Node1127: Private Channel with Pyrrha
Pyrrha: That rule was directed at me, was it not.
Undyne: You bet.
Undyne: Look here, Pyrrha.
Undyne: Like I said.
Undyne: You're a good person!
Undyne: I would feel bad if I took your soul!
Undyne: Don't be so quick to lose it!
Pyrrha: Um.
Pyrrha: In the light of the agreement made earlier, if that is your determined preference, I suppose I have no choice but to abide.
Pyrrha: It does gall me.
Undyne: What the heck does that word even mean?
Pyrrha: It pains me, then.
Pyrrha: I thought you were adamant about doing whatever it took to free your kind?
Pyrrha: What happened to that ethic?
Undyne: I've still got Yuri's offer as an alternative, remember?
Undyne: Plus, with some reflection…
Undyne: It turns out I do have SOME standards, after all.
Undyne: You've rubbed off on me, dammit!
Undyne: Believe me, it does GALL me to say that too!
Pyrrha: You used the word correctly.
Undyne: You've got a boyfriend, don't you?
Undyne: A team of friends!
Undyne: Maybe more beyond that?
Undyne: A family?
Undyne: People you'd miss.
Undyne: People who would miss you.
Undyne: Don't let go of them just yet!
Undyne: GOT IT?
Pyrrha: Ah. Yes!
Undyne: As for me…
Undyne: I'll find a way to free the Underground, still.
Undyne: But I'll ensure I'll be able to live with myself afterward!
Undyne: It's a dusty price.
Undyne: But paying it should be as palatable as possible!
Pyrrha: I suppose that I, too, can live with that.
Pyrrha: Best of luck.
Node1127: Private Channel with Kyoko
Undyne: Hey!
Kyoko: What?
Undyne: Test something for me!
Kyoko: What?
Undyne: I want to know if the sense-sharing command is private!
Undyne: In private channels.
Undyne: Or if it blasts it out to the entire Node, even here!
Undyne: Or if it even works at all!
Kyoko: Makes sense for it to be kept private, right?
Kyoko: S'got "private" in the name.
Undyne: YEAH! You'd think!
Undyne: But Alphys tells me that making these kinds of logical assumptions can be silly.
Undyne: Something about how the Node seems slapdash and inconsiderate.
Undyne: She's worked on the Undernet before; she knows what she's talking about!
Undyne: This seems pretty easy to check.
Undyne: And potentially dangerous to get wrong!
Kyoko: Who's Alphys?
Undyne: The Underground's Royal Scientist!
Undyne: A GREAT friend!
Undyne: You should see the stuff she's invented!
Undyne: The history she knows!
Undyne: She's been looking into the Relic.
Undyne: Trying to figure out how it works.
Undyne: And whether or not it can be:
Undyne: "Reverse-engineered from b-base principles… to m-maybe let the Underground escape through, um, a p-portal!"
Kyoko: Stutters included?
Undyne: I take quotations VERY seriously!
Undyne: The sciencey stuff goes over my head, but I trust her to figure it out!
Undyne: Anyway, what's the harm in testing the sense-sharing thing?
Kyoko: Eh, fair enough.
Undyne: /inputFlow
Kyoko: Really?
Kyoko: Was that necessary?
Undyne: Looks like it worked!
Undyne: And looks like no one else is complaining…
Undyne: Mission accomplished!
Kyoko: Yeah, I guess.
Kyoko: Good talk.
Node1127: Private Channel with Yuri
Undyne: Hey, Yuri!
Yuri: Yes?
Undyne: Any progress on that human soul?
Undyne: Find a suitable candidate yet?
Yuri: …Suitable candidate?
Undyne: Yeah!
Undyne: Some human trash?
Undyne: Someone that nobody cares about?
Undyne: Someone you could send to me without feeling bad about it?
Undyne: And I don't know, someone easy to subdue?
Yuri: I…
Yuri: I honestly haven't put all that much thought into it.
Yuri: I don't think it will be difficult when the time comes, if that is what you are concerned about.
Yuri: Rats are plentiful in the Backstreets.
Undyne: What?
Undyne: Yuri!
Undyne: I don't need a rat soul, I need a HUMAN soul!
Yuri: Oh!
Yuri: Apologies.
Yuri: In the City, we refer to the lowest class of citizen as 'Rats'.
Yuri: They are weak, impoverished, and desperate.
Yuri: They are still humans.
Yuri: You can find them in alleyways, if you know where and when to look.
Yuri: They would pose little threat to me, and subsequently you.
Undyne: And you would just…
Yuri: Yes.
Yuri: As a Grade 8 Fixer, I cannot claim to be strong by any measure of the word.
Yuri: But slaying Rats is within my capabilities.
Yuri: Killing them would incur no repercussion.
Yuri: I… don't have the resources to hold one alive long-term, which is why I have held off.
Yuri: But when you need one, I will be able to procure one within a day without too much trouble, barring any unforeseen issues.
Yuri: I might test it out later today.
Yuri: This blood price is not so expensive to pay.
Yuri: …Undyne?
Chat OS: 3%
Translation Service: 4.1%
Anonymous User: 15.5%
Anonymous User: 6.9%
Anonymous User: 9.4%
Anonymous User: 7.7%
Anonymous User: 8.3%
Page 1 of 3
The Moderator's 'setup period'. Five users invited and joined, each allocated a percentage of Node power. The child did not truly understand the terminology involved, nor the telepathic pseudo-science that went into calculating and defining these numbers. But she knew what numbers meant in general, and that any user in a world would take up a percentage of power. An intuitive system.
Anonymous User has joined the node!
Anonymous User: Magical Girl?
Anonymous User: /name test
test: test
A quartet of messages, none of which the child remembered sending. The color was similar to her own, the color of her hair. But upon closer inspection, still a shade distinct.
She had considered the possibility that the now-present
fifth member of their group was a test account, as their name suggested. But dismissed, in short order. For one, they seemed to legitimately come from a world of their own. The child guessed that 'test' would not have their own percentage value if they did not come from a certain world.
A second piece of evidence that backed up her hypothesis:
Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
Yuri: Moderator, if you don't mind me asking…
Yuri: How many users are there in this Node?
ModScarlet: Five.
Yuri: And does that include you?
ModScarlet: No.
Yuri: So…
ModScarlet: I'm surprised it took you girls this long to realize.
The Moderator had confirmed it for her.
Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
Yuri: Is there any particular reason you did not tell us about the fifth user?
ModScarlet: I didn't see a need.
ModScarlet: They chose not to make their presence felt.
ModScarlet: And given how much flak I've taken from Pyrrha regarding the Node's intrusiveness…
ModScarlet: I allowed them the freedom to choose when or if they ever did.
Yuri: I see.
Yuri: I suppose.
Yuri: You would tell us if they were a danger to us, right?
Yuri: If they had nefarious intentions?
ModScarlet: I place great importance on the safety of my Node Users.
ModScarlet: Especially when they are a danger to each other.
ModScarlet: Rest assured, if I thought the fifth member of this Node posed a threat, I would have taken action already.
The way the Moderator had worded that was not encouraging. Like she imagined Yesterday's Promise would present a contract, back when the Star of the City had been terrorizing Nest L, or so she'd heard. Still, there was nothing she could do about it.
Node1127: Private Channel with ModScarlet
ModScarlet: If you have no further questions, I'm about to make an announcement in the main channel.
Yuri: Oh… okay.
Yuri: Good luck?
ModScarlet: Good news, everybody!
ModScarlet: Since you girls have all managed to reach an accord, I'm granting you more privileges!
ModScarlet: I believe that some of you have expressed an interest in the Summoning Core?
ModScarlet: Well, it's your lucky day.
Kyoko: Oh, great. I get to stab Undyne some more.
Undyne: RUDE!
ModScarlet: That is a joke, yes?
Kyoko: Why would I joke about the highlight of my week?
Kyoko: …Fine, it's a joke.
ModScarlet: Okay, then. I'll continue.
ModScarlet: The main issue here is that, at present, none of you have contributed enough analyzable constants for me to expand the available processing power.
ModScarlet: So there will be some constraints involved.
ModScarlet: Namely: we cannot have the Relic and a Summoning active simultaneously.
ModScarlet: Additionally, we can only support one Summoning at a time.
Yuri: Pyrrha, did you not say you were collecting your, um…
Yuri: Multiversal constant?
Yuri: The Dust?
Pyrrha: Oh! I'm sorry!
Pyrrha: You're completely correct. It's slipped my mind recently.
Pyrrha: I have some samples available, though I had not finished gathering all the simple types of Dust I was hoping to test.
ModScarlet: We can handle that later, if you wish.
ModScarlet: But in the meantime, I assume you girls are eager to try out a new function?
Undyne: YEAH!
Undyne: Oh, wait.
Undyne: I need to find a more isolated spot with no Monsters in it.
Undyne: And I need to call Alphys and tell her that the Relic is going to go down.
Undyne: Count me out for now.
Kyoko: Multiversal tourism, here I come!
ModScarlet: Oh, one more thing.
ModScarlet: Kyoko, I'm not letting you summon or be summoned.
Kyoko: That's…
Kyoko: Eh, you know what? Fair.
Kyoko: That leaves the rest of you guys to fight it out over who goes where.
A sudden sense of alarm filled the child. If the "Summon" worked in the way that she suspected, it would cause an illusory duplicate of one of her Nodemates to appear in her vicinity. Inside her apartment. At the present moment, it was a mess. Half a dozen mostly-empty boxes of takeout sat near the sink and counter, food stains patterned across the unused kitchen like scattered leaves. The few sets of clothes, professional or otherwise, were strewn about, unwashed for quite awhile.
In many ways, it was an embarrassing sight. And for the most part, the child could have tolerated that.
The real issue, for her, was the armless Rat currently bleeding out onto her futon.
While she was in no way a social expert, the child could be considered at least socially adept. She knew just enough about communication and emotion to get along in a Nest, in the Backstreets. When to lend a sympathetic ear. When to shutter one's own emotions, one's judgments. What could be shared, what to keep secret, so as not to end up ostracized. The fall of Lobotomy Corporation had simply rendered all of her average skill… pointless. Because none of it could overcome the indelible stigma of having belonged to a fallen Wing.
In the Node, however, nobody knew. Nobody cared. Which was enlightening, a relief in many ways. But after Undyne had started ignoring her (and make no mistake: she
had been ignoring her), the child was left confused, scratching her head. Something, somewhere, had gone awry. What had she said incorrectly? She could tolerate loneliness and alienation; the choice to bear them often wasn't hers. The child would
prefer to be accepted, cherished, however.
The child had tried her absolute best to reassure the fish-monster that everything would be alright, that she could make good on her promises, and that the freedom of her people would not be an issue. What was the issue there?
The idea to practice soul acquisition for Undyne had seemed like a good one at the time. And, true to her words, it had not been overly difficult. Her Office work, today, had been finished ahead of schedule, and Hopkins hadn't been in to force more upon her; he'd instead been off to negotiate with their employers for their biggest job yet: "Limbus Company". Aya had invited her to go shopping for additional augments with her, an offer she'd declined, not wishing to reveal her currently lacking funds. It left plenty of time to trawl through the Backstreets, to look for a suitably vulnerable Rat.
It was precisely as simple as she'd indicated to Undyne. A dirty business, but it posed no real difficulties. A sole strike to each of the shoulders and a harsh blow to the skull; then all that was left was dragging the Rat back to her apartment by the feet. Perhaps Undyne's silence had been out of skepticism; Kyoko had mocked her for being bottom-of-the-barrel, a few days ago. The child imagined that particular Nodemate would appreciate the efficiency of the capture, and would have some of their worries assuaged.
The child's concern, now, was the idea that
Pyrrha would see this scene. Kyoko and Undyne both spoke of human casualty too casually, such that they
had to be at least passingly familiar. As always, as usual, Pyrrha Nikos was the problem.
…The child supposed that she ought to be thankful, in some ways. If the Huntress Student was so inclined to speak on behalf of and protect complete strangers to her, she would likely do the same if not more for those she actually knew. And since Summoning was now available to the Node, she might even be able to put that conviction into action. But
fuck if it wasn't frustrating in situations like these.
Pyrrha: My team and I are in a period of downtime right now, actually.
Pyrrha: Since both Kyoko and Undyne are otherwise unavailable… would you like to pay Remnant a visit?
The child made a mental pause and took back everything bad she ever said or thought about Pyrrha Nikos. Bless her.
Yuri: I would love to.
Yuri: Though I won't be able to return the favor, since my apartment is a bit messy right now.
ModScarlet: Alright! Here goes!
ModScarlet: The command to deactivate the Connection Relic is as follows:
ModScarlet: /relic remove all
Removing all Relics.
ModScarlet: Please keep this in mind for if or when you wish to switch between using Summoning and using Relics!
ModScarlet: And now some quick etiquette rules.
ModScarlet: If you have been summoned or are summoning, you can always cancel the summon at will!
ModScarlet: If you get in danger and want to escape, please utilize this function!
ModScarlet: /admin summon enable
Summoning Core enabled.
ModScarlet: If you need a reminder, use "/summon [username]" to summon a User!
Pyrrha: /summon Yuri
Pyrrha is attempting to summon Yuri. Yuri, please do '/summon accept' or '/summon decline'.
The child took a deep breath. She scanned herself in the mirror, looking for hints and flecks of blood that hadn't been covered up by the red or black on her jacket, hoping that the pause wasn't too suspicious.
Yuri: '/summon accept'
ModScarlet: …No quotation marks. Please.
Yuri: /summon accept
It was just as Kyoko had described.
The splitting of her vision took some getting used to. One eye gazed upon familiar surroundings: a room, a Rat, a reflected wreck of a remnant. Another found four faintly familiar faces from a photograph.
A moment was spent to take in the room, her first continuous glimpse of Remnant. The word that came to mind was "bright". Varied colors, an evening's sunlight streaming through the window…even the knick knacks and random possessions about spoke to the brightness of the room's occupants. Toys, books, expensive-looking weapon components… She could have confused it for a Nest.
Manners were universal.
"Hello," the child said, demure. "It is an honor to meet you in person, Pyrrha Nikos. Once again, I look forward to working with you."
The child bowed at the waist, hands folded in front of her chest, towards the redheaded girl with short hair, blue eyes, and a grin to rival Cheers for the Beginning.
She knew that she'd messed something up immediately, by the wince on the blond teen's face, the widening of eyes on the girl assumed to be Pyrrha Nikos. The child attempted to frantically backpedal, even as she could not, for the life of her, figure out what she had done wrong.
"Oh! I'm sorry… Have I offended? I didn't mean to, I promise," she tried. Mentally, she even prepared to unsummon herself, if things went incredibly poorly. She didn't notice, but her original body, back in the City, was wringing her hands in tandem with her apology, one which only ceased once the final redhead in the room spoke, voice rich with bemusement and embarrassment. The tallest one, with her hair back in a ponytail.
"Yuri… That's Nora. I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Yes. It's good to meet you."
The child froze. A heating red colored her cheeks. She observed the now-named Nora's mouth widen, laughter threatening to spill out. The similarly blushing grin on Pyrrha's face.
She wanted to sink through the floor.
Then, she remembered she had a second body at her disposal. And as her summoned duplicate in Remnant desperately attempted to patch the miserable attempt at an introduction, her original body stabbed the stirring Rat in the face and went downstairs as fast as her legs could take her.
As far as substitutes for sinking through the floor went, it was a poor one.
Pyrrha, as it turned out, had forgotten to introduce the rest of her team, even after showing the Node their group photograph. She'd remedied this post-haste, both to the child in-person and the rest of the Node. Pyrrha's teammates, while somewhat eccentric, seemed to be good, kind people, made of much the same moral fiber as their strongest member. Sharing the mortification had tempered it, and at the end of her visit to Remnant, the child found herself surprisingly at-ease. Even with the commentary from her telepathic peanut gallery.
It was around this time that Undyne finished communicating with Alphys and finding that secluded location. She'd then invited Pyrrha down for a "Human vs. Monster battle! The spar of the century!" The Huntress-in-training, as the exact title turned out to be, accepted. And by both of their accounts, the fourteen-minute battle was quite close, Undyne snagging the win by a slim margin. An exciting time, for sure, though the child was not able to view it in-person, save for a couple of /inputFlow snapshots, taken mid-fight.
In the meantime, the child had gotten around to cleaning up her apartment. Blood, washed out off the walls and out of the couch. Trash, thrown out into the street for the Sweepers to consume. Clothes, jammed haphazardly into a closet. By the end of it all, she could almost call herself presentable, once she grabbed a shower anyway. She settled, instead, for a change of clothes into something not smelling of iron and death, and a quick wash of anything visibly bloody.
By now, the excitement surrounding the Node's new feature had mostly died down. Undyne proposed bringing the Relic back up the next day so that Alphys could continue to work on it, which no one had any real objection to. Kyoko expressed some antsiness about being unable to play with her new toy. And Pyrrha either went to sleep or was gathering Dust for when the Relic came back up; the child wasn't quite sure which.
Throughout it all, Undyne had mostly ignored the child. She'd been inclined to leave it be, at least for awhile. Apologies ran through her head, but she still wasn't sure quite what for.
So when the Captain of the Royal Guard sent her a private message, the child was quick to respond.
Node1127: Private Channel with Undyne
Undyne: Hey.
Yuri: Hello.
Yuri: …I'm not sure how, but if I have offended, please let me know.
Yuri: And I will endeavor not to make such a mistake again.
Undyne: Yeah, so.
Undyne: The Relic still isn't up yet.
Undyne: We should still be able to do the summoning thing.
Undyne: Can we talk, monster-to-human?
Undyne: Guard-to-Fixer?
Yuri: Okay.
Undyne: Mind if I visit you?
Yuri: …I don't think that's a good idea.
Yuri: The Head frowns upon non-human denizens in the City.
Yuri: Please don't ask me how, but I believe they'd know if you entered.
Yuri: It'd be much safer if I visited you instead.
In this instance, and a rare time for today, the child was telling the complete, unvarnished truth. She was genuinely concerned for her Nodemate's well-being. She'd heard stories, calling the genre of which "horror" would count as severe understatements.
Node1127: Private Channel with Undyne
Undyne: /summon Yuri
Undyne is attempting to summon Yuri. Yuri, please do '/summon accept' or '/summon decline'.
Yuri: Okay. /summon accept
Yuri: …?
Undyne: Do it on its own line.
Yuri: /summon accept
Once again, that odd splitting sensation. The child had only moments to take in the atmosphere.
Waterfall had a dampness to it. The air was wet with… wetness, if the name was any indication. Water. It wasn't stifling, however. More like the City air after a harsh rain: heavy, but clean. If there had ever been blood and toil here, the water had washed it all away. Perhaps it was darker than Pyrrha's room in Remnant, and the narrow gap between the walls of the cavern were slightly oppressive. But the child still couldn't help but feel as if it were better than the City. Anything was better than the City.
Her gaze finally settled upon her Nodemate. The monster. She opened her mouth to speak, watching the sharp-teethed one open at the same time.
And then it was over.
A wrenching jar, back to her original body alone.
Node1127: Private Channel with Undyne
Yuri: Undyne?
Yuri: What happened?
Yuri: Is something wrong?
Yuri: Was it my fault?
Yuri: Undyne?
But nobody came.
And the child, for the life of her, could not figure out what she had done wrong.
