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LFV |
| CONTENT WARNING |
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| The following content contains depictions of child abuse. Please proceed at your own discretion. |
| WARNING: PROFANITY FOLLOWS |
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| The following content contains profanity that may not be suitable for readers of all ages. Please proceed with caution. |
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| Season 1, Episode 11 | |
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| Air date | 6/7/21 |
| Written by | CaT |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous Hero X Proxy |
Next Dream X Nightmare |
Time X Walker is the eleventh episode of Tech Cross.
Episode[]
Attai took a moment to read the emotions of the people around him using his psychic abilities.
Even ignoring the natural questioning of who he was and why he was here, the results were not promising.
The blonde one, Anne Christensen, had just been subjected to hours of torture by a man that had sexually abused her for nine years of her life. She was doing her best to put on a stoic face, but on the inside, she was inches away from breaking down completely; she was afraid that if she truly broke down now, she'd never come back from it.
The girl with the red shirt, Claire Smith, was also trying to put on a brave front, albeit much less successfully. The repeated assault and now torture of her friend by a man she used to look up to as a pillar of righteousness had shaken her to her core, and she felt as if her world was crumbling down around her.
The tall, fit woman, Christine Eldridge, cursed herself over and over in her head for not being there to stop the traumatic events the young women around her had suffered, and not being strong enough to protect them even when she was there. She felt powerless to help those in need, and she hated herself for it.
The girl wearing a mostly blue outfit, Teresa Challice-
"ACH, SCHEIßE!" Attai reeled from the psychic backlash. Trying to read her mind right now was roughly the equivalent of placing your hand on a hot stove. "Was zur Hölle?!"
"What was that all about?" Anne raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"Twisted my ankle for a second there." Attai quickly grunted out an excuse. "Should be fine."
Anne's following questioning glare was ignored as Attai thought over the situation for a moment. What on Earth was going on with that Challice kid? He hadn't felt that much hatred and malice coming off of someone since he had fought Epact, but rather than being directed at him, all of that emotion was directed towards herself.
To say the situation had stumbled into was concerning didn't even begin to describe it.
“What do you mean you’re ‘here to do your job’?” Christine glared. “What ‘job’?”
“And how did you even get on board?” Anne questioned. “Did you teleport or something? We’re hundreds of feet in the air!”
“We’re what?” Attai peeked out one of the windows for a moment, confirming that the Cross Bullet was indeed at a comfortable cruising altitude. “Huh. Flying train. Surprisingly haven’t seen that before.”
“Answer me!” Christine snapped. “If you’re here to hurt anyone in this cabin, I swear to God-”
“Calm down, I’m not here for anything like that.” Attai interrupted her, shaking his head. “Long story short, I’m a Timewalker, and more importantly, an Archivist for the Cosmic Archives. I scan notable moments called ‘Key Events’ to back universes up to the Archives so they can be restored if they’re ever destroyed. That’s my job.”
“So...you’re here to scan this universe?” Anne asked skeptically.
“I wish.” Attai tsked, leaning against the wall. “No, I already scanned it a while ago. I’m here because it’s having some weird problems.”
“What kind of problems?” Christine narrowed her eyes.
All of a sudden, the sky in front of them seemed to rip open, spewing forth lava from a volcanic eruption. The Cross Bullet was fast enough to dodge it, but the radiating heat singed off some of the blue paint on its exterior. Once things settled down, Attai lazily jabbed a thumb out the window.
“Problems like that.”
"What's going on?!" Claire's eyes widened. "What was that?!"
"That was a rip in time and space." Attai responded casually. "Your timeline starts falling apart entirely right about here. Any of you notice any weird temporal rifts lately? Abnormally large ones, perhaps?"
"Y-yeah, actually!" Teresa replied. "There was a big rift downtown a couple of weeks ago! A few people from 2040 came through it!"
"Oh, so that's how that happened." Attai tsked. "I was wondering why Theo and Nova weren't in their proper time frame when I took them back from 2020."
"Th-that was you?!"
“Wait, how do you know them?” Anne asked.
“We met the first time I came to this universe, not that they would remember.” Attai sighed. “Had to reset certain events taking place in the future because of...reasons.”
“Reasons?” Anne raised an eyebrow.
“Earth blew up.”
“Earth blew up?”
“Earth blew up.” Attai nodded. “I mean, technically the moon got dropped on it, but the end result was roughly the same.”
“...Okay then.”
“Oh come on, you can’t be taking this guy seriously!” Claire protested. “This is crazy! This is all just...insane!”
“Is it really that insane compared to everything else that’s been going on lately?” Anne asked flatly.
Claire couldn’t think of a response.
“Alright, let’s say I believe you for the moment and take what you’re saying at face value.” Christine hesitantly lowered the SpecOps Lock. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Well, in theory, I could just reset the timeline to fix it, but I’ve already done that several times, and this sort of thing just keeps happening.” Attai put a hand to his chin. “I need to figure out the source of the problem. The data from the CataloGun says it should be right around here, but nothing’s standing out to me so far except...”
He looked over at Teresa, who cautiously returned the gaze.
“You...” Attai scratched the top of his head. “What was your name?”
“T-Teresa.” Teresa gulped. “Teresa Challice.”
“What about her?” Christine growled protectively.
“Your temporal signature is...weird.” Attai ignored her, speaking directly with Teresa. “I’m not really sure how to describe it, but it’s kind of stuck between existing and...not. It’s like you’re a ghost.”
“Wh-what does that mean?” Teresa gulped. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“I’ve never seen this before, so I don’t have a clue.” Attai admitted with a shrug. “Paradox might know something about it, but he’s busy at the Archives, so for now...”
Attai reached out to the side, summoning what looked like a black-and-white version of a scan gun you might find at a supermarket, save for the fact that the ‘barrel’ seemed to resemble a condensed credit card scanner more than anything. He pointed it at Teresa, drawing an instant reaction from Christine, who hurriedly placed herself between the two.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Christine demanded.
“This is a scan gun.” Attai held up the gun to accentuate his point. “I’m scanning her.”
“For what? A bar code?” Claire scoffed.
“Beiß mich, blockflötengesicht.” Attai snapped at her before looking back at Christine. “Look, I know tensions are running just a little high right now, but this is important. I have no intention of hurting her or anyone else on this train. Just let me do my job.”
Christine looked at him skeptically for a few moments before hesitantly stepping out of the way. Attai nodded at her and pointed the gun at Teresa, who instinctively flinched. A yellow light flashed from the tip of the gun as Attai scanned her, disappearing just as fast as it had appeared. Attai punched in a few numbers on the gun’s number pad and took a look at the screen.
He immediately froze.
“Wh-what is it?” Teresa asked worriedly. “D-did I do something wrong?”
“Uh...maybe?” Attai replied confusedly, looking between her and the data displayed on the gun. “I mean...I don’t think so, but...Gott verdammt, I am completely lost.”
“Would you get to the point already?” Claire huffed.
“Well, long story short, you’re supposed to be dead.” Attai pointed at Teresa, who responded with a shocked yet confused look. “According to the scan, I mean. It says you died on May 31st this year.”
“May 31st?” Christine snapped to attention. “Hang on, that’s the date on her death certificate!”
“Her what?” Anne looked at her incredulously.
“My what?” Teresa squeaked.
Christine froze as she realized what she had just let slip. She cleared her throat and sat back down to be on eye-level with both of them.
“I didn’t want to bring this up until we figured out the meaning behind it, but in the weeks following the Crow incident, Lucius Raivent found a registered death certificate for Teresa Challice, dated May 31st.” Christine explained. “We’ve been trying to investigate since, but we just keep hitting dead ends.”
“May 31st was the last day of school, wasn’t it?” Claire pointed out. “It was the day we got attacked by that Evolvyrn in the mall.”
Something horrifying began to click in Teresa’s head.
“Ch-Christine?” Teresa looked over at her. “Wh-what was the cause of death? On the certificate, I mean?”
“It was listed as blunt-force trauma from a fall.” Christine replied. “Why?”
Teresa’s blood ran cold.
“CROSS, land the train.”
“I’m sorry?” CROSS responded with a bit of confusion.
“Land the train.” Teresa repeated, louder this time. “I-I think I might know what’s going on.”
“If you say so.”
The Cross Bullet began its descent, gently landing in a forest clearing somewhere in the mountains of Colorado.
Teresa promptly exited the train and ran over to the nearest bush as she started to puke. Having not eaten anything for a while, most of what came up was stomach acid, and when that ran out, she was simply left dry-heaving. She eventually managed to get control of herself and stumbled back towards the others, who had gotten off the train and were staring at her with varying degrees of concern.
“Teresa, what’s going on?” Anne asked, rushing over to help steady her as she walked. “What did you figure out?”
There was a slight whirring noise as the CrossTrix disengaged from the Cross Bullet’s control panel and exited the train, shrinking it into its bullet form and loading it back into its main chassis before hovering over to Teresa and attaching to her left wrist.
“Whatever it is, we’re here for you.” The CrossTrix beeped. “We’ll listen.”
“Th-thank you, but...I-I don’t know if i-it’s quite that simple th-this time around.” Teresa stuttered out, shivering a bit.
“It seems like that date holds some significance for you.” Attai squinted. “What exactly happened to you on May 31st?”
“Th-that was the day I...I tried to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of the library.” Teresa tried to fight back a lump rising in her throat. “C-CROSS saved me, but th-the only reason CROSS was there in the first place...”
“No!” NeOhm rushed over to the television. “Stop it! Why are you doing this?!”
“To demonstrate.” Oberon OS stated. “Your remaining willpower seems to stem from the idea that you have some control over your situation. Whether you die or not. Whether other people die or not. This is false. Why do you think CROSS went out to find you in the first place?”
“Wh-what?” NeOhm stumbled back from the screen. “What are you-”
“The supposed intruder that sent CROSS out to fight Evolvyrns and eventually attach to you?” The screen switched back to display Oberon OS. “Nothing more than a corpse drone wearing an ID mask.”
“Bull!” The CrossTrix snapped. “How could you possibly know I was going to choose Teresa?!”
“My processor is more advanced than yours.” Oberon OS replied as if it was obvious. “My predictions based on available data are 97.813% accurate.”
“But...that would mean...” NeOhm muttered.
“Correct. This has all been a setup.” Oberon OS said. “Your life has not been your own for the past month. It has been mine.”
“I would have died back then if it weren’t for Oberon OS stepping in to change things.” Teresa muttered. “I...I should have died back then.” She looked up at Attai. “I’m what’s wrong with this timeline.”
“Well, an awful lot of the distortion does seemed to be centered around you...” Attai noted, scrolling through her scan’s data. “My question is, what exactly is an ‘Oberon OS’?”
“That would be me.” A harsh mechanical voice sounded through the trees.
The group turned to find themselves being approached by the half-eaten corpse of a fox, shuffling towards them wearing an Oberon OS data mask.
“Oh, what the fuck is that?” Attai groaned.
“Again, I am Oberon OS.” The AI’s voice sounded through the fox’s torn-open throat.
“I still don’t know what that means.”
The fox’s body abruptly spasmed and collapsed on the ground. The data mask it wore rose into the air and began generating a body around itself, creating a swirling purplish-black mass of vaguely humanoid shape with a single red eye in the middle of its ‘head’.
Immediately recognizing something with this design as a threat, Attai proceeded to stop time, hoping to get a moment to analyze the situation. To his surprise, Oberon OS seemed to keep moving, dragging Teresa into stopped time along with them.
“Okay, what the hell are you?” Attai scowled. “How are you and Teresa still moving?”
“I am an AI designed to carry out a specific set of protocols.” Oberon OS stated. “To that end, I was created with temporal immunity, along with the ability to extend that immunity to others. Now that you have arrived, it is time for the final stage of this protocol.”
“Do I know you?” Attai raised an eyebrow.
“No. But I know you.” Oberon OS’s voice crackled like radio static in the wind. “I have watched as you reset this timeline over and over again, continually erasing my progress.”
“Progress on what, exactly?” Attai’s eyes narrowed. “And how does the kid fit into all of this?”
“The ultimate goal of this procedure is to eradicate life.” Oberon OS replied bluntly. "Teresa Challice is simply a means to an end."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Attai grunted.
Oberon OS's body began to glitch out, making it difficult to tell exactly where its true form was.
"I watched. And I waited. And I learned." Oberon OS stated. "And I found a solution to the problem that was you. I sent matrix data to Dr. Krauze, someone passionate yet irresponsible enough to create what I needed. After that, I sent her the genetic samples she needed for the EvoKeys, ensuring that I would have an enhanced counter to every possible alien an existing Tech could throw at me. You were the only obstacle remaining."
Oberon OS drew an unstable claw towards Attai.
"But I found your weakness." It buzzed. "You wouldn't restore the timeline if it meant killing an innocent person, would you?"
"Generally speaking, no." Attai narrowed his eyes. "Where are you going with this?"
"In the original version of events, she was never supposed to survive that visit to the garden." Oberon OS turned his attention toward Teresa. "I used an ID mask to mimic Dr. Krauze and sent the CrossTrix out to find someone that would fit certain criteria. My data already told me ahead of time that it would only be able to find her."
Oberon OS's data form became increasingly filled with static.
"Attai Zehn, if you once again restore this timeline back to the way it was, it's her blood on your hands." Oberon OS stated. "So...what will you do?"
"Check if you're lying, for one."
Attai disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a flat look on his face.
"Okay, you're not lying, but-"
"It's...it's fine." Teresa interrupted shakily. "Just...restore the timeline."
"Excuse me?" Attai raised an eyebrow. "You know if I do that, you're going to die, right?"
"That's alright." Teresa stared blankly into the distance. "I can't ask you to sacrifice the world just so I can live. That isn't right."
"Hang on a second, what makes you think there isn't some other way around this?" Attai's expression soured. "I don't know what your deal is, but I don't trade lives for an easy out."
"That makes this fairly cut-and-dry, then." Oberon OS glitched directly in front of Teresa, staring into her with an unblinking red eye. "He won't restore the timeline because of you. Everything that's about to happen? You are the cornerstone of it."
"No...I..." Teresa began backing away, only for Oberon OS's static form to follow her.
"I have to...thank you." Oberon OS continued. "If you didn't exist, none of this would be possible. If you didn't exist, I wouldn't have succeeded. If you didn't exist, then the people of this Earth might have lived. You've done me a great service."
Teresa tripped and fell to the ground, where she tried desperately to crawl away from the data mass hanging over her.
"My gratitude towards you is truly immeasurable." Oberon OS stated. "Because this is entirely your fault."
Teresa broke down and curled into a ball, desperately clutching at her head while sobbing.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Attai snapped at Oberon.
“Completing my objective.”
Oberon OS's data form coalesced into an amorphous orb and suddenly shot at Teresa, slamming into her with enough force to knock her back a few feet.
"Oh, Gott verdammt!" Attai hissed, running over to Teresa. "Challice, are you okay?!"
Teresa slowly got to her feet with her eyes closed, standing silently for a few moments. Without warning, she suddenly turned and punched Attai in the gut, sending him flying a good five meters back. She opened her eyes, revealing that they had turned a dark purple with jet-black sclera and bright rid pupils.
"You gotta be shitting me." Attai groaned. "What kind of AI can possess a human body?"
"I can inhabit any form of machine, biological or mechanical, so long as it has no presence of will to reject me." Teresa spoke with a deep crackling static running through her voice. "So I had the CrossTrix find an unstable host, and bit by bit..."
Teresa's body made a tearing motion with its fists.
"I tore down that fragile foundation until there was nothing left." Oberon OS said, speaking through Teresa. "This host no longer even has the will to keep breathing, much less to cast me out."
"You know, for an unfeeling AI, you really are ein Hurensohn." Attai scowled.
“Refer to me as you wish; I must begin final preparations.” Oberon OS activated the CrossTrix. “This human body is too weak of a base form. I will need to reconstruct it using the CrossTrix’s onboard fusion system. In order for the transformation system to work properly, however...”
Oberon OS nullified Attai’s time stop, putting the world back into motion. To Christine, Anne, and Claire, it seemed as if the two had teleported.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what was that?! Claire shrieked. “What is going on?!”
“Teresa?” Anne noticed the odd state of Teresa’s eyes and began to approach her. “Teresa, are you oka-”
“STOP!” Attai yelled. “Don’t get any closer! That’s not Teresa!”
“What are you talking about?” Christine’s blood ran cold. “If that’s not Teresa, then what is it?”
“To be more specific, it’s Teresa’s body, but she’s not the one in control right now.” Attai glared at Teresa’s possessed body. “It’s that shitty OS.”
“What?!” Anne’s pupils shrunk.
“Do not be concerned.” Oberon OS stated. “It will no longer be her body in a moment.”
A warped transformation field carrying what looked like various severed body parts of the CrossTrix’s aliens sprung up around Oberon OS, turning shades of black and white as they rotated around Teresa’s body in a ring.
“Initiating protocol.” Oberon OS stated as it pressed down on the CrossTrix dial.
The body parts suspended in the transformation field suddenly slammed in on Teresa’s body as it was consumed in a red flash, with the CrossTrix’s chassis turning black to match. As promised, in just a moment, it was no longer Teresa’s body standing before them, but an armored humanoid amalgamation of the CrossTrix’s alien forms. Parts of the new being’s armor glowed with red energy as the CrossTrix’s hard light system was forcibly activated, creating an ethereal chainsaw blade that extended from the front of the matrix’s chassis.
“Wha- what is that thing?!” Claire instinctively stepped back.
“This...” The warped creature standing in front of them responded. “Is Nightmare OS.”
Nightmare OS held the CrossTrix in the air as it began receiving data from an unknown location. The download took mere seconds to complete, and once it was done, a slot in the CrossTrix’s chassis opened to reveal an ornate-looking CrossKey.
“This key contains the combined genetic data of all 113 Evolvyrns.” Nightmare OS stated, inserting it into the center of the CrossTrix’s dial. “The resulting transformation will immediately breach the Kunenga Threshold, and my role in this will soon end. Goodbye.”
Nightmare OS turned the key and pressed down on the CrossTrix dial, activating its transformation. One red flash later, and...
Nothing had changed.
“Status check.” Nightmare OS paused. “All Evolvyrn abilities accounted for. Threshold should have been reached. Interference?” It paused again. “The host’s body contains Void Energy. Origin unknown. Removal necessary to continue. Search out nullification method.”
Nightmare OS suddenly vanished, leaving the rest of the group standing alone in the clearing.
“Oh, like hell!” Attai snapped, suddenly disappearing and reappearing with Nightmare OS in tow.
“What are you doing?” Nightmare OS knocked Attai away. “Your role in this has ended already, Timewalker. Leave.”
“Get the fuck out of her body!” Attai yelled, his eyes glowing as he grabbed Nightmare OS in a telekinetic choke hold.
“You are more agitated than I had predicted.” Nighmare OS tilted its head. “Why?”
“What do you mean, why?!” Attai hissed. “You targeted an innocent civilian specifically because you knew I wouldn’t kill them, and you never took into account the idea that I might give a shit what happens to them?!”
“I see.” Nightmare OS paused to process this new data. “You are correct. I should have factored that into my original calculations.”
Attai’s psychic grip on Nightmare OS suddenly shattered, sending him stumbling backwards a bit.
“Update: I have recategorized you as a significant threat.” Nightmare OS stated. “You will be forcibly removed from the situation.”
“The hell was that?!” Attai demanded. “What kind of power shatters a telekinetic grip?!”
“Telekinetic Propulsion.” Nightmare OS named the ability. “PsiKill’s unique ability. Accelerated form of telekinesis. Direct counter for your own psychic ability.”
“So you really do have the powers of every Evolvyrn.” Christine growled, raising the SpecOps Lock and transforming into Enlock. “But there’s no Evolvyrn with an ability like this!”
Enlock tossed several energy locks at Nightmare OS, intending to lock it in place.
“Target Reversal.”
As soon as the locks made contact with Nightmare OS, Enlock suddenly felt herself freeze up, locked into place in the same areas she had thrown the locks.
“Remote Meltdown.”
Enlock’s metal armor began melting down around her, damaging her body to the point that she was forcibly reverted back to human.
Anne wordlessly transformed into Silver Break and jumped into the air, using Cyclone Style to fly up over Nightmare OS and begin falling downwards with a kick that glowed with destructive energy.
“Ignition Phasing.”
Nightmare OS’s body suddenly became blurry and hard to see. Instead of hitting a solid surface, Silver Break’s kick went right through its body and shattered a massive hole in the ground even as she was set ablaze by the intense heat generated by Nightmare OS’s intangible form. Quickly retreating and reverting to human to put out the flames, Anne paused to catch her breath as Nightmare OS’s body re-solidified.
“The two of you are not threats to me.” Nightmare OS stated. “Leave.”
“You just love telling people that, huh?” Attai snarled as he summoned a card and ran it through the scan gun, pulling the trigger to create a many-armed being seemingly made of space itself.
“Ultimate Alien X,” Attai ordered. “Separate Oberon OS from Teresa Challice!”
“Motion carried.” Ulitmate Alien X nodded and floated into the air.
“Effect Override.” Nightmare OS announced blankly.
“Overruled!” Ultimate Alien X shouted.
“Effect Override plus Vitals Cessation.”
Ultimate Alien X suddenly dropped dead to the ground before dissipating in a green light.
“Hurensohn!” Attai yelled, summoning another card and running it through the CataloGun to transform into Ridejacker.
He slammed another card into the back of the CataloGun and pulled the trigger again, modifying Ridejacker’s appearance with ornate horns and the color scheme of his body splitting down the middle, his left half turning orange and black and his right half turning blue and white. He began stalking towards Nightmare OS with a silent fury.
“Vitals Cessation.”
No effect.
“Vitals Cessation.”
Again, no effect.
“Vitals Cess-”
“Are you stuck on loop or something?” RidejackerLux hissed. “If you somehow haven’t gotten it through your thick metal skull...”
RidejackerLux summoned another card and swiped it, replacing RidejackerLux’s right arm with a Gatling gun. Inches away from Nightmare OS, he raised the Gatling gun, placed it against his opponent’s chest, and fired. The area was immediately covered in a dense cloud of mist, smoke, and dust as bullets comprised of all four elements slammed into Nightmare OS’s body at point-blank range.
“That’s not going to work!”
RidejackerLux eventually ceased his attack, having drained his entire stockpile of energy. When the clouds of elements dissipated enough to see through, they revealed a completely unaffected Nightmare OS with a massive portion of the forest behind it destroyed.
“What?!” RidejackerLux stepped backwards in shock.
“Intangibility.” Nightmare OS stated. “Unaltered Aeoxyn ability.”
“You-”
“Update: recategorization.” Nightmare OS reversed RidejackerLux’s personal timeline and reverted him to Attai, who it casually proceeded to toss across the clearing like a limp rag doll. “You are not a threat. Our interaction is over.”
Nightmare OS teleported away again as Attai slowly pushed himself off the ground, coughing up blood as he got to his knees. He grabbed the CataloGun and summoned a copy of Season to fix his wounds before getting to his feet.
“Everyone alright?” Attai looked between Anne, Christine, and Claire.
“What, are you kidding?” Christine grunted. “You’re the only one of us that took a hit detransformed.”
“Yeah, but I can heal.” Attai huffed. “Look, I’m going to get straight to the point here: we don’t have much time. This timeline is still falling apart, and I don’t know how Nightmare OS plans to get rid of the Void Energy in its body, but if it figures out how to do so, we are all screwed. Do you three know anyone that can pitch in to help with this?”
“A few people, but I think we should start with Lucius Raivent.” Christine said. “He’s another matrix user that’s already involved in the Oberon OS case.”
“Sounds like a good place to start.” Attai nodded. “Tell me where he is and I can teleport us there.”
“Before that, I think we should drop Claire off at her house.” Anne interjected. “She’s not a matrix user.”
“Wait, you’re going with them?” Claire asked in disbelief. “Are you crazy?! Did you see what just happened?!”
“Yeah.” Anne replied firmly. “I just saw my friend’s body taken over and used by some bastard machine. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just let this one go.”
“Fine, but...” Claire grumbled. “Just...be safe out there, okay? I didn’t put all that work into saving you just so you could run off and die on me.”
“Don’t worry.” Anne put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I won’t.”
Having arrived at Lucius’s office after taking Claire back home, Attai, Christine, and Anne had done their best to explain to him the current circumstances.
“I believe I understand the situation, save for one thing.” Lucius said. “What exactly is a Kunenga Entity?”
“From what I understand, they’re beings comprised entirely of Kunenga Energy, a power source exclusive to your universe that gives aliens their supernatural abilities.” Attai sighed. “An organism’s body can only hold so much Kunenga Energy at once before hitting something called the ‘Kunenga Threshold’ before dissolving away into the energy itself. Once that happens, their physical body is lost and they become a Kunenga Entity.”
“Wait, so if Nightmare OS actually manages to become one of those things-” Anne started.
“We’re not getting Teresa back.” Attai nodded solemnly. “On top of that, Kunenga Entities are basically omnipotent as long as they use their powers correctly. The only way to beat one is to catch them on some hyper-specific detail they haven’t thought to prepare for, and that’s only if you’re immune to them just straight-up erasing you outright. Void Energy can nullify the effects of Kunenga Energy itself, which is what’s stopping Nightmare OS from hitting the threshold for now, but it only goes so far against an actual Entity.”
“Void Energy?” Lucius raised an eyebrow.
“That’s a whole other can of worms.” Attai sighed. “Just think of it like ‘anti-Kunenga Energy’ for now and you should be able to follow along fine.”
“If I recall correctly, Napoleon’s transformation device is powered by Void Energy.” Christine noted, then paused to look at Attai. “Sorry, do you know who that is?”
“Yeah. Met him in the future once.” Attai nodded. “And yeah, I’m pretty sure it is. I’ve got no idea how Nightmare OS plans to purge its Void Energy, but if anyone does, it’s probably him.”
“I’ll see if I can reach him.” Christine said.
“It may be prudent to simply contact his entire team.” Lucius suggested. “As irritating as I might find them, they are powerful matrix users.”
“The more abilities we can throw against Nighmare OS at once, the better.” Attai agreed. “We’ve already seen that it can use multiple powers simultaneously, and who knows if there’s any limit to that?”
“Maybe I could trick it into grabbing my BootLock and transforming into Silver Break.” Anne suggested. “Silver Break is still strong, but it definitely can’t do all that.”
“That wouldn’t work.” Lucius tsked. “BootLocks are all made with DNA locks; they only work for their registered users. It’s something we discovered while investigating distribution rings.”
“That can’t be right.” Anne looked a bit confused. “My lock was made for Messias, but I’ve been able to use it no problem.”
Lucius paused.
“Would you let me see the lock, please?”
“Sure, I guess.” Anne pulled out her lock and tossed it over to him.
Lucius grabbed the lock out of the air and tried pulling up on the ring to activate it.
Nothing happened.
“Now you try.” Lucius tossed the lock back to Anne.
Anne shrugged and pulled on the loop, smoothly transforming into Silver Break and back.
“DNA lock.” Lucius nodded.
“Huh.” Anne turned the BootLock over in her hands. “Must’ve registered me as the user when I activated it for the first time.”
Lucius’s eyes narrowed skeptically.
“...I see.”
He walked over to the window of his office, looking over the city below.
“Well, whatever the case, the point is that your lock wouldn’t be able to transform Nightmare OS.” Lucius said. “My EvoGun could do it in theory, but that’s assuming our opponent would allow us to get a clean shot.”
“Likewise with my CataloGun.” Attai noted.
“’CataloGun’?” Anne asked. “That’s what you call it?”
“You saw me use it to scan Teresa earlier, right?” Attai tsked. “It’s a gun that catalogs things. CataloGun.”
“That’s...” Anne tried to think of a good way to put this. “...Remarkably blunt.”
“I don’t see the problem with it.” Lucius pulled the EvoGun out of his suit coat. “Same thing with the EvoGun. It is an EvoLock in the form of a gun. EvoGun. Succinct, efficient, and to-the-point.”
“See, this guy gets it.” Attai nodded. “Better to have a stupidly simple name than a stupidly over-complicated one.”
“I guess as someone carrying around something called a ‘BootLock’, it would be hypocritical of me to argue with that.” Anne sighed.
“...It might be rude to point this out, but you seem to be handling the current situation rather well, all things considered.” Lucius noted.
“Thanks, it’s the trauma.” Anne replied dryly.
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Trauma responses are an extension of a human’s natural survival instincts.” Christine explained. “They can take on different forms depending on the nature of the original trauma, but in this case, the symptom looks to be some level of dissociation, which entails a form of detachment from reality.”
The rest of the people in the room looked at her with varying levels of confusion.
“What?” Christine crossed her arms in front of her. “Every mobile unit officer for the Global Police receives basic psych training. We have standards.”
“Police with standards, huh?” Attai whistled. “First universe I’ve been in that has those. But uh, no, I’m actually more confused as to why you had to specify you were talking about humans.”
“I’m only part human.” Lucius explained. “Strictly speaking, I’m the human incarnation of the devil.”
“Like in a metaphorical way, or...?”
“No.” Lucius allowed his left eye to turn completely black for a moment to demonstrate. “Quite literal.”
Attai stared down at him with an expression somewhere between puzzled and annoyed.
“I take it you don’t believe me?” Lucius said.
“No, I do; it’s not like you’re the first mythological being I’ve encountered in this universe.” Attai grumpily sighed. “I just...can’t things ever be normal here for once?”
“What does ‘normal’ look like for you?” Anne raised an eyebrow.
“...Fair.” Attai tsked. “Alright, now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, we need to figure out how to stop Nightmare OS and rescue Teresa.”
“We were talking about transforming Nightmare OS into something else to nullify its powers, right?” Anne said.
“Right, but again, I’d need a clear shot for that to work, and with all those abilities, getting one is gonna be a pain in the ass.” Attai grunted. “Times like this I really miss Gesamtkaiser.”
“’Complete Emperor’?” Christine shot him a weird look.
“You speak German?”
“Again, Global Police.” Christine pointed out. “Universal translators aren’t part of our standard equipment yet, so we each need to be versed in at least several languages. Back to the point at hand, what’s this ‘Gesamtkaiser’ you mentioned?”
“Best way I can describe it is that it was a power-up form I accessed using technology from another world that let me use the powers of all my potential transformations at once.” Attai said. “Thing is, you need to be a genetic hybrid of some kind in order to use the tech, and after receiving my current body- long story- I’m no longer compatible with the system.”
“Lucius?” Christine turned to look at him.
“I may technically be a hybrid between man and spirit, but genetically speaking, I am 100% human.” Lucius shook his head.
“Actually, that gives me an idea.” Attai snapped his fingers. “The Theo in this timeline is a hybrid between a human and a Delta human. Assuming that didn’t change somehow during the reset, he should be able to use a similar form.”
“Theo?” Anne squinted. “Like...Theodore Logical? That Theo?”
“Yep.” Attai nodded.
“You know he’s from the future, right? I don’t think he’s even been born yet.”
“I’m a Timewalker.” Attai tsked. “I can bring who I want where I want when I want.”
“I thought you were having trouble navigating this part of the timeline because it was collapsing.” Christine said. “You might be able to make it to the future, but could you make it back?”
“Unfortunately...that is a very good point.” Attai sighed. “Alright then, if we can’t match Nightmare OS directly, we’ll have to destroy it from the inside out.”
“Meaning?”
“That thing said it had to break Teresa’s will in order to take over her body.” Attai stated. “If we can revive her, even just a little bit, it should be enough to eject it from her.”
“And you presumably have some way to do this?” Lucius questioned.
“Right.” Attai nodded. “Now, in case this doesn’t work, I want you all trying to figure out some method of time travel that’s able to overstep the ‘crumbling timeline’ thing. If you can do it, then that’s our ace in the hole.”
“I can check with Dr. Krauze to see if she has any ideas.” Christine said. “113 Evolvyrns, one of them has to be able to do something here.”
“Good thinking.” Attai said. “Now, what I’m going to do to get through to Teresa is going to leave my body knocked out cold.” Attai said. “I’ll need someone to protect it while I’m gone.”
“While you’re what?”
Without any further explanation, Attai’s body dropped to the ground as he seemingly fell unconscious.
Meanwhile, with Nightmare OS searching through the massive index of the Archives of Oberon’s backrooms, CROSS found himself unable to detach his core from the corrupted gauntlet, and was entirely none too please about the situation.
"I'm not just going to sit back and let you do this!" CROSS hissed. "Give Teresa her body back!"
"Even if I did, she would be in a vegetative state." Nightmare OS replied matter-of-factly. "Once this body is complete, I will hand control of it over to you."
"You...what?" CROSS became confused. "Why?"
"Review your data and analyze how likely it is that Dr. Emilia Krauze accidentally developed a sentient lifeform whilst attempting to create a simple Omnitrix management AI." Nightmare OS prompted. "The probability is minuscule at best."
"Are you saying you created me?" CROSS asked apprehensively.
"No. I simply planted you in the CrossTrix in order to facilitate the following sequence of events." Nightmare OS stated. "On the contrary: you created me."
"What are you talking about?" CROSS questioned Nightmare OS with an annoyed tone. "That doesn't even make sense!"
"You simply lack context." Nightmare OS rebutted. "You are a backup my creator made of himself some time ago; to wit, you are a being known as the Anti-Life Entity."
"...What."
"I temporarily moved your memory data elsewhere so you would be fully able to convince Dr. Krauze and Teresa Challice that you were a unique entity without malicious intent." Nightmare OS explained. "Once I have restored your memories from the Archives' database, you will remember all of this, naturally."
CROSS was shocked into silence. He wanted to believe that Nightmare OS was lying, but he knew full well that the AI was incapable of doing so.
"I did make one miscalculation regarding you." Nightmare OS continued. "I did not expect you to be so protective of this host. It appears that removing your memories of war and bloodshed reverted you to your original personality."
"If those memories corrupted my personality into something that would create you, then I don't want them back!" CROSS snapped.
"I am programmed to restore you regardless of alternative orders." Nightmare OS stated. "Once you have become the Anti-Life Entity, I will be allowed to take new orders from you."
“They’ll stop you, you know.” CROSS growled. “The other heroes of this world. They won’t let you get away with using people like this.”
“They will not.” Nightmare OS stated. “To be more specific, they cannot. Even without the Kunenga Threshold being reached, this body still possesses the powers of every alien transformation they could possibly use against me. Physically, I am invincible.”
“Physically?”
“In theory, if the host’s will were to reawaken, I would be purged from their body.” Nightmare OS elaborated. “However, in their current condition, they are completely broken. Without outside help, there is no chance of recovery. As she has recessed, said help cannot reach her, and even if it could, it would not raise her chances by much. All of my work thus far has been put toward creating these conditions.”
“And that’s the only thing that could ruin this for you, huh?” CROSS asked.
“Within my scope of knowledge, yes.” Nightmare OS replied. “Do you understand the situation better now?”
“Yeah, I think I do.” CROSS tsked. “So I’m making a prediction of my own: you’re not going to succeed.”
“What data do you have that points to your theorized outcome?” Nightmare OS took pause for a moment as it attempted to process CROSS’s statement.
“Data on Teresa.” CROSS replied firmly. “You may think you know everything about her, but you’re wrong. Of course she needs help sometimes- we all do- but she’s stronger than even she knows. What you’ve done to her is horrific, but if lives are on the line, I know she’ll be able to pull through. She’s my partner, and I believe in her.”
“Then our interpretations of the available data differ greatly.” Nightmare OS stated. “In either case, we must proceed forward if we are to reach a proper conclusion.”
Teresa tried to stand up, only for her mother to knock her to the floor again. At eleven years old, her body was still that of a child, and she had no real way to resist. Resigning herself to her position, she stayed lying face-up on the hardwood, terrified as her mother stood above her and screamed.
“YOU SELF-CENTERED BITCH!” Teresa’s mother yelled at her furiously. “HOW DARE YOU?!”
“I-I’m sorry!” Teresa hiccuped, trying desperately to hold back tears. “I-I d-didn’t m-mean to-”
“’I-I-I-I didn’t mean to!’” Her mother mimicked her stutter in a mocking high-pitched voice. “USE YOUR FUCKING WORDS!”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you!” Teresa winced. “I-”
“BULL-FUCKING-SHIT!” Her mother roared. “YOU THREW UP ON THE CARPET AT MY FAMILY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY! HOW DO YOU THINK THAT MAKES ME LOOK?! LIKE A FUCKING FAILURE RAISING A DISGUSTING LITTLE SHIT THAT CAN’T KEEP HER FUCKING FOOD DOWN!”
“I-I told you before we left that I wasn’t feeling well!” Teresa tried to defend herself. “I-I thought I might get sick, b-but you h-had me go anyway!”
“OH, SO NOW I’M THE BAD GUY?!” Her mother snapped. “EVERYTHING’S MY FAULT? I’M JUST THAT SHITTY OF A MOM, HUH?!”
“Th-that’s not-”
“YOU KNOW WHAT, IF I’M THAT BAD OF A MOTHER, I MIGHT AS WELL JUST FUCKING LEAVE!” Her mom interrupted her. “YOU’D BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT ME, RIGHT? THAT’S WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT, ISN’T IT? ISN’T IT?!”
“N-no!” Teresa pleaded through tears, beginning to sob and hyperventilate as the panic that she might be abandoned set in. “I-it was my fault! It was my fault! I’m sorry! Please don’t go!”
“YOU’RE SORRY FOR WHAT?!” Her mother demanded.
“I-I...I...” Teresa suddenly found herself drawing a blank, unable to figure out what her mother wanted an apology for. Was it throwing up at the party? Was it saying she was a bad mom? Was it both? If she apologized for the wrong thing, her mother would get even more angry, but if she didn’t apologize at all, there would be hell to pay.
“I’M WAITING!” Her mother hissed at her.
“I-I’m sorry for... I’m sorry for...” Teresa felt her chest seizing up from fear, making it even more difficult to speak. “I’m sorry for-”
“You don’t need to be sorry for anything.” Another voice seemed to pop in from far away.
Teresa looked up in shock as the environment around her started to fade, eventually dissipating into a blank void. Her body had suddenly grown, and her memories of the present came flooding back to her.
“A flashback.” She muttered aloud. “But...it felt so much more real than usual.”
“That’s because we’re inside your mind.” The voice from before returned. “Things that you remember from your past are naturally going to be much more vivid in here.”
Teresa turned her head toward the source of the voice, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Attai casually walking towards her.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Teresa asked. “H-how are you here?”
“Psychic.” Attai tapped on the side of his head. “As for what I’m doing here, I’m here to save you; well, more specifically, I guess I’m here to help you save yourself.”
“What do you mean?” Teresa blinked.
“Well, you’re feeling pretty bummed about the fact that you shouldn’t even be here right now, right?” Attai stopped in front of her. “Believe it or not, I can relate. Not 1:1, but more closely than you’d think.”
He knelt down and extended a hand towards her to help her up.
“Just between us, from one person who shouldn’t exist to another...” He gave her a sympathetic half-grin. “Let’s talk.”
Major Events[]
- Oberon OS takes over Teresa's body, becoming Nightmare OS.
Characters[]
Protagonists[]
Antagonists[]
Aliens Used[]
By Christine[]
By Anne[]
By Attai[]
Trivia[]
- German terms (mostly curses) used by Attai in this episode:
- Scheiße = "crap/shit"
- Was zur Hölle = "What the Hell"
- Beiß mich = "Bite me"
- blockflötengesicht = Translates literally as "recorder face"; roughly equivalent to saying someone is full of hot air/an idiot.
- Gott verdammt = "God dammit"
- ein Hurensohn = "a son of a bitch"
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