I pause for a mont, taking another small sip of my drink… so sort of blackberry martini, the bartender called it. “Talk?” I ask. “What do we need to talk about? And who are you, anyway?”
“Oh, you have quite the spark in your eyes, kid! I like it!” she says.
I furrow my brows. I don’t appreciate being called a ‘kid’, and the fact that she’s refused to answer my question irritates
to no end.
“If you like it so much, then you can show your gratitude by telling
who you are and what you want with .”
I sense Ether moving about her. It’s a lot. Not nearly as much as Madison— then again, nothing is as threatening as Madison when she goes all out. Madison herself might be human, but her power is… truly terrifying. Inhuman, perhaps even demonic according to so. Absolute power, the sort that makes Skills and experience utterly aningless before it. Though she has over a century of experience behind her every movent as well. Compared to her, this woman is but an annoying, buzzing fly.
Her eyes widen slightly. I feel a burst of energy heading toward . Undeterred, I use [Skill Crumple] and crush the attack before it can affect . I remain unhard, though not without a considerable loss of [Ether].
“Please don’t do that again,” I say. Inwardly, I’m trying to dissect what sort of Skill she was just using. Is she an enemy? I have to assu that that’s a possibility. I partially override the racing of my heart and the feeling of clammy hands trying to co to the forefront. I hope this doesn’t co to a fight. If it does, however, I’ll need to be careful. That attack was strong.
“Intriguing,” she mutters. “I must admit, I am impressed. I wasn’t sure what sort of an individual would be able to so easily pierce my veil. When I saw that you were but a young girl, I was disappointed. Worried that you’d done so completely by accident, or that the veil was defective. But here you are, resisting my Skill like it’s nothing. You even managed to cause
a bit of backlash damage.”
I furrow my brows. [Skill Crumple] shouldn’t inflict backlash on a person. There’s nothing in the Skill description that even hints at such a thing. Does it work differently on this woman? Or is it a product of the specific Skill she used? Just who is she?
She turns to the bartender, opening her eyes wide for a split second. The bartender montarily stiffens, his posture going ramrod straight.
“Roland, is it?” She pulls out a sack containing nurous credits of different denominations, dozens of blocks of twenty and fifty and even a couple of hundreds as well. “She and I will require the place for the next few hours. This should be more than enough to compensate you for the use of your establishnt for the rest of the day.”
Roland— though I have no idea how she knows him— looks through the pouch of money. His eyes widen, and a grin breaks out on his face. “Yes, Ma’am,” he says.
“Alright everyone!” he says to the whole establishnt. “You’ve got five minutes to sober up, get a ride, and get lost! We’re closing up early today!”
An utter pandemonium breaks out among the crowd. Skills fire off in rapid succession as the haggardly n rush to get out the door in short order. A few among them, whether out of compassion or so hope that they’ll be spared from the order, are assisting the barkeep in gathering the half-empty glasses and mugs and bringing them forth for processing. It all takes place so quickly, and sure enough, not quite five minutes later, the place looks… not quite pristine, but serviceable. No one is left in the room but , Roland, and the mysterious woman, who hasn’t moved more than a few casual breaths since dropping the pouch of money on the counter and issuing her order.
“Alright, you two, the door should automatically lock up when you’re done with your eting. Just please don’t ruin the place while I’m gone.”
Roland seems all too eager to get out of the bar as soon as possible, summoning a flying bike and zooming out in a flurry. I notice a cold sweat on him as well; did sothing about this woman scare him senseless?
I don’t have much ti to ponder. The mont he’s out of sight, the woman stands up and begins pacing about in a calm, cool deanor. She doesn’t make a sound, her every step made with poise and elegance, the long, wide sleeves of her dress flowing about in a strangely alluring dance.
“Tell ,” she says abruptly. “Who are you? You’re no ordinary girl, that’s for sure.”
“I see you still aren’t willing to tell
who you are,” I respond. Not fair at all! If she wants to know about , she has to tell
about herself as well!
“I suppose you need sothing to call , seeing as though we’re going to be getting to know each other a lot better. Very well, call
Annette.”
“Seraphina,” I respond.
“An interesting na. Are you from around here?”
“I’ve lived in the area all my life,” I say honestly.
Annette focuses her gaze upon . I ntally ready my [Gravilance], ready to draw it out of my [Inventory] and strike against her at a mont’s notice. By now, even my body’s overrides aren’t fully functioning, and I’m unable to suppress the physiological sensations of fear creeping up on . I still have next to no idea who she is or what she wants with . Or… if she’s even human. Her aura doesn’t give the impression that she is… At the sa ti, using [Anomalous Decryption] was the reason I’m now in this ss, and I don’t really want to dig myself that much deeper by using it again.
“So part of what you just said is a lie… I’m not sure what it is, though, and you seem to have so sort of resistance against ntal attacks, so I can’t just take the information out of your head and be done here. So, I’ll make you a deal… You give
the information I seek, and I will allow you to live.”
I respond with an indignant glare. “Hold on just a mont! You co here, you start demanding things of , making
answer your questions, refuse to answer any of my questions, and now you’re threatening ? I don’t think I should be talking to you anymore! So, I’m going to go now. It was nice eting you, Annette.”
Annette smirks. Her eyes narrow, and her gaze, still obscured by her veil, glows an ominous red. “You aren’t going to be going anywhere, Seraphina,” she says.
I again activate [Skill Crumple] to break down whatever she was trying to do just now. This ti, I follow up with [Anomalous Decryption] to see exactly who and what this person is. As her status window cos into view, I’m stunned speechless by what I see.
[[Na: Annette McConnair]
[Age: 431]
[Race: Vampire (McConnair line)]
[Level: 117; Experience: xx,xxx,xxx; To Next: xxx,xxx] [Warning: Exact Experience amounts cannot be determined by [Anomalous Decryption].]
[Current Stats: [Health]: 26,892 / 28,950; [Ether]: 25,504 / 27,906]
[Current Stats: [Strength]: 97; [Speed]: 165; [Vitality]: 221; [Mind]: 381]]
I proceed to glance through the Skills she has. Most of them, as expected of her stat distribution, are magical in nature, with a particular emphasis on mind reading, ntal manipulations, charming, and even one skill called [Mind Domination]. Looking through the description, I shudder. Overriding a person’s free will? Making them into a thrall, even if only temporary? I dare not assu that magic is always good, nor are the people and creatures who wield it, but I can’t see any way in which this Skill could be considered anything but evil.
In terms of a fight, Annette will have an overwhelming advantage in a protracted engagent. If she’s able to dominate
to any capacity, I’ll be finished. Her [Mind] is more than three tis as high as mine, her [Ether] pool is double my own, and with the inefficiencies of [Skill Crumple], I won’t win a protracted engagent. On the other hand, her [Health] is only on par with my own, and her [Speed] and [Strength] are considerably inferior. The [Vampiric Regeneration] trait she has is annoying, but it’s recovery over ti.
I can win, but I have to be swift, decisive, and rciless. And I doubt I can let her live. Sothing which disturbs . Fighting and killing monsters is one thing. Even those in the Tower that appeared to have sapience; those too are just constructs given a facsimile of intelligence by whatever aspect of the System controls the Tower. But this would be fighting against a real life, living, breathing person, and to the death. Minus the living and breathing, given Annette is a vampire. But the point still stands, as do my concerns.
The other option is to run… But where would I go? She was able to track
here without much difficulty. I could go back to Substation 33, but then I’d get a lot of questions about why I was gone and why there’s a vampire chasing after . I could try to hide… No, that won’t work for the sa reason as before. Incapacitate her? I suppose that’s possible?
I’d get in a lot of trouble. But it’s self-defense, right? I’ve been trapped here and threatened. Annette spoke specifically about ‘allowing
to live’, aning lethal force should be permissible. Assuming I understand the law correctly, which… I admit, I’m not sure I do. Magic formulae and fighting monsters is easy compared with the complexities of law and governance. In that regard, I do not envy Madison one bit for the work she has to do.
In the end, I decide to try to incapacitate her, then rush back before she can do anything about it and seek shelter in the Substation. There are enough security chanisms that she won’t easily be able to break them, and by the ti she’s there, soone stronger than
should be able to intervene. Probably.
“So, what’s it going to be, Seraphina?” Annette asks. “I pride myself on my patience, but even that has its limits. I am a busy woman, after all. Will you tell
the information I want to know, or will I need to pry it out of your semiconscious mind?”
She snarls at . So confident, so self-assured. And yet, unlike Madison, she doesn’t have the stats and levels to truly back it up. False bravado? Or is the typical scope of power much lower than I had expected? I know I’m stronger than Flynn and Nate are, but it’s so hard to tell if they are particularly weak or if I’m actually relatively strong compared to most people.
I don’t answer. I sprout my [Etheric Wings] and pull [Gravilance] out of my [Inventory]. A single use of [Swift Foot] to temporarily double my speed, one final use of [Spell Crumple] to crush her startled, reflexive counterattack.
I pierce her stomach with my weapon, drawing inky, black blood. She grits her teeth, trying to regenerate her wounds even as my weapon remains embedded within her abdon. But it’s pointless. [Gravilance] has a nasty additional effect, the [Gravity] effect causing miniature implosions within its target’s body. Such damage accumulates, easily overriding all but the most potent regeneration Skills. Even my [Etheric Self-Repair] couldn’t hope to outheal it, only extend the inevitable.
She lies battered from a single attack. I rush out the door, aware that I might be legally in the wrong in doing so, but desperately wanting to escape, to get back to safety, and put this whole experience behind .
As she does, she screams and curses, saying that I will rue the day I defied her and that she’ll never forgive
and that she’ll haunt
for the rest of her immortal life. I think this is what is referred to as a ‘villainous monologue’? I don’t pay any attention to the threats. Whatever will happen later will happen. For now, I’ve had enough excitent for one day; I want to head back ho and rest. Madison will be back soon, and I’m already so looking forward to it!
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