Carver left for a few days to get Mantis his soul. Meanwhile around here things have been more of the same.
Something I learned though, Mantis has… more unique biology than I expected.
"What do you mean he ate it?" Casey asked Hex. Our first prize pod child and second oldest son. He was eleven, lots of fluffy dark blue fur. He seemed to enjoy hanging around Mantis the most.
"I mean Mantis put his hand on the TV, then it began to be covered in these green lines, then it looked like it broke down and began… breaking apart but internally?" Hex said.
"Uh…huh…" I said slowly. "That's…interesting. Eating technology…sure."
"I was checking my Assistant as you told me to Operator." Mantis said. "I discovered an unknown program in what was labeled as Skill Tree Abilities."
"Alright…and what did you do with the Skill tree?" I inquired.
"I utilized a program it said I had. Assimilate."
"Assimilate…" I muttered. "Mind…showing me your skill tree?"
He raised his one arm up to me… right.
I tapped on his Assistant for him, the Skill Trees… woah.
He had a Level eighty Scan Ability, and his Technomancy Magic Branch of the Magic Skill Tree was… pretty large. I found Assimilate around there.
[Assimilate: Absorb Bio Mass and Technology to become functional components of your own biology.]
"How the hell do you have my Legendary Ability?" I asked in shock.
"That's not a Legendary Ability." Casey said. "It's similar to the one you have, Assimilation, but it doesn't seem to allow for what yours does. Mainly combining our bodies and Abilities/Skills so you can use them."
"Right…so just take away the fusion part of it and…" I facepalmed. "Why the hell haven't I been using Assimilation on any of these demons?"
"Lack of critical thinking assessments?" Mantis offered.
"You better not have called me stupid young man." I frowned.
"Heh, in any case, so what can you do now that you have… Assimilated the TV, Mantis?" Casey asked.
Mantis was quiet for a bit, then suddenly a patch of their chest and fur was replaced by a black screen. "It appears I can now turn parts of my body into a display."
"Cool!" Hex said.
"That is cool." I admitted.
"Does it have to be technology based or can it absorb anything?" Casey hummed.
"I assume any Biomass or Technology, but I am unsure of non mechanical items." Mantis said.
"Right…" I hummed. "Well if it's anything like Assimilation, then you can absorb practically anything, now is just you testing out what you can and can't."
"Tests…" Mantis said, seeming to… daze off.
"Mantis?" I asked worriedly.
I kneeled down, gently tapping them-
Mantis gripped my wrist, pain shooting up my arm as I felt my wrist crack and I was then flung across the room and onto the couch.
"Heather!" Casey yelped, immediately next to me. "Shit you haven't been tossed like that in years!"
Despite the pain in my wrist, I flipped over and looked back to Mantis, who was looking at their hand. Despite the plane look on their face, their wings were flared out, a reaction I knew came from… fear. Not only that, but I noticed their eyes were indeed dilated.
They were afraid…
"Mantis?" I asked softly, kneeling down. "Can you hear me?" I asked softly and carefully, trying to coax him to start saying something, to start something so I can help calm him down.
He didn't seem to be responding, he just stared at his hand for a while until he finally blinked, his eyes seeming to un-dilate and his wings slowly folded back against his back. "... No Tests." He said, taking his arm and wrapping it over to his armless shoulder. "I am more than capable of my own research."
"It's alright, no tests." I confirmed gently. "There won't be any tests, it'll just be some…research, as you said." I said, gently raising my hand, trying to offer some comfort to Mantis if he takes it.
Be backed up, pulling himself to his hooved foot. "You should seek Medical Attention for your wrist Operator. I'll return to my quarters for now." He said, walking to his room. I quickly heard the sound of the door closing, then locking.
"He… had a legit… panic attack…" Casey said.
"Yeah…" I said, looking at my wrist. "That…I…I didn't know…" I said weakly.
"Does Mantis not like tests?" Hex asked.
"... I guess so…" Casey sighed. "Come on Heather, there's a few potions in my workshop." He said, pulling me along.
Casey's workshop was a mix of photo development, print shop, and alchemy set up. Once he sat me down he quickly grabbed a healing potions and gave it to me.
I drank it and just… that's… new. Mantis never showed any sense of emotions before… and now he does… and it was fear…
"He…has PTSD…"
"So it seems. Almost hard to believe." Casey nodded.
"Yeah…there's literally no reason he should have PTSD, cause he's a Prize Pod…he's not supposed to have a past to have traumatic experiences from…"
"... Do you remember when we first went into a Trap Dungeon? The first dozen traps you took the brunt of, but after, even after the second you heard something like a tripwire going off or a falling brick you'd react without thinking… You got over it, but the second time we entered one almost forty years later you reacted to those traps before they could hit you. You even told me you forgot this was our second Trap Dungeon since we'd been through hundreds of dungeons by that point, but your body reacted despite the fact you didn't remember… What if that's what happened. His body remembered, even if he didn't?"
"That…that should be impossible…but…" I groaned. "Come on, why does all this nonsense that we take for granted have to happen now?"
"You said he has… incomplete logs, do you think they might also be why he reacted? It's clear that, given what he is, there is evidence he had a past… what though is… what we might not ever know…"
"That…would make sense." I admitted. "Just…wish this was a bit simpler…"
"Heh, pretty sure when it comes to Armageddon, Simple is something you should just throw out the window." Casey chuckled. "... Hope Mantis will be okay… first emotion he feels and it's an intense fear like that… I feel bad for them…"
I sighed… yeah… Just what did that kid go through…
"Hey." We turned, seeing Nanny enter. "I heard Mantis… freaked out?" She asked.
"Apparently our little emotionless cyborg can feel emotions, PTSD, hearing the word Tests set them off." Casey sighed.
"Oh… Given what I could tell, that sounds about right…" She sighed.
"I…I don't know how…his body remembers, but he doesn't…he shouldn't have a past right?"
"... There are… theories. Speculation." Nanny sighed. "No one is sure where the Pod People come from but one thing is known. They know things and can perform skills that knowledge alone can't explain. Skills that take experience and time to acquire. It's a common theory that Prize Pod Beings did at one point have a past, but for one reason or another… it was erased from their memories."
"Like…some weird reincarnation effect?" I inquired.
"Possibly. No one knows for sure but that is one of the theories. Sometimes, in rare situations if a pod being and a person here are from similar origin realities, the two can experience a phenomenon known as Mirrored History. It's when the two begin to recall past events that never actually transpired, but the two can recall as if they lived it, often with extreme clarity."
"So what? Displaced from time or something?" Casey offered.
"No one knows. The head of the Time Walker's only said in response 'There are no more alternate timelines' when asked, and that's all they ever said about the issue."
"Time Walkers, we're Vague." I said in some crappy infomercial jingle.
"Ha. Yeah. Still, the point is, past or not, Mantis has PTSD from something traumatic he mentally can't remember, but physically just the word Test, sent his body into panic mode… whatever it is… it wasn't pleasant… hmm… I wonder…?" Nanny thought.
"What up?" I inquired.
"Well, his body clearly remembers something his mind doesn't… we know Mantis has the ability to write and read data directly to his cells proteins, much like how the Assistant works… there might be a way to see if there is an Echo in his cells memories…"
"An echo… like, the mental imprints of people who… went Mad?" Casey asked.
"Possibly. It's not uncommon for the DNA to hold secrets even expert Genetic Researchers may never learn."
"Well…got any ideas? Cause I doubt I can just use Assimilation on him and try to do something from there."
"No, that wouldn't do much… Maybe, if Mantis can enter his Mental Realm, and manage to use his innate Cellular Communication ability, we might learn something. I can probably send someone in there with him. Act as an anchor to pull him out just in case."
"I'll do it." I said. "I…he sees me as his 'operator', so…maybe I'm the best choice for this?"
"I guess he would trust you more than any of us." Casey nodded.
"Well, wanna try it now or later?" Nanny asked. "Might be better now. The memories or echoes in his cells might be more prominent given his… outburst."
"Let's…do it now, cause it's fresh and it'll make this…easier." I said carefully.
"Alright then." Nanny said.
–
Thankfully, Mantis has unlocked his room and we were able to get started. Nanny did some… fancy magic stuff, and I blacked out for a moment before waking up…
It was a park. A fair sized park in an unknown city. The silence was… creepy. The sky was blue but I saw various black boxes of text and data just floating overhead like clouds.
To my side was Mantis. "This… conflicts with data." He said.
"What do you mean?" I inquired.
"This park… is familiar… but no such location exists in my data banks." He stated.
Well, it's a start…
"Alright…so I'm here to help you figure out your past memories, things that your body remembers but all this data doesn't."
"... Affirmative…" Mantis said. He looked around, walking over to a fountain. "This location… this City…" He said.
I looked at the fountain. It was a fairly simple foundation for people to toss coins in. A bit small for a public park, but it was decorative I guess. I looked down in the water…
I paused. The data box in the sky, it's reflection read a clear word that when I looked up at it, read only gibberish.
I looked back at the reflection… Leto.
"Hey Mantis, do you know who Leto is?" I inquired.
"... Leto isn't a person… it's… this City…" He said, looking over at all the buildings. "It's where… the Nokori were created. Where I was created…"
Alright…this is a good start in learning how nonsense Pod People are…"Well, it's a good start, is there anywhere specific in this city we should go?"
"I…" Mantis started.
"Puppy!" I actually felt a chill at hearing that. A child's voice.
Mantis immediately turned. He stared off where I noticed it looked like something unseen was running through the grass, then into some bushes.
He bolted and I followed. Arriving at the bushes, I saw there was a hole into a pitch blackness there. "This is… where it started…" He said.
"What started?" I inquired.
"... My creation." He said. Before I could react, he jumped down the hole.
"Crap!" I yelped, jumping down after him.
Suddenly, I was in a large… laboratory of sorts. The room was lit by an eerie reddish light. In the center of the room was what looked to be some… huge altar. A giant metal slab sat with all kinds of crazy detailed magic circles and symbols I didn't know what any of it meant… but it made me on edge. Standing next to it was a man, human wearing some kind of lab coat/cloak of sorts. Their face was… pixelated. As if censored.
"What…is this place?" I asked carefully.
"Y Labs, Primary Research Facility… this is where they made the Nokori…" Mantis said. He stood still, eyes glued to the scene before him.
"Bring in the next subject." The lab cloak wearing man said.
A set of swinging double doors opened, two heavily armored men walking in, dragging a dazed looking woman by the arms. She was also pixelated, censored on her face, arms tied at the wrist and also by her ankles. They threw her onto the altar with no concern or care. Soon another pair of guards brought in what looked to be a strange looking rabbit, and another carried some kind of gloves. They seemed magic, but that was all I could tell.
The rabbit was sedated, and also tossed onto the altar, next to the girl as were the gloves.
The guards stood by.
"Beginning fusion ceremony." The lab cloaked man said. He held out his hands and placed them over two small circles that stretched from where he stood into the altar.
Suddenly, the runes and markings on it began to glow, the woman, rabbit and gloves all began floating a bit… then, the screaming.
The woman immediately began screaming, blood curdling whales of agony as I watched her body seem to twist and unwind and break apart. The rabbit seemed to be dissolving, as were the gloves. The remains of those two flowing into the woman's open wounds. In her chest I saw a glow, a glow of something white begin to change and turn a different color. The glow, once white was now glowing orange as her body kept unwinding and breaking apart. Soon, the screams stopped only because the woman's body was now just floating strings of flesh and bone…
Then, the parts began to flow back together. Starting from the head, the woman now didn't look human, but rather had four long ears, yellow curly hair, her face, I could see it now, had panicked blue eyes and once her mouth began to reform, the screams returned in full, maybe even louder force as her body was rebuild in a new shape, painfully and without any sign of the agony ending.
Her now body looked less like a rabbit and more like some kind of bee, four thin arms, two large wings as a bee's and she even had a stinger but at the end of a long snake like tail. Her colors were a yellow and green.
When the last of her body was reshaped, she collapsed to the ground. She laid there motionless and her eyes looking hollow as if dead.
Suddenly, the altar platform released where she landed, dropping her into a hole where I heard a splash.
Rising from that hole was a tube of yellow liquid the woman was now floating in. A lid dropping from a crane up above, and a small screen atop it seeming to read off vital signs.
"Take them to the incubation room." The lab cloaked man ordered. The armed men all pulled the tube along, it's on wheels apparently and took it out the doors they came from.
That was… I felt sick. Bile wanted to come up but it was… It didn't. This was all memories…
Oh Mother…
"What…the actual fuck…" I muttered, swallowing down bile and just…trying to process all this.
"This is how the Nokori were created." Mantis said flatly, still keeping his eyes locked to the scene. "The body of the human, the animal, and the object are undone, revealing the soul, and the soul is forcefully mixed with the magic of the artifact, or the animal, or both. They are then reconstructed in a new body that the newly altered soul feels suitable."
"This is…extremely Illegal here…" I said carefully.
"This research and procedures were all privately funded. No government intervention or finances.* He added.
So it was illegal here too… that doesn't make me feel better.
"Bring in the next subject." The cloaked man said.
I prepared myself… and I wasn't ready.
A lone guard walked out from the doors. In his arms was the tied and dazed body of a child. He had tan skin, short cut brown hair…
No… no even to…
I realized… the child's face wasn't censored… I saw their face…
"... Administrative OS…" Mantis said, now keeping his eyes locked on the child.
"This…this is the child that…gave you your body…" I muttered.
"I was installed to his body after his body was transformed into a Stalker." Mantis said. "And Stalkers… are made from failed Nokori fusions."
I felt pale, seeing the child placed to the alter with an item and an animal next to them.
"Beginning fusion ceremony."
"This is fucked eight ways to sunday…" I shook my head, hating how I couldn't do anything to stop this given it's a memory.
I knew what was coming next, still, I tried to cover my ears… that didn't do much. Once it started, the child's screams pierced my ears and in a flash my mind imagined… Hex, Donna, Mickey, Rose, Amy, Jack… Dexter. I closed my eyes and cried.
It ended and I didn't hear the thump of a falling body, but a wet slap of something messy hitting the ground. I didn't look… I couldn't.
"Fusion failed. Take remains to Stalker Production." I heard the cloaked human say.
It was quiet for a while, daring to look, I saw the room was now empty, save Mantis and I.
I noticed that Mantis was now looking down at the ground. His expression was the same but his wings were stretched out and flared a bit in, not fear but… anger, I think…
"Mantis?" I asked softly.
"... I remember… I made a promise…"
"What…was the promise?"
"... To keep him safe."
"And…did you?" I asked.
"... I don't remember… not yet." He said. Mantis began walking towards the double doors, and I followed. The hallway here was filled with nothing but windows. Through them I saw… sickening things. Bodies and corpses being surgically and magically altered.
Through one of the windows I saw a creature, large and with a strange body that seemed to crawl on all fours, but it only had one arm that from the elbow down was mechanical. The other arm wasn't there, it's head was either merged with, covered by or was some strange mask that hid all features save a large glass port in the center of the head, giving it a cyclops like look.
In the other windows, the same creature I watched leap up tall buildings and across various rooftops and tree tops, despite the size it kept silent and seemed to be… searching…
I looked back over to Mantis.
"Is that who I think it is?" I inquired.
"That… was me." Mantis said. "My original form."
"Right…" I sighed. "Well…at least we know the Arm thing was by design for…some reason."
"For six years I was in control of the body. For six years I searched, scouted, reported and recaptured Nokori test subjects." He said, the windows reflecting this as the various creatures were all being shown through his vision, data displaying in his eyes and then identifying and marking targets.
Another window showed them gripping one of those Nokori, throwing them to another Stalker who's maw opened to an ungodly size and swallowed them whole… what the?
"Cage Stalkers." Mantis said. "They were designed to contain the recaptured Nokori and bring them back to Y Labs facilities."
"R-right…" I said carefully. "This is horrible…" I shook my head, disgusted at the blatant disregard for life.
"For six years my missions went smoothly. After some laws and an Agency founded and run by Nokori to keep themselves safe from Stalkers and other threats was founded, there was some resistance."
Mantis stopped, turning and looking at a new window. This one showed an apartment complex. A simple place with two story buildings. "Here… this was the day…"
"The day you met the one you needed to protect?"
"The day I died… and the day he got to live again…" He said.
I watched the window, seeing Mantis's memory play out. Him walking up to the door. It opened, showing a startled human male and…
The Nokori looked identical to Mantis. The fur, wings, hair color… genuinely, they looked related. Save the eyes. Hers were a shade of dark yellow.
They both looked startled, the human male slamming the door.
In the memory, Mantis effortlessly punched it down, but the human and the Nokori woman both already had guns, and rapidly shot them at Mantis.
Multiple flashes of errors and such flew by in his memories vision before it went dark and displayed more errors.
"Subject 0388… Zena…" Mantis said, looking down. "Her name was Zena…"
"And…who was Zena?" I asked carefully.
"A critical Threat Level subject. Her abilities allowed her to grant wishes, but only when she was in extreme emotional distress, and only what her heart wanted most in that moment." Mantis said. "She was a successful fusion attempt at getting a Nokori to display powers and abilities similar to the magical item she was fused with."
"Well…all I can say is whoever thought that situation wouldn't go wrong is an idiot."
"There are limitations to what she can wish for… but what she wished for… saved him." He said. The window changed to a new scene. Now it showed Zena and some other Nokori, a dog with bat-like wings on his back. They were… cutting Mantis open. Mainly this head. "They worked in the research division of the Nokori Agency. Every Stalker that was taken down they autopsied and recorded data. Know your enemy. Because of how I was taken down, I was unable to complete the wipe of my cranial drive, so I did the only thing I could. I entered a temporary hibernation period… and loaded up the only other OS from the genetic memory I had… Matthew."
"And…Matthew is…who you used to be?" I asked. "Before you…became Mantis?"
He shook his head. "Matthew is the child who I was installed into. The real owner of this body… the one Zena wished to save… and did. At the time she didn't know her power did this, she was kept heavily sedated around the clock at the Y Labs holding cells… it's why this body near mirrors her own. Her power based this one off of how hers was. Using it as a blueprint."
"Right." I nodded. "That makes sense…"
"It's also how I was pulled along with Matthew. Her wish was for Matthew to live again as the Nokori he should have become, rather than what he was forced to become… my host." Mantis said. "As a result, when I awoke from the hibernation program, I discovered Matthew was still… operating, and attempted to shut him down. However, due to either the errors of Zena's magic… I was kicked out of the Administration privileges I once held, and as a result, was placed in an assistance role to Matthew."
The window then changed, showing Mantis… no, that was Matthew sleeping. Then to him waking up, a very shocked looking Zena looking about ready to curse a divine being out for something.
The following display was a mix of adorable and sad… Matthew seems so… so child like, he was… he was a child and…
"This…" I muttered, shaking my head and trying to collect myself so I didn't tear up from this adorably sad situation. "And…what happened next?"
"... For a while, Matthew got to live." He said. The scene changed, showing Matthew was now in school. "He went to school. Made friends." The scene changed again, showing Matthew was now on a farm, playing with a small tiger with purple stripes, and a pink fox. The three seemed to be having fun. "He gained foster siblings. Zena accepted her role as his… his mother. Her friend, Able, co-fostered Matthew and he and his girlfriend took in those two. Raja and Kira." The scene changed ged again, this time showing Matthew was standing between Zena, a male rabbit Nokori, and a Cage Stalkers that towered over them. "With my assistance, Matthew learned we could use the Stalker Hive Mind to hack into other Stalkers, and force them to boot up the person trapped asleep inside."
The scene changed again, this time showing Matthew and Zena holding the hands of a new Nokori, she was similar to them, but her stomach had this odd almost transparent look to it, and her fur grew in a way that almost made it look like she was wearing a tank top and short shorts. Her wings were a similar transparent membrane as what was around her stomach, and her eyes were a deep blue "With time, Zena learned to better control how to use her power, and with her, and Matthew's work, many Stalkers were reborn as Nokori. Maybe not human but alive regardless is better than being stuck asleep in your own body."
"That's fair." I nodded. "What next?"
"Data files are still missing or corrupted… I'm remembering more… and whatever this place is, I know one thing… the erasure and corruption of all my files was deliberate…"
"Someone…deliberately corrupted your memories?" I asked in surprise. "That's…well, either it happened before you became a prize pod person…or it happened because of you getting podded…ugh." I rubbed my temples at all these confusing questions.
"Unknown… but perhaps we can learn." Mantis said, walking down the hall that seemed to stretch for a while.
I followed after Mantis. "Hopefully we can find some answers…" I sighed, looking around for anything of note in this massive hallway.
As we walked I looked out at the windows. The memories. There's Matthew growing up… there's him and Zena turning Stalkers into Nokori… oh it looks like Zena likes that busty/chubby human lady… oh my god she is adorable! Please tell me they… oh… oh no… awh… but they were so cute!
Oh, looks like she found a new person, hey Isn't that the Nokori lady from that one memory… oh… awh. Well they look happy. And now Matthew has a dog, they're moving to that farm… looks like…
I paused at seeing a memory play back on TV, the news it displayed talking about the Nokori War…
"The hell?" I asked, looking at the TV to see what details it could give about this war…
Multiple hidden facilities have begun releasing a new dangerous breed of failed Nokori, dubbed Volatile Nokori by the Nokori Agency, these creatures are far more intelligent than the feral failed variation, yet retain the aggression and magical powers all the same. Add to the mass civil unrest, Nokori Hunters and government destabilization across the globe. Despite best efforts, many lives, human and Nokori are being lost.
…
"O-oh…" I muttered, turning and trying to find Mantis after that information.
I quickly walked up to Mantis, tapping them on the shoulder. "Yes?" He asked.
"So uh…I just witnessed a thing on TV." I said carefully. "What was the Nokori War?"
"Oh. Some years after Matthew got his body back, they discovered another Nokori production lab in the neighboring city of Libretë. A nation wide hunt for the Labs was issued, but two years after that some of the Agency's original Human agents discovered a production lab in Tijuana Mexico. After that, the whole world went mad, turning over and raiding any building under suspension of being a lab. Some were. Some weren't. Lots of newly turned Nokori were being deported from their home counties to Leto, some were shipped elsewhere, some countries didn't want anything to do with the Nokori or tried to hide involvement like North Korea did. Someone nuked them for it."
"Oh…" I blinked. "That's…definitely something."
"Yeah… then there were the Stalkers." Mantis said, stopping at another window. It showed a pile of Stalkers assaulting the farmhouse Zena owned. "They… came for Matthew…"
"Oh…" I said worriedly. "What…happened?"
"The scientist who created the Stalkers learned it was Matthew and Zena capturing Stalkers and turning them into Nokori. He was… impressed, with our ability to hack into the Stalkers and bring out the people they were. He ran… tests."
The image changed, showing…
Matthew was bound down to a table, a large metallic thing messily implanted where their missing arm was, various probs pierced their head and into their skull…. And their body had so many needles and tubes inside them. All the while their eyes were open wide and… pumping something into them.
"He had all my override codes. All my programming he knew because he made it. Even glitched… I was at his mercy…" Mantis said, punching the window, the frame cracking. "I promised Zena I'd protect Matthew… and I let this happen to him because I was still just a program…"
"This…is horrible…" I said weakly, not sure what to say to this butchery.
"Once our body was how he wanted, he tried to install a new Mantis OS to wipe both Matthew and I out and give him the perfect Stalker Unite… we survived. Somehow, I was assimilated into the new OS, and given full control over all functions… including mana capabilities. I quickly showed him how I felt that made me break my promise…"
The next display showed… carnage. Matthew… no, Mantis, stood in the center of it all, blood soaked.
"I found and freed Zena. They kept her drugged to keep her from using her power and Matthew in check… after that, I left her at a hospital and… got to work."
"And…what did you do?"
"... Matthew needed help." He said, quickly moving to another window. It showed Mantis sitting in a hospital chair, cleaned up and a still sleeping Zena in the hospital bed. "The pain and torment he endured, he retreated to his own subconscious to hide. And with the new OS install, he became stuck in a place the new OS systems kept me from accessing. Like, walling off an old room… I spent days trying to get to him but as…" Mantis froze, looking down at his own body then to his hand again… he was… shaking.
"Did you help him?" I asked.
"I did… to save Matthew… I had to erase the new OS… the one I was part of… I deleted myself…"
"And what part did you delete?"
"... All of it. It was the only way for Matthew to wake up. I had to die so he could stay alive…"
"I…you were…reincarnated…" I said, seeing Mantis look at me.
"How? I don't have a soul…"
That… was a good point… maybe there was something else… or-
"GrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Something screeched from the unseen end of this hallway.
"Oh shit…" I said, not sure if I can bring out any of my weapons in this realm but I got in front of Mantis nonetheless. "Stay behind me, I may not have Ol'Reliable but I can still fight."
"I don't recognize that scream. It's no creature I have in my data banks. By the way, all my data banks are restored." He said.
I smirked. The way he talks, it's more… organic now. Still some robo speech here and there but he sounds… alive now.
Another screech rang through the air before I could see something approaching fast. It looked akin to a black wisp, charcoal black like bones floated in it's mist, three skulls, each from a different species, were mixed at the head and it had many limbs and three large pairs of decayed looking wings.
What the fuck is that?!
"Huh…" I said slowly, before picking up Mantis and running. "Nopenopenopenopenopenope!" I repeated, carrying Mantis like he was a sack of potatoes as I ran as fast as I could from that monstrosity.
"Interesting. The creature resembles similar depictions of biblical angels." Mantis said.
Yeah, an Angel of-
I turned just in time to use Scan on it real quick.
[Scan Complete!
Enemy Type: Divine.
Threat Level: 3
Species: Angel of Dead Memories.
HP: 42,000
MP: 16,000
Att: 750
Def: 440
Mag: 680
Special Ability: Memory Guard - This entity guards the memories of all Prize Pod Beings, and thus if it takes them back it will multiply and double it's stats with each multiplication.
Notice! You are the first being in creation to Scan this entity!
Congratulations! Title, Monster Researcher, bestowed!]
Oh fuck me nine ways from Sunday! None of that makes me feel better!
"Just gotta keep running away from this bastard and hope to Mother it will leave us alone!" I said, running faster away from the apparently Divine being! "Seriously! Who the hell made that thing and why!?" I shouted, thinking about what I could do…but then I remembered, I had a spare Starlight Keyblade and decided to fuse it with Ol'Reliable. "Oh please let this work…" I muttered as I tried to summon my greatsword.
It appeared in a flash of rusty brown light. Oh thank you Katsuki!
"Oh thank you Katsuki…" I said happily, skidding to a halt as I spun around swiftly and one handed swung my suped up Greatsword at the divine being.
The impact managed to knock them back some. I took that as a chance to run more. Bursting through the double doors I was no longer in the altar room, rather I was back at the park.
"Can I come down now?" Mantis asked.
"Alright." I said, putting Mantis down and readying myself for the monster. "This thing wants you, but I'll protect you."
He gave me a flat look.
"Don't give me that look." I huffed. "I scanned it, and it's specifically after you, and if it does it grows stronger and duplicates."
"... How does that work?" He asked, the thing bursting from the double doors and giving another ear piercing screech.
"Because it's the Guardian of all your Dead Memories." I grunted at the massive screech, stabbing my blade into the ground. "Grave!" I shouted, as five spikes of stone shot up from the ground rushing to impale the beast.
The impact knocked it up but it then began to conjure of black flames that rained down over me.
Shit!
I raised Ol' Reliable to block, only for there to suddenly be a huge tree over me that caught all the fire… huh?
"It would seem I also have Matthew's Nature base magic." Mantis said, the flaming tree moving out of the way. I looked to see his hand was glowing green. "I had a little of that branch as well, didn't think it would work like this."
Nature… base magic?
"Well, you have Nature magic which is…cool." I said carefully. "Well…think you can help me take this thing down?"
"That was the plan." He said, raising his hand up as roots and vines burst from the ground and began strangling the creature.
I grabbed onto one of the rising vines and threw myself up towards the creature, while it was struggling against the vines and roots I slashed as many times as I could in quick succession to injure the thing before it could break out.
By the time I reached the ground again it broke free, giving another ear piercing screech… only for Mantis to stab a vine through it's messed up fused bone head.
"Wind Scar!" I shouted, swinging Ol Reliable hard enough that a massive slash like attack traveled up and slammed straight into it's head as well.
"Isn't that from an anime?" Mantis asked as the attack made impact, splitting it in two.
"Yes, because many strong attacks are from anime." I huffed, looking up to see if the thing is going to stay dead or somehow turn into two.
The creature began to slowly fall to the ground, once it did, the body faded and it left… Is that…
I walked over to the items. First was a blue Memory Card. These are usually… right… RIGHT!
Hearts are made from Light, Darkness, and memories! That's how Mantis is here! He has a heart made from his own personal memories! This card… is his Heart…
"Mantis…" I said. "I…know this might sound weird, but this is your Heart." I said, gently handing the card to Mantis.
"... That's a blue dard… that has my face on it." He replied.
I looked at the card. Huh, it does have his face on it. I know it's him too because the eyes are green.
"This is a Memory Card, it's the culmination of all your memories, light and darkness…with it, you are one step closer to being whole."
"... Is that… the only one?" He asked.
I looked at the card in my hand, the only other thing that was dropped was a small book.
"Well…there was this book." I said, gently picking up the book. "And both of these belong to you since this is your heart and…well, I suppose the book might be either your memories or…Matthew's…"
Gently, Mantis took the book. With his one hand he opened it and I moved over so I could see…
The first page had a photo of Zena, sitting on a park bench eating ice cream with Math- no… that's Mantis… their eyes are green…
He flipped the page, this one showed Zena, who was dressed in a fluffy wedding dress, next to her was that same Nokori girl, also in a wedding dress but this one was more flat and hugged her body. Between them was Matthew who was using his one arm and wings to hug the two. He had a tuxedo shirt and such on. The next photo showed Matthew, dressed in a gown and graduating high school I believe. The next page showed them all at that farmhouse again, painting and making some alterations.
"... None of these are… things I remember happening…" Mantis said.
"... I think, this is what happened after. After you died to save Matthew." I said.
"... He got to live… they all did…" Mantis said, a small smile grew up on his lips as he kept looking through the photos.
On the last page, there was a folded piece of paper. It was addressed to him.
"Looks like there might be some parting words…from your family." I said. "Open it up."
Carefully, Mantis took the paper. I held onto the book and he opened it.
Mantis.
I don't know if you'll ever get to read this. It's Matthew, I know… what you did, and why… Still, I miss you. Part of me likes to think you're still in me, somewhere, some small part of you still hanging around, maybe unable to talk to me, but alive and watching me like you've always done. If not… maybe, someday, you can come back. You might have started off as some AI made for… bad reasons, but you became something much more. You became alive.
Zena and Trish got married, as I write this they're on their honeymoon. They're happy, and things are going well. The war is still going on but it looks like it's nearing the end. There are less and less Labs, only really the Volatile Nokori are still an issue. Hunting parties are looking for nests, but they are keeping them out of Leto. Things here have gotten better.
Learning to use my powers without you has been… tricky. I've gotten the hang of some of it but other stuff is still harder to learn. Sometimes I swear I can hear you when I'm trying.
I don't know if you'll ever read this. See this… if you're somewhere better… or… I hope, someday, I can see you again. Maybe you'll be a different person… maybe I'll be a different person. If we can… I hope you can be your own person. Have your own body, and live a life you choose.
Sincerely, Matthew.
"Matthew…" I muttered. "Even…after all this time…"
"He… missed me?" Mantis said, confusion and sadness in his voice.
"Well…of course." I said softly. "You…were like his Brother, you were family…and I'm glad to see how much he cared about you."
"He cared more about me than I had any right…" Mantis said. For the first time since he arrived… I saw him… cry. "Because of me, a lot of people, Nokori especially, didn't trust him. Some even hated him… I didn't deserve his kindness… I could never understand it, it was just so… illogical…"
"Emotions are complicated…but it doesn't need to be 'logical' to show affection to those you care about…to show affection to Family." I gently put a hand on Mantis's shoulder.
"Why does being alive have to be so contradictory…"
"Because life is weird." I shrugged. "But it's a life worth living with the ones you love."
"... But, they lived without me…" Mantis said, looking at the small photo album in my hand again. "How… do I live without them?"
"You sacrificed yourself so that Matthew could live a life you wanted him to have…and right now," I said, gently pointing to the last two sentences of the letter. "And Matthew wanted you to live a life that you choose, to be your own person…to be happy with the new life you have."
"... I still have so many questions… and I feel like none of them are really going to be answered." He sighed.
"Well, I'm here to help you find those answers." I said. "Cause that's what a Mother does, they help their children find the answers they need."
–
After that, Mantis was… different. He talked and sometimes even acted more like a real person, but he still had some of his old quirks. Carver finally brought the soul. He has to special make it because Nokori have unique souls… given I saw how they are made… I didn't argue.
When all that was finally done, Mantis would spend a lot of time flipping through that photo album or reading that letter. He was often quiet and seemed to… just be thinking.
I was looking around for him today. I was worried about him not having emotions and such before but now… now that he has his memories, his past back… that raised a lot more questions. Was he the exception to the rule… or are all Pod Beings like that? Was he better off not knowing…
Did I do the right thing?
"I hate this…" I grumbled, rubbing my temples as too many questions are assaulting me at the moment. "Why can't things be simple?"
I walked passed Donna's room, seeing the door was open and-
…
I took some steps back, looking inside her room and just… taking in what I saw. Donna was working on a dress, a really pretty blue dress…
And Mantis was modeling for her…
… He rocking it too…
Damn it first Casey now Mantis?! How is it I don't look that good in a dress compared to them?! And Mantis is seven!
After taking a moment to mentally compose myself after a quick mental rant about how life is completely unfair when I want to look pretty in a dress. Even though I still look hot as hell in my tomboy clothes.
I knocked on the doorframe.
"Hey mom." Donna said.
"Hey Donna, Mantis, how you doing?" I asked.
"We're good." She replied.
"I'm modeling." Mantis said with a shrug.
"I can see." I said honestly. "So…just wanted to see how you're doing Mantis…all things considered…"
"I'm… processing." He said. "I remember before I… left, I was beginning to realize I had emotions, even if I didn't realize what they were or what I was feeling at the time, and I'm still unsure how to… live. So, I'm trying stuff I remember that was most popular amongst Nokori."
"That's fair." I nodded. "And…modeling was one of them?"
"Sort of. Fashion was an interesting thing amongst Nokori in Leto. Majority of normal human clothes didn't fit or work properly given anatomy was often different. Back in the early days a lot managed to get by wearing dresses, skirts and such since they let the legs move properly and didn't restrict too much for those with lots of hair. Male or female. As a result a lot of cross dressing was done and later on more gender neutral clothes were made."
"Have to admit, Mantis is pulling this dress off way better than I was expecting." Donna added. "Because his fur also helps pad out in the right places too…"
… That actually makes sense…
"Can't believe this is happening…" I muttered. "Well…you look good in a dress Mantis."
"Jealous mom~?" Donna teased.
"Shush you." I huffed. "I am perfectly fine with my tomboy look." I said, seeing myself in the mirror and giving a quick flex, seeing that I was still well in shape and strong from all the demon farming.
"Hehe, no need to be shy about wanting to wear frilly stuff sometimes."
"I don't look good in anything frilly." I said simply. "And I've made peace with that when I became a Warrior…" I sighed, remembering all the times my sisters kept trying to get me into some frilly clothes either because of some get together or because of magic and it never worked for me.
"Challenge accepted!" Donna declared. She quickly finished some stitching on the dress Mantis was wearing. "You can go now Mantis."
"Alright." He shrugged, walking off while still wearing the dress.
"Are you sure you can handle all this Donna?"
"... Please elaborate that because a very inappropriate joke just came to mind when you said that."
"I am so sorry." I said sheepishly. "But I meant can you handle trying to 'frilly' all this?" I asked, motioning to all of me. "Cause my sisters and mom have tried, it didn't work out."
"I don't see why not. Your chest and hips are a near perfect hourglass." I blushed. My hips aren't that bi- Oh my god I had multiple kids at once and used some Motherhood Skill Tree Abilities…
"W-well…" I tried to counter. "It's…because of how many kids and the Motherhood skill tree that did this…you have no idea how hard it was to get this back in order after all of that…" I grumbled, lightly patting my six pack that took a long time to get back.
"Yeah yeah, now arms and legs stretched out and wide." She said, pulling up measuring tape and snapping it in her grip.
I gulped.