1.13|The Brood who Bytes

 

1.13|The Brood who Bytes

 

Time seemed to flow slowly, how much time they couldn't say. With everything within the station stuck in a dilapidated, frozen state time may as well have not been flowing at all. The two girl's hands held tight together, twisting and turning. They squeezed, eventually pulling their chests tighter. Lips began to dance and throttle, their bodies giving into the swirling, sweaty erogenous motions that became a bonding event. Their legs locked into each other and their shadows danced.

Their hearts pumping as they began to cry once again. Tissues soaked into themselves and each other.

The two fell to the ground in sleep for quite some time, not even making a sound. Eventually, Raelyn woke to her lover's voice. "Pro, wake up!" She checked her Comm. "Sweetheart. Someone's coming.." “Who!?”

Raelyn growled, feeling a surge of adrenaline. When she heard Protas's voice, it sounded to her like some other separate voices were consolidated and speaking through it.

The gated opened up.

A tall figure with a metal face, copper plating and a steel body stepped forward. In his arms, a girl with green hair and purple eyes, a latex purple catsuit with striped leggings, fishnets and a slick black vinyl tanktop.

"Noble?!" Protas asked, head only slightly dizzy. "Looks like you got, an upgrade! Why'd you come back for us?" 

He smirked. "I'm sorry I took so long, but I did. It was hard to get here though, and then I was attacked, fled here and.. it's been awhile. But I'm here." His voice and presentation seemed utterly unlike the genteel synth before. "By the way, the name's not Noble now."

The two looked at each other.

"It's Baron."

They stopped and stared.

"Baron…?" Protas asked.

"Yeah, I actually went through about 3 different alterations since we last met. Every upgrade and reboot caches my memories for a little. I still remember you two but, it's kinda like it happened to someone else and I'm just remembering it."

Raelyn stood defensively, ready to pounce like a werewolf.

After a confused pause, Protas just burst into laughter. "Ohho..... HAHAHAHA.. You too huh? Yeah, I know that feel. Doesn't feel too nice does it."

The green haired girl looked at him and gagged.

Baron cleared his throat. "It's been 3 iterations for me.. a couple dozen Ellies

for you."

"Ellie? Whose Ellie?" Protas squinted.

"You are. I mean, was.. were? Maybe still are." He checked the Rose Gate behind him quickly. "That's who you were cloned from. But, she left into the Cascade awhile back. That was a long time ago."

"So… you remember us?" Raelyn folded her arms.

"How long, has it been since you've last seen us? And how did Xi not hand you

your ass?"

"Xi.. doesn't exist anymore. It's X.U. - The Xistress Union." Baron said.

Raelyn rolled her eyes. "So it's still Xi cool. Oh my god, just answer the

question. How fucking long has it been since you, or whatever version of you

last saw us?"

Baron's eyebrows raised. "It's, been hundreds of years." He turned to Protas,

pulling up a chair and sitting down. "A lot has happened since, I'll go over it

carefully."

Raelyn and Protas looked at one another and back at Baron.

"In the time since we last met, I helped the original Ellie.. my Ellie, leave. It was thanks to all your clones that we could. I've worked with R.I.N.G. to help liberate the machinist movement. Although we weren’t a powerful faction at first, the SS wanted unity and a return to the stability that Xi offered, and quickly worked trying to attract a mass-unity movement. Paramilitaries were outlawed, swept aside and forced to join this unity to reunite the warring factions of Xi. The reformed High Council integrated the Merchant's Guild, all economic powerhouses and established a peaceful republic. But P.F.U. soon began to become an industrial dynamo, and the treaty we had with the Llavalites started to grow frail. When the P.F.U. split off into the Grand Magus's Rebellion, and Council's Protectorate, the former launched another massive insurrection against XU, the Llavalites sided with them."

"I... see?" Protas scratched her cheeks, trying to take this all in.

"The Magus Rebellion? As in, the Grand Magus you told us about? Who is he?"

"She." Baron leaned in. "The shadowleader behind the Elderdragons and the Black Trust, a girl named Sandra. She kept her records and notes on a database server never meant to be uploaded. But a merchant by the name of Kuja spent several lifetimes worth of a fortune to get the truth out, and broadcast that data everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE. Now that the name of Sandra is a public figure as the leader behind the Elderdragons, she is.. seen as a god. A folk hero, a celebrity. One of unprecedented political importance right now, even having been out of the galaxy for centuries. Revered, loved and worshiped both by those nostalgia for Xi, and tiring of democracy, aswell as those more liberal sorts who desire the secular values, sexual expression and prosperity she brought. Her popularity-"

"-is because she's AWESOME okay! The will of the Grand Magus will live on! The rebellion serves to see SANDRA'S SLANDERERS!! Praise the Sisterhood! The SS will PREVAIL!" The green haired girl's hand grabbed out to the ceiling in a clutching gesture, fingers grabbing the air.

"Don't do that." Baron slapped her hand.

"Whose this?" Raelyn asked.

"This is.." Baron cupped his hands into his face. "Amity Byte."

Everyone dropped their guard, like a deadpan drumroll just crashed and died.

"She's the heiress of Byte Industries, a digital cybercorporation at the height of company power, before Xi's dissolution. It ran into hard times without the government contracts and a stable government to keep its monopoly stable. Byte was setup to inherit and run her mother’s company, but she turned towards her talents the Anonymous Army- oh, you used to know them as L.AM.E., they grew into prominence."

"Oh. You're a cyberhacker?" Protas patted Amity's head.

"I'm the BEST. Let's just acknowledge that. I wouldn't have been yanked from my credit-mining operation by this bucket of bolts otherwise!" She elbowed Raelyn.

Raelyn pounced back at her, grabbing her by the throat and sinking her nails nearly into her neck. "YOU L-" she backed away. "Oh god oh god I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry, I.." she shook and ran to a corner.

"Please be gentle with her." Baron gave a long sigh, shaking his head. "A lot of bad stuff happened to me in Xi's name. I was born again. Technically I'm Baron III. I've been through a lot since then." He turned to Raelyn. "I haven't been awake since before the Second Xi Revolution, which established XU. Amity woke me up when trying to hijack a cargo freight. She's my technician and machinist engineer."

"Yeah! I upgraded him nice and good!" Amity slapped his metal synthetic ass a few times. "Thick as thieves. Or maybe he's thick, and I'm a thieve."

"It's okay."