Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 2:52:39 GMT
[Thread Pl: 27280] [Heavy Weights: ON] [Current pl: 6820]
Sei had already begun his short trip back to the cave of his creation. He had learned much in his time on the outside of the laboratory, and met many new and interesting people. Some were very crazy and temperamental, some where actually very kind in terms of objectivity. He would still be on the mission at hand if it weren't for the wonderful Verdant he had met in his travels to the forests of the world. His name was Bastion, and he was the spawn of someone very important to the world, just as Sei was. It was through talking to him that he realized that his mission could be fulfilled, and that the meaning of life was in the hands of that very tree. He spoke cryptically at the end of their talk, but Sei had gotten most of it. There wasn't much of a chance that he could misinterpret considering his robotic nature and many data banks and files.
I'm returning home for a reason. I as an analyst creature have determined that this answer to be most closely to what I could have even imagined it to be. It makes the most sense, after all, and the one who spoke the words was also wise beyond even his short life cycle. Sei's cave was meant to be where he would log his answer into the super computer and it would determine that his answer was undoubtably correct. Reaching the cave was the easy part, as well as entering, but when he got to the supercomputer and put in his answer is where everything got weird. The supercomputer had been named by his creator, Griffon Connaleer, and he had apparently named it "Donna". Donna decided that Sei's answer wasn't good enough for some reason. Openings on the panels came out, and wires that were meant to go into Sei popped out. The computer had instructions for the robot to put the wires into his body, which he complied with. He wasn't certain what was going to happen, but the least likely of everything he imagined did. He was taken into a simulation world.
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And the faux world appeared in front of him, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. It seemed that the super computer Donna had sent him to an island in the middle of the ocean. From what his built in scanner was telling him, there wasn’t much going on in terms of life. No animals, no androids and certainly no aliens. He walked around curiously, unsure of what the danger was here.
He took in the serene surroundings and just sighed. This island reminded him a lot of home. The waters were calm, and the breeze was cool. The few palm trees there were on the island swayed peacefully. There was no possible way anything could go wrong here. Maybe this Duplication is designed to help me relax? He thought curiously as he sat down at the shore and took a deep breath. It was good to take a break once and a while, but he hadn’t gotten too much training in today, which made this break feel a bit pointless. Suddenly, he felt it. A strange form of Ki could be felt from the opposite side of the island. It was wild and uncontrolled, like a raging typhoon given life. The calm waters turned to furious waves, and the cool breeze twisted into a tornado of howling wind. He rushed over to the opposite side of the island to check out the trouble.
Upon reaching the opposite end of the island, it seemed he had hit the mark; quite literally. He had literally sensed a raging typhoon! The watery beast’s massive form had been given arms and a head. It gurgled angrily as it looked down at the pitiful android. Sei grinned at his watery opponent as he flew up, meeting it at eye level.
He spoke to the creature in a cocky tone ”So, what do you think that water of yours is gonna do? You gonna give me a nice bath?” He chuckled as the creature roared in defiance, annoyed by this pitiful android’s words. It raised it’s watery arm and shot a stream of high-pressure water at Sei. Water didn't effect Sei like most though it did, but it still wasn't great. He was so close to the Typhoon that he had no chance of dodging its attack, he was smacked away by the huge, swirling jet stream.
He was pushed back by the massive wave of water. It was surprisingly painful, singeing his hands as he tried his best to hold the water back. After a few moments of struggle the stream relented. The Typhoon gurgled again, this time raising both arms up and pushing out another torrent of water. Sei was much farther away this time so he had ample time to fly above the searing water stream.
He raced down towards his opponent, fist outstretched. He tried to punch the watery beast, but it shifted its form, causing the punch to miss completely. He pulled his fist back and frowned at his opponent. It seemed physical attacks weren’t going to work here, he’d have to use an energy attack against this Typhoon. He floated away a bit, gaining some distance as the Typhoon gurgled once again. It raised its massive watery arms and shot two more streams of high-pressure water. Sei continued his slalom through the torrents of water as he attempted to devise a plan to take down the creature.
The Typhoon was certainly not going to let up his assault anytime soon. Though it did seem that there was a significant pause in his attacks when he actually hit Sei. He would have to use his After-Image Technique to make the creature think he had landed an attack, then Sei would have his chance.
He intentionally bogged down his dodging, feigning fatigue as he waited for the perfect moment to enact his plan. He found the perfect moment when the Typhoon locked his arms together to form a much larger stream. He stood still, waiting for the perfect moment. As the water smashed into him, his form suddenly disappeared! He re-appeared above his watery foe and laughed heartily.
He continued laughing as he charged up a ball of Ki ”Counter point” He cocked his hand back, and then flung it forward. The large ball of Ki smashed into the titanic creature, causing it’s sloshing form to collapse on itself. Whatever magic was holding the water together had been destroyed, and the monster was gone. The water splashed back down, receding back into the ocean. The island returning the to its peaceful state once more…
The young android stepped forward, feeling a rush of heat, as he blinked harshly to adjust to the sudden change of brightness. This Duplication had thrust Sei deep into a volcano it seemed. He had been inside of one a long time ago, albeit he was forcefully put there by a group of serpent-men last time. He was currently in a small metallic hallway, looking out over the innards of the volcano. Watching the painfully hot lava bubble and boil inside the rocky stew pot that housed it.
He took a step back and turned, inspecting the hallway more carefully. It seemed like it wasn’t your average hallway, even for secret villainous lair standards. It looked more like an air duct. It was fairly small horizontally; if two people were to try walking in opposite directions they would probably be unable to pass each other. However, it was surprisingly spacious vertically, even someone as tall as Sei, who stood at 6 feet tall, could fit through with a lot of room to spare.
He walked through the air duct, slowly ascending as it seemed the duct was slanted upward somewhat. Eventually the slant became too steep to walk up, so he began flying instead. He slowly floated up the now entirely vertical duct, focusing his senses to try and locate the inevitable threat in this Duplication. It was hard to focus on much of anything with all this heat however, so finding the enemy in this harsh environment was going to be difficult to say the least. He reached the top of the duct and crawled out into a small control room.
There were consoles of all shapes and sizes every which-way. Most of these machines didn’t even look like they did much. One of the first things he noticed about this room, was that it had an infinitely more pleasurable temperature than the duct below. The heat from the massive volcano was hardly even noticeable in this room.
With his mind cleared of the haze the heat had imposed on him, he was able to use his senses more clearly. He tried to scan around, trying to sense any semblance of life in any direction, but could find nothing. It was a bit ominous, but he wasn’t about to freak out about it. He approached one of the many consoles and began tapping away at the keyboard, trying to figure out the situation. He read through file after file, but could not figure out what had happened to the people working here. It had been around three months since their last update, so that must have been when things went south.
He continued looking through the files, searching for anything of importance. It was then he found a small notice that was dated three months ago from this very day. He clicked the notification and a video file began playing. A spindly man wearing a suit was speaking directly at the camera ”Today marks the final day in our research. We have no more funding left and most of our scientists have left the project, so we’ll have to speed up our process and show off this prototype early.” The suited man moved out of the way, no longer obstructing the view of the camera, revealing a small red creature locked in a cage. It looked somewhat goopy and it had a depressed expression on its drooping facial features.
The suited man grabbed a remote and pushed a button on it, causing the cage to open slowly. The goopy creature oozed out and looked around curiously. It had a small smile on its face as it looked towards its creator, who happened to be the suited man. The suited man barked orders at the small creature and it frowned. It didn’t seem to like being told what to do so it moved past him, eagerly looking around the small control room. The suited man yelled once more, this time pushing a different button on the remote. The goopy creature started shaking violently, being electrocuted by some type of device. The goopy creature turned around and grew in size, appearing to have grown limbs. It moved towards the suited man who fell to his knees in fear. The video feed cut out just as the foreboding goop-creature reached the suited man. Sei looked away from the console, unsure of what he just saw. He turned around and scanned the room for this strange creature.
Out of the far corner, was a small sphere of a strange red substance. He slowly approached the creature and crouched down. He spoke in a sincere tone. ”Hello there, are you okay?” The small goo pile opened its eyes and looked up at the android. Its drooping features smiled at Sei, it could tell he wasn’t here to hurt it. The creature approached slowly, unsure of exactly how it was going to show to the android it wasn’t a threat. Sei offered his hand to the creature and it slowly crawled up to his forearm. Sei laughed, the feeling of this goopy creature was similar to sticking your hand in gelatin.
Sei smiled at the creature, but suddenly he heard a clicking noise from behind him. He turned to see a trembling security guard aiming his gun at the new-found friends. He spoke in a shaky voice, ”PUT THAT THING DOWN, OR I’LL SHOOT BOTH OF YOU!” Sei stood up, goo still in hand as he spoke, ”Hold on now, this little guy is just as scared as you are. Why don’t we just--” ”SCARED?! YOU THINK THAT THING IS SCARED?! IT HAS ALREADY KILLED EVERYONE ELSE ON SIGHT, I’M NOT LETTING IT LIVE,” the guard snapped, interrupting Sei. The green clad android looked down at the little goop in his hands, it was frowning at him. Sei sighed, unsure of how to go about this. He lowered his hand, forcing the goop to the floor. He then lifted his other hand and charged up a Ki attack. The goop yelled angrily, clearly upset at this turn of events ”I’m sorry little guy, but I’m pretty sure this guy is telling the truth, and that means you can’t stick around...I’m sorry.” The goop grew in size as it yelled, and as Sei shot his Ki attack, the creature disappeared from sight. Sei looked around frantically, searching for the creature that he could not sense.
Sei fell through the air at breakneck speeds. Falling at such a speed so out of the blue like this was a jarring feeling indeed. He was certain his body wouldn’t be able to survive this speed were he even slightly weaker. Using his Ki, he was able to stop himself mid fall quite easily. He looked up, trying to see where it was he had fallen from. In the far distance, he could see a floating castle in the sky. It was made of dark stone, and the island it floated upon was covered in a mossy substance. He was certain that was where the Duplication wanted him to go, and he had absolutely nowhere else to go, so he went upwards. He flew at high speeds, reaching the floating castle in mere moments. When he landed at the gates of the strange castle he noticed they were blown open. The hinges were singed, and the wooden doors that were once standing vigilant now lay flat on the ground with large holes in them. The hall in front of him was pitch black, giving off an ominous feeling.
The android stepped inside, walking precariously to make sure not to step on any booby traps. He reached the end of the hall relatively quickly, finding himself to now be in a large Throne Room. Something that the android found odd about the room was that it was fairly spacious, but there was not much actually in the room. In it was a large, shrouded throne, a few banners on the walls, but not much else. As Sei surveys the room, he can hear a loud chuckling coming from the shrouded throne. The seemingly magic shroud covering the throne lifted to reveal a man wearing Knights armor, with a crown atop his head. The Knight looks down at Sei, and his chuckle ramps up to a guffaw. He strains to keep himself from laughing as he addresses the intruder ”Oh, the mighty Martial Artist has returned! Come back to fall down another hole have you?” Sei raised an eyebrow in confusion at first, but quickly remembers something similar had happened to him before. Last time he used the Randomizer he had encountered a similar looking Knight in a somewhat similar situation.
Sei folds his arms as he replies to the King Knight ”Fall down another hole? You are mistaken, it shall be you who will fall this time” The Knight grasps at his chest, breaking out into a hearty laugh once more. He grips his chest harder, unable to breath from his uproarious laughter. Sei frowns, unsure of how he should handle the situation. He steps forward and hears a click from below. A small hole opens up in the floor, and once again he plummets through. This time however, he stops himself just below the hole. From above he can just barely hear the now breathless laughter coming from the King Knight. He floats back into the Throne room and gives the King Knight a look of confusion.
It seems the Knight couldn’t control himself anymore. His breath wouldn’t come out, and his laughter had slowed to a nearly unnoticeable level. With his last breath, the King Knight spoke his final words ”...You...Slay...Me”. Immediately afterward, the King Knight slumps over, dead. Sei looked around the room, unsure if what he just saw had really happened. His supposed challenge defeated itself? It was an interesting Duplication, but he wasn’t sure how exactly this was supposed to help him get stronger.
He walked towards the throne and poked at what he assumed was the corpse of the King Knight. Though he could not sense the Knight anymore, he was still sure to be cautious just in case this was some clever trick. As he touched the body, a small slit in the armor began forming. At first it was a small line, but after a few moments it become a massive rift in the entire Knights body. The rift opened up, and from it crawled a short man. The short man was naked and slimy. He had no hair to speak of anywhere, and his nose was long like a carrot. He spoke in a high-pitched voice as he looked towards Sei ”Ahh, my savior! I must give thanks to you. Your hilarious ways have saved me from my prison!” Sei blinked in confusion, unsure of how to process this information ”Um...you’re welcome?”
As he spoke, the short man dashed forward and locked his arms around Sei in a hug. Sei felt quite uncomfortable, but he just let it happen. The short man relinquished his grip and stepped away from the android. He gave his savior a grin as he spoke once again ”We must celebrate this day! Jeeves, call in the wenches!” From the corner of the room, a small robotic man in a suit nodded his head. He opened a door, and a group of scantily-clad women walked out...
He cursed himself for allowing the goop to trick him.
If he had realized that the creature was evil all along he wouldn’t have to be searching for him right now. He headed to the corner of the room where he had first met the creature, but his attention was diverted when he heard something behind him. A terrifying yell could be heard from the guard. Sei turned on his heel to see that the Goop had latched itself onto the guard and began melting through his skin. Sei charged another Ki blast, and this time successfully hit his mark. The goop was smashed by the Ki ball, and exploded against the wall. Sei sighed as he looked at what he had accomplished. It was a bit disappointing that the guard had to die, but at least he defeated the monster...
Sei went back into the Duplication and felt a chill. This sim didn’t feel like the others. Darkness consumed the landscape, creating silhouettes of the palm trees against the horizon, which had a pair of off-white moons resting upon it horizontally . Sei looked up through the trees and to the sky, it was dark blue, but it wasn’t nearly as dark as the sky should normally be. The starless sky gave an eerie blue tinge to what little he could make out though the black shroud that coated his surroundings. Sei felt his chest fill and twist with an uneasy feeling, a burden he knew wouldn’t be lifted anytime soon. He exhaled as he took his first step into the strange environment . The ground gave off a crunch under his weight . He flinched at the unexpected sound; it seemed deafening when compared to the silence. He expected the worst when he looked down, but to his relief , he saw only the ground beneath him. The crunch was the result of a small flower shattering under his feet as though it were made of glass. Sei found it odd, but kept walking. He was determined to overcome this challenge and get the hell out of here.
He continued walking, nervously scanning the area as he did so. Out of all the things that were wrong about this place, one of the the worst had to be the cold. Sei crossed his arms in an attempt to shield himself from the frigidness that bit at his skin, but the wind pierced right through. Sei could feel the wind and see it rippling through his clothes, but it wasn't having any effect on anything except himself. The grass and trees didn't sway, nor did the flowers. He kicked a small weed protruding from the ground and true to his expectations, it shattered into pieces. Everything here was brittle and stagnant. He continued walking until he discovered a small clearing in the trees overhead that allowed a bit more light to reach the ground. In the center of the clearing there was a large tree stump. Whenever he looked toward it his head started to pound and his ears started to ring. Sei knew it wouldn't end well if he approached it, so he kept walking, keeping his distance as he passed by.
Sei walked for a good while before he noticed a shattered flower on the floor. "Someone else must be here, finding him must be my test.", he thought. Continuing forward, he searched for who or what could be his opponent. As he scanned for him, something caught his eye. It was the weed he kicked earlier. It was so strange, he could've swore he'd never changed directions at any point. Turning himself around, he ran back to the flower he saw a while back. After inspecting it, he realized it was the same one he crushed when he first got here.
None of it made sense. If he couldn’t go one way without popping back out the other, then how was he supposed to get out of here? He rolled his eyes in shame when he remembered he could fly. He jumped up, but came right back down. Befuddled by this, he tried again, and once more. Both attempts giving the same result as the first. He threw a ki blast skyward in frustration, but ended up just raising his hand in the air pointlessly. Sei cried out in frustration, before slamming the fist he held upward into the ground. The thundering blow caused a small crater as a resounding quake shook the area around him. “At least I still have my strength.” The thought calmed him down a bit.
The world itself was created to oppose him. “That must be the challenge,” Sei thought. “Overcoming the environment itself is the challenge.” He had to rationalize the situation. Since the world was his enemy, he’d have to play by it’s rules. He couldn’t afford to let the unnatural laws of this place get to him like they had before. Now that he understood the point of this exercise, he needed a plan. “I need to think like this place,” Sei pondered. He looked over at the twin moons, which now had their top halves concealed in the dark blue of the sky. He pointed at them as he whispered to himself, “If I consider those moons to be north, then the tree stump I found would be south of here.”
He looked down at the round crater he’d made and drew an “N” at the point closest to the direction of the moons. He repeated this for every direction: “E” to the east, “W” to the west, and “S” to the south. “Since I already went south,” he said as he crossed out the “S”, “There’s no reason to go back that way, so my choices are west, north, or east.”
Sei’s mind almost left him as he considered which way to go. His head raced with all the horrendous events that may transpire, him being this powerless in a dire situation may spell the end for him. But would it be his end? He’d never failed a Duplication before, so he had no idea what would happen. He decided to call on Donna to give him the answers he needed: “Donna, can you hear me?” Nothing. Of course. He didn’t bother trying again to avoid looking like a fool, as he had done when trying to fly. So, what would happen when you fail? Sei’s mind strived to imagine all of the horrible things that could happen, but he forcefully snapped himself back to reality. He needed to keep a level head if he wanted to make it through this.
Sei’s eyelids widened.
He snapped out of his fear-induced daze and found himself staring at the moons. A decision needed to be made, so he paced to the north. His stride was quicker than before, leaving his nervous disposition more obvious than ever. Despite being so on edge, his gaze never removed itself from them moons in front of him, as if they were somehow the biggest potential threat. The only thing that stopped his relentless trudging, were two tiny dabs of white light a few steps to his right.
His foot froze mid-step, Sei turned on his heel to face this new possible threat. Slowly, he crept toward the source of light, as he couldn’t quite make it out. Right foot, then left, was all he could think; his cautious fighting stance never yielding. The two dots of light stood solid, never moving so much as a millimeter. The object was now in arms reach, but he still struggled to make out what it was. The young warrior now stood very close to it, he squinted his eyes, it was still difficult to make clear what this thing actually was. His vision finally adapting to the darkness, he could see exactly what this creature was: a squirrel.
Sei immediately lowered his guard and allowed himself to release the breath he didn’t know was being held. The squirrel was latched onto the side of a tree, remaining still as a statue, you could’ve easily mistook it as one if it wasn’t for the glowing eyes. The eyes of this thing were definitely the first thing to draw his attention, they were half closed and glowing pure, piercing white. He waved his hand around it to see if it would elicit a reaction; it didn’t budge. It was then Sei’s curiosity trumped his apprehensiveness.
He extended his index finger and poked it’s back; though he didn't apply enough pressure to do so, a sickening crack followed by a squelch told him exactly what he’d done. Sei wrinkled his nose in disgust as he retracted his finger from the squirrel's innards and wiped it on his pants, creating a streak of red on the normally orange garment. Blood ran down from the curiosity-fueled intrusion; the squirrel ignored it completely, it’s gaze hazily fixated on nothing. Sei would’ve felt remorse for the creature, had it not been acting so lifeless. He switched his focus from the small dots of light, to the much larger ones sitting on the horizon. Sei continued onward.
Four-hundred twenty-six steps. Sei eventually started to count them in order to keep his nerves in check. It took him at least four-hundred twenty-six until he was face to face with a beach. The moons straight on the horizon and the sand under his feet made him feel a twinge of relief; he would almost call this place serene if he didn’t know any better. Straight ahead, he could see the mouth of a cave that submerged into the ocean only a few steps inside. The reason he could see all of this clearly was thanks to a couple torches standing on opposite ends of the entrance. The fire on the torches gave off a pleasant amount of light, even though the fire itself was completely static.
“Just like everything else on this damn island,” Sei sneered; “Everything else” also held true for the ocean as well, where there wasn’t so much as a wrinkle on the water. He figured since this was the only place here that made him feel somewhat at ease, he may as well sit down on the sand and enjoy a short sample of the peace and quiet. God knows there was more than enough quiet to go around.
Sei sat on the sand and took a deep breath; something he’d taken for granted up until tonight. A quiet flop punctuated his back’s contact with the tiny ground-up rocks beneath him. His arms folded behind his head, making him far too comfortable for the current situation. The sand below started to rumble as it shaped itself into a hand that pushed Sei into the cave; sealing him inside. It was really dark, he tried to punch the sand where the entrance used to be, but it just reformed immediately after his punches. He was getting frustrated, but then he remembered what he’s told himself earlier. He took a deep breath and calmed down. As he progressed forward, he found the only way through was underwater, because the cave dipped underwater as a part of its natural structure.
Sei held his breath as he dove in, hoping the cave was short, or at least had an air pocket somewhere. He wouldn’t have been able to see anything if it weren’t for the bioluminescent fish below the surface. What he could see, wasn’t pleasant. there were fish everywhere that had the same eyes as that squirrel from before. the only time they moved was when the android paddled by; dead still otherwise. after a while of taking in the sights, the urge to take a breath overwhelmed him.
He swam forth as fast as he could. he swam until he saw the cave curve sharply up toward the surface. the problem was his body was at the brink of giving out. Sei looked up the slope to his freedom, but it was impossibly far from him. he couldn’t remember diving as deep as the surface was from him. Sei was about to pass out until his robotic nature literally kicked in when his legs pushed off the cave floor, propelling him upward. His body rocketed up towards the surface, but he was quickly losing speed. On a whim, he looked down and saw all the weird fish rip around the curve he came from. They thrashed in a frenzy toward him, enabling him to give whatever energy was left in his body to his legs; it wasn't enough. he slowed to a crawl about 20 feet below the surface and passed out.
Sei awoke face down in a puddle of water. His laughter coursed through the air when he noticed the puddle was actually a kiddie pool version of the compass he made. He was right back at the beginning. He punched the puddle, causing a small splash of water to stream down his face. He stood up and looked around, refusing to let this mind-bending world end him. Sei muttered angrily to the air around him while he marched eastbound. "I'm such an idiot, going into a broken Duplication," he regretted, "I should've listened to Donna." A grimace grew on his face; the thought of his inevitable showdown with Arias springing to the front of his mind. "No, I have to do this; either I get through this and get stronger, or die at that monster's feet," his brow contracted as he continued, "I'm not letting that happen."
Sei's train of thought completely derailed when he was face to face with another cave. "Again with this!?" he exasperated. Seeing as there was no other path to take, he reluctantly approached it. Stalactites riddled the tall mouth of the foreboding cave. Sei's shoulders rose up to his neck as he passed under them; those things could undoubtedly pierce skin and possibly even bone. Sei knew he could smash them to pieces under normal circumstances, but it was impossible to anticipate anything in this faux world. That put him on edge. Regardless, Sei entered. Inside, he was pleased to find it lit by a large opening in the side, it was facing north and framed the moons beautifully.
There it was again, something pleasant. Pleasant things were always followed by tragedy on this island. Sei swung his head to the right, nothing. He checked behind him, only his shadow. Hearing a crumbling to his left; he twisted into a fighting stance, expecting the worst. He chuckled at the newly formed pile of rubble, most likely from a stalactite. Despite the false alarm, his stance fully held its defensive posture. Someone was watching him; he could feel it. He wasn't dropping his guard until he was absolutely sure no one else was around. His eyes darted right, then left, and back to the right again, but there was no sign of the possible assailant. It was becoming too dim to see clearly, making his search that much harder.
Wait, why was it getting darker?
The thought didn't have enough time to fully process; the interruption was caused by another stone spike, it hit the ground and shattered not more than a foot in front of him. Sei leaped back, startled by it's sudden appearance. He looked up, his gaze being met with the stars against the black void of the night sky. If the cave has an open ceiling, where the hell did that stalactite come from? The question resounded in his skull.
His head craned toward the caves window-like opening and peered at the moons. They were almost fully closed. He looked back up; the stars were squinting, resembling the moons. He switched focus back to the moons just as they were fully concealed. The world turned black; it's only light source burned out. Sei stood still. Still as the island itself. Though his body was unmoving, his mind raced, trying to piece it all together. Only his pupils dared to move, their movement rapid and imprecise. They looked up, hoping to find any kind of light, even the strange stars would suffice. Darkness. Both his eyelids slid shut, it was pointless to keep them open. He tried to gather his thoughts, but his concentration was constantly being broken by the sound of his heartbeat. The fact that his pulse was the only thing to break the unyielding silence made it impossible to focus. The deprivation of his senses was gnawing at him. He clenched his hands into fists, his fingernails digging into his palm; almost piercing the skin.
It was painful, but it gave him something else to focus on. He was about to cry out, just to cause a break the overwhelming quiet, but a thunderous boom completely overshadowed any sound made on the island. The now blood red moons instantly reappeared along with the torrent of sound, as though the veil of darkness that hid them receded back into the night sky. Sei's entire world now mirrored the colors of the two behemoths on the skyline. His eyes were able to unlock from the incredible sight just long enough to notice the stars were back, and they weren't squinting; they were wide open. Though the unveiling of the unnerving red hue an unwelcome change, came enough light to reveal the stars' true nature. They were eyes. The eyes of what must've been hundreds of creatures hanging on the ceiling of the cave. He couldn't make out the specific species they were, because they simultaneously unlatched themselves, willingly falling to the ground, shattering on impact.
Sei only had time to cover his head with his arms before a few of them shattered on his back, ripping the back of his shirt and causing several deep gashes. Sei collapsed to his left knee from the pain, inadvertently causing the many shards under him to impale themselves into his shin and kneecap. His body faltered further, his hand luckily finding a clear spot to keep himself from falling completely. He inhaled. On the exhale, he let out a guttural wail. His eyes began to water, making his vision a blurry mess of red. In the very back end of his mind, he knew none of this was actually happening, but it felt just as real as anything he'd ever felt before. How bad are my wounds? What happened to the moons? What the hell were those things? Many things passed through Sei's head, but one thought that screamed louder than the rest. Get out of here.
His right foot planted itself on the ground and Sei struggled to get to his feet. He gave off another yell as he did this; as if trying to stave off the pain with his vocal chords. It seemed to work; he managed to get get both feet on the ground, however, if even an ounce of pressure was placed on his left leg, it caused the fragments lodged inside to scrape against his nerves. He wiped his eyes to restore his vision. Thousands of razor sharp fragments encompassed the floor, making it impossible to walk without stepping in them. Sei's shoes were heavily padded; if they weren't, he wouldn't have been able to even attempt leaving. The wounded boy walked through the cave's exit with a snagging limp, only putting weight on his wounded leg for a fraction of a second, before shifting it to his right. Thankful that he could limp with only a fair amount of pain, he intended to leave that dreadful place and never look back. That was until a faint rustling could be heard from behind.
He only chanced a quick glance in the opposite direction, but it was more than enough to convince him to try and run. The remnants of the ceiling creatures weren't yet satisfied. The shards lifted off the ground and started to swirl, forming a flurry of blades. Sei's limp carried over into his makeshift sprint. All he wanted right now was to be able to fly, a gift he'd never take for granted again. His leg burned immensely, but his will to survive pushed him more so. Sei didn't even think to look back; if that thing was only inches away, he didn't want to know. All he could do was run, and run he did. Sei heard a splash on his latest stride, signaling he was probably back in the middle; meaning he was headed straight to the west. His lungs eventually started having a hard time keeping up with the pace his legs had set. Despite being able to hear the blades slicing through the air right behind him, he was forced to slow his pace. This had immediate repercussions as the blades gained enough ground to consistently graze his back while he ran.
The pain coming from behind him was unending, but he could not falter. In the far distance he could see a glowing white shape. He couldn’t make out exactly what it was, but it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it had to be safer to walk towards it than trying to fight off these beasts of nightmare. He could barely move anymore, but he had to keep moving. He wouldn’t let this be his end. Each step was more excruciating than the last. It felt like his body was made of fire, his lungs were breathing in broadswords, but he forced himself to keep moving. He made his way closer to the white shape, and he could see that it was a door! He quickened his pace, allowing his back some much needed reprieve from the blades and their assault.
As he reached the door, he slammed his shoulder into it, hoping it would open. Sadly however, it seemed to be locked in some fashion. The blades were nearing him as his mind raced, thinking of any possible way he could open this door. He punched it, headbutted it, anything. But nothing would work at all. The blades were almost upon him as he finally let out a furious yell and a Ki shockwave blew in all directions. It blew the door off of its hinges and sent the blades flying. He forced himself through the doorway, and collapsed to the ground. Unbeknownst to the now unconscious Sei, he had just accidentally destroyed a major majority of the super computer Donna. Falling into disrepair himself, the android had to drudge most of his for whatever reason broken up body over to the lab table and perform repairs on himself.
Sei still wasn't sure why any of that would happen. Why would he creator, his father, Dr. Griffon Connaleer have prepared something like that for him? Was there some sort of insight that the young android was meant to get out of that? Sei couldn't tell, and none of his processors were even getting a correlation from any of his experiences to what he needs to do in the real life world. ...But perhaps that was it? Maybe the insight is that there won't always be inside to a mission. There won't always be that sort of knowledge he'll have about every situation, but that was okay and he could take the situation as it came at him. He'd have to learn as he went along life, but that was normal. After all, he was made to be human.
[Thread exit] [Pl plz]
Sei had already begun his short trip back to the cave of his creation. He had learned much in his time on the outside of the laboratory, and met many new and interesting people. Some were very crazy and temperamental, some where actually very kind in terms of objectivity. He would still be on the mission at hand if it weren't for the wonderful Verdant he had met in his travels to the forests of the world. His name was Bastion, and he was the spawn of someone very important to the world, just as Sei was. It was through talking to him that he realized that his mission could be fulfilled, and that the meaning of life was in the hands of that very tree. He spoke cryptically at the end of their talk, but Sei had gotten most of it. There wasn't much of a chance that he could misinterpret considering his robotic nature and many data banks and files.
I'm returning home for a reason. I as an analyst creature have determined that this answer to be most closely to what I could have even imagined it to be. It makes the most sense, after all, and the one who spoke the words was also wise beyond even his short life cycle. Sei's cave was meant to be where he would log his answer into the super computer and it would determine that his answer was undoubtably correct. Reaching the cave was the easy part, as well as entering, but when he got to the supercomputer and put in his answer is where everything got weird. The supercomputer had been named by his creator, Griffon Connaleer, and he had apparently named it "Donna". Donna decided that Sei's answer wasn't good enough for some reason. Openings on the panels came out, and wires that were meant to go into Sei popped out. The computer had instructions for the robot to put the wires into his body, which he complied with. He wasn't certain what was going to happen, but the least likely of everything he imagined did. He was taken into a simulation world.
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And the faux world appeared in front of him, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. It seemed that the super computer Donna had sent him to an island in the middle of the ocean. From what his built in scanner was telling him, there wasn’t much going on in terms of life. No animals, no androids and certainly no aliens. He walked around curiously, unsure of what the danger was here.
He took in the serene surroundings and just sighed. This island reminded him a lot of home. The waters were calm, and the breeze was cool. The few palm trees there were on the island swayed peacefully. There was no possible way anything could go wrong here. Maybe this Duplication is designed to help me relax? He thought curiously as he sat down at the shore and took a deep breath. It was good to take a break once and a while, but he hadn’t gotten too much training in today, which made this break feel a bit pointless. Suddenly, he felt it. A strange form of Ki could be felt from the opposite side of the island. It was wild and uncontrolled, like a raging typhoon given life. The calm waters turned to furious waves, and the cool breeze twisted into a tornado of howling wind. He rushed over to the opposite side of the island to check out the trouble.
Upon reaching the opposite end of the island, it seemed he had hit the mark; quite literally. He had literally sensed a raging typhoon! The watery beast’s massive form had been given arms and a head. It gurgled angrily as it looked down at the pitiful android. Sei grinned at his watery opponent as he flew up, meeting it at eye level.
He spoke to the creature in a cocky tone ”So, what do you think that water of yours is gonna do? You gonna give me a nice bath?” He chuckled as the creature roared in defiance, annoyed by this pitiful android’s words. It raised it’s watery arm and shot a stream of high-pressure water at Sei. Water didn't effect Sei like most though it did, but it still wasn't great. He was so close to the Typhoon that he had no chance of dodging its attack, he was smacked away by the huge, swirling jet stream.
He was pushed back by the massive wave of water. It was surprisingly painful, singeing his hands as he tried his best to hold the water back. After a few moments of struggle the stream relented. The Typhoon gurgled again, this time raising both arms up and pushing out another torrent of water. Sei was much farther away this time so he had ample time to fly above the searing water stream.
He raced down towards his opponent, fist outstretched. He tried to punch the watery beast, but it shifted its form, causing the punch to miss completely. He pulled his fist back and frowned at his opponent. It seemed physical attacks weren’t going to work here, he’d have to use an energy attack against this Typhoon. He floated away a bit, gaining some distance as the Typhoon gurgled once again. It raised its massive watery arms and shot two more streams of high-pressure water. Sei continued his slalom through the torrents of water as he attempted to devise a plan to take down the creature.
The Typhoon was certainly not going to let up his assault anytime soon. Though it did seem that there was a significant pause in his attacks when he actually hit Sei. He would have to use his After-Image Technique to make the creature think he had landed an attack, then Sei would have his chance.
He intentionally bogged down his dodging, feigning fatigue as he waited for the perfect moment to enact his plan. He found the perfect moment when the Typhoon locked his arms together to form a much larger stream. He stood still, waiting for the perfect moment. As the water smashed into him, his form suddenly disappeared! He re-appeared above his watery foe and laughed heartily.
He continued laughing as he charged up a ball of Ki ”Counter point” He cocked his hand back, and then flung it forward. The large ball of Ki smashed into the titanic creature, causing it’s sloshing form to collapse on itself. Whatever magic was holding the water together had been destroyed, and the monster was gone. The water splashed back down, receding back into the ocean. The island returning the to its peaceful state once more…
The young android stepped forward, feeling a rush of heat, as he blinked harshly to adjust to the sudden change of brightness. This Duplication had thrust Sei deep into a volcano it seemed. He had been inside of one a long time ago, albeit he was forcefully put there by a group of serpent-men last time. He was currently in a small metallic hallway, looking out over the innards of the volcano. Watching the painfully hot lava bubble and boil inside the rocky stew pot that housed it.
He took a step back and turned, inspecting the hallway more carefully. It seemed like it wasn’t your average hallway, even for secret villainous lair standards. It looked more like an air duct. It was fairly small horizontally; if two people were to try walking in opposite directions they would probably be unable to pass each other. However, it was surprisingly spacious vertically, even someone as tall as Sei, who stood at 6 feet tall, could fit through with a lot of room to spare.
He walked through the air duct, slowly ascending as it seemed the duct was slanted upward somewhat. Eventually the slant became too steep to walk up, so he began flying instead. He slowly floated up the now entirely vertical duct, focusing his senses to try and locate the inevitable threat in this Duplication. It was hard to focus on much of anything with all this heat however, so finding the enemy in this harsh environment was going to be difficult to say the least. He reached the top of the duct and crawled out into a small control room.
There were consoles of all shapes and sizes every which-way. Most of these machines didn’t even look like they did much. One of the first things he noticed about this room, was that it had an infinitely more pleasurable temperature than the duct below. The heat from the massive volcano was hardly even noticeable in this room.
With his mind cleared of the haze the heat had imposed on him, he was able to use his senses more clearly. He tried to scan around, trying to sense any semblance of life in any direction, but could find nothing. It was a bit ominous, but he wasn’t about to freak out about it. He approached one of the many consoles and began tapping away at the keyboard, trying to figure out the situation. He read through file after file, but could not figure out what had happened to the people working here. It had been around three months since their last update, so that must have been when things went south.
He continued looking through the files, searching for anything of importance. It was then he found a small notice that was dated three months ago from this very day. He clicked the notification and a video file began playing. A spindly man wearing a suit was speaking directly at the camera ”Today marks the final day in our research. We have no more funding left and most of our scientists have left the project, so we’ll have to speed up our process and show off this prototype early.” The suited man moved out of the way, no longer obstructing the view of the camera, revealing a small red creature locked in a cage. It looked somewhat goopy and it had a depressed expression on its drooping facial features.
The suited man grabbed a remote and pushed a button on it, causing the cage to open slowly. The goopy creature oozed out and looked around curiously. It had a small smile on its face as it looked towards its creator, who happened to be the suited man. The suited man barked orders at the small creature and it frowned. It didn’t seem to like being told what to do so it moved past him, eagerly looking around the small control room. The suited man yelled once more, this time pushing a different button on the remote. The goopy creature started shaking violently, being electrocuted by some type of device. The goopy creature turned around and grew in size, appearing to have grown limbs. It moved towards the suited man who fell to his knees in fear. The video feed cut out just as the foreboding goop-creature reached the suited man. Sei looked away from the console, unsure of what he just saw. He turned around and scanned the room for this strange creature.
Out of the far corner, was a small sphere of a strange red substance. He slowly approached the creature and crouched down. He spoke in a sincere tone. ”Hello there, are you okay?” The small goo pile opened its eyes and looked up at the android. Its drooping features smiled at Sei, it could tell he wasn’t here to hurt it. The creature approached slowly, unsure of exactly how it was going to show to the android it wasn’t a threat. Sei offered his hand to the creature and it slowly crawled up to his forearm. Sei laughed, the feeling of this goopy creature was similar to sticking your hand in gelatin.
Sei smiled at the creature, but suddenly he heard a clicking noise from behind him. He turned to see a trembling security guard aiming his gun at the new-found friends. He spoke in a shaky voice, ”PUT THAT THING DOWN, OR I’LL SHOOT BOTH OF YOU!” Sei stood up, goo still in hand as he spoke, ”Hold on now, this little guy is just as scared as you are. Why don’t we just--” ”SCARED?! YOU THINK THAT THING IS SCARED?! IT HAS ALREADY KILLED EVERYONE ELSE ON SIGHT, I’M NOT LETTING IT LIVE,” the guard snapped, interrupting Sei. The green clad android looked down at the little goop in his hands, it was frowning at him. Sei sighed, unsure of how to go about this. He lowered his hand, forcing the goop to the floor. He then lifted his other hand and charged up a Ki attack. The goop yelled angrily, clearly upset at this turn of events ”I’m sorry little guy, but I’m pretty sure this guy is telling the truth, and that means you can’t stick around...I’m sorry.” The goop grew in size as it yelled, and as Sei shot his Ki attack, the creature disappeared from sight. Sei looked around frantically, searching for the creature that he could not sense.
Sei fell through the air at breakneck speeds. Falling at such a speed so out of the blue like this was a jarring feeling indeed. He was certain his body wouldn’t be able to survive this speed were he even slightly weaker. Using his Ki, he was able to stop himself mid fall quite easily. He looked up, trying to see where it was he had fallen from. In the far distance, he could see a floating castle in the sky. It was made of dark stone, and the island it floated upon was covered in a mossy substance. He was certain that was where the Duplication wanted him to go, and he had absolutely nowhere else to go, so he went upwards. He flew at high speeds, reaching the floating castle in mere moments. When he landed at the gates of the strange castle he noticed they were blown open. The hinges were singed, and the wooden doors that were once standing vigilant now lay flat on the ground with large holes in them. The hall in front of him was pitch black, giving off an ominous feeling.
The android stepped inside, walking precariously to make sure not to step on any booby traps. He reached the end of the hall relatively quickly, finding himself to now be in a large Throne Room. Something that the android found odd about the room was that it was fairly spacious, but there was not much actually in the room. In it was a large, shrouded throne, a few banners on the walls, but not much else. As Sei surveys the room, he can hear a loud chuckling coming from the shrouded throne. The seemingly magic shroud covering the throne lifted to reveal a man wearing Knights armor, with a crown atop his head. The Knight looks down at Sei, and his chuckle ramps up to a guffaw. He strains to keep himself from laughing as he addresses the intruder ”Oh, the mighty Martial Artist has returned! Come back to fall down another hole have you?” Sei raised an eyebrow in confusion at first, but quickly remembers something similar had happened to him before. Last time he used the Randomizer he had encountered a similar looking Knight in a somewhat similar situation.
Sei folds his arms as he replies to the King Knight ”Fall down another hole? You are mistaken, it shall be you who will fall this time” The Knight grasps at his chest, breaking out into a hearty laugh once more. He grips his chest harder, unable to breath from his uproarious laughter. Sei frowns, unsure of how he should handle the situation. He steps forward and hears a click from below. A small hole opens up in the floor, and once again he plummets through. This time however, he stops himself just below the hole. From above he can just barely hear the now breathless laughter coming from the King Knight. He floats back into the Throne room and gives the King Knight a look of confusion.
It seems the Knight couldn’t control himself anymore. His breath wouldn’t come out, and his laughter had slowed to a nearly unnoticeable level. With his last breath, the King Knight spoke his final words ”...You...Slay...Me”. Immediately afterward, the King Knight slumps over, dead. Sei looked around the room, unsure if what he just saw had really happened. His supposed challenge defeated itself? It was an interesting Duplication, but he wasn’t sure how exactly this was supposed to help him get stronger.
He walked towards the throne and poked at what he assumed was the corpse of the King Knight. Though he could not sense the Knight anymore, he was still sure to be cautious just in case this was some clever trick. As he touched the body, a small slit in the armor began forming. At first it was a small line, but after a few moments it become a massive rift in the entire Knights body. The rift opened up, and from it crawled a short man. The short man was naked and slimy. He had no hair to speak of anywhere, and his nose was long like a carrot. He spoke in a high-pitched voice as he looked towards Sei ”Ahh, my savior! I must give thanks to you. Your hilarious ways have saved me from my prison!” Sei blinked in confusion, unsure of how to process this information ”Um...you’re welcome?”
As he spoke, the short man dashed forward and locked his arms around Sei in a hug. Sei felt quite uncomfortable, but he just let it happen. The short man relinquished his grip and stepped away from the android. He gave his savior a grin as he spoke once again ”We must celebrate this day! Jeeves, call in the wenches!” From the corner of the room, a small robotic man in a suit nodded his head. He opened a door, and a group of scantily-clad women walked out...
He cursed himself for allowing the goop to trick him.
If he had realized that the creature was evil all along he wouldn’t have to be searching for him right now. He headed to the corner of the room where he had first met the creature, but his attention was diverted when he heard something behind him. A terrifying yell could be heard from the guard. Sei turned on his heel to see that the Goop had latched itself onto the guard and began melting through his skin. Sei charged another Ki blast, and this time successfully hit his mark. The goop was smashed by the Ki ball, and exploded against the wall. Sei sighed as he looked at what he had accomplished. It was a bit disappointing that the guard had to die, but at least he defeated the monster...
Sei went back into the Duplication and felt a chill. This sim didn’t feel like the others. Darkness consumed the landscape, creating silhouettes of the palm trees against the horizon, which had a pair of off-white moons resting upon it horizontally . Sei looked up through the trees and to the sky, it was dark blue, but it wasn’t nearly as dark as the sky should normally be. The starless sky gave an eerie blue tinge to what little he could make out though the black shroud that coated his surroundings. Sei felt his chest fill and twist with an uneasy feeling, a burden he knew wouldn’t be lifted anytime soon. He exhaled as he took his first step into the strange environment . The ground gave off a crunch under his weight . He flinched at the unexpected sound; it seemed deafening when compared to the silence. He expected the worst when he looked down, but to his relief , he saw only the ground beneath him. The crunch was the result of a small flower shattering under his feet as though it were made of glass. Sei found it odd, but kept walking. He was determined to overcome this challenge and get the hell out of here.
He continued walking, nervously scanning the area as he did so. Out of all the things that were wrong about this place, one of the the worst had to be the cold. Sei crossed his arms in an attempt to shield himself from the frigidness that bit at his skin, but the wind pierced right through. Sei could feel the wind and see it rippling through his clothes, but it wasn't having any effect on anything except himself. The grass and trees didn't sway, nor did the flowers. He kicked a small weed protruding from the ground and true to his expectations, it shattered into pieces. Everything here was brittle and stagnant. He continued walking until he discovered a small clearing in the trees overhead that allowed a bit more light to reach the ground. In the center of the clearing there was a large tree stump. Whenever he looked toward it his head started to pound and his ears started to ring. Sei knew it wouldn't end well if he approached it, so he kept walking, keeping his distance as he passed by.
Sei walked for a good while before he noticed a shattered flower on the floor. "Someone else must be here, finding him must be my test.", he thought. Continuing forward, he searched for who or what could be his opponent. As he scanned for him, something caught his eye. It was the weed he kicked earlier. It was so strange, he could've swore he'd never changed directions at any point. Turning himself around, he ran back to the flower he saw a while back. After inspecting it, he realized it was the same one he crushed when he first got here.
None of it made sense. If he couldn’t go one way without popping back out the other, then how was he supposed to get out of here? He rolled his eyes in shame when he remembered he could fly. He jumped up, but came right back down. Befuddled by this, he tried again, and once more. Both attempts giving the same result as the first. He threw a ki blast skyward in frustration, but ended up just raising his hand in the air pointlessly. Sei cried out in frustration, before slamming the fist he held upward into the ground. The thundering blow caused a small crater as a resounding quake shook the area around him. “At least I still have my strength.” The thought calmed him down a bit.
The world itself was created to oppose him. “That must be the challenge,” Sei thought. “Overcoming the environment itself is the challenge.” He had to rationalize the situation. Since the world was his enemy, he’d have to play by it’s rules. He couldn’t afford to let the unnatural laws of this place get to him like they had before. Now that he understood the point of this exercise, he needed a plan. “I need to think like this place,” Sei pondered. He looked over at the twin moons, which now had their top halves concealed in the dark blue of the sky. He pointed at them as he whispered to himself, “If I consider those moons to be north, then the tree stump I found would be south of here.”
He looked down at the round crater he’d made and drew an “N” at the point closest to the direction of the moons. He repeated this for every direction: “E” to the east, “W” to the west, and “S” to the south. “Since I already went south,” he said as he crossed out the “S”, “There’s no reason to go back that way, so my choices are west, north, or east.”
Sei’s mind almost left him as he considered which way to go. His head raced with all the horrendous events that may transpire, him being this powerless in a dire situation may spell the end for him. But would it be his end? He’d never failed a Duplication before, so he had no idea what would happen. He decided to call on Donna to give him the answers he needed: “Donna, can you hear me?” Nothing. Of course. He didn’t bother trying again to avoid looking like a fool, as he had done when trying to fly. So, what would happen when you fail? Sei’s mind strived to imagine all of the horrible things that could happen, but he forcefully snapped himself back to reality. He needed to keep a level head if he wanted to make it through this.
Sei’s eyelids widened.
He snapped out of his fear-induced daze and found himself staring at the moons. A decision needed to be made, so he paced to the north. His stride was quicker than before, leaving his nervous disposition more obvious than ever. Despite being so on edge, his gaze never removed itself from them moons in front of him, as if they were somehow the biggest potential threat. The only thing that stopped his relentless trudging, were two tiny dabs of white light a few steps to his right.
His foot froze mid-step, Sei turned on his heel to face this new possible threat. Slowly, he crept toward the source of light, as he couldn’t quite make it out. Right foot, then left, was all he could think; his cautious fighting stance never yielding. The two dots of light stood solid, never moving so much as a millimeter. The object was now in arms reach, but he still struggled to make out what it was. The young warrior now stood very close to it, he squinted his eyes, it was still difficult to make clear what this thing actually was. His vision finally adapting to the darkness, he could see exactly what this creature was: a squirrel.
Sei immediately lowered his guard and allowed himself to release the breath he didn’t know was being held. The squirrel was latched onto the side of a tree, remaining still as a statue, you could’ve easily mistook it as one if it wasn’t for the glowing eyes. The eyes of this thing were definitely the first thing to draw his attention, they were half closed and glowing pure, piercing white. He waved his hand around it to see if it would elicit a reaction; it didn’t budge. It was then Sei’s curiosity trumped his apprehensiveness.
He extended his index finger and poked it’s back; though he didn't apply enough pressure to do so, a sickening crack followed by a squelch told him exactly what he’d done. Sei wrinkled his nose in disgust as he retracted his finger from the squirrel's innards and wiped it on his pants, creating a streak of red on the normally orange garment. Blood ran down from the curiosity-fueled intrusion; the squirrel ignored it completely, it’s gaze hazily fixated on nothing. Sei would’ve felt remorse for the creature, had it not been acting so lifeless. He switched his focus from the small dots of light, to the much larger ones sitting on the horizon. Sei continued onward.
Four-hundred twenty-six steps. Sei eventually started to count them in order to keep his nerves in check. It took him at least four-hundred twenty-six until he was face to face with a beach. The moons straight on the horizon and the sand under his feet made him feel a twinge of relief; he would almost call this place serene if he didn’t know any better. Straight ahead, he could see the mouth of a cave that submerged into the ocean only a few steps inside. The reason he could see all of this clearly was thanks to a couple torches standing on opposite ends of the entrance. The fire on the torches gave off a pleasant amount of light, even though the fire itself was completely static.
“Just like everything else on this damn island,” Sei sneered; “Everything else” also held true for the ocean as well, where there wasn’t so much as a wrinkle on the water. He figured since this was the only place here that made him feel somewhat at ease, he may as well sit down on the sand and enjoy a short sample of the peace and quiet. God knows there was more than enough quiet to go around.
Sei sat on the sand and took a deep breath; something he’d taken for granted up until tonight. A quiet flop punctuated his back’s contact with the tiny ground-up rocks beneath him. His arms folded behind his head, making him far too comfortable for the current situation. The sand below started to rumble as it shaped itself into a hand that pushed Sei into the cave; sealing him inside. It was really dark, he tried to punch the sand where the entrance used to be, but it just reformed immediately after his punches. He was getting frustrated, but then he remembered what he’s told himself earlier. He took a deep breath and calmed down. As he progressed forward, he found the only way through was underwater, because the cave dipped underwater as a part of its natural structure.
Sei held his breath as he dove in, hoping the cave was short, or at least had an air pocket somewhere. He wouldn’t have been able to see anything if it weren’t for the bioluminescent fish below the surface. What he could see, wasn’t pleasant. there were fish everywhere that had the same eyes as that squirrel from before. the only time they moved was when the android paddled by; dead still otherwise. after a while of taking in the sights, the urge to take a breath overwhelmed him.
He swam forth as fast as he could. he swam until he saw the cave curve sharply up toward the surface. the problem was his body was at the brink of giving out. Sei looked up the slope to his freedom, but it was impossibly far from him. he couldn’t remember diving as deep as the surface was from him. Sei was about to pass out until his robotic nature literally kicked in when his legs pushed off the cave floor, propelling him upward. His body rocketed up towards the surface, but he was quickly losing speed. On a whim, he looked down and saw all the weird fish rip around the curve he came from. They thrashed in a frenzy toward him, enabling him to give whatever energy was left in his body to his legs; it wasn't enough. he slowed to a crawl about 20 feet below the surface and passed out.
Sei awoke face down in a puddle of water. His laughter coursed through the air when he noticed the puddle was actually a kiddie pool version of the compass he made. He was right back at the beginning. He punched the puddle, causing a small splash of water to stream down his face. He stood up and looked around, refusing to let this mind-bending world end him. Sei muttered angrily to the air around him while he marched eastbound. "I'm such an idiot, going into a broken Duplication," he regretted, "I should've listened to Donna." A grimace grew on his face; the thought of his inevitable showdown with Arias springing to the front of his mind. "No, I have to do this; either I get through this and get stronger, or die at that monster's feet," his brow contracted as he continued, "I'm not letting that happen."
Sei's train of thought completely derailed when he was face to face with another cave. "Again with this!?" he exasperated. Seeing as there was no other path to take, he reluctantly approached it. Stalactites riddled the tall mouth of the foreboding cave. Sei's shoulders rose up to his neck as he passed under them; those things could undoubtedly pierce skin and possibly even bone. Sei knew he could smash them to pieces under normal circumstances, but it was impossible to anticipate anything in this faux world. That put him on edge. Regardless, Sei entered. Inside, he was pleased to find it lit by a large opening in the side, it was facing north and framed the moons beautifully.
There it was again, something pleasant. Pleasant things were always followed by tragedy on this island. Sei swung his head to the right, nothing. He checked behind him, only his shadow. Hearing a crumbling to his left; he twisted into a fighting stance, expecting the worst. He chuckled at the newly formed pile of rubble, most likely from a stalactite. Despite the false alarm, his stance fully held its defensive posture. Someone was watching him; he could feel it. He wasn't dropping his guard until he was absolutely sure no one else was around. His eyes darted right, then left, and back to the right again, but there was no sign of the possible assailant. It was becoming too dim to see clearly, making his search that much harder.
Wait, why was it getting darker?
The thought didn't have enough time to fully process; the interruption was caused by another stone spike, it hit the ground and shattered not more than a foot in front of him. Sei leaped back, startled by it's sudden appearance. He looked up, his gaze being met with the stars against the black void of the night sky. If the cave has an open ceiling, where the hell did that stalactite come from? The question resounded in his skull.
His head craned toward the caves window-like opening and peered at the moons. They were almost fully closed. He looked back up; the stars were squinting, resembling the moons. He switched focus back to the moons just as they were fully concealed. The world turned black; it's only light source burned out. Sei stood still. Still as the island itself. Though his body was unmoving, his mind raced, trying to piece it all together. Only his pupils dared to move, their movement rapid and imprecise. They looked up, hoping to find any kind of light, even the strange stars would suffice. Darkness. Both his eyelids slid shut, it was pointless to keep them open. He tried to gather his thoughts, but his concentration was constantly being broken by the sound of his heartbeat. The fact that his pulse was the only thing to break the unyielding silence made it impossible to focus. The deprivation of his senses was gnawing at him. He clenched his hands into fists, his fingernails digging into his palm; almost piercing the skin.
It was painful, but it gave him something else to focus on. He was about to cry out, just to cause a break the overwhelming quiet, but a thunderous boom completely overshadowed any sound made on the island. The now blood red moons instantly reappeared along with the torrent of sound, as though the veil of darkness that hid them receded back into the night sky. Sei's entire world now mirrored the colors of the two behemoths on the skyline. His eyes were able to unlock from the incredible sight just long enough to notice the stars were back, and they weren't squinting; they were wide open. Though the unveiling of the unnerving red hue an unwelcome change, came enough light to reveal the stars' true nature. They were eyes. The eyes of what must've been hundreds of creatures hanging on the ceiling of the cave. He couldn't make out the specific species they were, because they simultaneously unlatched themselves, willingly falling to the ground, shattering on impact.
Sei only had time to cover his head with his arms before a few of them shattered on his back, ripping the back of his shirt and causing several deep gashes. Sei collapsed to his left knee from the pain, inadvertently causing the many shards under him to impale themselves into his shin and kneecap. His body faltered further, his hand luckily finding a clear spot to keep himself from falling completely. He inhaled. On the exhale, he let out a guttural wail. His eyes began to water, making his vision a blurry mess of red. In the very back end of his mind, he knew none of this was actually happening, but it felt just as real as anything he'd ever felt before. How bad are my wounds? What happened to the moons? What the hell were those things? Many things passed through Sei's head, but one thought that screamed louder than the rest. Get out of here.
His right foot planted itself on the ground and Sei struggled to get to his feet. He gave off another yell as he did this; as if trying to stave off the pain with his vocal chords. It seemed to work; he managed to get get both feet on the ground, however, if even an ounce of pressure was placed on his left leg, it caused the fragments lodged inside to scrape against his nerves. He wiped his eyes to restore his vision. Thousands of razor sharp fragments encompassed the floor, making it impossible to walk without stepping in them. Sei's shoes were heavily padded; if they weren't, he wouldn't have been able to even attempt leaving. The wounded boy walked through the cave's exit with a snagging limp, only putting weight on his wounded leg for a fraction of a second, before shifting it to his right. Thankful that he could limp with only a fair amount of pain, he intended to leave that dreadful place and never look back. That was until a faint rustling could be heard from behind.
He only chanced a quick glance in the opposite direction, but it was more than enough to convince him to try and run. The remnants of the ceiling creatures weren't yet satisfied. The shards lifted off the ground and started to swirl, forming a flurry of blades. Sei's limp carried over into his makeshift sprint. All he wanted right now was to be able to fly, a gift he'd never take for granted again. His leg burned immensely, but his will to survive pushed him more so. Sei didn't even think to look back; if that thing was only inches away, he didn't want to know. All he could do was run, and run he did. Sei heard a splash on his latest stride, signaling he was probably back in the middle; meaning he was headed straight to the west. His lungs eventually started having a hard time keeping up with the pace his legs had set. Despite being able to hear the blades slicing through the air right behind him, he was forced to slow his pace. This had immediate repercussions as the blades gained enough ground to consistently graze his back while he ran.
The pain coming from behind him was unending, but he could not falter. In the far distance he could see a glowing white shape. He couldn’t make out exactly what it was, but it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it had to be safer to walk towards it than trying to fight off these beasts of nightmare. He could barely move anymore, but he had to keep moving. He wouldn’t let this be his end. Each step was more excruciating than the last. It felt like his body was made of fire, his lungs were breathing in broadswords, but he forced himself to keep moving. He made his way closer to the white shape, and he could see that it was a door! He quickened his pace, allowing his back some much needed reprieve from the blades and their assault.
As he reached the door, he slammed his shoulder into it, hoping it would open. Sadly however, it seemed to be locked in some fashion. The blades were nearing him as his mind raced, thinking of any possible way he could open this door. He punched it, headbutted it, anything. But nothing would work at all. The blades were almost upon him as he finally let out a furious yell and a Ki shockwave blew in all directions. It blew the door off of its hinges and sent the blades flying. He forced himself through the doorway, and collapsed to the ground. Unbeknownst to the now unconscious Sei, he had just accidentally destroyed a major majority of the super computer Donna. Falling into disrepair himself, the android had to drudge most of his for whatever reason broken up body over to the lab table and perform repairs on himself.
Sei still wasn't sure why any of that would happen. Why would he creator, his father, Dr. Griffon Connaleer have prepared something like that for him? Was there some sort of insight that the young android was meant to get out of that? Sei couldn't tell, and none of his processors were even getting a correlation from any of his experiences to what he needs to do in the real life world. ...But perhaps that was it? Maybe the insight is that there won't always be inside to a mission. There won't always be that sort of knowledge he'll have about every situation, but that was okay and he could take the situation as it came at him. He'd have to learn as he went along life, but that was normal. After all, he was made to be human.
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