Chương 32: A Mire Of Problems

As it turned out, it was not, in fact, the easiest win of my life. It was like everything in the Mire had died at some point without me knowing about it. I ran into corpses left by the original expedition at most. I walked for three days. Three abysmally boring days. It took three-quarters of a day to cross the divide alone. Finding a dry spot to sleep was harder than anything else, but I managed with some boulders and broken chunks of structures. Step after step, I strode closer and closer to Silverport. To home.

To my adorable little sister who was probably heartbroken that I hadn't come back yet. The divide was the easy part. After that, though? I was back in the depths of the Mire. Every time my legs and feet throbbed with pain, I'd think of the absolute agony Sylvie must've been in with her only living family member lost in the Mire. It gave me the strength to keep pushing. Every day I stayed out here would be another day of uncertainty for her. It'd already been close to two weeks.

'Sides, my healing factor would take care of any serious damage—ah, wait, should I call it Regeneration now? That was what the Biosystems called it, anyway. Speaking of— | Subject: Reyna Vargriev Subject Species: Silver Wolf Apex Subject Profile: STR - 1. 8 ACU - 1. 3 AGL - 2. 5 PSI - 2. 3 RES - 0. 8 ANM - 0. 2 Traits: Regeneration, Rage, Mutant NLC - 0/146 =Blackwater Anomalous Biosystems V7. 77 =Blackwater Anomalous Rend Vitae: 24 | I'd risen to twenty-four Vitae thanks to passively gaining one a day.

Progress was steadily accumulating, even if I couldn't use Rend to get more. It was fine, though. I was already way up thanks to Rend than I would've been without it. I trudged through mud, and felt it cake onto my boots. I stopped bothering to clean the stuff off miles back. A shiver ran through my body, and I sneezed abruptly. My drenched tail flinched backward with the motion. Was I… getting sick? Regeneration usually took care of that, though? I adjusted my soaked shirt, and wrung water out of my hair.

It was a pointless motion as rain continued to pelt me from above. I hadn't been dry in… a long time. Has it really been since before I lost my armor? I buried the memories of that night before they could start to fester again. If there was one good thing, it was that the blood saturating my clothes had mostly washed out with the constant exposure. I no longer looked like an angry ghost traveling the fog.

++ 1 Vitae Absorbed ++ ++ Blackwater Anomalous Relay Now Active ++ ++ Welcome, Anchor ++ I blinked, and abruptly froze midstep. As soon as my Vitae hit 25, the message popped up. My head followed my ears and tilted to the side.

"Um… Vigil?"

"Affirmative, Operator." VGL's red eye weakly pulsed twice, and his light flicked over me.

"I see it too." ++ Catalogs Available: ++ | Blackwater Consumables - 100 V | | Blackwater Anomalous - 100 V | | Basic Nyter - 25 V | So Vitae was a currency? What even was it? Life energy? Some kind of quintessence that this thing fed off of? Was I feeding an anomalous beast just for a hint of power? Or was this just some corporate lingo? Really, what difference was there between a corporation and a ravenous beast in the first place?

"Should I get the Basic Nyter Catalog?" It was the only one I could afford. Consumables, though… What were the chances this thing had inhibitors for sale? Or maybe something even stronger?

"You cannot afford it, Operator." Vigil pulsed warmly on my chest.

"Two of those are mine."

"I'll pay you back." Not to mention he couldn't exactly do anything with them. And he hadn't won the bet yet.

"Why do you even want them?"

"This unit finds owning something… intriguing." Vigil's voice remained totally neutral as he spoke, just as it always did.

"In concession of recent events, I will lend you two points."

"Oh, how generous…" I tapped on the core, and his eye flicked at me almost as if annoyed. I sneezed once more, and refocused on the display.

"Any clue what a Nyter is?"

"It is someone who becomes a Beyonder through nanite strains." Vigil's eye dimmed slightly.

"Of the eight, its cousin path is Reaver."

"Eight?" What was he talking about? There were only five, weren't there? Reaver, Awakener, Psyker, Radiant, and Arcanist… if Psyker could even be considered one. A lot of good being a Beyonder did for me. Maybe Apexes belonged there too? Generally speaking, though, although we had Aspects we weren't considered Beyonders by nature. Even if we did count, that'd only be six?

"Apologies, Operator. The records were deleted." I had a sneaking suspicion he was lying to me. He paused in between each word like he was fabricating a lie, which he didn't normally do… if it was restricted, just say so. I promptly ignored the lying clanker and focused on the Basic Nyter Catalog. A moment later, my Vitae drained out of me. A chill crossed my shoulders, and my soaked tail curled around my thigh.

++ Catalog - Basic Entry - Purchased ++ Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

| Templar Basic Immuno Mask - 50 V | Templar Basic Biomonitor - 250 V | Templar Basic Myofibril Reinforcement - 150 V | Templar Basic Osteofibril Reinforcement - 125 V | Templar Basic Hemoweave - 75 V | Kairos Armory Basic Subdermal Mesh - 150 V | Kairos Armory Basic Drone Relay - 500 V | Kairos Armory Basic Retractable Blade - 75 V | Kairos Armory Eye Chroma - 30 V | WageMage Inc. Basic Anima Core - 625 V | Next > Were these… nanite strains?

Vigil made it seem like they'd be impossible to get for me, and yet here they were. It looked like there was a bit of everything on offer, although they were pretty pricey—what am I doing?! My tail gave an annoyed twitch at my distraction. I flicked through the pages of the Basic Nyter Catalog one after another, and scanned through the dozens of strains on offer. There was everything from pop-out wrist blades to stat enhancers on sale. I clicked the page to the last page, and my hope suddenly died in my throat.

There wasn't a single hint of a psionic inhibitor strain, or anything remotely close to it. There was stuff for Psykers, like a MnemoDyne Synaptic Lance, but nothing that'd help me with my crisis. My tail drooped, and all the fight left me. I read and reread the screen until the words started to blend together. Rain dropped off my bangs, and splattered into the mud below. I was just so, so tired. I felt like collapsing out here, in the middle of the Mire.

Even if there was something for me in the Basic Nyter Catalog, it wasn't like I could afford it. The Synaptic Lance alone was 500 Vitae. I didn't have a single one left to my name—no, I had negative Vitae since I owed Vigil two of them. My eyes dropped, and my ears pulled back weakly. Vigil's eye blinked up at me, and pulsed with red light. After a moment, his monotone voice came out of the core, "I will not charge interest, Operator Reyna."

"It's not that." I shook my head, and schooled my expressions once more. Right, I wasn't alone out here. I couldn't let anyone see me fall apart, even if he was just a dumb bot.

"Just… I was really hoping there'd be something for corruption." Vigil warmed up slightly against my chest.

"This unit suggests trying another Catalog. Although Blackwater Anomalous is outside my data, standard corporate operating procedures indicate there may be a Psyker Catalog."

"… thanks." I patted the core lightly and took a breath. Right, it was way too early to give up hope. I couldn't get a fast answer, but it was only a matter of time. If I thought about it logically, Vigil had a point. This was just the Basic Nyter Catalog. What about future ones? Maybe I'd get access to some Advanced Psyker Catalog that'd take care of all my issues. And! And this could be a great chance for me! I was stuck with a psionic ability that was totally worthless in combat, and no Aspect.

If I could use these strains to get stronger, maybe I could take on all of Hades by myself. If I reached… say… Guardian Beacon's level, maybe? Heh, right.

'Cause that was possible. Beyond that, I could choose what went into me. I could choose how my own strength would grow without being beholden to anyone else. It felt too good to be true. It had to be too good to be true. I sneezed, and felt something warm trickle down my nostril. I wiped away a red streak before I could get a proper look. Still, that'd mean I'd have to rely on inhibitors for a while longer… I could feel my canines pressing sharply into my lip, and shook my head to clear out the thought.

I couldn't afford to be too distracted, so I started to walk once more to focus my mind. Once I got my thoughts together once more, I spoke up, "if catalogs show up when I hit certain points of Vitae, I should just save up, shouldn't I?"

"Negative, Operator." Vigil immediately shot down my hopes and dreams.

"An Immuno Mask is of extreme importance to your health, and critical to keep you out of the terminal range.

"Damn." And here I was hoping I could save up 100 and get what I needed. That'd set me back 50 at least. That was fifty days of trying to stay alive… or just ten hearts…

"Is it that bad?"

"Your body is actively attacking your nanite strains. The strains are currently winning." Vigil scanned me with his red light once more.

"This unit predicts a 90% drop in your immune system efficiency over the coming weeks."

"That… that's not so bad?" So what? I'd get a little sick and be over it? It'd been a long, long time since I got sick. Hadn't happened since my regeneration shot through the roof in the kennel.

"Terminal if prolonged, Operator." VGL-09 coolly announced.

"This unit did not bring it up since your chances of gaining additional strains were close to zero."

"So?" If I'm dying, I think I deserve to know that! Pyre, what would Sylvie say if I got back just to die in her arms? It'd crush her.

"Disclosure offered no benefit other than scaring you, Operator."

"Did you not account for this thing?" I jabbed a finger in the air toward the useless Catalog of nanite strains.

"… the Catalogs appear to be a unique feature of Blackwater Anomalous, as does Vitae." He blinked up at me.

"It was not accounted for."

"Heh, so what? You figured I'd just corrupt and die?" My ears hung limply, and the tips drooped with heavy rain. Was our deal meaningless to begin with? So much for my corruption levels being a high priority.

"Or watch my body tear itself apart?"

"… are you angry, Operator Reyna?" VGL sounded confused. Or maybe that was just my mind playing tricks on me considering the heartless bastard's usual tone of voice.

"You're damn right I'm angry!" I whisper-shouted to avoid my voice being carried through the Mire. I swallowed back blood from where my lip caught on my sharp canines. I had half the mind to rip the core off and leave him in the mud. The thought of walking all the way back by myself gave me pause… and I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't do that to anyone. Being abandoned out here, slowly losing power and dying alone in the Mire sounded like a fate worse than outright death. At least with death it was instant.

He was a Titan Core, too, so it wasn't like he'd starve in thirty days.

"… why are you angry?" His tone stayed totally neutral, but his eye flicked around as if confused.

"Because it's my body! I—I deserve to know these things, Vigil." Pyre, I was dying. Actively dying. Again. And yet he just kept that to himself? First the eight paths thing, then this? What else did he think I didn't need to know? Did I have a ticking bomb in my chest too?

"This unit will disclose terminal conditions in the future, Operator." He blinked a few times, and his light slowly dimmed.

"I apologize."

"It's—" fine? It wasn't, really. I didn't feel like accepting his apology either. I muttered weakly, "sorry for exploding on you."

"You are still in one piece, Operator." He flashed twice as if making a joke, and then turned serious once more.

"Understandable given the circumstances."

"Still. I just… I'm tired of hoping, Vigil." Every answer created more problems. Every time I let myself fall into hope, I was left more broken when it was stripped away from me. Vigil's light flashed on and off in thought.

"Hope isn't believing everything will work out, Operator. It's deciding the next step is still worth taking." I raised a mud-covered boot, and stomped down on the ground. Vigil warmed up slightly, and remained silent. I could see the thoughts running through his little core, though. His light kept flickering like it usually did when he was deep in thought.

"That sounded better in your head, didn't it?" I snorted—which abruptly cut into a sharp sneeze that made my nose sting. My drenched tail wetly wrapped around my leg, and braced for his heat to shut off.

"… affirmative." His eye flicked away from me, though he stayed warm.

"The Grail Knight said it once when inspiring soldiers."

"The soldiers on the ship?" The ones that all wound up dead? Right, 'cause that made me feel so much better. I started walking once more, and my tail dropped backward. The motion slung cold rainwater everywhere.

"… affirmative." He seemed to realize the problem too.

"At the very least, the plan can be reworked to account for the Catalogs. This unit will work on a new strategy."

"What was the plan, even?" I asked tiredly. My shoulders curled inward toward the core—my only source of warmth. The chill in the air was really starting to get to me.

"The original plan was to find the Grail Knight, and see if he could come up with a solution." Vigil shamelessly admitted to booting my problem to someone else.

"He is host to an Immuno Mask strain, if nothing else."

"Find the Grail Knight!" I threw my hands up in the air, and my ears twitched backward.

"That's all you care about!"

"Negative, Operator. Your corruption and health are my fourth and fifth priority," he said.

"Fuck! I can't win with you." I stomped my foot, and plowed on through the mud of the Mire. My tail lashed back and forth in irritation the whole way.