Omen's report on the Muramasa Extermination Raid on September 19th

Skeleton was right about everything, I'm not surprised, he knew Muramasa the best. Without his intel, we wouldn't have made half the progress.

We paid the price, regardless; he got his bodies. And he went a step further and collected from Crimson Souls while he was at it. The clean-up crew he sent was… effective. And the mayor likes them. Even knowing what they are. I can only imagine what the corporations will begin betting for even a chance to dissect his soldiers.

The Cadavers, he calls them. With them, we confirmed the deaths of Princess Winter Kiss, and Prince Diamondvein. Crouching Dagger escaped, while the Cadavers subdued The Bladedaughter with… an exterminator's proficiency. I doubted him, and he's laughing now, I can tell.

He got exactly what he's wanted. Anabelle Grazhe is dead — killed by The Dogwhistler's torment on Alex Lopez's mind — the Bladedaughter has been captured by him, and most fearful… he has his corpses. Especially after hitting Crimson Souls. They were quick to escape, but he was one step further.

As far as I know, only two vehicles of theirs escaped unharmed. One contained The Heart, the other was The Queen. All others were beaten down, and he reaped their fruit. But the Golden Apple remains a mystery? Where is it, The Bladefather's corpse?

So God help us all if Skeleton got his hands on it.

As for other events, despite proving his allegiance elsewhere, I gave Dreadwire his money. His alliance with The Dogwhistler is something I intend to exploit later, and Skeleton was urging to me to give him what he was dued. In his words: he acted phenomenal.

Ripley Donovick. I know his name now, his home, even surmised his motives. But Skeleton is saying to keep patient for now, that the time will come when I'll be free to begin a manhunt. At this time, my attention is put on his counterpart.

Diana Ulrich. Silvereye. She's taken to her duties immediately, it appears she's well expecting that promotion to Special Investigator, making her the youngest in the District's history at 24. Beyond that, she's agreed to make multiple media appearances once her… condition is under control. That's all she can be good for right now, considering how unstable her powers have become.

I'm not sure if I should be terrified or not.

December 22nd

Ripley

Consciousness came in waves. I remembered the heat first, those cold eyes and the fear they struck, and the lightning that scorched me bare. The words spoken to me by that silver creature of justice, how they'd jabbed their way into my skull and made a home there, how often I heard Starlight in my head, trying to keep me awake.

How Goliath repaired me. Blood transfusions, I was getting them, and each time someone grew worried about how the red shifted to black. I could feel Mirage's voice blend in there too, the many pitches between her Personas, how her words shifted between hate and love.

I heard The Dogwhistler too.

In between all of that, I felt operations on my body. A removal of a liver, installment of a new one, adjustments to my Endoskeleton, pushing it back into place and soldering the joints into cohesion once more. There was only one Operator who could do any of that for me.

Well, two. But Maiden was out of the City, so it had to be none other than…

"That you, boss?" I shifted in the dark, my eyes unable to open to the bright surgical lights overhead. "Couldn't put me under some better 'stesia?"

"I did. You cleared it out, even without a liver." Harold Anderson was only a blurry silhouette to me, these eyes in my head unfamiliar. "Does it have something to do with your blood, nanites I saw in a microscope… but this kind of integration. It's gone all the way to your cellular nuclei."

"Long story… really long story." I raised my hand up, blocking the lights so I could look clearly. This right arm wasn't mine, but it was a type I'd worked on frequently at the clinic. "You know, I can kinda understand why you and my grandfather didn't get along."

"Because I had to do this type of thing to him regularly? Kid had no restraint." Harold Anderson sighed tiredly. "Except his operations didn't last anywhere as long as yours did."

"No, what was it that he said?" I rubbed my eyes with my forearm. "Hey, no warm welcome? We trudged through frost and muck for three years to get here, I'd like a nice meal at the least."

I heard the clanging drop of a surgical tool, before he walked over to me and I could finally make out his bricked face and never-loving eyes. It took a few seconds for his words to get out. "Best I can do is takeout."

"I'll have it." I groaned, resting my arm down as I decided I might as well figure out what had been happening.

———

Three days, I'd been out. Twilight brought me to Mirage, but she was in no better of a condition after her exploits as The Dogwhistler. Her recovery didn't need any surgeries, just a long nap and some medication to deal with the headaches and jitters. Starlight was with Seraphim, the other AI apparently cheering her up while I was recovering… I told Twilight to wait a while before contacting Starlight, that I had to make some things right.

I looked between Twilight and Mr. Anderson, then down at the bowl of noodles in my hand. "I got my ass beaten by Diana."

"That much I figured from your girlfriend and the pink one." He grumbled. "The thing is… you should be dead. You had enough brain trauma to fuck up your speech so bad you'd need a whole new Implant to recover, couldn't see shit with how much internal bleeding you had, or the fact that none of your bones were set in the right way."

"I… am sort of a Dual Adapter now." I shrugged, but he looked at me with a gaze that looked at me as though I had gone crazy. "Might make a thesis on this at some point, it's uhhh… really complicated."

Twilight put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you want to tell him?"

"It's fine." I put my thoughts past it. "Best way I can describe it is… I got a Mutation through a symbiotic resonance with Diana, combined with some blood transfusions and… uh… Mimicking Features, getting stabbed by The Bladefather, and his daughter. Then Diana. Guess, if we follow the logic of previous nomenclature, I'm a Pseudo-Dual Adapter"

"That explains one thing…" He humphed, clearly still confused. "Your Implant is… unstable."

I wasn't all too surprised, but still had a morbid curiosity. "Neuroframes read your Implant Data, but in this case… whatever's changed goes beyond just my Implant. But it would still pay the price…"

I scanned through my Implant.

Features:

[G] Psyche V.3.24: Preservation Matrix; Thought Multiplier; Alter-Ego

[G] Shardweave V.3.21: Meta-Manipulation; Retrofit

[G] Database V.4.15: Consciousness Link; Defragmentation; (Error); Starlight

[G] Data Mimicry V.4.00: Focused Consumption; Overwrite; Frequency Sync

Tier II: Modification

Development: 41%

Integrity: Bronze X

Energy: Bronze X

Capacity: Error? (Effective: -Unknown-)

Grade: Gold II

Water Tendency: Bronze IX

Shadow Tendency: Bronze II

I'd had some stat increases and a few Feature Updates while I was out, but the biggest notice had to be the two errors in my Neuroframe's reading of my Implant. My Capacity was unreadable, and one of my Database Protocols, Nanomachine Reprogamming, seemed to no longer exist. And lastly, my Grade had decreased from Gold III to Gold II.

I went through things in order, trying to figure out what happened… it had been some time since the Updates and I hoped at least somethings had been made sense of since then.

Psyche has updated from V.3.22 to V.3.24

Effects:

Increased parallel thought processes between Egos.

Minor ability to communicate between Egos.

Shardweave has updated from V.3.15 to V.3.21

Effects:

Significant improvement to organic cohesion with Nanomachinery.

Shardware: Goliath Nanites are capable of integrating on a cellular level. The infusion has occurred on a cellular level.

Goliath-infused bloodstream is capable of forming a muscle-like structure.

Goliath-infused bloodstream is capable of conducting neural transmissions, reducing the need for Neurowiring.

Goliath-infused bloodstream is capable of significantly altering the properties of the individual's blood by stabilization of various Warp-Materials within the individual.

Database Protocol: (Error) is partially modifiable with Shardweave.

Database has updated from V.4.11 to V.4.15

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Protocol

Nanomachine Reprogramming

has undergone massive changes and is now (Error).

(Error) has reprogrammed the Goliath Nanites to perform a cellular hybridization.

Goliath-infused bloodstream is reactive to the Adapter's physiological state, performing self-sustenance reparations as needed.

Goliath-infused bloodstream acts as a secondary nervous system.

No updates to Data Mimicry, not that it needed any after the brutal hell I went through to Mimic Bladedaugther's Technomorph Unique Feature. Neither of them even explained why my Compatibility was off… but the facts remained that Goliath had significantly changed it's relationship to me now.

So, taking a deep breath, I called upon it's information.

Goliath Nanites:

Integrity: -Unknown-

Energy: -Unknown-

Capacity: Silver II [Silver I = ??%]

Grade: Gold I

Amount: 2078 Grams [20 Trillion Nanites]

Feature Links: Error-

My eyes couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, I had two kilograms of Nanites inside me? And… I hadn't even activated Goliath's self-replication, meaning it did so on its own to save my life by… devouring my organics that had been damaged to replace it with its own? Biomatter wise, I estimated roughly 12% of my body-mass was now entirely constituting the nanites…

And yet, I could barely feel any sense of Capacitance from them, they were a part of me just as my lungs were… in fact, despite the beating I'd gone through, I felt healthy. More than healthy, it was as though all organic systems of mine were enhanced, each breath felt more full and my heart beat strongly and assuredly. I probably didn't even need a liver now to clear out any toxins.Just looking in the mirror was proof enough. I'd been cut and bruised a lot, and now where there should have been scars were now long cracks of darkness that stitched my skin in place. And quite literally fused all my wounds by the carbon-based nanites acting as a sort of mediator. It was like my body had been shattered like glass and put back together, leaving a web of black over my skin.

So all of this led to one key-fact, my body's genetics had been altered to go beyond just pure mental-connection to the nanites. I'd mutated. And yet, there was no mention of a mutation anywhere in my Implant… probably since a BUG wasn't designed to identify and propagate the development of one. It spoke a different language and didn't translate Mutations the way it would for Warpcode's involvement in Features. "You said I was unstable. What did you mean by that?"

He raised up his hand, a Shard Operating claw that he was proud of, bits of were nicked and scratched which was very unlike him. "I opened you up, and your black stuff reacted by grabbing me… and draining my Energy. Not just that, you were simultaneously empowering your Shardware, increasing it's Grade without any Shards. You were… sacrificing your own Energy to feed it."

"Draining? I never had that type of ability, I could never…" I cut my words short, Goliath's Grade had increased as well. I never had that degree of manipulating Warp Energy, consuming and releasing it, but I knew someone who did. "That's one of Diana's Mutations, but it's not a normal kind if it's reacting to Shardware."

Shit, I hadn't just gotten any Mutation. I had a Deviant Mutation…

One my Implant had no way of deciphering, if I had to guess… I'd need to Synchronize to Diana again to figure out what it was, but…

I massaged my temples, Database perfectly sketching the scene of her rebirth. Blood, skin, bone and steel burning away into an ash where everything stirred into a crucible of azure flame to form something greater than it's individual parts, how cold her eyes had been when she lifted me off the ground without even needing to electrocute me…

My scorched insides, the volume of Goliath's growth, the very presence of this new and strange Mutation that sought out Energy to feed my Shardware. "Is this why you plugged me up with weaker Shardware?"

"Put a hefty Datashield on it to keep you from properly linking." He explained. "Even then, you're constantly…"

He motioned to Twilight to continue. "When you were out, I took control of your body to keep it moving and… I've never felt anything like this. You were… devouring me? I don't know if I can explain it, Starlight was capable of keeping me from being weakened, she seems to be immune to it. But… I could feel your body craving Energy wherever it could, to… keep yourself alive."

I took a deep breath, clenching my hand as I called for Warp Energy, it responded as fluidly as it always had, even more sensitive now that Goliath was an expert conductor, but it was in that conduction that I realized it was also taxing Energy for it's own. And if Goliath continued to grow within me, I'd be able to muster less and less until… nothing would come. "This is… worrying."

"I'm not an expert in Mutations…" Anderson put a hand on my shoulder, "but from what I've heard, that pink one was capable of keeping you stable. Enough that you survived the trip here."

"I owe Starlight a lot." I wasn't sure what happened towards the end of my fight with Diana, but I could faintly remember feeling her presence leave Diana and return to me. Something she'd done had stopped Diana from killing me.

Diana would have killed me. There was no doubt in my head that she was on the path to becoming a Dual Adapter, but she let me go. She let me live.

And the truth is… I didn't blame her for wanting to kill me. It wasn't that I thought I deserved it, but the sheer weight of the lies I'd woven had crumbled down and… taken its toll on both of us. She had every right to be angry, and to see my betrayal worthy of an execution.

In spite of that, I didn't regret my actions, and it scared me that perhaps the only reason for that was because I'd chosen to accept the evil I was willing to do to save my mother. But now I doubted whether I even did this to save her... or if...

That Diana really was right. That I was dangerous, and a threat, and someone who shouldn't be possessing this much power. Nor in a relationship with... one of The Uncaged.

I'd known about Elsa's plans with Muramasa, maybe neither of us expected things to go so far… but I'd agreed with every step they took. Moulded events to turn up in my favor, and let so many people… die.

All for six Silver BUGs and one Gold.

"Did they… arrive safely? The Implants?" I turned to Twilight, her eyes cast downwards as she nodded.

"They're at your clinic."

"His clinic?" Anderson raised an eyebrow.

I covered my face, yet another lie snipped away. "Boss… I think I have to make a choice."

"A choice?" He crossed his arms, studying my every word.

"I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. Really," I took a breath in for courage, "but I'm going to quit. I… have a lot that I need to do, responsibilities that I've… neglected, and feel like I need to-"

He walked out of the room, sighing heavily. I rubbed my head, feeling like nothing was going right as Twilight descended down to rub my shoulder. "Hey, it's okay to take your time with these sorts of decisions, I'm sure he'll understand if you-"

Anderson walked back and tossed a piece of hard paper down at my side. "There."

"What…?" I picked up the paper, my eyes blinking back to make sure I was reading it right.

Westbrook Central UniversityUpon the recommendation of the Faculty of Shard Operating has conferred on

Ripley Donovick

the degree of

Masters in Shard Operating

"Uh…" I was speechless. "Since when-"

"I have connections. It's certified, you're even edited into this year's graduation photos." He waved it off carelessly. "I was a professor there, ages ago, made their damn curriculim. And you aced the exams anyway, I did nothing your girlfriend couldn't get you."

"No, you did something." I smiled, holding the paper fondly. "Or at least, I think you did? Is this your way of showing approval? I... fuck... I don't deserve any of this. Not with the shit I did."

"It's the opportunity your grandfather would have wanted for you… and your mother." He said quietly. "But an opportunity doesn't mean shit if you don't make use of it. Quit the whining, and get to working."

"Use every tool at your disposal, you taught me that." I put the certificate down. "I think you've grown a soft spot for me, Anderson."

"I'll be wanting an increase in my percentage of payment for helping you in developing The R0N1N's Shardware." He proved my every word wrong. "35%."

"25%."

He smirked. "34."

"25."

In an admittance of defeat, he sighed away. "30."

"25." I remained firm. "Take it or leave it."

A vein on his head popped, and he nodded, before his smile grew even prouder. "You know you're still the one with the burden of manufacturing costs."

"And I've got my own clinic to pay for it now." I argued back, my look defiant. "Not that I'm… stealing clients away from you. It's pretty far away and-"

"If they choose to come to you, it's either because they rightfully pissed me off… or because you're doing something I'm not." He smiled. "And I hope the things you will do will be stuff I never dreamt off.

"I think I'm on that track…" I admitted, baring more vulnerability. "I think… I need to start embracing the parts of me I looked away from. To stop… making things that hurt others, and to start… fixing things. One step at a time."

His gaze deepened. "You don't know how much you sound like him sometimes."

"My grandfather?"

"The guy always wanted to do better, even if the world didn't let him." Anderson sat down next to me. "I think… I'll tell it to you over drinks one day."

He took a moment, before meeting me in the eyes. "Not as your boss, but a fellow colleague. Long as you try and stay on the right path for once. Don't go dissapointing your mother."

"You're right... and I'd like that. The drink." I took stock of all the thoughts running through my head, and honed them in for the next challenge.

To talk with Elsa.

———

I'd suffocated my desire to see the Implants for now, letting the currents of longing to check on my mother win out. It just so happened that Elsa was at my apartment too.

She was taking care of my mother while I was out.

When I opened the door, my mother was asleep on her medical bed. According to Twilight, she had been in-and-out for the last few days as Starlight checked in on her. Elsa was also fast asleep, taking my spot on the couch.

I moved quietly, sitting next to her as I studied her face. She was so beautiful, she was everything I ever wanted and four times that. My life had changed in uncountable ways since I met her and Twilight, soaring with me up in the sky and I'd revealed even my lowest depths to her.

Those fearsome dark corners of my life I'd been afraid of, but she told me to accept them.

All that hate, all that greed, all that longing.

And she was The Dogwhistler, an entity born through the sacrifice of her own mind… by cleaving out all the parts of her that would be corrupted. It was all the darkest parts of her that had breached through my skull that day, those thoughts she never believed in but had anyway. Or maybe she did believe them, and I was just an idiot in love and denial.

And then... there were the lies, the manipulation... the fact that my mind had been violated by her. She said it was to keep me stable, but...

In the echoes of The Dogwhistler, there may have been some bitter truths. I'd heard... hurtful things. Seen just how many shades her mind was.

But right now, she was neither of those shades. She was just a girl lying down on my couch, taking care of another person I loved while I was too weak to. In the dim lights, I could see streaks under her eyes. Tears…

I wasn't scared of death anymore. Death was only ever silence. But I was scared of being alone, of knowing loss, of having to live on without knowing what the future would bring. But right now, I had to confront all of that. I'd made a promise to Starlight, I'd made a deal with Diana… and I was a man of my word.

That's who I wanted to be.

So I gently rustled Elsa awake, a forced smile cracking on my lips even when I felt my mouth wanted to tear apart. Her own came easy, her hands grasping around my waist as she pulled herself closer to me and stayed there.

"I was… so scared." She said, shaking against me. "I'd never seen you so… hurt. I thought-"

"I'm alive. I'm here and not going…" I couldn't say that, not when it could be another lie. My hands swept her hair of darkness and light back, even knowing I was only making things harder for myself. "Diana gave me the biggest beating of my life, but I'm not that easy to kill. Got a good self-preservation instinct, you made sure of that."

She laughed, slowly rising to put her weight on my body as though to sediment that I was there with her. Her sleepy eyes looked deeply into mine, and she pulled me closer as they closed and her breath ghosted on my lips.

I stopped her, and she flinched. "I-is everything alright?"

"I've just…" I didn't know what to say. "There are thoughts I've been having since the fight."

"We'll win next time." She said with stubborn defiance. "We'll show the entire world that Silvereye doesn't mean shit, that she's only-"

"Probably right about a lot of things." I interrupted her… my hands clenching on her shirt. "Elsa… I-"

"It's okay." She held me closer. "You only did what's necessary, her problems are her own. It's you who you need to focus on."

"Stop it, please." I pleaded quietly, and she looked taken aback. She let go off me, probably sensing that I was a conflicted mess right now. It gave me the breathing room to think.

And so, forcing words past the boundary of pain, I spoke.

"We need to… end things."

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