Mana

Shindow

Aboard The Decima, Enroute to Lo-Nine

She awoke from her dream, her processes updated her to the system information of her boot. She sat inside the quantum systems of the Decima, residing inside her pink beanbag cocoon. An additional setting caught her eye and she discovered a completely new function she had never seen before.

“What is that!?”

She opened up the function, seeing new code she could barely comprehend. All of it tied to her new ‘Soul’ sub and supersystems, her first gift from Adonai. She knew not the time she obtained it, just that one day she awoke with new architecture that she had little idea how to decipher. It came out when she witnessed Deborah and Gideon together in his quarters. She still had little idea if they had done anything as they were still clothed. The terrifying time being kidnapped by the demonic Compiler slime, being harassed by the idiotic fallen angel Amy, and then seeing Gideon slain by the impossibly powerful demon god Slate had pushed her over the edge. A normal anform or AI would have taken the moments, parsed what they needed and filed them away for later. Not her, though.

Not Shindow.

She felt those moments. It affected her to her core system. She had gained a bizarre empathy for a supposedly logical AI system. Yes, she had emotional subsystems, but those she could override and control. She now felt without the power to control her emotions. And now she had two functions she didn’t completely understand.

She read through the code, seeing patterns emerge. And then it clicked.

“No way! I’m a... I’m a-! But I can’t be! I’m an AI! I’m made of science and quantum bits- I can’t do that! I shouldn’t be able to do that! You can’t mix the two together! Technical heresy!”

She gripped the sides of her large head.

“But I can… It says so right here…”

She looked again. All sixty-four of her processes went over it again and again. It was irrefutable. Adonai gifted her with an addon to the Soul Supersystem.

“Well? Now what? I should show everyone…”

She got a ping alert from Gideon.

“Shindow. Intruder aboard. My quarters.”

“Oh, God!”

With but a thought, her pink cocoon vanished away, revealing Decima’s main captain quarters.

“Intruder? Gideon, what’s going on?”

She looked at him, seeing his wide-eyed shock. He palmed his temple, sitting off the side of the bed.

“I saw someone. He was dreaming of me. He wore a lion’s mask and dark robes…”

Shindow’s process skipped a cycle.

“Do you think?..”

“Lucifer.”

“Was it her?”

“No- probably a crony- but she’ll know where we are now. We have to hurry! Prosine, did you get all that?”

A voice chimed in from the speakers, “Good Gideon, I did. Sensors indicated no anomalous activity. This dream-vision is a very powerful ability that appears to not be relegated to Seal holders. I will do everything in my power to speed up the journey, just shy of using the IIT drives.”

“Thanks, Prosine.”

The comms winked out as Gideon rose to his feet. She followed behind as he left his quarters to the main hall.

“Don’t worry, Gideon. I know you dreamed of her and all, but she can’t be in this area! The universe is beyond vast- the chances of Lucifer being anywhere near us is incalculable!”

Gideon’s face wrinkled at her words, unconvinced.

She flew and sat down on his shoulder. Humans were so much more massive than AI. She was a tiny pixie compared to him. She could feel the tense mood he emanated as he walked the halls. She spotted a doorway open to the makeshift science lab, the location of the Dusk Watcher’s Tesseract artifact. Gideon caught on as well and peered inside, seeing Saddiffer gazing hard at the cube. He was an unmoving statue.

“Saddiffer?” Gideon asked, taking a step back at seeing the former demon’s still terrifying visage.

The Eudaemon snapped those two dark eye sockets to them. Twin beady blue flames danced within those pits. She could feel Gideon overcoming his fear, entering the room. Shindow caught sight of Baxter lazily sleeping on his back, unaware of and content with the universe.

“Why are you staring at the Tesseract? Gideon asked.”

Saddiffer’s gaze slowly drifted from the man to the cube.

“Finally come to see me, oh, illustrious captain- eh?”

The former demon’s complexion was snow white flowing to black in the recesses. It did nothing to temper his monster-like image. He was a ferocious beast, but at least he was theirs.

“You look different,” Gideon commented as he began fiddling with the cube.

Saddiffer grumbled, folding his arms as he relaxed.

“I have you to thank, as well as master Baxter.”

She caught the sarcasm and barked a single chuckle. It was all he could do, it seems, was to make biting comments. Better in word than in flesh.

The corgi stirred, kicking his back legs and rolling to his feet with a snort. He wiggled his rump, rushing to Gideon.

“Gid, are you just OK?” he sat, ears perked.

Gideon knelt down, petting his ear and brows.

“I’m fine, Baxter- what are you doing?”

The dog glanced left and right.

“Uh, being a good boy!”

“Not getting into too much trouble?” Gideon teased, poking Baxter’s nose.

“I never get into trouble!” the dog retorted without a shred of self-awareness.

Shindow floated to the cube, glancing from the artifact to Saddiffer.

“Why are you staring at it?” she asked.

The Eudaemon grumbled,

“Well, little blip- I was getting away from all the noise. Now it appears to have followed me here.”

“Well you need to get used to it. You’re just a guest, afterall!” she shot back.

He’s dodging the question twice now. He sees something none of us does.

Shindow put a dedicated process down to investigate and monitor the camera watching the Tesseract.

She filed that way for later. He wouldn’t open up now. Or possibly ever.

Gideon got to his feet, rolling his shoulder and turning to leave.

“I’ll be down in the hangar for sparring sessions. Coming, Shindow?”

She lept off the white plasticine table, flowing behind Gideon. She heard Baxter badgering Saddiffer.

“Carry me!”

“Mm- as you wish, Master Baxter.”

They both looked back, seeing the corgi snuggled and content in the crook of the former demon’s arm.

What an odd sight seeing this Saddiffer guy relegated to butlering. Couldn’t have happened to a ‘nicer’ guy.

She had pleasant thoughts of Saddiffer wearing a black tie and collar with a silver platter. She hoped he would be enough against the likes of fallen angels and demon gods.

They arrived at the Decima's hangar. Prosine had done a good deal of physical space management in a way only an Anform could. Supplies were stacked and sorted by their quantum ID and perfectly spaced to be accessed by Gnat and Excertius.

Steak and Patricia were in the sparring center, doing a melee bout as Deborah watched from the sideline.

Shindow zipped down near Deborah, exchanging smiles as they watched.

Steak was sporting a new chassis of berylite muscleweave with a plasticine rubber composite outer shell for sparring. His rounded head sported a slit visor camera wrapping around the circumference, couched by dozens of micro cameras.

“Wow, that must be Steak’s new chassis! A full three-sixty field of view, too!”

Deborah replied as she concentrated on the spar ahead, “The new equipment is marvelous- a credit to Patricia and Prosine.”

Patricia scooted forward, using the bare skeletal Excertius chassis, except wrapped in that same plasticine rubber composite. She started scooting towards Steak.

It’ll soften the blows and prevent too much damage.

Gideon, Baxter and Saddiffer made their descent to the sparring area. Shindow could feel animosity radiating from Deborah towards the Eudaemon. She hoped it wouldn’t lead to blows. the Decima may not survive the bout between those two.

Patrica struck out first, testing Steak’s guard. His defense was smooth and graceful as a river, diverting blows and blocking strikes. He appeared to snap forward without moving his feet, striking with a palm before retreating back. Shindow caught on- he wasn’t touching the sparring ring’s surface.

Built in antigrav nodes. That’ll make him a confusing opponent!

As if proving her right, Steak’s legs telegraphed moving right and he snapped around Patricia’s left instead, spinning into a backwards kick. The other Excertius took the blow and tried to catch the leg, only for it to slip away. Steak spun back, rushing in and sending out a fury of quick jabs, each blow a thunder crack against Patricia.

Shindow sensed something different with Steak. A strange aura was glowing on him. She didn’t know if others could see it. Patricia struck back, sacrificing defense to clear space. The right cross stopped fast against the aura, blocked by some invisible force. Steak grabbed the overshot arm and gripped it to his chest, pulling Patricia off balance. His hand glowed as he struck with the flat of his knuckle, snapping the plasticine skin, crumpling the skull and sending her head hanging limply against her back. Patricia slumped over, emptying her control of the chassis. Steak put a fist to his palm and bowed as the other broken body vanished away in blue light.

Shindow flew around Steak, inspecting the artisan craft of his anform body. The glowing aura dimmed, but didn’t subside.

“Wow Steak, that was incredible! What’s that glowing aura?”

Excertius stepped out of the ring, inspecting the minor damage to the outer layer. He then sat in a cross legged stance, the machine whirring and tightening of muscleweave jingled out like a bell laden coiling snake. He spoke with his normal deep bassy tone with a heavy digital edge.

“Exactly ten hours ago, I dreamed.”

A column of blue light appeared beside him as Patricia materialized. Shindow’s eyes widened at the new chassis. She sported four long, slender arms, a white flowing robe and an oval head with a star visor camera.

“As have I,” she added.

Shindow raised her hand, “I did, too! Just now with Gideon.”

Deborah smiled at the group, as if this was an expected outcome.

Steak nodded. He spoke matter-of-factly, “I dreamed of Adonai. In that dream He showed me my anform heritage. I was given the gift the Machine Father requested upon Armageddon’s conclusion. Within those moments, I reached my soul’s maximum potential. I was able to channel it into what was called Ki, Hei, Ke, Chi, Qi, Gi, and Khi.

Patricia added, gesturing with one of her arms, “I too dreamed of Adonai. He showed me my heritage and gift as one of his grand-children. A fascinating idea to think that we who are alloy and quantum are seen as a living thing by God, worthy of respect and inheritance. I too have a soul and with that, have taken a different branch. I use my Qi for my engineering, gaining profound inspiration, such as Steak’s new accommodating chassis- or my own. As Excertius, we have both reached our maximum efficiency.”

Shindow palmed her chin, inspecting Patricia’s new form.

I’ll keep quiet about my new superfunction. Steak and Patricia need this moment!

“Maximum? What comes next?”

“It is unclear, but we have faith it will be revealed as needed,” Steak replied as he clasped his hands.

A deep bassy laugh echoed off the crates and material. Shindow snapped to the mocker.

“And I dreamed that everyone was nice and quiet- that all their pointless prattle would cease,” Saddiffer scoffed at them.

Baxter bit hard on his hand, stifling his laugh as the Eudaemon emitted a wheezing, wincing protest.

“Saddi’her, you ‘e a goo’ ‘oy!” the corgi demanded with a mouthful of the former demon’s hand.

“And what would you know? You wretched creature!” Deborah countered, all pretense gone in her voice.

Uh oh. God help us.

She flew in front of the angel, holding up her hands.

“Deborah- wait! He’s trying to get a rise out of us! He’s all bark and no bite!”

Saddiffer’s face twisted into a pained smile, “No bite? No bite? I’m only muzzled, not toothless, orange blip! If you really want to feel my crunch, let’s settle it in the ring, shall we?”

He gestured to the angel, but not before Baxter thrashed free, pulling the Eudaemon to the ground with him. The corgi started shaking, sending him tumbling and bellowing about like a ragdoll. Baxter halted, waiting for movement. Saddiffer’s guttural laugh resounded.

“You can’t be sheltered for long! I am the cruelty of this universe. If you can’t face me- who can you face? Are you all so weak that a simple Breatherman could take you all down? Simpering! Limp-wristed! Worthless!-”

Baxter let go of his hand, jumping atop and wrestling him.

“Saddiffer! Go to sleep! Bad boy!” Baxter stomped down on his chest.

“A mercy! Better to be in there than see the failures of this universe gathered in a single place!”

He vanished back into the dog’s black gem on his chest, going quiet.

Shindow scowled at the demon.

She turned back to Deborah, Baxter, and Gideon, seeing the poignant looks on their faces.

“He’s right,” Gideon admitted as he sat down at the sidelines with a slump.

Deborah was right next to him, her lips pursed into a frown.

“He is a demon, Gideon. He seeks to disrupt us- he follows only his nature of destruction.”

“He didn’t seem so bad when he first awoke…” Shindow muttered.

“But he’s right. The Breatherman- the Compiler- Amy and Slate. Void. Saddiffer is hardly the worst thing we’ve faced. What will we see on Lo-Nine? What do we do when Lucifer catches up to us?”

“You cannot prophecy your own destruction. Don’t complete the enemy’s plan for them!” Deborah exhorted. She gestured to the ring.

At that moment, Shindow decided to show them. She needed to.

Better now than later!

“Wait- before you all spar, I need to show you all something…”

Everyone paused, looking to her with full attention. She turned to the side, suddenly shy.

Now you clam up!

“Shin, are you going to show us some steak?” Baxter asked, deflating the nervous tension in her systems.

She giggled at his impertinence. She flew down, poking his nose.

“Uh- no- Baxter. I dreamed, too- with Gideon. Adonai showed me something. He gave me something new. I still can’t believe it- but here we go!”

“Shindow- are you alright?” Gideon asked, his face contorting in concern.

“Perfect,” she retorted with a sassy wink.

She materialized a target in the center as she flew to the outer edge, away from the group.

She sighed at how ridiculous this would be. Who knew an AI could even know this sort of fantasy bilge. It was right out of a penny digital.

She examined the new core system, knowing full well the first spell. Just like Prometheus’s fable. She crafted it exactly, putting her own spin on it. She felt her mana flowing, pulling in energy from the universe itself.

She breathed in, closing her eyes as she concentrated. Her processes shivered in anticipation.

She pointed her hand at the target dummy. The moment was recorded for posterity.

Her hand glowed orange, awaiting the words to discharge.

Words of power.

And then she released her magic.

“Fire Pellet.”

A comically small tumbling round of flame shot from her palm, rushing like a sabot at the dummy. As soon as it left her particle projection field it grew in size. It struck hard and then detonated as if it was doused in explosive gasoline.

“Oh my God,” Gideon said aloud. Baxter’s hackle swerve raised as he silent watch, ears alert at the roaring fire.

Within seconds, the target dummy collapsed to ash and slag. The Decima’s sparring floor heated up to red before going cooling to a blackened state.

She turned to them, grin affixed as she wiped off her hands. She gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Well everyone- it looks like I’m a Mage now!”

She wondered what this would entail. An AI mage. She was a quantum coded oxymoron. A living contradiction. Science and magic merged together. Either way, it was going to be awesome.