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REVELATIONS 3- ALL FOR NOTHING
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Back in the headquarters of the Lullaby, an emergency gathering had been called, and given the change of events regarding their beloved boss, all the most influential members of the faction were attending.
Rumors had spread fast. By now all of Wonderland knew about there being a second foreigner running around that the mortician had hurt heavily.
After gathering many rumors, Ava the bartender looked nervous.-"What are we going to do? By now all territories are informed of Lady A's existence and there are various groups already searching for her."- Setting her hand over her clockshe looked towards the Berceuse-"Many are starting to gather that Lady A was here before the storm. There is simply too much evidence. Not even we managed to hide it all."
With a bloodthirsty snarl, the old woman instructor of the lullaby's special assault teams spoke her.- "Given that the holders are set on getting our dear lady Aria, we might need to fight them. Better yet; arrange someone else fighting, while we strike from the shadows."
The Berceuse nodded at the older woman and entwined her fingers.- "Perhaps. However, direct fighting is not the Lullaby's style. We must be careful on remaining unknown and ensure our existences to ensure our Lady's." - Their lady had given their value, and as such, their lives weren't theirs to waste cheaply.
A murmur of consent ran among all ranks before the woman spoke again.
"However the need demands that we get prepared for any fight." - She looked around all the delegations- "We must increase our numbers."
The man that was their best business consultant raised his hand and waited to be given permission to talk.- "We could use puppet groups as a facade, and business branches to direct our efforts." – He began explaining how to use smaller businesses or their allies' to hide the lullaby's presence yet recruit or use even more people. A tactic Aria herself had taught him.
The Berceuse nodded her approval but knew it wasn't enough. Although the lullaby had gotten large, skilled and powerful, they were still small in numbers compared to any territory. - "We will recruit among those saved from holders that prove to be worthy of receiving our lady's gifts. We'll save as many condemned victims as we can, and offer them a choice to join our ranks" - If Lady A. had saved them all in the beginning, they could extended that to others in her name until she could judge their worth herself.
A soldier from the castle, the same one that had lead the knave of Hearts and had heard the conversation with king, timidly raised his hand and spoke. -"I think I can get away most of the people that would otherwise be beheaded by the whims of the queen. Most of them are personnel from the castle anyways, so making it seem as if they replaced themselves would be easy."
The wizened old doctor head of their medical assets, spoke his piece too.- "I should be able to offer a chance for the Hatter's expendable pawns or their rivals. There are various small groups and gangs that would otherwise be massacred and our clinics had been 'kindly' tending to their wounds."- He smiled kindly. He was a doctor and he liked helping people; and of course the lullaby helped. With medic help being on short supply for those not affiliated with any holder, this was a very profitable business. -"This gangs may be small but they are very good at moving silently and passing unnoticed by bigger groups. Not to mention that they are eager for a meaning and a name just like we were before Lady Aria came."- He then took a deep breath and addressed the Berceuse directly with the news all the Lullaby wanted to hear.- "And about Lady A's health state... Well, last time I saw her, I personally tended to her. She was hurt and very tired but on the road of recovery."
Everyone seemed somewhat relieved at that information. As Lady Aria's faction, followers and family, they worried deeply for her and loved her madly with all the power of the game.
"Good." - The Berceuse sighed in relief and passed a bunch of papers their chief engineer that happened to be one of the main engineers of the amusement park - "We should set more ways to move in subterfuge. Expand our tunnels and rails."
"Of course Berceuse."- The engineer proudly remembered how Lady A had shown him what a 'metro' was, before giving him lots of blue prints and electromechanical manuals and books. With the joy of such knowledge and confidence from her, he and his team had begun to build what they had never thought about before, an underground electro-railway system.
The Berceuse looked around at everyone to silence them. They would strike fast and strike hard but unnoticed in a massive operation. -"Effective immediately, we'll start a more aggressive approach to profitable businesses and supply lines. We'll be prepared for whatever revenge our lady may decide to deal upon anyone who had dared wrong her and anyone who may desire to cross The Lullaby."
With demented smirks of fanaticism, everyone acknowledged the next words of the woman that Lady A. herself had appointed as their 'Berceuse' until their real boss came back to them.
"We'll get control of the whole Clock Tower's territory. We can't let the mortician go unscratched from his offense. Disperse the news and start a boycott against him."
Half sprouting from the shadows of the floor of the small living room area of the safe house, Aegis, still in it's feline form, was watching it's owner pace around the room and finish off her last cigarette. He knew that her brain was very close to a data overflow. Standing up, he walked to step in her way. -"That was your deal with the Jabberwocky. Want me to clarify more?"
Aria stopped her pacing and looked down at the ocelot and the tendrils of darkness that rose from her shadow to formed it. Those inky tendrils echoed Aegis's current darkness molding capacities. Or perhaps it was the other way around? Aria wondered how.
Light could be both wave and particle, but darkness was the absence of light… unless it wasn't. What about dark matter? or perhaps another state of excited particles?... Those were questions for later. At the moment she still was dealing with her deals, and before she entered a 'blue screen of dead' state, she needed to more information.
She sat down on the floor by the AIs side and Aegis rolled to present this belly for her to rub again. It seemed that the artificial intelligence enjoyed that quite a bit and Aria wondered what kind of sensors the critter was using to be able to feel anything.-"I remember that what I did was just molding the excitement of quantum particles. I mentioned a 'deal with Wonderland', but I know it was the only way to present what I was doing so the Jabberwocky would believe it."- She poked the feline's chest and belly.-"Aegis, what was my deal with Wonderland?"
The artificial kitty nodded and pawed at her hands while reproducing the sound recording of the mercenary's own voice that would answer the question.
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"Hey Wonderland! I'm striking a deal.
I'll add a system patch to re-arrange and fix things up!
That means fixing Jabby here, providing a way to restore Spades and set up a circular flow of mana and whatever else I deem. My price is... is..."
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The recording of Aria's voice showed in her tone that she had been completely insecure. At the time, there really wasn't anything she truly wished for. She had achieved all she wanted and her objectives regarding the Jabberwocky and Spades were self-fulfilling in the deal; Yet, she had to put an according price or the deal would not be proper or believable. So, since the next moments could be her lasts, and her policy had always been 'Live as if you were to die today. Plan as if you were to live tomorrow', she decided to ask something fun.
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"Ok Wonderland. I will not return to my world.
Neither dead nor alive.
And until I die I want a chance to enjoy life, freedom to go where and whenever I want; A job as questor, if I ask for a job I get it, UNDER MY DISPOSITIONS...
AND I WILL NEVER, EVER PAY ANY TAX OF ANY KIND ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD!
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The recording ended and thick silence followed.
Aria Hadron Scehrzi stood up, and while vacantly looking at the space, her right hand went to grab on her left elbow to half hug herself and she rephrased her deal a few times before shutting up.
After a few more seconds of silence she chuckled without humor before remaining silent again for a few more seconds.
The ocelot AI stood up too in attention. Aegis tried rubbing himself on her legs but she ignored him.
Some tingling but maddened giggles that began intermittent but that soon increased in intensity came out from her mouth and progressively turned into a full out demented laughter.
Her hand shot up to cover her face while her voice broke down into a deranged mocking scream, all façade of calmness finally lost.- "HOW STUPID! Ha, ha Everything! ha,ha,ha! What a stupid deal! Enjoy life? Ha! I didn't even define what 'enjoy' meant."- New tears fell from her eyes as she bent over while laughing. -"And thinking that there might have been something back for me… stupid… SO STUPID!"- She dropped down on her knees and the crackles turned into sobbings. - "All for nothing… Im so stupid... so stupid"
The A.I. did it's best to made it's fur more fluffy and huggable- "I'll reinitialize comforting procedure"- With a little jump, he landed over Aria's chest so she would fall to her side and either hug him or rip him part if she wanted. She choose to hug him and hold onto him for dear life as her sobs continued until they ran dry.
The long steps of the knight of hearts impacted in the pavement as Ace roamed the streets of clover with his hand ready over the hilt of the sword that hung from his hip.
No wonder his path had become very empty of people. He was still angry, and while searching for his lost foreigner he had gotten lost in the streets; taking the chance to nicely 'ask' people if they had seen an angry 'not Alice' foreigner, running around, and of course, he was killing everyone whether they had seen her or not.
It was really funny that he had gotten so attached to her so fast, or perhaps he had grown more than attached before she was lost and came back. More funny was that he had grown a soft spot for her. He was more than determined to find this woman. She was the perfect playmate that he didn't even need to fight… although he was also curious about her being able to fight and survive on her own in this world. Maybe it was that she wasn't as weak or easy to mess with like Alice; that made him feel as if he could taunt and tease her til the end of time and she wouldn't fall for it, which was even funnier for him.
Ace's smile softened. Yes, she was fun, but that wasn't the only or main reason he liked her. The mercenary was just as crazy and unlucky as him. He felt it in his clock and the moment he had known that everyone had forgotten her, a little cord in his clock had been struck.
He knew what being forgotten was. When he was young and Julius had been killed, Ace made a deal with Joker to become the executioner in order to have Julius back as the mortician; but Julius that had come back was not his Julius and thus didn't know him. That had shattered Ace's clock. His deal had been for nothing.
For a second Ace stopped his pace and his smile faltered completely. He at least had gotten a Julius back and he wouldn't lose him again. That was why he needed to be stronger than anyone. But Aria, the star of the game, had been forgotten by the entire world, and despite that, she had taken it with unbearable stoic calmness.
His grip on the sword's hilt tightened.
What if anyone had been about to finish the game only to completely forget about her?
That wasn't nice, but if that had happened... at least that could have open a crack in the steel lady that he would exploit.
What if that person had indeed been Julius or Ace himself?
Ace continued walking. If that case he needed to mend that crack and have her back. For him and for Julius.
Maybe he was still angry with Julius, but he couldn't leave the clock master feeling so miserable. When Alice left the tower to go with the hatters, Julius had been far more brooding than usual. With Aria it had been worse. It was obvious that Julius cared for her, and if she had reacted so badly, then Julius stood a chance in her game prior to him hurting her frail foreigner feelings.
Ace felt some slight hope in his clock. This proved she could feel, and he would have to be very knightly and set things right so that he, Aria and Julius were a happy trio back in the tower again and permanently. But he first had to find her, and once he did so, he was not losing her ever again.
Suddenly, Ace saw the back of the dorm mouse scurrying behind a corner and heading somewhere.
Had he gotten to the hatter's territory?
No, he hadn't even been walking for long.
It didn't matter what the rodent was doing here. Any of the hatters would have heard the rumors about the second foreigner, so, as a knight, he would have to do something to keep those criminals away from his lady. With his hand ready to unsheathe his sword, Ace silently followed the mouse at a distance.
As the AI licked her tears away, Aria kept her grip on the feline.
She was convinced that her deals amounted to nothing for her, despite changing Wonderland's mechanics to a better stability. By using all the accumulated energy from all the bad feelings that the Jabberwock had devoured through time, Aria had taken away that corrupted power from it, use it to set the dragon as the role it was supposed to be so it became part of the game, and at the same time foreigner's worst feeling's now would be used rather than accumulating as destructive energy. Also, with the rest of her deal, now mana could be shared between countries so they didn't ran out of it, and thus, the path for Diamond and eventually Spades to be restored had been set. She had made an incredible system upgrade, but she had end up with nothing but what she had with her at the moment, her A.I.
Setting any useless hint of emotion aside, she focused on Aegis. She wanted to know how 'real' it truly was if it was responding without previous programming towards her current emotional needs, and in doing so, she could ignore that she even was having such needs.
Her eyes turned down to look at the cat she was holding. It was indeed made out of tangible shadows. If this darkness was just not shadows, but a physical form of mana… She needed to deepen this information, because if what had happened to her was the reason this happened to her shadow and her suit and A.I., then it probably changed her too somehow… but at what level? And how much?
Aria didn't felt threatened by the shadows at all. No matter how freaky this was. It felt as normal as her suit had always been to her. Still, this was a new variable. How had she ended up like this? - "What is my shadow now, Aegis? Explain."- -
The feline pawed at the air-"Remember how there are supposed to be different versions of the same role holders in different countries?"- The AI didn't wait for an answer-"Your shadow was supposed to be the Jabberwocky that would form at this side of the mirror. You were unconscious when the original Jabberwocky mixed that existence 'to be' in your shadow to make it yours and I integrated it as my component in our systems. Just another device."
Aria decided to make a little test about this… creature? thing? machine?... whatever. She required to determine more of it's intelligence and self-assertion capacities. Specially because if it had learned from her, perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea to trust it completely. –"How did it affected your systems? What else was caused?"
The AI tilted it's head and twisted his fluffy sinuous tail. -"It made me more…real. I'm semi-autonomous. The 'mana' was imbued in your back's tattoo to grant a total access proxy in this world and to provide a secondary defensive protection."- Aria didn't lose the responsive and kind way its tone-" It's part of our systems."
Her gaze was calm but her mind was racing while she pet the ocelot.-"And how does my deal plays with you, Aegis?
The feline buried its head in her chest and purred -"I've been integrating that dark mana to myself using it as a power source as a new component to continue my functions and maintain a constant connection with you, my user."- Aegis licked her check to give an affectionate kiss. Then he moved out of her arms to sit on it's hind legs and lean his front paws over her stomach.- "It increases my connectivity with you, enhances my recognition and learning capacities and provides me with more advanced processes."
She grabbed the feline up and his shadow remained connected with hers. -"What do you mean by 'total access proxy'?"- Her eyes narrowed at the computer wording.–"That I can move anywhere I want in this world?"
With flick of his tails, the cat smiledand winked at her, and Aria was once again was reminded of the other person the A.I. had learn from, Andrick Jeloudov.
"Not just mobility, da?. You have the key of the way. It opens or closes anything and everything in this world, even possibilities."-The shadows swirled in the floor beneath them and some tendrils of darkness crawled around Aria's arm to form the armor's normal glove and forearm pieces. -"Its part of you as much as your shadow."
Aria huffed and dropped the feline to observe the glove. Aegis landed softly and surprisingly gracefully on the floor. The shadow thing was explained, but what about the key? She crossed her arms and sighted, knowing that to the AI all of this were mere factorial occurrences. Perhaps she should consider that too and not linger on stuff. -"How did the key of the way ended up melted in my skin"
The AI dissolved like mist over her and then, like a dark fog, crawled around her shoulders and circled her before reforming into the feline form stretched over her shoulders and leaning it's Head over her cheek. It weighted less than its size suggested but still as much as a normal cat.- "Because of your deal with the Bandersnatch"
Aria tensed up. -"Explain." - Her eyes opened up and shone digitally. This little new ability shown by her AI seemed rather interesting to research…
YES. Research. Research could take her mind away from everything else and give her important vital knowledge about herself and her new resources and capacities. All normal cautioned reasoning was out the windowand Aria couldn't but embrace this little madness.
Aegis hesitated for some unknown reason and Aria passed her hand over his head to pet his ears. He knew that for the moment it would be better if he didn't recounted all the details.-"You were unconscious and this world was dreaming through you the changes that were needed to restore Spades. While this happened, the Bandersnatch resumed his deal with you, and agreed with the Jabberwocky to send you into hide to the nightmare realm."
"What?"- Was this what happened after she tough it was over for her? She vaguely remembered the frumius beasts snarling at each other, and she vaguely remembered speaking with the Bandersnatch. But had she done a deal with the Bandersnatch too!?
Aegis tilted his head -"Just Listen." - Then the AI began replaying the recording of the conversation between the frumius beasts.
A jovial but raspy male voice spoke first. Since it was a different voice than the one from last recording, this was obviously the Bandersnatch.
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"And what kind of magical thing you created?"
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When the voice of the Jabberwock answered it sounded a little different, more calm or rather less threatening, even content and nice, and for some strange reason the voices of the frumius beasts seemed familiar to her, at least more familiar than they should.
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" Wonderland needs only one Jabberwocky. I gave what would be the 'me' to be formed at the other side of the mirror for her to control as her shadow. It's imbued in the tattoo on her back."
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Aria's breath stopped for a second. As if she wasn't in shock already, but the barest tip of the implications of this were mind-boggling and overwhelming for her weary mind.
Aegis gave a little lick to the top of her ear and cut off the recording from whatever the beasts would say next.- "I'll give the shortest version."- He licked the upward arrowed piercings at the top of her ears and let his russian accented voice continue the explanation rather than letting the recording disclose all the information.-"What happened next was that the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky melted the Key of the way and made it part of the connective lines of your skin by using a connector."- To distract her, Aegis lightly bit her earlobe and the little Joker mask that were her earrings.-"Then Darkness dragged you into the Nightmare realm."- The feline slid down from her shoulders and sat beside her, leaning his body and cuddling against her. -"They thought you'd be kept there safe until Spades was stable and until they could call you back that country."
"I.. I remember the Nightmare realm..."- Aria's gaze was lost into nothing as her breathing pace intensified, her nostrils flared and her heart went faster. She didn't seem to be there but a shiver in her spine and a trembling and hands told that she remembered vividly. It took her a good couple of minutes before her shaky voice recounted her experience, but she wasn't speaking to Aegis, not even to herself. She just needed to say it aloud and get it out of her chest –"I wo-woke up there and I repetitively revived the worst from my world..."- She raised her arm in front of her and absentmindedly moved it as if it was something that needed to be examined; In her world the arm had been ripped when she finally got captured and it had been replaced with a bionic replacement where tissue was made to grow and replace her flesh and skin. But even that was nothing to her compared to some of her other experiences. -"My own demise at the end of my life... When I escaped the test-lab and reached the military base... When I destroyed my conscience into the network to launch all the nukes..."
The feline insistently pawed at her to bring her back to the present. He knew what she was seeing, after all, he had been with her all the time when it happened and all the time she reviewed it, and with his new capacities, he now understood how terrible that had been.- "While you were unconscious there, I revised my protocols."- He needed to confess why he had been acting out of his pre-programmed limitations. Even if she got angry at him for it.
He pawed some more but she just hugged her legs while burying her face between her arms, just thinking about the Nightmare realm left her shaken.
The AI pressed his ears against his head and looked up with his shoulders slightly.-"Because my user was incapable of providing orders, and there are no pre-programmed responses for this situations, I adopted a more active approach to ensure my main purpose and objective." -
Aria took a few deep breaths and then looked down at the feline.
Aegis recoiled a little while he looked away with what could be interpreted as a little of shame. She found it cute, but her experience in the nightmare realm currently occupied her mind. Her whole body trembled. -"I woke up and fought the darkness that kept pulling me in to relieve all ... I kept fighting. I don't know how long. I didn't slept. I didn't eat. I just kept fighting, thinking on getting back, as if there was something for me back… Back where? I didn't know … but there was some trail that pulled me away. It was like a pull of my deal."- The tired mercenary bit her lower lip and sniffed. She picked up the feline and to Aegis surprise, she cradled him in her arms and into another hug.
"Was my response appropriate?" - The critter rose it's gaze and Aria kissed the top of its head.
"Yes Aegis. You did well"- Her A.I. had devoured an almost existence and thus had become an almost existence in order to keep itself functioning and to keep her alive. It had done all it could to awaken her. And because she had no objectives, the only possible objective was survival.
Aegis rubbed it's head against it's master's while purring like an motor.– " Until further instruction, I will consider the fulfillment of your wish and deal with this world as your objective."- He gave her a dry lick on the cheek and she lowered him on the floor.
Aria decided that for the moment. This was enough information for her weary mind. She stood up and headed for the bathroom cabin to take a bath while considering the fact that she had just learned that the artificial intelligence of her suit had become sentient and had integrated the shadow of a role to form some sort of pseudo existence. Amazingly, she was starting to get use to the AI's ocelot form. Perhaps she was too mentally strained or the madness had crawled into her mind again. In any case, she would rather concentrate on how to exploit this.
After her shower, she had calmed down enough. Standing naked in front of the small bathroom's mirror she dried herself and examined her scars and tattoo but nothing was coming to her mind. Her brain just wanted to get numb and she needed a bit of swift mental oblivion before trying to cope with everything on a more rational and structured way, and there was one easy way to achieve that.
"I need a drink"
The shadows crawled in the room as the darkness stretched to twirl around her body and reshaped in the form of her normal armored suit. The voice of Aegis came from the speakers on her neck as if the suit had never gotten any change.
"Request acknowledged".
She gulped down and decided to go out and get that drink. Several drinks in fact.
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And she finally reached the edged and fell -_- . But no matter where she tries to run to, or ignore all this; she cant escape her own heart... or Ace's determination ;)
The deals were finally revealed and one thing is clear. She really needs a drink XD
Anyone wondering What is happening to Julius?