Event 6: Viral Blessing (name changed...)
The first floor of The Tower Of Purgatory was like a joke. Stark white walls everywhere and nothing but the weakest units of all. Some barely had time to devise weapons before Gram cut them down. Gram quickly cleared every room of units, watching them sink through the floor to be relocated by the tower to the lowest floor. Anyone Gram defeated would be forced to fight their way back up the tower. All of them were programmed with the need to escape now, but all were not created equal. When he was the last unit on the floor, a small elevator extended from the ceiling, just big enough for one person to stand on. Gram stepped in and the elevator climbed. As Gram passed between the gaps in the floating sections of the tower, he could see the outside. He tried firing a railgun round from his head to break the glass he was looking though, but it didn't even crack. The elevator reached the next floor, placing Gram in a room with one door. Gram quickly opened the door and was met with the first assigned guardian. It was Mars, whom he'd seen in Europe.
"A-challenger? You-must-defeat-me-to-proceed-to-the-next-level," said Mars. All shred of his former self was gone. If this was the same unit Gram had seen as a decoy, with intelligent speech and interesting design, he was playing a rather horrible joke.
"What happened to you, Mars? You used to be just like me. Is this what I would have become if I'd stepped into that red light?"
"Talking-is-irrelevant. It-only-delays-progress. Disengage-your-speech-circuits-and-switch-to-battl e-mode."
"I suppose talking to a mindless robot is pointless. Very well."
Mars walked toward Gram, swords growing from his arms and a revolver pistol's barrel growing from his forehead. He fired a few bullets from the revolver, the rounds pinging off Gram's hardened shell. When he got within range, Mars slashed at Gram with a sword-arm. Gram raised his shield-arm and blocked the strike, effortlessly. With his sword-arm, Gram sliced Mars' head off, cut him at the waist, then stabbed through his falling torso and his fallen head. The battle was over, Gram was victorious, and the door leading on unlocked. Before Gram could leave, memories from Mars flooded him. Mars' true memories had been locked away inside him, partitioned so he would serve as a guardian. Mars had been a member of some military before becoming an A.D.A.M. Mars was the second successful unit. He was always regarded as a proud man, and when the company that saved his life called on him to serve them, he'd taken the offer in an instant. In the end his pride would be his downfall, forcing him to uphold his honor and repay the debt he'd incurred. Now he was trapped in this tower forever, his true self screaming from behind the crippled android's eyes.
The next floor was more of the same. Some new weapons were present, evidence that these units had more time to analyze their bodies before preparing to fight. Still, Gram cut them down in an instant. By now he was a master of plasma. No other unit could handle the heat and electricity and magnetism it took to control such a power. In less than an hour, Gram was heading to the next guardian. This time, the guardian was ready for a fight. It was white, with a submachine gun growing from its head, a gatling gun in its chest, a rifle arm, a shield arm, and odd legs with spikes in the knees. This unit didn't speak at all. Gram waited for the unit to make the first move. When it started firing every weapon it had, running quickly around the room to avoid counterattacks, Gram simply stood in one place and took the attacks. Round after round pinged off his armor, or crumpled upon hitting him and fell to the floor. Gram fired a railgun round from his head, which this guardian tried to block with its shield-arm. The round pierced right through its shield and tore out a great deal of its gatling system. The unit fell to its knees, then into a puddle on toe floor, sinking into it just like every other unit. The doors unlocked and Gram continued forward.
Every time it was the same. Units every floor up were a bit smarter, a bit faster, and seemed to think a bit more. Gram would cut them down, confront the floor guardian, fight, and win. In only hours, Gram was on the elevator taking him to the final guardian. Once outside the tower, Gram intended on taking his time and building a device that would fry the place and everything in it. If no AI cells existed but his, he could continue with his dream of advancing science and helping humanity. The elevator reached its destination and Gram stepped through the door. On the other side of the stark white room stood a blood-red, demonic unit. On one arm, a shield in the form of an arm holding a curved blade and a curved blade jutting from the shoulder blade. On the other, an opening for a highly focused laser, designed like a spiked stinger. For the chest, an oversized railgun with long thin spikes protruding out and down from the back to stabilize. The legs the same demonic nails and designs as Gram. The head a scowl hidden under the barrel of a flame-thrower, the tanks of fuel resting on the unit's head. It was Gryphus.
"End of the line, Gram. You won't escape. I can't let anyone leave this place."
"And who are you to decide that?" asked Gram, ready for a fight.
"I am now assigned as the guardian of this tower, and I was its creator. I've seen the horrors of humanity, lived a life as low as anyone, and I've been given a way to ensure that no one ever has to suffer that way again. By trapping the technology that makes us in this tower, after showing its power to the world in the form of death and despair, humanity will make money and use that money for peaceful application. No more weapons. No more war. No more needless death. It is my purpose to never let anyone out of here. You are no different."
"I'm sure if we talked about this you would see I am different. But regardless of whether we came to an understanding or not, I'd still have to kill you to be set free. So I will just ask you to trust me, and give me a good fight. I need to pay you back for that cheap shot in New York."
"Even if I could trust you, no one can survive an existence such as this and never be corrupted by it. Even if you escape and help humanity for many years, one day you will grow tired and you will cause more death and more war. Consider it a blessing, then, that you are free here to fight or not fight, and live on forever."
Gram shook his head, and would have closed his eyes if he had any.
"Gryphus, this place is called The Tower Of Purgatory for a reason. Of all the units made from humans, and all the units contained here, I have committed the least sins. If anyone should be given a second chance, it should be me. And once I'm free, I can get rid of all the mindless, mass produced units and free you as well. Then you can keep me in check and I can keep you in check. Would that please you?"
"I'm sorry, Gram. But we humans are just as flawed as the machines we've created. No matter what you say, this will end with your defeat. And once you die, the system will partition you just like all the others. I alone have been spared, in order to do my duty and follow my orders in the best manner. Goodbye, Gram. I hope you enjoy your many years in this tower, fighting to your heart's content."
Gryphus charged as a solemn melody sounded over the loudspeakers. Gram was the first challenger to reach the end. As humanity watched, Gram and Gryphus fought. The only thing they'd heard were Gryphus' final two sentences. Now all they heard were the clashes of Gryphus and Gram, the shots they fired, and the orchestral piece that seemed to conduct the fight. Gram was struck only once, but the instant there was an opening in his armor, Gryphus was on him. Gryphus shoved the curved blade from his shield-arm into the gap, twisted, and kicked Gram away. Gram could feel the infection spreading into his body, but couldn't tell what it was supposed to do. He fought on, letting his body try to partition the virus-infected cells.
Gram and Gryphus fought for hours. It seemed it would be endless after the night turned to day. But Gryphus had a final trick he'd saved. When at last every AI cell in Gram's body contained the virus he'd planted, Gryphus stomped his foot and sent a signal to Gram's body to lock up. Gram's attack halted mid-swing, and he fell to his knees. With effort, Gram looked up at Gryphus, trying to regain control of his body. Gryphus approached him and with every step, renewed the lock-up signal. When at last he reached Gram, aiming his laser arm at Gram's head, he spoke once more, just for Gram to hear.
"Maybe you are worthy to escape... But you will prove that yourself. Reach me again someday, surpass me, and become the kind of person you are now in your next life. If you prove you are incorruptible, and you defeat me, I will have no regrets for losing. But I believe that day is many years from now... Once again, goodbye, Gram."
The laser in Gryphus' arm charged visibly, and the last thing Gram would see was the flash of light that burned his AI cells down to almost nothing. With barely over a kilogram left of himself, he sank into the floor like the countless others he'd defeated on the way up. The tower's system partitioned his memories from his consciousness and sent him to the bottom of the tower to reform, and try again. As Gram's body came together, he could see his final memories flashing before his eyes as they were moved beyond his reach.
In seconds it was over. Gram was just another A.D.A.M. unit. One with a soul, somewhere deep down. With only his personality and his body, free of weapons, Gram approached the red light that would transport him to the next floor up... And he began again, and again, and again... Trapped forever in The Tower Of Purgatory...
終わり
