Today was the day. March 2nd. The day I activate the clone. This clone was made over the entirety of February, with the help of Solkis-1 pumping Ether in at regular intervals to ensure that it would grow to the specifications. Yesterday, the 1st, is when Solkis-1 told me all about the Fallen, or Eliksni. Their civilization, their culture, their rises and falls as a people. And most importantly, why I was chosen to carry on their Legacy.
"Choices were slim. We weighed the chances for each candidate, but the Great Machine pointed to you. Whenever one falls in battle there, they have a chance to rise here, along with new life."
But back to the topic at hand. It's not actually a clone, it's an empty shell that I can transfer my mental self over to, effectively changing bodies. Of course that means if my original body dies then I'll be stuck as an Eliksni, because we can't seem to get the incubator to work with human DNA. Currently, me, dad, and Melanie are in the "lair", as we've begun to call it. As I take my seat in the transfer chair, I take a good look at what my new body will be like.
With long, arching legs, and four nimble arms, it definitely did not look human. While the upper pair had combat armor on them, the lower pair were covered in cloth wrap. A yellow cloak covered the back, while a piece of cloth was draped over the pants, a white circle with a small amount of black at the bottom. The Great Machine. Finally, was the sleek, angular helmet that covered the four eyes and long neck, along with the jaw.
I took a deep breath. "Start it up number one."
"Confirmed." Solkis-1's deep baritone voice spoke as his massive eye swiveled in its frame, before shining streams of encoded ether gently floated towards the access point.
The command was sent to the device, and I felt dizzy all of a sudden.
"Warning: Original body corruption at 75%. Unknown object detected inside of brain, parasitic in nature. Attempting to compensate."
Wait, what did he --
PAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAI---
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I woke up with a migraine, and the immediate realization I had more arms and eyes than a human had. Opening said eyes, I started to stand, taking in my surroundings. I was still in the basement, and Solkis-1 was still there.
"Number one, status report." I said in a relatively deep feminine voice, not my own.
The Servitor in question merely started to rattle off the list of things that happened while I was out.
"Your original body had a parasitic organism in it of unknown capabilities. In order to complete the transfer, we had to remove and then reconstruct that section of your brain. It is unknown how long it will take for your host body to recover. Your father is being called by me as we speak. He is upstairs."
Almost immediately after he said that, my dad came rushing down the steps, worry in his eyes. Well, speak of the devil and all of that.
"Taylor, oh thank god you're alive!" He said, trying his best to hug me while taking in my new stature."
I replied with as much gentleness I could muster. "Agreed. Such experience was unpleasant, and I do not wish to partake in such endeavor again." And while thinking, I added. "It is safe to assume that I will be residing within this complex, as this current form is unfit for human methods of travel."
"I guess so, kiddo. Hey, what's with your speech pattern?" He asked.
"It is the way of communication used by Eliksni. Cryptic, yet effective, yes?" I then turned to Solkis-1. "Number one, begin construction of an Ether Generator. Effective Immediately."
"Of course, Kell of Kells."
As dad and I walked back up the steps, he asked a question I was surprised by. "Hey, Taylor, what language did you just use?"
"Hmm, it appears that this body has learned languages of many races, but I spoke in native tongue to Eliksni."
"You keep mentioning Eliksni, what is that?"
I grinned behind my helmet. "The name of the species that I live."
=+=+=+=
After having a ridiculously large but healthy meal to regain strength, I decided to go out on patrol. Unfortunately, the only holdable weapons at my disposal was a tracker rifle that Solkis-1 made in advance, and an elegant sword he also produced. I had 6 Shanks with me, as the Servitor never stopped making them. I had about twenty total, 4 constructors and 16 regulars.
As I walked across the Boardwalk, rifle in my top pair of hands, bottom pair folded across my chest, one of my Shanks reported a contact near one of the piers. Making my way towards it, I recalled all active Shanks to my position, in order to keep them alive. Climbing onto a nearby rooftop, I was slightly surprised at what I saw. Oni Lee, the leader of the Azn Bad Boys, was fighting alongside Squealer and Skidmark of the merchants, against the independent neutral Lung, Dragon of Kyushu. Designating Squealers strange.. Six wheeled tank thing for my rifles target, I charged to full power and fired. The three round burst of bolts quickly flew downrange, a little bit slower than a bullet, and impacted against the hull of the tank. The effect was immediate, and catastrophic. The tank buckled under the pressure of the shots, and the engine exploded along with several wheels and the barrel, rendering it useless and mobile. The few merchant thugs nearby were blown back by the shockwave, and Squealer was shot out of the top like a cork. She had a brute rating, it'll be fine. Of course, when everything stopped and people looked back at me, I jumped into the fray, with a one word command to my Shanks.
"Engage!"
Setting my rifle back to low power in order not to kill anyone, I quickly popped off shots towards several groups, and my Shanks took care of even more. I purposely let a Shank get damaged, had it fake death, and left it there, not transmatting it. Gotta leave some evidence it was my doing. Anyway, lung was fighting Oni Lee, so that left me with Skidmark. Perfect.
=+=+=+=
If it sucks its because no beta
