Cipher hadn't been exactly sure on what he expected to find when he arrived on Konats. But a sand storm was not one of them.
As soon as Erebos' shadows faded, the duo found themselves buffeted by howling winds and harsh, grainy sand. Cipher was long used to harsh weather conditions, but even he found himself trying to shield his face from the buffering sands. "I think your aim is a bit off!" Cipher shouted over the winds. It was really hard to blame him though. This was probably his first time coming to this world, and he doubted they had a map or anything.
That being said, while Cipher could easily handle a sandstorm, he had yo admit it was very irritating. He could barely see. Through the maelstrom of sand he could make something out. A shelter perhaps? "There!" he shouted, pointing in the direction of the shape. Getting out of this storm would at least allow them to regain their bearings and try again to hopefully somewhere with calmer weather.
Cipher broke into a run. It didn't seem too far off. At least, not for someone who could move as fast as them. Cipher could only hope the rest of the planet wasn't like this.
Erebos tumbled out of the portal, landing back-first among the sandy dunes somewhere in the yellow wastes. The Demon was never fond of sand. Each individual grain cast its own tiny shadow, which made it both easy to mold, but harder to actually pull things together.
He heard the robotic tones of Cipher over the roaring winds, and he hopped to his feet, sliding his hand across the sand as he rose. Collecting some errant strands of shadow, he slung the gooey whip over his head, where it formed into a rather bulky bit of headgear.
”You know, the map they have online is REALLY outdated! I don’t think they’ve had an ice cream shop in this location for oh I don’t know… four thousand years?”
Did Konatsians even like ice cream? Maybe he’d been looking at the wrong readout. Konats and Kashona were rather close together on the intergalactic directory after all.
Erebos wiped his face with his hand, and a thick shadowy mask slithered across it, further defending him from the arid conditions.
He followed closely behind Cipher, snatching errant strands of shadow out of the sky as they ran. It was like trying to catch rain with little more than a butterfly net. But he’d collected tinier things with worse instruments before.
By the time they’d run about half a mile, he’d already formed a big block of black in his palm; about the size of a game console roughly speaking. Considering the shadowy object was made of tiny shadow granules, that was probably rather impressive.
”I could try teleporting us again,” he offered, shouting over a particularly rough gust of sand. ”But with conditions as they are, it’d have to be pretty short range!”
"Just keep running!" Cipher yelled over the raging sands. He could see the potential shelter in front of him. An attempt to teleport might just throw them somewhere completely different, especially with this raging storm as a distraction.
As he ran towards the structure, he started seeing things more clearly. Pieces of stone jutting out of the sands, broken walls and hollow shells of buildings scattered about. Ruins. It was a set of ruins Cipher had seen, and that they were making their way towards. A part of him wondered if they could find any cover in this place, before his eyes focused on a rather intact structure. And right ahead of him was an opening into a dark interior. "There!" he called out, pointing to it incase Erebos hadn't seen yet. Granted, he didn't stop to check if his friend was behind him.
Cipher ran a little bit into the cool darkness of the building, making sure he was clear of the storm before allowing himself to stop. It was almost pitch black inside, though as he began to shake and brush the sand off of himself, his eyes began to adjust, allowing him to see just what they were standing in.
The place was old. Very old. It was hard to tell just what this place had been used for, though he could make out what used to be stone tables and shelves lining the walls. Everything that wasn't covered in sand was coated in a layer of dust. Cipher's eyes quietly scanned the room they were standing in.
Erebos slid into the room mere moments after Cipher, rolling to a stop just inside the darkness. Where the Android could see only black, Erebos saw opportunity.
The Demon ran his hand along the dust-ridden floor, pooling a massive ball of shadow into his hand and tossing it at the entrance. It stuck to the doorway, expanding outward in all directions. Before long, the door was covered, blocking the sands from entering.
He did this a handful more times, making sure to stuff up cracks and holes in the walls. Before long, most of the shadows had been displaced. Turned into thin sheets of grey-black material with thickness akin to a metal wall.
”There. That ought to do it!” He dusted his hands off against one another, before getting to work collecting more shadow from the area. ”Im not one to yank shadows so frivolously, but this felt like a special exception. Besides; they’ll probably enjoy being interacted with after so long.”
He was kidding himself, honestly. Shadows seemed to like solitude.
Erebos approached Cipher, his hands twirling as if he were spinning yarn. Doing so, he collected strands of shadow, pulling toward him in thick strings from each corner of the room. After a few moments, it was… for lack of a better term, brighter. It wasn’t as if a light had turned on, but rather that there wasn’t so much shadow obstructing their vision. It was like the ambient lighting of the world was just… here.
”Sounds like the storm is getting worse.” Nodding to cipher, he set the ball of black, writhing shadow down in the corner, where it oozed slowly. Eventually, the shadows he’d balled up would return to their original positions, but he’d wound the thing up tight. By his estimate, they had about half an hour of wandering before he’d have to weave the shadows up into another shape.
”You don’t suppose this might be where they’re holding the tournament? Maybe the spooky atmosphere is an intentional design choice.”
Cipher watched quietly as Erebos did that shadow magic he did so well, first blocking out the storm outside, and then, beyond all logic, actually increasing the visibility in the room. Magic was a very, very curious thing.
When he asked, or most likely joked, about this being the tournament ground, Cipher shook his head. "Not unless one of the requirements was to lower your power level to non existe-" He paused. Something had just pricked his sensors. A curious feeling, one he had never felt before. It was small, very small, but he could feel it. "There's something here..." He couldn't make out if it was a person or not. He could just feel it.
Guided by it, he walked deeper into the ruins. It was curious. Despite it being so small, he could sense it out as clear as a bell. Every turn he made led him closer and closer.
Finally, he stepped into a large room. If the ruined furniture and books and such laying around, one could assume this was some sort of place of learning or research. This whole place had that feeling.
And sitting in the far end, leaning lifelessly against the wall was a figure. It looked like a woman, clad in a dark dress. She had four arms, and was covered in a thin layer of dust. One could almost mistake her for a corpse, except her body was pristine. A doll perhaps?
Whatever she was, the strange feeling was coming from her.
Erebos walked in tandem with Cipher, eyes peeled for malcontents. For the time being, he kept quiet. Quips muted until they deduced the source of the power coming forth. Whatever it was, it bubbled in a faint way.
There were a million things he wanted to say. Little jokes or comments, but for once he wanted to be on the back wheel. Let cipher take the reigns on this investigation. His hands continued to twirl this way and that, collecting stray shadows to illuminate the path ahead, before placing them back into position a few moments later.
Soon, they arrived to a peculiar sight. A woman? Locked in place like a perfectly preserved wax figure. How curious.
”Mind if I try something?”
If allowed, he’d send a string forth, snaking it along the stonework towards the girl in a precarious manner. Should the shadow reach her unharmed, it would attempt to tickle her nose, aiming to entice some sort of movement from her. Whether or not it worked, or if Cipher even allowed him to try, he’d relent after a few seconds, withdrawing the shadow back into a ball resting between two fingers.
”Its entirely possible she’s been hexed. It’s not uncommon in these parts. I hear that’s a pretty common ailment on Konats, actually. The Kashvar, as they’re called, love to use the dark arts a tad more dubiously than I do.”
As the shadowy tendrils poked and prodded, the limp figure didn't moved. The strange energy lurking within her didn't seem to even flicker in response. Well, at the very least it showed that she wasn't booby trapped in any way. Granted, who exactly would booby trap a lifeless body like this, Cipher would never know.
Gently brushing aside the shadows, Cipher crouched down in front of her, looking her over. It was clear this was some sort of doll, but a very well crafted one. He couldn't make out joints or anything. Slowly, he reached out, taking a hand.
A strange feeling rushed through him. The energy inside her flickered in response. Cipher could only compare it to being plugged in and charged. No, that wasn't it. It was as if hewas being linked to something compatible. Yes, that was it.
Cipher quickly pulled back, the energy now flickering in the form. All was still for a moment before a finger twitched. Then an arm moved. Slowly, she lifted her head, her dull eyes now taking on a golden life as she looked straight into Cipher's eyes. Her voice was soft, yet clear in the silence.
Erebus let out an involuntary awe-struck ‘ooh’ at the sudden flare of life. Another android? How curious. Something in Cipher had awoken the machine. Mere happenstance, or destiny? Surely machines didn’t believe in such things.
”Maybe this is Cipher 26?” He stepped back, trying not to intrude too much but also making sure his friend wasn’t about to get his brains turned to mush by some techno-hacking ability. ”Your creators didn’t happen to have family here on Konats, maybe? Or is that whole thing you just did a normal robot function?”
Damn. He always ran his mouth when he was nervous, and the mechanical always upped his sweat output. What was he to do here? There was no magic to be had in metal and math. Not in the same way the primordial provided. This was as far out of his element as he could be, which was a tad odd, especially considering they were in the depths of an ancient ruin on an alien planet in the middle of nowhere space.
”Hey there~“ He wiggled his fingers at the machine. ”I’m Erebos. You’re not a murderous death robot with evil poison blaster cannons or something right? I don’t much like poison; it’s one of the few things I have a hard time managing.”
"I...do not know..." Cipher replied. There was no way this was another Cipher, considering the program was designed for the defence of Earth. He more brushed the question off as a joke. As for why his touch seemed to wake her up, that he wasn't sure. Why was he able to sense her so clearly? Was it because, in some sort of sense, they were similar? Artificial beings? He just didn't know. He never remembered experiencing anything like this when his siblings were alive.
The woman turned her head to look over at Erebos, in response to his question. Again, Cipher more wrote it off as him joking around. Though was it him, or the demon seemed nervous? The woman shook her head. "You have nothing...to fear from me," she seemed to be getting used to speaking again rather quickly, "My name is Maronette. I am a doll, created by those who dwelled in this place."
Cipher took a step back to give her some space as she climbed to her feet. Once upright, Cipher couldn't help but notice that she was hovering a couple of inches off the ground. "I served my creators, as they studied and experimented with magic here," Maronette explained, preempting the most obvious question, "When time finally took them, I lingered, before I too fell into slumber." She turned her gaze towards Cipher, a soft smile on her face, "That is, until you came along. I'm not sure what it is about you. Just...something drew me from my dormancy." She tilted her head in thought, just as curious about the situation as they were.
”Okay cool. Cool cool cool. Robot murder is off the menu for now.”
Erebos wasn’t sure how to interact in this situation. It almost felt like he was intruding on one of those meet-cute’s you always see on television. The type where the boy-bot and girl-bot drop their documents all over the floor and stare longingly as they collect their things.
For a time, Erebos stood silent, which was exceedingly rare for the demon. He tried to formulate words. To conduct a clever quip or some such, but he came up short about a dozen times over.
When he finally spoke up, it was a good bit after the girl had explained her situation.
”I’m not exactly well versed in robotics, but there’s a good chance it’s something simple. Maybe you share a part internally, or have code from the same source?”
An outlandish theory, one might suppose, but Erebos had already met quite a few androids with similar designs across the universe. Just because the Konatsians are old doesn’t mean their ideas are unique.
”Manipulating shadows is my whole thing, but I’ve met plenty of folks who can do it. Maybe your creators pulled from the same cloth, so to speak…?”
At Erebos' mentioning of magic, Maronette turned her calm gaze towards him. "That's correct," she replied, "My creators were studying magics of the soul. Ways of utilizing and manifesting the souls energies." Cipher tilted his head, "That sounds a bit like ki." Maronette nodded. "In a sense, yes. But while Ki comes from strengthening both the body, mind and soul, the magic they were studying focused purely on the soul. At least, that's how they described it."
She looked down at herself, "They used such magic to animate me, in order to serve and assist them. As time went on though, I began to develop. I began to think, and feel. The magic they used to create me...ended up developing into a soul of its own." "A soul..." Cipher murmured. He had never really thought of himself as having a soul. He knew he was a separate consciousness to the man whose body was used to create him, but he just considered himself am advanced a.i. And yet, he was starting to feel, to think. Could a similar thing be happening to him?
Was that what caused Maronette to awaken?
"So, what are your plans now?" Cipher asked, "Now that you've awakened." Maronette looked around the desolate room. "I do not know. I was created to serve, but those I served are now gone." She looked at the pair of them and bowed, "As you were the ones who awakened me, how may I serve?"
”Soul magic, eh? Dangerous stuff. I used to dabble, but it’s hard to properly maintain without sincere consequence. Maybe that’s what happened here.”
It would certainly track. Souls were fickle things. Shadows, too, were kind of like souls. Each with their own likes and dislikes; desires and fears. If he had more information, perhaps he’d be able to deduce the exact reason for her abandonment and her creator’s disappearance. But for now, he was coming up blank.
Howling winds echoed down the hall. It seemed that the shadows Erebos had created earlier were beginning to falter. Sand streamed in, slowly, from the outer hall.
”Well, I don’t mean to boss you around, little miss, but you wouldn’t happen to know of a back way in? Front door’s a little uh, preoccupied.”
As if putting a period to his sentence, a huge gust carried itself down the hall, shaking Erebos’ stance just a little. He glanced back, a furrow in his brow as he felt the rumbling from across the way. It seemed that the storm was intensifying. Threatening to bring the building down from its sheer force.
”Structural integrity must’ve been eroded over the years. Think we can get out in time?” He nodded at Cipher, leveling the question his way. ”I think I’ve recharged enough to send us a short distance away with my magic, if you think we need it. Though with my lay of the land, there’s a chance I’d be sending us straight into the thick of the storm. Your call.”
Erabos did bring up a good point. The building was old, and this storm raging on it probably wasn't doing it any favors. As the building shook, and dust sprinkled down from the ceiling, it was clear the place wouldn't last much longer. Cipher couldn't help but think that if they hadn't arrived when they did...
"I get the feeling we're sitting smack dub in the center of the storm right now," Cipher murmured. How else would the place be getting so buffeted like this? "Whether we run out of here, or blast out way out, we're going to end up getting hit with a lot of sand." That left only one option. Using Erebos' magic to teleport out. But who knows where they would end up.
"I do recall," Maronette spoke up, "Of a city to the north of here. Though I've been asleep for so long, I don't know if it remains. If it's still there, we can get shelter from the storm." Cipher nodded, "It seems like our best bet. If nothing else, it will give us a head start out of the storm." He looked to Erebos. "Ready when you are." It was a shot in the dark, but it was worth a shot.
With a dutiful nod, Erebos got to work, making large, sweeping motions with his hands to scoop massive clumps of shadow from each corner. Being so fresh out of juice meant he needed a lot of natural shade to power the spell. It was both fortunate and troubling that the darkness in the room was so old. On the one hand, such matured shadow was particularly potent, but inversely, the age of the material made it hard to mold. Being stuck in one shape so long meant you liked being that way. Twirling these massive rug-like shapes into a proper portal was going to take serious effort.
But it wasn't anything he hadn't done before. A proper challenge, to be sure, but not impossible. He held his hands high above his head, grunting as he warped the essence of nothingness into a useful shape. It curled in on itself, turning from wild clump to almost like a cotton candy ball, before he suddenly pulled down on the black, and it stuck itself onto the floor in a thick mound. The hill-sized shadow sunk into the stonework, leaving a pitch-black crater in the center of the room. Purple lights swirled menacingly in the deepest reaches, inviting them into its haunting non-light.
"Alright. It's not exactly going to be precise, but by my estimate this'll land us some couple dozen or so feet above where we are, and a good hundred miles or so away. With any luck, the elevation won't have changed much and we can just float to safety, but there's also the chance that we'll appear in the side of a mountain and... Well actually we could probably blast our way out of that, so I'm sure it's okay!"
He offered his hands, one to each robot, and stared into the emptiness. With their permission, the three of them would jump in, with Erebos leading the charge to guide them across the infinite abyss that was the Shadow Realm...
Apr 6, 2024 1:21:15 GMT -5
Lottus: Friendly reminder for new folks to check the rules regarding art claims - AI Art is not accepted on Sparking for character sheets.
Apr 17, 2024 14:43:28 GMT -5
Lottus: Hey folks, got a new phone, but verification is preventing me from downloading Discord for now
Apr 17, 2024 14:43:57 GMT -5
Lottus: I won't be available until I get home from work!
Apr 17, 2024 14:44:58 GMT -5
Lottus: Feel free to dm me if needed!
Apr 17, 2024 21:13:47 GMT -5
Dingo: I'll post what you've said here up in the discord so it doesn't get missed!