Chapter 234: Negotiations
Tala looked through the open archway at the utterly inhuman thing before her.
It had two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, but it wasnt even biological.
-To be fair, it also has a face, and you know, a human soul powering it. Sort of like you, actually. I do like your face.-
Tala huffed a laugh at that, but then refocused.
The thing had just asked her what she offered to get past, and Tala had yet to answer. What do I offer?
Yes. Its entire form was utterly, unnaturally still, except for its mouth, which moved as it spoke.
Tala realized that she expected its torso to move at the same time, filling lungs with air and exhaling to allow for speech, but it obviously didnt need that.
Some form of sound or air magic was letting it generate a voice.
What do you want?
What does anything want? To exist.
Well, clearly different from Rob.
-Ill say. Rob would have just let the tungsten spheres hit and gleefully ceased to be.-
You already do.
I wish to continue. There was still no emotion on the faux face.
You see, Im still a bit stuck on the fact that youre talking. The information given by the guild is sparse, and they did indicate rudimentary dialogue options, but you can actually speak. I mean to say that you are having a conversation, not simply uttering pre-inscribed phrases.
I was to be the first, the makers true attempt to add to the forerunners.
Forerunners?
Most know them as the Black Legion.
Tala felt goosebumps move across her skin. They were attempting to replicate the Legion?
If it is information you wish for, that can be traded as well, but I still do not know what you offer. The thing still hadnt moved.
Well, this isnt going anywhere, fast. What is your name? Im Tali.
Lie.
Tala blinked. Excuse me?
You cause ripples through both worlds when you lie.
I am called Tali. Tala insisted.
The thing tilted its head slightly, in the first movement since it sliced Talas spheres in half. The motion conveyed confusion in the eerily sapient gesture. Interesting. That is true.
A name is just that which I am called and respond to.
That is also true.
Then, by logic, my name is Tali.
That is false. How strange. The sword lowered, the automaton coming out of its guarded stance, while still obviously being ready for an attack.
-I am Alat.-
That was true. Genuine confusion moved across all its features, a creepily human expression on the faux human face. But you didnt say anything. Sowhat was true?
What the rust?
-I have no idea. I was just trying to be silly. You know, break the tension.-
Tala decided to redirect the conversation. How are you doing that?
Detecting the truth?
Yes.
Your soul crosses the border between this world and the next. Everything you do creates ripples in the fabric of reality. The more at harmony with reality you are, the smaller those ripples.
And lies are at odds with reality?
Lies arent true, and reality is trueso, yes?
The automaton leaned forward just slightly, seeming to show interest.
Are you a child? Do they make children bigger than I was led to believe? It turned its head to the other side, seeming to examine her again.
No, Im not a child, I just havent She shook her head. How can you feel the fabric of reality?
My power source fluctuates its output minutely based on the integrity and ongoing nature of the barrier between worlds.
Wait, your powersource? Do you mean your soul?
It is not my soul, but it is a part of a soul.
Why not yours?
It was found that if a constructed consciousness was too connected to, or representative of, the soul powering it, the nature of it leaked through, and the consciousness would become unable to function per design. Previous versions were flawed in this way. I am the superior model.
Tala frowned. Why are you sharing this information so freely?
It would be dishonest to let you believe you were interacting with one of your own kind. I simply use the remnants of a human to fuel me.
Thats Tala really didnt know how to feel about that, so she decided to focus on what they had been talking about. Well, we were discussing truth detection. What you say actually makes a lot of sense.
Yes.
-I have never considered investigating why your throughput fluctuates minutely. The variance I can detect is less than a thousandth of a percent. It changes more between your inhales and your exhales, or when your heart beats.-
And the other fluctuations are deviations from those regular cadences?
-On average? Yeah. There is no way we can translate that into some sort of truth detection. Its too minute. How sensitive is that thing?-
Are youtalking with yourself? The thing frowned.
I am.
Why?
That is privileged information. Tala was becoming very frustrated with this whole conversation and the situation in general.
Ah, I see. That is one of the things that you offer then, understanding of youroddity?
Im not! Tala closed her eyes in irritation. This rusting
As soon as she closed her eyes, the automaton attacked. Tala of course saw it with her mirrored perspective, courtesy of her customarily oriented bloodstars.
With speed rivaling a crossbow bolt, Talas attacker crossed the space between them in a blur.
Only Talas incredible reactions allowed her to pull Flow into her hand, alter its form into that of a sword, and deflect the lunging thrust. Tala sucked in a breath in surprise at the assault, even as she foiled it.
You are surprisingly fast for a biological creature, especially one of your low rank.To the automata, Tala would look halfway between Elder and Mature. Not weak, but in no way an arcane elite.Or, are humans different?
Power coiled behind the things eyes, and purple fire blossomed forth, vastly more powerful than that which the Mage variants had wielded.
Tala exhaled at the same time, having anticipated something like this.
Her breath met the fires, canceling them out even as she cut across, forcing the automaton to block and discontinue the magical attack.
As she struck, Tala willed another set of spheres towards her foe.
With a series of cracks and the groaning of metal, the tungsten slammed into Talas foeand stopped on the armor, barely dimpling the surface as they continued to be pulled in by ever increasing gravity.
Without looking down, the automaton clearly was able to analyze the tungsten. Fascinating. That is a much stronger force than I expected.
It lashed out at Tala with three quick strikes, while Tala parried each, only counter-attacking on the final one to drive her enemy back.
You are no longer talking. Do you wish to cease negotiations?
Tala frowned. Negotiations? You just attacked me.
Of course. If you would die so easily, you would have nothing to offer me. You are proving the value, or lack thereof, you offer in a deal with every clash. Six more strikes followed, the style of the thing wholly impossible for anything with a skeleton.
It twisted and struck like a strange combination between a snake and an octopus, simply not being where Tala expected it to be when she tried to counter.
But, you gave me your name, or at least what you are called. I have not returned the courtesy.
Tala found herself huffing a laugh. Its trying to kill me, but it still talks of courtesy?
I am Io.
Like: Eye, oh?
Yes. Io attacked again, their swords not making much of a sound as they clashed.
My sword is basically just a wire with magic making it more, and Ios is so wreathed in power I doubt Flow has contacted the material yet.
No comments? No insults? I was under the assumption that enemies often attacked each other with words while they fought.
Is that what the chatter is for? To distract?
Io cocked its head. Oh, it could serve that function, couldnt it?
Tala frowned again. Io might never have actually been put to use before. Is this its first fight?
Io began to sing as it attacked once more. I once was a cow to hide from a cow, but became a lone hawk all alone for now.
What are you doing?
The automaton stopped singing for a moment as it continued its attack. Distracting you.
It then began singing again. I am joyful and princely, I think you should know
Tala punched it in the face.
Io flew backwards hitting the wall and sliding down.
She sprinted forward, but the automaton was already vaulting to its feet.
I see. It can also distract me. How interesting.
Tala just growled, now firmly on the offensive. Even so, she still was hesitant to fully commit. It was still talking. There might be a chance for a peaceful resolution.
The Way of Flowing Blood really proved its worth as Tala flowed from strike to strike, finally hitting the thing repeatedly, drawing small spurts of purple fluid, laden with power.
Each cut was minor and sealed quickly, however, and given that Io had functionally limitless energy, it was an exercise in futility.
Also, the automaton was learning how she fought, and countering her more effectively with every passing moment.
The two tungsten spheres were still embedded slightly into Ios chest, doing little.
This is pointless.
-Now you know what your enemies feel like, fighting you.- After a moment, Alat added another insight. -And why humans, in general, are so feared for their rank.-
No joke Though, we cant utilize our gates quite this effectively. We still have our fleshy bits to think of and take care of.
You are talking to yourself again Dont you find that distracting?
Tala moved her head slightly to the side barely avoiding a thrust that she couldnt quite deflect fully.
Shall I begin singing again?
Tala caught the things wrist and used the opening to kick it with all her strength while keeping a firm grip.
Ios offhand was ripped off as the automaton was thrown backwards, through the open archway and back into the space in which she had previously been waiting.
Its armor flowed down over the stump, forming a new hand.
That took material. Could that be the path to success?
-Only if it cant absorb more.-
Tala looked at the metal lined walls, and the automata that Tala had previously decommissioned, laying on the ground around where they had been fighting. Yeah that would render that strategy pretty useless.
Io seemed to want to talk some more. So, what now? Are we destined to be two immortals, locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?
Tala shrugged. Or you could surrender?
Io tilted its head. No... No, that isnt right. You arent immortal, not yet, and your resources are finite.
It gave a weird, almost self-satisfied smile.
I will win, given time. I am eternal. Something unquantifiable had changed in the things demeanor. Its mouth closed, and Tala got the sense that it wouldnt speak again.
If it was seeing what I had to offer, it now seems to believe that I cant beat it, so negotiations arent needed.
Yeah, rust that. Powersource, the fount, is in the head. I need to separate that first.
Tala drew in a deep breath and held it, filling her lungs with more power than shed ever used before, compressing it and drawing in more even as she inverted it.
Tala flooded magic into the inscriptions on the soles of her feet, greatly magnifying the surface area that she was able to push off of.
She bent forward and lunged. The ground exploded below and behind her as she tried to launch herself with such force that the stone of the path she was on simply couldnt bear it, despite the obvious magic reinforcement.
Her expanded footing pushed through the stone as it crumbled before it finally caught the edge of reality, giving her an unshakable launching point, and all the power in Talas body uncoiled, rocketing her forward at an unbelievable speed.
Flow flickered then went black, shifting to a void-sword.
Talas void-sight revealed a build up of power that her mage-sight wouldnt have been able to identify, and she reached down to slap the ground even as she streaked above it, redirecting herself at the last instant.
A blast of purple fire and lightning exploded in a line through where she should have been, even as she lashed out with Flow, her target never in question.
Tala used the slight resistance that she felt from Flow as another touchpoint, flipping around to land feet-first on the back wall of the defensive room, absorbing the impact with her legs and preparing to spring forward once again.
Ios head was spinning through the air, its neck severed by the single strike, the metal around it having been sucked dry of power even as Flow cut through the material itself.
That said, power was already reaching through the dimensions of magic to pull the head back towards the body, several founts worth of power-flow acting through the room itself to impose wholeness on the automaton.
So, radical self-repair? Fine. I need to break the orb holding the fount.
There were other power sources within this hold, set up and bent towards defense. She could see magic moving through the area towards her enemy.
No. The word carried with it the entire payload of dissolution power shed prepared as Tala directed the power at the corner below where she temporarily braced.
She felt it in her aura, and to her surprise, she was able to nudge it, focus it with her will. Thats useful.
The floor and a massive section of the wall exploded into dust, revealing and severing quite a few pipelines of power that had been attempting to power and activate various defenses and countermeasures.
Before she could fall, Tala pushed off again, causing the solid metal of the wall to groan and crack under the pressure, despite its truly ridiculous thickness.
Tala flashed back by the automaton, hitting the ground in front of Io on her feet and skidding across the smooth metal floor, back out of the room and onto the stone of the path through the park.
Behind her, the orb which had held the constructs consciousness, as well as the fount that powered the thing, cracked and shattered.
The consciousness was broken.
The fount was consumed.
She felt the briefest flicker of a white void, one that she was incredibly familiar with from the times that shed merged things with her soul-bound items or herself. Well, except for when shed added in the void-weapon.
The white nothingness didnt fully manifest, however, and Tala got the distinct feeling that the fount was being subsumed into Flow but wasnt powerful enough to even attempt to truly influence the weapon, let alone her directly.
Tala gasped, falling to her knees as power raged through Flow like never before.
To her void-sight, it looked like an infinite well of power had been forcibly shoved into an unfillable power-hungry maelstrom.
Tala felt an incredibly odd sensation as the fabric of reality seemed to pull together, rolling over the fount and seemingly forcing it into the void.
A moment later, it was gone, wholly consumed.
Reality itself had worked to banish the fount, and Tala swayed at the realization.
Our gatesthey really are abominations, arent they
-Nows not a good time, Tala.-
Tala swallowed, shaking off her existential dread. She licked her lips and said the only thing she could, eyes locked on where the fount had been. Be well in the next world.
Flow no longer pulled from her to stay in the form of a void-blade, though Tala could tell that that was a temporary thing.
Tala walked forward, her steps steadying after the first few. When she was in the center of the white room, she stopped, waiting for what she knew would come.
-This is a bit suicidal? You still see whats in those walls, dont you?-
And I cant lock on until the shielding opens. I think I got this.
-Yeah, your plan is solid, but youre feeling prettyfragile right now.-
Its fine. Tala dismissed Alats concern.
-are you going to be alright? That was awesome and all, but the way the fount wasat the end there reality itself- Alat seemed at a loss for words, and Tala, herself, felt the same.
As Ios body finally hit the floor, having somehow maintained its stance for more than twenty seconds, the walls began to move.
Without much thought, Tala scooped up the automatons sword and dropped it into Kit.
She could investigate it later.
From the walls, dozens of the defensive emplacements began to unfold, each already charging the purple beam attacks.
Tala would have none of it.
Even as she pulled in another deep breath, once again infusing it with a truly staggering amount of power, she swept her gaze around the room, locking on to each defensive item, one at a time.
Crush.
The mindset and working lashed out again and again.
It was a fast act of magic, but not fast enough to stop them all, and she hadnt expected to be able to.
Instead, she exhaled slowly as she spun, filling the air around her with dissolution power.
With her aura, she strained against the inherent nature of the magics and kept it from wasting itself on her or her equipment. She also kept it from drifting away to break apart the other things around her.
The first purple beam lanced out, seeming to vanish into the air around her. It looked almost like it was carving its way into something in the air around her, but couldnt quite break through.
More weapons were crushed, but Tala wasnt in a rush.
She was methodical, efficient, unstoppable.
More beams fired, but none could reach her.
Her aura was unyielding as she shifted the magics defending her into concentrated pockets as her void-sight revealed where the next build-up of power signaled an incoming attack.
Her dissolution magic consumed the attacks as it spent itself towards that goal, breaking up the very fundamental power within the hostile magic.
The last attack came after the last of that magic was spent, and Tala hadnt bothered to refresh it. Thus, she was required to block with void-sword Flow, but that was it. Only once.
A final crush destroyed the last defensive weapon.
She stood still, unwinded, and victorious.
The last automatons body lay beside her, and a single melted line marked where the deflected attack had landed after meeting Flows void-form.
It was a minor thing, the power of the magics greatly reduced by the hunger of the void.
Is that all? Really?
She searched around herself with her void-sight, feeling the burden of power-requirement beginning to return as void-Flow finished processing the fount.
Tala knew, intuitively, that the power-draw of the weapon would be greater now than ever before.
Flow had been strengthened and that would carry a price.
Nothing is ever free.
Her will felt raw from working with the endingberry-like power.
She somewhat numbly dumped the body and separated head of Io into Kit.
The head was missing the orb at the back of its skull, in addition to its other issues.
Ill deal with that later, too.
For now? She had a final door to open, along with libraries and storerooms to ransack.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel