Many things were annoying, Alex had mused to herself on the day everything had changed. Skeletons were annoying. The noises Endermen made were annoying. Bunnies that hopped on farmland and ruined it were annoying. Sneezes that wouldn't sneeze were annoying. Her brother acting like he knew everything was annoying.

Another annoying thing? The fact that a massive black monolith had appeared overnight in her backyard - right on top of her carrots.

The redhead was not in a good mood, needless to say.

Alex was, as far as people went, one of those people who looked like they knew what they were doing. She was a little bit on the tall side, and she had green eyes, light skin, and light reddish-blonde hair that she tied up in a braid most of the time. She was also fairly muscular, since she handled mining, farming, and most physical work. This, combined with the fact that she walked around with a mysterious smile on her face often made her fairly intimidating.

Right now, however, that smile was not there, replaced instead with a scowl.

"Damnit, that was my good crop," she muttered darkly.

She sighed, belted an iron sword to her side, and went out to check what remained of her crops.

As it turned out, her carrots weren't the only thing that had gone. A weird white metal had spread out from the monolith, overtaking most of her precious plants save for a few of the potatoes. Odd-looking red and white things were scuttling around in this area, drilling into the ground with lasers.

"Ugh, creeps. Bet this was Herobrine," she snapped altogether too loudly, storming towards the large pillar, which on closer examination was actually more reddish-black and made of many parts.

As she touched her hand to the pillar, one of the scuttling things turned towards her and shot its laser at her. She winced, then whipped around and hit it with her sword, which promptly shattered.

"Damnit!" she repeated. "The Nether are these things made of, bedrock?" The weird thing scuttled closer, and this time she whirled on her heel and executed a perfect roundhouse kick straight to the red orb in the thing's center.

The orb was displaced by the force of the blow, and the creature began to stagger about randomly. Clearly, she'd broken it.

Alex turned her attention back to the monolith, grabbed a slightly protruding edge, and began to clamber up the weird pillar.

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The top of the pillar, as it turned out, was equally odd, glowing a sort of orange-red, It was flat on top, except for a small protrusion in the thing's center that, on closer inspection, appeared to be the handle and hilt of what was probably a very odd sword.

She crossed over to it and sat down in front of it, staring closely at it. "What in the world is going on?"

"...Red?"

A voice emanated from the weird hilt, one that sounded very tired, a bit masculine, and rather confused.

Alex, however, had already had her weirdness threshold crossed. Whatever or whoever this was, she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of freaking out.

"Name's Alexandra Rex, actually."

"Mm," the voice replied. "Well then, Alexandra, how did you come across this place?"

She narrowed her eyes at the blade. "How did I come across it? Oh, I don't know. It only landed in my backyard and ruined my crops," she added, voice rising in pure fury.

"That doesn't make sense, does not make sense," the voice muttered. "Cloudbank is, well, it's gone. Nobody alive. Gone."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, well, you're not in Cloudbank. Bit lost, aren't you?"

"I, oh. I suppose that makes sense, that makes a lot of sense. But then, where, Alexandra, where might I be?"

"Minecraftia. Never heard of Cloudbank."

"No, no, I suppose you wouldn't have. Not seeing as I don't know your land."

There was a pause, a quiet moment during which neither of them spoke, and then Alex frowned.

"So what were those white and red things, anyways?"

She could hear something change in the man's voice as he responded. "White... things? No, oh no, that is impossible."

The farmer snorted. "Pfah! Tell that to the iron sword I shattered on one of those creeps."

"...How in the world... did you survive?"

"Well... I kicked it."

The sword sounded stunned. "You... kicked... it...? No, no, you're lying. Must be."

She leaned forwards. "Mm? And why'd that be?"

"Well, the Process - that's what they're called, the Process - they're tough. Very, very tough; evolved or more likely designed to be durable. They don't bend, they don't shatter... and, well, even the lowliest Badcell should be able to stand up to a kick."

Alex shrugged, despite being almost positive that the blade couldn't see her. "It was a strong kick. Now, you mind explaining why those things are here?"

"I... I don't quite know why they're here, but as long as they are... Listen."

"All ears, bud," she responded, crossing her legs in order to sit more comfortably.

"My name is Royce. Royce Bracket. And I... well, this... a lot of it is, partly, my fault."

"I am - no, was - from Cloudbank. Wonderful city, that place. But it changed, always changed. My associates and I, the four of us... we didn't like that. Because with so much change, nothing progressed. When everything changes, nothing changes... that was our motto."

"We used this - the Transistor, a star, a tomb, a weapon, a paintbrush - to slow the change. And as we did, as we did, the Process emerged."

"I installed limits on them, because, well, they scared me. They were alien, not robots. Efficiency incarnate, they did their job no matter what. Used the Transistor to control them. I thought so, at least."

Alex cocked her head to the side. "You... lost the Transistor, didn't you?"

"Mm. Yes. How did you...?"

"Genre tropes dictate."

She could practically hear the confused frown on Royce's face as he responded. "...What?"

"Nothing. I assumed the worst, is all."

"Well then, you assumed right. Yes, we lost it to someone... and with it, we lost control over the Process."

"As it turns out, in a horrid twist of fate, the Process did have original orders. To reset. Wipe everything out, make the world a blank canvas. And so they did, and Cloudbank was lost."

"Now you're here, and they're out, and I... do not know, cannot fathom why."

"Do me a favor."

Alex nodded solemnly. "Sure."

"...Pick up the Transistor. Wipe out the Process... and perhaps, if you find the means, could you...?"

"Help to rebuild Cloudbank? I'll try." The farmer stood up, brushed imaginary dirt off of her pants, and grabbed the strange hilt.

It slid out easily, a long and wide turquoise blade at least two thirds her size, with gold highlights and a red - was that an eye? - in the center.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, gently turning it over in her hands. "And light, too."

"...Funny. I always recall its having been a bit hefty," Royce noted. The red orb in the center glowed as he spoke.

"Well, maybe I'm a bit on the strong side," she noted with a smile, tossing the Transistor up into the air and catching it easily. "You better teach me how to use this, Royce."

"Of course."

"Well then." She turned towards the horizon. "We'd better get started."

((Heeeeeeere's Royce! Precious Royce. Maybe I'll have him do a disclaimer for me.

((Also Alex. Alex is here too.

((Alternate chapter titles for last time:

((Herobrine May be Powerful, But He's Also A Dumbass/We Apologize For The Hive-Minded, World-Wiping Inconvenience

((Please review! Steve's coming up next chapter. *evil cackle*