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Chapter 25: A Mechanical Interlude
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The thick and dense Indian jungle buzzed, hummed, and thrummed with life. The vast expanse of lush trees that had existed even back before the end of humanity had only grown thicker and denser in the millennia since. The entirety of the subcontinent was consumed by plant matter. There were few other places on Earth where such complete and utter destruction of the human race by nature itself existed.
Any and all traces of human civilization was eroded by the wrath of nature in India. Ancient ruins from pre-history were swallowed up alongside the steel and glass and concrete of the modern world. Both were buried beneath the canopy. It had taken centuries, but now nothing short of using high-grade defoliant or an army of flamethrowers could cut back the jungle.
And where mankind fell, the beasts thrived. Magic made the plants grow tall, and the herbivores who grazed on the enchanted flora grew large in turn, which made the predators even more ferocious as they fed upon meat that had been suffused with traces of magic.
So it was that a herd of massive elephants crunched through the brush, crushing and shoving trees out of their way with their great bulk, strong trunks, and sharp tusks. The eldest of these creatures had clumps of moss growing out of their wrinkled skin, where dirt and magic-infused seeds had lodged during their travels.
In the undergrowth a tiger the size of a school bus, and just as yellow and black, stalked the herd, slowly getting into position so it could kill one of the stragglers.
It tensed, readying to pounce, but a disturbance in the distance gave it pause. There was a crashing sound that was not coming from the elephant herd as it plowed through the jungle.
Bark and branches flew everywhere as an explosion of violet energy tore apart over a dozen trees, sending burning splinters everywhere. Shortly afterwards, an enormous metal construct burst through the devastation, following the path of burnt and sundered trees as it went. It was massive, easily the size of one of the gigantic elephants that roamed India, but made of rusting, corroded, purple painted metal, and the tiger hastily retreated from the scene as the strange thing appeared.
Giant metal feet crunched along further through the jungle, and the elephants trumpeted in panic, some of them forming a defensive perimeter around their young. A few recognized the stomping as coming from a creature seemingly made out of hundreds of the small strange metal-men who occasionally frequented the edges of the Indian jungle. Of course, even the biggest of these metal-folk barely reached the shoulder of the adult elephants, so ordinarily they'd just ignore each other. But this creature belched smoke and stunk of toxic waste and magic as it passed through, and it disturbed the ordinarily peaceful pachyderms.
One of the older males trumpeted furiously, and tried to intimate the strange entity which had barreled into their neck of the woods. The action failed miserably as the bull elephant was struck down by a beam of purple lightning that lashed forth from the construct, obliterating its head completely.
Soon, the thumping metal beast was gone, leaving a swathe of destruction in its wake, as well as a charred elephant corpse and a frightened herd that was running in the opposite direction it'd gone. Eventually the tiger returned and, not one to waste a free kill, jumped onto the burnt remains and enjoyed its first cooked meal ever.
Meanwhile, atop the unholy cathedral of fused metal, a duo of being scowled out at the endless green before them.
"Have I said it before, Lady Purple? Have I said how much I hate the jungle?" 13R inquired, glaring hatefully out from the safety of the roof-palanquin at the branches trees.
"You have mentioned your distain quite often since we entered," Purple Athena commented, eyes flashing purple as she commanded her magic to lash out at the jungle, clearing and burning large chunks of land as they trekked through it.
Sizzling bolts of amethyst energy pounded the jungle, helping clear the way for the Machine Goddess' mobile throne-church. Furthermore, auras of purple energy wrapped around protruding roots and upturned stone and shoved them back down into the dirt if the lightning bolts had not cleared enough of the path in the first bombardment.
With each blast of purple lightning that tore apart the jungle, birds tore into the sky, and the other inhabitants of the jungle fled in all directions to escape.
"Argh! Go away you stupid pests!" 13R cried out in annoyance, batting aside huge, grotesque insects. Spiders, flies, and centipedes galore crawled over her, most of them eventually being fried by Purple Athena. But they just kept coming with every stretch of ground left burnt and barren.
"Ugh! I just look like a human! I don't have any tasty blood for you!" she screeched, slapping a huge mosquito that was trying to jab her with its proboscis so hard it popped like an overripe grape. Since it was already the size of a grape, the analogy was a bit too accurate.
"These creatures are persistent, make their homes everywhere, and are not very pleasant to look at, either. I can see why humans reviled them, and found them repulsive despite their connection to the ecosystem," Purple Athena noted, holding up a squirming spider in one hand and holding it close to her head.
Once she was done examining the arachnid, she crushed it into pulp, and purple flames erupted from her hand and swallowed up the goo, leaving her nice and clean and free of bug bits.
"That's nice, but I'd rather be out of here sooner rather than later," 13R griped. "And why'd we have to go through a stinking jungle in the first place?"
"The only other choice of terrain was to trek across the Himalayan Mountains, and my throne, as wonderful, amazing, and divine as it is, would not last very long trying to traverse those rocky cliffs. So, we go through this jungle instead," Purple Athena explained. "And is it possible for you to cease your endless nattering? I keep you around for information on 'Love' and other emotions, not for your dreary commentary."
"Oh, yes, oh course, My goddess! Forgive me! But, may a humble servant please ask why are we making this journey again?" 13R inquired, carefully keeping her tone respectful as the eyes of the mad Machine Lifeform flashed from purple to red for a brief moment when it turned its round head her way.
"I suppose I might as well indulge you," Purple Athena shrugged. "I seek to return to where the Prime Mothership of the Aliens was brought low. There, I shall repair my fault systems and upgrade myself to a better, more fitting form."
"And where did this space craft fall?" the Recon model inquired.
"A tiny island called Japan, and in a city once known as Tokyo," Purple Athena stated.
"That's going to be tricky," 13R said, trying to stay respectful. "But, uh, you do realize that by the very definition of 'island,' Japan is going to be separate from us by a lot of water. How are we going to get there in that case?"
"Oh, my dear non-believer," Purple Athena chuckled, her voice buzzing with static. "We will find a way. Be it a boat or an aerial transport, we will reach the Holy Land."
"How is Japan holy?" the rogue YoRHa unit inquired.
"According to the data I have obtained, it is not only where the end of the aliens was set in stone, but also the epicenter of the fall of mankind. What better place to build an empire than atop the graves of the fools who came before me?"
Purple Athena laughed maniacally, and despite herself, 13R couldn't help but giggle as well.
"That is amusing! What a great idea, my lady!" the Recon model snickered.
The jungle echoed with twin cries of demented laughter for many an hour after that, and proved to be a better deterrent for the wildlife than the lightning had been.
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The jungle was not the end of the trials for the two wanderers, however. Even after leaving India behind, there were still a lot of problematic terrain to traverse.
The world had not ended well, and the aftermath of the alien's invasion had left behind vast swathes of land that had been obliterated by warfare. And even before that, the humans had done a good job of obliterating a good portion of their planet with nukes when the White Chlorination Syndrome seeped beyond the borders of Japan and infiltrated Asia. Better to wipe out a few countries then let it spread, right? Shame that the humans hadn't figured out it wasn't a mere disease, and that nuclear radiation only let it contaminate faster!
The Korean Peninsula was essentially a giant, radioactive crater, while Vietnam and Thailand were little better, alternating between mutated jungles and toxic wastes resulting in a variety of issues that made even artificial life hard to survive in. China had been spared the worst of the devastation, at least environmentally. The cities, choked full of people, succumbed to the White Chlorination Syndrome rapidly, leaving vast quantities of salt behind that scoured the soil bare for many generations. Even to this day, no plants grew within the major settlements, only rusted metal, cracked stone, and warped plastic remaining.
The handful of YoRHa patrols out in the area fled upon encountering Purple Athena, though a number were struck from the skies when spotted. Asia was almost completely Machine Lifeform territory, huge chunks of it overrun by clanking, doll-like creations pumped out of the Chinese factories.
Speaking of the Machine Lifeforms that inhabited the regions, they were numerous. Most were mad from decayed programming and faulty parts, though the Chinese industrial sectors remained firmly under Machine control, even to this day. Such a vast number of Machines meant that Purple Athena had an endless horde of converts, however. Trailing behind her walking cathedral, megaphones blurted out corrupted binary that bent the programming of the Machines to her will. And when the local factions resisted, she crushed them without hesitation and added their corpses to her throne.
But soon, she reached her destination.
"Well, here we are, the city of Shanghai!" Purple Athena crowed as her throne stomped through the Great Chinese Salt Flats. "Once more of humanities greatest cities, reduced to mere rubble. A fitting place to plan for my trip to Japan."
"Ugh, that water looks gross," 13R noted, staring out at the Yellow Sea that was visible between the skeletal remains of the buildings. Centuries of rust and salt had turned the water closest to the shoreline a dark crimson color.
"It reminds me of blood that one time I cut open that boar that dared to try and gore my beloved 9S," 13R sighed wistfully, thinking back to the good old days. "His pale skin looked so lovely painted red!"
She shivered, insane thoughts flickering through her head. The self-styled goddess ignored her, however, and began to issue instructions.
"Oh disciples, scatter, and build me an arc to carry us to the Holy Land!" Purple Athena shouted, and the Machine Lifeforms trailing behind her throne buzzed before doing as she commanded.
They stripped the surrounding skyscrapers of steel, and with their fists beat it flat and into shape. For days they toiled, until they managed to create a moderately sized metal raft. It could hold the throne, but when Purple Athena tried to step into the boat, it sank.
"It looks like your church is too heavy," 13R noted.
"Refrain from pointing out the obvious," Purple Athena scolded her royal advisor.
"I'm just saying it'd be easier to leave it behind. We can always make you a another one when we get to Japan," the rogue YoRHa unit offered, but was rebuffed.
"No! I shall not falter! If this boat won't do, I'll simply make a bigger one!" the Ghost in the Machine declared.
"Shame we don't have any land bridges or Bering Straights," 13R mused idly. A shiver ran down her spine as the glowing eyes of her 'boss' turned to her.
"What is this 'Bering' you speak of?"
"Oh? Well, see, 9R, the little nerd, was a fan history and ancient geography. And apparently, according to him, there used to be a sort of land bridge, though it was mostly made of ice, that connected from Siberia to Alaska, and was how primitive humans colonized the America's," 13R stated. "I remember it because that mission to Russia was one of the worst I'd even had. The cold, the freaking huge bears the size of battle tanks… it was awful! And my darling 9S was transferred to that bitch 2B during that time."
Leaving the Yandere Recon model to mutter darkly to herself, Purple Athena's mind was processing a great deal of data at once. After deliberation, she hopped down from atop her throne and strode to the edge of the water.
"Huh? What are you doing, my goddess?" 13R inquired.
"If a boat will not work, why not a bridge? Nature can be so inspiring, don't you think?" Purple Athena asked, before raising her hands high, pointing them out over the water.
The air suddenly turned frigid, and the waves all froze in place as ice surged forth, and a wide bridge of the stuff rose up, extending as far as the eye could see. And thanks to the color of the water, when it rose up and froze, there was a distinct purple tint to the ice as it stretched out into the distance.
As 13R stared agape at the sight of a magical frozen bridge leading from China to Japan, Purple Athena only laughed.
"And lo, I have given us a path to the Holy Land! Through the very powers that damned mankind, no less! I am truly a GOD!" Purple Athena cackled.
Soon, the entire congregation was stomping across the ice bridge. 13R winced, waiting for the crunching and cracking of the surface to come, but it never did. The water was frozen solid all the way to the seabed.
A legion of steel marched on towards Tokyo, screaming their praises of their mistress towards the sky. And at its head was a goddess, carried aloft by a clanking, lumbering cathedral-throne.
^/\/\/\/\^
A/N: I did not expect to have life slap me silly for these past two months. Sorry about that, hopefully I can have another chapter up before the end of March!