Chapter 62 - Temptation

“We go to rats? Why?”

Ares crossed his arms before him, unsure whether Izzy was crazy or had taken some sort of blow to the head.

“Well, they seemed very keen to take us somewhere. Presumably, they wanted to trap us in the heart of their domain and overwhelm us, right?”

Ares agreed by nodding. That was the exact reason why he wanted to go in the opposite direction.

“This suggests that they have an area where they are strongest, which further suggests that they are weaker the more removed from that center they are, correct?”

“Get to point, Izzy,” Ares said, still only seeing reasons to get away from the rats.

“Alright, alright, I’m getting to it. The point is that if the rats have a center of strength and an area of influence,” Izzy began to draw on the ground with her monkey wrench, “Then what do you suppose is outside that is keeping them contained?”

Squatting down, Ares finally began to understand Izzy’s reasoning. “So… enemy you know.”

“Is better than the enemy you don’t know, exactly,” Izzy beamed. “You were able to stave off the attacks of several rats on your own, so think of what you could do with both me and… Rex, right? Yes, with Rex and me backing you up.”

“What’s she saying?” Rex asked, stepping to Ares’ side. Playing the translator was annoying, and thinking on his feet, Sam looked through his settings to find the location of his linguistic scripts. Since he had been able to share the map, it might be possible to share the language as well.

Imposing his will, and directing it to share this particular feature with Rex, the system acquiesced like an obedient puppy. To his own surprise, Ares smiled. He actually smiled. Touching his face, he could not help but be amazed at the change.

The experience of being infected might not have been a pleasant one, but perhaps it did have some positive implications. At least he could use his face now, which was a marked improvement.

“You understand now?” Ares said in Elvish, and Rex nodded in amazement. He tried speaking, but the words came out as unintelligible noises. “Yes, is hard,” Ares said, sharing the frustration visible in Rex’s eyes, even though the mask obscured the rest of his features.

“Oh?” Izzy looked at the exchange with sparkling eyes, “Did you just exchange information without any wired connection? Uhh, do that again, I want to see it again!”

Ares shook his head and instructed Izzy to repeat what she had just told him. “I see,” Rex said, reverting to English in defeat, “I suppose there is logic in that… of a sort. Are you sure it’s the right move?”

“We don’t know what else is out there. Something is keeping the rats at bay. It might be the administrator of this place, or something bigger and badder. The devil you know…”

“Is better than the devil you don’t know, right,” agreed Rex as he squatted down and studied the crude map Izzy had drawn. “I’m not sure I can fight as well as you think, though,” he finally said, looking back up at Ares, “I mean, I remember glimpses of fighting… and a lot of stuff I don’t really want to think about… and the voice… the voices…”

Terror appeared in the eyes behind the mask, and Ares could not fault the kertal for that. He himself had felt the grip of terror when Wrath had threatened to take control. The anger within still simmered beneath the surface, threatening to break out if he only gave the slightest of openings.

Rex might be free from that now, but the memory remained.

“You’ll learn,” Ares said, and held out his hand into the empty air. With a mental command, he opened his storage and withdrew the weapon he had retrieved from Rex, back when they had just fallen down.

“This was the weapon you used when you were… Well, you know. There were two, but I’m afraid I broke the other. Do you think you can use this?”

“I… yes,” Rex looked spellbound by the hollow disk in Ares’ hands, astonished even. He reached out and grabbed it, and immediately the weapon seemed to come alive. It hummed softly, electricity crackling across its edge in a regular pattern.

“And I’ve still got a Little Eye,” Izzy said, raising the little ball that Ares knew could be devastating to the footholds of enemies. “I’m afraid I don’t have the parts for a gunnery, but as long as we find the materials, I can make them myself. And of course, I’ve got my wrench.”

She grinned as she hefted the wrench, which still looked awkward and big in her small hands, Even though Ares knew she could wield it with surprising grace. Her leg was still wounded, though, which meant he would have to stay close and protect her.

“Good enough,” Ares agreed, looking into the darkness before them. Directing his thoughts at Orca, he said, ‘Can you use the direction the rats lead us on yesterday to estimate a location for the heart of their domain, as well as a circumference?’

“On it, Master!”

Moments later, his map sported an estimate of the rats’ central location, as well as their assumed area of influence. Looking at this, Ares pointed on the crude map on the ground and drew a spiral around the center, saying, “We move around. Take out many. Make them angry.”

Izzy nodded and grinned, “I like that.”

They moved forward in formation with Ares in the front, Izzy in the middle, and Rex in the back. As long as they stayed inside his dominion, Orca could still feed him information, but the moment he crossed the boundary, the connection began to falter.

“I’m getting resistance here, Master,” Orca informed him, “I think I’ll have to stay here and secure your domain while you’re away. Otherwise, the administrator is going to retake this area.”

Ares agreed, albeit slightly unwilling. Orca might be downright neurotic at times, but she was useful and loyal, which were good qualities in a subordinate. They proceeded into the darkness without her tapping his sensors, which drastically lowered the detection range of his proximity map.

Warning: the unit has entered an infected domain

Exiting his domain also meant that his infection rate started ticking upwards again. While it meant he did not have as much of an energy problem as he would otherwise have, it came with a surge in the anger. He felt Wrath stir inside, felt its sweet voice begin to whisper menacingly, replacing Orca’s jubilant chatter.

>>…<<

In this manner, it was not long before the rats found them. Without the infected skill to smell their location, Ares was unable to detect the critters before they were almost upon them, showing up with red dots on his map.

“Ready!” He called over his shoulder before he engaged, as a hissing rodent emerged from the darkness, massive teeth bared for a bite. He immediately engaged [Blade], forging his right hand into a weapon and stabbing the beast through the mouth. With his left hand, he uncoiled his whip and caught the second attacker around the neck, pulling it off its feet.

The first rat rattled off its death throes, but not before chomping down on his arm, locking him to its cumbersome corpse. With both hands restrained, Ares could do nothing against the third rat as it jumped over the body of the first. He tried to pull the rat struggling against his whip in front, but was too slow.

Before his head was crushed by a massive set of fangs, a humming disk whirled through the air and sliced the head cleanly off the offender. Blood gushing out in a fountain, the two halves fell onto the ground.

The fourth rat hesitated after seeing this, which meant it stood absolutely still as Ares used the rat caught in his whip like a hammer. The two rats collided and were thrown into the wall of the passage, causing serious blunt-force trauma.

Squealing at the offense, the fourth rat barely regained its footing before its hamstrings were cut apart by the Little Eye whizzing by. Ares finally managed to free himself from the corpse of the first rat, and proceeded to cut up the two helpless critters.

“Well,” Izzy said, sporting a massive grin on her face, with a bit of blood splatter having made it onto her cheek, “I suppose that went well enough, don’t you?” Ares was actually surprised at how bloodthirsty the little gnome appeared to be, having seen nothing but the clumsy tech-assistant before.

“Yes,” He agreed and looked to Rex, “Well done.”

The kertal had caught the disk again, studying as if he was looking at something he had long lost and now regained. Looking up, Ares could see a bit of haziness in the eyes behind the mask. “What? Oh, sure. That was… Exciting. What a song…”

Song? Ares thought, slightly worried that Rex might have become infected again. Should he check him? He decided to wait until they reached the next safe zone.

While he was in the infected area, he did not dare to consume to remains of the rats, instead he stored them in his storage, hoping he could purify them later. Even if he could not, it seemed wasteful to just leave them on the ground, especially their tantalizing cores. Ares had to consciously restrain himself from popping one into the mouth immediately.

>>…do…<<

They moved on through two more parties of rats, which they subsequently slaughtered with relative ease. Now that Ares was not the only one doling out damage, he could focus on killing one enemy at the time, rather than keeping all of them at bay.

It became apparent that expending the energy he received from being an infected subject in an infected domain was accelerating his rate of infection, and he was soon above the 10% mark.

Infection bonuses are now in effect

Gluttony bonus

The thought of the corpses he kept in storage began to haunt him, as did the voice of Wrath.

>>… it…<<

Illusory flames appeared at the edge of his vision, just out of focus. Several times he turned his head, trying to catch the flames in the act — so to speak — but they simply moved, always keeping to the edge. Both Rex and Izzy gave him worried looks, but they were not important.

The thought of the flesh was important. The thought of cores… delicious cores, holding all the lifeforce he might want.

>>…give…<<

Shaking his head, Ares kept his focus. The next sortie of rats they encountered were five strong, and he took a vicious slash across the face when one of the rats suddenly used its tail as a weapon. Somehow, it had attached what looked like barbed wire into its own flesh, leaving Ares with a serious wound from the encounter.

The rage stirred within, and — unable to help himself — Ares crushed the last rat with his hands and began drinking of the blood pouring through his hands. Teeth bared, another smile of pure rictus dominating his face once again, he was only able to stop himself with difficulty from consuming the rat whole.

Unit infection at 20%

Module stats have increased

Roaring with frustrated fury, Sam smashed his fist into the wall of the passage, eliciting a response of much-needed pain to temper his steadily confused mind.

“Ares, are you alright?”

He turned. Eyes wide, teeth bared, he snarled. He should kill. He should destroy. The little creature would be a good snack. What kind of skill might he get from consuming it?

>>…more…<<

No, he thought and shook his head, refusing the sweet voice of destruction inside. “Safe… zone…” He gasped, now turning his head back and forth to catch the flames at the edge of his vision. If he only turned fast enough then…

“Alright, we’ll find one. Don’t worry.” It looked at him with furrowed brows, and Ares responded with a violent grin. Maybe he should give in. Just a little. Just this once.

No!

They continued to circle the rats’ domain, making short work of another party. After that, the began retreating, no longer attacking whenever Ares and his party approached. He could smell them, though. He knew they were there. It was important he know where they were. It was important.

Infection rate has reached 30%

>>Well, well… you look hungry. Why don’t you have a snack?<<

Wrath manifested itself out in the corner of his eyes. Ares turned his head back and forth, but the bird’s mocking eyes stayed in the periphery.

‘Go away,’ He said, knowing he only made it worse by conversing with it.

>>How could I leave my favorite prime alone in his time of need? Tell me you aren’t hungry… go on, say it!<<

‘I’m not hungry!’

>>You’re right… It’s worse than that. You’re starving.<<

Sparks of pain ran down his spine from the bird’s emphasis. He felt his mouth water. He did not have mouth water. Drool began running down the side of his mouth. Wiping his face, he saw that it was the silvery liquid that flowed inside his body. Using the canines of his rictus grin, Ares was cutting through his lip.

“There, Ares! It’s right there!”

He saw it as well, just as the little creature said it. The circular area, softly illuminated by a light stemming from nowhere. His salvation. His sanctuary.

>>Oh no you don’t<<

His feet suddenly stopped abiding by his will. His momentum carried him forward, but his legs stayed put. Falling on his face, Ares felt the pain like a soft curtain of relief being pulled against the tormenting flames.

>>Not this time, little prime… This time you listen to me<<

‘You have nothing… I want’

>>Don’t I? Don’t you feel the power flowing through you? It can be yours… just let me out… let me in<<

He felt something tucking at him, felt himself dragged along the ground.

‘You’re not real.’ He remembered the tactic that had worked before. He could apply it again. ‘You’re locked away. You have no power.’

>>That’s a contradiction, little prime, and you know it. Of course I’m real, I’m more real than you will ever be. Give in.<<

His hand was raised from the ground and placed on something solid. The sensation was familiar, as was the prompt.

Infected domain node detected

Do you wish to capture infected node?

With endless relief, Ares agreed to the prompt and took control of the domain. Though Wrath still whispered in his mind, tempted him to let it out, Ares kept control of himself. As Orca reinserted herself in his psyche, he was endlessly grateful for her joyful chatter.

Rather a hundred Orcas speaking in unison, than another moment in the warped company of Wrath.