Remedy's thrown saber arced through the air... and fell short of its target. X just watched, wordlessly. Waiting for the last speck of light to leave her eyes so she could move on to her next objective. Was there triumph? Was there gloating, some reassuring resemblance of humanity behind those impassive eyes? None seemed forthcoming, as everything went dark.
As the Getviewm finally went silent, X's gaze went to the sky, contemplatively. Her work wasn't done yet, no. Not until every trace of this place had been stomped into the infinite, like a chunk of leftover fat circling the drain, refusing to be washed away. Yet, as she began to draw a bead on any remaining power sources-
A hand reached up from below, grasping at the sky.
Then two.
Then three.
"...!"
All around her, perforated and rotted bodies began to rise from their graves, eyes flickering on one at a time as the emissary of Dark Brain looked on in dull surprise. They stretched all the way to the horizon, in various states of disrepair - some little more than heads attached to a handful of limbs by a few cords, but even these scraps dragged themselves up and forward with their fellows. It was akin to seeing a swarm of locusts, metal wings (where they had them) beating together as they massed together, encircling X.
A last ditch effort? Perhaps some sort of recovery program she hadn't been made aware of? It mattered little. Whatever the cause, she would eradicate it as always. Nothing could stand before them!
One Getviewm shuddered - and then lunged. They surged forward in a tide of metal, all at once, from all directions. X raised the shotgun, eyes gleaming with malice.
The sound of plasma and gunfire filled the air-
[System Termination Detected
Core Unit Destroyed.
...
Preparing for complete shutdown.
...
Action canceled.
Activating Contingency One.
Begin final record playback.]
Coarse, loose fabric under her fingers.
It was cramped, but he'd done everything he could to make it comfortable, at least. She simply stared at the ceiling, and tried to rest, the sound of mechanical instruments and a single, dull light making her almost feel as if she was simply settling in for the evening. At length, a familiar voice crackled to life, asking anxiously for the umpteenth time.
"
How are you feeling?"
She sighed, and sat up. They were surrounded by a variety of worker robots busying themselves about the capsule. The monitors set up along the walls were old, but still afforded her a view of the void of space outside. Soon, she thought, she'd be getting a lot more acquainted with it.
"Hyle... This
was your suggestion." She said to one of the nearby robots, little more than an arm on a crane.
"
Well yes, but-"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
Silence greeted her... and she lay down again, trying to clear her thoughts. She lifted her hand to the light - and examined the static-like patches across its back, the way the light passed through it, shimmering onto her face in strange, unnatural reflections.
"How long will it take?" She said, finally.
"...I don't know." Confessed Hyle.
"
It could be a long, long time before the corrosion leaves your system. Nothing like this has ever been attempted."
The data he'd recovered on R-01, she thought. Her "predecessor". The truth of her history... and how it had been exploited by the Database, right up until she became a liability. Could her body - her fading memory, her life - be fixed by overlaying the two? Hyle, at least, seemed to think so - and was willing to try. But the process... was dangerous.
To be released into the depths of space, where the corrosion couldn't spread while she recovered... There was no telling what could happen.
As if reading her mind, Hyle perked up:
"
Don't worry. I'm storing your memories on the neural network... Once cleansed, they should lead you right back here, even if the worst happens."
Against the anxiety in her chest, she laughed.
"In theory."
"
In theory."
There was a long since - and an affirmative
click that affirmed all was ready. Remedy tried to become as comfortable as possible.
"Hyle?"
"
Yes?"
"Thank you."
"
...It's the least I could do."
"For what?"
"
Hm... It's nothing, really. Forget it. I wasn't programmed to be very good at these things."
At his bashfulness, she gave a wry smile - but avoided pressing the point, moving on to something more vital.
"We'll see each other again, right?"
"
I'll be waiting for you here."
"Promise."
"
Promise."
Her eyelids felt heavy. As patchy as her recollections were, she at least knew what sleep felt like. Strange, she thought, that despite all the advances of man... At the end, a nice long sleep could do more good than any medicine. Someone had once told her that when you slept, you died and were reborn anew. She wondered, briefly if there was any truth to that.
Nowhere she hadn't been before, then.
Present Day
Sub-Database Level 3
Former Quarantine Area
Alive, again.
Or, not quite. Whatever was left of "
her", of Remedy, would find its senses restored in no uncertain order. Her skin registered the feel of sunlight. Her ears, the sound of a distant, chirping bird of uncertain origin. She'd been here before, albeit a different location - on that day when she'd confronted Iris before the others. An old simulation, one that had long since been discarded for its apparent security failures, along with everything that had ever been associated with their blue-haired guest.
A simulation.
Had her consciousness been scooped from the brink of death by an unseen hand? Or had she merely returned to where she was meant to, a final stage before her final record would be scrubbed away forever? No immediate answer seemed to be forthcoming - but there was the distinct sense she was not alone.
