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Chapter 47:

A horror taken flight

Classified voxtech research and development facility, pride ring, hell:

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In the middle of a large, dark blue room, lined with light blue and red neon strips, stood a large, mechanical frame, on which hung what could only be described as a set of futuristic looking, cybernetic wings as the looming shadow of Lute would menacingly prowl circles around it.

"I have to admit it, Vox, but you've truly outdone yourself" she spoke as she ran her fingers over the mechanical panels that made up the moving parts of the "wing"

"We have finished the trial stages and are ready to put them to the real test by your hands, exactly as per your instructions, Lute. Spared noexpense" Vox spoke, trying to hide his nerves with his usual façade of bravado and pride as next to him, the pimp overlord Vallentino had less success, his brow furrowed and his shoulders tense as he whispered under his breath "Voxy, please, don't make her any angrier then she already is"

As Lute would suddenly rubberneck into the tall moth's direction, he would flinch as she slowly approached him, arms on her back and a cold expression on her face as she spoke "As long as I'm having your demonic filth under contract, BOTH of you will refer to me as either lieutenant of ma'am" as she stopped right in front of of them, shooting both of them a quick glare "Am I making myself clear?"

Swallowing a lump in their throats, the 2 demons would stutter out "Y-yes ma'am"

And as Lute returned her attention to the mechanical wings, Vallentino would add "W-we also studied the anatomy of my own wings as a basis for some of the larger moving parts. Metal and wire can only do so much in trying to replicate the effect of muscle and feather after all" he nervously stuttered out.

Vox would interject "A-and that's not the only thing" as he snapped his fingers and a nearby panel opened in the wall with a futuristic "FSHH" as a humanoid, feminine shape behind it slowly came to life and with noises that could only be described as the sounds of servo motors, it stepped into the large room with a robotic stride before coming to a stop only a few feet away from the fallen angel, who, upon seeing the figure, would widen her eyes in surprise.

"May I introduce you to our "improved" version of the fizzybots, we've finally moved on from the prototype stage and they're ready for mass production. May I present to you….the model 5 4X0R-51ST "cleanup" unit"

Vox spoke as the figure's face lid up, it's LED lined face almost identical to the LED visors of the exorcists helmets as it spoke in a robotic, yet feminine, monotone voice "4X0R-5ST leanup unit 0-0-1 operational. Awayting further instructions"

Lute would approach the robotic angel as she observed it thoroughly. It sported similar mechanical wings to the ones that currently hung from the nearby frame, it's entire outside casing mimicking the uniform of the exterminators, down to the mounted horns, tho with a distinct voxtech flair to them.

Taking on a military stance, Lute addressed the bot "Unit, report, who is your current superior?"

The robot would spring into action as it straightened its back and saluted "This unit verves under INDIVIDUAL N.R.1, DESIGNATION:VOX, INDIVIDUAL N.R.2, DESIGNATION: VALLENTINO, INDIVIDUALN.R. 3, DESIGNATION: VENDETTA/LUTE. Awaiting further instructions"

Smirking, Lute spoke up "Manual override, from now on, you and ALL of your sister units will take your orders from ME and ME alone unless instructed otherwise"

The robot would slump periodically, causing Vox and Vallentino to look at the fallen angel in wide eyed horror, before a dial up noise was heard and the bot sprang back to life "Manual overwrite complete, new prime administrator set"

Lute would slowly turn towards the 2 media demons "Did you really think I wouldn't take it into account you'd use these units to turn on me?" before slowly walking over to the 2 demons as she glared them down "And yes….you did everything as instructed….BUT….you are 2 weeks behind schedule"

causing the 2 overlords to shrink in on themselves as they shuffled away from the approaching angel ever so slowly.

She snapped her fingers as she addresses the robotic angel "UNIT…I believe these 2 need to be disciplined…."

Thrusting its arm, a angelic blade would eject from the robotic angel's palm as it slowly approached the 2 demons with a menacing stance, tho its blade would stop mere inches from either of the 2 overlords as Lute would walk closer and lean in "Next time…..be…..faster….." before pointing towards the mechanical wings on the frame, not taking her eyes off Vox "now…how fast can you have these grafted onto my back?"

Vox would nervously mumble out "O-our best folks are r-ready whenever you say the work Lut-ERM, Lieutenant….."

She smirked "Good….then let's get to it" as she turned to the robot "UNIT, follow them and make sure they follow orders as instructed!"

To which the bot would jolt up and salute "What is my directive in case of disobeying of orders, ma'am?"

"If they try and use this opportunity to strike me down while I'm weak…" she would lean closer to the robot "…..kill them….slowly….and painfully…." To which the robot just saluted "Afirmative, ma'am" as Lute, led by Vox, would be brought to what could only be described as a combination between an operating room and a mechanic's workshop. The place where, what lute would assume, Vox would make additions to himself and his "employees" as she was instructed to lie on her stomach on the operating table.

"I'm not going to lie, lieutenant….this is going to hurt…but taken you've torn off your own arm before, this should be a breeze" Vox spoke as a small team of lesser sinners wheeled in the mechanical frame while a set of robotic arms descended from the ceiling.

Gritting her teeth together, the fallen angel buried her face in her arms as she spat out, bitterly "…Do it….."

For the next grueling few hours, the room was filled with the sounds of ripping flesh, snapping bones, the whirring of drills and Lute's screams as wire and cable was grafted to nerves, steel was melded to bone and flesh as skin was unnaturally fused to synthetic rubber.

Vox and Vallentino oversaw the whole procedure, making sure that everything went as instructed, lest they met their gristly end by the blade of their newly created bot, tho the TV demon did take whatever satisfaction he could get out of knowing the surgery brought on a considerable amount of pain to the fallen angel as whenever she would scream, he couldn't help but grimace as he whispered to his fellow Vee "Val, I guess we are Victor Frankenstein..and she…she is our monster.."

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Slowly coming to, Lute would gently push herself up from the table as she tried to sit up, tho she was almost thrown off balance, teetering off the table by the sudden new weight hanging from her back.

It was a weight she hadn't felt in a long time…it felt….familiar….comforting…it felt….right….that was until sharp pain shot through her entire back, causing her to scream as she punched the table's surface a few times in a desperate attempt to gain her aching body under control.

"Not so fast, ma'am. You've been out for a while" Vox spoke as he emerged from the shadows "We made sure they are secured, it's gonna take either a fucking miracle or one hell of a blade to take them off, but you'll be in considerable pain for a good while" as he gestured for Lute to look over her shoulder.

The fallen angel scoffed "Pain and I are an old friend, don't patronize me, Vox" she bitterly spat out as she fought through the raging inferno that was setting her back on fire and flexed….

She would flex muscles she hadn't used in a long time…muscles she wasn't sure she would ever feel the joy of using again…and something…..responded…..

Hearing that same whirring noise that emerged from the mechanical soldier in the room with them, something behind Lute unfurled as her center of balance would slightly shift.

Purely on instinct, she would flex a few muscles as the large shapes behind her responded and send a gust of strong wind forward, knocking both Vox and Vallentino off their feet.

Feeling a giddiness well up within her chest, she would lower these new limbs again as she jumped from the table and ran back to the large room from before, and the moment she entered, she would push herself off the ground and with another few, still painful flexes…she took off…..

Entering the room now as well, Vox and Vallentino would look upon the flying shape of lute with dread, sporting the demonic left arm, horns, the sickly greenish, yellow eyes and her ropey black tail behind her as she trickled golden blood across the large testing facility with every flap of her newly acquired cybernetic prosthetics.

Looking more like a true demon from hell itself then the once proud angel she was, Vallentino leaned in to whisper with a shaky voice "Voxy….what have we done….."

Vox simply answered…..his expression grim and his voice bereft of hope…..

"Val…We…..we've created a monster….."

Unbeknownst to them however, in the corner, on some shelf in the back, sat a small, concealed camera drone, who's "recording" indicator light…..after a few minutes of witnessing this…..turned off…