Chương 235: Chapter 231: To Trudge Deeper Than One Should

You should stop following them around," Nyxalrai said to the gap between thick conduits running the tunnel wall.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are."

"N̪ỷx̱ila?" Ari crept out from the narrow space.

"What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?" She'd hidden at the sound of Nyxalrai's heavy footsteps, long before she might have landed eyes on her… if she had normal eyes. The choice of hiding spot was concerning.

"Next time, don't climb into places that don't offer an escape. If those cultists weren't just ignoring you, they'd have no trouble trapping you." Nyxalrai pressed Ari's navel lightly, making the girl tumble back into the gap between pipe and wall, proving her point.

"Well, maybe then they'll know how determined I am." Ari climbed out again, clutching a bag to her chest with one arm. Nyxalrai didn't obstruct her again.

"Sure," Nyxalrai granted.

"And they'll decide you're too much of a nuisance to keep alive."

"The Omen Artisans wouldn't do that!" Ari regained her feet and turned to glare at Nyxalrai.

"They have the one of the lowest sacrifice rates of all the cults."

"Is that so?" she raised a brow.

"And you trust that data to include unevolved young individuals wandering the isolated parts of Coral without a cult to protect them?" Ari could say nothing.

"Now that I mention it," Nyxalrai glanced around.

"Isn't this too much corruption? Are you okay to be this deep?"

"I'm fine!" Ari snapped, but the way she suddenly shifted her arm behind her back revealed anything but. A sigh escaped Nyxalrai's lips.

"Come on. I'm taking you back to the ward. There, we can have a look at whatever has happened to your arm." Ari cast a longing glance down the path the Omen Artisans had disappeared. Even if she ran after them now, she wouldn't find them. She seemed to realise that. With the slightest of a slump, she nodded and turned to Nyxalrai. The nearest region of lower corruption was five floors up a former elevator shaft around the next corner.

Unfortunately, Nyxalrai had no way to carry Ari up without revealing her mutations so she settled for the next best option she could see; a protected staircase two hundred metres in the other direction. The new eyes continued to impress. Every day, they seemed to reveal something new. It wasn't an hour ago that she discovered that they could see corruption as if it were shades of light. Combined with her edge-sight to map her surroundings, she could tell which ways were safer for the unevolved with but a glance.

Nyxalrai's galaxy-like eyes were strange. At times, like when she looked upon a person, she could see every part of them, no matter how many walls stood in her way. But for normal light, she was still blocked by the thinnest metal sheet.

"How did you find me?" Ari finally asked. The annoyance of being taken from her stalk had slipped from her tone. She narrowed her eyes.

"You weren't following me, were you?" Nyxalrai held her gaze, but as far as she could tell, Ari was oblivious to the hypocritical nature of her accusation.

"Maybe I was. Maybe I had a roach-spawn tell me." Nyxalrai smirked at the metallic bang that suddenly echoed through the tunnel.

"Or maybe Dan was worried about you, and asked me to come looking."

"He did?" Ari winced.

"He's been busy so often these days that I didn't think he'd notice. Not that it's bad he's been busy. He's got a good opportunity with the Everseeing, and he really shouldn't get distracted from that." She paused.

"Wait, so how did you find me?" Nyxalrai kept a tactical silence, just long enough for Ari to get the hint that she wasn't going to give her an answer.

"You both would be better off avoiding the cults." When that had Ari give her a look, she defended her reasoning.

"You don't need the Omen artisans to draw. Just keep testing your limits, and names will come. Evolutions will come. You don't need to rely on a cult's path." Ari stared at Nyxalrai, and she was reminded of the last interaction she'd had with the girl. It felt like she was seeing too much.

"You tried to convince Dan too, didn't you?" Ari asked.

"And he turned you down. It's never going to be a convincing argument as long as you're part of the Technocult. You are simply stemming competitors early." Despite her words, Nyxalrai didn't actually think Ari was accusing her.

"How have they been treating you, by the way? The Technocult?" Nyxalrai knew where this was going immediately. Sighing once more, she didn't lie.

"They and their machines have saved me a few times now. And what they have to teach seems useful." She didn't need to meet Ari's eyes to know the justified expression she was wearing. The cults could be very helpful for one's growth and well-being when they wanted to… the problem was that most couldn't be trusted.

Nyxalrai didn't want Dan and Ari to benefit from an evolution or two if they were just going to be sacrificed to the next god some upper creed wanted to summon, or back-stabbed by the next up-and-coming star that wanted their opportunities. Neither Ari or Dan had combat capabilities. That made them vulnerable, and far more likely to be betrayed than their harbinger counterparts. Not that harbingers were lacking in treachery.

"They're going to be evacuating the ward," Ari said as they finally reached the decompression chamber to the corruption-free staircase. The massive trolley-thick pipeline running up the middle of the spiral staircase made the necessity of the airlock clear.

"The accretion storm has finally started slicing through even the thick ceilings. I heard someone got brained by a single pinprick of light that broke through. Everyone past their naming is being… encouraged to find separate accommodation so they can fit all the younger kids in the lower bunkers still corruption-free." Then it was no wonder she had gone all-in with her attempts to attract the Omen Artisans attention.

For hundreds of years the wards had stood against penetration from accretion storms, despite being surface level constructions. There was nowhere else capable of sustaining that number of children. Not without inflicting corruption on those who couldn't handle it. Speaking of …

"let me see that hand." Nyxalrai grabbed Ari's arm before she could pull away.

"I'm fine," she said and tugged her arm. When she didn't so much as move Nyxalrai's hand a millimetre, her brows shot skyward.

"Oh, wow." Ari tried again, this time putting all her weight into pulling against Nyxalrai. Still, she didn't budge.

"Damn, you got strong. Guess you lost that anorexic look as quick as you did for a reason."

"You don't think I still look thin?" Nyxalrai couldn't help but look down at herself.

"Not at all!" Ari said.

"You're looking healthier than ever." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. To her own eyes, Nyxalrai still thought she looked a little too thin. Much better than before, but still not perfectly hale. Then she realised. Ari was seeing an altered version of herself. One that accounted for her wings, tentacles and tail all hidden beneath her cloak, and obscured by mental manipulation. In Ari's view, she might even look a little overweight. Or muscular.

Nyxalrai snorted a little at the alien image of herself. She wouldn't mind working towards that. There were some sickly growths reaching for Ari's knuckles from beneath her sleeve. They were lumpy and discoloured, but she couldn't get a good look from this alone. And she didn't exactly want to use the clear discrepancy in their strength to do what she wanted. That was absolutely something cultists would do.

"Show me," she said as she let go of Ari's arm. Ari's other hand which had snuck inside her bag suddenly jerked out, as if caught doing something she shouldn't have. Nyxalrai gave Ari a questioning look, but the girl pretended she'd done nothing strange. She zipped up the bag hanging in front of her chest before pushing her sleeve up and showing Nyxalrai the disgusting, swollen growth that curled around her left wrist like a serpent.

Nyxalrai forgot entirely about the other hand and bag it may have slipped back into now that she wasn't looking, and focused entirely on the mess before her. The affected flesh was blue and black, like a bruise, but the hues shifted instead of remaining stagnant. Nyxalrai poked it, and the bloated skin rippled. A thousand tiny bugs scampered under the surface, disturbed. The corrupted flesh was oddly localised, but that was a good thing, all things considered. Better to lose an arm than one's life.

Not that she intended for that to become necessary. Nyxalrai had tried to influence corruption outside of her own core before, to no success. Still, she tried again. Her curse manipulation soul-tendrils reached for Ari's hand and pulled. Nothing happened. Sure, she knew that's how it had gone every time she'd tried before, but with the recent evolution, she had hoped. Nyxalrai had the ability to unleash unthinkable quantities of corruption out into the world… but pull it back in? Impossible.

"Yog," Nyxalrai whispered, low enough that the groan of rushing water deafened Ari to it.

"Think you can tear off the worst of the corrupted flesh?" The little guy spilled from her veins almost immediately, wobbling in affirmation. Now that she thought about it, should she refer to it by the name she'd given, or what was now her additive? It was still odd to think they somehow shared the name, but it was likely the latter. Before he could rush forward and do as asked, she made him wait.

"I'm going to remove it, but it's going to be painful. Better for you to be lost in the name ritual while I cut it out."

"Now?" Ari asked, startled.

"Can't I wait for a professional?" Ari had used the blunt truth on her before. Now it was Nyxalrai's turn.

"You are without a cult. What professional would fix you? The ward nurse knows little more than we do. Actually, I'd say I'm more qualified, now." She still looked conflicted.

"I can take the pain," Ari said, entirely unconvincingly.

"No you can't." Ah. She didn't want to become dead to the world. It was understandable; she knew Nyxalrai was hiding something, so even if she had been willing to evolve before her, Ari wasn't as trusting to do the same in her presence. Nyxalrai's eyes flickered back to that bag. At least this time, she was more subtle with how her hand rested inside; angled away from Nyxalrai.

"Fine, if you don't want to lose consciousness, I do know an anaesthetic ritual," Nyxalrai said.

"It isn't nearly good enough to dampen all the pain, though." Ari gulped.

"Can't we get back to the ward first?"

"No. The corruption will spread the longer you leave it." Nyxalrai shook her head.

"Honestly, what would you have done if I hadn't found you?"

"I thought I could handle it. I'm sorry." She properly looked remorseful, rather than just accommodating Nyxalrai.

"Fine. I'll take whatever you have." Yog could see the ritual in her mind, and without even needing to be told, he unfurled into a pentagram around Ari. The girl startled at the blood flowing from Nyxalrai, but there was no avoiding it. She had already seen the obsessive blood the last time they'd met; what was a little advancement from that? At least she wouldn't see Yog as creepy now. As soon as the ritual was fully formed, a sphere of blood pooled in the centre, right before Ari.

"Push your hand into the blood," Nyxalrai said.

"You'll have to mentally accept the numbing for it to work. It's not exactly a strong ritual." Hesitantly, Ari did as asked.

"Whash yoo-" she paused, apparently not expecting her lips to go numb as well. Of course, the effect wasn't terribly deep. Ari was still standing, after all.

"Whas oo you pwah oo oo?"

"I think it's better if we just-" Before Ari could expect it, Yog ripped the corrupted flesh from the muscle it was latched to. It was a deep wound, and would scar pretty bad unless she found access to regenerative means, but she would retain full use of her hand. Ari didn't sound grateful though. No, her scream dared to be loud enough to make Nyxalrai's antennae flinch back. Through Yog, she could feel how the girl tried to rip her arm back. The blood kept her arm still for her own safety.

Yog dumped the bit of corrupted flesh now coiling in on itself and squirming as if alive into Nyxalrai's hands. For an instant, she considered eating it. Only an instant. As soon as it passed her mind, she shoved it out of her head. Maybe she was now admittedly fine with feasting upon cultists, but she wouldn't eat friends. Not even their shrivelled, corrupted, discarded flesh. With a short burst of flamethrower, it was reduced to ash. Nyxalrai reached in and gently pulled out the raw arm. Ari would be fine.

Glancing at the girl, she found her eyes pinched shut, hissing through the pain. With her distracted, she reached into her hood and tore free a long bundle of mould. It took but a second to wrap it around the wound like a bandage. Ari took another five minutes to recover. It was an eye-opening experience for Nyxalrai. She'd gone through so much since she was living in the ward that she'd failed to comprehend the scale of the injury. To Nyxalrai, that had looked like a mere scratch.

Something that wouldn't have even hurt. To Ari, it had been debilitating.

"What's this?" Ari asked once she'd gathered her breath, poking at the semi-transparent substance clinging to her arm. She made no mention of the pain.

"Technocult secret. Don't tell anyone I used it on you."

"Technocult secret, huh?" Her doubt was obvious.

"Didn't know they cared for organics."

"It should heal the skin in a few days at most," Nyxalrai said to move her on.

"Try not to let anyone see until you've thrown it all away."

"Right. Sure. Thanks, N̪ỷx̱ila."

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you." She realised.

"My name's N̪ỷx̱̽alr̘a͎i now." It was much more enjoyable to watch that stunned expression when she didn't have the anxiety of being found out hanging over her.