Chapter 1: Trust
Peace and tranquility, two things that only the most troubled mind could ask for. Such a troubled mind is Anubis, the Jackal God of the Dead. He was sitting cross-legged in a meditation room with a fountain filled with 4 pink lotuses and pillows. His pointed ears erect upwards on his dark head. His head though was covered in a traditional egyptian garment. It was a crown with two slopes going down each side of his head and a center piece in the center of his head.
The slopes were bordered in golden coloring with horizontal blue and gold centers that formed a color pattern. His masculine body was humanoid and muscular in shape. The middle of his torso was clothed in a gold and dark blue colored piece of armor with u-shape scales facing downwards, and each scale being surrounded by a gold border. On top was a smooth gold strip that wrapped around his body.
The middle of his upper arms were wrapped in a garment that had a zigzag pattern in the middle made up of blue and gold patterns with the pattern being bordered by golden strips. The middle of his forearms though were wrapped in circular cuffs, bordered in gold, and had golden vertical lines going down the cuff stretching from gold border to gold border. The cuffs were blue in the center of the golden lines with a cyan colored oval.
On his sides were incense trays with incense already burning through more than half of their structures. They slowly burned down the length of the wick while sweet smelling smoke drifted upwards. The dark jackal remain motionless as a statue with his golden scepter resting on his laps, with its tips resting firmly on his knees.
The scepter itself had a crescent shape at the top with a magic glowing ball that floated in the center that glew blue on the outside and in the center a stark black contrast to the outside. The crescent itself glew a minty green color with a golden zig zag pattern in the middle of the shape. He inhaled the sweet perfume of incense and exhale the breath of life from his mouth as his mind drifted into the vast sea of subconsciousness.
His memories was wracked with the violent memories of his struggles to protect his brother Horus, then came the turbulent events of the Second Great War between the Pantheons, the deaths of Zeus and the cry of Athena for aid from Anubis while Fenrir ripped apart Asgard. The memories turned into a violent storm that rocked the ship of his consciousness with thundering sounds echo throughout his mind plain. Before long, he was forced out his meditative stance and grunted.
His eyes opened, the two gleaming amber pupils shine like lanterns as he gets up to his feet. The jackal sighed out exhaustively, still unable to find peace of mind even after the battles with the various pantheons and countless Gods and Goddesses. With his scepter in hand he went out of the chamber towards the balcony of his palace in the Heavenly plain of Deities. "The mortals are still perils, even with the war over there is still no certainties that all is said and done." He groaned out and slumped his face down.
His presence was not solitary however, as from his right hand side came a masculine lion with red mane and a trio of feathers as his crest. Anhur was his name, the God of War and Slayer of enemies. The lion came to Anubis's side and whispered into his pointy ears. The jackal's face began to twitch upon hearing what the lion said, first his tired and exhausted face turned to a more urgent driven one with his eyes widened and his ears standing straight up. "Are you certain Anhur?" He asked in a haste.
Anhur nodded calmly. "Absolutely, your agents have reported the lab ready to test it out is ready now." He replied. The lion then took a step back to give Anubis some space, knowing full well how the jackal deity often take to development such as these.
"Then we shall go now. Let's go meet our mortal contact to get the test done. I'll inform my brother Horus." Anhur nodded upon hearing Anubis's instruction and went first to prepare his packings, Anubis himself took a moment to compose himself before he then uses his teleportation power to transport himself to the House of Osiris. The palace of the ruler of the Afterlife was lavishly decorated and built like the home of a pharaoh, no doubt considering the role Osiris, Anubis's biological father, is the ruler over the Pharaoh themselves. Or at least, their souls.
He entered the palace from the front gate, two Jackal Guards warriors saw him coming and immediately assume their guard stance with their spears standing straight up in their hands and shields proudly held on their left hands. Their feet collapsed into each other and their faces stared blankly towards the area in front of them while Anubis passed by, apparently proud of his training. "Those guards will give Apep a run for his money." He mused.
The jackal deity was quick on his feet free running his way up the staircase made of marble stones into the palace, on the floor of the foyer, there was a massive Scarab hieroglyph with a coat of blue color to play up its importance in the Egyptian culture and noble house. The place was quite spacious in fact, with various servants going about doing their part to maintain the palace in pristine condition.
Anubis took a right turn towards the garden of the palace where he found Horus, his falcon brother was practicing sword skill in the garden with one of the Jackal Guard's elite warrior helping the young prince practicing his sword skill. "Still practicing with the Xiphos? I thought the Greek had already given up on Hellenizing your fighting style." Anubis commented and smile lightly, maintaining his stoic look.
"Anubis, my brother! I didn't know you would be here at this time. How have you been?" The young boastful prince shook the hand of the jackal and took him in for a brotherly hug.
Anubis sighed out upon being asked but Horus could not fault him completely on the matter. "Not entirely well I'm afraid. Ever since the War ended I've been struggling to make sense of all the chaos and conflict that has taken place." He sighed out upon dwelling into tragic memories before glancing over the lush green garden with a fountain in the middle to decorate the place. "Ptah outdone himself again no doubt about it." Anubis commented.
Horus nodded and was genuinely pleased to be in the company of his brother once again. "Mother has been worrisome, she said that she can't sleep with you still trying to pinning the blame on the guilty party." Horus himself slumped his face downward, the falcon spoke of the same stress that has plagued the various deities, among them, himself.
"We all have our moments of doubt. Mine is growing worse since I learned of Apep's rise from beyond the Celestial boundaries. Remember him?" Anubis glanced over his shoulder to Horus while he was crouching down to feed the ducks in the pond with bird seeds.
Horus nodded, "Of course I remember the scourge of Gods. That serpent has returned and still not a lot of our numbers share your concern despite the evidences." He crossed his hands and pouts upon thinking of his parents ignoring the warning of Anubis regarding the eternal God of Evil's return.
"True, the Jackal Guards have been scouting out locations to set up new branches and acquiring new technologies to combat him. We've found a new piece of technology that is ready to be tested." Anubis whispered carefully into Horus's ears, the patron deity of Pharaoh nodded slowly, taking in the pieces of information one at a time. "We'll move out soon to meet with our contact to obtain it." The last part caught Horus's attention almost instantly.
"Does Ra know about this? You know he is very iffy about us acquiring modern technologies and mortal equipment." The prince reminded his brother who remains stoic throughout the conversation.
"Ra doesn't know. And it won't hurt him at all to know that we can bring ourselves up to date with the changing world. Connecting ourselves to the mortals and protect them, since Apep's has already taken up steps to threaten the foundation of Pantheons." Anubis patted Horus on his shoulder earning the falcon's chuckled and the two used their teleportation power to transport themselves from the Godly realm to the mortal one.
[hr]
Ra, Sun God of Egypt and ruler of his Pantheon was sitting on his throne pondering the recent events, his scepter rest on his right side as he sighed out. He was in his usual red attire, a traditional head piece he wore that had horizontal stripes some a darker red and the others a brighter red, his torso armor which was a thick piece of clothing with a round neck covering that surrounded his neck in a red colored as normal for him with a golden colored outlining. The inside of that though was a decorative pattern of round blue and purple u-shaped designs. The armor of his was also layered with the next layer identical to the last, this one covering his shoulder, with the red center and golden outlinings, but only had the purple u-shaped decorations.
The next layer ended in a curve on his upper arm. This one again identical to the last two, but had cracked blue semi circle pieces. On his back where the armor seemed to drape had upwards curved golden spikes that were sharp however not perfectly uniform since they bore a jagged/tooth like appearance. His chest though had an eye-catching golden design on it with a glowing circular design that could have been described as looking into the sun itself. Brodering it though were golden snake designs that draped over the top of the circle shape and curved up their necks at the bottom.
The next part of his armor were cuffs that wrapped around his wrist and extended up his forearms. They had golden borderings on the tops and bottoms with a striped blue center. On the tops though were a glowing golden circle shape, bordered by more circled gold, and finally upwards pointing golden spikes though not as sharp as the spikes on his back.
His normal trouser wrapped around his waists like a draped skirt with an intricate pattern traditional to Egypt. Some golden wrappings on the tops of his waist followed by red cloth. The the middle a golden bordered blue and red vertical striping pattern, and finally his foot wear which by far was the most simple as they looked similar to golden flip flops or sandals with his heels being exposed while his toes covered by more of a sun pattern, and the base of his feet wrapped around by golden straps.
"Was the peace treaty a good idea? The war maybe over but something is still afoot even with the dust has settled." He muttered, rubbing his temple with his feathery fingers. His frowning was clearly stemmed from the frustration and concern of recent events. He went out to the balcony to get some fresh air and with luck, some ideas to ponder on to sooth his troubled mind.
Standing in focal point looking out of the throne room's balcony, a very uniform palace stood forth before him. The palace itself was a mainly tan color that looked like hardened sand with erected rectangular spires that stood by the bordering walls of the palace. On the outsides of the borders palm trees, green and lush stood in massive armies like they were ready to invade. The spires themselves were covered in the centers by dark green colored diamond shapes with white lines that formed the shapes.
In the center of the palace though a rectangular pool with crystal clear blue water. On the tan palace where Ra was in some pieces of foliage grew downwards in bushy lush vines while the multi leveled palace was made up of tan curved archways in uniform rows. The palace had a golden dome with a spire on the top.
More of the palace's courtyard though was made up on the left side of a multilevel, tan, staircase much like a pyramid. It had a small garden in the center though in a tan square shaped wall that bordered the plants on four sides.
Behind him was Thoth, the wise Arbiter of the Damned. His form though was a masculine humanoid muscular figure with a feathery dark green head with long downwards pointed thin beak that was yellow in color. His clothing though unlike Ra's was more green in color rather than Ra's red.
His head garment was curved upwards in the back while the center of the garment was circular with a green center, two blue wave like patterns much like curved spikes on each side while the top had downwards pointed golden triangle shapes. He had a sleek and smooth golden collar that wrapped around his neck and met at the base of the neck where his chest began. At the center of this design of course was a sapphire like jewel which shimmered and shined even in faint light. It was surrounded by a golden cross that went down the rest of his chest. His shoulder pads were of course a round green piece of clothing with a sapphire jewel near the bottom, bordered by more gold.
The golden design on his shoulder pads waved and curved intricately up the pads in neat smooth curves. They met in a spike at the top of his shoulder pads. Finally his garnets around his waist and thighs were a mix of colors such as the green he wore, some dark blue, and finally some gold. He had a loin cloth by the center of his legs. More of this garment at the tops of his waist had a blue and green pattern made up of upwards pointing green triangles, and downwards pointing blue triangles of which were bordered by golden cloth. At the center of his waist in the front though was an eye design pattern.
It was blue gold and green in color with upwards pointing lashes on each side that were golden in color. The eyelids of the design were green as well as the sclera of the eye, but the pupil was a sapphire blue color. The ibis stroke his chin and the bottom half of his beak with his three digit fingers and felt the wind blew into his dark green feather. "Mysteries and treachery abound, you know who to call for aid in this hour." Thoth mused while holding his golden book in the grip of his right hand.
"I do. I shall summon Anubis to sniff out the truth maybe he can put his Jackal Guards to good use here." Ra reluctantly got up to his throne and levitates towards the center of the tan throne room where he sat cross legged and his body levitates in the air. He closed his hawk eyes and let his mind drifted away, searching for the presence of Anubis, his trusted right hand.
And yet even with all his might, the Sun God opened his eyes strained and he gasped in stark realization, Anubis was no longer presence in the Realm. "He's gone!" the hawk cried out. "That grave hound has snuck out again without my approval! No doubt hunting leads of his theory again." The Sun God stormed out of his throne room, in fit of rage, he fired his Searing Pain in a bright golden ray of light that shatters and melts a tan brick wall in front of him.
"Must you be troubled by his independence? However, despite the close relationship I have with him, seeing that I raised him alongside Isis, he has been awefully quiet for the past months. Possibly keeping secrets from both of us." Thoth remarked, remain the stoic figure in the court at all times. Clearly the Greek influence on him is quite strong with Stoicism being the new cornerstone for his rationalization. Ra however was quick to grab Thoth by his outfit's neck by the gold collars and pull the Arbiter in up close so he could have Thoth look into his piercing gold eyes.
"Listen carefully Thoth, Anubis just simply won't stop howling his theory that Apep is back and has been manipulating the events of the War. He's probably out there trying to gather evidence to howl me again! Not this time I would say!" Ra then let go of Thoth with fury still burns in his eyes. His eyes in his fit of rage burned like the sun itself as he darted them around his throne room The ibis huffed out but remains calm towards his fellow pantheon deity.
"Do you require someone to accompany your journey?" The ibis asked calmly. His soft tone mellows Ra's anger somewhat.
"Yes perhaps I do. You should come as well to talk some sense into his thick skull." The Sun God sighed out. The two would then utilized their teleportation power to travel to Anubis's destination by tracking the mana trail left behind by the jackal's travel.
[hr]
Down in an abandoned subway station, one that was cordoned off thanks to a railway accident just a year and a half ago, a portal opened on the wall of the station and out came Anubis and Horus. The two have arrived at the city of Zootopia, the mammal metropolis. Horus glanced to his left first before to his right, he would then caught sight of an overturned train burned and charred. "Where are we now brother?" The falcon asked, his travel spell and his focus on the destination with Anubis has formed a rather formal royal outfit with blue and red silo like crown that converges on the top, it also has a cobra cresting in front of it.
"We're in Zootopia, the mammal metropolis and one of the many variations of worlds populated by the animals we've created over the billions of years. This one has a unique piece of technology that we'll need." Anubis nonchalantly replied, his outfit though remains the familiar royal outfit seems to sport a more Greek like armor with dragon like scales metal plates. On his waist was a sheathed Xiphos and on his right hand was his scepter. On his head was a modified Greek helmet from Ptolemy dynasty made of gold with a pair of eagle feathers to decorate it in style of Alexander the Great.
"Interesting, so where do we find your contact then? I really should get back into your Jackal Guards business to get away from the palace and Ra." Horus's remark got his brother to giggle a bit as they traverse the staircase up from the metro station.
"Just on top of where we are. I got my forces to set up a hideout underneath the city's museum, you can say that I am a basement dweller here." The two went up to what appears to be a museum of natural history where they saw various exhibitions ranging from mammoths from the Ice Age to the various intriguing details of the mammal's civilization evolutionary path. Anubis then took a right turn at around the foyer of the museum towards a wooden door that labeled "Staff only", behind the door was a set of staircases leading down to the basement of the museum. Initially, Horus would have questioned why would they need to go up the metro only to go down again. But he instead opted to use his power to send out signal pulses to scan the building.
Horus's mindscape shows him a map of the museum's design, apparently the basement was built to be separated from the metro to prevent passengers from accidentally stumble into the storage area. "I see that you've chosen your hideout well with minimum entry points make it ideal for defense." Horus mused, seemingly impressed by his brother's knowledge of combat and warfare.
"Thank you, I have Anhur and Ptah to thank for teaching me what I need to know in warfare like this." Anubis opened the wooden door of the hideout and ventured inside with Horus. The young prince was greeted with the sight of a high tech modern headquarters, with computer hubs and technician working around the clock to coordinate the various activities of the Jackal Guards around the city. There was also a training area with rubber pads to practice hand to hand combat with traditional weapon racks. To the right hand side of the hideout was Anubis's personal quarter which consists of an oak wood desk inside a bedroom with a simple Egyptian style bed and silky, cotton pillow and sheet to sleep on.
But the centerpiece of the hideout that caught Horus's eyes the most was an all white lab at the end of the place. One that has a cylindrical tank full of silver liquid like substance inside a sterilized environment. There was a halo like metal rail on the sealing, with 6 metal pods mounted on it that intrigued the prince's curiosity and raises his attention further, he practically begging to know how it would work.
In front of the room was Anhur, and a female polar bear in formal business attire, the two were discussing something but Horus and Anubis were just out of audible range. So they can not quite hear what the two were discussing but as the two came closer, their footsteps caught the attention of Anhur and the Polar Bear. She bowed her head down before Anubis and Horus surprisingly well aware of who they are. Horus could tell from the look of it that she has been in contact with Anubis for quite a while.
"I'm glad that you are able to come at such short notice lord Anubis, your requested technology is ready to be tested. However I do not how will it affect the God's power and their mana usages as we've never tested on a deity before." Said the polar bear, her ID card shows that she was Helga Von Hindenburg, Director in Chief of the Von Hindenburg Technology Corporation from Furmany.
Anubis shook her paw politely and gave her a tender hug, a surprising gesture for Horus and Anhur to see. He wouldn't display this sort of affection towards anyone but his closest of aides. "Thank you Helga you've done a great help to us. All we need to do is venture and discover from now on." He then turned his attention back to Anhur, his second in command and Horus. 'I suppose that you need some updates on the matter, right?" He asked Horus, who in turn replies with a sheepish tone.
"Well yes...what is all of this technology about Anubis?" He asked, the falcon uses his index finger to point at the chamber behind Anubis.
"This here is the Nanite technology a revolutionary piece of technology in robotic and bio-mechanical fields. Some months ago we discovered someone was tinkering with this alien technology to convert individuals into robots and cyborgs with enhanced and augmented physical forms and power. Helga Von Hindenburg here has been refining and modifying this technology for the Jackal Guards to use. However at this stage it's still a beta version and it requires a God test subject to make sure that it works." Anubis's exposition causes wild amazement from Horus and his interest rises greatly as he awaits to hear what else this technology can do.
"So you need a deity to experiment with this technology to figure out what needs to be done so that it can be modified to fit us?" Horus deduction earned a nod from Anubis, the jackal then broke a toothpick into three pieces, two equally shorts and a long one.
"Now then, we'll draw sticks since we don't know the exact effect on a God yet. Anyone who takes the short one will sit out the experiment and spectate." Anubis instructed, Anhur and Horus nodded as the trio of Gods began to pick their sticks, The atmosphere soon turned intense as even the great Anhur was sweating just as his fingers were picking up the toothpick piece while Horus was growing increasingly nervous at the prospect of his body being altered. Once the deities have drawn their sticks, their eyes remain closed as they simply can't put up with the revelation of who is the (un)lucky winner of the day. Then Anubis's voice came with a sentence that forced their eyes to open. "It seems I'm the guinea pig of the day then."
"Wait you!? But how will you explain to everyone else when we get back?" Horus shouted out in a mixture of fear and concern towards his brother who was undressing himself before venturing inside the chamber.
"Horus is right Anubis, Ra's wrath will be the end of worlds should he find out what we've been doing." Anhur protested alongside Horus, the lion came by Anubis's side just as the jackal put his helmet on the table for clothing.
"That's the risk I'm going to take in order to make sure that we are ready for war with Apep. Just sit back and stay calm." The jackal was now completely naked with nothing on him to hide his body's exposed assets.
Horus and Anhur blushed slightly upon seeing Anubis casually walked into the center of the chamber, his body has undergone extensive physical changes as the jackal once a lanky God in build was now looking much more athletic and muscular thanks to Anhur's training regime. His limbs now sport pectoral muscle masses with his abs now home to his six packs which was an attractive feature that make males and females alike going mad over his Godly divine body. If those signs are anything to go by, Anubis is quite a viral male for everyone.
The dark jackal was standing firmly in the center of the room, he uttered a single word "Begin" and Helga pressed a red button on the sensor pad that controls the chamber's process. Soon, a single mechanical arm with a syringe was lowered to Anubis's neck where it injected a dose of Nanites into Anubis's bloodstream. The Jackal felt a rash spreading throughout his body as the Nanites began to converge on his blood cells and his thighs buckle a bit as he felt the Nanites were speeding through his body towards his testicles. The X-Ray footage Helga was receiving show that the sperms inside his testicles were being probed and assimilated one by one by the Nanites as more enter his reproductive organs.
[hr]
But as the process was taking place, another portal opens in the same metro station where Anubis and Horus arrived at. This time the pair who came out of the portal were avian looking, Ra and Thoth. The sun God and the arbiter of the damned looked around and take in their environment to comprehend where they were. "I sense that Anubis has gone this way, up the staircase with young Horus. I can only hope that the jackal doesn't do anything foolish while they are here." Ra said going up the stairs with Thoth following closely behind him.
"But really Ra, what makes you think that Anubis is going out to howl you again?" Thoth asked though this time he is a bit more reluctance to the inclinations of supporting Ra's stance.
"I've been howled at for around 10 times now. There won't be an 11th time. But strange I feel something different is going on around here." Ra perked his head up as he travels up to the museum of natural history with Thoth. The two were following the trail of Anubis's mana and Horus's but by the time they passed through the ancient Ewegyptian section, they lost scent of the mana trail. "Damn it, I lost scent of the mana trail. What could possibly happen to it?" He squawked out but thankfully for them, no one was nearby to hear him. Or perhaps because they knew who these two were and opted to keep watch instead.
"Calm down now Ra, if you can't use your power to hunt him let us use simpler methods instead." Thoth calmly advised to Ra as he stepped up and took point for the sun God following the sound of Anubis's slight moaning slowly.
[hr]
Anubis moaned out slightly as he felt the lower portion of his torso was being worked on. The changes soon take form and the on the surface of his fur and skin, circuitry lines were running throughout the length of his body. Both Horus and Anhur gasped out upon seeing Anubis's body undergoing a metamorphosis, the texture of his body no longer gives off the feeling of fur but rather it starts to shine like metal. Anubis's moaning and groaning was growing increasingly vocal as his body starts to bulk up slightly to give off a more masculine look. Apparently the Nanites have a muscle growth serum that induced his body to change its proportion. Not only were there circuit lines but also connection points were being formed on Anubis's body, each time giving off a sensation like orgasm to the God of the Dead.
"Is this really normal to test subjects who underwent this process?" Anhur asked Helga hesitantly. He was quite shocked and somewhat disturbed by how the process was playing out before his eyes.
"Well yes," She began, "The Nanites stimulate the body's sensory towards anything that induces pleasures and satisfaction to induce the subject's acceptance and approval towards its work. In another word, coercion. But in order to do so, it must first secure control of the subject's reproduction organ where it can maintain its assault on the subject's body." She coldly laid out the information to Anhur and Horus who were both shaken by the revelations.
Their attention soon came back to Anubis who was now staring blankly towards them with his eyes, the pods opened up and released their tendrils down on the jackal, they entwine themselves around him to secure his form first. Other tendrils began to collect armor pieces of his robot body and began to assembling process.
First his limbs were first to be armored with each pieces secure themselves into the connection points sending increasingly pleasurable sensations into Anubis's still organic brain. His hands were given a pair of gloves like designs with sockets that fits well into his fingers and paw pads that enable him to move silently. His feet plates were more boots like in design as they fasten themselves onto his heels and bind into his paws. However, the next part of the tendril's attention may incur some traumatic memories to both Anhur and Horus.
The tendrils then began to fasten a purple speedos like crotch plate into Anubis's crotch, sheathing his erection and securing his testicles into place under a tight wrapping that sends endless stream of pleasure into his brain, this causes Anubis to moan out louder, behind him, there was a lone tendril that jabbed its tip into his tail hole and began to pump his body full of power.
With the other tendrils continue to work on his body, assembling the various armor pieces into place with his head being last to be encased inside a helm that has a pair of pointy ears that conform perfectly with his own. A pair of tendrils position themselves over his head with his helms open up various sockets on the top section, the tendrils released smaller versions of themselves from their tips with each one having 4 inch in diameter needle that jabbed into the sockets of Anubis's head piece and program his OS.
The process took up around an hour of programming to get his OS in place. All the while Anubis was not speaking a word as his LED eyes remain dark. Eventually, the tendrils released Anubis and his LED eyes flashed to life with amber colored pupils that reminiscent his own. From his point of view, a flashing amber rectangle was flickering in place as his vision and senses were returning to him one by one. It then races across the screen that is now his point of view displaying various computer codes and running operations. Once his start up process was complete Anubis was able to walk up to Anhur and Horus much to their collective amazement.
"It's incredible, I'm a robot now and a darn well made one too. What do you guys think?" He asked, The valiant Horus was the quickest to comment on his brother's changes.
"It's incredible Anubis, I mean you are still yourself only in a different shell. I am thoroughly impressed. Does the process affect your power?" Horus asked, the young falcon prince ran his hand on Anubis's robotic frame feeling the jackal's cold strong metal arms.
Anhur himself stepped to Anubis's left side and inspect Anubis's head an inspection with his finger stroke the smooth and cold metal shell. "Hey can you hear us?" He asked.
"Yes I can Anhur. I can hear both of you very clearly or to be precise, with more detail than before." Anubis replied, his HUD shows a set of audio bar that rises and falls to monitor the pitches and bass sounds of Anhur and Horus's voice along with a circle indicating the general direction of the sound. He opened his right hand and soon his scepter was summoned into his palm. This time the scepter sports a more high tech look with shiny cyan circuitry patterns running like runes across the length of it while the glowing magic ball remains the same in terms of appearance. But who knows what it can do now, after all appearances is not what they seem.
[hr]
Thoth and Ra were now in the foyer of the museum where they suddenly stop in their tracks, Ra's head swivels to the right hand side where he saw in his eyes, a trail of cloud like blue mana heading into a door that labels "Staffs only", the sun god tapped on the shoulder of his ibis and pointed at the direction of the door "There Thoth, my senses don't lie to me this time. Anubis and Horus are probably down there at this very moment." He said before levitating forward to lead the way again. The sun god opens the door telekinetically and venture down the stairs with Thoth to the wooden doors that led inside the hideout.
"Hmm, this door seems to employ new security method. Bah, inferno machines, how could Anubis employ the usages of these things to keep him safe?" He spat out while observing the pawprint security pad that would undoubtedly recognize Anubis first and foremost. "Anyway you can work around this Thoth?" Ra asked, offering Thoth to perform his duty.
Thoth nodded to Ra, and moved up to the security pad. He got his three digit fingers to work around the silver scanning pad, and finally opened the underside of the pad revealing some assorted chords. All of which were of assorted of colors. He hummed to himself a tune of some kind while his digits reorganized the cords and wires in his desire. He shook his head out however as he was disappointed in something. "Such a lack of proper organization. This is almost a challenge to me" He said huffing out.
The screen of the pad though suddenly flickered as he removed wires from one outlet and then placed them into another making quiet and subtle electrical shocking sounds. The pad finally made a bell like chime and flickered a green check mark signalling access was granted. He chuckled lightly to himself and faced his palms upwards under the now hacked security panel like he was presenting his work proudly. "Voila". He said with a smile.
"Good work Thoth, I'm surprised that you can work around these contraptions." Ra congratulated and proceeds to levitate into the Headquarters with Thoth walking by his side. The both of them were greeted by the sight of Anubis's new high tech headquarters with various warriors and technicians going about their duties to keep the place operational at all times.
"How could he do this? Sneaking under my nose and built this place without even showing his plan-" He was cut short as he was muttering when he heard the booming and howling sound of Anubis practicing his powers. However this time, his voice sounds...off for some reasons. It sounds rather synthesized and almost mechanical. "Do you hear that?" He asked Thoth pointing at the direction of training room where the sound came from.
Thoth looked into the direction of the howling as well. He squinted his eyes trying to focus and decipher the howlings. Though in his mind he was reluctant to say his thoughts. "Yes I do. P-perhaps that would be Anubis, but his voice… it sounds so very unlike his own. Something is a miss here. We should proceed with great caution." he said looking into the room.
The two deities would then see inside the practice chamber Anubis was standing in the middle of a large dome like structure with 50 football fields length. The jackal of the Dead was now sporting mechanical appearances with matching black metal frame and a purple speedos like crotch plate that conforms perfectly with his body's proportion. He was holding his upgraded scepter in hand and standing in his combat ready posture. "Alright Anubis here comes the minions to test out your powers." Anhur shouted from behind him.
Then a group of 10 holographic minions popped up in front of Anubis, they ran towards him with their gladiuses held up high and their Roman shields held forward to protect them. Anubis opened his mouth and spits out his signature Plague of Locusts that flew towards the Roman legionnaires. The locusts all have biomechanical appearances as they flew out of his mouth. The swarm of locusts pierced through the shields and overtook the legionnaires by latching on to their bodies and they soon knelt down and bowed before Anubis's presence. "That was impressive! I think you just have mind control technique now." Said Anhur.
Ra however was observing the practice session from around the corner and his eyes began to bulge out of their sockets with some anger building up gradually. "Mind control? Can you believe this Thoth?" He frowned.
Anubis in sudden shock hearing Ra's voice open his eyes and looked around his training area. He let out a disappointing sigh looking at both Ra and Thoth. He gently tapped the hilt of the scepter on the floor while looking at the two, with an almost childlike look, perhaps he didn't expect to see Thoth so soon and in the current predicament. "I really need to invest in securities of the place. What do you want from me?" he asked with a displeasured grunt. He spun his scepter around in his hands and then switched it over to his left, and then finally standing straight upwards with his back straightened while his scepter clanged against the ground. His two feet were placed side by side and pointed straight forwards.
Thoth though shook his head in disbelief and could barely utter a word. He held a single digit on his right hand up trying to find a statement for what he was seeing but he could only merely stutter confused. He then ruffled his feathers, spreading them upwards, while he shook his head out. "I don't even believe what I am viewing here Ra… He's completely automated…" he said still shocked.
Ra however was becoming increasingly outraged towards Anubis and his frowning was becoming a full blown outrage as his wrinkles becoming ever more pronounced and the hawk headed sun god quickly bellows out. "What on Earth are you thinking Anubis!? What did I tell you about tinkering with mortal's technology and upsetting sacred tradition?" He cried out towards Anubis with his eyes glowing brighter with radiant sunlight began to sparkle out of them. His levitation raises altitude slightly and he turned to Thoth. "Thoth I want you to record everything you know on Anubis's body right now so we can reverse this effect!" He ordered sternly.
Thoth nodded and opened his golden book. His finger on his right hand jot down a new chapter on a new page while he nervously hummed to himself, and took quick glances at Anubis trying to figure out just how to reverse the effect.
Anubis however did not take this very well, he glared at Ra and Thoth with a combative glare apparently ready to battle them outright. It was as if familiarity and familial ties had been shattered. "If you wish to take me and reverse my work. Then you'll have to kill me first!" he snarled while swinging his scepter's crescent to his feet holding it slightly behind his back.
Thoth though widened his eyes. "Dear me. He's gone completely mad with power it seems!..." He looked down and saw his finger has stopped jotting new letter down as his mind seemed to have gone blank with thoughts on how to fix this. "Well then. It seems we need to take this with a different approach…" He said.
"Different approach? What do you mean by different approach? And how exactly will you approach it?" Ra asked with an even more desperate tone. Anhur however stepped up with Horus to defend Anubis.
"Ra, Thoth it's not what you think it is. Anubis has good reasons to test out his new robotic power and technology. Is that right Anubis?" Anhur turned to Anubis, the masculine lion was holding his javelin in hand and awaits Anubis's reply.
Anubis glanced at Anhur for a moment. "Don't intervene Anhur. This is between me and them." he said as he glared over at Thoth. Thoth himself looked nervous at the glare, and gulped. "Why must you look at me with those…" he corrected himself as he was no longer looking at Anubis's dead eyes but now even colder robotic eyes "uh… Those mechanized eyes?..." He huffed out.
Anubis though tossed his staff into the air and then caught it with his left hand. He then spun it around his left hand's fingers before swinging it with a "woosh" that echoed in the air. A bright green projectile headed towards Ra illuminated the ground below it before it struck Ra in the middle of his body. The projectile exploded into a bright green explosion while the sun god suddenly found himself to be wrapped in a crowd control attack. Although now instead of being wrapped in bandages like a mummy he found himself wrapped in transparent polymeric wrappings with circuitries running on their surfaces.
Thoth though found himself not being able to budge or even intervene to assist Ra as the sun god was tormented by the arms. The High Vizier was petrified in fear seeing this. "So that's why he was- gahhh… looking at me. I'm now a mere test subject to his cruel idea of a test. And it stings the feathers!" He whined out in pain.
"Anubis stop fighting Ra this instance! Don't escalate this any further!" Thoth eeped out at Anubis holding his hands to get Anubis attention, Horus and Anhur however were looking confused at what could Anubis be doing with Ra and ignored Thoth's reasoning. Clearly he was testing his power but this is...borderline sadism and even cruelty on some level. "If you don't stop then forgive me for this!" Thoth then dashed towards Anubis with his talon shining a bright spark on its tip, he slammed the stun attack against Anubis, freeing Ra from the Grasping Hands.
Anubis for a moment was stunned and left dazed as his HUD report errors and flashing red symbols of caution. He snarled seeing that Thoth had intervened and fight him to protect Ra. Ra though finally felt the sharp pain of the wrapping snapping freeing him. He took in a breath of air, but was immediately caught off guard with a new attack. He felt a punch to his back causing him to fall to his chest. Ra looked over and saw a minty green coloration below Thoth as he lay on his chest dazed. Suddenly arms came out of the ground, all the same spearmint color as before, but now looked streamlined and robotic with the same circuitries running through them.
Thoth cried out as one grabbed him by the neck and began to strangle him. He felt his neck pressurized by the advanced looking arm and his throat constricted again not allowing air to pass to his lungs. Suddenly the other hands around him began punching his body in a cruel manner. One however grabbed his book and threw it away. Anubis was silent seeing this however, it wasn't a sign of focus or concentration on fighting them, but rather he was sending a message, submit and leave him be.
"Anubis!" Said Ra's bellowing and outraged voice, the sun god apparently has ran out of patient towards his rebellious jackal deity and fired his Searing Pain attack at Anubis's body, the blindingly powerful beam sent the robot jackal flying into the wall of the training room. "Bathe in the glow Thoth." Said Ra as he summons his Healing Light on the ibis, a circle with radiant sun light shines down on Thoth as he was getting back to his feet. Ra then picked up Thoth's book and handed it over to the Arbiter of the Damned. "Are you alright my wise friend?" He asked concerningly.
Thoth coughed out turning back to the page he was on about Anubis's new form, but as he wrote down "Anubis how could you do this to me of all people? I raised you and protected you!" He shouted out to Anubis, clearly outraged then huffed out hugging onto his book. "Leave me be! None of you would allow me to pursuit my works here to begin with!" Anubis retorted to Thoth and Ra, demonstrating to them that his defiance will not yield with reasons alone. Anubis though got out of the wall glaring at Ra with a predatory gaze before sighed out mechanicall. Pieces of the the wall he just crashed into fell to the floor below him. "So it's a challenge you heart is set on then? Then throw me your best attack bird!" he challenged as he gripped onto his scepter staring both Thoth and Ra down.
"I will subdue you and restore you to your proper form, hound!" He threatens Anubis grimly. Even now, neither Anhur nor Horus could do anything to stop the battle from taking place and Anubis was about to rough up the two superior deities and himself. Ra fired his normal magic balls at Anubis before following it up with his Celestial beam attack on Anubis. "The heat bears down upon you!" He cried out as the beam tears a path towards Anubis, striking at the robot jackal's torso with intense light and heat.
Anubis felt the heat scathe his robotic body. It was a tremendous burning sensation that bor deep into him, but he clenched the ground using the claws on his feet. The beam was powerful enough to get him to slide backwards a few feet while his claws dug into the floor making large scratches. When it was over the metal on his body glew orange, but slowly faded back to black. He glared at the two standing hims down "Have at you then!" He challenged.
He jumped upwards and flung his scepter through the air firing more of the glowing green magic orbs at both Ra and Thoth. Thoth tough was quick enough to form a glyph of pain in between Ra and Anubis. Thoth merely stepped out of the way of one of the attacks. "Have you forgotten your range hound?..." He questioned.
However, Anubis landed back down on his feet and shot out a swarm of mechanized locusts from his mouth while they swarmed around Thoth. Thoth in response to this tried to cover himself using his arms.
"Damn it Anubis! You'll pay for this!" The hawk headed sun god fired his Celestial Beam once again before summoning his Blessing sunlight to mitigate the damages from Anubis's mechanized locusts. The sun god then dashed forward, he zig-zagged around Anubis's attacks and stun him with a Divine Light at his eyes. While Anubis's robotic eyes were still dazed, Ra fired his Searing Pain at point blank range at Anubis's body, sending him flying towards the wall again. "Surrender Anubis! Or we will have to destroy you!" He ordered intimidatingly.
Anubis winced out in pain. He may have been lord of the underworld, but under Ra's light he was still just a shadow in the sun light. Thoth gathered himself and stood in front of Anubis who then fell to his hands and knees. Thoth made tsk-tsk sounds while shaking his head. "He has a point Anubis. Even though you think you have the advantage you still have failed to take into account you're fighting an outnumbered fight. You being outnumbered, and Ra and myself standing against you." he said as he looked behind himself to make sure Anhur and Horus would stay out of the fray. All he did was stare at them while threatening to write in his book by circling his writing finger in the air. He then cleared his throat and raised a brow to them.
Anhur and Horus were taken aback and simply shuddered in their sandals with Horus raising a question though sounding rather shivering. "What are you going to do to Anubis Thoth?" He asked.
Annhur nodded and added. "I know Anubis and there's no way that he was being malicious on purpose at you in a sudden like that." The lion protested at the ibis before being silent by Ra.
"Silence! His aggression towards me and Thoth is all I need to know. He will be taken back to the palace and Thoth will deal with him. You two will follow us! No question ask!" He added before fixing his gaze on Anubis with his hands clenched. A steel cuff and leash was formed on Anubis's arms wrists and neck with a long chain forming on Ra's hand, it was as bright as the sun itself.
Anubis checked the damages on his frame before looking at the chains now applied to him. Thoth shook his head though. "Your final remark Anubis?" he asked patiently. Anubis then finally sighed out and looked at Ra's face. "Very well then. It appears i have been bested in immortal combat. By these circumstances I surrender." he said without much of a plead. He glanced over at Horus and Anhur though. "Make sure to spare them of any punishment if you please."
Thoth though shushed him. "Their punishment for following you is for Ra to decide. You however have already decided your fate by showing you agression towards us which I must say is deplorable…" Thoth said huffing though despite being at the front of Anubis's assaults on him he was oddly patient.
"With that said and done. Let us go." Ra turned around and levitates away dragging Anubis along as a prisoner with Horus and Anhur following closely behind. The sun god then opens a portal in the middle of the Jackal Guards HQ. He was the first to cross the portal and return to his realm with Anubis in chain following behind him. Then followed by Anhur and Horus back to the palace. They were back in the throne room of Ra, with the sun god glaring at Anhur and Horus, raising a brow at them to threaten them to stay in place. He then handed the chain to Thoth. "Take him to your quarters, your research there might be more beneficial in reversing the effect." He instructed cautiously.
Thoth held the chain firmly and nodded. He tugged it three times telling Anubis to follow along with him. Anubis did just that groaning as he followed. Thoth walked slowly and patiently back into his personal room.
His room on the other hand was a bookworm's paradise. He had a sturdy dark brown desk at the center with a small desk light to keep the desk illuminated, and by that a sliver magnifying glass that was held by a silver object holder. The light itself was golden ironically matching Thoth's normal attire with an upwards curved green tip at the end of the lamp head, and staff like green neck below the lamp. The middle of the neck was golder while the lamp head had curved pattern in gold around the head of the lamp.
Anubis was unfamiliar with this room, but saw in the back five dark brown wooden shelves filled to their limits with books. The books lacked any dust and were in fresh and pristine condition. The books themselves were all varieties of colors, but all lack any vibrance since they were a dull looking color.
Behind the desk was a cushioned wooden chair with a green cushion and a backing that matched the seat. Golden buttons were assorted in columns of three and rows of two. A similar one was in front of the desk. Thoth then pointed to this one "That is where you will be seated." he said.
There however was a book on the desk already though its appearance was oddly creepy since it was a face with white eye and a toothed grim look with dried looking pages, and a very dried skin looking cover. Thoth moved this out of the way though. "Uhhh was just saving that for later. Do not question. It bears no importance. Do not focus your gaze at the book of the dead." He said firmly.
Anubis made noe sounds and sat down as Thoth ordered, the robot jackal was now staring at Thoth with a steely unflinching gaze that seems to suggest that he was back in his serious business mood. "I suppose you're wondering what happened to my body?" He asked patiently, expecting the wise ibis to raise an equally if not wiser question on the matter.
Thoth though sat in the chair parallel to Anubis. He opened his beak to speak, but for some reason no words came from his mouth. He huffed out trying to think of a sentence that would ask two questions in the least threatening, and most professional manner possible. He placed his hands on the desk and intertwined the only 6 digits he had while he stared at Anubis much like how a father scolding an ungrateful son who just had a physical confrontation with him. He cleared his throat finally "I am very disappointed in your actions today Anubis. I adopted you, raised you and protected you. Educated you no less, and still you fight me like I was a stranger? We are both deities that for lack of a better phrase 'manage the dead' so we should at best understand each other's hardships should we not?" he asked patiently.
Anubis nodded and clears his throat, a strange action seeing as how his vocal chord has now become nothing more than a mere voice box that emits his synthesized vocal pattern to Thoth. The jackal remained still in his seat knowing there was nothing he could do with the chain and cuffs on him. "Of course. But I like to let you do the inquisition first since I have my reasoning for everything." Said Anubis in his deep synth voice. "I'm...sorry Thoth...father...Back there I want to subdue you two only, for I know none of you would allow me to research and experiment with what I found." He added.
Thoth frowned as he did not like being told what to do by someone who was expecting a swift punishment. However, being patient Thoth nodded. "Right. So why and how are you now using mortal's technology to augment yourself into this- this- this- this body of yours! You barely resemble your past self! How do you expect to maintain your duties in the underworld?" Thoth questioned digging deeper into Anubis. He seemed to never blink either.
"If I may enlighten your opinion on the matter." Anubis replied casually, he activated a holographic mounted on his palm that projects a schematic of the Nanites colony and its function to Thoth. "You know that Apep has returned and he has wrought on us the War that had ended. The evidences are quite clear, all the pantheons involved in the war depleted themselves and the most troublesome antagonists of each one fled and converge at a gathering. Our normal powers alone are not enough to save the mortals that we protect as their prayers for us and our worshippers have been waning in faith. Hence, augmentation like this is meant to be a necessary precaution to prepare for war."
He finished and shows Thoth a video, or rather his memory of spying on the gathering of hostile deities. It was a forest area somewhere in the realm of the Norse, there they can see Loki, Ares, Hel and other traditionally evil Gods of their pantheons converged and having a cult like gathering with a portrait of Apep on a blood red banner.
Thoth managed to show somewhat of a frown, but not a very intimidating one. Instead though he watched the holo projection closely, and again never once blinked his eyes. He however did pay close attention to the video being shown to him. Thoughts though stirred around in his head that if this was just a creation that was brought to him by Anubis using his still unknown robotic powers, or if this was real. The thoughts however reasoned in his head and balanced more towards trusting Anubis since these were very well deities he knew to have less than acceptable stances, and continually made themselves enemies.
Other thoughts though he pondered on where ranging on why Apepe must have evil intentions, why the weaker minded must swear their loyalty to them, and why must other deities must face off on the battleground rather than work their abilities in favour for the mortals. Although since Anubis was another deity who represented mortals who had passed Thoth put a little more patience and trust into him.
Thoth as such nodded lowering his aggressive look and for once blinked his eyes. "Very well, but I must add to you Anubis that your actions were reckless and attacking me is very much like attacking Ra himself. He will not stand for seeing me harmed, and he treats me like family. I recommend an apology not to me, but to him. Understand?" He asked patiently. His eyes though were clear of anger and distrust. Confusion however was also wracking his mind with Anubis's motivation for fighting him, of all deities, Thoth was a father to Anubis since his young tender age of 10, a fragile orphan who was taken in by Thoth to be healed, now turn on him in a sudden.
Anubis nodded calmly and replied with as much inflection as his voice can muster. "I understand that Thoth. I'll apologize to Ra after we are done here. Firstly, I need to apologize to you...you were like a father to me. I would have told you what I was doing first, but...seeing that you are Ra's right hand and he would ask for updates about me from you first, always, I figured he would have stopped me out right. However I have something I need to ask you." His tone changed to a more sober and sombre one. The sudden change in intonation seems to suggest something highly urgent in nature.
Thoth raised a brow seeing this. He moved the chair closer to the desk while the chair made a squeaking sound as he moved. It stung both of their ears, but to Thoth now was not the time for a simple thing such as that to distract him. "What is it that requires my attention so urgently Anubis? Does the body require power, and you are running low, or is the issue a different one?." he asked again expecting a quick answer to complement the urgency.
Anubis shook his head slowly, "No it's still running well and I still have a week long worth of energy supply to last myself. But it's just that I need you to help me improve the Nanites technology that I use to augment my body. In its current form it can convert organic bodies into mechanical one. However, it is not quite custom made for deities. Therefore, I'll need your help to make it suitable for us deities to use. Also I could show you how to interface your book with my system so you can decipher for yourself the authenticity of my evidences." He finished remain extremely calm and exacting in his reasoning and bargain.
Thoth back his chair, and it made the rough grinding sound on the ground again. He walked on the left side of his room to Anubis's left. "I'm not sure if other deities will agree to augmentation, or if I could do that to myself as it would hurt Ra, and I believe my current form regardless." he said calmly. He then placed his right hand on Anubis's shoulder. "However, now is not the time for that discussion." He summoned his favorite golden book in his left hand. "Now is a good time to document on how this current state of your body operates. Now tell me. How do I begin to operate on you so no damages will be done to your new frame?" He asked with a polite tone.
Anubis smiled lightly at Thoth's sudden hospitality and shook his free hand in return. "I'm glad that you understand Thoth. I think your hieroglyph spell can opens a sort of access gate to interface with my system. In that way your book can document data from my body and allows you to work on it." Anubis glanced down on his still cuffed hands and chained neck feeling rather uncomfortable to say the least. "Though I could do well without these chains on me." He said in a slightly more serious tone.
Thoth nodded "Unfortunately that is something out of my power, but perhaps i can convince Ra to assist you in this. After all I did say he required an apology. From you. Perhaps I can aid you here since he trusts me the most. I can speak on your behalf and tell him you're reformed for the most part. Though he might be a bit on edge still seeing me strangled." He said as he went back behind the desk and set his book under the magnifying glass, and turned to a new page. The index finger on his right hand turned to a glowing green coloration as he wrote on the top of the page a new title "The curious nature of the mechanized deity body". As a professional he sighed his name and date much like a scholar.
Anubis sighed out as his palm projected the various data in holographic form for Thoth to study. His golden Book of the Dead would be able to open its veil like wall and strangely enough for both Thoth and Anubis, the wall is able to receive signal from Anubis's data transmission and decrypt it into hieroglyphs and illustrations for Thoth to record.
Thoth at lightning speed jotted down the data being displayed for him. Somehow he was an expert at writing down data and information in his book he no longer needed direct eye contact with the pages as he wrote. Instead however he looked through the transparent veil at Anubis, and the back at the veil relating the data to a part on Anubis's new body. He seemed to smile while writing, and occasionally he would quietly say a word such as "Fascinating", "intriguing", or even "interesting". His hand though moved so fast it was a clouded blur to Anubis. He jot words and letters down at lightning speed and when came time to draw a part of Anubis's body or a synthetic organ his hand would suddenly move back and forth to etch in an image on the paper much like a hyperactive printer would.
He turned to a new page and jot more information down on that one in light speed when the other pages would run out of space. He studied closely on how the nanite in Anubis's body worked and functioned. Anubis saw how fascinated Thoth was on the subject though at the same time his thought dwelled on if Thoth was going to cause a fire due to how fast he was writing. That or tear a page. Thoth though never did. "Now then this is the data I need, and it appears you can use your powers to transmit data now as well. I have this all recorded. Now all you have to do is sit still So I can operate on you." He didn't ask this like a question, but instead a statement.
Anubis sighed out calmly and nodded and sat still as Thoth has instructed, he let out a long drawn out breath to relax his body's muscles and his armor plates began to make snapping sounds one a at time. Thoth could see that each plates let out steam with hissing sounds as they began to levitate out of their connection points and sockets gracefully and levitates in mid air, leaving Anubis's body a stark naked one with synthetic like flesh with circuitry lines running across his body's length.
Thoth winced a bit seeing his innards. Despite being associated with the dead he never agreed to not being sickened by seeing the horrific ways mortals can die. Here though the surreal nature of Anubis's body was very odd and off putting. Where real organs should the synthetic organs took the place. It was not pleasant to look at and as such Thoth had to gulp in occasionally while he worked.
He then used the veil as a way to operate without having to touch Anubis. He merely swiped his digit on the pages in quick movements. Suddenly though hieroglyphs of different color floated up from the pages like holograms, but in reality they were magic spells being casted. Anubis heard Thoth reciting magic words as his beak opened and closed while he casted, and wrote. Almost like he was a witch doctor.
Then Anubis felt his body undergo a new change, or changes. The nanites in his body suddenly vibrated while the veil showed a green glyph to him and Thoth. It then leaped off of the veil and wrapped around Anubis's body. It "soaked" into him before finally fading away while then Anubis's body began to morph in the organs. Wires unplugged and twisted around. Some gaining a thicker appearance and then others losing their thickness.
As Thoth casted more and more spells his eye glew green. The more time passed the more intense the surgical magic procedure gotten. Eventually it seemed the room around then had faded from light and that Thoth and Anubis were put in a spot light as they seemed to be the only two illuminated. Though other things in the room glowing were Thoth's finger which glew green, and looked like a glow stick being shaken as the green blurred like a lightshow. Glyphs of varying color floated around the room and the most arround Thoth's head.
Another glyph on the veil, this one pink, formed and then did the same to Anubis. Followed by an orange glyph, and then a blue one. All of which wrapped around him and faded away. Anubis's body though had changed. Some organs were repositioned, made larger, or made to be smaller while everything in him was rewired.
Anubis gasped out after feeling his body being worked on, his HUD runs a quick diagnostic scan to detect and document the changes. As quickly as it started, the scan shows him a report on his HUD that listed a variety of changes to his body from the default vanilla version to the now operated body done by Thoth. His brain felt tingling sensations as the changes are being registered one at a time and applied to his OS so that he can control them well. "Thanks for the help Thoth let's go back to Ra and give him some explanation." He said with a grateful tone towards Thoth.
[hr]
Ra slammed his fist on his throne, feeling rather annoyed by how Horus and Anhur were seemingly in on Anubis's Jackal Guards operations without letting him know anything about it. "Are you telling me that I no longer command respect around here!?" His voice bellows out at Horus and Anhur.
"No not that. What we are saying is that taking the initiative first is much better than simply sit and wait for another war to flare up and us being ill prepared for it." Anhur reasoned, the lion was trying to sooth the sun god's fury but seem to only be successful with encouraging him to throw more fits of rages.
"Damn it Anhur I don't think that you are listening to me anymore. Our tradition of preserving peace and stability with the other pantheons mean that anyone who adopted a piece of contraption that can tilt the balance of power even slightly into one Pantheon's favor will unravel the detente we have!" However, Ra's eyes immediately caught sight of Anubis being led back into his throne room by Thoth, there was something different about Anubis and Thoth however that caught Ra's attention. "Well? Anything Thoth?" He asked in a less than polite manner.
Thoth smiled and nodded to Ra still maintaining his more polite nature. "Yes we have made some decent progress, but it has come to my attention Anubis may have had a reason for doing these… bizarre… actions." he said while tugging on Anubis's chain to get him closer. "Now I understand if you question me, but apparently in our talks me and Anubis have made a connection as deities that represent would. We had a civilized talk. He showed me his reasons. Reasons that have been forever documented. Though perhaps an apology is in order by our fellow deity." Thoth said tugging on the chain again making it jiggle like metal would normally. Though it was to gesture to Anubis to speak.
Anubis then step up to in front of Thoth and get on his knees before Ra much to the sun god's surprise at how the jackal was being loyal to him at the moment after his aggressive actions towards the two from earlier. "My apologies to you, my lord Ra. I was being insolent to you but I have reasons for my actions and my insistence that the dark serpent Apep has returned to tear the world asunder once again. However you may prefer hearing it from Thoth than me."
Ra got up from his seat seemingly enraged by the apparent change of tone almost like a mocking one towards him. Or perhaps he was simply mistaking what Anubis was saying and his motive. "I do not care what you said Anubis but you have clearly defined the tradition between the Pantheons and for what you did I will put you under house arrest. You are to remain in this palace along with Anhur and Horus until I say otherwise. Anything you wish to say Thoth?" Ra's anger died down somewhat as he glanced over at Thoth but the ibis could see that the eyes of the hawk headed sun god was bulging looking somewhat wildly.
Thoth though was reluctant to answer, and stuttered on his words again. He was beginning to see Ra's anger issues begin to develop. He cleared his throat and handed his book to his trusted friend. "Please read this. There's a chapter here I documented regarding his body, and what he has become. A little study exercise if you will. Uh. First and foremost count backwards from ten and then breath and exhale calmly. Deity of the sun. Not deity of anger remember?" Thoth chuckled at his own remark hoping it would remind Ra to calm down through some humor. Although, his chuckle did have a nervous overtone to it looking into Ra's crazed eyes.
Ra reluctantly counts backward from ten and exhale a bit, feeling himself slightly less mad from all that has been happening. He opened Thoth's book and began to read through the pages that Thoth uses to document Anubis's body and the changes he underwent. The sun god's eyes widened even further, he then handed Thoth his book and was looking rather dazed. Ra snapped his finger and the chains on Anubis disappeared as well as his cuffs. "Thoth, are you saying that you are more interested in Anubis's condition now than before?" He asked with a somewhat terrified tone. "Did he use some sort of spell or charm to seduce you?"
Thoth nearly blushed to this remark, but shook his head quickly. "Not at all Ra. This is just a deity assisting in another Deity's personal issues. Anubis here needed help further augmenting his body, and I trust in him as he is also a caretaker for the deceased." he brought a hand to his beak and cleared his throat "I must admit though the mortals are still very new and inexperienced as I have seen what has become of Anubis's body. Therefore I augmented him to help himself live, and to become more comfortable living with himself." He said, but he shook his right hand in the air. "No I am most certainly not interested in doing this to myself since I wish to continue my job as normal, but I do worry on our choice. Which are the right and which are the wrong. Let us see though how we can prepare ourselves for the oncoming conflict." He said sternly. Ra however saw that even Thoth himself was concerned if a new war was to approach.
Ra's thighs buckled and he fell to his knees and his face slumped down in defeat. He held his eyes apparently about to tear up and weep like a defeated woman. "Keep an eye Anubis. He will not leave the palace until I say so. Understood Thoth?" He asked trying to get back on his feet and held a pillar in his throne room. The sun god was heard muttering a spell in his mouth, a barrier was formed around the palace to prevent Anubis himself from ever leaving the palace even with teleportation spells.
Thoth then looked out and sighed seeing the barrier surround the palace. He rubbed his temples, and looked back to Ra. Thoth saw that Ra was having trouble standing, and so he levitated over to him while a black, blue, and purple cloud formed under his feet as he dashed over to help lift him up. "Yes my friend, but you should think about getting rest. Perhaps the sun needs to set while the night takes its shape." he smiled to Ra and patted the middle of his back by the middle of his back close to his neck. He nodded looking back at Anubis. "As for him you have my word I will watch over him as I watch over the dead." He said as he lifted his legs up to balance Ra. "Promise me you will keep your emotions in a stable condition please." he finally asked.
Ra nodded reluctantly to Thoth. "I will Thoth. You have my words on that. But be sure that this mechanical contraption that Anubis accepted will not turn on us." The sun god speaks in a weaken tone before being helped out to his bedroom where he remains rested for the evening. Anubis was waiting for Thoth to exit the sun god's bedroom by leaning against a pillar with Anhur and Horus pacing back and forth around place.
"I'm rather concerned for Ra Anubis. He's even more furious and emotionally unbalanced than before heck I barely recognize him at all." Horus said as he walks back and forth with his hands behind him.
Anhur nodded and added his reasoning. "That's right, I've never seen him melting down like this before. It's almost like he was poisoned or something."
"I believe that it is well past your bedtimes now you two. Get some rest and I'll sort this out with Thoth." Anubis said in a commanding tone, Horus himself sighed out in defeat and went off with Anhur to their quarters in the palace. Leaving Anubis to wait for Thoth to come out.
Thoth finally came out of the room after a few minutes of watching, so that Ra didn't have a sudden attack of sorts to his physical form. Thoth though was heard humming while he wrote and document notes into the book. He was not smiling however, but he also didn't seem angry. He knew though that conflict was life, and on the flip side he new life was conflict. He walked into the throne room and gave a quick glance to Anubis. He cleared his throat. "He needs a mere night to rest himself. I think we made some progress though" he said. He suddenly shuddered and the feathers on his his head lifted upwards ruffled out now. "His anger is not one to be trifled with however… He may bring light, but he may install darkness." He said in a firm and near cryptic tone just as the sun began to set.
Anubis hummed a bit in his mouth as he stood up from the pillar was leaning against. He stroke his chin and ponders his thought a bit before settling on something in his mind. "No doubt about it. Though I think he should still give this Nanites and robotic technology the benefit of a doubt instead of decrying it outright. Perhaps you would like to learn it yourself?" He raised a holographic brow at Thoth and cocked his head to the side.
Thoth himself raised a brow to the odd gesture, but hummed in thought. He jotted in a new heading on a clean sheet of paper in the book titled "The processes of the newfangled nanite technology" before nodded his head slowly to Anubis. "Perhaps. I am not as conservative as Ra. I understand that each day is not going to be the same as the last, and that each day is not like the sun rising and setting in an identical pattern as before. He seems to think this, but I understand each individual will not take death the same way as the last." he said shrugging "In layman's terms i mean to investigate more on these nanites rather than to put them off thinking the same way we have been operating is the best method for going about life." He nodded as he kept his book open ready to write at lightening speed at a moment's notice.
Anubis nodded and activates his holographic projector once again and began to send a series of data regarding the Nanites detailed work method and how they operate within the body to maintain and augment the host. However, some of the information regarding how the Nanites reproduce their colonies might have caused Thoth to digress a bit upon learning that the Nanites would target the host's reproduction organs first to create a Nanites production plant to keep up their number in good number to perform various operations throughout the host's body. "There that should help. Maybe I should stay with you in your room and library just in case so we can work closely with each other." The jackal eyed Thoth's form up and down taking notes of his height, weight and other information on his magical attacks.
Thoth jotted the notes down and closed his book for now. Thoth though looked down at himself after Anubis eyed him. He raised his left arm and looked up and down for any issues. "Maybe I got foreign materials on me while we were in a confrontation ourselves." He said worrying about his appearance. He figured out his feathers were ruffled after Ra's fit of anger so he used his hands to press against his head and then moved his hands back to stroke his feathers back into place. He immediately looked back at Anubis "Is this better? I must keep my form tidy." he said concerned.
Anubis patted Thoth's shoulder reassuringly. "Much better, now come on let's get some rest before we have to deal with anything else from Ra. I have a feeling that he'll be convinced sooner than later." He said with some semblance of conviction in tone though he himself remains unsure of when will that happen specifically.