Somehow...you're still alive, crawling out from the last satellite's wreckage as that's all you can manage to do until you claw your way free of that crater, leaving a trail of parts that used to be attached. This time you don't look back, spurred by fear that more may still come, even as you struggle to run to the first shelter that presents itself.
You all but collapse within the cave, dragging yourself further within. "Nrrp..." Words refuse to form, as though even they wish to smother you as choke on each attempt. "Rrrn. Mnnr."
The little drone is there, a light emitting from its eye-like core, scanning over you. "I can't fix you. That last hit corrupted write-protected processes in your cognition modules," it informs.
"Nnnr?"
"You're an Exo. Exos were made in the Golden Age, with proprietary tech," the drone replies, looking a little uneasy, if only by its movements. "I can't hack into your head to fix the damage, but I can rebuild you as you were. If you shot yourself, I could work quicker."
Another death would be welcome compared to this. Or would it? There's little other option. You can't function this way. You drag your gun from its holster, and before you can change your mind, pull the trigger...
The light fades around you as you come to, but all the same, you crumple to your knees, dropping your face into your hands. Your body feels like it still aches from the memory of each death just moments ago, but you know that's impossible.
"Why is this happening?" you ask, looking up at the drone. "Because of you? It's after you, isn't it?" you press, trying to discern anything from its movements, the way it carries itself.
"No," the drone replies before continuing, "I don't know why." How much is truth? But what reason would this thing have to lie? You don't know. You don't know anything, ever since you awoke to its insistence to move. The little drone softens its tone as it admits, "The Traveler told me to save you. That something was different about you."
"That ball in the sky you showed me? It talked to you?"
"I can't explain it."
Frustrating. You wince, once again cradling your head in your hands. "Can you explain anything?"
"Not really."
Silence falls between the two of you, and outside things are just as still. A minor comfort, and yet neither of you are reassured in the least. The drone breaks the silence first. "We shouldn't stay in one place for very long. I don't think it's safe."
You stare at the ground, reluctantly agreeing though you don't say as much. "How will I sleep?" you ask as you look up at your strange companion.
"You don't need to."
"But I want to."
"That's fine."
It was here that the cave would begin to fade around Tony, overlapping with a chill that did not sync up with the memory as he'd eventually find himself where he'd been all this time, standing there in front of the warsat sitting in Felwinter's throne room.
no subject
You all but collapse within the cave, dragging yourself further within. "Nrrp..." Words refuse to form, as though even they wish to smother you as choke on each attempt. "Rrrn. Mnnr."
The little drone is there, a light emitting from its eye-like core, scanning over you. "I can't fix you. That last hit corrupted write-protected processes in your cognition modules," it informs.
"Nnnr?"
"You're an Exo. Exos were made in the Golden Age, with proprietary tech," the drone replies, looking a little uneasy, if only by its movements. "I can't hack into your head to fix the damage, but I can rebuild you as you were. If you shot yourself, I could work quicker."
Another death would be welcome compared to this. Or would it? There's little other option. You can't function this way. You drag your gun from its holster, and before you can change your mind, pull the trigger...
The light fades around you as you come to, but all the same, you crumple to your knees, dropping your face into your hands. Your body feels like it still aches from the memory of each death just moments ago, but you know that's impossible.
"Why is this happening?" you ask, looking up at the drone. "Because of you? It's after you, isn't it?" you press, trying to discern anything from its movements, the way it carries itself.
"No," the drone replies before continuing, "I don't know why." How much is truth? But what reason would this thing have to lie? You don't know. You don't know anything, ever since you awoke to its insistence to move. The little drone softens its tone as it admits, "The Traveler told me to save you. That something was different about you."
"That ball in the sky you showed me? It talked to you?"
"I can't explain it."
Frustrating. You wince, once again cradling your head in your hands. "Can you explain anything?"
"Not really."
Silence falls between the two of you, and outside things are just as still. A minor comfort, and yet neither of you are reassured in the least. The drone breaks the silence first. "We shouldn't stay in one place for very long. I don't think it's safe."
You stare at the ground, reluctantly agreeing though you don't say as much. "How will I sleep?" you ask as you look up at your strange companion.
"You don't need to."
"But I want to."
"That's fine."
It was here that the cave would begin to fade around Tony, overlapping with a chill that did not sync up with the memory as he'd eventually find himself where he'd been all this time, standing there in front of the warsat sitting in Felwinter's throne room.