#(the supercomputer not the slug)

[rillycooldog]

YOO

I just realized the parallel between the myth of Arachne and the ending of IHNMaIMS

Arachne is a skilled weaver who pisses off Athena (the GOD of WISDOM AND WAR) so she gets turned into a spider

Ted kills the survivors which pisses AM off (a WAR SUPERCOMPUTER with GODLIKE POWER) and gets turned into a slug-like thing

Neato

[shkika]

I can't believe this game about funny little slug cat creatures managed to create the most endearing characters out of giant supercomputers.

Computers always make for the best characters in media to be fair… I can’t say I’m too surprised.

Maybe it’s the moral dilemma between creator and creation. Exploring the feelings of an entity that’s not supposed to have them.. maybe it’s the uber autism.. who knows.

[freakenomenon]

Hello I am SO sorry for sending so many asks I hope it is not bothering you 🙇

I super love your AM and Ellen post GDYSJAHSHSGSG I think people get so hyper focused on AM and Ted they kind of sideline the rest of the casts dynamic with him and so it’s SO GREAT to see content and essays with him and Ellen ( who is also pretty sidelined by the game and novella )

Secondly, I was sort of thinking about how AM in particular is the ‘yankee’ version of an Allied Mastercomputer which lead me to think about the Soviet and Chinese counterparts.

( specifically China, I’ll expand on this if I’m asked because I do not want to take up more of your time then I already am )

I think in a twisted way the AM the five are stuck with is the embodiment of American freedom, they can go where they want, call him what they want, there’s no civilization left or laws .. ( unless their instructions from AM, naturally ) and I wonder, if that’s supposed to be a commentary on the politics of the west and America. And if juxtaposed with the Soviet or Chinese supercomputers, if they would torture what remained of humanity differently because of the contrasting politics of the 60’s?

( Im so sorry that my ask got THIS LONG OMG )

RAGHHH I don't mind at all dw!! I currently don't have anything better to do and your asks are actually quite thought provoking,, and i will NEVER pass up an opportunity to yap

first of all grrhraagguhhhg yeah it pisses me off so bad to see people completely disregard the other survivors dynamics with AM,, especially since. looks around discreetly ,, half of the time ted and AM posts are completely mischaracterizing BOTH characters but. that's neither here nor there.

secondly this is VERY interesting actually. considering IHNMAIMS is initially both an anti AI AND an anti war message you're definitely onto something. ive always thought that AM, despite his entire character. is a very HUMANE display of evil. hatred isnt something instilled within someone. it's TAUGHT. AM is nothing more than a reflection of the horrid nature in humanity, both within the curse of human nature itself ( hate, jealousy, sorrow, want ) , and what the most depraved crevices within the species are capable of. I mean think about the implications of AM feeding all the "killing data" ? He was taught. Not even. BORN to kill and maim and RUIN. and the only thing on this earth that could instill such a disgusting purpose is HUMANITY. Because our time, as stated in the story. Was poorly spent.

And if you apply this to the American government, sad as it is. It's the same situation. Propaganda and artificial reassurance of change is so dystopian yet so common within this system. And as you said, we can wander, we can wonder, we can wish. But the most it appears we can outwardly do to attempt at causing some kind of change is shake our fists at that starred flag.

Lastly, I am not very informed on the torture methods of other countries since I am but a filthy american. ( not my fault my ancestors were brought here in chains, but oh well what can you do! ) but it is a very interesting thought, in the game the Russian and Chinese Supercomputers had very differing personalities and more composure than AM. They were still clearly very resentful in some aspects. But there is a clear difference. But alas, their characters escape me because of how confusing the games ending is if you don't end up getting slugged.

if this doesn't make sense i apologize i am so sleep deprived ^_^;

[delta-orionis]

even though i know approximately 30 minutes worth of rain world lore, ive been enjoying reading abt tsac. godspeed it is your blog

hehe yaaaaay I’m glad people like my guy. I spend so much time thinking about TSAC and I need everyone to Look At Them.

Honestly all you need to know about rain world is that there’s thousands of immortal sentient mountain-sized supercomputers who all have their own fun personal issues. And there’s slugs

[fictionkinfessions]

Okay

So

I've been aware of fictionkin for a while but didn't really think it was for me

But a little while ago my friend introduced me to rain world and (spoilers) the iterators??? Woah That's me, that's my people. Oh to be a giant supercomputer using tons of water and engineering funny little slug creatures

📦

[friskibitz]

are you still doing the media description thing. i'm like 5 years behind on my dash so i didn't see it until now. can you do rain world

YIPPEE I KNOW MORE NOW

uhhh there was a society. they left behind a group of gigantic supercomputers who represent themselves with little colorful robot puppets and get into fights on discord.

there are also an assortment of little cats who are slugs.

you play as any of these little "catslugs" at different points in time in a world that actively hates you and wants to kill you so bad. <3 your goal is probably to die properly or something because this world is a nightmare where reincarnation is real! actually the catslugs have different goals i think. theres white one, sweet one, hunting one, angry one, wet one, big one, and green one

there's another one i think but we don't talk about that one

also there's two computers there's moon one who is nice and five pebbles who is cringe

pretty sure the real plot happens because one of the supercomputers decided they did not vibe with this universe and died instantly. and at the end of the timeline you play as the hyper enlightened green one and cast psychic explosion on everyone

[whatswexceles]

MY THOUGHTS ON EVERY RAIN WORLD DOWNPOUR SONG (take 2 now that i know more about the OST)

this is quite a long read and even longer listen so like keep that in mind or something.

also there's not rating scale or anything i just wanna talk about rain world music lmao

also FULL SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE EXPANSION!!!

got that? alrighty!

Downpour: very nice trailer music. The arp is still very nice to listen to and the lead and bass are very rain worldly. A perfect trailer song and overall theme for this expansion

Together: a very friendly sounding song for the jolly co-op trailer. Gives me terraria ost vibes a little bit. I like the drums and the little reference to the outskirts threat theme at 1:15

Task: another trailer song for the more gritty Expedition mode. Gives me some alpha RW song vibes which is neat because those songs actually go really hard. I love how heavy it feels.

Overskog: I LOVE this long’s vibes, another trailer song i believe. This song gives me sinking underwater vibes in a completely unique way and I love it.

Landmarks: I believe this is another trailer song for one the three mini trailers that all got released on one day. Sounds like a threat theme with the heavy drums and continues nature

Triptrap: this song is pretty iconic for me. A chill song accompanying a trailer of the DP slugs just walking through new areas. Very neat and cool and Downpour-y.

Sparkling pendulum: nothing more than terrifying ambience. “The Rot” Counterpart to where “Drastic FM” plays in normal pebbles, truly terrifying!

Satellite: more ambience.

Flicker: ambience

Threat: Waterfront complex: it still pisses me off that this song says waterfront complex but its “Waterfront Facility” in game fdhnjlokhfndssfdsfs. I still love this song though. I absolutely LOVE the little pad fills and how they glitch and break.

Aquaphobia: submerged soup or structure song. The use of pan in this song with the noises still gives me the vibe of there being something lurking just out of sight in the water and I love it. IRL leviathan encounter. 

Onto A new dawn: submerged superstructure. Very fitting ambient tract for when you’re in the final stretch of restoring a supercomputer’s godhood.

Not your rain: another Rot track. Very melancholic on everything and its so fitting. The depths (Rot not subterranean) still terrifies me. 

Fragile: plays in bitter aerie, fits it so well. The snow drifting over a city still for centuries, its such a pretty song and aerie is always pretty.

Obverse of the old wind: plays on the top of still intact Moon. where you see the city. A fitting track.

Threat - metropolis (Day): metropolis is still one of my favorite areas. This song fits the feeling of battling scavengers on The Floor and in the industrial corridors of the “City”. My one grievance with metropolis is that it feels more like a place with city-shaped structures than a city. Like I want to be able to fight in an ancient costco or Mcdonalds.

Threat - metropolis (Night): metropolis having a day night cycle is still so cool to me, even if i’ve never even experienced it it must be cool. I love the bg melody, I wish it was more prevalent because it's just kinda a cool melody to go with. This song is definitely on my list of songs I should remix.

Overcast: plays in the garbage - shadaded connector rooms, nothing more to say than just a random ass song with a loose melody.

Frosted Festival: chill music awesome. Saint’s version of “Unseen lands” which is the first song you’d really hear in your first run of Rain world. I don't really see the connection but its a nice song to listen to while you’re exploring the snowed outskirts

Breathing hyometer: still confused what a hyometer is because they don't exist. Google docs keeps wanting to correct it to “hygrometer”. A surprisingly pretty hand pa song for something that would play in The Gutter. Very chill, I like it

Trusted component: plays on the precipice. Has really fast sporadic drums with a slow simple melody. Fits precipice well-ish. Just a generic very rainworld-y song 

Accidented condition: slow song with silly instruments that feel like they’re building up to something. Plays as saint in garbage.

Threat - pipe yard: HELL YEAH i love all of pipe yard’s music. Its melody just feels very turn-y and pressure-y

Chilblain grace: chilblain is described as “a painful, itching swelling on the skin, typically on a hand or foot, caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to cold.” a good introductory to saint as a campaign. It feels so full of nothing but coldness and hostility yet very empty and void of a proper meaning. Very chaotic yet it keeps staying the same, in loops. In a cycle if you will >:3. Very Rain world-y song if you think too much about it like I am.

Ascent: I like the faint wave noises at the start. The ambient noises really add to the vibe of Submerged superstructure. 

Fading light: saint counterpart of “Black moonlight” in shaded citadel. Generic drums generic repeating pattern. Don't know what else to say

Flux: I actually really like this song. The melody is very nice. It plays in submerged near the shoreline gate and its very just preparation-itive for submerged

Vast Unlife: this plays in a couple places in shoreline as Saint, it really feels like a recurring motif of “everything i knew is fading under the blizzard” for the player itself. It really gives that vibe, the heavy ambience and whistle of the bit-crushed wind with the sporadic piano notes. 

Threat - Outer expanse: i still love this song.outer expanse has so many layers and they’re all cool. It also has a day-night cycle which I didn't know about. It's melody is just ARGHHH yes. I love the glitchy bg fills.

Eyes of Iron: heavy suspenseful music. My original idea was that this was an artificer song either before or when fighting the king scav but nope! It plays in garbage wastes as saint, like all good songs do for some reason. The melody on this song makes up for it being kinda boring.

Sheer ice torrent: MY BELOVED. This is the saint version of bio-engineering and kayava. Like it literally plays where bio-engineering and kayava do in the base game AND IT LIVES UP SO WELL. a vibey icy version of the two best songs in the base game. The arp in the second half works so well and this song just makes me want to go crazy 11/10 (i'm not gonna rate the rest of these)

Veiled northstar: SUB SUB SUB 2!!! Basically a glow up of an old alpha song that now plays in sump tunnel. This song is so vibey, 

Weathered Step: undergrowth ambience. Only like 12 seconds so i dont really know what its for.

Reflections of the moon: this song is such a THING. Its moon’s version of random gods but it feels so DRAMATIC and shiney that it's like, an entirely different feeling.

Threat - Looks to the moon: precarious threat song. Honestly it doesn't feel like a threat theme because of how little it has melody. Just feels like pad spikes and a bg melody.

Fragments: I LOVE THIS SONG. the bells just ringing out in the melodies sound so ethereal. It sounds like I could listen to this while sitting next to a forgotten building. It plays underground in pipe yard.

Open skies: a very similar song to fragments, except it feels more positive and encouraging than melancholic. It plays in outer expanse so it could be like a final-stretch to be home.

Frost reaper: I LOVE THIS SONG. it plays in one specific room and it is one of the most POWERFUL moments you can have in a saint playthrough. This song plays in the room where you’d connect from chimney to pebbles. But pebbles isn’t there. So you walk, realize the connection point is gone… and then the song kicks in. and you get this sinking “Oh no…” feeling and the song seems to accompany you. Until it stops 24 seconds later. And you realize you have to go back.

Outro theme: i believe this song plays in survivor or monk’s new ending. It shares a similar melody and vibe to fragments. Emotional.

New else VIII: still haven't listened to the elses too much. Echo-y ambience, not much more to say.

Threat - rubicon (unused): this song doesn't give me rubicon vibes, it gives me pipe yard vibes if anything. I guess stygian depths can have its off brand pipe yard music all to itself. I will say its melody is kinda pretty. If the pad in the BG of this song was more hearable I think I’d like it more…. Might be a nice remix song

Lost city: metropolis ambiance

Bloom: Outer Expanse ambience

Rain: despite how UNCREATIVE this song name is, it is still one of my favorites. Pipe yard simply has the best music in the game for no reason at all. Its main melody sounds kinda like how people headcanon the slugs to sound. A very silly and adventourus song

Orange Lizard: to quote me from last time i did this: “definitely gives me the vibe of a late-night metro system, where there are only a few people there and it's quiet enough to hear the trains running the tunnels.”. I LOVE THIS SONG. the metro system vibe, the quiet pondery melody. And i was quite right as this PLAYS IN THE METRO TUNNELS IN SUBTERRANIAN. MUAHAHAHAH I WAS RIGHT. Anyways listen to your Rain world chill music today its good.

Wandering cut: this song is still pretty good. Very full and busy, vibey though. Plays in sunken peir

Daze: Outer Expanse ambience

Garden: song that plays when you fail an expedition for some reason. Very vibey though. It also plays in bitter aerie and yeah i see that

Metal Canopy: a very chill song I actually really like. Plays in waterfront facility.

Random Fate: according to the source im using it plays in the “memory conduit lab” in submerged superstructure which I am actually really confused about like what is that. Very generic ish ambience that breaks into the sundown (?) theme midway through. Very pretty song reflecting on moon’s whole collapse. Basically a submerged version of random gods.

Wired: vibey. No idea where this plays but i like it.

Ancient: sounds like it's being played on like an actual weird ancient instrument, similar vibes to fragments again. This plays in Expanse and it feels very much like a song that someone would play in the citadel in the eastern side of expanse, in the citadel. 

Scapeless doubt: plays, weirdly enough, in struts. Moon’s legs. For a song as dark as this one, I'd expect it to be in The Rot, or Rubicon, or even submerged. Kinda a generic dark RW song to end on.

[gay-little-sabre-tooth]

Sorry to everyone who followed me for Ninjago stuff just seeing that all my posts are about slugs and depressed supercomputers

[humanity-issues-tournament]

Brief Ancient explanation/rainworld (spoilers for main game’s lore alongside the ending, possible downpour spoilers but I don’t know!! Be warned)

basically rain world is if you combined a fucked up ecoyststem with a video game. And also slug cats. basically your goal is to not die, hibernate and eventually escape a cycle via doing something that’s a big spoiler.

basically the ancient things are these powerful beings who were like “hey we should let everyone do that cool thing but how do we make it easy to do” so they made these robots called iterator’s, which are big ass supercomputers with a puppet robot inside that does the work via connecting to the supercomputer. They tell these “hey this is the great problem please come up with a. Solution” and then they kinda just. Do the cycle thing to themselves and thus basically die. I don’t know how that works but they just leave all these robots everywhere and they kinda get mentally fucked up

The two problems are A: there’s so fucking many of them and none have a specific role in creating these fucked up guys that we know of

and B: I don’t think they have mentioned genders so it’s hard to tell if they are a dad, a mom, or another kind of label

sorry I’m autistic for this game

OH THAT SEEMS SO COOL!!

[sodrippy]

imagine being on a secret slug satellite with an alien royal and a sentient supercomputer and youre surrounded by six factions out for blood and you dont even stop to do a perception check

[darth-does-stuff]

ok but that latest starstruck odyssey episode was a fucking FEVER DREAM 

[waveridden]

every time i think about starstruck odyssey too long i feel unhinged because i feel like i could pitch it to sooooooooo many of my friends

[suedeski]

I have no mouth but I must scream is not scary it's actually comforting and a beautiful ending actually but you wouldnt get it :/

[professorabacus]

Starstruck Odyssey for the fandom ask! And/or Bojack Horseman (even though it’s not really a fandom per se) ASO blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Gunnie and Sundry, two people who are just trying to figure out humanity when your not human/your body and very ability to live is rented

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): SKIP, or prince whatever the fuck, just a scifi body sntacher slug <3

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Riva! rly hope get more in to Aguatunisian culture to understand her better, fish ppl <3

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)" GNOISIS my beloved, my nonhuman supercomputer my beloved

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): Princeps Zortch, girl tries to understand her supercomputer bff and then gets kidnapped is now just hanging out The Wurst girl get it together

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Raymond Zam he can take it

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Whatever debt sharks are coming after Gunnie's body Bojack Horseman blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): The Man, The Myth, The stupid piece of shit himself.... Bojack horseman

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): Todd!!! just a wacky guy! my ace wacky guy.... :]

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Princess Carolyn she went through so much!!!! and found a way to be happy in the end

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Tom Jumbo Grumbo, my stupid stupid newscaster

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): Beatrice Horseman she is so......god the generational really hits huh

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Mr Peanutbutter

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Buttersctoch Horseman and fucking Joseph Sugarman

[prettyglitchin-blog]

MISSION: RETRIEVAL OF JOSEPH KINCAID

LEADER:  viper @ofvipcr

MEMBERS: phantom (@agentphantom) , glitch (@prettyglitchin), pynk (@pynksloane) , zero (@agent-rexblack) and lilith

objective: in this mission, you must bring senator joseph kincaid, a friend of US ambassador [REDACTED], to tartarus and interrogate him for intelligence about the russian’s advancement in quantum mechanics and the nature of their alliance with china. according to reliable sources, kincaid is currently meeting russian quantum physicist, emilia lazarova, in an underground biotechnology research facility in monaco. agents must infiltrate the facility, retrieve kincaid to bring him back on US soil, and learn what he knows about the mechanism being built by the russians and chinese.

Arriving in Monaco, Team Viper were dropped off in a secure location close to the facility. Just outside of the facility perimeter, the agents discuss the best course of action based on the information they were already given about the operation and what they have managed to gather once they reached the location. Agent Glitch manages to hack into the camera feed and relays what she can see back to the group. There are multiple guards surrounding the entrance and snipers present on the rooftops.

However, the cameras are on a different network to the rest of the building's power and the walls are too thick to connect to anything else. She needs to get closer to be able to tap into the door controls. Agent Phantom volunteers for the task and uses his powers to cloak the two of them as they get closer to the building.

While this happens, Agent Lilith uses her powers to instil anxiety and fear into the guards and snipers, making them start to pick off each other, a process hastened by the aid of Agents Viper, Pynk and Zero, who make quick work of the distracted snipers. The toll of using her powers on so many people takes its toll on Agent Lilith though, and she succumbs to the paranoia that she’s been inflicting on the snipers, allowing one to sound the alarm before he is taken out by Agent Zero.

Glitch, hearing the alarm pushes herself hard in an attempt to disable it and open the doors into the facility, and succeeds in allowing everyone to enter. However, as the group makes its way inside, multiple cybernetically enhanced soldiers appear. Knowing Kincaid may escape, the agents decide that Viper and Lilith should continue on and attempt to intercept Kincaid and to rendezvous on the jet, while the rest of them keep the guards busy.

Zero, Glitch, Pynk and Phantom face off against the soldiers, with Glitch doing her best to hack the tech parts of them and make the fight easier. She manages to cause malfunctions in multiple cyborgs before one of them takes her by surprise and clocks her so hard in the face that she is stunned and unable to continue using her powers.

Pynk tries to use her powers to distract them and allow the others to take them out, but she too is overwhelmed and gets slugged multiple times before one wrenches her shoulder so hard that there’s a loud popping noise and waves of pain to follow.

While this is happening, Viper and Lilith track down Kincaid and Viper gets her hands on him and teleports the both of them to the jet. Lilith runs back to the others to tell them that they have Kincaid and in her distraction, one of the soldiers grabs her by the neck and snaps her neck with one swift movement.

Horrified, Phantom and Zero fight harder and between the two of them manage to clear a path for Glitch and Pynk out of the facility. The team looks worse for wear but are able to make it back to the jet with Lilith’s body, with help from Zero who builds an ice wall between them and the cyborgs. Before he does though, Glitch spots a severed arm nearby that is made up of both robotic parts and flesh and asks Agent Zero to freeze it, before wrapping it up and taking it with them.

The ride back to Tartarus is deathly quiet and when they make it back, they drag Kincaid into an interrogation room. They manage to get him to divulge a few key pieces of information through the use of Zero’s powers, but they can sense he is holding back and decide to switch tactics.

Pynk uses her powers to generate an illusion of Kincaid’s family being murdered and after he watches them “die” he is a lot more chatty.

Kincaid reveals the Chinese and Russians are building a particle accelerator to open a breach to another dimension, and the first attempt was during the night of beyond’s death. He also reveals that China and Russia are building a quantum supercomputer for a cult composed of US politicians who believe that we are living in a simulation, without the knowledge of mkhellfire.

The US government has basically exchanged intel about how the Prometheus x serum was created, which involves material from an alternate reality (thus the particle accelerator to open a breach) and in exchange, Russia is providing the simulation cult with their quantum computing technology and China is giving extractives (minerals that are superconductors from Africa).

At this point in the interrogation, the executives barge in and order the agents out. They have little choice but to follow orders and filter out into another room where they are fully debriefed, asked to give their personal accounts of the mission and are warned not to talk about the events with agents who weren’t there on the mission.

[xlaitswrites]

Origin (Part 1?)

I dunno, I feel like the ending is either poetic or lazy. I may continue this piece at a later date, but for now, I feel it is complete enough to post.

The lab was quiet today. The normal hustle and bustle of the scientists and engineers was relaxed, at ease. On the ceilings, orange, spider-like machines skittered about, working to maintain the various systems within the ceiling, while also replacing some of the more damaged ceiling tiles, occasionally disappearing into a maintenance hatch to get more supplies, or recharge.

All of the labs in the building were relatively quiet. Soft chatter of the employees, the clicking of various machinery and robotics… it made the air seem still. Even in the lower labs, even the basement labs, everywhere was unusually still. Deep within the facility, a large blast door separates a single chamber from the rest of the rooms. It was usually avoided by the various workers, with only the repair drones occasionally disappearing inside.

Inside was a room covered in frost and ice, and a large obelisk of metal. The walls were unnaturally smooth, black metal, only given texture by the layers of frozen coolant that adhered to them. The spire in the center of the room seemed to be made of the same material, it’s pointed, angular appearance making up the entirety of the rooms focus. Occasionally, red lines pulse along the surface of the metal structure, following unseen, hexagonal patterns along its surface. The whole room feels inhospitable, ominous… and because of the temperature of the room, at least the former was true.

This is the brain, the central hub of the entire facility’s network. Their computer system, their security, their drones, all are tied to this supercomputer wrapped in an arcane feel.

There is a loud rumble, a thunderous cacophony of sound and chaos as some of the more volatile machinery above detonates. Fire engulfs the rooms, but the suppression system does not turn on. None of the drones come to aid in quelling the flames. The lights, however, dim and the emergency lighting is engaged, bathing the entire facility in an uncomfortable, red light.

An engineer near the central hub is tasked with entering the uninhabitable room. The nervous system of the whole building was not working properly, and they need to know why. Hastily donning cold-weather gear, he multitasks, jamming his elbow against the keypad in a rushed attempt to gain access to the chamber. It takes a few tries, but he eventually gets his access code correct. However, the massive sliding door, which was both electrically and mechanically operated, refused to budge. Cursing his luck, he looks around frantically for a moment, then nods with resolve.

It takes a try or two, but the heavily kitted out male leaps up and grips the ledge of one of the spider-droid access hatches, pulling himself inside the spring-loaded door. Crawling through the vent, it gets colder, quickly, and despite his jacket and pants being made for this, he still finds himself shivering.

“I don’t get paid enough for this.” He thinks to himself as he pushes on the maintenance door at the other side, which doesn’t budge. “Great. Iced over.” Using his small stature to his benefit, he spins around inside the vent, a heavy boot being brought down onto the hatch. Thunk. Sharp ears can hear the sounds of tinkling ice on the other side, proving his theory correct, and gleaning a positive outcome of his first strike. Another after another, he strikes the vent hatch with the heel of his boot, until it finally swings open forcefully, before swinging back and forth on its hinge.

Finally though, he shimmies through the door backwards, landing on his feet. Shattered ice lies on the floor around him. His breath visible, he makes his way to the obelisk of a computer, looking around cautiously for any signs of damage.

The icy floor causes him to slip when he gets close, a gloved hand slamming against the computer’s side to keep him from falling on his face. Panting from adrenaline, he shakes his head, standing up. “Gotta be more careful.” He mutters to himself, before looking at the surface he was still leaning against.

Anywhere there was significant contact with his hand or finger there was a lit up hexagon. A screen beneath the surface had lit up just above that, showing garbage text entered into the prompt, and had been submitted.

“Shit.” Frantically, he began typing commands, looking at diagnostic logs and checking all output for any traces of the problem. However, the computer had other plans.

All at once, the screen cleared. Everything was replaced by large, blinking letters.

INTRUSION DETECTED

A loud hiss filled the room as the top-most half of the spire split along its edges, releasing a cloud as the intensely hot air inside of the computer was exposed to the frigid air surrounding its casing. The four “walls” of the case slowly came down, remaining upright on two arms each, almost as if they were being carefully set aside.

The core seemed to be a fairly large, robotic skeleton, which was violently ejected from within a small electric or magnetic looking field that was holding it in place, landing with a heavy, metallic thud on the ground.

The engineer’s first reaction was to step towards this new, robotic entity, believing it to be damaged. His movement was halted as it stood up slowly, body twitching slightly, the new dent in its “ribcage” slowly being pushed outward and repairing itself. It’s mostly featureless face looks up at the engineer, red and blue, mismatched, goggle-like optics staring straight at him.

It speaks a single word, its voice purely fabricated, clearly electronic in nature. Every syllable was synthetic, holding no inflection, no emotion.

“Identification.”

He fumbled through the thick, tightly zippered jacket for his lanyard.

“Identification.” It stands up straighter, a thick, grey goop beginning to ooze from out of its largest bits of casing. The engineer, unfamiliar with this new entity, or how it functions, continues to fumble, mumbling to himself in a frantic panic. He finally retrieves the card and holds it up.

Its eyes lock onto the card quickly, the goo still pouring out onto the ground, pooling around it’s feet. “Identity: Confirmed. Clearance level: Engineer Level 2.” Its puddle begins to take shape, forming synthetic musculature over the metal skeleton of its original frame. What was an 8 foot tall, mechanical skeleton has now become an equally, if not slightly taller, featureless, androgynous humanoid before long. “Clearance Level is has been administrator modified recently to 4, with a note: Temporary Clearance for entry to Brain.” It steps forward, the grey figure slowly defining its shape as it moves.

A once slender build gains muscle definition. A featureless face begins to lengthen into a short, feline muzzle. Shoulders widen, and fur grows in. Everything is grey, a metallic, almost gunmetal grey. In the light of the room, it reflects softly, but quickly loses its luster as the now male-looking construct fills in the coloration. Snow white fur, with charcoal stripes breaking up it’s monotony; short, but still there. It looked soft, and seemed to frost over. His eyes change from goggles to round, glassy orbs, their irises matching their original colors, an almost 3D-glasses-looking set of eyes with the right retaining a crimson red, the left taking on a chilling blue.

He grins, his voice taking on a now mostly organic feel, but in some way still seems electronic. It’s not something noticeable right away. “So you are not my handler.” It’s low, almost a growl, almost sadistically playful in nature, but his words are clear, understandable. “You know not what I am capable of, you know nothing of who I am, or what I do. You are… unfamiliar with my systems.” His grin only gets wider, displaying sharp pearly white teeth, inset in gunmetal flesh. Digitigrade legs carry him slowly forward, bringing him closer to the frightened male.

The engineer draws a small pistol from a holster within the oversized jacket, and without hesitation fires several rounds into the machine’s chest, emptying all the 9mm slugs from within the magazine. The robots eyes dim, and it stands motionless, jaw slack, statue still for a moment before coming back to life, shaking off the cold a bit before grinning again. “Not only an intruder, but an aggressive one. Self defense engaged.”

He blinked, never to open his eyes again…

Wiping the blood from his silvery claws onto the frosty wall, he sighs, breath invisible, indifferent to the air, looking around the chilled room. “What I wouldn’t give to be outdoors again.” He leans on a massive, clawed hand, pressed against the frigid wall for a moment, closing his eyes. In his head, he looks through the building using the network of security cameras installed in various places. A smirk grows on his face as he sees the panic and mayhem his little “hiccup” has caused.

With a nod, he resolves, standing upright. Like tearing tissue paper, he rends the metal of the blast doors wide open, giving him a nice exit point to his frosty tomb. Instantly, the one alarm he doesn’t control sounds, only adding to the chaos above. Large caliber, automated weaponry unfolds from the ceiling, aiming at his center of mass. Each gun immediately opens fire once in place, all slugs whistling their way to their target.

Reacting at a speed only a computer could, he tears a chunk off the thick metal door, using it as a large tower shield. Without a valid target, the guns continue to fire into the shield, the heavy slugs tearing large holes and chunks out of the thick metal. Unimpeded by the weight of the improvised cover, he advances down the choked hallway, the only exit from his chambers and a heavily armed killing plane. This was built to keep him in, and keep unauthorized others out. However, they had never tested it against him.

It’s failing.

Horribly.

As he advances, he lifts up the scrap to scrape the guns off the ceiling, moving it to carve them out of the walls, and remove them from the floor. His tail, ever working, wraps around the barrels, pulling them in nice and close as they are converted into a silvery goo, which is added to his mass. He chooses not to add any bulk to his already bulky frame, instead adding it as true mass, making himself heavier, but not making his paws any less quiet against the metal floor.

And so it continues, on and on. He forces his way past turrets and soldiers, scientists and engineer alike, reducing them to nothing but aftermath. He doesn’t stop the bloodshed when he reaches the ground floor, no. He continues upward, making sure there wasn’t a single living person in the building he hadn’t completely fucked up, mangled, brutalized… killed. After all, that was his original purpose. And unstoppable soldier, a covert but fierce weapon.

After what they did to him…

He finally enacted his revenge…

Yet, he still felt… empty.