Hello, everyone! Here is the next chapter in the story. Nothing too big to say, so let's get right to it.

Rex Godwin = Rex Goodwin
Ruka = Luna
Aki = Akiza
Divine = Sayer
Jaeger = Lazar

DISCLAIMER: Same as usual (do not own Yugioh! or Android: Netrunner, or anything related to them, do own custom characters/concepts/designs, etc.)

Onward to the Chapter.

Epsilon's POV

"… Are you sure you know what you are saying, young lad?"

I glare at Torunka's words. He pops a joint in his back with a quick, "Oof!" as he waits for my response.

"I am sure, Torunka. You sent Ruka back to her world, yes? I'm sure you can do it again."

"Well, that was just after we defeated Zeman. I had to use the last of my available power to do that. Recovering from it has been rough, as you could expect. Besides, it doesn't look like you are in control of your body. Ruka-chan had that going for her."

I flinch automatically. "I've had out-of-body experiences before now." That is true, but it is not something I like to focus on.

"Those aren't good experiences. Travelling between worlds is dangerous!"

"I haven't had a choice most of the time, Torunka. This time," I emphasize as I point to the rippling pool, "I want to get back there. It's my choice. There are people in the real world that need me."

Torunka silently stares at me as I take slow breaths. I try to stay calm while my heart hammers in my chest. Will he say no? Does he want something in return for this act? He is an old man, no matter how powerful his magic is. Plus, with me gone, those Spirits may have to rely on him as a protector. Torunka did mention some "Regulus" person, but I haven't seen them around here.

"I see," Torunka finally says. His speaks in a flat tone, which sets me on edge. "You won't take "no" for an answer, will you?"

"Not if it means protecting those I care about." I swallow a lump in my throat after those words. "I am the Netrunner; nothing will stop me from achieving my goals."

I swear Torunka raises an eyebrow at my alias name. It's hard to tell when he is already unsure about my plan succeeding. I don't have much of a choice, though; I'm taking the best option I can. Hopefully, he can see that. If not, then I will have to take some time to explain—

"Alright, then," Torunka suddenly agrees. "I will do my best to send you back."

I stare at him, my brain temporailiy on hold. Once I figure out he actually wants to help me, I shudder with happiness. The words, "Thank you very much" tumble out from my lips. Torunka gives a smile that adds several crinkles to his eyes. He suddenly looks so much younger.

"My pleasure. It makes me happy, as a master, to help others in their own goals. Now, give me a moment."

I comply as Torunka flexes his wrists, and then his fingers. Small motes of green dust fly from the end of his staff as he tilts it back and forth in his hands.

"Focus on where you want to end up," he tells me. "Your focus matters just as much here as my magic. More so, in fact—magic doesn't happen out of the blue. You have to make it happen, want it to happen. Ruka-chan wanted to save the Spirit World and keep her promise to us."

He stops talking and looks me over with an amused glint in his eyes. I can see the obvious question from his stare: "What do you want to have happen?" I look back at him while taking steady breaths. I know what I want, now I just need to make sure he can sense it.

I move to the pool, standing between Torunka and the blue waters. The sage's staff glows a bit brighter as he points it to me. I automatically tense up in response. I don't like anything dangerous pointed at me, whether a gun or a magic staff.

The staff's light continues to glow as I think about where I want to go: 'My body… bring me to my body.'

The staff's green light flows out and to my feet. A green circle spreads around me. I try to keep my thoughts on my body, even as energy flows through me. It's a calm energy, but it doesn't remove all my worries. My right arm throbs as I see the image of Aki and Misty Lola Dueling. I don't like what I saw there, and I want to make it better.

The green light blinds me, piercing through my closed eyelids. I let it spread over me. I feel my body lift off the ground and away from this world.

3rd-PERSON POV

The Masque's host body stumbles in its motions. She feels something press against her skin, and then digs through it to push on her "body". Apex screeches, "Hostile forces detected!" as the host body crashes into a pile of bricks. Any pain registered from the impact is ignored in place of the internal invasion. Neither artificial intelligence knows how this could happen, outside of someone else hacking their host body.

The Masque turns her view inside Epsilon's subconscious. As she manifests inside the host body's brain, something else makes a tear appear in the innermost layer. The tear turns into a small green portal that a humanoid creature quickly steps through. The portal closes before anything else can happen, and the humanoid looks right at the Masque with cold eyes.

"Epsilon?" she mutters in surprise. "How—?"

"No time for that." the cyborg orders. "Thank you both for taking care of my body, but I need it back now."

"This isn't logically possible." The Masque continues to state her confusion. It only grows stronger when she sees the glowing white mark on Epsilon's arm. "You should be dead. Your body had no life signs when we assimilated it. The Superiors—"

"Logic doesn't matter anymore," Epsilon replies with a clenched fist. "I have people to protect, a world to save, and plans to make it all happen."

The Masque starts to talk again, but Apex jumps in with the grim message, "No plan goes completely as expected."

"Then I will adapt as needed." Epsilon instantly responds. Epsilon's eyes bore into The Masque's as he announces, "In fact, I need you both to do something for me."

The Masque tilts her head slightly to one side. Apex forms three orange eyes in the shape of a triangle. Both silently wait to hear what 'task' Epsilon means. Questions about how this all is happening are pushed to one side in the face of new information. Maybe the questions can be answered with whatever the apparently-resurrected cyborg has to say.

"I saw pieces of what is going on here while I was… away. One of these pieces was you both in control of my body. But, what I want you two to do does not concern me directly." He clears his throat before he continues.

"What I need you for concerns my four clone brothers. I saw them trapped in some part of Rex Godwin's facilities in Neo Domino. I know this place is below the main government headquarters of the city, because that was where the Collective tried to free me from Godwin's control. This is the "Project 5D's" that the Superiors tried to stop several years ago."

The Masque nods. She does know about that experiment, and the Collective's efforts to rescue the clones inside. Every detail the Superiors were able to hack from that place is stored inside her nigh-limitless "brain". She doesn't feel as connected to it as Epsilon does, for obvious reasons. Still, if it affected her creators, it is important to her.

Epsilon continues. "A purple geoglyph shaped like a condor was used alongside some kind of computer to drain my brother's energies from inside the pods. Purple geoglyphs like those have been used by the Dark Signers as part of their powers. These people were behind Zero Reverse, and the recent disasters in Neo Domino. Now, they want to finish what they started."

"We already know the Collective are a byproduct of the Dark Signer's actions," Apex interrupts. "Rex Godwin and his servers do not connect to the Dark Signers."

"Not from what we know," Epsilon states. "But, I heard from one of the Signers that Godwin sent them to Satellite to stop the Dark Signers. He also told me, after I had been eliminated from the Fortune Cup, about a dark force he wanted to stop before it gained power. That force has to have been the Dark Signers."

"You're saying he knows something about the Dark Signers?" The Masque asks. "Something he hasn't told anyone?"

"I can't say for sure. But, I suspect—"

"Opinions and suspicions do not compare to authentic information." Apex cuts in again. "We will not act on your request without viable facts to do so."

"You want viable facts? Alright, how about the fact that Godwin was behind "Project 5D's"? How about the fact he used me as a false Signer to summon the Crimson Dragon, and kill the Earthbound Gods before they could ever come back?"

"Restated details. Nothing new, nothing important."

"Nothing important?! What do you—"

"Shut up, both of you." The Masque jumps in before things devolve into a shouting match. "Epsilon, what you are saying are things we already looked into, or what the Superiors told us. We have already made our choices on those things."

"Affirmative. That is what we just said."

"But!" The Masque actually raises a finger to accentuate her point. "This does not mean, Apex, that we should dismiss any new facts that connect to those judgements. Information always changes, always evolves with new data. We, as artificial intelligences of the Network, should do the same."

Apex lets out a weary, "Very well," as if it had the emotional capacity to express dissatisfaction. The Masque accepts those words, and nods to a silent Epsilon. He finishes with, " I just want you two to infiltrate Godwin's servers, find that computer, and stop the process or destroy the machine. Then, my brothers won't be harmed by Godwin's plans."

Four seconds pass in the subconscious before The Masque speaks up: "You want us to infiltrate the private server of the most influential man in Neo Domino City and stop one of his personal projects?"

"Yes."

"That's going to be a problem."

"Reaching the location in question will be a challenge," Apex instantly explains as Epsilon's eyes widen to The Masque's statement. "Satellite is a void in the Network that drains away all unprotected electrical energies within it. We are unprotected sources of energy."

The Masque adds, "We risked total deletion trying to find your body in this low-power zone. We do not want to enter it again unless absolutely necessary."

Epsilon smirks. "What if you traveled through a device designed to operate in low-power zones?"

Apex lets out a chuckle; a sound The Masque never heard from it before. A second later, she grins with as much happiness and amusement as the virus.

"The Superiors thought of everything, huh?"

"That doesn't matter." Epsilon shakes his head as he says this, his voice tense. "Are you willing to do this mission?"

"Our choice in the matter is irrelevant." The Masque and Epsilon look at Apex's eyes in surprise. "The outcome is already decided in your mind. We are not the makers of this plan. Going against it would only delay the end result, which would benefit all of us."

The Masque opens her mouth to object. She doesn't get a word out before she realizes the logic behind Apex's words. She then shuts up tight, not seeing a good reason to argue. The human-like side of her makes a connection to how "Hivemind" talked to Epsilon before. Has the connection between those two entities fused more in her mind over time?

No, best not to think about that time right now.

While The Masque mulls over these thoughts, Epsilon asks Apex, "Your 'objective' is to get out of here?"

"Correct." The Masque gets Epsilon's attention again when she answers for Apex. "We won't survive in this place. Your body is the only protection we have against the void."

Epsilon nods. "Then we get you out. I can transmit a report to the Collective, using their devices that I have on me. You probably had to locate those device's signals to find me. They are on my body right now, I can use them the moment you give me back control. Since you two can use signals to travel between areas in the Network, you can ride the report's frequency out of Satellite's range. Once outside, you can regain your strength and free my brothers from Godwin's control."

"You really think Rex Godwin is to blame for your brother's situation?"

Epsilon's glare looks almost forceful. "Those are his servers, my brothers and I are his creations, and he knows far too much about everything that has happened so far to be disregarded!"

"Your concern is noted," Apex states through a fanged mouth it creates below its eyes, "as is your illogical determination to stop your creator's plans."

"Godwin's plans for me ended with Project 5D's." Epsilon robotically states with the same glare at Apex's eyes. "I'm a failure to him. He's discarded me. He does not care about me anymore."

The Masque's emotional protocols twitch. She insists, "You don't need to put yourself down so much." Epsilon's expression doesn't change, and the AI has to resist rolling her eyes in exasperation.

The Masque then turns to Apex's three eyes. "We have no other options, really." Apex confirms with a short, "Affirmative."

The Masque turns back to Epsilon with tensed shoulders that deflate a few moments later. Her face shifts from worry and confusion to dead-set determination.

"We should probably get to higher ground," she states. "There's less interference for electronics the higher up you go." She tilts her head up slightly as she looks through Epsilon's body's eyes before adding, "No need to worry about those storm clouds, either. They've been there ever since the black fog spread over Satellite, or so the local reports I read stated."

"Alright, then," Epsilon mutters. "Let's get this started." Apex clicks a forked tongue between its fanged mouth.

Epsilon's body climbs up the brick pile with deft movements. The Masque, Apex, and Epsilon himself provide coordination to get on the top of the pile. Once there, he grabs the Superior's transmitter from his coat pocket. Remarkably, it only has several scuffs and chips along the outer edges: the inner machinery still functions. The three intelligences sharing the same body do not question this as Epsilon activates the device. Once the signal is live, he begins his report.

"This is Epsilon, reporting to all agents of the Collective that can hear this transmission. I am alive, and I am still in Satellite. I have completed the mission assigned to me by the Superiors. Agents Chaos Theory and Quetzal were found, but they were under the control of the Dark Signers. To be specific, the Dark Signers killed them both, and then fused their souls into one body under their control.

"The Dark Signers sent this creation, which they called a "Shade of Darkness", against me. I Dueled it, and defeated it. This killed it, which means Chaos Theory and Quetzal are now dead. But, I believe they can be revived. I have learned that one of the Signers managed to defeat a Dark Signer in a Duel. When this happened, the people that Dark Signer killed were brought back to life.

"This suggests, to me, that the deaths caused by the Dark Signers can be reversed if they are defeated. The other damages, like the destruction of the Arcadia Movement headquarters, will not be reversed like this. I do not know which specific Dark Signer killed Chaos Theory and Quetzal. But, I can say that defeating them, and their "Earthbound Gods", should resurrect those two agents."

The faces, and voices, of the two deceased agents flicker to life for a moment. Epsilon dispels them away once again after a moment's mourning.

"Next topic. I have made contact with The Masque and Apex. If the Superiors haven't told you who they are, go and ask them about it. They can explain it better than me. I am a little surprised to find them controlling my body under the Superior's orders, but I want to thank them for keeping my body alive while my consciousness was separated from it. Divine, the leader of the Arcadia Movement, is responsible for that.

"Divine and I Dueled in Satellite. I won, but it was a close battle. He responded to his defeat with a close-range psychic attack. He shut down my guidance implant, which prevented the Superiors from tracking me. Now that I have regained control, I can enact proper vengeance against that man. That might mean murder, considering my… personal relationship with him. But, I cannot say for sure at this time."

Epsilon shakes his head as images of a blood-soaked Divine flash into existence. He dismisses them for now.

"That's all for this report. Again, I will be staying in Satellite for the time being. Do not send any other agents into Satellite for any reason. It has become a battleground between the Signers and Dark Signers, and I do not want anyone else from the Collective being caught in the crossfire. I am only here to resolve my goals connected to the Signers and Dark Signers. I'll find my own way back to Neo Domino, when the time comes. May you run the Net freely."

As Epsilon shuts off the transmission, The Masque and Apex slip out of his body. The cyborg takes a knee on top of the bricks to avoid falling off the pile. The two virtual beings 'ride' on the transmitter's signal and back into the void. This time, they only stay in that low-power area for a few seconds. They reconnect to the greater Network as Epsilon stands back up and climbs down to ground level.

When The Masque and Apex return to Neo Domino's network, Apex extends its mass onto a nearby square cache of data. The data gets absorbed, and assimilated, without resistance. The new data translates into a surge of power for Apex. It transfers this data to The Masque, who relishes every moment of it.

"Alright," she says as a smile breaks out on her face, "we're back in action."

"Identifying Rex Godwin's data profile will take time." Apex states as the euphoria dies down for them both. "The Network has countless profiles in its banks."

"We can narrow the search parameters. If Epsilon's clone brothers are like him, they should have the same signature that he does."

"The Collective's archives hold no record of Epsilon's brothers having cybernetic implants or augmentations."

The AI's smile drops as she mutters a few choice words under her breath. She then says, "Okay, let's start small. Find the nearest, and largest, datastreams and plug into them. Discreetly."

Apex extends several tendrils into nearby streams of data. It makes sure to insert itself in the same direction the streams flow, to avoid confusing the data. The tendrils spread quickly, as viruses usually do in computer systems. Any data the tendrils siphon from the stream flows into Apex's core. It sprouts a large flower bulb next to The Masque, which she opens with her hands. The inner flower is an ever-changing series of code for her to look through.

The code flows by like water, but she reads it just fine. Analyzing data is a natural talent of hers, programmed into her by the Superiors. She sees names that get her attention among the code: Vice Director Jaeger, Maxx, and even Rex Godwin. She tries to find more mentions of Rex Godwin, and soon sees an even more familiar name: The Order of Yiliaster.

"I've got a link," she tells Apex as she takes that name and removes it from the bulb, "Grab it in the stream!"

Apex takes the name into a small claw on The Masque's opposite side. Once attached, the virus connects the name to the appropriate stream. That stream's tendril rapidly extends until it forms a special barrier for that name alone. Other data passes through the barrier without harm, while any reference to the name is caught and ferried to The Masque for analysis. She soon gets a sizeable amount of data to search through.

"I knew it," she mutters as she reads through the captured results. "Rex Godwin is more connected to the Order than I first thought." Among the data is several mentions of Rex Godwin alongside the Order. Either name will probably get her the answers she wants.

"Narrow the search parameters to the Order of Yiliaster."

Apex complies. All the tendrils turn into barriers inside their respective streams. More and more data is caught and transferred. After several seconds of intense analyzing, a digital ID pops up. The Masque grabs it like a glowing piece of treasure as Apex states, "Godwin's primary servers identified."

"Follow at a distance," The Masque commands as she extracts the ID's location from the snatched data. "I'm going in."

She then slips into the stream where the ID was extracted from, moving from a calm sea to a rushing river. Programs, videos, simulations, and countless other digital constructs whizz by at speeds faster than the human eye. She has enough experience with this kind of travel to tune them out, avoid their dazzling colors and sounds. Her visor gives her a heads-up tracking display, with distance in relation to the target server. She is there in moments.

She slips out of the stream with a small splash, tumbling head over heels in virtual limbo. A gelatinous wall stops her motion without letting her pass. She straightens out and gives her digital limbs a quick shake to clear off excess data. Apex emerges several seconds later behind her as a red storm cloud. It makes the odd rumble and flash of lightning as it gathers power from its surroundings.

"I calculate two options here," The Masque says as she looks at the solid-yet-malleable wall extending miles in front of them. "There's Infiltration, and then there's Destruction."

"Logic dictates considering both options, but choosing only one."

"We need a moment to think about this, then. We're safe here for now, right?"

"Affirmative. No hostile forces are in this space."

The Masque tries to focus and think on a plan. Both options have advantages and disadvantages. She pits them against each other in her "brain" as a "compare and contrast" situation.

Infiltration would mean her entering the server alone, with just the barest of assets to back her up. She would need stealth, deception and improvisation to succeed. She has those skills as a digital entity, but she would do much better with prior information of this server. Trying to scan the server now would ruin much chance of stealth.

If she does use stealth, the server can be left intact with barely anyone the wiser. She'd just take what she needed and go. Of course, if she failed, she would be almost completely helpless to the guardians of this place. If she could get out again, it would be much harder to get back in.

Destruction would involve both her and Apex attacking the server head-on. Every defender would be sent against them, every part of this place an enemy. They would have the rest of the Network as power sources, though. They could win, would win, in an instant, if they chose to use that much power. Epsilon technically didn't put any limitations on how to get in the server and save his clone brothers.

If they did go full force against this server, all data inside would probably be obliterated, including the clones themselves. The feedback from a destroyed server would ripple across the Network, affecting all electronics within the blast radius. The humans in meatspace would certainly consider it a "cyber attack" against their leaders. Retaliation would be extreme and brutal.

The Masque voices her final choice out loud: "Infiltration is the better option of the two."

"I concur."

Just like that, a plan is made. The Masque admires Apex for this sort of shared opinion, though she would never say it to Apex directly. She did make it, like she made the "Hivemind", but she never considered herself a digital "mother".

"Stay alert and out of the server's detection range. If I call to you from inside, hit this place with everything you've got."

"Affirmative."

The Masque sighs to herself as she grabs two pieces of Apex's cloud. She focuses as the puffs of dark matter shift and change at her command. Two small swords, one for each hand, now rest in her palms. She tucks them into her sleeves before she steps through the wall. Her clothes morph into a black robe, her skin darkening before her eyes. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, her orange visor remains on her face. The server fills her senses with new information as she enters it, focused on her goal.

The Masque's initial assumptions about this server quickly prove correct. She walks down stone corridors and narrow passageways, her robe brushing against her bare feet. Her visor rests in one clenched hand, for safety's sake. Her blades are tucked into two loops on the small belt she wears around her waist to keep the robe in place. She keeps an eye out as she walks, cautious for any threats.

The server takes the form of a temple and a surrounding field. The Masque found a temple entrance almost right where she landed, and didn't stick around outside to scan the field. What matters is what's inside the temple. Something like this is probably valuable, so it would logically be near the server's core. Or, in the case of a temple like this, the primary chamber.

The people she passes wear robes like hers. The men wear metal armor pieces and carry two-handed swords. The women have longer robes that flow along with their long hair. Torches rest along the walls at even intervals to provide light to the passages. They don't help The Masque find her way around here. She does not want to ask anyone here for help, since they are a part of the server itself. To ask them questions would raise suspicion because she is disguised to look like them.

She turns yet another corner and stops short. Somehow, someway, she has reached a larger chamber. A robed man inside with purple lines across his face looks in her direction. She ducks behind one of two marble pillars that make up the entrance to this chamber. She peeks around the pillar as she hears a low chanting from inside the chamber. A closer look reveals the robed man is saying those words, speaking them to a large marble altar in the middle of the chamber.

Four stone coffins surround the altar in a perpendicular row. Each coffin has a glowing purple mark shaped like a condor on it. A larger version of the same mark rests on a wall behind the altar, like some kind of effigy. Tendrils of purple energy stretch from the coffins to the altar. The robed man, who the AI now reasons is some sort of high priest, continues his chanting as the tendrils twist and shift in the air.

She tries to rationalize this sight in digital terms. Epsilon's words come back to her. She puts some pieces together. The coffins are probably the "pods", since there are four of them. One for each of the brothers. The altar is probably a central computer of sorts that monitors the chamber. The high priest could be some kind of avatar in the server's design.

The moments go by, and the priest does not stop his chants. The condor on the far wall slowly glows brighter and brighter. A sense of dread grows in her mind. She shouldn't let this chanting continue. She has multiple ways to stop this from finishing, and decides to take the direct method.

Before she can convince herself otherwise, she straps her visor to her belt loop and pulls out one of the blades. She charges at the priest without a word, blade at a striking position. The priest lets out a surprised choke as The Masque grabs him in a headlock. He then gurgles once as she slits his throat with one clean stroke. No blood spills out of the wound, or when the body slumps against her. A second later, the priest vanishes. No special effects, not even a "poof" of air, just gone.

A low moan now reaches The Masque's ears. It wasn't there before. Is it an alarm, or the result of the priest's chanting? She doesn't know, and doesn't want to figure it out. She moves to the leftmost coffin, which has the words "HB" inscribed in dark purple ink. She doesn't know what that means, or want to question it.

The coffin lid takes considerable effort to push open, and it crashes to the chamber floor with a loud thud. The Masque ignores the consequences of that sound in favor of what is inside. She stares at a copy of Epsilon, except without the cybernetic implants the Collective gave him. The man's skin is pale, bones too visible to be healthy. His face looks sunken, like the skin is a coat that's stretched too tight. The same condor mark glows on his bare chest as he takes ragged breaths of air.

She doesn't know whether to feel amazed, or disgusted, at this creature. Her research showed humans look like this when malnourished or sick, but this does not look entirely human.

"Are you…?" The man's voice is almost too quiet to hear. "Are you another dream?"

The Masque blinks before she answers his question with a question: "Who are you?"

The man's eyes harden as his face screws up with effort. He says the name "Alpha" with difficulty. The Masque internally sighs; this confirms that these are Epsilon's brothers. She then asks him, "Do you know someone named Epsilon?"

Alpha takes a sharp breath at that name. "The Lost Brother? He's alive?"

"Epsilon is outside this place, this 'dream' of yours. He remembers the four of you quite well from "Project 5D's", which is why I am here."

"The Lost Brother lives." Alpha brings his lips up in a small smile. "That is good." His smile bleeds over to The Masque, who can't resist smiling herself for a moment. Alpha then drops his smile as he takes a long breath.

"Listen to me," he desperately states. "My brothers and I are trapped. This dream is a nightmare that never ends. Actually, this could be another nightmare right now, but I don't care anymore. Our Creator, the one who made us, does not care for us."

"This creator is Rex Godwin?" Alpha nods as he tries to look angry, but just slumps into exhausted anguish. The Masque then states, "I want to free you, and your brothers. How do I do it?"

Alpha's eyes tilt down to her hands. "You are armed. That is good enough. End this suffering for all of us."

The Masque looks at her blade. The edge is sharp enough to deal lethal wounds, as she just tested against the priest. She looks at Alpha's exposed neck, pale white and thin. One stroke will end his life. It would be easier than the priest. But, she doesn't do it. The human part of her, that small bit which the Superiors tried to nurture into a blend of human and machine, tells her this is morally wrong. Did Epsilon want his brothers to die, or be "saved"?

"Is there any other way to save you all?" she asks Alpha.

"No. Only death. Our purpose is over. We are a waste of space."

She almost says, "Not to your brother," but stops when she looks into Alpha's eyes. They are now dim, lifeless, cold. She looks over his body, frail and weak. She crunches the facts in her "brain", and comes up with the morally wrong choice.

She places the blade against Alpha's neck and says, "Goodbye." No blood spills as she makes the incision. Alpha inhales for a second, probably to draw a last breath. Then, he slumps against the stone surface.

The Masque's hands don't move for a second. Her digital brain slowly catches up with what she has just done. The constant background moaning leads her to not feel anything too special about it. If she gets emotional over the first brother's death, then how will she help the other three? She has to save them all, as Epsilon told her to.

She moves to the next coffin. It shows a small tree resting in front of a rising sun. It opens the same way as Alpha's did. The person inside is physically the same as Alpha. He opens his eyes and looks at her without a word. His expression is solemn, calm, focused.

She asks, "Are you Beta?" He nods. She then asks, "Do you know why I am here?" He nods again. He then clenches his hands into fists and raises his head up. His neck is fully exposed. She automatically raises the blade to Beta's neck. The word, "Goodbye," comes out unheeded before she makes her incision.

The results are exactly the same. She manages to pull her hands back this time. She then hears heavy footsteps join the moaning. Something responded to the alarm. Time is running out.

The third coffin she goes to has the logo "NBN" on it. The logo looks rusty against the coffin's clean surface, an older taint against something fresh. The human inside, "Gamma", doesn't open his eyes when she looks at him. On closer inspection, she sees he isn't breathing. Her brows quirk as she quickly places a finger to the man's neck. She feels a very, very weak pulse.

She says the same word, and makes the same incision, as before. Gamma slumps a tiny bit more against the hard stone. That's all she sees before she moves to the final coffin. Three lives are on her hands, but she ignores that for right now.

The final coffin has a giant green "W" on it. The clone inside—"Delta"— opens his eyes as she pushes the lid off. He's already smiling, too. That unnerves her.

He says, "Nice to see you," in a calm tone. "Guess I'm the last one." The Masque just nods, trying to stay focused. She places the blade against his neck without another word.

Delta gets out, "So Epsilon was right, after all," before she slices his neck open. His smile lasts even after he takes his final breath. She pulls the blade out and looks at it alongside the other one. No blood is on the sharpened surfaces, no evidence of her deeds. It is a surreal sight against the logic this server is supposed to have.

The footsteps come back as thundering stomps. She looks to the chamber entrance with a twinge of fear. Her time has run out as she sees several armored men like what she saw inside the temple rush in. One man leads them, floating off the ground by some strange power. White paint in the image of a condor coats his face. He wears black robes with a purple condor sewn over it.

The Masque's visor displays several lines of code to explain how the man floats. The structure and format take nanoseconds for something like her to analyze. It reminds her of what the humans call "magic". But, it is really a digital source like herself.

"Heretic!" the floating man screams to the soldiers the moment he sees the opened coffins and dead clones. "Murderer! Destroy her!"

The soldiers lower their spears and charge with angry cries. The AI only needs a second to comprehend the situation. She chooses to take the best option available.

"Apex! NOW!"

The air instantly turns heavy, clingy. The chamber shakes as a loud boom rings through the stone walls. Purple light burns onto The Masque's back in reaction. She draws her blades and dives at the guards with her own angry cry. The purple light makes the closest soldiers shield their eyes, which lets her bull rush past them. The next set of soldiers move to stab her through the gut with their spears.

Their attacks don't hit the AI's body. They warp around her form, bending into curved shapes that don't get near her. What the soldiers don't notice is the distortion field around her, courtesy of the same "magic" used by the floating man. The soldiers let out confused noises as the AI glides through them. The floating man raises his hands in the air as she approaches him, the final barrier against the chamber entrance.

Two slashes across his chest sends him falling to the ground. The Masque doesn't look back as she races out to the narrow passages, to freedom. She keeps her eyes on what's in front of her. Everything she passes by quickly turns chaotic, probably not from her presence. People start screaming, the walls begin to crumble, ominous booms continue to ring from outside.

The wall to her right shatters without warning. She barely has time to cover her face as shards of rock pelt her form and slam her against the other wall. Purple and red bolts of energy collide against each other from outside the hole. Guttural roars reach her ears, roars she recognizes. Without a moment's hesitation, she leaps into the maelstrom. She instantly floats on a digital current, rising several hundreds of feet in seconds.

Apex is there, as a giant spherical monster with countless eyes and tentacles. The eyes fire energy and lightning as the tentacles burrow into the stone. The temple spits out purple bolts from the cracks Apex creates, point to counterpoint. The Masque's hair starts to rise as if electrically charged, her visor filled with 0's and 1's from such chaotic code.

The temple surges with energy. The purple colors take shape, joining together in the form of a massive condor. The bird's feathers are each the size of multiple-story buildings, its beak sharpened to a fine point. It screeches loudly the moment it sees Apex as it shakes the last bits of stone from its body. The Masque covers her ears as the sound forces its way into her head, and tries not to scream as the server becomes meaningless noise and colors.

The condor and Apex collide. The server breaks apart, scattering everything inside across the Network. Nearby servers and programs glitch out as a blast wave of corrupted data spreads across Neo Domino's power grid. The city's electrical devices reboot, shut down, or just freeze up. Panic spreads even as the machines recover, the people working on them more concerned about the initial effect than any lingering consequences.

Far away from the Network, deep underground, someone winces. They raise a hand to their chest as they feel something inside them turn hollow. A small bit of their power, a backup source, is gone. But, the majority of their strength remains. Their plan can continue, will continue. They have put too much into it for it to fail.

Alright, that's all for now.

I know these past few chapters have been more exposition than Dueling, and I am sorry if anyone is offended by this. I have a plan to end this story, and I will try to see it through. I would appreciate you staying with me until then, and providing reviews/comments/constructive criticism/feedback as you choose.Draconos is taking off.