that the logs were away, such a good spell!!!, Vasilia was on her way! Her boots smacked against the ground as she raced for the railing.

If she made it to the railing there would be a shriek of fearr before one of her hands turned into a cannon and, following her super-smart NetOp's instructions, she fired in such a way as to hopefully align her better with one the walkways below.
Battle Log

1) Kick-Out!- 2-Hit Shield and Counter(Last Shield broken): 10 Wood + Knockback + Self Slow - 2 TCD
* Set Soil
2) Feint toward path behind her + Evasion boost from Soil -Evasion Self Slow debuff
3) RollingLog1Damage: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Rolls a log at enemies. Can hit up to two enemies at once per log.
Duration: Up to 2 uses before the end of the turn.
Element: Wood
Special: Double Attack: After spending an action to attack with this chip, you may choose to spend a second action and attack with it again before the end of the turn.
Note: This chip used to be known as RingLog1
Trader Rank: D
@ Hex/Ego (+5dmg Same Element Boost) +100% Final Damge from Soil/Change to Grass
4) RollingLog1Damage: 50 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack (2) + Double Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Rolls a log at enemies. Can hit up to two enemies at once per log.
Duration: Up to 2 uses before the end of the turn.
Element: Wood
Special: Double Attack: After spending an action to attack with this chip, you may choose to spend a second action and attack with it again before the end of the turn.
Note: This chip used to be known as RingLog1
Trader Rank: D
@ Hex/Ego (+5dmg Same Element Boost) +100% Final Damage from Soil/Change to Grass
5) Movement -> Up and over the railing + Evasion boost from Soil -Evasion Self Slow debuff
6) CannonModeEffect: Adds +20 Null and Knockback to your Buster Shot Attack.
Accuracy: Buster Accuracy = A
Description: Your Custom Weapon vanishes, and is replaced with a Cannon. Your buster returns to normal when the chip effect ends.
Duration: Number of Uses equal to double your Rapid stat. Cannot be Broken.
Element: Null
Special: Overrides Buster. Disables Charged Shot.
Trader Rank: D
1/2 uses -> Midair manuevering onto walkway

Cooldowns
Kick-Out! - 0/2

Chips Used
CannonMode
RollingLog1
The scream cut out. Egomorph lay still, frozen but for the tentacle's crawling. An incandescent red glow settled in the space between her halos, refracting bloodily against the metal skyway. From underfoot came a quiet, bone-deep drone of static.

Ego stood, or rather, straightened. Her legs were gone, now; a column of white ooze held her torso aloft, tattered dress hanging empty from the waist down. Tendrils crept from her wrists, joined the larger one from her neck in creeping forward, ever forward.

The earth itself seemed to speak, with a voice like scraping metal, [Gestation complete > Command: administrate]. The Conduits' crackling grew audibly louder as the oozing pool began to boil over with its own mass, rising higher and higher off the ground. The dark shapes loomed within, stared Vasilia down with too many empty eyes, and-



-breached the surface.

As Egomorph disappeared under a layer of dead, hollow skin, the pool lurched with its newfound mass. Administrating its own growth, a carved-out head oozed out and became a shoulder - it in turn vomited an alabaster leg, shattering its jaw around its base. Tarry black veins seeped from the pool's depths and knitted the grisly arrangement together, and then the white had an arm with which to drag its pool forward. More of it seeped into the Net with every second, spurting out of the shell in feelers and tentacles.

They all pointed in one direction. In catching her signature and tasting a sliver of her being, a part of Vasilia had vanished into Hex's event horizon, which reached endlessly to draw all things into itself. It knew its objectives, had gestated and processed them prior to reactivation - now Hex was awake, in full intelligent control of itself, and there was nothing left to distract it from obtaining the rest.

<heartwood/fractal/unguarded> was fleeing. In a surging wave, it pursued.

All at once, the Net was filled with grinding, stamping cacophony. Still swelling and sewing itself together, the white crawled after Vasilia on a tumble of hands and things it had crushed and mangled into hands. Some had eyes; others, whole faces stretched and reaching in dreadful ways; some were nothing but grasping teeth. Stretched tall above the crawling depths was Egomorph, only recognizable by her halos and the thick, undulating tendril that had broken her head off. Her arms were rigid as antennae, fixed out and slightly up in a pose that looked almost religious, as though the white were saying (were Vasilia to look back at what followed her), 'behold, all that we have become; behold, all that you shall become'.

The Conduits were spinning faster and faster, whining with staticky feedback. [Command: Activate] the voice from below said, and pushed against its connection to the halos. Crimson light arced off the rings from the power spike, the energy processed from the white seeping back into it. Feeding off its Administrator's power, it gave a triumphant gurgling bellow, and charged.

Little attempt was made to avoid the obstacles <heartwood/fractal/unguarded> had set down in its path. Barely sentient (albeit intelligent), perpetual motion was the white's natural state - to deter its advance would take a significant display of force, and while well-coordinated, Vasilia's log trap failed to register. It went through the rail as much as over it, Egomorph's tendril shooting through the air after Vasilia as she made her desperate leap. The body carried its trajectory after her, ooze piling upon itself, all the momentum of its charge behind one single, grasping, hungry point. It was getting closer.

-Turn Summary-
-FastArmour [40 HP Casing around Hex]
-One for All [Link Hex & Ego's HP]
E1. Equip [unified body, Ego atop Hex]
1. Feint [ADVANCE]
2. Buster Charge
3. Movement [FOLLOW]
4. Buster Charge
E2. Command: Activate [Random Effect, mod rolls d10; 1TCD]
Possible Activations
1 - Hollow bodies rise from the pool, to be grifted on as disposable armour.
Effects: 2-Hit Shield (random ally)

2 - A cloud of crackling static bursts from the pool and settles over its creator.
Effects: 40 HP Barrier (random ally)

3 - Hex's pool is churned and agitated, seething with aggression.
Effects: Sig Chill (random ally)

4 - The pool directs its code to gather, corrupt, and rupture into a toxic haze of static that befouls all it settles over - even Hex itself.
Effects: Glitch 2 (indiscriminate target)

5 - Ego is pulled under. The pool lurks underfoot, feeling out its next target.
Effects: Burrow, Take Aim (Egomorph only)

6 - Hex or Ego begin moving erratically.
Effects: Haste (random ally)

7 - Tentacles rise from the pool, sensing, reaching out from every angle.
Effects: Accuracy Enhancement (random ally)

8 - A misshapen pile of sewn-together bodies is raised for cover. Upon its destruction, it bursts into a noxious slurry of energized matter, which is consumed by the white as fuel.
Effects: Summon 20 HP CorpseHeap (in front of random ally), Trap (When Destroyed): (15 Healing, random ally)

9 - The pool reaches out to eat at the terrain, growing stronger for the added mass.
Effects: Medium Cracked Terrain (random location), Strengthen 20 (random ally)

10 - Red light bleeds from the Conduit and surrounds Ego in a searing aura, damaging her but increasing her strength several-fold.
Effects: 60 Strengthen, Sacrifice 15 (Egomorph only)
5. Movement [CHARGE]
6. D̴̺͊̾I̴͍͍͛S̵͙̕Ȃ̸̢R̴͑͗͜M̷̺̑͝
As Hex arose and began to spill forth onto the network, a brief lurching moment of predator and prey passed between Vasilia and the writhing mass. The body formed up, covering itself in more data even as its mass stretched and expanded, while Vasilia started up her own emergency precautions. The navigator flinched backwards, beginning to back away and in a lurch, the White followed. Another step, a larger lurch, and then Vasilia began to flee.

As she made for the far end of the rest area, Hex followed after, giving chase. It moved, taking what remained of Ego with it, the remains of her ruined body displayed almost like some macabre deific martyr. It came on, gaining speed as it crossed the distance, unheeding of the attacks that Vasilia threw behind her. One long bounced and rolled, slamming into the mass of body parts and sinking in; the broken limbs and twisted remains cushioned it, then gripped on, wrapping themselves around the offending piece of data and drawing it into the white.

The second log struck the ground and upended itself, tumbling end over end to crash with full force into the ego-shaped body lure and the seething nightmare below at once, but though this seemed to ruin most of what remained of Ego's form, the log remained wedged upright in the white mass, driven partially through doll's shape. It shifted and twisted, beginning to be devoured as the horror surged forward.

The chase had become a sprint now, as Vasilia's feet thumped through the soft soil and Hex's mass became an onrushing torrent that consumed everything behind her. Ego's tether crackled and activated, but it was hard to tell what it had done immediately; there was no visible sign other than the pulsing red light (Effect: Sig Chill: applied to Command:Activate itself).

Just as grasping tendrils reached out to being curling around Vasilia's various parts, the navi heel-turned and dove to one side, going over the railing as much of Hex's bulk thundered past. Grasping hand-facsimiles and reaching tendrils lashed out, arresting its forward momentum and heaving it around to give chase again.

Free-falling for a moment, Vasilia transformed one hand to blast herself back under the platform and inward towards a lower walkway, perhaps hoping that the Hex mass would continue to fall to the much greater descent below them. The shot pushed her back easily, but even as it fired, the surging, twisting horror of the white pursuing blocked the light and filled her vision above. It oozed like a hungry flood down over the rail, while grasping parts shot out in every direction to grab onto the lower railing and stop it from falling further. Multiple tendrils continued to reach for Vasilia even as she pushed away from it; two caught onto her cannon hand and wrapped around it, followed by a sensation of hunger and screams.

Vasilia felt a tugging sensation, trying to pull her back towards it again, before she came free, landing roughly and rolling over twice to fetch up against the far railing of the crossing walkways below. She'd made it down safely, but she hadn't thrown off her pursuit. In the moment it took the navi to pick herself up, she could see the hideous mass of aberrant data clawing its way back up over the side of her new location. Two of its tendrils caught her eye for a moment; they had something. The cannon she had just fired was wrapped in white mass and cracks laced it, but the muzzled wavered before pointing itself towards Vasilia. It was enough to realise in that moment that the whole apparatus had been torn free; the hand that had helped her stand again was the only one she had right now. She couldn't feel her other hand at all any more.

This lower walkway split and branched; one led back into a high-rise building, with the faint green light of a wide archway marking it as a public entrance of some sort. To her left, a smaller gantry skipped over to a different building; there was a door, with a hand-print panel on one side, for access. In the centre of the area, directly between Vasilia and where Hex was in the process of mounting the railing, a broad spiral stairway, with an open central shaft, seemed to descend all the way to the ground, a long way below. The final path curved back upwards at a gradual angle, but it was obscured by a large yellow and green machine that was trundling along the walkway towards them. It had a selection of spinning brushes that were cleaning the path, and a smiling prog operating the controls. It seemed largely oblivious to the horror show that was unfolding before it.


-=The White=-
Hex: 125Hp [Over Missing, but stable][2 Buster Charges][ CannonModeEffect: Adds +20 Null and Knockback to your Buster Shot Attack.
Accuracy: Buster Accuracy = A
Description: Your Custom Weapon vanishes, and is replaced with a Cannon. Your buster returns to normal when the chip effect ends.
Duration: Number of Uses equal to double your Rapid stat. Cannot be Broken.
Element: Null
Special: Overrides Buster. Disables Charged Shot.
Trader Rank: D
successfully captured; 1 use remaining]
Egomorph.SP: 1Hp [on Hex]

-=The Witch=-
Vasilia.Exe: 120Hp [Normal][A Hand Down: Only one wield slot available for remainder of fight][Kick-Out: 2-Hit shield + Counter][Self-Slow]

-=The Walk-Way=-
60% Normal
  • No effects.
[Branching walkway]
40% Missing
  • Permanent bottomless hole.
  • Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
  • EJO if you fall in.
[A large drop; falling will not necessarily result in EJOs, merely a change of battlefield, or potentially an end to the chase if enough separation occurs]
Nothing had gone exactly as planned and the seperation between what was wished for and what was reality was startling at best for the novice Net Op and Navi team.

But this situation was no where near the best.

Frightening might be better term, or maybe horror film-esqe...it certainly brought a few black and white images to Sophia's mind as she watched the scene unfold on the moniter over her bike, completely focused on the pet and the screen and the meager pile of chips in front of her.

"Egomorph! I'm so sorry!" Vasilia's hands couldn't stop, couldn't slow their frantic actions as she tried to keep ahead of the surging tide. If she had been able to stop, if she had the time to spare they would have been cupped over her face in an expression of horror as the logs impacted against the broken doll. The one she had promised to try to save, the one she had wanted to protect-

Something sharp and painful lodged in the witch-puppet's chest as she tossed herself over the railing. It wasn't fear at the fall, she wouldn't remember the pain from something like this anyways, no the fear was in the kernal of memory that was sprouting panic at the sight of the bodies sticking out of the White's nightmarish mass and the words being spoken. The panic was in her hand being engulfed, in the familiar way her name was called.

"Vasilia!"

The panic was in the fact that even with her limb torn from her body and the connections that let her control it being snapped she could still feel it.

The realization hit her as her shoes hit the pathway and she staggered, her intact hand groping blindly at the spot her other one should be. She could feel it, still, could feel the tacky slime sliding over and around her, dragging at the hard edges and corners of the gun-shape it had assumed.

"It stole your gun? I'm sending you another chip! Start running!"

Sophia's voice wass foggy and distant but the little puppet still tried to do what she said. The puppet staggered away from where she had landed, letting for once the hands beneath her feet guide her with their incessant tugging.

Left foot, pause, right foot, pause.

More ungainly than even her normal steps and so slow, too slow. The hands grew frustrated. They scratched and scrambled and tore at the smooth pathway until it began crumbling to dust and dirt.

"MOVE Vassie! I can't send you another chip- I don't know why! It says something about a limit but- oh! Because it stole the chip! I still can't log you out, you have to run!"

Vasilia came back to herself with a start. Sophia was worried and it was the doll's job to stop that!

"Und- under- I got it! I'll get moving!" She suited words to action and twirled on one foot away from where she had been standing with the faint hope of avoiding the deluge. She surveyed Egomorph's remains once more while something tightened in her chest and crushed out the sharp pain before, smothered it under cold and a flash of an image of her body laying there instead.

She turned and fled.

There was a machine ahead of her. Her angle of vision was all wrong, she didn't see or didn't register the Mr. Prog perched in the driver's seat. She saw only the possibility offered by something bulky enough to obstruct the path and keep the White away.

1) I can feel myself being eaten! - do nothing
2) Shadows' puppet -> Dodge +Self Slow nerf
3) Dodge + Self Slow nerf
4-6) Movement -> Toward

Active
Kick-Out! - 2-Hit Shield and Counter(Last Shield broken): 10 Wood + Knockback + Self Slow

Cooldowns
Kick-Out! - 1/2

Chips Used

CannonMode
RollingLog1
Halfway-dangling over the long drop, the pool flattened and clung to the edge with veins and clinging protoplasm. Every hand that had made it over the rail smashed itself into the ground; unseen beneath the road, the shell's dangling edge split open at the seams. White slithered from the cracks in a snakes-nest of tentacles, climbing the patchwork body's jagged ridges and looping back into its own mass like an abstract ouroboros, jettisoning the hollow deadweight as it went. The logs were already cracking and splitting where they'd stuck fast - ooze mixed with wood pulp into a lumpy, bubbling semi-solid that tried to form teeth even as the white pulled it down to feed on. Through it all, two tentacles wound slowly over their capture with something like reverence. Its Administrator quantified the weapon wrapped over it, yes - but the hand within, and its connection to the mind that moved it was the white's true prize.

One scraped open a hole and made its entry. It was not quick.

Egomorph was the last thing to be dragged over the edge. A few scraps of white fabric were all that remained of the little girl Vasilia had found just minutes ago, now floating in a lumpy pustule that looked like nothing so much as a tumour on Hex's surface. Wood pulp fused like mortar with the skin that stretched over her bubble, and then she was a tumour with writhing tendrils and too many mouths. The Conduit hung pristine and untouched, if slightly dimmer from the white's damaged connection.

[Command: replicate] Its connection damaged, Hex's voice sounded farther away this time. The pool seeped and spread, eating itself a foothold on the walkway. All it consumed was taken under and digested into more oozing white, which Hex fed right back through its window, bolstering slightly the pillar-like connection that clung to the Net's underside. The oozing pile and its tumour visibly swelled with yet more mass. Ego's halos steadied some, glow intensifying - her many mouths gibbered and gnawed at each other. [Command: activate] The voice sounded closer; Egomorph remained a writhing but immobile beacon to its master. The white seemed to suck the light right out of the air, flaring bloodily from within as the energy it processed from itself was in turn digested, and converted into yet more mass and might.

Pulsing arhythmically and brimming with red luminescence, static humming deeper than bone., a flailing mess at the walkway's edge, the white almost hurt to look at. This, along with the slow, savouring burrow of tentacles into Vasilia's hand, as it continued its dizzying motion a few seconds after it had found its foothold, was not unintentional.

It lunged. The hunt renewed, the cacophony resumed like it had never paused. Hands upon hands smashed the ground in her wake, split themselves to shards only to vomit out more skittering fingers. As it neared, more and more hands started reaching around the Navi as much as for her. The amorphous mass crowded the path, herding her to the edges. Shards of a trademarked smile leaked out in places - the white knew the scent of Mr. Progs well, knew them to be empty and tasteless compared to the rich wealth that lay in a Navi's cortex. It had little use for the insubstantial mouthful ahead or the device it drove, and it wanted them gone (it wanted its prey helpless, alone).

Amidst the tangle of hands, Vasilia's own was raised against her on the end of a long coiled tendril - over far too many seconds, it had burrowed all the way through, the sharpened tip slithering out the cannon's cracked barrel. For a moment it swelled up, wooden fingers splintering as pressure built inside - so much so that when the tentacle shot after Vasilia, the cannon blew apart. A small forest of little feelers rose from the pool to sweep up the remains, careful not to miss a morsel. The tentacle flew with the force of a bullet and all the mass it could fit behind the amorphous blow - if it didn't go right through, the force alone was liable to send Vasilia tumbling off the ledge, just how Hex wanted her.

Whether she fell or continued to run, the white's hunger-driven tunnel vision kept it following her all the same. It was all around Vasilia, a constantly moving blur of whipping feelers and pounding, stamping legs that would not stop spurting from the pool. It had tasted her spark, her mind, and the force she could bring to bear. Now it was wary enough to add this extra layer of unpredictable terror to its pursuit, and prepared to retaliate in kind.

A tentacle grew from the writhing white grass. Studded along its length were the splinters of Vasilia's hand, woven with veins into cruel thorns that even still reached out for the once-them. Something in <heartwood/fractal/familiar> signalled through the connection of hands to the white, a fragment of a passage of growth. As the thorned whip came down in a lashing storm, Hex sought out that dormant seedling of self-outside-of-self in Vasilia's core; reached out to touch it, feed it, make it grow and bud and flourish and blossom.

-Turn Summary-
*FastArmour [40 HP Casing over Ego]
E1. Command: Replicate [30 Healing, Hex & Ego; 2TCD]
E2. Command: Activate [Random Effect; 1TCD]
Possible Activations
1 - Hollow bodies rise from the pool, to be grifted on as disposable armour.
Effects: 2-Hit Shield (random ally)

2 - A cloud of crackling static bursts from the pool and settles over its creator.
Effects: 40 HP Barrier (random ally)

3 - Hex's pool is churned and agitated, seething with aggression.
Effects: Sig Chill (random ally)

4 - The pool directs its code to gather, corrupt, and rupture into a toxic haze of static that befouls all it settles over - even Hex itself.
Effects: Glitch 2 (indiscriminate target)

5 - Ego is pulled under. The pool lurks underfoot, feeling out its next target.
Effects: Burrow, Take Aim (Egomorph only)

6 - Hex or Ego begin moving erratically.
Effects: Haste (random ally)

7 - Tentacles rise from the pool, sensing, reaching out from every angle.
Effects: Accuracy Enhancement (random ally)

8 - A misshapen pile of sewn-together bodies is raised for cover. Upon its destruction, it bursts into a noxious slurry of energized matter, which is consumed by the white as fuel.
Effects: Summon 20 HP CorpseHeap (in front of random ally), Trap (When Destroyed): (15 Healing, random ally)

9 - The pool reaches out to eat at the terrain, growing stronger for the added mass.
Effects: Medium Cracked Terrain (random location), Strengthen 20 (random ally)

10 - Red light bleeds from the Conduit and surrounds Ego in a searing aura, damaging her but increasing her strength several-fold.
Effects: 60 Strengthen, Sacrifice 15 (Egomorph only)
1. Dodge onto Normal
2. Feint [FLANK]
3. CannonModeEffect: Adds +20 Null and Knockback to your Buster Shot Attack.
Accuracy: Buster Accuracy = A
Description: Your Custom Weapon vanishes, and is replaced with a Cannon. Your buster returns to normal when the chip effect ends.
Duration: Number of Uses equal to double your Rapid stat. Cannot be Broken.
Element: Null
Special: Overrides Buster. Disables Charged Shot.
Trader Rank: D
: Vasilia [30 Null {A}, Knockback aimed to push off walkway]
4. Movement [CHASE]
5. Dodge
6. Entry [80 Null {A}, Break, Glitch; 3TCD]
The moment of horrified showdown only lasted for an instant, before the reality of Hex churning, consuming and regenerating from Vasilia's attacks saw it expand and spread ever more vigorously. Red energy crackled across the conduit and what remained of Ego's presence, before arcs or garbled code and sticky whit mass burst like popped boils to spatter the walkway and Vasilia herself with their senseless screaming gibberish.

In the brief stretch where she couldn't act, however, the incomprehensible infusion of distorted code sent a shock through her – it wasn't pleasant, but it startled the navi in a more galvanising way. There didn't seem to be sense fighting this... thing... but she could still get away from it, surely. A tingling in her systems said it had to be so. A wash of rough, energetic healing washed across her, and though it wasn't necessary right now, she also felt a swell in her own magic, almost like it was responding to the danger.

The white mass came on, and Vasilia started to run, retreating back across the lower walk towards the rising path where the cleaning machine trundled towards them. Hex followed, seemingly unheeding of all but its desired goal. As Vasilia began to vault over the cleaning machine, Hex levelled the pierced and cracked remnants of her own weapon at her, releasing a heavy whit mass that one of Vasilia's protective boots kicked up to deflect at the last moment. The impact spun the with navi around, however, and she stumbled back from her perch, precariously to the edge of both the machine, and the entire walkway as a result.

“HEY! THAT'S DANGEROUS!” A bright, jovial announcement from the cleaner prog in the driver's seat likely went unnoticed by both Vasilia and the monster pursuing her. Vasilia tottered, trying to keep her balance as the mass of Hex's form chased and lunged for her, thick tendrils lancing out to break and pierce and claim her. In a last desperate twist and shift of her body, Vasilia's foot slipped and in a jolting instant the doll found herself beginning to fall.

The stabbing thorned tentacle slammed through the space where she had been, embedding itself into the guys of the large machine instead, which immediately began to twist and mutate, crumpling and expanding as long, random grows of metal sprouted up and grew out of it in chaotic directions.

“OH NO! OH DEAR! OH NO!” in the midst of the swiftly unrecognisable machine mass, a muffled voice called out, but Hex was already swarming over the point where Vasilia had fallen; it could see the puppet dropping away, towards the ground far below, and it would only need to fling itself after her to catch up.

As she fell, the aberrant sensations coursing through her shifted and combined into a powerful pulse, deep in her core; it felt strange, not entirely comfortable, or pleasant, but it offered her strength and power, if only she could work out how to use it.


-=The White=-
Hex: 155Hp [Normal, Edge of the walk, directly above Vasilia][2 Buster Charges]
Egomorph.SP: 31Hp [Casing: 40/40Hp][on Hex]

-=The Witch=-
Vasilia.Exe: 120Hp [Falling over Missing][A Hand Down: Only one wield slot available for remainder of fight][Kick-Out: 1-Hit shield + Counter][Glitch: SAS Soul (Indefinite)]

-=The Walk-Way=-
20% Normal
  • No effects.
[Branching walkway]
80% Missing
  • Permanent bottomless hole.
  • Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
  • EJO if you fall in.
[A large drop; falling will not necessarily result in EJOs, merely a change of battlefield, or potentially an end to the chase if enough separation occurs]

Glitch Log


SAS Shortcut (Positive Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim suffers a glitch in their signature Attack System which causes a more efficient and longer enduring function. Positive effects generated by signatures last for as long as this glitch does, unless their duration would already be longer. SPs and Navigators are treated as independent by this glitch; an SP whose navigator has allocated them personal signatures is unaffected if their navi has this glitch, and similarly an SP with this glitch finds only their personal signatures effected, without infecting their navi's. Lasts three turns, until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Growth Catalyst (Positive Glitch)(Catalytic Glitch): The victim suffers a temporary protective or restorative effect, randomly determined, and taking effect immediately upon application. This effect lasts only until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, the Glitch checks for any Mutable Glitches in the victim's system. If none are present, the glitch is dispelled. If a Mutable Glitch is present this glitch interacts with that one, and creates a new, long-term glitch of a related nature to one or the other, or both. If the Mutable Glitch and the Catalytic Glitch are of different natures (Positive, Negative, Balance), the new form will be either Balance, or the nature of the Catalytic Glitch. If multiple Mutable Glitches exist, one is randomly selected. Glitch lasts only for the turn that it is applied.

SAS Soul (Positive Glitch): The victim's Signature Attack System briefly defies all code logic. Signatures have no cooldown and can all be used once per turn. Positive effects generated by signatures endure indefinitely (or until destroyed as usual in the case of defences), instead of their listed duration, as long as this glitch remains. This includes enhancements, such as Haste, body defences, such as shadow and multi-turn/action benefits such as regeneration effects. Any time the victim uses a signature with a beneficial effect on themselves, they spontaneously regenerate 10Hp. Glitch lasts until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.
Bodies. Bodies. Yet more bodies. It would be nigh-impossible now to count the faces as they flowed and gibbered over the edge, each one a tale cut brutally, horrifically short. Limbs crawled from the stream pouring over the lip of the pathway, over each other, over itself, after their quarry. Egomorph was passed from hand to foot to mouth to hand again, carried down the macabre waterfall to the spiraling point at its base. When the haloed lump had no more hands to carry it, Hex peeled open its shell and pushed at the oozing connection that bound them together. Yet more white was forced into the space between them, the tendriled ball pushed beyond what velocity the fall allowed, carried on a tide of writhing tentacles. Through its Administrator Hex reached out, many mouths gnashing with a madness that went beyond sentience or sanity.

Just as Hex reached in ways Vasilia could see, so too did it stretch in directions she could not. It still held onto the connection it had tunneled, deep through Vasilia's hand, reaching across space-that-wasn't-space to the body beyond. It could feel, in its unquantifiable way, the growth that flourished in <heartwood/fractal/familiar?> - were it conscious of such things, it might perhaps have found the budding energy pleasing to behold, in and of itself. As power welled in Vasilia's body, so too did something else: something that sought to unspool invisible feelers into Vasilia's chest; to rasp and scrape along her heartwood; to feed on the beautiful swirling growth she fostered.


It was reaching into Egomorph too - this, Vasilia could see, were she to look back at what plummeted after her, reaching to claim her before they even hit the ground. The entire hemisphere facing the Navi crumpled into itself, falling into a hollow that had formed at Ego's center and vanishing from sight. Hex's matter flooded through the oozing tentacles into the hollow, compacting on itself, consuming more and more and somehow more of its own mass. Strangely, the light behind Vasilia (were she facing it) seemed to shine brighter, pulled by Hex's density from the deep infrared shades into visibility.

Colours that didn't exist shone from the anomaly at Egomorph's core. The burning un-brightness ate at itself, hues fading darker and deeper, divorcing itself farther and farther from comprehension. Only Sophie and Vasilia would be able to say what they saw, staring into Hex's monument. To Sophie's organic eyes and brain, it might have folded so far into itself as to look like a strangely magnified patch of nothing, like a hole in the Net she could only look past, without seeing the thing itself. Vasilia's mind, conversely (uniquely) might instead force a memory into the space it occupied, or perhaps a sensation her body would try to feel as something tactile. The only universal descriptors one could fit the anomaly were these: it had no physical substance; it cast neither light nor shadow on the surrounding Net; it should have only occupied as much space as Egomorph's child-sized lump, but the longer one stared into it, the farther it opened up until it seemed to span from notional horizon to notional horizon; it, as was true of all that called itself Hexadecimal, hungered singly for the consumption of all things, and tore itself bodily through the Net to carry its endless mission forward. All other truths of the anomaly were unique to those who perceived it.

It was grim mercy that kept Ego from experiencing any of this. Forced from her own head to drift bodiless, bereft of awareness as part of the swirling white, there was nothing left of the broken china doll-girl in the amorphous, tumbling chaos. All Vasilia could see was Hex, its unholy birthing, and the Administrator it reached for her through. The Conduit halos burned, keening with a discordant, static-y howl that managed to claw at the ears and shake the bones in the same instance. Tentacles reached from the shards of Egomorph wrapped around the burning unlight, grasping with alien hunger closer, closer.

Not close enough.


It came at Vasilia like an ocean wave, starting before they even hit the ground and continuing for long-after. Tentacles and limbs reared from behind Hex's genesis, where they had never stopped tumbling over themselves to be the first to grasp hold. Veins sewed together great coiling boughs out of the amorphous surge, wrought from hands and ribs and anything it could reshape for clutching. The rest of the body followed after them, seeking to bury the whole grim ensemble, Vasilia, Egomorph and all, in a writhing, tangling tide of itself. Just as it reached forward, it dragged its own mass back in a circuitous whirlpool of flesh, diffusing from a swollen lump into a creeping, crawling thing that seemed to swallow the ground itself. Thin scouting feelers reached from its maw to swat at Vasilia's feet, provoking the retaliation it had seen of them. The implication was clear: it had Vasilia alone, now it wanted her soft, undefended.

The creeping white was swelling up again.

-Turn Summary-
-FastArmour [40 HP Casing around Hex]
1. Movement [PURSUE]
2. Throw Egomorph at Vasilia
E1. Movement [SNARE]
-Glitch Eater [Consume SAS Soul, Strengthen 20 (Hex)]
3. Synthesis: Egomorph [Glitch 10 (Contagious), Charge Burner x2; 5TCD]
E2. Grapple Vasilia
4. Attachment: Vasilia [Gravity, Freeze, Turn Delay (1 Turn): Hold, Self-Slow; 4TCD]
5. Buster Shot: Vasilia's Shield [15 Null {A}]
6. Buster Charge
Hope bloomed in Vasilia's chest as she fell, as her shields broke. Hope bloomed as Sophia crowed in triumph and slammed a chip home and Vasilia felt that familiar code take hold. Her magic gathered in the palm of her hand and she flung in as close an approximation to the ground as she could fall falling.

The horrible screaming mass of faces (was that one familiar? had she seen that hat before? what about that other face with the scar?) was chasing her, was changing and shifting and moving and reaching and-

Her body hit the ground and bounced once, twice, then stopped in a crumpled heap.

"Vasilia get up! Can you protect yourself with anything else? Another spell or- argh! All these chips are for attacking!"

A memory bloomed in her mind and her hand rose to her chest, particles of blue trailing after as she traced the square, the circle, the dot in the middle of it on herself. It blazed brightly, bright enough for her to see with horrific clarity the details on the thing pursuing her.

She couldn't escape completely. She wobbled to her feet to try and move away but she was so slow. Even the shadow hands grasping at her could not help and she felt a pang of foreign irritation. They could, they should be doing more but she wasn't quite sure what that 'more' was.

Something in her chest died. Something that had only just begun to sprout, something that had been green and warm and powerful. She staggered at the loss, her hands- her hand reflexively reaching for her emblem. Would Hex feel it twitch? Feel the aborted command as it died with the memory that to her that hand was as good as gone even if she could still feel it?

She could see the colors stretching out in front of her, the way they shifted and changed and she could not help but look back. She felt hair shift over her shoulder, felt a fierce determination and rage so hot she thought she'd burst into flames build in her emblem.

she remembered she remembered she remembered she remembered-

Her head split with the impressions. She was distant and close, then and now. Differences, so many differences some as fundamental as how her body worked and moved and was but there was similiarites. A similiarity.

It was constant.

Fear, a pleasant day ruined. (Rage, a victory snatched) Sophia was saying something (that woman was saying something) but she couldn't hear for the overlap

The chip was different.

There hadn't been anymore chips last time. With part of herself she drew, she marked the line in front of her and fire spewed out in a torrent as hot as ghost-rage inside her into the oncoming wave. Defiance and satisfaction alien to her flodded her limbs and she was a passenger in her own body, possessed by the fragment of memory she hadn't been able to open earlier that now stretched off into the vastness of a net where it connected with the ghost of herself.

No, not ghost. An echo.

The shadows shifted her, a token gesture meant to move. She symapthized she didn't She didn't want to be here anymore than they did but she would always stand and fight.

Another chip. The other her grabbed it eagerly, whispered in her ear how to aim. Two spheres of light and pain, two targets, one hand.

She flicked her fingers, sent the attack into the mass of the body as it closed around her.

Someone was screaming in her voice but she didn't know which her was doing it.

[b]Summary[b]
Action 1) CannonDamage: 60 + Knockback
Accuracy: A
Description: A decent sized cannon with a single shot.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: E
@ Slow self

Action 2) Sigil of Defense: 20 HP Barrier + 20 HP Casing (1TCD)

Action 3) Movement == RUN

Action 4) HeatBreath1Damage: 80 + Medium Lava Terrain Change + Cone Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Blast up to 4 enemies with a cone of fiery breath. Changes terrain to Lava.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: D
@ Hex

Action 5) Dodge

Action 6) ShotgunDamage: 50 + Spread 1
Accuracy: A
Description: A gun whose shot penetrates an enemy to hit another one directly behind it.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: E
@ Hex & Ego

Chips Used

CannonMode
RollingLog1
HeatBreath1
Shotgun
Vasilia's vision was blotted out by the horrific mass that flowed over the edge of the walkway after her falling form. Rather than an easy escape, the pursuit simply shifted vertical as the veritable waterfall of terror fell after her.

Below, as they both fell, Vasilia managed to catch a glimpse of other buildings below, rushing towards them. A broad rooftop seemed the most prominent, covered in complicated and delicate-looking equipment. The fall was fast, maybe too fast, and the landing looked to be hard; Vasilia tried to slow herself with a blast of magical energy. Below her, something shattered with a rending, rupturing sound.

There was no chance to see what it was though; Even as her momentum slowed with a lurch from the blast's blowback, Hex only seemed to speed its descent, reaching out and ejecting more of itself downward ahead of its amorphous bulk. The remains of what had once been Ego were prominent in the extension that shot down to try to catch Vasilia, and a shape dominated by the red-glowing conduit wrapped onto her even as they struck the the ground.

Vasilia landed in a wet and jagged remnant of something that had once contained water; the slowing of her fall had set her a little off course to where Hex itself landed with a much more grotesque splatter, crushing delicate rooftop equipment under itself. The hunted navi raised more defences about herself, but it wasn't enough to free her form from the creeping, clinging, oozing code mass that bore no more resemblance to the friend she'd tried to make earlier. The feeling of it draining her was hard to bear, but the situation grew worse as Vasilia clambered up and began to flee across the rooftop; ahead, she could see a fire-escape, door open, but beyond that, it might only be a short extra jump to get down to the ground; an open plaza with many navis moving back and forth was just visible in the distance beyond; there would almost certainly be police naivs or others capable of helping her there... maybe...

Before she could get far, however, the conduit that still clung to her body, connecting her to the mass that was swelling again behind her, pulsed with fresh corruption, overwhelming itself and Vasilia both with incomprehensible feedback.

What remained of Ego experienced crackling, internal ruptures of energy, and the body itself grew unaccountably sensitive to them, redoubling the spikes of pain; lances of red crackling lightning arced from the conduit, striking at Vasilia's outermost defence layer, but even though it wasn't strong enough to compromise the field of protective magic, the magic failed all the same, crumbling away and unravelling. As the bolt struck, the conduit began to emit a new sound; music. a strangely upbeat, happy tune on folksy strings. It was entirely unfitting to the horror that was unfolding, but it was soon accompanied by a cheerful whistling that emanated from somewhere within ego's remains. What was, of Ego, was struck by the sensation that it would really be much better if they could just go to the beach. Everything would be okay, at the beach – there'd be smiles, and sun, and sand, and it would just be... good... if they'd all just listen to the music, things would be fine; couldn't they all just listen? Around the crackling conduit, the white mass of formless material began to replace its faces and limbs with ears; just ears. Ears of all shapes and sizes, but everywhere; so many ears, it was impossible to really see anything else. the cheerful whistling and music continued.

Vasilia felt the corrupt data pass to her en masse as well, filtering through her protective defences and worming its way into her being. The inescapable violation of it was hard to fathom, and she felt herself detaching from the situation, at least somewhat. Alreaydy struggling with the shadow of a ghost within her, Vasilia found herself seeing her body fromthe outside as she struggled with escaping the mass that was Hex; a few metres away, she could see herself standing and trying to run; see herself trying to wrench free of the ego-body that was holding tight to her; see it trying to invade her body with every creeping feeler and fleshy protrusion; she couldn't even really feel it as keenly as she would have, if it were her body; seeing ti from afar was... disconcerting. She could see her body covered in odd, mutating growths of its own, each of her remaining limbs becoming bumpy and uneven as her form toughened itself against attacks... it was... nauseating to see. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, from her perspective. Each step, each twist of the hand, head or body as she tried to get free. Everything seemed slower. The protective armour that her spell had created seemed to be starting to decay and crumble as well now.

Outside herself, sharing control of herself, with herself, Vasilia turned and unleashed a breath of fire back at the sense-defying mass of limbs and faces that pulled at her; the blast wave burned away some of its mass, scorching aberrant body parts that formed its ever-changing layers upon layers, but the creature seemed undeterred. It seemed to swell, before the abomination that was its ever-tumbling and reforming limbs burst out again in an effort to drag Vasilia to it, but the harried navi watched herself as she fought to keep pace where she was, avoiding the majority of its clawing, grasping extensions and pulling herself further away from its core. She attacked again, shooting two mroe points of light from her remaining hand; the clutching ear-mass that held her tightly took one ball of light, and the conduit was thrown off her as some of its protective ears were torn away, but the second ball of light didn't connect with the bulk of Hex behind her, too erratic was the shot.

Another feeler struck out even as Vasilia threw the pile of ears off her; her remaining boot saw it off with a sound kick, and for the moment, Vasilia was free of the entity's contact entirely.

Thrown to the ground as Vasilia backed off, the mass of listening ears that had previously been Ego felt the broken code within it shift and change, combining and mutating into greater and greater aberrant code structures; it began to regenerate as the energy tendrils lashing from its conduit became hungry coils, eager to strike, drain and feed. Its mass of ridiculous ears continued to listen to the soothing, up-beat beach music while the conduit whistled along.

Vasilia could feel the multitude of glitches running through her form struggling for dominance as some consumed others and the stronger ones evolved and grew; the feeling of separation from her body bloomed into a detached numbness; even more now, as she watched herself from afar, it was harder and harder to continue controlling her body remotely.

-=The White=-
Hex: 145Hp [Metal, Rooftop behind Vasilia][Strengthen: 20][Buster Charge: 1]
Egomorph.SP: 11Hp [Metal, Between Hex and Vasilia][Glitch: Elemental Reflux (Indefinite/Conditional)][Glitch: NC Flicker (2 turns)][Glitch: Fissured Growth (Tier 3) (Indefinite)][Glitch: Crimson Cascade (Indefinite)][Glitch: All Ears (Indefinite)][Glitch: To The Beach (Indefinite)]

-=The Witch=-
Vasilia.Exe: 120Hp [Metal. Rooftop ahead of Hex][A Hand Down: Only one wield slot available for remainder of fight][Glitch: Chip Limiter (Three Turns)][Glitch: Routine Override (Tier 3)(Indefinite)][Glitch: Lingering Numbness (Indefinite)][Glitch: Armour To Dust (Tier 2)(Three Turns)][Glitch: Overly Objective (Indefinite)]

-=The Walk-Way=-
80% Metal
  • Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
  • 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.
[cluttered Rooftop]
20% Missing
  • Permanent bottomless hole.
  • Doubles dodge penalties for bad RP.
  • EJO if you fall in.
[Jumping off the side will take you to ground level]

Terrain is a rooftop not far from the ground; an open fire escape leads down into the building, while a crowded plaza is visible ahead in the distance

Glitch Log


Elemental Reflux (Negative Glitch): The victim suffers a backlash of elemental energy inside their body, which shifts wildly from element to element and grows stronger over time. On the first turn, the victim takes 10 elemental damage of their own element, or Fire if the victim is Null elemental. The damage increases by 10 each turn, and changes element at random. This damage is delivered on application, and then at the start of each turn, before any other actions occur (including passives). It cannot be reduced or mitigated in any way, but will be stopped by the Undershirt program. It is susceptible to being increased by the victim's elemental weakness if they have one. If the glitch ever deals 100 damage or more in one application, or if it triggers the victim's Undershirt, it is immediately burned out and removed. Otherwise, glitch lasts until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Reactive Form (Balance Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim's body becomes extremely reactive to changes in its integrity. They take an additional 10 points of null damage that cannot be reduced any time they take damage from any other source, however they also gain double the value of any healing they receive. This glitch is highly mutable and can interact with other glitches. Glitch lasts three turn, until combat ends or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Target Catalyst (Positive Glitch)(Catalytic Glitch): The victim suffers a temporary offence-enhancing effect, randomly determined, and taking effect immediately upon application. This effect lasts only until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, the Glitch checks for any Mutable Glitches in the victim's system. If none are present, the glitch is dispelled. If a Mutable Glitch is present this glitch interacts with that one, and creates a new, long-term glitch of a related nature to one or the other, or both. If the Mutable Glitch and the Catalytic Glitch are of different natures (Positive, Negative, Balance), the new form will be either Balance, or the nature of the Catalytic Glitch. If multiple Mutable Glitches exist, one is randomly selected. Glitch lasts only for the turn that it is applied.

Fissured Growth (Balance Glitch): The victim gains regeneration, recovering 5Hp per action through this glitch. The glitch records how much Hp it has restored. If this glitch is removed, it immediately deals direct damage to the victim equal to half the amount of Hp it has restored at the time of removal. This damage cannot be reduced or mitigated in any way, but will be blocked by Undershirt/Second Chance. This glitch is prone to increasing in severity, and can tier up to a maximum of five times. Each tier beyond the first restores an extra 5Hp per action. At fifth tier, damage caused by removal of the glitch ignores Undershirt/Second Chance. If this glitch resolves out of combat, it does not deal any damage. Glitch lasts until combat ends or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Spectrum Wash (Positive Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim is surrounded by a halo of energetic light. Once each turn, the energy strikes out to hit a random enemy with a bolt of random elemental energy. This glitch is highly mutable and can interact with other glitches. Glitch lasts three turns, until combat ends or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Damage Catalyst (Positive Glitch)(Catalytic Glitch): The victim suffers a temporary damage-enhancing effect, randomly determined, and taking effect immediately upon application. This effect lasts only until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, the Glitch checks for any Mutable Glitches in the victim's system. If none are present, the glitch is dispelled. If a Mutable Glitch is present this glitch interacts with that one, and creates a new, long-term glitch of a related nature to one or the other, or both. If the Mutable Glitch and the Catalytic Glitch are of different natures (Positive, Negative, Balance), the new form will be either Balance, or the nature of the Catalytic Glitch. If multiple Mutable Glitches exist, one is randomly selected. Glitch lasts only for the turn that it is applied.

Crimson Cascade (Positive Glitch): The victim exudes erratic, crimson light which lashes out at enemies nearby. As a free action each turn, the energy attempts to strike any hostiles nearby, a number of times equal to double the victim's rapid stat. Each energy strike deals 10 null element damage, and the victim gains Strengthen equal to the amount of actual Hp the attacks deplete (Barriers etc., do not count). Glitch lasts until combat ends or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

NC Flicker (Negative Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim's Navi customiser suffers a glitch that causes their installed parts to randomly shut off for brief periods. Each turn, every NC install that the victim has will have a fifty percent chance to stop functioning for that turn. Any part that fails to function on one turn will be immune to this effect on the subsequent turn. This glitch has no effect on SPs, though they do act as carriers. This glitch is highly mutable and can interact with other glitches. Glitch lasts two turns, or until removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

At The Beach (Neutral Glitch): Are you feeling, feeling, feeling like I'm, feeling-like-I'm-floating, floating, up above that big blue ocean; sand beneath our feet, big blue sky above our heads. No need to keep the stressing from our everyday life on our minds; we have got to leave all that behind!

All Ears (Neutral Glitch): The victim's body sprouts and changes to be come covered in ears of all different shapes and sizes. The ears completely obscure their form to the point of ridiculousness, but strangely, they don't have any actual impact on the victim's ability to function or perceive the world around them.

Chip Limiter (Negative Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim suffers a glitch in their battlechip system, which becomes partially become corrupted. They cannot use more that two battlechips per turn. Glitch lasts three turns, or until removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Routine Override (Positive Glitch): The victim suffers an effect that bypasses the normal safety protocols in their battle routines, allowing the free use of actions and abilities normally requiring battle routines to be disengaged. This glitch is prone to increasing in severity and can increase to a maximum of five tiers. At tier one, the victim can freely refresh one used chip each round (though they can't use the same chip multiple times in one round lit this). At tier two, they can also use one subchip each round, as an action. At tier three, the victim's chips refresh automatically at the end of each turn. At tier four the victim change their subtype choices and installed navicust parts at the beginning of each turn. At tier five, the victim can use any number of subchips as free actions on their turn, and can choose to jack their navi out without consequence or needing to escape the battle first. Glitch lasts until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Overly Objective (Neutral Glitch): The victim suffers a perspective shift that causes their senses to relay information about their surroundings as though they were several metres removed from themselves, watching on. The glitch affects primarily the visual and aural senses; tactile experience is unaffected, creating a disorienting, but not debilitating experience.

Adaptive Mutation (Balance Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim suffers a mutability of their body which grants it the ability to resist damage. The Final damage the victim takes from any attack is reduced by 10. The effect is uncomfortable, alien and unsettling, however, and it makes it hard to focus beyond the unnerving sensation: the victim's accuracy and evasion are both reduced by 10%. This glitch is highly mutable and can interact with other glitches. Glitch lasts two turns, or until removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Cripple Catalyst (Negative Glitch)(Catalytic Glitch): The victim suffers a temporary debuffing effect, randomly determined, and taking effect immediately upon application. This effect lasts only until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, the Glitch checks for any Mutable Glitches in the victim's system. If none are present, the glitch is dispelled. If a Mutable Glitch is present this glitch interacts with that one, and creates a new, long-term glitch of a related nature to one or the other, or both. If the Mutable Glitch and the Catalytic Glitch are of different natures (Positive, Negative, Balance), the new form will be either Balance, or the nature of the Catalytic Glitch. If multiple Mutable Glitches exist, one is randomly selected. Glitch lasts only for the turn that it is applied.

Lingering Numbness (Negative Glitch): The victim suffers a creeping numbness of body, which makes it difficult for them to function in a coordinated manner. Melee and Slashing attacks are decreased in accuracy by 10%, and there is a 10% chance that any wielded gear will be automatically disarmed any time it is used or struck by an enemy. The victim's base evasion is also hampered by 10%. This glitch is prone to increasing in severity, and can increase to a maximum of five tiers. The penalties and negative chances increase by 5% for each tier beyond the first. Glitch lasts until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Armour To Dust (Negative Glitch): The victim's armour begins to degrade and lose function. At the end of each turn, the victim automatically loses any Layer 3 defences they might have active. A visual cosmetic effect accompanies this glitch, in whatever way is appropriate for the victim. This glitch is prone to increasing in severity, and can worsen up to a maximum of five tiers, and the effects are additive and cumulative. At second tier, the automatic layer 3 loss occurs both at the end of the turn, and also no more than two actions after any layer 3 defence is activated. Third tier causes all layer 3 defences to be destroyed automatically after taking one hit, though they still block overflow damage unless struck with the correct piercing type. Fourth tier causes all layer 3 defences to be vulnerable to take double damage and overspill from all attacks, as though weak to them. Fifth tier prevents any layer 3 defences from being applied to the victim at all. The cosmetic effect of this glitch progresses with each tier as well. Glitch lasts three turns, until combat ends or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

SAS Shortcut (Positive Glitch)(Mutable Glitch): The victim suffers a glitch in their signature Attack System which causes a more efficient and longer enduring function. Positive effects generated by signatures last for as long as this glitch does, unless their duration would already be longer. SPs and Navigators are treated as independent by this glitch; an SP whose navigator has allocated them personal signatures is unaffected if their navi has this glitch, and similarly an SP with this glitch finds only their personal signatures effected, without infecting their navi's. Glitch lasts three turns, until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.

Growth Catalyst (Positive Glitch)(Catalytic Glitch): The victim suffers a temporary protective or restorative effect, randomly determined, and taking effect immediately upon application. This effect lasts only until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, the Glitch checks for any Mutable Glitches in the victim's system. If none are present, the glitch is dispelled. If a Mutable Glitch is present this glitch interacts with that one, and creates a new, long-term glitch of a related nature to one or the other, or both. If the Mutable Glitch and the Catalytic Glitch are of different natures (Positive, Negative, Balance), the new form will be either Balance, or the nature of the Catalytic Glitch. If multiple Mutable Glitches exist, one is randomly selected. Glitch lasts only for the turn that it is applied.

SAS Soul (Positive Glitch): The victim's Signature Attack System briefly defies all code logic. Signatures have no cooldown and can all be used once per turn. Positive effects generated by signatures endure indefinitely (or until destroyed as usual in the case of defences), instead of their listed duration, as long as this glitch remains. This includes enhancements, such as Haste, body defences, such as shadow and multi-turn/action benefits such as regeneration effects. Any time the victim uses a signature with a beneficial effect on themselves, they spontaneously regenerate 10Hp. Glitch lasts until combat ends, or removed with Status Cure, Glitch Eater or other similar effect.
"Vassie!"

She was here, in front of the tangles of the White a mere jump from the crowds of people where safety might be sought (but she remembered the tide drowning the Prog and it was just a Mr. Prog but-)

and she was there, far away from where the fragment of her old-self sought. A false-self, a puppet parading in what remaind of her. She wouldn't care but The White would track her forever if it caught her scent and she couldn't have that.

And she was both and neither and above and around it all the out of place music, the tune that didn't fit the way she didn't-couldn't fit into this body anymore and she didn't want it, she couldn't feel-

"Vassie! Protect yourself!"

She adored the nickname. She hated it. It was a diminishment of all that she was, of all that she had done. But she hadn't done much, she was just getting started so it was perfect! It would grow with her and that was why-

The distant connection twisted, frayed.

"I will! Don't worry!"

There was never anything fluid amout her movements; not before and certainly not now. The excrescence all over her body hindered her. The space between her fingers marred by growth and mounds she didn't want. It was harder still with the way she could see the movements she had felt her way through so many times before. The glowing mark she drew, that she slapped to her shoes faded as it touched, its lines disrupted by the bumps and growths and a twist of anger rose up as the magic distorted and sprang forth ephemeral.

The shadows beneath tap-tap-tapped the tile as she tried to accomplish with one what normally took two. Her hand motioned around the aching gap of the other, its movements inferred the existance of a partner that moved in step with it but couldn't be seen. The motions circled, left trails of gleaming light in the air. A little circle, a pair of triangles. A marker, a target.

She threw it and up from the ground rose the shadows and hands. Up from the ground rose the swarm briefly putting its fears aside to grab and pull and [b]corrupt[b] and a faint trickle of petty glee echoed down the distant connection.

The witch-doll jerked, twisted to the door and moved in that direction. A plan, an intent, forced along the connection. It frayed further but the point was made, the plan seeded. They could not protect themselves but they could attack. They could strike back and the narrow hallway was perfect for limiting the foe's approach.

A stretch of the awareness of the connection and a further fraying and Vasilia knew all the options available again, knew the extent of disarray the puppet's body was in.

It would have to be enough.

"I need Shake, Sophia!"

There was a pause and something was said but Vasilia wasn't covered in as many ears and could ignore it as she chose. Could ignore it as she watched the body of fabric and wood turn back toward the White, toward the girl-thing that had been consumed.

She could ignore it, but she didn't.

"Here it is, be careful. The PET is acting really weird, I don't know if I can pull you out!"

The sole remaining hand gestured and a great weight dropped in front of the body. With a kick it was sent spining and twisting toward the White's bulk, a solitary hand rising from it's shadow to reach out claw corruption into form, to rip something contagious and hopefully debilitating into the foe.

The witch doll's body was moved, motions somehow smug and fearful at once as it attempted to escape further down the hallway.

==Summary==

1) Kick Out!
2) Charge time
3) Sigil of Gathering @ Hex
(Armour to Dust: Kick Out!'s shields will fail here if they havent yet.)
4) Movement -> Escape through Door
5) Shake1Damage: 90 + Wide Attack + Break
Accuracy: C
Description: Throws a dumbbell that slides through enemy lines for two turns. Can hit up to three enemies twice, second time having a 50% chance of hitting.
Duration: Two turns
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D
+ Glitch + Contagious @ Hex
6) Movement -> Beyond the Door (hopefully)

Routine Override: Refresh all chips.
Armour to Dust: Any Tier 3 Defense fail here.
A Memory, Shared

[Server U-16Ø, Binary Interior]
[R&D Facility #10 - SciLabs]
[Before]

"Beach day!!! Beach day beach day beach day!" Nona's sprinting for the nearest shoreline the second the three of you are off the pad. Her new white dress would surely be caked with all manner of mysterious stains by cycle's end, but that's hardly a concern of the moment. You watch her shrink to a speck atop the silvery sands, while Aven'mutz exchanges a quiet word with the two acolytes running the transporter.The three are carbon copies of one another: gleaming, faceless, flawless avatars of Grandroot Themself. Your husband is newly ordained, and the shock of hearing his bassy voice from such a slight creature is still fresh enough to make you want to look around for him.

You're taller and broader than him, now. You're not sure you'll ever be used to that. Still, you can spot the minutiae that mark your man if you look closely: the set of his shoulders and the straightness of his back; the way he folds his arms like he expects them to be twice as thick around. It's reassuring to know which one to grab by the arm without having to listen, nevermind that both the other acolytes have women's voices.

The moment you pull Aven across the transporter's threshold and onto island soil, he goes slack. A breeze sets the trees to singing, loud and startling enough you almost the quiet, "Oh my..." as he looks up, and beholds the bubble-world of U-16.

There are islands in the sky. Rather, the ocean, Their ocean was the sky, after a fashion. The bubble drifts through Their depths, large enough for small landmasses to dot the round white sea. A small yellow star sits cupped in an unburning stone cradle at its centre, which spins in accordance with the cycles to give U-16 a mirror of the human world's day and night. Swirling clouds blanket the surface, calculated to evenly distribute that just-right amount of shade for when one's island paradise was getting a little too toasty. The horizon curves up on all sides, giving a curious sensation of standing in a colossal bowl - the horizon is far enough away to simply fade out of sight, far enough away that at night, the lights of the far side bouncing all the way across look like clusters of stars.

That's just what you've gathered from your eyes, your ears and the stories you've been told. Not for the first time, you wonder what it's like for Aven to be connected to it so completely, what he'd say if you asked him what he could see. The other side of the world, for all you know. He's volunteered little insight into his new perspective in the days since, but you can be patient for him, for this.

"Did you plan on spending your whole vacation standing there?" The playful words and your hand twining with his are enough to snap him out of the trance - it's not the first time you've had to. He gives you a small nod of apology-but-thanks, and then you're walking. Soil fades into sand underfoot; you take your boots off and relish the feeling of curling your toes into the fine grain. Nona waves to the two of you, slapping at the waves where they tickle at her ankles and shrieking with uncomplicated joy. The ocean cups her in a safe, shallow bowl even as it breaks well overhead to either side, cradling Their progeny as lovingly as her own parents. She flings herself forward and hugs the ocean back spread-eagle, even as it ruffles her short hair and takes care to stay out of her nose; she could not possibly be safer. Beside you, Aven makes a happy sound, like a faceless smile. You wave back.

You stop once you're just up the beach from Nona, patting the sand beside you. Watching Aven figure out how to make his avatar sit is both fascinating and a little heartwrenching. "Sometimes I miss your old body," you muse as he offers you his hand to hold. You study the fingers a moment: acolytes' fingers, the universe in the shape of a man. A beloved voice in an unfamiliar body...but familiarity would come in time.

Aven'mutz hums, following your gaze across the shore to where Nona plays in the sand. When he speaks up again, blithe as you please, you can hear that damnable smirk clear as day, nevermind you could no longer see it, "Truly? I can't say I expected to hear ambivalence from you, going off your words last night."

"Great Builder, could you not?!" you sputter - you can feel your face blush silver, even more-so when Aven'mutz fluid-shifts and reels you in for an obnoxiously close side-hug. You bat ineffectually at the tentacles, making his translucent chest rumble with laughter against your face. He seems to take this as an invitation to wrap the two of you up several times over and complete the hug. Giving up, you lean in and enjoy the cool daybed of his arms. Rivers of rootcode jangle in his chest like bells in a breeze.

"I do miss it, though. You've wanted this for so long, and you know I'll always support you no matter what. Still, you can't deny it's a lot to get used to." You prod at his chest, feeling rootplasm squish where there had once been broad, solid muscle. "This form is wonderful in its way, but...oh Aven, you were so warm and sturdy, and you gave such good hugs. It's hard not to miss that..." your thoughts begin to wander. Now it's your turn to leer, trying on the other side of playful, "...and your face was a lot more useful before."

"Ohhh reeeeeally?" His tone is an ear-to-ear grin, but Aven'mutz says no more, just lays back and lets the moment pass. A band has kicked up down the beach, playing something bubbly and bouncing. Human music, if you had to guess, but then your husband is talking again, voice low and thoughtful, "I just...the more I learned, the more I wanted, no, needed to do anything I could to help." You're surprised - you thought he was long past needing to justify his choice, but then for once in his life he doesn't content himself with a one-liner and keeps going, and that more than anything stills your tongue, "Grandroot Binary is so vast, and always growing. Even this far down, I can feel it, Dreisskr. It's like...like watching a forest grow in fast-forward, and it's always getting faster. There's more new growth today than yesterday, and there was more yesterday than there was the day before that."

There's nothing you can say to that, at least not yet, and anyway he seems incapable of stopping the words now that they've started to spill out. "Did you know, in our last communion with the Server Lab, one of the Superiors said our last census put our population almost on par with Earth's? They can barely keep track of us anymore, let alone Their outer limits. There's that much." He looks down at his hands, a relic from a life of binocular vision. You squeeze his forearms and try to imagine what else, how much else he's seeing, but he isn't finished, "It's on us now to make up the difference. The bigger Grandroot gets, the more resources the Server Lab need to maintain Them, the harder it is for the humans to communicate with us, the more attendants and acolytes we need to make up the difference, the bigger Grandroot gets...it's a cycle. A vicious cycle, and I don't know what's going to happen if..."

"Hey, hey." You can't take any more in, and have to give his arms a shake for the words to putter out. "Look at me, Aven, just - just at me. I know there's a lot but you - you can look away, right? You don't have to be all of it, you'll only lose yourself out there if you try - you have to know that if you're gonna do this. You're you, and you're here." You're talking as much with your body as your words, and your punctuation are fingertips ghosting over rubbery knuckles, and the stare he'd once told you had been what first set his mind ablaze with hold on. You don't need to see his eyes to feel his world shrink down into the space you inhabit. "I'm here. Your daughter's here. Please, my heart, be here with us too."


The white receded, rearing its stems back and up and flowering anew: crawling from its depths were ears with fingers, ears with toes, ears that gaped and ears that gnawed themselves to tatters. A village, a city's worth of skin and cartilage, sewn into a veiny tapestry. The unlight, having spread its taint to Hex's taste, had flourished now into an organ-like growth off the Egomorph-lump. Lung-like, the monstrosity started pulsing like a mockery of breath. Virtual atmosphere was pulled in and harvested, and with each exhale the Conduit started to echo with song.

Images, sensations slithered into one's ears and chest the longer one listened: a memory shared of toes curling into white sand; a warm embrace; a loving whisper 'be here with us.'



So too did it recede from out the Conduit. Bloody light flickered and died down to sparks as its fuel withdrew itself - the siren song dimmed but kept playing. Egomorph was flung back into her body, insensate, boiled for too long in Hex's cauldron. In a last desperate grasp for sanity, her awareness of self winked out. Didn't need to see what had become of her body; didn't need to feel her progenitor chewing the inside of her belly. She didn't need to be here for this, so she wasn't.

You closed your eyes instead, and let your head fall back against the sand. The lap of waves, the interplay of hot sun and cool sea breeze, the presence of others - others? For some reason you were expecting to see Vasilia, though you could not see her. Perhaps you were Vasilia, in this moment? Or was Vasilia you? It didn't seem to matter here. You looked up to the islands in the sky, hoping she could appreciate this beautiful place with you all the same.



A hand in yours. Familiar children's laughter, though you don't know from where. You look around for your daughter-

(Whose daughter? What was daughter?)



You - who were you again?

Where was this?



[Vasilia? VASILIA!]



"h̶́n͜͡n̕n̡ ̵-́ ̢g͘ḩ͘h͘ḩ͢͏k̶k̸ " Ego slammed herself into the madness and forced herself to feel. Boneless limbs flailed and snapped. Vasilia was close, far too close, her mouths were full of a sickening savoury-sweet taste it wanted more more more of she was an armless, legless tumour with too many so many faces and everything was moving but she couldn't stop it couldn't even move there was just too much her that wasn't her just more reaching white-

c̷á̧̛ ͟͡-̶͡ ҉̵n͘͟'̶͢͟t͝ ̕-̢ ͜st̴ ̡͠-̸ o͏ -͢ ̡̛͢p̷͞ ̵̀-̸ ̡̛͘i̧͠t͞ And it was all white inside her, she understood now, she was just - something to carry its brain around. Every syllable was a battle, when she only wanted to curl up and scream until it took her away because she was its brain, she was it was she was it was -. "̢̕i'̸̀͡m ͝-̸ ş͘͝ơr̀̀͡ ̵͢-̡ ͞͡r͟҉y͠"̴͡

Arms weren't working. Arms weren't arms, just coils full of hunger that wasn't hers, reaching in ways she didn't understand. Still, she fought to keep still. Even if it felt like trying to hold back the tide, water rushing past uncaring (over and over and over again), something wasn't letting her cave in. She would destroy herself trying, surely...but was that such a bad thing to hope for?

She just wanted it to stop.

It didn't.

Everything went white - Hex had lunged, through as much as around its puppet. The Conduit was inert; with triumph close enough to taste, there was no further need for thought. The ooze that had fed its cerebral access point was rerouted, repurposed to simply crush its prey instead. There were no tangling snarls or gardens of grasping hands this time, just a single misshapen cudgel of a mass, and all the force the surging pool could bring to bear.

All at once the obscenity was slurped back in. The hungry ocean feasted on its own offspring, bulging, bloating. Nothing was safe from consumption: the roof shingles, its own corpse-husks, even the atmosphere itself was caught on a waving carpet of tendrils and digested into more slurry. Another white pillar stretched tall, swollen full of wretched thoughtless intent.

She felt it fall. Heavier than the last one, it sent tremors through Ego's body that threatened to drown her voice outright. She might have been on the arm when it smashed down to the roof - it wasn't as though she could held it back if she was. There wouldn't be enough of Vasilia left for one of the white's trophies, if it got to her. "̹̻͈ͦ̇ͫ͛ͭ̋̔P̲̪͇̩̩̖̆̑͋͂ͅl̞̟̪ͨ̓͆̈́̊ͨ͐e̪̫̭̾̓a̮̟͉͓̮̥̠̒̑͂ ͓̬̀ͬ-̘͙̫̏̄ ͖̊̀s͉̈ͫ̔̍̒̋̃ė̥̜̮͎͖́͆ͮͯͅ,̀̈̔ͤ ̦V̗͓͛á͇͎̝̩̃̔ͅ ̯̼͉̠-ͦͨ͋ ̹̳̹̹̱̳͙͂ͧ̔̆̉̈́s͕̻͔̦̆͂͒i͙̘̦͙̖̹͎ͥ ͯ-̩̜͍̫̬̆ ̣͎̬̣͎͉̯ͥ̄l̒͂ͬ͂̅̾i͚̳̭̟̔ ̜̫̲͎̆ͦ͂-̠͐̾̽̋ ͚̖̯͈ͨ̾ͦ͐ͫ͂͗a̯̿̑̽̀̅ ̬̯̯̠̲͇̐̃͊ͬ͊̀̿.̟ͥͅ.͈͉̳̳̭̘.̞ͭ̏̎̆"̲̘̭̜̥ There was too much, just too much. It writhed once, twice more, and then -

- vanished.

Snapped back into the pool like a stretched rubber band, forceful enough to splatter the window into a low creep of ooze. She could feel, now, the white columns that stretched from the main body into this space. The skittering shreds belied what lay on the other side of that deceptive puddle: there was never going to be an end, not when there was a hungry white ocean <beneath/behind/below> leeching at the Net World one horrible hunt at a time, burrowing-

It was burrowing, Ego knew a second before it happened. In the last instant of quiet before the tide came back in, she called out to her friend.

"͞S̵̡͞U̸҉̶R͘͏̡ ̡-̡ ҉͢V̧̛IV̷̡̡E͘"̛͢

Like rust, like rot, it sank into the roof itself, and drank deep from its structure. Tunneling, tearing and gorging without heed, truss and beams were torn from their fastenings and devoured in seconds. The screech of tortured framework could be heard from blocks away - from inside the building, the noise was nothing short of apocalyptic.

And it rose, once more, higher and higher still, tipping under its own weight at its peak. A wave breaking without a sea, Hex made no move to send more appendages after Vasilia. They were past that. Now it just charged, throwing its entirety in her direction even as it tore the ground out from under her feet. Egomorph was screaming, but there was no way to hear her over the calamity. Whatever part of the building it had exposed would be flooded, all that lay within ripe for the taking, and at the epicentre of the madness was a little puppet that smelled of heartwood and fractals and something forgotten but familiar. And it was that last note, that tingling feeling of once-known the white desired more than any other, and it would render its prize down to pulp for another taste.






-Ḑ̴͌̋̊ͦ͂̈́̆͊̍̾ͯ̍̀͜A̴̴ͮ̓͗̆ͭ͐̇̋͟N̷̛̛ͣ̉ͯ̊̆̅ͦ̎̉̽̅͆̈ͭͩ̎͘̕Ģ̵̌͌ͬ̄̂ͣͥ͗͂͛̎̐̔͗͋̀̚͝͝E̶̸̛̐́̅̌͛̆ͭ̀̚͠Ȑ͋̒ͤͨ̏̓ͯ̋͝ ̸ͫ̈͛҉͢/̧̧̡ͩ͆ͨͥ͂͑ͫ́͐/̷̢̍͗ͯ̎̋̋̋ͬ̌̈̊̉ͬͫ̚͞ ̴̓̿̆̑͗̈͐̑̽̄̉C̶̵̡̈́ͧͥ̈̏͛̿̏͝O̡̿̀ͨ̏̊̊ͣ͊͌ͩ̓́̊͋̔̋̉͒҉̨͘N̑ͯ̽ͭ̀̕͠͡T̡̢͌̑̉̅͌̽ͯ͑ͦ̽ͦ̈́̉̀͟A̵̧̛ͥ̎̊ͥͥͫ̽̃̇̓̄̔͌C̴̸̒ͫ̋͋ͤ̋̑͝T̷̢̆̿ͥ̍ͤ̆̕͞ ̸̧ͬ̒͆̔̍͗̒͌̽ͭ́̃̃͌ͥ̈́ͨ͂I̢̛̿̾͊̒̐̃ͬ̒̍ͣͮMͩͫ͗͌̂͛̈ͩ̓̄̔ͦ̒̿̇́҉̴M̢͛ͧ̒́ͭ͒̕I̢̿͐ͫ̓͋̿̄̋͋̑ͨ̔̕͝N͒̀͗̍͑̀͝Ėͤͥͮ͟Nͦ̊̌̍̑ͨͭ҉̶̧̢̛T̵̵̷̵̑̿̊̅̓͐͂̀̒̓̌͌̔͋ͬ̂͋̚ ̶̴̨͒̇̌́ͨͯ͒ͥ̋̅̓́̈͘͞/́̇͑̔́͟/̡ͮ̓ͥ̇̅̅͂͐̚͢͡ ̨̔͋̿̑̊ͭ̓ͧ̂̊̿ͫͨͭ̀D̶̡̨ͦ̂̾͑̐ͮ̒̿̕Âͮ̅̽̂͌ͮ̾ͨ̅̕͞N̨ͧ͆̃͑ͬ͐̉̋̎ͫ҉͟G̛͗̋̓ͯͬ̈́ͣ̑̀̂̚͏̨E̽̒̏ͨͭͬͤ̌ͨ͊ͭ̆͆̈́̍ͧ̎̍̊҉́͞R̢̨̅ͫ̇͗ͦ̂͊̌͆ͨ̄̈̈͋ͫ̋̌ ̵̡ͤͤ̈͌́̋ͨ͂́/̶̸ͯ̌ͫͮͦ̑̕/̴͆̎̄̉͌̿͐͛̚̕ ̴̨͒̿̽̓̓͂̀̃̓ͯ̋͌̊̿̄͢͏C̡̛̔͑͊̋̊̅̾ͩ̿͏̵͜Õ̴ͪͩ͊͌͗̒̀̚̚̕N̨̨̢͆ͪͮͧ͘͜T̶̵̡͛ͦ̃ͯ̀͜A̵ͭ͊ͭ̈ͨ͌͘͘C̴̐̓ͭ̆̄́̚T̵̷̛̅̿ͯ́͑͋̓̄̀̆ ̄̅̍̐̑̌̿͐ͭ̑̚͘͘I̴̢ͯ͗ͭ̓̓ͬ͊̊̇̏ͩ́̆ͧ͂M̨͛ͯ̏͑̇̀̐̑͋͐ͪͥ̌ͯ̇͢͞͡M̵̡ͥͣ̿͆ͯͥ̆̆͜İ̽̂̈́ͣ̄͗̍ͤ̾̉̎̋ͬ̓ͦ͌̾̀͢͜͏̡N̴ͦͭ͂̿͑͒̅ͫ̓͆͢Ẽ̡̎ͦͯͪ̉ͮ̈͟͠N̷͑̓̓̒͑͊̏ͥ̊ͨͥͭ̚͘T̸ͣ̇͐͋̅́̽͊̇ͣ̾ͯͦ͛̒ͯ̈̋͜ ̡̀̓͒ͩͯͮͥ͒̽͐̓͛̈́ͥ/ͣ̈́ͦ̊͑̄ͧ͆̓͋ͮ̆̎̂́͝/̸͒ͣͨͨͤ̊̅̌ͥ͒̔̀ͪͭͣ̓͘͜͝͡ ̔̈̿͂ͩ͊̏́̈ͤ̃̌̈́̃ͦ̾҉̷͟D̏ͣ͆̃ͧ̒͂̉͏̧͝A̵̶͛̂̉̎̄̋̃̏͐̾͟Ņ̢͗̇̏̅͌ͧ̑͋̓̐̒͗͛͐͒͊̐̀̚͜͡Ǧ̶ͬ̎̀̌̔̀̕̕͢E̵̡̨̐͒̐ͯ̆ͯͧ́̚͜R̎ͥͤ͌̈̾҉̷͝-
-FastArmour [over Hex]
-Glitch Eater (indiscriminate target)
E1. Grapple Vasilia
E2. suffer Defend Hex
1. Half Charge Shot: Vasilia [60 Null {A}]
2. Buster Charge
- Apply Strengthen 20
3. Half Charge Shot: Vasilia [80 Null {A}]
4. Dodge
5. Assembly [Buster Charge x2, Large Broken Terrain under Vasilia, Self-Slow; 3TCD]
6. Charge Shot: Vasilia [120 Null {A}]