Dungeon Robotics 10-15

Good Morning!

Chapter 15

My awareness was thrown for a loop as it had been a while since my mind wasn’t tied to the avatar body I had created. Loads of information I had been diverging washed over me as the automatic part of my mind took a few seconds to catch up. It felt like an instant, but I had actually ‘lost consciousness’ for nearly ten minutes.

Once I realigned myself with reality, I focused on the transponders and attempted to connect with Puppet. He had a part of my core in his body which let us maintain a link in an emergency. It just put a lot of strain on that part of him. Relief flooded through me when I found I could still connect to him. That meant he was still alive.

Using a tier three model automata as an avatar, I teleported back to the others. I couldn’t be as precise using this link and ended up on the roof of a nearby building on the edge of the courtyard. They were facing a few of the zombie soldiers and brutes, but the nanites appeared to still be operating without my presence to direct them. They were moving like a swarm of locusts attacking anything that registered as one of the zombies.

Looking around, I found no trace of the Kala. Though, her battle hadn’t ceased after I left considering there were plenty of traces of that. Large chunks of the courtyard around the tower were missing. When I looked closer at one, there were dozens of zombies crushed and torn apart laying inside. The golem also looked out of commission. Another large gash had appeared since I was defeated.

I leapt from the roof and made for the others. I didn’t hold back and used anti-matter covering my hands to tear through them quickly. I would have spat blood if I could with how much mana I was burning through doing so. This body’s supply was much more limited compared to my normal body.

When I crushed the skull of the last zombie, I turned to take in my children. “Puppet. Where is Alara, Anubis and Duilin?” I asked as I reached them.

Puppet, Z2 and the others dropped to the ground completely exhausted once the battle was over. After a few deep breathes to compose himself, Puppet turned to look at me. “Anubis is inside the building. He’s too damaged to move. I think Duilin is in a similar condition. That woman blasted him well across the city. That was over five minutes ago. Alara hasn’t… hasn’t come out of the crater since she rushed to help you,” he explained quickly.

“What happened to the Hellian?” I asked. I’d rather not fight her again until I had a chance to study just what the hell I was dealing with.

“The woman?” Puppet repeated then pointed at the remains of the golem. “She went on a killing spree of the zombies and hit the golem when it tried to rise from the hole its in. When the golem’s mana signature disappeared, the portal reopened and sucked her back in. She didn’t look very happy to go.”

“I’d wager she wanted to keep fighting. Stay here,” I said before rushing over to the crater and hopped down. I checked the hole in the wall that Alara got slammed into but didn’t find her body. If she was defeated like I was, then her mind would have returned to her core. There was usually a pile of dust when her avatar faded, and it was hard to tell if that was the case with how much destruction there was.

I checked for a few more seconds before I made my way back to the initial crater. I leapt down to make sure she wasn’t at the bottom with my body. I stabbed my hand into the wall to slow my fall. The hole went well past fifty meters. You could easily put a small skyscraper in it.

With a few more well-placed jumps, I landed at the bottom. It was surreal looking at the crushed remains of my body. Alara was still nowhere to be seen. It was likely that she was sent back to her core then. I sighed and started to go through my remains. I would be taking it back and absorbing it. The metal was too valuable to abandon here in a hole.

Everything but my face plate was accounted for. Double checking, I was sure that it was gone. “Did Kala take it as a trophy?” It was possible and there were a lot of war tribes through out history that took trophies. I tapped my chin while I thought. If she really did take it, I could very well be able to use to track it, and thus her.

I snorted at the thought. “Not sure I want to go to a place where everything can probably kill me with a flick of their finger.” Waving my hand, I stored my old body in a pocket dimension for the moment then began to climb up the hole. My flight spell was a bit of the rough side which made it hard for this body to use.

I rejoined the others as they crowded around Anubis. Before I could really take a look at him, a ping sounded from the tower. I groaned at the thought of there being even more defenses in place. “Failed to terminate threat. Activating Higher-Level Consciousness.”

The tower in front of us pulsed. It went from semi-dormant to wide awake as it flared to life with light that filled almost the entire cavern. “Hello, Father, Sister. It has been a very long time,” a sophisticated voice reached us. I would never forget that voice as it had been with me for almost four decades back on Earth. Even if it sounded changed due to his life on this planet, I would still know it. Watcher.

I didn’t have time to worry about that right now though. I waved for Z2 to talk to the voice for the moment while I rushed over to help Anubis. There was a sizable hole through his mid-section. Any higher and he likely would have ceased operation completely. His only saving grace was that he was a machine and didn’t need all the organs that a mortal did to survive.

“Watcher! What are you doing here!?” Z2 shouted into the air.

“Is that any way to treat your older brother? I’ve been here long before you. I am called Vigil here,” the voice said with what could almost pass as sorrow on his voice. Sadly, the artificialness of it was too overpowering to ignore. I didn’t detect any hostility but at the same time, there wasn’t any compassion either. It mainly felt… cold. Exactly like I remembered from Earth. It had been Watcher’s decision to remove me from the world as it were, after all.

“How old did you say this place was?” I asked Nero who was rubbing his neck. He had taken a nasty blow during the fight.

“It was created during the Great Disappearing when all the high races were forced underground. The Great one known as Vigil managed to convince them that it was the best way to save the people and the world.”

While he talked, I multitasked and worked on Anubis. I removed the parts that were too damaged to be repaired and then began to feed mana into the wounded area. New parts slowly started to form and take the place of the damaged areas. I patted his shoulder with my free hand as he got past the worst of it. Even if I had to stop now, he would be able to recover using his own mana reserves.

“Ah. Someone remembers me. I know how fickle history can be,” the voice said bouncing off the wall.

“Answer me!” Z2 shouted again.

“I came following father. I was able to detect a strange energy that originated at the time of his death. Then again shortly after yours. As a machine the concept of a soul had always alluded me. Having data helped me in my research, even if it still took a few centuries.” Vigil actually replied.

He followed me? If it was the moment that Creation pulled me from that universe and into this one, I could imagine that it took more than a little power. Creation and Destruction liked to follow the rules of the universes they were interacting with. My research into souls during my stay in Murgin certainly supported that no small amount of energy would be needed anyway. It was quite possible for someone that was watching might be able to detect when it was emitted.

I felt Watcher’s presence focus on me. “Father. I followed your last desire when I moved the machines to Mars. In the end, war returned in under four decades. The humans with their unending desire for destruction ended with the planet known as Earth being destroyed. Only a few colonies and the humans living on Mars survived.” He reported almost like he was back to when I first created him as an assistant.

I rubbed my neck and stood up from Anubis as he was stable. Reaching out, I placed my hand on Z2’s shoulder as she had moved next to me worried about Anubis. “A sad event. Maybe in the end it would have been better to allow the machines complete control over the human race, but at that point they would have ceased to truly live. Are you trying to prevent the same thing happening here by dealing with the races before hand?” I asked considering he had sent a force after the first visitors he’d had in a while.

“I never had that desire. I came to this world after centuries of studying the energy left behind by you and my little sister. For one reason or another, I came into existence as the consciousness of a golem and was forced to take orders until the mage finally died. The Altering had just taken place and my golem was commissioned into the Seal.”

“A pity. You were created for much more than petty fighting,” I said shaking my head.

“And I achieved greatness. By the standards of this world. I reached the fifth tier without a flesh and blood body. I helped to create @$%##. People learned of my power and used me as the keeper of a greater evil.”

“Say what?” I asked not catching what he said.

“Strange. My memory has been tampered with. I am missing several years of information.” Vigil actually sounded surprised. I had no idea how his mind worked but I could surmise. To erase information with breaking the system altogether had to be quite a feat.

“Greater evil?” I asked not meaning to interrupt the story.

“Teriso. The Primordial war almost allowed him to break free. The mortals forced me into a role I had no desire to take solely for the reason that I was artificial.” For the first time, I detected an emotion in the voice. Anger. Watcher, or rather Vigil, hated that he was sealed here.

“I have great power of my own, my son. I might be willing to free you even given how you treated your father in the past,” I said crossing my arms.

“You would… forgive me?”

I rubbed my chin in mock consideration. I by no means trusted Watcher. He had locked me up on Earth, but that was due to my own programming if you got into the details. Just like everything else in this world, I would rather he be free, but if that meant he would try to, I don’t know, take over the world then I would have to be careful. “Well. I more or less was the one that caused your thoughts on Earth. Of course, I can’t do anything until I figure out this Seal, but one way or another I should be able to free you.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea. Son or not, he’s obviously been through a lot and has likely changed,” Duilin asked. He gestured to his missing arm as if showing me an example.

“I will take precautions, but Watcher is my first child. My son. The thought he is trapped here makes me a bit anger. Even after how he treated me,” I replied with a smile.

“Father,” Z2 said moving up to me. “If we are able to free him. I will take responsibility for my big brother. I’m sure you can create something that can bind us.”

I patted her head in a loving manner. “I’m glad my children care for each other even through different space and time.”

“I will accept these terms. The Seal was recently weakened by a considerable degree. This event along with increased trespassers were the cause of my awakening.”

“That was probably us,” Puppet said rubbing his head nervously. Of course hearing the Seal was holding one of the worst beings on and in the planet makes you think twice about exploring long lost ruins.

“Negative. The beings known as High Dwarves have been shown an increased interest in the area. They have created several new tunnels that connect to their domain in the west.”

“I understand.” I grabbed the transponder and quickly modified it. It wouldn’t let him teleport his creations, but he could communicate with me if needed. “You will be able to talk to me if you use this. Feel free, and Vigil. It is good to see you again.”

“As it was you father,” Vigil replied.

I looked at the others. “We’re going to head back and heal up. Let’s collect Nova and Duilin.” Moving to the collapsed building, we uncovered Nova. He was missing his arm and part of his chest. The shattered remains of his shield scattered around him in the debris. Otherwise, he was fine. It looked like there had been a large surge of mana through him that knocked him out. Considering the opponent, that was probably for the best.

Leaving him with Puppet’s group, I made my way through the city in the direction that Puppet said Duilin was sent flying. He wasn’t lying when he said that the man was sent clear across the city. I finally found him embedded in the wall of the cavern itself. I used a few precise lasers to cut him free.

A small jolt to his head woke him up. “You alright, my friend?” I asked. He didn’t appear to have any obvious damage like Nova and Anubis.

He rubbed his head before he nodded. “I’m fine, but I’m going to need a new hammer,” he said showing me the weapon. Even while flying across the city, he had managed to hold onto it. Or at least what was left of it. The head was little more than a piece of land connected to the handle.

“Sure. Let’s go. The others are waiting for us. Everything has calmed down for the moment,” I said patting his shoulder and helping him up.

“What the hell was that woman?” he asked.

“A Hellian,” I replied with a shrug. That was what the golem said and it had little reason to lie.

“A Hellian! I thought that place was just a legend.”

“You’re the one that told me about it,” I retorted with a sigh.

“Don’t know what to tell ya, boss. I thought it was a legend. We never proved its existence before,” he said with a tense laugh.

“Well. It exists. I was made aware of that today. Painfully,” I replied rubbing my face. Rather than painfully, more like humiliatingly. I thought the demons were the top of the food chain. I guess that was wrong. What else is out there that could piledrive me into the concrete? “Need to get stronger,” I mumbled to myself.

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