Passing through the teleporter, Cuinn arrived at the base of the main building of the Zeta Faction, on some planet unknown to him. It was a reception area and lounge; it was prestigious and had technological comfort, the guests were treated like kings. The moment Cuinn had emerged from the teleporter, he was greeted by a butler that bowed to him in front of the teleporter, "Welcome, master Arsenal, to the Zeta Prime tower; we are currently inside of the central spire. I, head butler, Elric, would offer my services to you, but the vice-leader urged me to guide you to his office with haste."
The old man was dressed in a classic butler's uniform with some spice of Zeta tech added to it: jet-black, with subtle traces of platinum thread woven through the seams in a geometric pattern that was reminiscent of Zeta Faction's symbol. His white hair was slicked back, and he wore a neat and impressive moustache. It did not seem like Elric had any sort of physical augumentations for some reason. He only wore some earpiece among other necessary gadgets.
The clone observed the area for a few seconds and noticed the Zeta Faction's symbol on a pillar of Glirithium—a recently discovered metal from a red portal planet that has proved its worth to be named the most expensive, tough and valuable metal that is superior to Magisteel in all aspects but specific conductivity—behind the wide reception desk. It was a single, geometric eye that was enclosed in a hexagonal frame, its iris glew with a deep, emerald green, and the inside of the pupil was embedded with a Delta symbol. Behind the eye were streams of data that glew the same colour as the iris, and flowed symmetrically and rose upwards.
'Just an arrogant show of power, that is,' the clone remarked. 'The place isn't exactly bustling as well. it's not like people come here for sight-seeing, but still...'
"Would you like for me to transport you to outside of the vice-leader's quarters?" the butler asked. "Go ahead," the clone replied, not wanting to waste any time. White light enveloped the two of them as Elric activated his [Teleportation] Ability, 'It's the first time I've seen someone with an S-rank Teleportation Ability. Never knew people were so willing to invest this heaviliy into such utility based Abilities; I guess the big Factions are just different.'
As the space morphed around the two of them, and the blinding white light faded, within just a second, they in on one of the highest floors in the Zeta Prime tower. This floor was not the least bit similar to the reception area in design; the floor beneath Cuinn's feet reacted to every bit of movement and pulsed ever so slightly, the architecture was weird—seemingly alien, but incredibly smooth at the same time. The whole floor was made for solely utilitarian purposes and with a focus on the main objective, whatever that might be, so it was built with only efficiency in mind, rather than pleasing the eye; maybe that was where the rather eerie feeling was coming from.
Cuinn and the butler stood behind a black wall of the same material as the whole floor which supposedly led straight to the vice-leader's quarters. The butler informed Cuinn that this floor was just below the pinnacle of the tower, where the leader resides. Additionally, he was given some basic instructions, such as: not to touch any of the data terminals or towers and wires,etc.
The whole floor whirred and pulsed with energy before a high pitched and incredibly fast beeping of sorts could be heard all around Cuinn and the butler. "You may proceed inwards, the vice master has given permission. This will be as far as I go, have a pleasant conversation. And... please, remember that despite what you may see and think, the vice leader is still young, and at the core of it all: a Human—like the rest of us," the butler bowed and teleported away to his other duties. "Sure, but where the hell am I supposed to go? Walk through the wall?"
As if affirming Cuinn's question, the wall slipt open sideways as the blocks parted and appeared to superposition over each other. 'Alright...' he walked into the chamber of the vice leader of the Zeta Faction.
'What the fuck...? This man lives here?' The clone analysed the chamber which was such a complete mess that even starting to clean it up was an impossible task.
The chamber could be best described as controlled chaos since it was meticulously optimised for a being like the vice leader with his special cybernetic cognition, but overwhelming and messy for the normal human eye. The space felt more like a nexus than an actual quarter or chamber in which the vice leader works.
The atmosphere inside was warmer, denser, and laced with faint electromagnetic hums and the occasional static crackle. The only source of lighting in this chamber was the streams of data that flowed through the data columns, walls and the pulsing of the walls—a rhythmic sort of pulsing that delivered messages.
The floor was layered in tangled, overlapping cables that squirmed about the floor—weirdly organic in their motion. Wires the width of arms slithered across the room to plug into command towers, many of which float slightly off the floor, suspended by gravitational stabilizers. The towers emitted low pulsing every time they projected a piece of data or a scan that the clone did not bother looking at since it was encrypted to the most extreme.
Columns of data stretched from floor to ceiling, filled with streaming binary codes. Some flickered with internal storms of magic-crystal energy. One entire wall is nothing but command terminals—each hosting its own AI subroutine, whispering alerts and updates directly into the vice leader's CPU through neural link.
On a platform, like a throne but purely functional—suspended in the geometric centre of the room, slightly near the back wall—is something that resembles half a seat, and half a cocoon. Cables connect into it from all directions, allowing the vice leader to connect physically and mentally to the Zeta Faction's hive systems. This was where the vice leader was currently seated; his head was crowed with some sort of head gear with an innumerable amount of wires that dragged down and covered his whole face and most of his body. The wires just disappeared into the mess down below.
The clone noticed a strong source of energy and raw power in the ceiling. It was hidden, but Cuinn was certain that it was the same frequency as a Celestial Essence—a source of a seemingly infinite amount of energy. He noticed a glow from within the chest of the vice leader shortly, 'It can't be... another one? It's embedded inside of him as well; how is this possible?' Cuinn wondered, waiting for an answer from a certain existence in his head, 'Hmm. I guess it would be impossible to achieve such feats of control over everything with anything less than a Celestial Essence powering him.'
The scent inside of the chamber was distinct—disorienting, even sickening. The room pulses with activity at all times—screens reconfiguring, walls breathing open to reveal deeper interfaces, mech arms darting in and out of the ceiling to perform calibrations on hardware. There is too much stimuli for a normal human in this single room.
The same high pitched and fast beeps were heard again all around Cuinn, from the walls. 'He's integrated himself with the entire building,' he noticed.
"Purpose," a chilling, came from every direction, and whispered right behind Cuinn's ears. It was cold, mechanical, and carried no sense of humanity with its monotonicity. "You called me here, for a job, and you're asking for my purpose?" The clone was irritated, but also rather taken aback by the voice..
"Forgiveness. Requested," it spoke, "Forgiveness granted, just continue."
"Name: Arsenal—Quinn. Maw. 17 years. Human. Irrelevant," it paused, and then continued again, "Potential: incalculable. Overall: immaculate. Valuable. Asset. Request: Moniter Elementals; flawlessly eliminate: Elementals. Location: Kasbah-Nil. Reward: your wish, highest. Outsider standing. In Zeta. Answer?" It was as though it were a machine trying to mimic authority and seem human, but overcorrecting into something even more inhuman.
"Can you not speak normally? It's kinda hard to keep up. Just give me the details in some other way," Cuinn said, "Regardless, I'm doing it; but, I have to ask... are you the vice leader of the Zeta Faction?"
"Understood. Thank you," it began, "I am. Acting leader. Vice leader. Of Zeta. I am. Currently. Connected. To over. Three. Billion. Nodes/terminals. That require. Utmost. Care. Management: heavy. Apologies."
"You don't have to apologise," Cuinn sighed, "But, do you have to live like this? How long are here for? Surely you take a break and go outside, right?"
"Understood," the vice leader replied, "Service: forever. Duty, purpose, inevitability. Break: inefficient, unnecessary, waste. I am bound. Forever—to my duty."
"That doesn't sound like fun. You know, your butler, Elric, seemed to really care for you," Cuinn said, "You should leave your room sometimes, I'm sure the old man would be happy to see you taking a break."
"Calculating... . Estimated time. For a period. With no more. Work, and duty. Is: unknown. Upper limit: extinction of Humankind," the vice leader spoke. "You're Human, aren't you? You'll die way before that."
"Incorrect. My consciousness: fragmented. As long as. Data, information flows. I am. Immortal—in the form. Of an AI. My talents, assets. Invaluable," Cuinn was getting more pissed off as time went by and he conversed with this Human that has completely yielded their humanity. 'It takes one to know one, but if the original brain and heart are already gone, then this guy really won't be Human anymore. Did this fucker forget the feeling of being Human to so easily throw it away?'
"How long have you been here?" Cuinn asked. "Unknown. Time: inconsequential, irrelevant to duty."
"Is your brain and heart still the same? Or did you replace them?" Cuinn asked. "Organic brain: intact. Organic heart: intact. Confirmed. Original organs. With slight augmentations."
"Then how the fuck is it that you don't have a shred of humanity left in you?! Did you forget all about it?!" Cuinn was quite agitated by the circumstances of the vice leader, to be honest. "Memories: locked away. Only duty remains. Strict pre-programmed instructions: to not access. Human memories."
The clone was grinding his teeth at this point, 'You can go back to being Human if the memories are returned; you can feel pain, accomplishment, joy and sadness again. And yet, you don't want to. Because, all you know is duty, and for that shitty duty being Human is nothing but a hindrance. I can understand that way of thinking, but there ought to be another way, other than self-sacrifice, and feigning ingorance to it by just deleting your past.'
"Hm," he relaxed, "Alright, then. The reward is completely my wish, huh? Get ready to hand over the most valuable thing to the Zeta Faction the next time we meet."
"Understood," the vice leader affirmed, "Elric. Will be. Waiting outside. With the details."
———
"How was your conversation with the vice master, sir Arsenal?" Elric asked as the clone emerged from within the vice leader's chambers. "I don't like him. But, I will do the job; he said you'd provide me with the deets on the mission."
"I am saddened to hear so, but it is work, and personal feels should have no place here," Elric continued, "You do not appear to possess any sort of neural link nor a chipware socket. I will prepare a physical copy for you shortly. Whilst we wait for that, I shall brief you on the task, the environment, people and requirements..."