"Hello, Verdant!"
Soon stops adjusting his flight trajectory and sits up from his hunched position before the console. Silently, he lets the Homs' transmission sink in as he instead focuses on the warm glow from the controls, now marked with a blinking line: "ONGOING TRANSMISSION—Face no. 20801, "Metal Face."
After a long moment, he says, "Hello, Metal Face. I mean, unless you prefer 20801. Forgive me." His voice drips with sarcasm.
A scoff—clearly irritated—comes from the radio, though apart from that, Mumkhar says nothing further. Soon shakes his head. He pilots Verdant Face up from skimming the surface of the ocean between the two titans, and he watches the water crest with white caps on a screen above his console.
He can't help but smile at that.
"You should meet me in Tephra Cave. It's right on the way to Colony 9. I'd like to get to know you better, since you're that glorified Mechon's pet," Mumkhar says in a tone that lilts with a deliberate lie—and bitterness.
"Why?"
"Well," he stammers.
Soon twists his mouth in a grin. "Right, like I'm ever going to believe that."
"Believe it, Soongalle! Egil's making us do this, now follow orders like you're that good little Face he thinks you are!" What deceit was once in his voice has turned angry now.
"They're called Core Units."
"What?"
"Us. We're Core Units. The core unit of a Face Mechon? If you're going to threaten me, at least do it right." Soon wrenches Verdant high up in the air, and he keeps his ether-green stare on its view screen as his hands work through muscle memory. "Fine. I'll humor Egil. I don't really care. Where in Tephra Cave do you want to meet?"
Mumkhar has to think for a second, if his silence is any indication. "Vilia Lake," he says. "The prettiest place in all of Bionis!"
You don't get out much, do you?
Soon shrugs. "Your taste in locations is dull. And just call me Soon, Mumkhar. Everyone else does," he monotones, less focused on the conversation and more focused on losing himself on piloting Verdant Face.
Cackling, Mumkhar mockingly says, "So I'll be seeing you soon, Soon?"
With no more effort to humor the new Core Unit, Soon shuts down the transmission.
Soon throws his gaze around the dim light of Tephra Cave. He can't say it's the darkest location he's ever visited, but it certainly isn't the brightest, either. Despite having served Egil for longer than he'd care to admit, he's seldom needed to come down here—which made him all the more grateful for built-in navigation as he wandered out from the Heavenly Window and down the Bone Corridor.
Brushing past an ether deposit, Soon takes a second to snap off a crystal. He stares at it for a moment, then pulls out his sword to push it into a cavity in its hilt. With his weapon loaded, he returns it to his side and jumps off a ledge. It isn't too high, but it's tall enough for Soon to land hard on his feet. The sound of metal on rock rings out on impact. He makes a left turn—and mutters an old curse word. More Arachno?
He reaches to his back to pull out a curved sword—but just like when he went through the upper level of Tephra Cave, these Arachno don't bother attacking him.
As a test, Soon strikes his sword hard against the wall of the cavern he's walked into. It makes another loud sound, but the two creatures don't seem to mind. They just keep watching him and doing nothing.
That is, until Soon feels something brush up against his leg.
The Core Unit recoils and throws his sword down to a third Arachno, who's reaching a leg out to touch his.
"What—"
They always do this.
Soon clenches his hand, pushes past the Arachno, and shoves his sword back into place on his back. As he enters into Vilia Lake, he cranes his neck to take it in. It's not really that bad, he surmises with a shrug. The massive cavern cranes high above him and bears pillars linking floor to ceiling. He takes note of enough vines on one that would make getting up and down the higher level easy—if he knew it existed. Then again, he couldn't go through the water, not with his armor.
He sighs at the realization.
"Oh, Soon!"
Upon hearing Mumkhar's gritty voice, Soon casts his eyes up. He glances toward an opening in the cavern, where the dark-armored Core Unit waves. Behind him, positioned beside the branching path, stands his Face Mechon. "There you are! I was wondering what kept you!"
With a growl, Soon stalks over to him. "What is it? I have to get to Colony 9, and I'd rather I didn't come through the front entrance? Even you aren't that stupid."
Mumkhar lowers his hand, but all he does is shrug and grin—though it hardly matches the glare in his eyes. "You don't have to get bratty. I just figured we should…" Another careless shrug. "You know, get to know you more, and since I'm bored," he says, rolling his eyes. "It's not like there's anything to do here."
"You're talking to the wrong person." Soon cranes his neck to stare up at the ledge he's walked underneath.
"When'd Egil pick you up, Soon?"
From what little he's spoken to Mumkhar, Soon's already decided that he hates him. Deeply.
And he feels like he's not alone in that decision.
"Before you were even alive, Metal Face."
A sneer touches the Core Unit's lips. "Whatever you say, eh?"
Soon shakes his head and moves to leave—only for Mumkhar to make a sprint at him and grab his arm. He yanks on it, but the Homs is stronger than he thought.
"I'm sure it hurts, doesn't it? To destroy your only home? See, I was thinking while I was arriving here. You look familiar, and I don't know what modifications Egil gave you to make you think you're older and wiser than all the rest of the grown-ups, but I know a certain Colony 9 brat when I see one. Oh, the days you'd come crying to Jan because I hurt your feelings!" Mumkhar pretends to wipe away tears. "So how does it feel, Brodei? Or are you as screwed up as Xord?"
"If this is the only reason why you wanted to meet with me, you just wasted your time." Soon rips his arm out from Mumkhar's grip and rubs at a scrape in the verdant patina. "It doesn't matter who I am. Just do your duty to Egil, Metal Face."
"But that's what it's all about—Colony 9." Mumkhar leans in close to Soon, who leans back at the man's hot, sour breath. "You adore your dear home. I don't! And what can a boy do with the Monado, anyway? It's only right if I go!"
You want the Monado? But why?
Backing away, Soon reaches for his sword. "You have the wrong person if you think I'll weep for the Homs," he says. "I'm not Brodei."
His ether-green eyes drop to Mumkhar's hands as twin bagh naka claws snap out from his knuckles. "Then prove it, boy."
Soon draws his own weapon—just fast enough to parry back a flash of claws. He ducks to the side, stumbles, and blocks Mumkhar when he dives at him.
"Make some music for me, boy! I want to hear you scream!"
His sword's blade shrieks against the metal of twin claws.
Sparks flash against the red light of Mumkhar's weapon and the green light of Soon's.
"What are you doing?!" Soon releases one hand from the hilt to grab the Core Unit's wrist, and his other comes up to parry back his attack. For a minute—a minute that stretches like an hour and blinks like a second—, they stand locked in place. His sword shakes against Mumkhar's left claws as his arm does the same trying to hold the Homs' back. "I'm here to do my duty! You have to do yours! Why do you even want the Monado anyway, you can't even wield it!"
Mumkhar's smile is leering, and Soon's chest clenches when he realizes that he isn't even trying to fight him. "Anyone can swing a sword. Even a brat like you! The only reason Dunban uses the Monado's because he likes to be a hero, and the only ones who get to be heroes are the ones who get the strongest toys. What does Dunban got that I don't?"
The ether-green light in Soon's eyes dies for only a moment.
"H-he's brave and strong. He's not like you."
The expression on Mumkhar's face changes only a second—
—Soon's grip shifts in surprise—
—and his feet slip on the rock as he whirls around and makes a run toward that large cavern opening to the right of the shore.
Faster than he can even register it, Soon is tackled to the ground. He stares down at the gritty rock pressed against his face—and he jumps when a claw is slammed right beside his nose.
"You're weak. Just like Brodei!" Mumkhar laughs as he keeps his knee pressed against Soon's shoulders. "Care to swap jobs with me, Brodei?"
"No," Soon says, or tries to. He tightens his fist around the hilt of his sword.
"Why do they call you Soongalle?"
His fingers twitch on the metal hilt—and then he yanks his arm up as high as he can get it, points his sword up, and says, "I hate Homs like you."
A beam lances from the tip, and the ceiling comes crashing down behind them.
In the dark, in the dust, with the noise, Mumkhar unpins Soon to shield himself from the rocks. Before he can, however, Soon rolls onto his back, throws his metal foot up, and kicks him in the jaw.
His wild green eyes and metal emblem set into his chest glow like a crystal in the dark cavern.
Soon pivots to his knees and scrambles to his feet—and runs as hard as possible down the path. He stops only to spin back around toward Mumkhar, and he points his sword in his direction. Approaching, Mumkhar stops only to answer his threat with one of his own. His eyes land on the small, dull orange crystal loaded into the hilt of Soon's weapon.
"I heard that you had your special friends in Tephra." Mumkhar's sneer echoes. "Only the Arachno could be friends with a brat like you, anyway! 'Course, you should be right at home down here!"
Soon's brows dig down, but he doesn't bother wasting his breath on a response, not when he's still trying to catch it. He instead keeps all his attentions on Mumkhar's body language, or what of it he can see in the dark.
As the Core Unit jerks his arm, Soon does the same—only, as Metal Face's claws shatter a hole in the fallen rock wall, Verdant Face never arrives. "Have fun, Brodei! I'm off!" Mumkhar lunges through the hole, turns, and grins ear to ear in a dark smirk. "I've done my job."
Metal Face strikes at the ceiling, and whatever hole there was disappears behind another layer of rubble.
In the settling silence, Soon becomes keenly aware of his heaving gasps.
He turns around, adjusts his grip on his weapon, and ejects the spent crystal. It shatters against the ground as he throws his stare around the cavern he fled to. A cough rattles out from him. His eyes find several staring Arachno—and he whips back around the way he came.
He can't use his sword to blast a hole in the blockade, and he isn't strong enough to move the boulders by hand.
The cavern has suddenly become very dark.
Soon's hand comes to his chest, where that carved, tarnished disk under glass sighs its steadfast glow. It's hardly the brightest, but it's just enough to reveal his surroundings.
"Y-you're crying. Stop crying."
He doesn't have the strength to snap at him, or speak in his head, or even ignore him anymore.
He's there, and no longer can Soon pretend he isn't.
"Stop," Soon repeats, massaging his temples.
The Arachno around him scurry across the rock. One brushes past Soon's feet. With a shiver, he eases down and wraps his arms around his legs. "I can't stop shaking. I should've been able to fight him."
But that's Mumkhar. His voice trembles. He's scary. I-I would've died, how'd you do that?
"I didn't do anything." Bitter, Soon kicks out at a curious Arachno, who jumps and scuttles away from him. "He knew you."
In his head, Brodei tries to wipe at his face, but it doesn't do him much good as he cries. He's the same as all of Soon's other hosts. When Brodei's not in control, Soon can feel him by his side as if he was there in person. He can feel what he does and hear what he thinks. If Brodei wanted, he could even show himself as a specter Soon could see.
But like all his other hosts, he's surely not the last, and he surely won't be fond of Soon.
"When did Egil pick you up, Brodei?" Soon's voice comes out in a fatigued sigh.
I-I…I don't know. I don't know.
"Huh."
Who are you? What's wrong with my body, why's it so different?
"I'm Soon." I think you'd know that by now. "You're a Core Unit, Brodei. Your body was modified to pilot a Face Mechon. You should have known this from the information he gave you." But then he stops. "Didn't give you… Right. I'm supposed to tell you."
A Mechon? What? I'm a Mechon?!
"No, you're not a Mechon, if you were a real Mechon, you'd be a clunky automaton with a camera for an eye. Trust me, you'll like this body much better."
Then what, being a Homs? Y-you can't attack Colony 9, you can't, you can't, that's my home.
"Metal Face sabotaged that. Thank him." Soon stands with a grimace, and he glances across the cavern. "I think we can still get to Verdant Face from here. We'll find out what her deal is." As he steps around several more Arachno—there seem to be a lot more than there was before—, Soon follows the cave path using the glow from his chest. "Look, I'm good with Mechon. Not Bionis creatures. So what's the deal? Do you know?"
Um, yeah, don't worry about them. The Homs boy's answer is awkward and short—short enough to make Soon convinced that he's not saying the whole truth. But to ask is to alert an M30-type, and he's not sure he has the energy to question further.
"I've been Asleep, Brodei, for five years. I don't know you, and you don't know me." He ducks around a corner, and he can't help but exhale with relief upon seeing the Bone Corridor's dim light. "Just how old are you?"
Twelve. I'm going to be thirteen, he adds—though it's hesitant. Hardly that of pride.
Soon sighs. He heads down a ledge and jumps onto a slender, pale walkway. As he balances on it, he takes the opportunity to get more used to his new body—especially considering it was because of it that Mumkhar overpowered him. And I suppose you might already be that.
In the silence, Brodei takes the opportunity to ask some questions of his own. Who are you? Besides Soon?
"Call me your Mechon soul, Brodei. Vanea assigned me to you because I don't have a body of my own, so you have to share now."
What?
His dumbfounded tone is enough to make Sung scoff a chuckle. "Alright, fine."
The green glow dies from the emblem in his chest, and Brodei lurches in the middle of the Bone Corridor. He blinks, gropes at the glass, and whimpers. He throws his wide blue eyes around him—then looks down and nearly stumbles off.
Soon takes over again, steadies himself, and continues down the path. "I have experience, and you know your body. If we work together, we might just get along." Running along the last half of the rock, he reaches solid ground and glances up to a Vang that won't stop staring at him.
Ignoring it, he continues onward.
Oh! Bunnivs! Mummy and Daddy gave me and my brother one from their travels when I was little! Brodei says. Seeing the group of Bunnivs is enough to wipe away his exhausted terror, at least for the moment.
"I'm not sure you'd want one of these for a pet…" As Soon steps around them, he takes note of their sharp teeth and equally-sharp claws—and the muscle underneath their matted pelts. It makes him more than grateful that nothing seems to want to attack Brodei's body.
Those look scary… I've never gone this far in Tephra.
"In truth, neither have I."
Hey, how old are you?
Soon stops walking. He takes a glance down a potential route before deciding on the path he's still on, and he bends down to brush aside cobwebs from his calves. "In what way?"
Confused, Brodei says, You know, how old you are.
With a calculating purse of his lips, Soon finally says, "About your age. Without all the hosts."
Wait, really?!
"Yeah."
So, you're here to help with t-the, the Core Unit thing?
"Yeah." He'd ask why being a Core Unit bothers his host so much if the answer wasn't obvious. "You and I pilot Verdant Face. She's small and green, and she's good at slipping into locations." I guess I should do what Egil would've done if I wasn't here… "Face Mechon are designed to repel the Monado." When the boy doesn't respond save for a bewildered mumble, Soon continues. "The Monado can't cut anything from the Bionis, so Face Mechon are designed for use with a Homs Core Unit. That's you. What's the last thing you remember, besides waking up with a new body?"
Um… I was in Colony 6. I-I had that sword Xord made me, and I was trying to protect Aunty Olga, but…but then…then some really big Mechon came. It had a hammer and— I thought I died, I thought I'd never s-see my brother again.
"Vanea fixed you. So you can thank the Mechonis for being alive, actually."
But it attacked Colony 6, it's why I got hurt!
And he's crying again.
Soon approaches the Heavenly Window and eases up against the wall. Even though the Gogols won't attack him, he isn't about to risk getting their attention right now. You know why the Mechonis attacked you?
No.
The two titans have souls, like us. The Mechonis is Meyneth, and the Bionis is Zanza. The Bionis—Zanza—attacked the Mechonis so he could wipe out the world and restart it to be to his liking. He killed most of Meyneth's children, the Machina, and he killed most of his own children to harvest their ether. Do you understand? Zanza didn't succeed in that battle, which means he's going to eventually try again. By attacking the Bionis, Egil is preventing Zanza from awakening. Whether the Mechonis kills Homs or the Bionis kills Homs, it's irrelevant. We're actually stopping the Bionis from mass genocide. It's also Egil's justification for revenge, but that's besides the point.
To think back at Brodei—to share his same mental headspace—feels like dragging himself through Satorl Marsh. Talking out loud is more comfortable, but if any Gogols approach them, comfort won't matter anymore.
Look, Egil showed me the archives of the battle. You don't have to believe me even though you should, but at least believe these—it's what really happened. Just take a look at them and be quiet while I get at Verdant.
Before a confused, upset Brodei can respond, Soon recalls up his memories of Egil's archives, and he relaxes enough to give Brodei access to them. With the boy now distracted, he creeps forward to the far right wall, where Verdant Face stands in wait for her pilot.
Or rather, where she should still be standing.
Soon freezes halfway to the spot where she once was, right behind an ether deposit. He sprints past it to look at the Arachno nest in the distance—nothing. He turns to take in all of the Heavenly Window, but there isn't any Face Mechon. There isn't even debris.
A disturbance of cobwebs and nothing more.
"He stole you." The livid mutter escapes Soon before he has a chance to think about it. While his tone hardly changes, the emotion in it is as obvious as if he shouted—especially to Brodei, who pulls his attention away from the memories.
What's going on? Why're you so mad?
Letting out an exhale, Soon follows his internal navigation and stalks into the Arachno nest. He makes a sharp left. Up ahead is supposed to be an ancient Giants' hall—but several more Arachno stand in his way. When he turns to go back the other way and take the route he used to get to Mumkhar, he finds yet more Arachno, all watching him.
"Brodei, what the Mechonis is wrong with you? Why aren't they attacking?"
I don't know! the Homs in his head squeaks. Mefimefi thinks—
"I don't care what some Nopon thinks, why are they looking at me like this?"
She thinks it's 'cause my pheromones are weird! The way he says it, it's as if he's reciting what he was told. They like to play with me. The other ones just ignore me, but the Arachno like me a lot!
Soon swears. Oh, Zanza, how cruel you are.
He feels behind his back for his sword, only to remember that he lost it when he was fighting—or rather, running away from—Mumkhar.
Don't hurt them!
And in that moment, Soon feels his head lurch—
—and Brodei holds his hands up and turns in a circle as he takes in the swarm that's surrounded him. "H-hey," he says. Despite his experience with Arachno, he still can't stop shaking. "I gotta go home. Let me go home, please?"
What are you doing?
For being new to sharing his body with Soon, Brodei's sheer determination to face the Arachno makes him more than capable of shoving Soon away from the controls.
"My head hurts. Everything feels weird now." He sits down in the cobweb and waste littering the ground, and he reaches out to one Arachno, who accepts his trembling hand on its head. "I'm so confused." Midway through wiping his nose, Brodei stops to stare at his fingers, built with brass and wired with sensors. The Arachno's head, covered with short fur, still feels coarse under his palm, though he isn't sure how.
I don't feel like me anymore.
"I gotta go home." He pushes the Arachno off his lap as it starts to climb up him. "I gotta go home. I gotta go home." Repeating it like it's a mantra, Brodei slowly stands. He mumbles it one last time before brushing away the creatures and pushing past them.
While he lets Brodei pilot his own body, Soon can't help but wonder why something's not quite right with him. Then again, if he treats Arachno as friends, that might explain it.
Brodei glances back at where Soon was aiming to go—that long corridor—, and he starts off down it. Several Arachno block his way. "No, I— I'll come back later, I know how to get up here now, I'll come back later." He pushes at the creatures, only to be pushed back.
A whimper ekes out from him.
This is what happens when you humor filthy Arachno, Soon says.
"Stop!" Brodei replies. "They're really nice!"
In Brodei's head, Soon rolls his eyes. Oh, clearly.
"Let me go, you're being mean!" Trying to ignore Soon, Brodei scolds the Arachno. He grabs at several reaching their legs up to him, and he recoils back when one hits his chin. "Go!" What was once a tired reluctance has now become full-fledged terror.
I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home—
Feeling Soon's hands on his back—he can't explain how—, Brodei stumbles past the creatures and goes at a run to the stone corridor carved with alcoves in the wall.
Go, go, move! Soon yells. The fact that he only hears him raise his voice above a monotone when they're in the middle of a life or death situation is enough to get Brodei sprinting.
But before he has a chance to get far, his legs lock up, and he crashes to the ground with a shriek of surprise. He whips around and finds that the Arachno have not only caught up to him, but they're busy wrapping his legs up in thread.
Soon doesn't bother telling him what to do—not when there isn't anything he can do when he's being pinned down by Arachno. Then again, it doesn't mean they can't go quietly.
Get out of my way!
In an instant, Soon's shoving Brodei aside and throwing his bound feet up. The force is enough to unbalance several Arachno, who hurry off of him. He grabs a rock, slams it against one crawling across his chest, and throws it at another returning to his legs.
Watching but not being in control, Brodei stares in shock.
Soon rolls to his front to crawl forward—but it quickly turns into a mistake when an Arachno pounces onto his back and pins him down.
As he lies pressed against the cobweb-covered rock, his hair in his face, his ears ringing, Soon becomes keenly aware of sobbing.
"Brodei. Brodei, stop. Stop crying." Despite the foul stench of Tephra Cave in the back of his throat, he wheezes through his mouth. He catches a glimpse of an Arachno approaching from the side. "They can't eat metal, anyway."
If Brodei's reaction is any indication, that's no comfort.
Soon watches that Arachno, leaning in close to his face. He flinches as it reaches a leg out to his temples. "Brodei," he whispers. "Don't. Cry."
The Arachno slams Soon's head into the rock.