Rogue Huntsman
Recruitment
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The elevator had opened up to reveal a large, carpeted living room, spanning far enough to hold a reasonably large corner couch, a coffee table, dining table, and a piano.
Two of the walls were entirely made of glass, connecting in the corner to reveal the massively expansive cavern bottom that held levels 1 and 2. All with the same twinkling glow of the Dust veins in the distance, looking like a sea of stars against the pitch black rock encasement of the cave.
"Here, you'll find the living area, bedrooms, hygienic facilities, and various other amenities," GHOST remarked as she stepped down into the living space before pointing to a hallway to their left. "That way takes you to the bedrooms and by extension, their private bathrooms."
She paused as she turned 180 degrees on the spot to point in the opposite direction.
"And that's the other stuff. Swimming pool, kitchenette, uh… Oh! And the spa area."
That was… a lot on one floor. And this was only one of the shallower levels too, which only brought Arex to look around in a little more disbelief. "I like the view…"
She didn't want to comment on everything like she wanted to, especially considering she wanted to see everything, so she just muttered that simple thing she liked.
It made the entire room feel suspended through the glass, looking out into the cavern, which was a feeling she loved. It made the room feel high up in a dark sky.
"Me too, fun fact though; we've only explored about 30% of the entire cavern system here. Below level 42, there's about another 25 kilometer drop, maybe even further than that. That's just on a vertical plane. Horizontally, this place gets way larger, just to give you a scale of how big this place is."
Arex quirked a delicate brow at that, looking out the window again as she nodded. "What's stopping you from going further down?"
"The bedrock is incredibly tough to mine away given the rising heat, and the only thing we have that's actually capable of penetrating it requires a rig to keep it stable, and a whole lotta power to keep it running too, considering it fires projected beams of supercharged particles," GHOST replied. "It's also a reeaally slow process."
That… almost sounded like the miniaturized one Ray had her build. "Must be heavy, too, so getting it up and down is a huge issue. Have you scouted out the rest of the cavern though? Is it all reachable without the need to break through barriers?"
She kind of wanted to fly down there now, actually. Just to check it out.
GHOST nodded, "Mostly yeah, it's good that you have a pair of wings, else you'd need a suit to reach some of the entrances."
Arex smiled a little, interested to know that she could actually explore deeper if she wanted to. "I've never flown underground before, so I don't know what it's like without updrafts and wind currents. But I think it'll be fun, if you wanted me to fly you around the cavern below at some point."
"The air's pretty still actually and as for me, I can view it through specialised bodies and drones," GHOST responded as she shook her head with a light smile. "This isn't the only frame I have, and if you turn to your right, you'll see that."
Arex turned her head with a light flutter of her raven hair to lock eyes with a pair of maids, both giving the phoenix a small wave as her eyes widened.
"I have multiple bodies, each designed with a specific purpose. As you can see, these two are for making sure this level is spotless," GHOST continued, "but I also have bodies for mining, forging, lab work, general labor, and just about anything to keep the Vault running. There's about a thousand active right now, mostly downstairs, and another 2500 on standby if I need them."
Arex's mouth snapped closed as she realized it was hanging open a little, eyes taking in the individual actions and persons standing in front of her.
They looked like GHOST's model that was taking her around for a tour, just with different outfit attire.
They were shorter too, if only by a couple of inches. Both possessing a pair of bright green eyes that stared up at Arex.
"Y-You can… control them all?" Arex managed to ask, slowly walking over to the two maids and walking around them, watching as their emerald gazes followed her movements a bit.
"Yeah, I can control them all. I do it all the time," GHOST replied as Arex continued examining the maids. "For instance…"
The maid on the left raised her hand up and laid her palm out flat before the maid to her right slapped it.
"I can make them high five."
Arex could hear the smirk in her voice as the pair of maids suddenly jumped her, wrapping their arms around her frame and squeezing tightly.
"Or hug you."
A surprised squeak left Arex's lips as she locked up, legs snapping to a sudden stop as she felt slightly squished between the two bodies.
That, and her face quickly dipped into the red. "S-So they need y-your input? O-Or can they a-act independently?" Arex tried to get out, head leaning away slightly as one of the maids brushed her red cheek with its own.
"A bit of both, each body is preprogrammed with a specific set of commands, but they still need my Central Processing Core in order to operate. Pretty much everything in this facility does," GHOST spoke out from behind her.
The phoenix was starting to get a little warm as the other maid holding her started to nuzzle her shoulder and neck. Arex had never been good at keeping her fluster under control.
Still, the logistics of all functionality sourced from a single processing AI felt… dangerous.
"I-Isn't that a lot of pressure on you?" Arex asked slowly, eyes looking in worry at GHOST as her blush seemed to finally simmer down a little.
GHOST clapped her hands to dismiss the maids before shaking her head. "You underestimate just how much 3 petahertz is. If every scroll, terminal, and logical processing plant were to combine, their collective clock speed and bitrate would barely scratch 1 petahertz."
Arex managed to get her breathing under control as the two bodies stepped away, her legs urging to work again as she quickly made her way back to GHOST's side with a few small but rushed steps. "I meant on you personally. It's… a lot of responsibility on you to run absolutely everything at all times. Among all the rest of your responsibilities."
GHOST nodded. "It is, hence why I create subroutines in order to divide my attention to specific, but important tasks. It gives me breathing room that way."
Arex's worry melted away a little as she slowly nodded in return, looking more at ease. "Breathing room is nice, but don't you get lonely here? It's such a large facility… and it doesn't all need to be run at once during all times of day, either."
"I've been doing this for five years now, but… I guess it can be pretty lonely. Part of the reason why I made so many bodies is to have the feeling of other people here. I've also been told that I might have a bit of a personality disorder."
The phoenix felt a little bad hearing that. And if she joined them… she'd be able to keep GHOST company, for however little presence her single living body could offer, anyway. "Personality disorder?"
Arex hadn't exactly thought too much about that, but when Ray was in trouble, she'd seen GHOST flash different colors.
Mostly green.
But, she just assumed those were just different protocols.
"Do your protocols have different personalities?" Arex asked softly.
GHOST smiled at her and nodded once. "They do, yes. But~ it can get a little crowded when they all want to take the wheel."
That explained the colors trying to take over. "I can see why someone might say that, then. But isn't that just your personalities compartmentalized into certain directives? With specific purposes?"
The personas could just be driving those protocols forward, making sure they happen.
"It's… difficult to explain using words with no kind of illustration," GHOST replied hesitantly. "What you see right now is technically five entities. I'm a combination of each of them, like a manifestation of all of them. If you understand what I mean."
"Doesn't that just make you a person?" Arex asked simply, an almost innocent ignorance in her words.
"Perhaps… but that would make each protocol its own person too… The only thing that separates my existence from theirs is my personality core, or matrix. AI science is really difficult to understand without some kind of experience in it, even for me," GHOST answered truthfully. "Hell, my existence itself was a total fluke on Ray's part."
Arex blinked wordlessly for a few seconds, silently processing GHOST's words with a little shock on her face. "He… accidentally made you?"
GHOST smiled at Arex's response. "Yeah, he did. 'An accident, but not a mistake.' As he puts it."
Arex eventually returned the smile with a tiny one of her own, but she couldn't help but still feel a little bad about it in the end. "I'm glad he did, then. You're a happy accident, and I like to think of you as more of a person than an artificial intelligence."
Arex offered her words with a growing smile, tilting her head a little as she shrugged one of her shoulders.
"You're… anything but artificial. For me, anyway," she finished.
"I'm happy that you think of me that way. However, we should get moving. Unless you'd like to play the piano over there," GHOST's voice was noticeably lighter after Arex's compliment, the AI gesturing to the piano by the wall. "I just finished fixing Ray up, so he's waiting for us on level 7."
Just the mention of level 7 piqued Arex's interest again as her gaze quickly bolstered attention. "We can move on, then. I can't play the piano either way."
"Well, up next we have the hospital," GHOST said, offering her hand to Arex, which the phoenix didn't hesitate to take again. "It's there that I want to do something with you, while I have the chance."
As Arex's fingers distractedly interlaced with GHOST's again, her head couldn't help but tilt a little at what was said. Even as GHOST led them back to the elevator. "A medical check up?"
The AI nodded. "With your permission of course. I just wanna do some small tests before we go down even further. The hospital is exactly what it sounds like anyway."
Just some small tests didn't sound so bad, and she figured it wouldn't keep them away from going further for too long. So Arex gave another small nod, the elevator doors sliding closed again. "I'm fine with that."
"Kitsuki, honey, did you want something to pass the time?"
Kit's head lightly lifted from where she rested it in her arms, the girl's legs crossed and folded beneath her in her spot at the kitchen table. She was still where Arex left her.
Her drooped ears bounced ever so slightly as she nodded, a sulking expression on her face as Anoel smiled at her from the couch.
She missed Arex.
"Come here then. I'll show you what you can do," Anoel said, beckoning Kit from her chair and drawing her over to the couch with a gesture of the hand.
The short girl stopped just at the back of the spanning seat of cushions, fingers finding their way to clutch at its backrest as she peered down at the woman. Ano had her fingers trailing softly through Seyda's white, spotted tail.
Kit was immediately envious. She wanted to touch it too.
"I know what you're doing and just know that if you're not careful, it will end badly for you," Ly called out from the kitchen, washing the dishes after dinner.
"Oh, relax, it's just a tail rub," Anoel spoke back, Kit's eyes glancing back and forth between the women before settling on Ano again.
"That's why I'm warning you now. Seyda's very picky and has sharp teeth," Ly returned calmly, sparing a moment to glance at the info-broker before shutting the dishwasher and turning the appliance on. "Touch the wrong bit and you bleed."
"I can deal with her if she wakes up annoyed, then. It's my fault anyway," Anoel said, meeting Kit's eyes before smiling. "Here, climb over, I'll get the tail out."
Kit slowly nodded her head, apprehension gleaming in her eyes as she placed her hands more firmly on the back of the couch and pushed her way over. With a little climbing and a rise of her tails, she softly stepped down onto the cushions next to Anoel and gently sat herself down.
As her legs folded beneath her again, tails encircling her lap, she watched Anoel's fingers run up Seyda's tail again and an immediate tingle worked its way through her own fur.
Arex's fingers always carried a heat to them, so she knew what Seyda must've been feeling right now…
"All it takes is a delicate touch," Anoel muttered in a whisper, Kit's ears rising further to pick up the breathless words as she watched deft hands dip beneath the tightly cuddled tail.
Little twitches flicked and curled the tip of it as the white, spotted fur gleamed in the light of the evening sun, flitting in response to the considerate touch. Anoel's fingers worked delicately away at the tight clutches holding the tail close, slipping beneath the confines of the tail and starting to sneak it out of Seyda's possessive arms and legs.
And before Kit could even start taking mental notes, Anoel's light fingers withdrew Seyda's tail, her hand drifting up the length of the appendage in a stroke of heat before scratching lightly beneath Seyda's chin.
Kit caught herself watching in awe as Seyda mewled in her sleep from both sensations, cuddling into the cushions as Ano stole away her only furred appendage.
Kit was impressed… and envious all over again. She wanted that treatment.
"Tada~" Anoel chimed, bringing a smile back to Kit as the girl sat staring in interest, a slight needy pout on her lips. "Funnily enough, the same stuff works on Arex. She just has sensitive ears. You know, if you ever wanted to take advantage of that."
Kit nodded, taking a very serious mental note of that before her eyes widened at a white tail getting draped over her lap.
"Here. I know you like soft things, so play with this one. Just be gentle with it," Anoel said again, and Kit's eyes slowly roamed over the fur laid out over her legs in wonder. Its weight was a little startling, actually.
Her tails were light and fluffy, the fur of it capable of actually fluttering in a slight breeze. But, this one felt dense, and it had a lot more fur and strength in it than her three combined.
She probably trained it that way, and it was probably also a trait of her heritage.
Kit wondered if it could pick her up…
"Go on. I know you've been sulking that Arex left, so this'll take your mind off your partner's absence."
A hot hand found its way between her ears atop her head, and Kit immediately closed her eyes in a silent mewl under the fingers scratching at the bases of her ears.
"Just like you sulk when I'm not in Vale. Seems you two have a lot in common, huh Ano?" Ly commented as she had just finished cleaning the kitchen, padding over to the back of the couch and leaning against it.
"Oh, I sulk a lot more than just that. You know how much I love it when I'm with you," Anoel teased back, her touch scratching further up Kitsuki's ears.
Kit revelled in the heated ear rubs as she let her legs loosely unfold, her socked feet slipping over the edge of the cushions and toward the floor as she leaned back. Her legs weren't long enough to reach the rug, so they just dangled over the side in her growing placidness.
A light touch found its way to her wrist as she relaxed, and she cracked her eyes open to see Ano's other hand moving hers to splay her delicate fingers through Seyda's fur in front of her.
Kit's hands immediately melted into the meditative confines of white softness, putting her own pressure into her gliding movements as they disappeared into the fluff.
"There you go…" Ano's voice spoke out again, and all Kit could do was focus on the bliss radiating through her twitching fox ears and the soft cover of fur between her fingers.
She was in a daze already, and before she knew it, there was a touch to her back gently ushering her forward. A warm palm rubbed between her slender shoulder blades and she found herself curling up. That touch quickly helped her lie down on the cushions before moving to pull her legs back onto the couch.
The hand drew them into a comfortable position as the ear massage continued, and Kit's eyes fluttered closed under the relaxing sensation of heat touching her skin.
That tail she was gently rubbing soon got tucked between her own arms and against her body. She couldn't help but curl up into it, wrapping her arms and legs around it before interlacing her own tails with it.
And that ear rub continued, even as her breathing grew softer and her eyes stayed closed.
The heated touch eventually lulled her to sleep.
"Okay, if you could open your mouth for me?"
Arex sat on a raised bed in the sterile environment of the hospital, hands down in her lap.
"I just wanna check your internal temperature to get a base reading."
She was facing another version of GHOST, this one decked out in a doctor's uniform as she wore a lab coat, stethoscope hanging around her neck, right on top of a tight, button-up shirt.
Arex's chin fell in another small nod before tipping up slightly, opening her mouth as asked as the doctor placed her index finger on the girl's pink tongue for a couple of seconds.
It didn't really occur to Arex until now that she hadn't been holding any kind of thermometer...
"Well, there's good news and bad news," she said quickly. "The good news is your temperature is completely fine, bad news is, you're a little dehydrated, so I'll get you a drink."
Arex slowly closed her mouth as soon as she could, lowering her chin again before seeing a cold glass of water offered to her.
"You determined that pretty fast for just touching my tongue," Arex commented idly, reaching her own hands out to accept the drink.
"Yeah, each finger has a series of highly accurate sensors on the pads, and considering my core is doing all the hard work, it doesn't take long to determine a result," GHOST explained as she let Arex take a sip. "You'll find that's the case for a lot of things here. Almost everything runs by me."
The phoenix soon nodded in appreciation to what was said, lowering the glass a bit to look back to the doctor model in front of her. "That's actually pretty efficient. Being able to diagnose through touch."
"It is, helps lessen uncomfortable exposure. Speaking of which, I need your finger," the doctor model replied distractedly as she gathered some tissues. "I need to do a quick blood test before you two can move on."
Arex grimaced a little at the prospect of a needle, but she gently raised one of her hands, offering it to be taken as she took a small breath. "S-Sure."
The doctor seemed to sense her uneasy tension and smiled sweetly. "There's no needles, I just need to prick the tip of your finger to take a little sample. You won't feel a thing."
Arex bit her lip a little, but she nodded in response to that.
It took some of that unease away.
GHOST's doctor frame crossed the room and pulled a wheeled chair with her after Arex's confirmation. She adjusted it to sit across from Arex, gently holding onto the girl's extended hand. "This might feel strange, but it's quick and painless, I promise. Feel free to close your eyes."
Despite Arex's curiosity, the girl hesitantly closed her eyes and waited. She felt her hand get raised for a moment, her index finger getting separated a bit from the others before she felt a numbing warmth start to surround the digit.
After a few seconds, a faint prick pushed into the tip of Arex's finger, but the warmth and that numbness kept it from feeling too sharp.
It was starting to get tingly, too.
Arex's brow subtly furrowed delicately on her face as she dipped her chin. That warmth around her finger closing gently around it before she felt a sucking sensation start to draw her blood out.
She couldn't help but suddenly open her eyes to see what was going on, eyes going wide as GHOST's doctor form had her mouth clasped around her fingertip.
Her hands keeping Arex's own raised in place, eyes closed in focus.
Arex's face immediately flushed red and she quickly dipped her chin back down, watching as the warm mouth encasing her finger pulled away.
The pinprick in her pale skin already healing.
"Okay, I got what I need. You okay? Any pain?" GHOST's doctor model asked courteously as her eyebrow quirked.
Arex took a few seconds before looking a little startled, realizing the face looking at her was growing worried.
"N-No."
Her voice came out in a broken and rushed squeak, but it was an answer.
"Okay, that's good. If you're wondering, my 'saliva' is a numbing antiseptic solution," the doctor said with a smile. "That's the cleanest finger you have right now."
Arex lightly curled it back into the rest of her hand, the numbness fading away as she let it fall back into her lap. "O-Okay, that's… good to know…"
The phoenix's voice came out in a shallow whisper, not really knowing what else to say.
"Huh… that's interesting…" the doctor model murmured to herself as she glanced toward a suddenly appearing holographic display next to the bed. "You have the same blood type as Ray... AB negative. That makes things easier."
Arex's drifting attention rose again at that as she looked up, eyes finding the graph her doctor was looking at. It was just a comparison of details between her body's blood and Ray's. "Y-Yeah… I guess it does."
The doctor model turned to look at her. "I don't want to treat you like a labrat, but… If it's okay with you, I'd like to study your anatomy further. Yours in particular is really unique and it's nothing like what we have in our database of other avian faunus."
The phoenix tried not to look too taken aback by that request, even though she definitely was. But she got some purposeful thoughts through her stupor as she nodded with a polite smile, actually intrigued by learning more about herself in that way.
"I'm fine with that. I'm actually curious what you'll find, since I've never really tried to explore it myself in the past."
Not that she was able to, with the tools she had.
"Thank you, we won't do anything today though. It'll have to be at a later date. I've already got a lot of tests in mind."
"Okay," Arex replied with a small nod, kicking her feet a little from where she sat. She was wondering if it was okay to stand yet. "It actually sounds like fun."
"We'll both learn from it, and it'll make fixing you up a lot easier," GHOST replied, smiling at the girl brightly. "You're free to go now."
Arex nodded to that again. It'd be useful for the both of them, and would settle her growing curiosity too about what made up her body.
All she really knew about herself was that her bones were hollow. And that was only due to Ano and her breaking them in the past.
With a quick hop, the phoenix pushed herself back to her feet and looked back to GHOST's doctor form, giving it a small appreciative smile.
"Thanks for the check up," Arex said, speaking lightly.
"Anytime, probably the first you've had in a while," the doctor replied cheerily. "But I guarantee it won't be the last."
Arex blinked silently at the guarantee at the end there, but nodded anyway to it. "I'll look forward to that too, then. And yeah, that… was actually the first check up I've had. I've never really needed one before, and I was always afraid to get one."
Avoiding the careful study of her body had always just been a reflex for her.
The model Arex was being escorted with quickly grabbed her hand. "It's not so bad, it'll keep you up to date on your body's health. We have Aura testing devices too, so we can look into that for you when we get the chance."
The light grasp only reminded Arex of what happened earlier when the doctor took a hold of her slim hand, but she quickly bit that thought back in favor of a small nod. "Y-Yeah… I've just never been a fan of the idea of them before. But this wasn't bad at all, really. I kind of liked it."
It was a little weird though.
"And yeah, if you get the chance, I'd appreciate that," Arex added. Her aura's always been one of her more obscure problems… especially with how directly related it was to her Affinity.
And that only succeeded in keeping her from experimenting with it, let alone with her semblance. She was afraid of seeing how that and her affinity actually interacted, in case one bled into the other.
"Hopefully shedding some insight on it will help you learn to control it better, but that's a question to be answered another day. Ray's getting bored," GHOST's gentle tugging became slightly more assertive as she escorted her to the elevator.
Arex's pace picked up at the little tug as it drew another nod out of her, falling back in line with GHOST's doctor frame to keep up. "I'd like that…"
When the doors ahead of them opened, their pace suddenly slowed down.
"Oh…" GHOST suddenly froze right before they entered the elevator. "We have a… visitor…"
Her face contorted into an expression of concern.
"That's not good… Ray hates visitors… particularly uninvited ones."
Arex's brow furrowed a little as she slowed to a stop inside, fingers distractly tapping against the hand that held them. "Isn't this place… underground? Really, really far underground?"
GHOST nodded, still staring into empty space. "This visitor happens to know exactly where to get in, she's knocking right now."
"Through… steel and stone…?" Arex asked incredulously, turning her gaze slowly to GHOST's distracted face.
"Yeah…" GHOST muttered. "That's the problem."
It honestly sounded like the real problem was the fact this visitor could just pop up whenever she wanted. "Y-You can go if you need to focus there. I can just wait around somewhere."
"You keep forgetting I have multiple bodies. I'm sending one up now, to see what she wants. In the meantime, we should probably go to the seventh level," GHOST said as her gaze returned to Arex. "The other levels aren't anything too special. It's just vehicle storage and the workshop, and the current forge."
The word 'forge' caught Arex's attention, but she still couldn't see past the look of concern on GHOST's face. It looked like things weren't going well upstairs.
"I can show you around those levels later on, if you're still around, or maybe at another time completely. But for now, I think it's about time I showed you the best level by far," GHOST grinned at Arex, revealing a set of perfectly straight, realistic looking teeth.
Arex smiled back, hoping GHOST wasn't covering for something that was happening up above. "Sounds good, I'd like to see them later. Especially the forge. But I'm interested in seeing what's on level 7… especially with what Ray said about it."
"Level 7 it is then," GHOST smiled as she pushed the button, the sliding doors closing before the elevator began its descent.
"This… won't go abnormally fast to get down a couple levels, would it?" Arex asked cautiously, staring warily down at her feet as the elevator started to move.
They'd only gone down one level at a time so far. She didn't know how it dealt with several at a time.
"It can go faster, but given what happened the first time, if you'd not like to lose your footing again, you'll just have to wait a little longer. We've got a good 4 kilometers to go," GHOST said, quirking a brow. "I can always hold you down though."
"O-Okay, but it can go that fast," Arex noted, smiling a little in thanks as she brought her gaze back up to GHOST. "I won't lie, though, I kind of like the weightless feeling of it. It was just startling at first."
"Then let's go faster," GHOST said as her grin widened, the AI's hair already starting to float freely as the elevator quickly accelerated.
Arex's grip on GHOST's hand suddenly grew tighter as she felt her frame start to lose any weight it had with the floor. The phoenix's eyes immediately gazed back down to watch the elevator floor fall away again, her body slowly floating off the balls of her feet.
She couldn't help it. She loved this feeling.
Free falling.
"Having fun?" GHOST raised her voice as the rushing of air beneath the elevator became increasingly louder as it continued accelerating.
Arex happily nodded to that, smile widening as she tugged slightly on GHOST's hand to pull herself back down, only to start floating up again.
"Have you ever considered building a chamber designed to have this effect?" Arex couldn't help but ask, feeling a little excited at the idea.
They had the space for it.
GHOST shook her head, her voice raising in volume to become audible over the updraft of wind. "No, but you could always try jumping from the top of the cave system."
"Oh, can I do that?" Arex asked in return, dropping her gaze back to GHOST in its growing excitement.
"So long as you don't hit anything on the way down, I'm sure you'll be okay to try it."
Arex's smile grew at that.
The elevator had began to slow down now, nearing the seventh level. So Arex was a little disappointed when she found herself getting grounded again.
"I would tell you to prepare yourself… but you're not ready for this."
The AI's gaze left Arex's confused one and focused on the elevator doors as the compartment smoothly glided down to a halt.
When the doors opened, they were met with a long, dimly lit corridor, blinking lights running intermittently on the floor as it led to a large bulkhead.
Above the bulkhead, there was a large, backlit sign.
'Central Processing'.
"After you," GHOST instructed, gesturing toward the bulkhead door.
Arex glanced back at the AI. After staring down the corridor for so long, her once loose grip on the girl's hand tightened again as she realized where they were.
"This is… your core… isn't it…?" Arex asked softly.
GHOST's smile widened further as they approached the heavy metal door, hydraulic whirring soon resonating throughout the structure before it slowly opened.
Arex just held her breath, turning her eyes forward again as her eyes tried to peer through the widening slit before it could open completely.
She was about to see GHOST's Central Processing unit…
Her heart.
It was… huge… bigger than the phoenix thought it would be, and way bigger than any of the levels they'd been on before.
The room they were greeted to only appeared to be an observation deck, but Arex's eyes were focused solely on what pulsed at its center in the distance through the thick glass.
A giant, metallic sphere laid at the epicenter of the core's overall structure, massive cables and pipes all symmetrically running to and from the middle of the wide area as a large blue light illuminated the rest of the huge, wide-open space.
Electrical energy surged across uncovered coils in plasmatic rings, arcing toward the core itself with a slow, but mesmerising singing.
No wonder why GHOST was so powerful…
Especially if this was the size of her processing unit.
"You're late," a deep, monotonous voice called out from inside the observation deck. "I thought you'd be here half an hour ago."
Arex was still watching the energy course through the cables connecting to GHOST's heart, too drawn in to feel bad about being late at all.
Not that she knew she was supposed to be here any earlier.
GHOST just wanted to stop and suck on her finger- or, medically check her over.
"Sorry about that, we were preoccupied with something," GHOST replied, turning her gaze to the boy sitting down in the swivel chair below them, sneakers crossed and resting on a desk.
"I guess it doesn't matter," Ray muttered, adjusting himself on the swivel chair he sat in. "Enjoying the view, Arex?"
The phoenix found herself numbly nodding in response to that, but it was more of a reflex than anything else.
"Told you this would be your favorite level."
"Y-Yeah…" Arex muttered back, barely audible over the whirring of energy. She was mesmerized, so GHOST had to give her some kind of direction to actually start moving.
The AI led Arex down a catwalk before letting her walk down a set of steps, the pathway leading to the glass floor and wall of the observation deck.
"Three years it took to research and build. Pretty impressive compared to those scumbag idiot savants at Atlas," Ray commented idly as he sipped a glass of orange juice. "I'm still not satisfied though, we could go bigger."
Arex glanced up at the enormous metallic core as Ray said that, watching it pulse and hum for a few moments in idle thought. "It's already really big… But I wouldn't mind seeing GHOST's heart get bigger over time."
Ray hummed to himself thoughtfully. "You're right. Maybe I could build a second one. I'm sure I can source 25 billion lien to fund it again."
Arex slowly let out a pent up breath as he spoke, eyes never leaving the glow of the core. "Can I be a part of that?"
"Sure, if you can withstand the surge. There's a reason we're up here and not down there. And it's got nothing to do with the view."
"I can withstand it," Arex promised, but all she really knew was that she was willing to withstand whatever it took to help on a project like this.
Especially if it was for GHOST.
"You can withstand enough voltage to kill a thousand men?" Ray asked amusedly. "Or is this you finally biting the bullet and caving?"
Arex winced at how much voltage that was, but she offered a sure smile in response to it. "Is it… really alright if I joined Sentinel?"
She just… wanted that final confirmation. Just to make sure.
"11 million lien, access to the most powerful Artificial Intelligence on the planet, and a private tour of Sentinel's headquarters wasn't enough of a hint for you?" Ray asked, eyeing the girl critically.
Arex's smile turned sheepish as she lightly grasped her arm, turning her gaze way. "No, I guess not…"
She brought her gaze back to the window beyond the desk surrounding them, finding the core through it again as she took a deep breath.
"But I'd like to join, if you'd let me."
A deep breath left Ray's mouth as he stood from his chair. "Finally…"
He looked to GHOST critically for a moment before rolling his eyes.
"Go on then."
Arex was quickly jostled from her reverie as a pair of slim but strong arms wrapped around her body, drawing a startled squeak from her throat. A weight on her shoulder settled as the AI's head nestled there.
"You are, by far, the most stubborn recruit I've tried to take on board, you know that, right?" Ray asked as he crossed the observation deck behind them.
The phoenix offered an awkward chuckle at that as she reached up, resting her hand on one of GHOST's encompassing arms with a small smile. "I'm… not very good with attention, if you haven't noticed. Sorry I took so long."
"More like you're completely oblivious to your surroundings..."
GHOST took her head away from Arex's shoulder to turn and face Ray. "I… may have completely forgotten to mention to you that we… have a visitor?"
A sudden tense silence filled the room as Ray stared back at the AI wordlessly.
"You forgot to mention this?" he asked skeptically. "You're an AI, you don't forget anything."
"I was preoccupied…"
"Preoccupied," Ray echoed as he blinked in response.
The AI hesitantly nodded her head before her grip on Arex loosened. "If it's any consolation, I can escort them down here now, since she says she wants to speak with you."
"So what? I'm supposed to wait for an uninvited trespasser?" Ray countered, raising his arms and shaking his head in disbelief.
"There's no need to wait. I'm already here."
Arex was the only one to jump a little at the sudden appearance of someone in her peripherals, a woman's new voice speaking out into the observation room.
She had what looked to be a white yukata with black edges, which was already a stark contrast to the dark, dimly lit room around her.
And when Arex glanced at her, she immediately noticed three things. White hair, fox ears, and nine tails…
She was a kitsune.
The woman's attire contained her refined, voluptuous figure, something Arex suddenly felt a little put off to even keep looking at as she traced the elegant black flame patterns adorning the ends of the garment and ends of its sleeves.
Around her waist was a black sash keeping her yukata together, where its ends dangled off towards the left side of her waist. Her footwear was a simple pair of what looked to be black tabi socks and silvery zori sandals.
Arex having only known what they actually were due to researching the attire for a cultural festival held in Vale one night.
She never got around to attending, though.
The woman in question had elegant flowing white hair that reached her waist, longer than what Arex was expecting, and crimson red eyes that gave off an illustrious, almost seductive shine to them.
The two ears Arex noticed earlier seemed to flick idly as her tails stood up behind her proudly.
She looked like she could've been Inuba's older sister, just much more mature in figure and age.
As they stood there, though, Arex suddenly felt… very underdressed.
Considering she was just standing in her thin olive light sweater and black sweatpants, shuffling in her sneakers as she stared at the woman before them.
"Who the fuck are you?" Ray's face contorted in anger before his gaze snapped to GHOST. "You let a fucking kitsune in here? Are you malfunctioning?"
Arex jumped again at the other unexpected words and tone, switching her gaze back and forth between the two before realizing she should probably stay out of this. If she could.
"Now now, don't be so upset with the poor girl. I did sense your presence in the area and decided to come greet you myself, considering you weren't present last time," she spoke in a calming, soothe voice.
"Oh yeah, that's wonderful. You just decided to walk in here, did you?" Ray retaliated aggressively. "Not sure if you haven't noticed, but this place isn't exactly a fucking public park."
"Yes, I realized as much with all these… strange machines lying about. But considering the young lady and I are fast friends by now, I have been planning activities for us. After all, what are we to do here in the area by our lonesome selves? I believe the saying goes that with two people involved, there's much more fun to be had!"
Arex… only really heard that from Anoel. But she had a feeling this woman wasn't talking about Anoel's version of 'fun'.
Ray dropped his head into his hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is the last thing I needed today… an encounter with two of them."
With a deep breath, he returned his gaze back to the stranger. Arex actually tensed up when it passed over her for a brief second, something that brought her to step a little back and off to the side.
"From what I understand, you weasled your way in here by forcing her into a position that left her no choice but to let you in. Talking some shit about checking it out for 'suspicious activities'. That's not 'making friends', that's the definition of blackmail."
"Now now, no such thing was done. To be fair, she did seem a bit… peculiar. It wasn't the first time I've seen those of her kind, and just to be safe, I followed her here to ascertain the matter for myself. After all, my family hasn't survived throughout the millennia simply by grace and good standing."
"Yeah, well sorry to burst your little self-absorbed bubble there, your majesty. But who exactly gave you the authority to stalk my AI, break into our home, and melt my fucking turret?" Ray was spitting sarcasm at this point, clearly less than pleased with the situation. "Doesn't matter if she looks odd to you, it's not your place to do as you damn well please."
"To be fair, it pointed at me rather quickly. Reflexive action really. My apologies for destroying your machine," she said, bowing briefly.
"It pointed at you because you were breaking in," Ray enunciated slowly, condescendingly. "Did you not stop to think that this place isn't the kind of facility you just walk into? What? Do you break into maximum security prisons to say hello to the inmates too?"
"Ah, I did something similar in my youth quite a few years ago."
Youth? Arex grimaced again as she realized she was probably wrong earlier. How old was she? She looked like she was in her twenties… or supposed to be.
"It was a wonderful night… But to answer your first non-sarcastic question, for all I knew, you could have very well been some mad doctor planning unfathomable destruction and diabolical schemes. As they say, better safe than sorry."
Ray let out a growl as he threw his arms in the air. "It's like speaking to a brick wall with you idiots, isn't it?"
He quickly returned his venomous gaze toward the woman.
"Clearly your mouth is faster than your brain, so I'll break this down slowly for you to understand. Your nonsensical suspicions don't justify breaking and entering."
"They can when under suspicion of potentially dangerous situations without prior knowledge to say otherwise. Besides, that was one instance. I knocked this time, didn't I?"
"Oh yeah, you break into my home and destroy my stuff, but it's okay because you said sorry!" Ray was kind of rubbing it in now. "You're a fucking moron. Get out of my Vault."
"Now now, there's no need to be overly angry. If it helps, I'll compensate you for the single machine I destroyed the next time I enter Vale. And look, I brought potato and beef stew for everyone!"
A large red stew pot suddenly appeared steaming in her hand.
"I made it myself, so it should be very appealing to your senses."
It wasn't until then that Arex realized they'd left without eating much from dinner, so she was actually pretty hungry...
"Well congratulations, you boiled meat and vegetables in water, still doesn't mean I want you here. You and your piece of shit family can go fuck yourselves. And tell that asshole Dante to do the same."
The stew actually looked and smelled really good.
"My, you're energetic. Is he always so full of energy?" The woman asked, looking to GHOST.
"Don't involve me. I'm just a neutral third party…" The AI returned, raising her hands defensively.
Can… can GHOST speak for Arex too on that part?
"And now that I mention it, so is she," GHOST's thumb pointed toward the phoenix standing beside her, chasing a relieved but tight breath out of Arex's lungs.
The kitsune turned to look at Arex upon that gesture though and slowly approached, stopping a few feet short of her before she looked around her. Examining her.
Arex's body immediately went rigid under the careful gaze.
"Now this is interesting… I wasn't aware of other yōkai present… Would you perhaps be a crow tengu of sorts?"
Arex was almost afraid to say anything in fear of nothing coming out but a quiet squeak, but she swallowed that urge down and just paled instead. "I-I… don't know what that is..."
"Hmmm… You have wings, but it seems as though you may not be a yōkai… It looks as though I've much to learn."
"Yeah… like how to respect others' privacy…" Ray commented to himself.
Arex's eyes went a little wide before her body felt stiff all over again, wanting to lock up under the woman's perspective attention.
S-She could… see her wings?
"Y-You can see them?" Arex asked softly, voice meek.
"But of course I can sweet child. My eyes see quite much. Those that are, what lies beneath, so forth and so on. They're also excellent in identifying imposters and non-human entities."
Ray crossed the room to put himself between Arex and the woman while the poor phoenix shrunk in discomfort. "But clearly they're not capable of seeing that she's uncomfortable."
"Oh, I mean you no harm, young Arex. My daughter speaks highly of you from what little interaction she's had with you. In fact, she seemed interested in attempting to know you better to become friends."
S-So, she was Inuba's mom… then…
Arex didn't really know if that made her feel better or not.
"S-She's nice, but I didn't know she wanted to," Arex offered back, finally managing to glance up to the woman's face, but she reflexively glanced to her fox ears as well.
"Would you like to touch them? They're very soft if I do say so myself."
"Would you like to get the hell out of here?" Ray cut in, Arex's response dying behind her closing lips. "Your welcome is more than overstayed."
"Only if you try my stew, young Chroma. The rest of you as well. I made quite enough for everyone here. Afterwards, should I seek to socialize with young Ghost from here on, I will ask her to come to the manor instead. If you would allow it, of course."
"She doesn't need to eat. But given the fact that unlike Dante, you're capable of reason, sure. She can see you if she wants to," Ray replied evenly.
"Wonderful!" the woman said with excitement in her tone. "But permit me to ask, has young Dante done something to provoke you? I'd be a little disappointed if he started misbehaving after I asked him to be on his best behavior."
"Do not get me fucking started. Both him and your daughter are very quickly putting themselves on my shitlist. But you're also a part of the same damn cluster so you can get fucked as well," Ray replied harshly as he spun on his heel and walked toward the exit. "Arex, you and GHOST do whatever you were planning. I'll catch up with you later."
"Ah, leaving so soon? I suppose you are a busy young man… We'll leave some stew for you as well, but I can't make any promises really. It really is quite that good!"
Ray regarded her with a neutral gaze, his eyes briefly flicking to Arex and GHOST for a moment before he silently inhaled.
"Sure..."
"Wonderful!"
He was pissed.
Arex's eyes were low and unsure as Ray walked off, disappearing down the dim corridor up the stairs as the phoenix felt the attention shift back to them.
At least GHOST was with her… even though the AI probably wasn't going to have any of the stew.
Which kinda just left Arex there to try it.
Alone.
"I-I take it we should probably eat somewhere that isn't coursing with energy?" Arex asked softly, looking to GHOST before turning back to the woman in front of them.
"Unless there's a kitchen or dining hall present, we can escape to the manor briefly for recourse," the woman offered.
"I'd prefer that you didn't eat here, spilling it on any of these consoles would kill me…" GHOST replied, somewhat uncomfortably as she kicked the floor. "There's a dining table on level 2, though."
"That will do then. Come now younglings, we've to celebrate our new acquaintance!"
Arex… wasn't sure how she felt about the woman's enthusiasm, and she still didn't even know her name yet.
She was afraid to ask.
Uncomfortable eyes finally turned to GHOST before Arex hesitantly held out her hand at her side, hoping the AI would just take it without question.
Like they'd been doing for the tour.
She… kind of needed it right now.
GHOST's hand slipped into Arex's and grasped it tightly, squeezing it a little before the AI smiled.
The phoenix returned it for a brief second, but it fell when the AI started tugging her forward and up the stairs to follow the woman with the stew.
It smelled promising, at least.
"You… asked if I was a crow tengu because I had wings," Arex spoke quietly after GHOST caught them up, her hand tightly squeezing the AI's grip. "Have you never seen avian faunus before?"
"Not coming here I haven't, no. You could say we've… lived in a secluded manner. We're still learning of the alternate species that are identified as Faunus. The variety of beings I know of that possess wings however are either crow, dragon, or devil. Yet yours are different. They seem to radiate with a powerful, yet gentle warmth. Different than a crow tengu really."
"I… honestly thought you were a faunus, too. I guess I was mistaken," Arex replied, the three of them approaching a closed set of elevator doors ahead of them.
She liked the sound of how the woman described her, though. She just… wished she knew how to always keep it gentle.
She didn't care if it was powerful.
"I honestly wouldn't say you're mistaken, really. Back home, others only recently discovered the existence of our people. Yōkai I mean. And they had a very positive reaction. Considering we're here now, it's more… natural, since as far as we've learned, Faunus have been a common people present. So in truth, it would be accurate to say that I am a Faunus."
Arex couldn't help but note the 'back home' the woman talked about, making it sound like she didn't originate from here. From Remnant.
But, with her being a yōkai, it made more sense that she came from somewhere else than was born of Remnant descent.
Which only raised Arex's curiosity about her partner. Kit was born here… wasn't she?
Arex's gaze soon drifted away though, envious of how people seemed to react to the woman's kind. "Oh, well, at least it was positive…" she trailed off softly.
If only it was the same here.
"From what I've understood, Faunus kind has had some difficulty concerning interactions with humans."
"Yeah… you could say that," Arex replied, not wanting to get into that part of her life.
"While it is troubling, I am glad to see there are humans sensible enough to see past such terribly misguided fears. What is there to fear really?"
"Superstition has occurred regarding faunus for hundreds, maybe thousands of years," GHOST commented, finally involving herself in the conversation. "No one really knows what caused the stigma between the two races, but it's always been there."
"Then we yōkai and Faunus are much alike in that regard. While we did interact a great deal with humans within previous millennia, with recent centuries, we simply faded into legends and myths. And the tales they spoke of our kind…" she said with a giggle. "Most were very humorous. Others, not so much. But when we revealed ourselves to them again centuries later, instead of fear, they welcomed us with intrigue. A desire to know and understand us more. I certainly hope humanity can do the same here as well."
"So do we, but we have our methods of trying to dissuade discrimination," GHOST spoke informatively. "Even if they're universally frowned upon."
Arex just walked quietly beside GHOST as the AI spoke, hoping to keep out of this one. She was a fan of them trying to find a way to dissuade discrimination, but it was never fun to know so much was already taken at the brunt of it.
She hid her wings for that very reason, among the simple escape of keeping her real race hidden.
"Perhaps we Faunus require our moment of opportunity. Our chance to finally prove once and for all that we're very much alike. Each of us share many similar woes and fears. And each of us share many similar joys and happiness. Should a chance ever arrive, I'm certain such negative outlooks will fade away."
Arex liked the optimism, but she knew they were far, far away from ever achieving that. The world was at peace, but inner-species turmoil never ended.
And Arex had a feeling it wouldn't end unless another war broke out.
One that brought out a common enemy, instead of just each other.
"Young Arex?" the woman asked. "You've been silent for some time now. Come, tell us more about yourself."
Oh… guess she couldn't avoid the conversation forever.
The phoenix quietly mulled over what she wanted to say, eyes turning back to the woman's gaze. But she just settled on changing the topic as quickly as possible.
"There isn't much to say, really," Arex replied, the three of them coming to a stop as the elevator worked its way back to their level. "But… I guess I'm not really like other faunus. Not in the normal sense."
That simple fact was proven when Arex's race was hunted to near extinction.
'Near', considering she didn't know if there were any left at all… outside she and her sister.
"Mmmm… You must tell me more when we settle down for lunch. I'm quite interested in knowing more about you now."
The elevator seemed to punctuate her sentence with a soft ding, doors sliding to open the way into the empty compartment.
Arex instinctively followed the woman inside with GHOST keeping close to her arm, the phoenix keeping her gaze in places away from the woman ahead of them.
"You wouldn't be the first," Arex replied, turning to see the doors close behind them. "You never mentioned your name yet. All I know is that you're Inuba's mom."
Which was kind of hard to believe, considering how well age had seemed to treat the woman.
"Ah! I'm terribly sorry for my lack of manners. I was too caught up in making a new acquaintance I forgot to introduce myself."
She shifted the red pot to one hand briefly, clearing her throat before she spoke.
"My name is Kareina Kitsukami. Very pleased to make your acquaintance at last."
*internally and externally stressed* I need to work on Flame...
As for the chapter, it was more on the Vault, more reinforcement to the positive relationship GHOST and Arex share, a display of how much Ray hates Kitsune, and another omake!
*glances future chapters* Needs more Niro...
For now, Favorite and Follow.
I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.
Cya XP
Omake: by Xera Stark
"Open your mouth."
Arex squirmed, desperation and discomfort writhing on her face and through her entire body as she tightly clasped her legs around her sandwiched hands.
"W-Why?"
"So I can take your temperature."
Her shying gaze turned to see Niro hold up a covered white thermometer, her tongue pushing at her cheeks as she kept her lips tightly clasped together.
She didn't want to. Nobody would want to.
He wasn't even being nice about it…
"There are other places I can stick this," Niro muttered distractedly, and Arex's eyes shot wide as she watched him carefully and casually remove the encasement around the medical device.
"O-Okay! F-Fine…" Arex's voice quivered in the air as her body shook from nerves alone, her lower lip and jaw quivering as she slowly parted her lips.
Her pink tongue practically trembled from the touch of the stale air as Niro nodded to himself, lightly sticking the thermometer into the girl's mouth to dip beneath her tongue.
"Hold it there for thirty seconds. Should get an accurate reading," he muttered again, her wracked mind thankful that he had that much decency in him to keep his voice low. "Don't make me have to do it again."
Her mouth snapped shut and she shook her head quickly, lips sealing around the plastic device as her eyes turned down to watch its end flick back and forth from her movements.
"You have a small mouth…"
Arex choked on a hum at his idle comment as her eyes snapped back to him, but he wasn't looking at her. Back to looking at a large scroll tablet.
He was playing a game on it.
She, on the other hand, sat absolutely still, petrified to move now and mess up the reading.
And god did those thirty seconds crawl by. She was in agony by the time it beeped.
She was quivering again as he reached over and lightly pulled the thermometer out, her lips parting just slightly to get the uncomfortable thing out from beneath her tongue.
It was sensitive like that.
"Okay. Blood's next."
Arex's entire body locked up as her back stiffened, her mouth falling open in a breathless stutter with no words even voiced.
O-Oh god no…
The smallest of needles lifted into view and Arex's skin ran cold, his pale finger flicking at the vial attached to the back of the sharp device before his green eyes turned to her.
N-No… no no no no no-
She tried to scurry back on the medical bed, hands planting clumsily and desperately into the matted surface as she pushed and managed to get her legs up.
But a hand pressed down onto her shoulder as soon as she did, locking her against its cold surface.
"It won't hurt. I promise."
Like she'd believe that?! A whimper left her throat as she squeezed her eyes closed, her entire body shaking all over again as the pressure grew in the hand he was using to hold her down.
Seconds ticked by, and she was going mad with nerves. Her skin had never felt colder than it did now, and her mind was rushing up a storm as her dangling feet trembled and her fingers squeezed tight.
But that pressure on her shoulder left her, nothing holding her down anymore as the air she'd been breathing chilled.
H-He walked away…?
Her eyes cracked open just enough to see an empty space above her, and when she leaned up, she saw him setting down a partially filled vial of blood back onto the tray.
H-Her blood? He… took some already…?
She didn't even feel it…
"Told you." His voice was even, but somehow, her worried eyes caught sight of a look of mild concern on his face.
Before it vanished back to neutrality.
Like it always did.
"Okay. Time for a physical."
W-WHAT?!
"Strip."
Arex fell back onto the table.
Then curled up into the smallest ball she could muster.