How long it has been? For how long have you waited? But here we are, once again, with a new chapter.
I know you have waited a very long time, but a lot of things happened. But we are back. And I hope you will enjoy this chapter, just like the previous ones.
It's time to begin.
Out of Reach
Chapter 11
Camp Half-Blood
Hestia, just like every other day, was tending the fire at the heart of Camp Half-Blood. Barely noticed by anyone, she observed the life of young demigods with a small smile. In a way, this camp always represented what she wanted to see in her family – unity. Pure unity, without unnecessary drama, where everyone would calmly dissolve their petty grievances through laughter and discussion, not through blood and the cursing of their children.
Of course, she wasn't blind to what happened two years ago. So many young demigods, blinded by her father's promises, and fueled by their parent's anger and feeling of abandonment, decided to rebel against the Olympians and serve her father, the crooked one.
It saddened her immortal heart to know that so many children of her family would go to war with each other. She could feel it in the fire, the significant loss of what was to come. The Great Prophecy – a second war between Gods and Titans, or rather between the pawns of both sides.
She wasn't naïve. She knew this war was not going to be played fair. She already knew that both sides were using demigods, children who were simply seeking her family's approval. And it was almost heartbreaking to her. How those children decided to take such great responsibility on themselves.
Their cause was just that she could admit. But serving the Crooked one was never a good option. The titan lord was always a master of manipulations and lies, and Hestia knew that sooner or later, her father would betray his own soldiers.
Right now, she could only hope that the remaining demigods, still loyal to the Olympus, would be able to persuade the renegade ones to return back home. She knew that her own little brother would try to smite them all down, calling them all traitors, yet Hestia could not help but hope.
The one demigod that saw her two years ago, son of Poseidon, Perseus Jackson… The flames were always brighter and warmer near him. She already knew that he was indeed the child of prophecy. So many family members feared him, and yet, somehow, Hestia knew what choice Perseus would take.
But there was something else on the horizon…
Hestia once again felt how for a quick moment, her flames flickered. It was something entirely new for her. No matter what was happening, the fire was always bright, giving the message of hope and home. And yet now, something was making them flicker and smaller.
The Goddess could feel it, a presence somewhere near, somehow able to almost suffocate the entire flame. Hestia could not help but shiver in fear. Was her father already that powerful? Has something else escaped Tartarus?
And then she felt it. The presence was near her. Close enough for her to feel it and see it…
It was standing, still waiting within the forest, observing her like a predator. It had a vague human-like build but without anything characteristically to call it human. The being did not even have a face. Instead, it had a weird, futuristic-like helmet with brown glass covering the place where eyes and nose should be.
The being was also taller and more imposing than most humans. Almost seven feet tall, with a bulky silver-black armor… Compared to most demigods, that being could be mistaken even for a giant. And in his arms, Hestia noticed a weird riffle-like weapon.
At that moment, Hestia did not know what to do. She wasn't entirely sure as to what this being was even doing in the camp. Was it trying to attack the demigods? Or did it come here with an altogether different purpose?
The Goddess of the hearth decided to reach out to the being with her own power, trying to determine what she was dealing with a new ally or a foe.
As soon as her power reached the being, all the flames around her just died, as if someone had just cut out all the oxygen. For the first time in her immortal life, Hestia felt cold, helpless, and despaired. It was something she could not explain. The being before her was made from despair alone. It almost looked like a void in the world.
Hestia fell to the ground after she found herself unable to stand. Her body could not stop shaking, and her eyes were full of tears. In all her immortal life, she wasn't scared more than now. And she found herself terrified even more when she noticed that the void being was coming closer to her.
When it finally reached her, she felt its soulless gaze set upon her. It almost felt as if the void itself was looking at her.
She felt coldness beyond imagination as it looked down upon her. She could not do anything as the suffocating presents of utter loss chocked her. She could even utter a single sound. She couldn't fight off the pure despair radiating from the being.
Whatever was standing before her, she knew one thing already – it was purely inhuman.
And then, she heard the voice, just as inhuman as the entire being before her.
"What are you?"
Through every word, Hestia couldn't help but flinch. The thing's voice was devoid of any emotions. Even the creations of Hephaistus had more emotions within them compared to what was standing in front of her. Even if the voice could be compared to a human voice, it held nothing. It was almost as if a lifeless machine was trying to imitate human voice accords.
"What are you?"
The being before Hestia repeated while slowly marching towards the Goddess of the heart. It would seem that the machine will not stop until Hestia answers its question. The Goddess could not fully comprehend why she was scared of the thing before her. She was supposed to be a Greek goddess, one of the most powerful beings in the world… And yet, somehow, the unnatural thing before her was making her wholly terrified.
Finally, Hestia grew the strength to give an answer.
"I am Hestia, Olympian goddess of the hearth, home, and family."
She wasn't sure if the being heard her. She could barely hear herself. Then again, it was for the first time anyone tried to interrogate her. Not even the incident with Priapus made her feel this dread. She wanted to use her powers to protect herself or make the being before her reconsider its action. And yet, she wasn't entirely sure if her powers would work against the thing before her.
Meanwhile, the silver-black machine before her slowly put away his weirdly-looking weapon. She shook, never even noticing that it had been aimed at her, and somehow placed it on its back. For a second, it did not move, as if it decided to turn off. Hestia chose to take that time to calm herself down and get up.
As she was about to take a step closer towards the machine, it suddenly returned to life, looking straight at her again and asking another emotionless question.
"Why am I being hunted by one of your own?"
For a few seconds, that question left the Goddess confused. Essentially she could not understand the question itself. But as she finally regained all her mental strengths and could think without fear, she asked back, for the first time, with a tone full of confidence.
"One of my own? Is someone from my family hunting you down?"
Her answer was only a small nod from the machine. At that moment, she thought that the machine's laconic answer was somehow similar to how ancient Spartans talked. She wondered if the device before her was somehow created to resemble the ancient warriors.
"Artemis. Britomartis. Hunters. Unknown motivation. I saved Britomartis and one of the hunters from death and am now hunted by them because of this. You, Artemis, and Britomartis seem to have a similar energy reading. I assumed you can be somehow connected."
Hestia could not help but admit that the machine before her had a powerful sense of logic, almost like her niece. It couldn't find any answers for his persecutions or about his persecutors. Instead, it found another similar being, hoping to find an answer. She was even somehow impressed by it. Yet she realized that at least a few things were not making any sense.
"How… How were you able to get through the barrier around the camp? The barrier should not allow you to enter…." It was one of the things she wanted to know. There were so many things involving the thing before her that made no sense, at least from her point of view.
"Energy fluctuations from an unknown source detected. No resistance was noticed while entering this area."
It took a while for Hestia to understand what the automaton just said. Noticing that the area is somehow shielded while also getting into the camp.
The realization struck Hestia like one of her brother's lightning bolts. She was somehow scared to even address her suspicions, yet she knew she had to push herself to get an answer. Because either the thing before her was created by a rogue demigod or… What she believed to be a machine was a demigod.
As she was about to ask another question, another realization came to Hestia. She recalled Apollo's prophecy.
Child, out of time, comes back home, by the wish of the Goddess who wanted him to go.
She recalled all of those weird things that happened not a while ago. What happened to Artemis during one of her rides. What Hephaistus has seen. Suddenly it all made sense to Hestia. The thing before her appeared through that hole in the sky. Its arrival took out all the electricity and created an explosion in the desert.
The thing before her wasn't a machine. It was a demigod.
"You are a demigod... But how is that possible?" By all means, she could not understand. Demigods' souls were bright, reflecting both their human and god-like sides. One could recognize to whom a child belonged while just looking at them. Each and every radiated aura representing their parent. But the thing – no – the man before her did not have anything.
He was a void. A blank space devoid of any aura and even life. It radiated nothing, no emotions, no presence, nothing. She felt as if she just stared at the avatar of emptiness. And that broke Hestia's heart. Even if she did not know the child, she could not help but cry over what possibly the child had to go through to become like this.
Then she reached out to his mind. Somehow he noticed her presence immediately. He shook off her hand and grabbed his rifle, aiming at her with full killing intent. But Hestia did not hesitate anymore. She ventured into his mind.
His mind was unlike any mortal's mind she had ever seen. Standing in complete opposite of what most demigods' minds were like. Instead of being chaotic, this demigod's mind was always concentrated, fully organized, and disciplined. And, to her own biggest surprise, it was much faster than any mortal or half-blood. Faster and far more intelligent.
She almost felt as if she encountered an entirely different breed of human. The one made to be stronger, faster, or just better than any human.
But there was also something very depressing within this child's mind. She could not sense any emotions. In every human mind, emotions were like music, constantly chanting around every thought and memory. But here, Hestia was overwhelmed by the constant silence. The only thing she could feel inside this demigod was the coldness of despair.
Despair so powerful that it almost blew away all her efforts.
The child before her noticed her presence within his mind. While he still could not banish her presence, the half-blood before her put out an impressive mental fight against her. Whenever she tried to reach out and find anything about him, he would create many mental shields and defenses. It was like playing the blinds man's buff.
Perhaps if she was a more dominant goddess, like Athena or Artemis, she would increase the pressure on his mind to break it and then find whatever she would want. But she was not like them. She was a goddess of the hearth. Her duty was to care for every member of her family. She was not supposed to hurt anyone, and she would not become like her siblings.
And thus, she pressed on, trying to pass through the half-blood's mental defenses. At least until she felt a metallic hand grabbing her arm. Not even a second later, she could no longer feel the ground and flew towards the nearest tree.
For the first time in her immortal life, she was thankful to be born a goddess. The impact alone would kill her if she was a mortal or even a half-blood. Thankfully, her back was only dreadfully painful.
But before she could do anything, she found that the futuristic half-blood closed the distance between her, and the knife's blade pointed at her. Hestia just could not believe what she was seeing. Not even hunters were that fast.
She did the only thing she could without harming the confused half-blood before her. She raised a shield and tried to reach out to the half-blood's mind once more, only to find herself in an even more hostile place than before. Earlier, the half-blood's mind was empty, without any human emotion. Now it was determined to bring her down in cold-blooded fury.
Hestia flared her powers, which seemed to confuse her opponent. He stopped in his charge for less than a second, trying to fight off the Goddess's influence. Hestia wanted to talk things out. She tried to end things peacefully. But before she could even muster a word, the half-blood once again shook off her influence in less than a second. And then he punched her shield.
She observed in horror how her own barrier started to shatter through mere punches. Crack by crack, her wall seemed to resemble a broken mirror. She was left with no choice. If she wanted to peacefully end this skirmish, she would have to dominate this half-blood's mind. She wasn't sure if she could do it, judging that this half-blood was unlike any human she had ever seen.
Soon her barrier broke into thousand pieces, shattered like delicate glass. She had no other choice. She flared her powers and reached into the half-blood's mind once again. She tried to pour into his soul as many peaceful emotions as possible. But the child before her kept resisting. His iron will was concentrated on moving forward to finish his given task.
Hestia had to admit – this half-blood was something else. The fact that he could mentally fight a goddess and still move forward said something about the pure determination of the child before her.
As the half-blood continued to slowly but surely move forward towards the Goddess, she realized a small mistake she had made. She realized what was happening. She realized why the demigod was fighting off the peaceful emotions. The half-blood's mind before his rage… It was without emotions, and it was most likely in that state for a long time. He couldn't understand what she was trying to do, other than enforcing her will upon her.
In other words, Hestia had to go even further.
"Stop! There is no need for violence!" Her voice was firm, full of authority, and hector. At that moment, she was undeniably the very first Olympian. The very first born Goddess of Greek mythology. And perhaps even the most powerful one.
The half-blood before her started to struggle. Both under her power and under her own consciousness invading his mind. Hestia had to admit that the child before her indeed possessed a strong will if he was capable of resisting her at this point. But even he had to fall down. At least, she hoped that it would happen.
Despite her flaring her power upon the half-blood, he surprised her once again by pulling out a gun and aiming at her. She knew she had to end this mental battle as soon as possible. Even if the bullets would not be able to hurt her – that is according to her knowledge – she knew that the child before her was far more powerful than what she initially believed.
"Stop it, child. You don't have to fight. Calm down!" She wasn't even sure if she was ordering him or begging him. The more the half-blood resisted, the more she realized that something was wrong with him on a fundamental level. And she could not help but feel pure sadness whenever watching the child before her.
"Dot…" Once again, she noticed that despite the mental battle and pain the child had to go through, he did not show any pain in his voice. It was almost as if he was accustomed to the pain. His voice was still emotionless, akin to a machine than a human. "Now!"
Then, Hestia saw a flash…
Hestia found herself in a weird place. It was mostly dark, with flashes of what seemed to be electric discharges all around. It took a while for the heart goddess to realize where she was. She had found herself in a place where initially she wanted to get – the half-blood's mind. And yet, when she looked around, she could not help but feel sadness.
Even when she initially felt his emotions or pure lack of them, she still expected to see anything deep inside this child's mind. Some deeply rooted core of sad feelings would explain what happened to him. Or any chaos of the mind, full of thoughts, reflection, memories… But everything around her was static, calculated, arranged, and organized. She could not believe that she was looking at a human mind, let alone a half-blood one.
"You shouldn't be here."
An unknown voice echoed through the half-blood's mind, aiming to reach Hestia. As she turned around, she realized that she wasn't the only one who got inside the child's mind. Before she stood a beautiful woman that seemed to illuminate in blue light. Her skin, despite being blue, was similar to the skin of a human or any water nymph. Her blonde her arranged in a bun with a pompadour.
Hestia could not help but admit that the woman before her was beautiful. With her very female silhouette and mesmerizing golden eyes, highlighted by her small glasses, she would make many women jealous – even the half-blood ones.
Still, Hestia wanted to know who else was inside this half-blood mind and what was her purpose here. She was sure that she wasn't talking to any other goddess since the person before she did not radiate any sort of deity-like powers.
"Who are you? What are you doing-"
"You are trespassing. You should not be here." Before Hestia could even finish her question, the woman rudely interrupted her. Her cold stare was drilling through Hestia's skull with hateful fire.
"Allow me to introduce myself-"
"Hestia, a greek deity of fire, household, and family. First Olympian, the oldest one of her generation. You are well known to us." Once again, Hestia was rudely interrupted. She wanted to say anything to the woman before her. Still, as the woman started to speak, multiple images of Hestia's depiction throughout history started to appear. She felt as if the woman was studying her, almost like Athena.
There was a moment of silence. The images displaying Hestia vanished, and the Goddess found herself once again in the empty space of the half-blood's mind. With every second, Hestia felt her desperation for any answer growing.
She tried to reach out for any thought or memory of the half-blood, but she felt two things stopping her every time she tried to do that. One was obvious, the half-blood was still resisting her, but the second… Hestia then realized that the blue woman was aiding the half-blood resistance… No, it was something more. She was now like a wall, guarding the half-blood's mind against Hestia's influence.
"Why are you blocking me from seeing his mind?" It was the first time Hestia could even finish her question during the entire conversation.
"Because you are not allowed to view this mind's content." The blue woman answered as coldly as ever. It was as if, for some reason, she hated Hestia or at least thought of her as her enemy.
"Initially, I was trying to calm him down… But then… I have never seen a mortal mind look like this, let alone a half-blood child. I… I needed to know. How does one become like this? How can one possess so much despair to extinguish my flames?
The blue woman closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Her posture changed to a more relaxed one.
"You realize that what you have done is a massive invasion of privacy, right?" Hestia only slowly nodded, unsure what to tell. It was the first time she was caught looking through a mortal's mind. It was a completely new experience for her. "But since you are not here to probe his mind for any information, we could start over."
The blue woman straightened what seemed to be the upper part of her military uniform. Then, with the grace of a ballet dancer, she made a slight bow like a lady from a noble house.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Auntie Dot, serial number ADT 6849-9, previously 'dumb' AI, obviously fully upgraded. Former Intelligence support, now the personal AI for Sierra Beta 312, also known as Noble Six. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Hestia was standing right in front of her, completely dumbfounded. She did not understand anything the blue woman just said. It was as if the blue woman wasn't even speaking English. But Hestia made a slight bow as well.
"I apologize for my previous behavior." The blue woman, now known to Hestia as Auntie Dot, let out a small smile. Her eyes were now no longer cold. Instead, they held a pallet of many warm emotions. "But due to protocols, both I and my carrier had to assume that you were trying to gain access to classified information. And as you may have guessed, we will do everything we can to not let anyone get access."
"Now." Auntie Dot focused her gaze entirely on the Goddess. "Why won't we continue this conversation outside? I believe it would be rude to not include my Spartan into this conversation."
Hestia only nodded in approval and decided to leave the demigod's mind. She wasn't sure if she could trust the blue-skinned woman, but she decided to take a leap of faith.
When she opened her eyes, she felt a very sharp object touching the skin on her neck. As she moved her eyes upward, she noticed that the armored demigod now had her pressed against the nearest tree. His knife not pricking her flesh, ready to strike her down at any moment. She was scared that the blue-skinned lady lied just to get a quick advantage over her, but then she heard a familiar voice coming from the demigod's armor.
"Noble Six, stand down. She is not our enemy."
Without any signs of protest, the armored being released her and hid his knife in a moment. Then, he moved back and rested in an "at ease" position, looking down at her child-like form as if waiting for the incoming orders.
"Please forgive my Spartan. I am afraid that he reacted in the only way he was taught to." Hestia noticed that the lady's voice once again came out from the demigod's armor. It was as if she was hiding inside it, which Hestia could not understand how it was possible. "Oh, you probably are wondering where I am. Six, if you would be so kind as to let me out?"
Hestia observed how the armored being obeyed the voice without a second thought and reached with his right hand to the back of his head. Then she heard a clicking noise and saw how there was a small chip-like object in the half-blood's right hand. Hestia was ready to believe that said object came out of the half-blood's head for a second.
And then, from the object, a miniature version of the same blue-skinned woman appeared in front of the Goddess, now smiling and with golden eyes full of confidence. After everything that occurred today, Hestia started to believe that anything at this point was possible.
"I believe both of us have questions for each other, so why won't we start from the beginning? This time without the unnecessary violence?"
Hestia nodded her head, she still had problems understanding what that small woman exactly was, but she was happy. That she was able to defuse the entire situation. After all, Hestia always preferred to avoid unnecessary violence whenever possible.
As Hestia sat down on the logs near the campfire, she noticed that her armored guest only turned around and looked down upon Hestia. Before Hestia could say anything, the weird woman again appeared from the chip, this time with a frown on her face.
"Noble Six, where are your manners? It is rude to stand over someone like that. Sit down immediately!"
Hestia could not help herself and smiled widely. At that moment, the small blue woman reminded her of Rhea, her mother, scolding her children for their bad behavior. And it would seem that, that the armored half-blood obeyed the small woman, just like a child would obey their mother. The half-blood sat down quietly on the ground, cross-legged. And even then, somehow, he was still taller than the Goddess.
"Now. Let's start over, shall we?"
Noble Six was not sure what to think about the entire situation. While he was a Spartan, and adaptation to any situation was in his blood, he still felt out of place. He started to follow the children to their headquarters from the very first moment. At least, he initially assumed it was their headquarters.
He followed them constantly, starting from the moment when the half-blood children were picked up by another being similar to Artemis and Britomartis.
And that was the moment when everything started to lose any sense of logic. First, the vehicle that somehow could transform into another one, and then illuminate almost as bright as the sun and fly away… Noble Six just could not understand why someone would try to pretend to be the sun.
Even with all those weird things that lean towards the lone wolf, he continued his mission. He checked the signals from the tracking devices. While one was heading towards deep west, the rest was heading straight towards the long island. And that is where the lone wolf decided to go first.
As always, he decided to go through the endless maze. While, by all means, he was more than able to follow his targets on the ground, he also knew that it was always better to stay in the shadows. Why would anyone throw away such an advantage?
The maze, just like every other day, was full of traps and monsters, but those were never able to even slow down Noble Six. Nothing inside the maze was even remotely close to being a challenge for a Spartan. Six was sure that even civilian UNSC personnel could safely travel through the maze.
While he continued to walk through the corridors of darkness, on his HUD, a small message appeared, with the exact coordinates of all of his targets that flew towards the long island. Farm Road 3.141, Long Island, New York.
"It took me a while, but I have managed to get some information about that place. While the mist can cover most people's eyes, there are some traces of that place." Auntie Dot appeared on his HUD a second after he read the coordinates. "There are a few restaurants which have documentation about ordering fruits from this place. I have even the traces of the money transaction. And, I have also found this."
Right before Six's face, a few dozen of pictures appeared. Mostly of an area covered in forest. But there were also a few pictures containing a few buildings in the distance, and even a picture of a few kids running around, all wearing weird orange t-shirts.
"I had to dig really dip into this era primitive cyberspace, but I have found out that this place isn't as covered from the outside people as some were lead to believe. Here, I have a testimony of a driver from one of the local pizza stores, who came into the hospital with a severe case of amnesia, whose last order came from here. I have even found traces of conversation about this place. Some people claim they have encountered a weird invisible barrier that did not let them go through. Others claimed that there is no barrier and even made a few pictures from the inside."
Six saw another file of pictures and even videos about that place. Of how people encountered an invisible barrier, of weird noises coming from that area, of kids running around with what seemed to be ancient weapons. Of mysterious humanoid creatures flying around. Not to mention a campfire, weird buildings, and even what appeared to be the picture of a centaur.
"Since the Internet is still in its infancy, they can feel safe for now – I had to dig that information from very niche forums… Still, in ten years, I am afraid they will be fully discovered in the coming decade…."
To Six's opinion, those were all signs of recklessness coming from the demigods and their superiors. Once again, Lycaon's words about the mist were turning true. Those so-called gods and their offsprings relayed too heavily on the fog. The technology slowly eradicated their safety, and they were too blind to notice. Their blind fate in myths was becoming their doom.
And so, Six slowly but surely continued to travel through the endless maze. With one simple goal in mind, that was the only way to truly navigate through the maze. The labyrinth is no longer a trap but rather a handy tool when one's mind is focused.
After a few minutes, he noticed the exit, blighted by sunshine. Six activated his active camouflage and entered the area known as Camp Half-Blood.
He noticed a giant cluster of rocks that looked like a fist, surrounding and covering the entire entrance to the maze. Then as he looked around, he saw that he was in the middle of the forest.
"Dot, are you picking up anything?"
"To be honest… Yes, there is something weird. As our Internet sources claimed, there is indeed a barrier all around this place. And to make it weird, it's all coming from that place." As soon as she said that, a new target appeared on Six's HUD. It was a giant tree at the very opposite end of the area. "All the unusual readings are coming from that one tree."
Six only acknowledged Dot in silence. He would be forced to reach the giant tree and satisfy Dot's curiosity about how this tree can create a shield. But first, he will be forced to get there.
As he looked around, he noticed that the entire area of the camp wasn't exactly the best place to sneak through. He saw a lot of open space, often full of civilians in either bright orange t-shirts or something that looked like it was taken straight from ancient times. He also noticed that some of the campers were armored in swords, shields, spears, and bows. All of them – at least according to Dot – made from a weird metal that looked similar to bronze.
As he gazed upon the entire camp, he concluded that it would be much easier to simply walk around the whole camp. While as a Spartan, he was more than sure of his capabilities, and he knew that he could walk through that camp unnoticed. But Spartans were taught to be methodical. If there was no need to take unnecessary risks, they would simply avoid it.
"Dot. Any thoughts?" He asked before departing for a short walk.
"Well, if you take away all the ancient elements within this area, this place looks like a normal vacation camp for children. And if you ask me about the military point of view… Well, this place has too many openings. Without the barrier, this place would fall very quickly." Dot finished with a slight frown on her digital face.
Six once more only silently acknowledged her in his mind. He knew that either a precise attack from the maze or a massive attack from all sides would tear apart this entire place. And only a fool would consider this area as a safe place.
And so, he decided it was time to exit the weird area. He ventured to the west, where he immediately found a small but significant difference between trees and grass. It was just a subtle color change, but anyone with a sharp eye could see it immediately.
"Dot, have you noticed anything?"
"Other than the color change? Surprisingly, yes. I have noticed small energy puls when we went outside. It would seem that the energy shield reacted to us leaving… Hm…" Dot quickly changed her tone from informative to cogitative. "I would need to take a closer look at that tree. I need to know what was hidden inside that tree to produce such a barrier."
The trip around the camp didn't take them long. With the Spartan speed, Six could get into the destination faster than a human mind could comprehend. And as both Six and Dot have reached the giant tree, they have noticed a few things there were not expecting.
"Is it me, or there is that tree protected by a dragon? Oh, and is that a Golden Fleece just casually hanging on that tree?" Six could exactly tell what was going on with Auntie Dot. At the same time, she sounded like an excited teenager and someone. They just had enough of the entire mythological stuff. And Six was slowly getting enough of it as well. "Well, I'd need to come closer to properly scan it…."
Six decided to activate his active camo and walked towards the tree without making a sound. It would seem that the sleeping dragon did not notice him. Then, Six reached to the tree and waited for his AI expertise.
"Yes, somehow… Somehow this tree is connected to that golden fleece. The fleece is the energy source, and the tree is both the transmitter and transformer of that energy."
It took a while, but Dot has finally collected all the data she needed for the moment. At that moment, Six was ready to the camp center to observe his new targets in action. He decided to use the same route he came to return to his previous position. While he could find any place within the camp to hide, the forest had provided him with everything he'd need to safely watch over the camp. It was well hidden, had a view over the entire camp, and had an emergency exit if he needed it.
As he returned to his previous spot, he noticed that the children had started to slowly organize themselves. They were all wearing elements of the ancient armors while also having ancient weaponry with them. The famous Hunters of Artemis were next to them – the very same group that tried to chase and catch him since he saved one of their goddesses.
"Well, I don't see Britomartis anywhere near… It would seem that we won't be bothered by the nasty Goddess for today. How about we enjoy the show and watch what these kids are capable of?"
Six could not disagree. He hoped to see those kids in action. It would be a perfect opportunity to gather more Intel on his new potential opponents. And to make it better, it would seem that those two groups will fight against each other.
And so, the Camp Half-Blood versus Hunters of Artemis match had begun.
Noble Six wasn't sure what he should expect from that match. At this point, he was ready to see anything. His mind started to ask questions, wondering if any of his predictions about the incoming skirmish were correct.
First, he noticed that every team possessed a flag guarded by a small squad. Judging by how the squads tried to guard their own flag, Six assumed that the task for both teams is to capture the enemy flag without losing their own in the process. And while the game seemed to be easy enough to play for kids, Six actually noticed that it had enough strategic elements for those kids to learn the basics of operating in the field.
Or at least, so he initially thought. His opinion changed as soon as the match started.
"I can already tell that the match won't end well for the campers…." Auntie Dot barely added in a slightly amused tone. "As cold-hearted as it sounds, those kids would be useless from the ONI and UNSC points of view."
Six only nodded in agreement. While the Hunters were actually organized and were using the local environment in their tactic, the campers seemed to be interested only in marching forward. In a way, the campers made this entire skirmish easier to win to hunters.
The first thing that literally doomed the campers in that skirmish was a lack of leadership and command structure. Right before the altercation started, Noble Six noticed the appearing conflict between Thalia Grace – a daughter of Zeus, and Perseus Jackson – a son of Poseidon. It would seem that those two had a problem with cooperating from the very beginning.
Noble Six noticed how Thalia Grace seemed to take over the leadership immediately. And while it was a good trait for any leader to take over a squad immediately in confidence, Six had already noticed a significant flaw in Thalia's behavior. Her ambition was eating her from the inside and dooming the entire skirmish from the beginning.
Through her ambition, Thalia forced her way into the command of the skirmish, despite having barely having more experience than any other camper. But that was partially the campers' fault as well – they simply assumed she would be a great leader just because of her heritage. But Six knew better – an ambition and heritage don't make great leaders. They only make greedy ones.
The next problematic element was Perseus Jackson. His lack of charisma to take over or at least add something to Thalia's plans was almost as bad as the rest of the campers. And while as a Spartan, B312 never disobeyed his leaders or even had second thoughts about the orders, he always knew that his commanders were actually experienced soldiers.
On the other side, there were Hunters of Artemis. They weren't discussing much of strategy. They just threw some ideas and created something similar to a vague draft of a battle plan. Judging purely on their facial expression, Noble Six deducted that they already had experience in those kinds of war games. Thus they knew what to expect from their demigods' cousins.
Still, underestimating your opponent is the biggest mistake anyone can make. The entire war with the Covenant was the biggest example of it.
But it would seem that one of the lieutenants, a girl with copper skin and a bright silver tiara, decided to finally organize a few ideas from hunters and spread the tasks among other hunters. And soon, Noble Six witnessed how Hunters prepare the battlefield with traps.
"It would seem that this match will be informative for us." Added slily Auntie Dot with an amused smirk.
Soon, the match had begun. It wasn't exciting for Noble Six – most demigods from the camp were simply marching forward, like a sheep going to slaughter. If Noble Six would ever fight against a large group of demigods, all he would have to do would be to simply mine the area ahead of him.
Hunters, on the other hand, surprised him. Not only they were actually setting more traps, but they were actively scouting the area, using the environment to their own advantage. They moved in a more organized way. They were also actively dividing themselves into smaller groups. As B312 observed, each group specialized in a specific type of "warfare." Some actively set more traps, others hiding up in the trees, scouting and sniping out their enemies. Another group of heavier-armed girls has set the perimeter around the flag, waiting in anticipation for the enemy stupid enough to take the bait.
And, of course, the primary strike team, whose entire purpose was to grab the enemy's flag and return to their HQ ASAP, was led by the same copper-skinned girl.
Noble Six's prediction? Hunters of Artemis were just about to decimate the campers' team.
And just as predicted, the Hunters were taking any chances of winning away from campers.
Then came the killing blow. It seemed that there was a form of miscommunication within the half-blood team. Or perhaps even a power struggle? Whatever it was, it would seem that one of the demigods, Perseus Jackson, used one of the magical items – which caused Auntie Dot to almost yell loudly. Seeing active camouflage in the twenty-first century – disappearing and then running towards the enemy's flag.
While the active camouflage was impressive to witness – at least judging from the time period B312 had found himself in – it wasn't perfect. It was nowhere near the UNSC's active camo technology, let alone the Covenant one. While it was a bit more effective than what the UNSC used during the first Spartan III alpha's Headhunters missions, it was still far from perfect. Six was still able to see the young demigod's heat signature.
Well, that, and it seemed that the young teen wasn't as quiet as he believed.
Six had to admit that young Perceus' plan has – at least partially – made sense. While invisible, sneak into enemy territory, steal the HVT and then run back. But there was a massive fluke in this plan as well.
Since it wasn't part of the operation and more of just a teen's initiative, the rest of the half-blood's team was unprepared for such a turn of events. To take over the enemy's flag, young Perseus was forced to abandon the defensive position, thus weakening the entire defensive perimeter. In doing so, he just left a massive hole in the defense – something that hunters would not just pass.
Even then, young Perseus would still have a chance. Assuming that either the hunters would not notice the opening in their defense or that he would be able to quietly infiltrate the enemy's territory. Steal the HVT and then exfil back to his own territory without notice.
Easy task for any Spartan. Not a problem for an ODST. Possible for marines and maybe even the army. But for a young, untrained, and undisciplined demigod? Too much to handle.
Soon, a strike team of hunters, led by the copper-skinned girl – Zoe, if he remembered correctly – infiltrated the half-blood's territory and took away their HVT. And soon, it was all over. Hunters have won the entire match, completely decimating the half-blood's team.
As soon as the match ended, tension appeared within the half-blood team, especially between Thalia and Perseus. They were both almost barking at each other about their strategy and how one or another failed in victory. For Noble Six, it was a pathetic quarrel. In his eyes, both of them ultimately failed to achieve victory and at commanding their own teams.
He had to admit that Perseus at least showed some initiative in his reckless plan, but that was it – a kid being brash. Too many unknown factors, abandoning his post without orders, and so on. But at least he did something other than marching through a forest like a band of sheep to the slaughter – which is all that Thalia's plan did.
Noble Six was disappointed. He was expecting something much more from those children. And while he knew that, in the end, they were just children, from the way they carried themselves in the world, he expected… Anything similar to what he saw during his first days on Reach and later on Onyx. He did not expect children to just pretend to be heroes.
At least he now knew what he would do if he would ever have to fight against them. Assuming that he won't just either use his strength or his sniper rifle, he noticed that they are very vulnerable to psychological warfare. The divide and conquer strategy might work perfectly on those campers… Assuming that he will ever have the time to play it.
And then, something changed. While children were still busy arguing about nonsense things, he noticed a movement ahead of them.
"Dot, are you seeing this?"
"Are you talking about the skeleton lady just casually walking towards the campers? Yes, I can see it as well." In a way, Six asking Dot if she could see something was pointless. After all, Auntie Dot was already inside his mind. But even she had to admit that what her partner just witnessed would force her to ask the same question. "Wait, something is not right…."
Six was now fully prepared to jump into action if necessary. He trusted his AI companion, and if, according to her, something was amiss, he knew he should be already prepared for it.
Meanwhile, the skeleton lady, dressed up in hippy clothes, just sat down. Her jade eye-like crystals shined in a dark-green light. The green smoke and mist were swirling around her, like during a magic show. And then, she opened her mouth, and a voice came out.
"I am the spirit of Delphi. Speaker of the prophecies of Apollo Phoebus, slayer of the mighty Python." More green smoke appeared as she uttered her words while the skeleton lady turned her head towards the hunter highest in command, the copper-skinned girl named Zoe. "Approach, seeker, and ask."
And then, Zoe came out and asked the skeleton lady with a scared yet determined voice.
"What must I do to help my Goddess?"
And before Six and Dot could ask themselves any questions, the green smoke started to create something similar to a holographic display of a mountain basked in the shadow. With a well-known goddess of moon and hunting, standing at the barren peak chained down and forced to kneel. The skeleton oracle, meanwhile, started to speak again.
Five shall go to the Goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The titan's curse one must withstand,
One shall be…-
And at that moment, she suddenly stopped and turned her head. For a brief moment, Noble Six could swear that now she was looking in his direction as if she knew exactly where he was. Then, the skeleton just fell down to the ground, screaming and yelling simultaneously. It was as if whoever was in control of that skeleton had just lost it.
The images around the campers changed as well. Where just a second ago was an image of Artemis, now Noble Six saw a massive wolf. And all around, instead of a mountain, he saw something that was forever memorized inside his head – the Fall of Reach. The entire world was set ablaze in the last moments of humanity's fortress in the sky, where the surface was glassed.
"B312?" Auntie Dot asked with a worried tone. She knew that fall of Reach was a massive blow even to Spartans. And during that time, her Spartan had lost everything, and thus seeing it again could be heartbreaking.
"How do they know?" To Dot's surprise, her Spartan put aside any memories and feelings to return to his military mode. "Where did they get those images?"
"The lone wolf is coming." The oracle spoke again, this time without stoicism. Her voice was full of raw emotions. She was scared, in a state of panic. It looked almost like she was losing control over her power of prophecies. "The grim reaper. A Spartan. Reclaimer. He is coming to reclaim what is rightfully his. The empire in the stars, burning in hate and grief. The child that was cast away by a goddess... Reclaimer, the hunter's heir!
And at that moment, the skeleton oracle ceased any movement and became like just another corpse. On the other hand, B312 was lost for words. He wasn't exactly sure what happened. Hallucinations? Was his mind malfunctioning?
"I saw that too, Spartan. As much as I hate to believe it, it was true." As the voice of Auntie Dot appeared inside his dead, B312 knew he wasn't just hallucinating. Somehow the Greek Pantheon knew about him.
And they knew a bit too much.
Where did they learn about his status as a Spartan? Not to mention Lone Wolf and Grim Reaper. Those things were classified by ONI. He could not understand parts, such as why the oracle called him 'Reclaimer' or 'the hunter's heir.'
It would seem that they have much to learn.
And as Six observed a demigod and a satyr taking away the oracle, he spotted something interesting. A similar energy signature to Artemis and Britomartis. As he looked upon the campfire, far away from where most people were, he noticed a small girl tending the campfire with a small stick.
She was alone, far from anyone that could hear her. A perfect target for interrogation. And thus, with a new target in his mind, Six marched into the forest.
Auntie Dot, almost as always, was busy inside her digital head. The amount of pure data she had to process and remember was astonishing. But she was more than assured she would do it. She was determined. Anything for her Spartan and for the future UNSC and ONI records.
She was with her Spartan since he arrived on Reach. Serving the best she could as a 'Dumb AI.' Now, after being fully upgraded, She could do so much more for him. She could be there for him whenever there's a need. Even if it meant to travel with him to the weird and twisted by mythology Earth of the twenty-first century.
There were many things she had problems with understanding. Weird monsters, the maze, the entire hellish island of Circe, and the hunters. Perhaps for some people, it could be too much. But not for her. And not for her Spartan. She and her Spartan – they were a perfect combination. They are the perfect duo.
But deep inside, just like her Spartan, she wished for the rest of the NOBLE team to be here.
And yet, that was not the time to brood about what could be and could not. After all, her Spartan could need assistance any second now.
She always looked through her Spartan eyes, seeing everything he could see and even more. Even after the Augmentation process, there were some limitations to what humans could see and not. But that was one of the reasons why she was there for him. Anything to help and assist her Spartan.
And thus, she saw everything that her partner witnessed while observing Camp Half-Blood. And while she knew that she should not be too harsh on all those children – after all, they were just kids – she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Those were the legendary demigods? The so-called successors of the heroes of ancient Greece? Those children? Those small, untrained, undisciplined, and overconfident children?
She knew she was too harsh. But she was primarily a military AI. Her entire previous reason to exist was to analyze the military potential… Well, that, and to serve the NOBLE Team.
And then, the incident with the so-called Goddess Hestia happened. While she had to admit that compared to the rest of the mythology, she was actually the only nice thing that happened to her and her Spartan here. Still, during that encounter, she noticed that perhaps the Greek Gods had some problem with the privacy of a person's mind.
She made the biggest mistake of trying to look into her Spartan's mind. And of course, B312 reacted in the only way he was trained to do – in instant aggression. Honestly, she could not blame him. It was the very thing he was trained to do, after all.
And right now, her Spartan was sitting on the ground, next to the very Goddess he wanted to kill, after just a few words from his AI. In a way, Auntie Dot felt honored – she knew Noble Six completely trusted her with everything. And Spartans rarely trusted anyone. They would only obey their superiors. In terms of UNSC terms, Noble Six had full authority to give her any order and disregard any advice from her. And yet he didn't.
Spartans were indeed something else.
Auntie Dot used her partner's eyes to gaze upon the Goddess. Even while on the ground, her Spartan was still much taller than the being before them. The so-called Goddess decided to stay in her ten-year-old-like form for some reason. She was wearing simple robes that allowed her to cover herself in them from head to toe. It was pretty modest clothing, in Dot's opinion.
Goddess's face was much more complicated. While the friendly smile has never left Hestia's face, Auntie Dot noticed that her eyes were trying to hide many conflicting emotions. There was fear and confusion, as well as curiosity and friendliness. But on top of all that, there was undeniably a great wisdom and experience behind Hestia's gaze.
But there was something else hiding in that gaze as well. Auntie Dot could swear that Hestia was hiding her sadness.
"In all of the years and even centuries, I have not seen a demigod like you. Nor have I seen… I am sorry, my dear, but I am not exactly sure what you are." Hestia's tone was almost motherly, warm and welcoming, and standing to complete opposite to how Artemis and Britomartis were speaking.
"As I have mentioned previously, I am an AI – or Artificial Intelligence, if you prefer. A mind created to serve humanity." It was the first time in her digital life that she had to explain… herself. Maybe even it was the first time any AI had to justify its existence. "But to make things simpler, you can call me by my name – Auntie Dot."
Hestia made only a slow nod. She was still trying to comprehend the very two beings sitting before her.
"During our unfortunate skirmish, I have noticed that you keep insisting on referring to my partner as 'Demigod' – can you explain why?"
As soon as she asked that question, Auntie Dot noticed the hesitation in Hestia's eyes. It was as if she was trying to explain something even she could not truly understand. Or was it perhaps this entire situation for Hestia just too overwhelming? Whatever it was, the so-called Goddess took a moment to gather her thoughts.
"Well, only demigods are allowed to pass through the border of the camp half-blood – that is the first sign of what you are." As soon as she started to talk, she regained her motherly smile and welcoming posture. "That and your physical capabilities just confirms it. You are a demigod."
"Wrong conclusion based on incorrect assumption and theory." For the very first time since he sat down, her Spartan decided to speak. And as always, in his emotionless voice, he was again right on the spot. Hestia's theory was completely wrong. "Both of my physical and mental capabilities are coming from being a Spartan."
Perhaps it was the first time in her Immortal life when Hestia was this surprised. Or at least that is what Auntie Dot deducted just from watching the Goddess. And now it was confirmed to her that they would have a lot of fun with the gods.
"Spartan… Oh, I guess you believed that you are akin to the old Spartans of Peloponez… Well, they were legacies of the Heracles-"
"My Spartan partner is referring to the unit he is a part of. People like him are called Spartans. And yes, that name references the ancient Spartans, especially to King Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans. But I am afraid this is where our resemblance ends."
Oh yes, Auntie Dot could almost feel it in her digital body. Now she had a complete idea about the type of people those so-called gods were. Just a few sentences were enough to crack them. They were a self-centered and isolationist group. This thoroughly explained why Hestia was trying to persuade her partner to believe he was a demigod. Because it was the only way she thought a human could be that strong.
I believe that Auntie Dot will be more than happy to break with her and many other so-called gods.
And so started a conversation between what seemed to be two impossible beings. One is a self-proclaimed goddess from the old myths, the other is a lone soldier from the far away future. Her partner, the only Spartan in the twenty-first century, told a story of their skirmish with the hunting goddess – starting from their first encounter with Britomartis and Lycaon in the ruins of the ancient Knossos. And then about their later fights between them and Artemis.
Her partner made a good decision in skipping the sensitive details as to what occurred on Circe's private island and how they can travel entirely under the radar of gods. As lovely as Hestia was, neither Noble Six nor Auntie Dot was willing to tell everything to someone they had just met. It was not only a matter of military and ONI protocols but also a matter of common sense.
Besides – they couldn't know if giving the information about what happened to Circe would not Hestia to change from a potential ally to Artemis's supporter. One could never be too cautious.
Of course, there were many things that Hestia did not understand. Like Britomartis, the Goddess of fire could not understand why B312 decided to imprison Lycaon instead of killing him. To which her Spartan replayed simply:
"Intel."
There was also another thing that Auntie Dot noticed about Hestia. She had problems believing that her partner could kill monsters permanently. She immediately changed her mind – with a flabbergasted reaction – when Auntie Dot showed her a holographic display of monsters dying during B312's many performances.
"Well…" Hestia started trying to avert her gaze from the pictures of dead monsters. "I believe we have found the reason why. She still believes that you are a rogue automaton, capable of killing monsters, no less. I think she believes that you are too powerful to exist and that someone is challenging her position as a hunting goddess."
"But that is absurd!" Auntie Dot could not hold back her growing emotions as she yelled at the Goddess. "We have saved her huntress! We showed no hostilities towards her! And now she wants to destroy my Spartan just because her mind is too slow to comprehend that there is a way to kill monsters completely?!"
For a second, Auntie Dot was afraid that the Goddess might take an offense at her rageful explosion. Still, instead, she just smiled sadly and let the hood of her cloak hide her eyes.
"While I am a goddess of family, and I deeply love mine, I am well aware of their faults and flaws. And by no means I am trying to justify them. I just want to let you know that the smallest things can make them do… Very crazy and dangerous things. Although…" Hestia hesitated for a second. It was as if she wasn't sure if she should tell something or not. "There might be something else to Artemis's obsession with you.
Noble Six patiently waited while Auntie Dot – to her own surprise – started to create the worst-case scenarios inside her head. She could only compare herself to a parent in a hospital, waiting for any information about their sick child. In other words, she was scared that something terrible might happen to her Spartan.
"Tell me… Are you the ones responsible for what happened on Nevada's desert?"
Before her Spartan could even think about making a question, Auntie Dot had already an answer.
"Yes… When we came here, our vessel was damaged… I tried to avoid any urban areas and planned to crash land on the nearest uninhabited place… But before the possible landing, something happened with our engines, and they exploded. "Then she once again faced the Goddess. "Is it safe to assume that you know how we have arrived?"
The Goddess only gave a slight nod.
"During your arrival, Artemis was hurt. And later, during the gathering, Apollo – her brother – declaimed a prophecy, something that usually happens only through his oracles. A prophecy that might involve your Spartan."
Auntie Dot wanted to just scold and roll her eyes for a good second. Prophecies. An ancient fairy tale about speaking and foretelling the future. An ancient relic of the dark times, long forgotten by the civilization of her age. If she talked to anyone else, she would give that person a long lecture on why believing in prophecies was pure idiocy. But she and her partner weren't talking to just anyone. And thus, with a heavy heart, she just let the Goddess continue.
"Child out of time, comes back home, by the wish of the Goddess who wanted him to go. With the blood of worlds resting on his hands, monsters will hide from this man. With the moon in the sky and the luck on his side, fate will not be able to bind his life. Run and hide, oh monster about, but it doesn't matter, for the wolf is out."
Then, the Goddess looked straight into her Spartan's visor, with a fire in her eyes.
"And now I am more than certain that you are the wolf from the prophecy."
Did you enjoy it? I hope so!
Now, time for the Q&A!
Janny092 – Well, I believe most people – be it Spartans or not – would react similarly. What Bianca did to her brother was just inhuman…
Spyash2 – Pretty much yes, Apollo knows many details from the point of view of someone from the outside, because that is how far can the power of prophecies takes you. And, well, Apollo might suspect that his nephew is far stronger than anything in the Greco-Roman world (well, maybe everything, but, you get the point). As for Ares… well, spoilers…
Ozilla – Thanks! Well, to be honest, I kinda agree with you, in many stories you can see Apollo being a father figure for the child of Artemis, and I would not be surprised if the need to be a father was his actual wish. As for Nico… spoilers…
Trinix8 – Thank you!
spartan-140 – Worry not, chapters like this will come as well… Or at least I do have in plans making something like this.
Sm0keyPanda – Thank you! It means a lot to me!
TheCrystonian – Thanks!
Thesunofshadow - …here's your order.
KingSlayer058 – He is not the strongest, but he is one of the deadliest.
Malgrath – Fair enough.
Crazzytony – Thanks! And, well, Spartans were supposed to be secret operatives originally, and since Noble Six has a record as an ONI agent, I thought it would suit him to be stealthy. And as for the time of meeting between Artemis and Six, sorry, I can't tell, that is a secret.
Guest – Thanks. I apologize that this story wasn't frequently updated, but, as I mentioned earlier, my private life keeps me busy – mostly with work. As for Dot's statement about Annabeth… Well, Dot and Six are just gathering the intelligence and they only know that according to the records she does have a high intelligence level. They are just preparing for the worst.
Drago - X6627 – Quoting a very famous person: Ironic.
Ericayenefez – One existential crisis for celestial creatures, coming up!
Mirrors Cracked And Broken – I… I hope you have enjoyed this as well.
not-so-british-brit – Thanks and you're welcome.
StellarEngine – Thank you! And I can't wait to write more about Apollo!
Bobberhex – I hope you are pleased.
Austin – To be honest, you have a very good point there. I don't think I have ever seen a story where Bianca would fall for the hunters' propaganda and started to hate Nico… God Almighty, this has the potential to create the biggest angst story ever…Next, I agree that Apollo should be very careful with his next step. When it comes to guns and their effectiveness against the monsters, I will explain it in the future chapters as to why and when they work on monsters or not. As for Six meeting demigods… Well, it depends on how the half-bloods would behave I guess. Tho I won't say more, because it would be a spoiler.
Kriegsmen – Pretty much, yeah.
ShinyGiratinaA001 - …Creating a realistic battle between Six and Artemis would be very challenging. But I won't say anything else about it. Too many spoilers.
Quadnodsman – well, when you put it that wat….
Starfall Shadow - …I would make a sarcastic remark here, but the grammar quality of many stories you follow makes your statement ironic beyond human comprehension, so… Not like you reading this anyway…
Guest – Circe part will come, as for her followers… OMG thank you, you gave me an awesome idea! Thank you!
The Real Hell Fire – Can't wait for that either!
Guest – I mean, it's a good idea… but that would have to force me to partially break Mjolnir… and that would be heartbreaking for me…
Houndwolf786 – On point Sir! That was a jackpot!
Natsim234 – Thanks!
HECU marine – Geez, you really want to see Artemis and her hunters getting her head bashed… As for Dot – I don't think she is going to have any mercy on gods… Well, maybe except a few of them…
The Kromann – Sending your gratitude straight to the author of the prophecy.
Hadrian . Caeser – That can still be arranged… Not making any promises, but who knows, maybe one day…
Killjack43 – There is only one organization Dot and Six could create without breaking the space-time continuum and I believe we both know which organization I am talking about.
xXwolfsterXx644 – I hope you liked that one as well.
Arrowhead – NO MERCY! FOR THE EMPEROR!
Reaver529 – To be honest I would love to bring them to the story, but I am afraid in order to do that I would have to perform some really wicked slipspace fuckery – since most of the NOBLE team died…
the-lost-memories6 – I hope I will!
NativeVenom – Thank you! I appreciate your kind words!
Huongdaoroma – Thanks! And I hope that I will be able to update this story more frequently again.
Nai-su – In a way...
WingGrazer – I really wish I could say anything, but I am not allowed to tell spoilers.
Guest – It will be answered in the future chapters how he can do that.
scl04 – Thank you very much! And I hope you have enjoyed this chapter as well.
HyperUnity – At first Six's dad was supposed to be Orion, but one of my readers presented me with a far better idea. One that shall be revealed in the future chapters (prepare for some deep-lore mythology stuff).
Trninjakiller – Nope.
Mirrors Cracked And Broken – Well, there you have it.
Dead344156 – Your wish was granted.
Guest – To my own surprise, yes, yes I am.
Guest – No, she is not. The rampancy problem exists mostly due to how smart AIs are created (if I am not mistaken). Auntie Dot now is on pair with smart AIs and can be classified as one, but since she was not created the same way, she won't go through rampancy.
Huongdaoroma – Heyo, I am the Emperor of Mankind, and I have listened to your prayers child, and thus I persuaded the individual known as the author to make another chapter. You're welcome.
Guest – I am and I will.
Jctherebel – Thanks! And I hope you will stay for long!
Jeremy - ...To be honest, it wasn't intentional, but now you made me realize that I indeed created a Glynda Goodwitch AI… My goodness...
18767 – More chapters coming.
Trooper0007 – Oh, this is going to be a rollercoaster of emotions…
Guest – I don't know, I will need to think about it.
Guest – Thank you very much for those kind words, I appreciate them and feel honored by them. As for the Romans, well, wait for the future chapters.
Eland – Never lose your hope then.
And that's it. Once again I hope you have enjoyed it. I promise it is not a dead story.
If you want to know more about all my projects and want to know how's the progress of creation going, here, just visit my discord: discord . gg/ pghekDe
DISCLAIMER: Due to recent problems with discord users having their accounts hacked and used to spread Malware, I was forced to make a rule to ban all hacked accounts. If you noticed that you are no longer on my server, just contact me either here through fanfiction private message or through Discord DMs - it is possible I had to ban you because you were hacked.
Anyway, that's it for now. See ya in the next chapter!