Tyria's Data Breaker

Most of you know me as Wrixl Databreak, a smarty pants Asura that likes pink, looks like a demon thanks to my eye markings, and acts intimidating at times. What you don't know is my story, where I got my name from, my life. Well, then why don't I share that specific file from the archives with you? This is the story of Wrixl, fresh inventor from the Synergetics college, just starting to make her name in the world, and unaware of the darkness lurking within it...

Chapter One ~ Savant?

I awoke to buzzing noises and softly glowing lights surrounding me, when had I even fallen asleep? I remember finally completing my invention with my krewe, some kind of celebration, and then nothing? I sat up slowly off the floor, and immediately grabbed my head and groaned, a massive headache surging through every inch of my cranium. Slowly I opened my eyes again, and took in my surroundings in an attempt to recollect the events of the past night. Several of my krewe were passed out nearby around a table, confetti and broken plates littered the ground, and there were dozens of bottles of what appeared to be alcohol everywhere, mostly around the aforementioned table.

"What in the Eternal Alchemy happened here?" Said a concerned yet somewhat amused voice from the stairs.

"Zojja? What time is it? And I don't quite remember myself, I only just roused and seem to be suffering from a light case of amnesia..." I replied back to the Synergetics Alumni, Zojja.

"Let's see, it's still early morning, aaaaand the Snaff Prize competition starts in a couple hours."

"What?!" I nearly screeched, then groaned again and rolled onto my side, holding my head yet again.

"I'd say from the look of things, that you guys had a party and didn't invite me!" She pointed out, sounding irritated.

Party? Why would we...? Then it suddenly clicked, vivid images rushed through my already aching head. We had finished our invention late in the night for the competition and Zojja had come by to inform us we had been selected as the representing krewe for the Snaff Prize competition this year for the Synergetics College. We had held a huge party that was tame for the most part until a certain member of the krewe brought out a box of alcohol she must have been hiding just for this occasion. Then everything got blurry and raced by after that.

"Zojja, remind me to invite you next time, and to seriously reprimand Zirxa after the contest. Would you mind lending me a hand in waking up these idiots before we all end up inciting your wrath for not making it to the competition? Also do you have any of those headache elixers that younger krewe member from the college came up with?"

"I suppose, if only to protect Snaff's memory. And here, I keep a few on hand when I stare at my screens for too long." She said as she tossed a vial of silvery liquid to me.

"Thanks Zojja, I owe you big time, next time I go out gathering materials I'll bring you back some rare stuff from the frozen tundras, since I know you dislike the Norn." I thanked her, drank the elixer in one shot, and slowly stood up off the cold floor of my lab. Together with Zojja, and one of my older inventions the VAL-A Golem, we cleaned up the mess and managed to rouse the other two members of my krewe after dousing them in ice cold water.

"Alright, party's over. Zojja is here and we have about an hour to get our posteriors and the invention up to the competition before she lights a fire under all of us, or worse sends Mr. Sparkles again, let's not repeat that incident shall we? Zirxa, we need to talk afterwards. Now let's get this thing into the cart, and take home the title this year!" I commanded my krewe firmly, giving a glare in Zirxa's direction.

They, of course, muttered about feeling awful and not wanting to do anything but nevertheless got to work. My krewe consists of three members, myself as leader, I specialize in analyzing data and exploiting it. Zirxa is our animal expert, she has a bad habit of trying to tinker with genecrossing to create new species, and she has a wild streak to match, but ultimately knows when to stop. Irxea is very calm and reserved, she specializes in studies of spirits and the afterlife, but not like Necromancers, she is more interested in the powers that the not quite so dead seem to have and what causes them to increase and fluctuate. Together, we are referred to as the Data krewe, we all graduated from the Synergetics college at the same time, of course I graduated at the top of the class which naturally made me the leader. Zirxa wasn't thrilled at first but fell in line over time after admitting that maybe she was a bit too wild to handle leading a group.

"Wrixl! We're gonna be late, let's get going!" Zirxa shouted as she tied one of her 'pets' to the cart to pull it.

"Go ahead without me, and get everything set up. I'd like to have some time to talk to Zojja, and they won't start without her." I replied, waving them on and falling into step with Zojja. They waved back and snapped the reins, Zirxa's beast let out a roar and took off through the portal.

"So Wrixl, care to elaborate on what exactly you need to talk about?" Zojja asked calmly, stepping through the portal alongside me.

"It's about the Inquest. I have reason to suspect that even after last years little spectacle, they are plotting something again this year."

"What proof do you have?"

"Last time I went out into the jungle for some raw materials I overheard them talking about it near one of their labs. Something about transformation, and you."

"Me? Well that certainly does perk my ears. Tell you what, I'll bring Mr. Sparkles along just in case they try something stupid. By the way, during the competition, drop the eye magic would you? It won't look good to the judges if you come in looking like you want to kill someone." She pointed out, said a quick goodbye, and ran down the ramp to the lower levels of the city, Rata Sum.

"Must I always be judged because of my dark magic?" I sighed, snapped my fingers, and let the dark lines around my eyes fade. It was an ability I was born with, a special magic that heightens my vision and grants me clarity even in the darkest or brightest places. Unfortunately, it also causes markings on my face that some say are demon touched markings, since they make me look intimidating and 'evil'. One day, perhaps I will uncover the truth behind my ability, and my origins for that matter.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You two sure took your time! Just like last year, Synergetics arrives late. Well, if you would, please start your demonstration already hmm?" High Councillor Flax said as Zojja and I arrived in a rush.

"My apologies, if it would please the judges we will begin right away then. We present the Aerial Golem Drone, or AGD for short." I said while signaling my companions to begin the demonstration. A miniature golem attached to a slightly larger ring with fan blades whirling in the middle came flying into the arena and stopped between myself and Flax.

"Hmm, but what can it do exactly? We won't be impressed by toys and hobby gadgets Synergetics." Flax said with a bored expression.

"It can be repurposed for a multitude of tasks. For ease of construction I used one of my own VAL-A Golems for this demonstration today, but it could be used both for science and militaristic needs. Just think, reconnaissance, package delivery, aerial strikes, data collection, anything a golem could do but in a smaller, flying form! VAL-A AGD, bring me my notes from my krewe!" I explained and then commanded my tiny golem to perform a simple errand task.

"YeS lAdY wRiXl" It replied and flew off to my krewe at the top of the stairs, whom handed a small pile of notes neatly tied together with a string to my golem. The golem whirled around them once and returned to my side and presented my notes. My krewe arrived behind me and bowed once before grinning in my direction.

"And there you have it, as I said this one was just a prototype for the demonstration but could easily be programmed for many other tasks and purposes." I finished the demonstration and bowed slightly to High Councillor Flax.

"Well that certainly is impressive. One of the best so far, that leaves the Inquest then. Inquest! Go ahead and show us what you've come up with." Flax nodded and signaled the Inquest krewe to step forward. I bowed once more and took a place nearby Zojja, my krewe on both sides of me.

"Alright now that the kiddies are out of the way, perhaps real science can be shown! May the Inquest present the Reprogramming Ray! With our research we have developed a device to instantly reprogram any golem without having to shut it down or be in close distance, even if it is malfunctioning and rampaging! Please allow us to show you just how powerful it is." Inquest Krewe Leader Zilx said and turned towards me and my krewe. I glared darkly at him and quickly switched off my AGD before they could tamper with it.

"Wait... ZOJJA GET OUT OF HERE!" I shouted but I was already too late, time began moving slowly as I started towards her. A blast fired from the Reprogramming Ray and fired towards her and Mr. Sparkles.

I grabbed her and we both slammed into the ground hard but the damage was already done. The blast hit Mr. Sparkles and knocked him back and onto the ground. Zojja's eyes widened in horror as her prized Golem stopped moving for a moment, then his lights turned a sinister red and he righted himself.

"mUsT dEsTrOy SyNeRgEtIcS" Mr. Sparkles said in a much deeper and darker tone than usual.

"Mr. Sparkles... What have they done to you?" Zojja muttered, either out of fear or shock, which I couldn't tell.

"Zojja? Zojja, snap out of it! Damn, Zirxa, Irxea! Get Zojja out of here before she is killed by her own creation! She's acting out of the ordinary and we haven't got time to waste figuring out where her usual resourcefulness has gone. Go, NOW!" I shouted at my krewe and without missing a beat I snapped my fingers, my markings reappearing. I drew my pixelated swords, another invention I had done for fun, and stood between Zojja and Mr. Sparkles.

"Damn the Inquest, my information was correct after all. But I didn't think they were after Mr. Sparkles..." I muttered irritably then sighed heavily.

"Zojja is going to hang me by my ears for this when she comes to her senses, I'm going to have to find one heck or a rare material cache for her to forgive me..." I muttered to myself then took a defensive stance.

My krewemates grabbed Zojja and dragged her off towards the city while the Inquests, Council, and other college members ran around frantically, Inquests running away to avoid the peacemakers and everyone else to avoid danger. Mr. Sparkles began chasing after Zojja, continuing to make threatening remarks here and there. I sprang forward from my position, kicking him hard and then shoving him into the ground with a swing of left sword. Immediately I let loose a flurry of strikes before he recovered, chipping armor here and scratching elsewhere.

"Bloody hells Zojja why'd you make him so hard to destroy? You knew something like this could always happen..." I growled and flipped backwards as he stood up and rushed me with a spinning charge.

I crossed my swords and braced myself as the final spin crashed into me. The blow nearly threw me back but I pressed forward, deflecting the blow and retaliating with a hard swipe, finally breaking open a small hole in his side. We circled around, trading blows back and forth. I dodged to the side then plunged forward, cutting deep into his circuitry, ripping out several wires in the process. His lights flickered several times between blue and red and then to white. He began attacking everything wildly in a berserk, malfunctioning fury, Inquest and others alike. I retreated back several paces, analyzing the situation, coming to the conclusion that the only safe opening was to take the high road.

"Zojja, Mr. Sparkles, I'm sorry." I sighed and jumped off the top of another deactivated golem and plunged both swords down, cutting all the way down to the hilts of my swords right into the top of Mr. Sparkles. I ripped them out and jumped off the golem as it fell to the ground with a resounding crash, throwing up a cloud of dust. His lights flickered once more then during black, whirring noises stopping. I sheathed my blades and assessed the damage, my krewe and Zojja seemed to have escaped successfully, several severely injured Inquest and bystanders laid on the ground unconscious, everyone else seemed to have fled for safety.

"Well, that was a disaster. I'll go check on Zojja and the krewe for now, and get some help out here for the injured." I said to myself.

Switching on my VAL-A AGD, I gave it specific messages for the infirmary back in Rata Sum and sent it off. Before heading back, I reached inside the large hole I had made in Mr. Sparkles side and pulled out a flickering orb and stashed it in my bag. Then with a renewed sense of urgency I raced off towards the city in the distance, concern evident in my pace, and most certainly on my face.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Zirxa, Irxea, status report please." I said, jumping down the flight of stairs and coming to a stop before my friends.

"Zojja seems to be alright but she is... Unhappy to say the least?" Irxea replied, pointing to the ceiling, indicating Zojja must have been on the roof.

"Unhappy how?" I questioned further, wanting to know more about the situation before I press into it myself.

"Well, she is livid with the Inquest and wants to kick them all into a pit for starters. And is also directing some of it at the Council for even allowing them at the Snaff Prize Competition after the incident last year. For the past half an hour she has been up on the roof, just sitting there in silence though. I think she is seriously upset about Mr. Sparkles, by the way what happened to him?" Zirxa asked, out of curiosity.

"...Mr. Sparkles is no longer with us." I mumbled, closing my eyes and shaking my head.

"Zojja isn't going to take that too well. Shout if you need help restraining her from blowing up the whole Inquest base." Zirxa said with a wave. They both bowed to me slightly and respectfully left.

"Ugh, this isn't going to go over well at all." I muttered to myself and climbed the flight of stairs to the roof.

I found Zojja sitting on the edge, watching the sun falling behind the horizon, stars beginning to slowly peek out from the opposite direction. I walked up to her and sat down quietly, watching the same scenery as her. I wanted to tell her what happened but I felt like she already knew deep down, so I waited in silence for her to speak to me. The sky slowly darkened as the final burst of reds and oranges began to recede into dark blue and finally black. The moon rose behind us, casting a soft glow upon the ground.

"Wrixl, just go ahead and tell me what happened." Zojja finally spoke up, not even glancing at me but keeping her gaze straight ahead.

"...He's gone Zojja. He went berserk and tries to kill me and then everything at some point. I had no choice but to destroy him." I answered, wincing at the change in her expression.

"I see. I will punt Zilx down a flight of stairs, just like Teyo. He won't get away with this, not by a longshot!" She yelled uncharacteristically.

"Zojja, calm down. I am more than willing to help you chase them down at some point, but right now we need to gather intel and formulate a plan. You know I'm right." I replied.

"I hate saying other people are right, so don't make me say it again. Very well, I will leave the intel to you since you're so good at it. I'll talk to the Council about this incident and try to garner support for a plan of retaliation." She said, standing up and glancing down at me with a look that changed from determination to concern.

"What? Why the concerned look? I can handle gathering intel with ease and safely, you know that." I asked, confused.

"Reckless as always, surprised your krewe didn't notice." She said and pointed to my back. I felt around behind me and stopped when I felt a tear across my coat that was damp.

"Heh, you should be proud Zojja, first golem to give me a run for my money was yours." I smiled at her then grimaced as the adrenaline waned and the pain began to surge forth.

"Proud, perhaps. Let's get you downstairs and get your krewe to do their jobs for once." She said rolling her eyes and offering me a hand.

"By the way Zojja, Mr. Sparkles isn't entirely gone." I said as i reached into one of my bags and pulled out the flickering orb.

"It might be a bit drained but I salvaged his power core. His body is destroyed but his theoretical soul still lives." I smiled painfully and handed her the orb.

"Thanks Wrixl. Maybe you can help me rebuild him, perhaps so he can fly too?" She laughed and braced me against her side, helping me back downstairs.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The next morning I groaned, sitting up and hissing in pain, having completely forgotten about my back injury. Carefully I stood up out of my bed, calling over a VAL-A golem to help change the soaked bandages and apply new medicated salve to the wound. Throwing out my coat, I dug around and found my old pink belted trench coat and gingerly put it on, hissing here or there when it would touch my back. I walked over to my computer panel, noticing my message icon was blinking.

"Zojja? Let's see... Come to Council room as soon as I am awake? Wants to give me some news? Oh no, please tell me she didn't go out after all and blow up the Inquest..." I groaned and slowly made my way to the Council chambers.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I entered the Council Room, finding Zojja tapping her foot impatiently, heatedly talking to several of the members of the Council including High Councillor Flax. I waited patiently near the portal entrance, not wanting to interrupt whatever it was that had Zojja in such a fury. After several minutes of continued arguing, Zojja finally took notice of me and waved me over.

"Alright Zojja, what did you do? Or was it something I did this time?" I asked, bowing respectfully to the councillors.

"If you are referring to our little debate we were just having, don't worry about it. I was just getting final approval to assault the Inquest base down in the jungle swamp. The reason I called you here was for something much more, exciting." She explained, glancing pointedly at Flax.

"In light of the events yesterday and your clear ability to handle the situation, as well as a superb demonstration of your invention's use to get medical help quickly, we are awarding you the Snaff Prize and title of Snaff Savant for this year. We will also be ousting the Inquest from future competitions as per Zojja's request." He said, eyeing Zojja warily.

"S-Savant? But I didn't do anything worthy of the title and ended up destroying one of the best golems of the era." I countered, feeling undeserving of the title.

"Nonsense Wrixl. Yes you destroyed Mr. Sparkles, but only because you had no other option. And I am sure Flax doesn't want another stain on his public image after last year's incident with the Savant. Zirxa and Irxea have already agreed you deserve the title, and Snaff would have loved your flying golems." Zojja countered back at me, clearly not letting me refuse.

"I-If you insist. I'd be honored then." I said cheerfully.

"I'll be in contact soon about the Inquest and Mr. Sparkles 2.0, let me know if you come up with anything." Zojja said, dismissing me.

I bowed once more, and left through the portal. By the time I reached my home, my krewe had started yet another party, celebrating the success and the prospect of kicking the Inquest's posterior. Zirxa had found another stash of unlabeled alcohol and was already passing them around between themselves and several of my friends that had shown up.

"Oh Zirrrrxa, come here a second, we need to have a little chat about those bottles." I beckoned to her. She approached me, looking sheepish.

"What exactly is that stuff? And what happened the other night after we all got sloshed on it?" I demanded, glaring sternly at her.

"Weeeelll, I got it from a norn trader in Lion's Arch. He said it tasted like cotton candy and I was sold on that alone. I maaaay have forgotten that norns can drink ten times the amount we can." She answered, scratching her head nervously.

"Ok. Next time you warn everyone before you hand it out like that. Now, the events that occurred?" I pressed.

"Erm... Well you might want to check the security footage instead of letting me explain..." She trailed off.

I glared harder at her then walked over to the security panel, plugging in my headset and bringing up the footage. I scanned through everything until I hit footage I had no recollection of. My eyes widened as I saw myself stumbling around, clearly drunk out of my right mind. As if that was not bad enough, the camera switched to a new timeset and I gasped in shock. There I was, singing some absurd song I had stuck in my head the past week, using my prototype karaoke hardware. It got even worse. I actually sounded decent and was the center of attention. I groaned and facepalmed, face reddening. I shut off the panel and glared darkly at my krewemate.

"If you EVER tell anyone, so help me Snaff, I will tie you to a pole and hang you off the roof during the next lightning storm." I threatened.

"N-Nope! No need for that! My lips are sealed!" She replied nervously then ran off down the stairs.

Letting out a deep sigh, I quickly fired a message to Zojja to come over, and joined the festivities. Being mindful not to drink Zirxa's alcohol, instead making sure my private VAL-A AGD brought me my preferred drink, a strawberry orange cocktail. The party lasted well into the night, and for once, I felt calm and collected. It had been a stressful couple of days, but so long as I wasn't getting drunk, I could get used to this, I thought to myself, smiling slightly as Irxea tried to pull Zirxa off my workbench. I rolled my eyes and laughed at the scene. Zojja had taken the loss of Mr. Sparkles better than I had thought. She laughed and enjoyed the party, though I took notice that she had attached Mr. Sparkles' power core to a necklace chain and was currently wearing it for the time being. I tilted my head and made a note to grab some platinum and gold ore next time I went out. My smile dropped at that thought though. I drifted into my own thoughts, trying to put together why the Inquest would launch a direct assault on the Synergetics alumi. I shook my head, remembering it was not a time to be serious, tomorrow I would go all out, gathering intel from the entirety of Metrica Province...

Next time on Databreaker!

A golem is renewed and Zojja has revenge! And my popularity skyrockets?! Just what is going on here?! Why are people clamoring for my attention?! And the plot thickens as deeper troubles arise!

Chapter 2: Revenge, Revival, and Revered?

AN: Ok it has been YEARS since I tried to write a proper fanfic, but, I feel like this is going to be great. I don't do this professionally so if my style since unpolished or whatever, I don't mind constructive criticism, but don't flame, it's rude. Cheers!~