Things did not go as planned.

As I had lost control of my arm, I had hoped to double amplify my force by subverting Newton’s Third Law, thus smashing the Construct flat and defeating it, before rising victoriously from a pile of metal parts. What happened is that I twisted in mid-air and lashed out with an echo punch, blasting me sideways. On the one hand, I hit Mr. Hole pretty hard, if not as hard as I wanted. On the other hand I just about avoided the flat-seeming black limb that swept through the space I had been occupying as the figure’s head... sort of tilted a little to the side.

I managed to stick the landing, though I felt my somewhat healed leg crack as I absorbed the reaction from the multiplicative punch and fell to the ground. I felt a cold attention sweep over me, and become pressure, like the frigid depths of the ocean we sat under was pressing in on me. It felt like when Lucas and DUK3 had tried to push me from the room, but instead it was... trying to crush me.

Luckily, it did not last long; a series of metallic impacts rang out through the room, followed by a grunt as I felt another will sweep in and the pressure was relieved, the will of one demi-Ascended countered by the other.

“You do not have such an advantage that you can turn your attention from me, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.”

“One Who is Many, Third of that Name... what is this abomination? What actions have you performed to result in such a thing?”

“This is a visitor from a world wholly distinct from ours; it is possible you would have a greater awareness of the other races populating our Plane if you stepped beyond the worlds colonised by our species. I provided a Level One augmentation in return for the willing cooperation of this being in subsequent testing. My augmentations will far outstrip your own as a result, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.”

“How is it possible that this... thing exists upon this dead world, in the absence of free passage provided by war? It has not undergone tribulation, One Who is Many, Third of that Name.”

“That is for me to ascertain, and for you to remain ignorant of, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.”

“Your judgement of your own worth has been elevated since your second growth cycle. At this time, I will assist in correcting your ability to gauge it, One Who is Many, Third of that Name.”

“Make your best efforts, devoid of your characteristically inaccurate self-assessment, She Who Devours, Fifth of that Name.”

It had to be the weirdest mid-battle smack talk I had ever heard, not that it was remarkably uncommon, but even so. Outside of the meaning of the words themselves, the conversation between the two Constructs sounded less like a conversation and more like some grand orchestra, their notes intermingling in concert. Beautiful.

With a low bass note, the fight was back on between them, though Mrs. Hole took the time to gesture at me dramatically. I did not notice anything at first, and I just stared, but then I noticed my shiny clothing growing stiff, and after a moment I felt them cracking as I shifted, and I realised the cold Construct was focusing their chill ability on me. And it of course was not working, because I was protected. And that fact seemed to be irritating Gee En Oh Five - She Who Devours - which was good, because it meant some of DUK3’s clones were actually getting through.

I wanted to do my part, but had accepted the fact that I probably was not at the point of being able to intervene directly, even with my vaunted higher order Experience. Even specializing in a system which specialised in power, the gap between myself and the Construct to was far too wide to be bridged. What I could do was try to distract GNO5 further by being as irritating as possible. And if Darina was right, I was pretty damn good at that.

Focusing hard I pushed on my Exemplar and the world stuttered and slowed again; I was about to try to annoy an Apex level being, and given the fact that the Fullmetal Asshole’s blast had been sufficient to melt the metal of the base around us, I had to assume Mrs. Hole’s was somewhat worse, and I did not want to get hit by it if I could avoid it.

The world – sort of – safely sedated around me, I began to slowly pull faces and dance stupidly; it was not a strategy I would normally employ, and I was glad that Darina was not actually present to see it, but the only time I had seen DUK3’s clones get through had been when GNO5 had been trying to kill me. I felt my robes flaking and begin to fall off me as the living heat-sink held up their hand in my direction. In less than a subjective second, I was naked and I cursed at having lost yet another set of clothes. It seemed that even the flexible metal could not withstand... whatever temperature it was. I continued to mock the incredibly dangerous being in my birthday suit, which seemed to offend her even more as I soon heard a groaning come from behind me, and I was driven to dive sideways in a flicker of Precognitive reflex. As I rolled to my feet, I saw that the wall behind where I had stood had shattered under its own weight, and through the floor. But the most astonishing thing was that it seemed to be regrowing fast enough to be visible to the eye, despite my accelerated perspective.

The arm was pointed at me again by the time I got over the weirdly organic metal’s growth, but this time I did not make the mistake of remaining still and began to move about the room, wishing I could see their expression as they tried and failed to freeze me to death. Of course, DUK3 had not been idle, and it seemed like more and more of the rapidly appearing figures were making it through the zone of cold to strike at the blank figure.

Finally, the situation came to a head as the arm pointing at me dropped to fend off the growing crowd, but by then it was too late. As GNO5 began to swat at her attackers they began to shatter again, the killing cold rolling back to focus around her once more. But now that they had made it into proximity, the clones were not without recourse, and as I watched they began to divide. For every body that was shattered two replaced it until the circle around the black body was five copies deep. The versions of DUK3 at the back began to flow together to form larger bodies, hulking and broad and very unlike their progenitor.

After a few subjective seconds, there were four giant bodies punching down at the now prone figure, and though I could see the metal cracking and flaking off them, more clones materialized and flowed into them, a constant reforming of metallic flesh interposed by the rapid staccato of metal flesh on metal body.

“I concede! The victory belongs to you, One Who is Many, Third of the Name.”

I was not expecting DUK3 to stop, but as one the four giant bodies ceased their assault and simply dissolved. I could not believe the Construct would be so trusting, but despite my disbelief it appeared to be warranted.

Climbing out of her own imprint, GNO5 turned on her heel without another word and walked to the far side of the two-tone hall. I watched, astonished as the line where the two colour schemes met closed in like a huge mouth.

Dropping my Focus and stepping off my path, I turned to DUK3, still naked.

“What the shit?”

*

***

*

The first thing the construct did was to make me a new set of clothing, which was a much weirder experience than the last set given that they grew out of the floor to envelop me before changing colour to match my stated preferences.

“Uh, thanks, Dee Yu Kay Three. But really, you just let her go? What about all the people she brought? Won’t she just... come back with more?”

“Be calm. As the individual who lost the contest, Gee En Oh Five cannot return for a minimum of one-hundred years. It was pleasant and unexpected to see her again, Hunter.”

“She can’t come back? Is it like, a Construct thing? And what do you mean, pleasant? I almost died a bunch of times. A couple of times, anyway. She was trying to freeze me there, if I wasn’t immune, I’d be ice-chips.”

“Dee Yu Kay 3. She will not return, it is not the done thing, propriety precludes it. In regards to it being pleasant to see her, Gee En Oh Five has been my chief rival since our hatching. We are born of the same zygote, Hunter.”

“What the shit is a zygote? I don’t understand. She was here to kill you, right? But you’re old friends?... Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“We hatched from the same egg. We shared all four parental contributors and were reared alongside one another. Gee En Oh Five was not here to kill me, but rather to gain access to my research; if I had lost the encounter, she would have been free to take as she wished, though I would have of course lived, as the Codes demand, Hunter.”

I was getting a headache trying to comes to terms with the weird way their society was apparently structured.

“She was your twin sister?! You have four parents...? You know what, never mind. So, you guys have some sort of code that stops you killing each other, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

“This is essentially correct. Constructs are sufficiently rare that we are not permitted to end each other’s existence, as we are required for both defence in the event of war, as well as to enable occupation and expansion, Hunter.”

“But what about all the little guys? I killed a bunch, Dee Yu Kay Three. Like, almost thirty people.”

“They were aware of the possibility when they opted to attack me. They did however represent but a fraction of their faction. Gee En Oh Five knows better than to bring a large force, as doing so would have pressed me to using my full capability.”

“... This wasn’t your full capability? But you seemed totally stalemated when I arrived. Please don’t tell me I was dancing about like a naked idiot for no reason.”

“Dee Yu Kay Three. There was no stalemate, I would have emerged victorious eventually, as my efficiency is higher. Unlike Gee En Oh Five, whose abilities are limited to their immediate environment – at least when constrained by another Domain – my abilities are not. Had I so chosen, I could have crushed each invader by simply converting the entire facility to clones. It is all me after all, Hunter.”

My brain screeched to a halt at that and I looked down at my robes. Was... wearing DUK3?!

“Um, what do you mean, ‘it is all’ you, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

“This entire facility is my body. I try to limit myself to actions which can normally be performed by a standard Construct during these fights, though I had not expected to be required to defend myself here. To do otherwise would not be fair, Hunter.”

“Fair?!” I took a deep breath to calm myself down before carrying on. “Okay, so, I’m inside you. No big deal. Totally normal. I’ve been inside things before. I guess I’ve worn things before too. So, anyway. You were just playing fair? You could have ended it at any moment, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

“Of course. Why else would they wish to obtain my designs, if they were merely comparable to their own? My scans of your energy system may allow for even greater a disparity. When the current Prime Construct Ascends or is killed, I am likely to take their place. Gen En Oh Five will be most envious, Hunter.”

“Wait, one of the guys I killed, he said his sibling would kill me. Was that your sister? Did I... kill your brother, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

“Eff Em Ae Two and I shared only a single parental contributor. Sibling was an exaggeration on his part, designed to – I assume – sound more threatening. Do not be concerned. The remaining bodies and viscera have been collected, and disposed of where required, and all damage repaired, Hunter.”

“Right. Awesome. Good times! I’m going to go lie down... See you soon, Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“Sleep well, Hunter.”