Asterisk - (Arknights, SI)

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Warning! This story is set in the GuinGuinverse/The fan comic from Guin Guin. Some characters (behaviors, alignments, and even outright origins) will not be the same as canon.

The first thing that I found odd as I woke up was the unpleasant smell of metal.

It wasn't blood, this much I could say. It felt like being stuck in one of the locksmiths' workshops, the raw metal getting burned and molded to produce convenient devices but... it was intense. It was widespread as if surrounding my current resting spot. And as I opened my eyes to a dark and cloudy sky, I realized that the source of the unpleasant smell came from a large curved pillar that had stabbed onto the cement of the road.

It took me a moment to realize I was not at home, and definitely nowhere near my hometown. The few tall buildings around and the overall apocalyptic scenario confirmed this much as I slowly got myself off the ground. This looked like the aftermath of a battle, one that was finished with those strange metallic shards.

The silence was deafening as I looked around for anything that could tell me if there was anyone around - this city just felt... deserted. The more the reality of the matter sunk in my head, the more my body shivered. What the hell should I do? Where the fuck should I go?

Nothing was helping in that scenery. There was only destruction, flames, and the bitter feeling that people have died here and, if I am unlucky, then I was about to suffer their same fate. Yet, as I kept on desperately looking for a sign, my eye caught something in the distance. Something of a blue beacon blinking intermittently.

While this could have lead to nowhere, it was still something to check - the only thing actually. So, I picked up my pace and approached the source of the light with as much eagerness and caution I could mix at the same time. Tense as I was, I was just expecting anything to jump me anytime soon.

Panic swelled as I found the first body. Then two more. All of which were people that all had black clothes with blue details. Jackets, hoodies, kevlar- I could see so many kind of those folks unmoving by the ground, having all perished in various ways: some had been clawed to death, others were scorched, and a few had been riddled with bullets.

The more I looked into the result of this massacre, the more I felt this was a bad idea and, as I picked an assault rifle from one of the corpses and grimaced at the emptied mag it had... I jumped as I heard someone cough nearby. My wide-open eyes zeroed on the source of the noise, and I saw a man on the ground leaning on one of the cement blocks meant to block vehicles. He was looking back at me, and yet... he wasn't a threat to me - not with how wrecked his body was.

He was missing his right arm and his legs, his bloody stumps bleeding slowly and adding more to the huge pool of red under him. His reinforced kevlar had been shredded by a claw while his sunglasses had been broken against his face. This guy... how the hell was he alive?

"H-Hey," I muttered, feeling that any fear I could have against someone couldn't apply to this man. Not with how much of a corpse he was right now and because he lacked any weapon on himself.

The man gulped. "H-Hey."

"W-What happened?" I asked, my brain still failing to find a solution to this. Fire, beasts, the end of the world- what the fuck is going on in this place?!

"The Reunion and... the Calamity," He wheezed weakly. "I'm Ace."

"John."

"J-John... closer. Please."

Maybe it was a trap but... it felt too calm, too tame. I complied with Ace's request and crouched down in front of him.

"You- You need to- to find him. The Doctor-" Ace started to cough, blood splashing against his closed fist as he tried to keep his coherence. "He- he can't die here- he is important- for us."

I slowly nodded. "Wh-Where is he?"

Ace turned a finger to a specific direction. "T-Take my radio. O-Once you find him, you need- need to contact Channel 3. Just- Just open the ch-channel and-"

He started to couch again, and then he wheezed tiredly. "D-Dying sucks."

"Seems like that," I commented, and he offered a tiny smile. "So, I find him, Channel 3 and then we are all out?"

"Y-You two are. Yes."

I wanted to say he could make it out too, but Ace looked too damaged to survive for long. It was a miracle he lasted for as long

"A-And John?"

"Hm?"

"...Thank- Thank you."

His body relaxed and his head tilted forward. The eyes coming from Ace's eyes vanished instantly and I... felt suddenly drawn back to the cold reality surrounding us. I was alone again.

Still, I now had a purpose. And I didn't intend to let Ace down about it. Whoever this 'Doctor' was, he had to be someone important to motivate this to be the guy's last wish. I soon took for the direction Ace had directed me. I couldn't help but feel like I was risking now.

Sure, it was the only potential way out, but what if I was going to be hurled deep into a new warzone? I had no gun on me and a radio was definitely not going to be a sturdy enough tool to defend myself.

My silent pacing was once again coaxed by a layer of paranoida, dread, hope, and, ultimately, a sense of fear that this may explode on my face. And while I had this growing belief I may found someone still alive around, praying this Doctor was indeed around to rescue me from this hellhole, I was up to a sobering discovery as I turned another corner and I saw something waiting at the other side of the road. Another defensive line for those mercs, and, in the middle of it, stood something of a statue. Or... what I perceived to be a statue.

As I got close enough, I realized it was a human... stuck in place as green crystals protruded from his body. His head, his arms- well, his only arm as his left arm had been cut away. Still, his whole body was encased in crystals that came from within himself. He was holding a yellow revolver and... he was holding it as if he had been struck mid shooting.

I-Is he dead? Is he... the Doctor?

I slowly approached him, feeling a strange unpleasant feeling in my guts as I got close enough to check on him and... see his body twitch as I got close enough.

The brown-haired man swallowed air, but soon spat blood as he tried to move, his body paralyzed in that position.

"D-Damn it."

I blinked. He was alive. Even without an arm, his body cut all over by those crystals... how the fuck are those people surviving that much damage!?

"Are you- Are you the Doctor?" I asked, and I got close enough so he could see me. And I could see his hollow blue eyes. The way they turned to lock onto my face made me jolt in shock and-

"Y-Yes."

"Ace sent me," I muttered. "He said I had to help the Doctor get out of this place. He's... it's just us right now."

"O-Oh?"

I nodded at the realization, remembering that I also needed to get the radio working. Channel 3, the device started to buzz loudly but it was all static. Was this... right? Maybe there was something jamming the signal but-

A chill went down my spine as I felt the air growing a bit... hotter than before. I felt a spike in the temperature, and I felt it came from a specific direction. Instictively I turned to the source of the heat and... I felt my jaw hit the floor as I saw death walking towards us. Girl with gray hair, dragon horns, dragon tail, a sword, a lot of fire coming from all around her - she was far but... she had seen us, and she was glaring right at me.

"T-Talulah," The Doctor muttered. "Y-You need to leave."

I turned to him in shock. "I am not!"

"Y-You can't fight her-"

"I am not fighting here. But I am not leaving you to her either," I growled and... walked up to him, eyeing the crystals and soon grasping at some to break them. "Just give me a moment and-"

"Do-Don't touch them!" The Doctor screamed with a raspy voice. "The-These crystals are- are made of Originium. You can end up with Oripathy if- if you-"

I didn't focus on whatever he was saying. Adrenaline had taken over, I had a goal in mind, and I successfully broke a few bits of the crystals to free the guy from his prison. He grumbled some more, but he complied in wrapping his only arm around my neck as I carried him on my back and-

I fucking bolted the different direction this 'Talulah' was coming from, the woman having picked up the pace and having gotten way too close for my liking - Like hell I was getting killed by a hot dragon girl just for existing!

AN

Man, I have thought about writing an Arknight-focused story in a while. Hell, I have half a chapter for a ministory for the Futa Thread inspired by the Masso Nullbuilt Arts in the backburner, and boy will that be a spicy thing alright.

Still, this is a serious story which may not go as 'pleasantly' as usual. The chase has started, the stakes are high and... John has to get Doctor (Sin) out of Chernobog. As mentioned by Guin Guin, the Doctor has not accessed the Sarcophagus in this timeline, and he is not amnesiac. Rather, he is supposed to die so that 'Gramps Doctor' takes over.

Alas... prepare for an interesting skirmish between the Old Man and the SI. After all, they do share a few things in common (and have a few things to loathe each other for).