Thunder and Webs C133 [Gold]

The truth hurts everyone. Those who were lied to, and those who lied.

Chapter 133: Relapse: Truth Hurts

February 28th

7:31 AM

Ripley

“Ripley?” I heard a voice rustle against me, a hand moving to my shoulder to shake me. “Are you awake?”

I jolted up, finding Alice leaning against my shoulder while we lay on the damp flooring of this underground maintenance tunnel. “Sorry…”

“You were mumbling in your sleep.” She frowned. “Something about… leaving her. Was that about… me?”

“I’m not leaving you,” I said hurriedly, but with confident truth behind it. “My head’s just… a mess, that’s all.”

“Where are we?” She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Some abandoned building.”

Her voice peeped. “Uh, are we safe?!”

“Yeah,” I said, before my eyes cast at Elsa’s unconscious body in the chair. “I think so.”

“You think?”

“Of course, you got Dreadwire with you.” I said to calm her, before looking down at her hand. “How’s the hand? I used some spare parts around here.”

She lifted her metal palm, it was delicate and doll-like. The homeless here… were too willing to give up their property to me. I’d even offered to pay, but they called me their master, and Elsa: their lady.

“It’s pretty. I just… I knew when I got a BUG, I’d eventually…” She sniffled, “I know why you did it, that blade was controlling whoever held it.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you.” Those words carried more grief than she knew.

She smiled. “I barely remember it. And you were… awesome, you fought so badass to protect us… even if you were kinda losing.”

“Well, we’re alive, aren’t we? I beat them.” I said whatever I needed to just so she could keep smiling.

“How?” Her curiosity got the better of her, but I knew the true reason why she was so upbeat. It was the same reason why I’d grown careless with other’s lives. A certain mind-editing software capable of tricking you into contentment even when you had no reason to.

“Oh, just a few tricks here and there.” I hand-waved.

“Can I see a recording?”

“No.” I hurried, stammering to cover my words. “It was very… there were no survivors. I don’t want to show something like that to you.”

“Oh…” Her face fell. “Did you capture that blade?”

“No, it’s still out there. That’s why we’re hiding.”

“I don’t mind. It’s better than…” Her face darkened. If this was better than her old life, then…

“I’m sorry, Alice. For putting you through all this.” I choked in both my words and my tears. “Fuck, a girl your age shouldn’t have to…”

“Its okay. I’m happier with you, even if its dangerous.” She put her metal hand on mine, wincing at the contact from the lingering pain an Iron would have. “I’m sure of it, more than ever. You’re the only one who can help this city.”

“Alice…” I looked away. “I plan on leaving it.”

“Leaving?”

“Yeah, want to come?” I offered with a dry chuckle, I couldn’t believe my own words. “Guess I’ll find a Nomad tribe to settle with. Heard great things about The Shahanai.”

“It’s cold out there, though.”

“Well, then we’ll head south. Down to Southern America. Tour the Free Cities there — I know Spanish. A little. Then, maybe… we can catch a ship flying over to Requeim. The bigger one.” I teased.

“I guess…” She turned away. “I don’t really want to leave, though.”

“Maybe we’ll come back one day.” I thought about it. “The Swarm or… after it. You know, the City plans on killing a Titan.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll pass up that paycheck… or the parts I could get from helping the assassination of a MALtitan. The Typhoon or The Infinite.” I mused with some humor.

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” She tensed. “But doesn’t that have like… big consequences? If it’s The Typhoon it opens trade between Asia and America across the Pacific again. And if its The Infinite, then America will be the only continent without a MALtitan on the landmass.”

“You’re really into politics, huh?” I chuckled.

“Duh.” She rolled her eyes. “Someone’s gotta change this city.”

I sighed, wondering if someone like her could even do that. But I wanted to believe it. “You’re smarter than a lot of people your age. You grew up quickly.”

“I know, right?” She smiled.

I hadn’t meant that as a compliment, but I smiled back to her. “Don’t get overconfident.”

I stretched up, offering my hand to her. “You hungry?”

“A little bit.” She admitted, patting her stomach. “Know any place?”

“Yeah, I know a place or two we can order from. Sushi good for breakfast? Though it’s not real fish.”

“What’s the point of it, then?” She snarked, before shrugging. “But sure, I’ll have some.”

“Great, Starlight?” I asked.

I didn’t get a response. Did she leave? “Uh, Star?”

Come to think of it, Midnight and Daylight weren’t in my head either. I opened my messages and found Star had left one.

[Sorry, I just… don’t feel like being in your head right now. I’m feeling weird. I’m at the Clinic.]

I sent a response.

[Star, it’s dangerous.]

I got one back immediately.

[I’m an AI, Dad. I can get back in your head immediately, besides, I’m keeping an eye on things. Clinic’s closed. If anyone tries to enter, I won’t even talk to them. I’ll come to you first.]

I contemplated, but sent forth permission.

[I got it. But if I ask for you to get back to me, I need you to immediately, alright? Love you.]

[Understood. Love you too <3]

Taking one last glance at Elsa, I sighed before leaving. She lied to me — and I wasn’t even surprised anymore. Could I keep living like this? I didn’t know if this place was going to save us, and maybe… maybe I just needed to leave while I had the opportunity to.

“Yeah, you know what?” I sighed. “Fuck this place. Let’s get out already?”

“Oh? Didn’t you say… this place was safe?”

“I know what I said. I said ‘I think’.” I smiled. “This isn’t a place a kid like you should be… but hey, ever flown on a drone glider before?”

Her breath hitched, and she shook her head.

———

“Woah… they really can’t see us.” She held on tight to me as the wind rushed by us and the streets below pooled with the morning workers.

“Not a thing.” I whispered.

———

“So you’re telling me that in the Old World,” I said over bitter soya sauce and crunchy rice, “that America was governed in such a way that… it was effectively divided into two different governments? That doesn’t make sense.”

Alice chewed and swallowed gulps of fish and rice. She sat opposite me in this lowkey restaurant, I’d paid for a bit of privacy in a room upstairs. “I mean, you kinda misunderstood and it sorta does make sense when you…”

“No, I mean like…” I waved my hand around. “They’re setting up one-half of their country to feel like losers? It sounds stupid. At that point, politicians can just promise to make life shit for the other party and they’ll get all the support they need.”

“Okay, but it keeps any one political ideology from getting too powerful.” Alice argued. “Otherwise, you end up with a government like ours. Yeah, we have elections, but they all end up running it the same way. They sell shit to the corps, the Swarm happens and we rebuild only to sell it back again. You know, before the Earthquake, 71% of businesses in Westbrook were privately-owned by citizens. Nowadays, the number’s gone down to 22%, SynTec’s bought most of it up and that doesn’t sound right!”

“Hm, quite the activist you are.” I chuckled. “What would you change?”

“I’d tax them, for one.” She scoffed. “SynTec, Yuzhou. They’re more than just enterprises, they own countries. More than half of our city doesn’t belong to us! Anything they make here and send back to themselves should be taxed by our government. Instead, we give them handouts whenever the military needs a donation of weapons.”

“I’m in agreement with the girl here.” A voice — one that made me snap my chopsticks — said from behind as slender, bony fingers grasped my shoulder. “She’s a smart one.”

Alice looked behind me, dropping her fork as nerves visibly grew on her. “I know, uh… who… who is this guy, Mr. Donovick?”

The Nul-Serum was wearing off. I was ready for the worst.

“This is the guy that tried to kill us.” I said, turning back to register the proud, unfeeling face of Mr. Skeleton. “His name is Mikail Almajali.”

“Oh, how coy of you, Donovick.” Skeleton slapped my back, moving to sit beside me like he was a friend.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you again.” A lead chain wrapped around my throat as a I spoke. “How did you know where I was at?”

“Well… I have SynTec on my side to keep tabs on you. I was never a man who liked talking across digital channels, I very much prefer face-to-face chats such as this. For the inconvenience, let this meal be on me.” Skeleton slid a Bronze Shard from his pocket onto the table.

“I thought you’d have more dignity than to come talk to a guy you tried to kill. You didn’t even wait 24 hours.” I stiffened, sending a message to Alice to be ready to run. There was a window next to us, I could break it and swing away. My glider drone was also parked nearby and invisible.

“Oh, but I didn’t send Crouching Dagger after you. Yes, he was on my payroll, but SynTec was the one who wanted to hire him. I merely provided the means.” He explained. “For now, I’m perfectly harmless to you.”

“Oh, that makes things so much better, Micky.” I hardened… and my Arachnodyne spilled from my back to keep two blades ready to strike. “Should we remain in civil converation, then these too will remain perfectly harmless.”

“I sad ‘for now’ Donovick. You’re right, as long as this conversation remains civil…” He sounded like he was smiling. “But you did want to talk to me, didn’t you?”

“Without her here — and on my terms.” I told him. “Let me take her away and then I’ll come talk to you.”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “You either talk to me now, or… to Crouching Dagger.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes.” He looked at me with that same emotionless skull that could somehow convey every smug expression he would have had there been skin on it.

Silence brewed between us, and Alice shrunk.

“What will it take for this bullshit between us to be over, man? I don’t want any part of it anymore.” I withdrew my Arachnodyne from aiming at him, but still kept them ready.

“Your girl.” He said simply.

“…fine.” I couldn’t believe I said that so easily.

“Fine?” He chuckled. “And here I thought you were a man.”

“I thought I’d have a future with her. I barely have a past with her.” I admitted. “What else you want, huh? Goliath? Livewire? My Arachnodyne? Do you want to own Dreadwire’s image? You can have it all. I just don’t want to have to ever see you again.”

I was done with this city. The crime. The pain. The hopelessness.

“That stings.” He said with mocking hurt. “But I can’t blame you, I did kill your mother.”

…

Electricity sparked in the air as a skull tore off vertebrae and a suited skeleton fell off a chair. “Get up, Alice.”

He was lying. He had to be.

“What’s happening?” She asked in panic and confusion, but I grabbed her hand. The skull that had rolled on the ground, however, spoke to me in static.

“I wouldn’t recommend that. Stay, let’s have that civil conversation you sought for.”

“I’m done with civil conversations.” I hissed. “Don’t you dare fucking say something like tha-”

“I used the samples I collected off your body when we first met.” The static said. “Your girlfriend extracted samples of your Warpcode too and sent them to me, early on. The final key was Mutagenic samples from Diana ‘Silvereye’ Ulrich. Soul Resonance.”

I stayed still. A part of me wanted to leave, to not have to hear this. To stay ignorant.

It was just her age. Her sickness. It had gone too far. I’d done everything I could.

The static continued. “That Implant, so incredible. Technopath. It was aware unlike any I’d come across, bar the one I gave Juliet. I used all those samples to show it how great you were, Ripley. I made it want you, just you like you tried to make so many Implants want your mother. 97% compatibility… I’d outdone myself. The nature of Implants is to be wielded by those most capable with them, and so, when you installed it into Isabel… she was already dead. If you used your Gold in front of her, if that Implant sensed it, it would leave her in a… heartbeat. Haha. It didn’t matter if it was a day, a week, a month or a year. That Implant was designed to betray her and go to you, Donovick. But I bet you barely waited a minute.”

Warpweb did the calculations. If he… he was right, then…

My foot crushed the skull. And when a second Skeleton entered the room, my claws shot into his eyes and pried his head off. The third that arrived was speared by an Arachnodyne. The fourth was slashed into two. And the fifth-

-grabbed an Arachnodyne limb and bent it. “Did you truly think you were something special? That you were the only one who could manipulate Implants?”

“What the fuck do you want from me!” I punched the fifth’s skull off.

There was no sixth. Instead, it was the waiter who’d been serving us who stepped through next, but now his eyes were dilated and he played with a black dagger in his hands.

“You bastard.” I said to The First Prince. “He has your sister locked up and you’re working for him!”

Crouching Dagger smiled. “The Bladedaughter was heir to Muramasa. As her fiance, Mr. Skeleton has the right to act while she remains… indisposed.”

“R-Ripley… is that the thing that attacked us yesterday?” Alice said from behind me, I kept my arms ready and my Arachnodyne splayed open to cover her.

“Now, are you willing to talk to him?” Crouching Dagger licked his blade. It drew blood from the man’s tongue. “Or should I make you cut off her other hand?”

I could fight them off, but I couldn’t risk Alice. “She stays safe.”

“I can guarantee that.” A sixth Skeleton walked into the room, as nonchalant as before. He strode over to where Alice and I had been sitting as he removed his old drone from the seat and settled down. His fingers tapped against the table rhythmically. “Would you like her to leave?”

I couldn’t risk that while Crouching Dagger was around. “She stays with me.”

“Very well.” He stopped tapping. “You asked me why I did this? Killed your mother, gave SynTec the means to attack you?”

I couldn’t stop my claws from trembling.

“Its both simple and complex,” he began. “The simple aspect of it is scorn.”

“Scorn?”

“For your family. Your grandfather abandoned this city, abandoned me… left me in the care of Missy so he could focus on raising your mother. I hated him for that – envied your family that I’d been abandoned for. But I understood his reasons, I moved on. Then… fate had it so you’d walk into my domain, freshly with Gold — grandson of a man I hated as much as I respected — and in you, I saw him. A part of me wished to cultivate that. Another part of me seeks to… overcome it.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m an Adapter, Ripley.” He picked up the Bronze Shard he’d dropped on the table earlier, scraping his fingers along its shiny edges. “I was a broken boy from the fall of the Hanging Gardens. But the Hammersmith showed me how to adapt. Missy and Diamante limited themselves and were bound for ruin. I sought Seraphina and adapted. They killed me. I adapted. The Revenant brought me back to life and held a chain on it. I adapted. That part of the city which had fallen as I stood upon... it is now the castle I have risen with because I adapted. But… The Dogwhistler? You? Your grandfather? I haven’t yet been tested by. And you… so far, have not been worth adapting to.”

“Are you… fucking insane?” I scoffed. “You’re making my life… a LIVING HELL just to have… what? Opposition to adapt to?” I said the last two words with indignant air quotes, his gaze only beamed at me.

“Exactly!” He opened his arms up, the Bronze Shard dancing as it spun between his bony fingers with grace. “Okay, well… it’s a gross oversimplification. I’m a proud man, you see, I seek to overcome all challenges in this world — I’m a man of many goals. However, you’d be wrong to assume I’m a long-term visionary, I can’t compete with the powers that be just yet, those whose sheer computational capacities with afterthoughts grander than years of my methodological planning, so in each chapter of my life I simply perform at my absolute best to ensure short-term success. Simply chain it one-after-the-other… and you get long-term success.”

“So, bastard, is everything you said about wanting a better city just a lie?!” My voice grew hoarse, no thanks to my throat having been speared through by Crouching Dagger just yesterday. The First Prince stood in calm wait, but I didn’t take an eye of them. Not with Alice huddled behind me.

“Well, I am a businessman. Lying is a virtue in that world. Little white-lies, omissions of certain elements you would not otherwise agree with. I do intend to create a better city, Ripley, not out of the goodwill or charity for the people, but for the pride of myself. I want nothing more than to be loved, to be hailed supreme in a grand world designed by me. To know that I will create what The Founders could not. But of course, that is long-term, my short-term goals are very simple.”

Still holding the Iron Shard, he raised one finger. “One. To kill The Revenant — Diana Ulrich has been most helpful in that regard.”

“Two. To deal with The Dogwhistler. There can only be one. Donovick.”

“Three. To draw forth The Hammersmith back to this city. You are instrumental to that.”

“What. You’re insane. You… you’re doing all this to me so that The Hammersmith checks up on us?”

“Insanity is the best ingredient for adaptation, Donovick. After all, look at you!” Skeleton tapped the Shard against the table. “Normalcy? Peace? Stability? No… humans only change in response to opposition. How else did we survive when we dawned on this world, soft and pink in a crucible of claws and teeth? We adapted in ways no other creature could. Through ingenuity. Through creation. Through warfare against the planet, and against each other. And humans grow lazy when there is nothing to adapt to. I outgrew Missy and Diamante a long time ago, I outgrew many aspects of this city… but… you?”

A low chuckle emanated from his voice, the Shard chipped into the wood of the table. “You’re ingenious. Just like your grandfather. Not only that, but you’ve proven more of a thorn in the tapestry of fate than even dear Silvereye. And she’s the one trying her damned best. Did you know? The Allseeing saw that she’d be a… puppet? Amaterasu hired me to shoot her dead, so I outfitted the Snake Fangs to do so. She was intended to be brain-dead on all accounts and to be… reformed by SynTec into something incredible for her debut as Silvereye. Imagine our surprise when she was sound of mind.”

He then jabbed the Shard into the table, his voice growing frustrated. “And don’t even get me started on your precious ‘Soul Anchors’…”

For the first time, I heard him raise his voice. “How the fuck did you make a cure to that thing?! I was supposed to be the only one with access to that! But you ruined my monopoly. Now SynTec needs me less in that regard, a small blow, but a blow nonetheless. Small little cuts to our plans, but they’ve unraveled threads woven by a Titan.”

My breath shallowed. Starlight. She’d been instrumental in both cases.

“And… I couldn’t be happier.” He chuckled. “It’s fascinating. Now this… this is something to adapt to. Something even a Titan had failed to account for. You.”

He lifted his skull, eyes peering behind me towards Alice. “But what you’re doing right now is pathetic. Where did that drive go? Where was that man I saw wander in to my enterprise, scared out of his mind but oh so yearning for greatness.”

“Skeleton… I don’t want to go back to that.” I clenched my teeth, keeping an eye on him and Crouching Dagger. I had to keep Alice safe. “I’ll leave this city. You want to adapt to me? Then take my fucking schematics and make them better. Take whatever you need to prove you’re the bigger man!”

He laughed like I’d insulted him. “Take… what? Livewire? You think I didn’t visit your granddad’s storage after your daddy died? I took a sample and figured out how to make it years ago, it’s been used to power Little Requiem for almost a decade. Your Arachnodyne? Fantastic tech — for this city. The mayor can teleport, you think four extra limbs is anything special? It’s niche and specialized for you… yes, but its something I could cook up on my own in a week. Trouble’s never much building the tech but about finding the right Adapter to wield it…”

“And Goliath…” There was excitement building. “Oh, you can have the copy. I’ve got the original, or well… a better copy of the original in The Bladedaughter. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been able to make using her. Isn’t that right, Crouching Dagger?”

“The upgrades you’ve made to me have been… quite flattering.” The First Prince smiled.

“And then there’s Dreadwire’s image.” He snapped the wood as he dug the Shard out. “No, I don’t need to control that. SynTec wants it, sure, but my plans are beyond just them. No, I’d love nothing more than for Dreadwire to be back up and running and a nuisance! Because while every aspect of your prowess, when looked at individually, is incredible considering where you started out… they are meager in the grand scheme of things. It is how you culminate them that makes you special. I want to see – and then overcome – the limits of what you could do at your full potential… and to think it all started with those claws.”

He laughed. “I created you, in a sense. You’re something I set into motion for the very purpose of… experimentation. To see how far you could go. The best creations always test their creators. Force them to adapt and come up with solutions. Isn’t that right? Oh, those claws. Who did you first test them out on again.”

His gaze flicked behind me. I froze.

“What did Mirage tell me?” He tapped his temple. “Ah, right, you found Livewire in your grandad’s storage locker – you’re welcome for that by the way – then cooped up with your mom for a couple of days building a new claw… and then you manifested that ability. Data Mimicry. Oh, you had no idea what you were stepping into. What it would be like to feel the powers of others? To feel how they’ve adapted to this ruinous city by plundering and stealing from fellow filthy brethren. I’d imagine it led you to make some mistakes…”

“Alice…” My breath hurried.

“Oh, you stumbled upon an ‘Embrance dealer, that’s right!” Skeleton laughed, shaving wood from the table with the Iron Shard. “It reminded you of your dear dead daddy, so you told her to stop and then got into a bit of a… fisticuff! But hey! You got to test out that claw of yours – gouged her flesh and snapped her neck! But things didn’t end up the right way… you didn’t mean to kill her. Emily Wilbur.”

“What?” Alice said from behind me… “Mom?”

“Alice…” My eyes were glazed in grief, the Preservation Matrix so close to fogging my mind. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“But you did kill her. And because of that…” His eyes settled on the shaking girl behind me. “You went through all that pain. Alice Wilbur.”

“Stop it, no… he’s Dreadwire.”

“No, dear, he’s Ripley Donovick. An unstable, ingenious, naive boy who stumbled into a world he was never meant to, but fought through it by being a madman. And that’s what I both love and hate about him. Everyone says he’s just like me. That he’s so close to becoming like me. I can see why, but I hate it.”

That cold red glare struck into me like a dagger. “There is no one like me. But I want you to try, Donovick. To try and fight me. I. Want. To. Settle. This.”

“Mr. Donovick… tell me he’s… why?!” Alice shrieked from behind me, her hand digging into the steel plating of my Arachnodyne.

“Alice… stay back.” My teeth chattered. “You fucking bastard… I just want to make things better! Why do you have to try and ruin things!”

“Me? Oh, no… Ripley: you’re the Architect of Ruin, isn’t that what you called yourself before fighting The Bladedaughter?” Skeleton stood up slowly. “You’ve led countless people to be worse off — your father, your mother, Selene, Topaz, Diana, Alice. Your own. Each and every one of them: the consequence of your actions. The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Are you serious… you’re really trying to-” I couldn’t say another word as he pointed the Iron Shard to Crouching Dagger, my Arachnodyne tensing as they smiled.

But then skeleton’s wrist flicked the Iron Shard.

In an instant, it shot like a bullet and bounced off the walls. It was too weak to hurt me, but it wasn’t aimed for me. I’d figured something was up with how he was sharpening it.

I caught it a millimeter before it would have speared through Alice’s eye. She shrieked and clutched my back as fury drowned me. I turned to Skeleton and crunched the Iron Shard in my hands. “You bastard! You said she’d be safe! You guaranteed it!”

He shrugged. “I lied… I was hoping she’d die angry at you to make the wound deeper, but this will have to do.”

Gold submerged my mind into a frigid block of anticipation as I watched the two of them. What the fuck were they planning? Why were they doing this?!

Something warm splattered on my back, a weak groan trembled in the air, and I felt Alice’s hands drift off my back. Then I heard a thud.

Skeleton and Crouching Dagger hadn’t move an inch.

I couldn’t look back. I couldn’t afford to.

“Alice?” I called.

I got no response. But I felt warmth pool around my feet and looking down only confirmed the growing blood flowing on the ground. How…

“Thank you, Topaz.” Skeleton clapped his hands. A body moved from behind me, they were covered in steel that shaped across their musculature and concealed every inch of their skin. But as quickly as I noticed them, I stopped sensing their presence. My focus remained on Skeleton, on Crouching Dagger. Not on the Cadaver of my friend.

A friend I’d gotten killed… and now…

“Alice.” I said again, hoping.

“She’s dead – stabbed right through the spine and heart.” Skeleton blew from lips despite not having any. “I didn’t know killing her would have that big of an effect on you, Donovick. She was really more of an improvisation, but I’d suggest getting rid of her body; otherwise, I’m just going to bring her back. By the way, Shaun hopes she’s been of good use to you. He always knew she was something specia-”

He couldn’t finish speaking before an Arachnodyne Javelin speared through his skull. Crouching Dagger flashed forward, but just as quickly, I split the body he was using into two. The dagger flew from his hands – and into another.

Alice finally spoke. “I hope to fight you at full capacity next time, Dreadwire.”

Then it cut away, flying through and shattering a window. Topaz, or the thing that he’d become, was nowhere to be felt. Only a void.

In my heart, only a void remained.

An empty vessel.

All I could do was scream.