Twists of Fate [Part 18]
Nov. 19th, 2014 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 1,867
Total word count: 39,160
Status: Work in progress
Something was wrong. Nakida had sent them that message but hadn't gotten back to them since. Had they been caught by the guards?
The thrum Huian could feel was almost like a heartbeat now, a taunt. She gritted her teeth, quickening her step. So close. She was so close to Joyce now.
"Huian."
She huffed, turning around. Kang-dae's lips were pursed, his eyebrows drawn in. "I kn-" His gaze flashed away from her and he straightened. "Get behind me."
Huian couldn't hear anything but she did it, going a few steps behind him.
"More than that."
She nodded, backing up some more, giving him space. It left her in between a junction, and she looked down one of the corridors, feeling Joyce was in that direction.
If she went around the corner, whoever was coming wouldn't see her. And then she could get Joyce.
Kang-dae could handle the people by himself through wit or strength, Takeo's memories showed her that, and Nakida could direct him to where she was afterwards. Or she could help them once it was done.
This was just something she had to do.
Nakida turned and ran, hearing voices get further away, following the pulse of the other Dark Spear.
* * *
Nakida wasn't going to make it to their body. With every decisecond that ticked by, it became less of a possibility and more certain as the AI closed in on them.
Humans had limits on how fast they could move, imposed limits on themselves on how fast they thought they should or could move.
AIs didn't have that. AIs didn't have doubts or could get distracted or stumble.
Except they could, if another program tried to run using the same resources the AI was.
And Nakida was desperate, trying to think of any idea that they could use. The last times, they'd left the system and sent out the information they'd been able to gather from under the AI's attention. They hadn't been found by an AI before.
They didn't want to be caught either.
There was no time left. There was still far too much distance between them and their body.
Nakida could think of one thing they could try; it could mean they would never reach their body again, but it was better than their consciousness being deleted by the AI. A slim chance was better than none.
If Nakida could have taken a breath, they would have, but instead they let their hold on their consciousness go, flinging out their sense of self outwards.
A moment of dizziness.
Tumbling.
And then Nakida was so much bigger, their entire self stretched out over the entire system.
No, they were the system. All the data was theirs to take however they wanted and the AI that had seemed so threatening a millisecond ago was only one small part of them that they could control.
It took one thought to switch the AI off, though it was not a threat anymore. They switched off the alert as there was no longer a threat. The threat had been taken care of.
Once the guards had received the message, they picked out the feeds to find their two companions.
* * *
Huian was in a different area than she'd been kept; it was the training areas for the modified humans, where they were tested or used as sparring rooms.
Not that one… Or that one… Dark Spear's anger beat at the back of her mind, driving her forward until she found the area where she walked past the other Dark Spear's pulse.
That one.
This room didn't need a code and she walked in, already feeling Dark Spear start to curl down to her fingers. Not yet. There was still a limit to how much she could control, how much pain Dark Spear caused. She didn't know how to throw or create lances yet. Though with Takeo's memories filling her in…
Joyce was on the other side of the room, her back turned to her. The ground was littered with small puddles of Dark Spear, not looking like Joyce was controlling them.
What had she been doing? Trying to transfer it over like with the rat? Stretching Dark Spear out of her body until it couldn't support itself anymore?
Joyce turned around, looked at her, and then at the still open door behind her. "Hm, I would have thought M-21 was with you."
Huian froze, clenching her hands. "That's who you wanted to see." No her.
"Of course." Joyce lifted a hand, sweeping her hair back, pressing her fingers to her temple. "The amount of knowledge I could get from him, his strength, he would be far more worthwhile than you; someone like you, I have easy access to. Well," she corrected, pressing her fingers harder, "I already have."
With the way Joyce was rubbing her temples…
Joyce lips twitched up, seeing Huian's expression. "They weren't very happy about it either. I'm sure you know the feeling."
Huian did; she knew the headache all the memories caused, and Joyce probably had consumed more than two, just judging by how much of the Dark Spear she'd wasted around her.
Joyce's form blurred and it was Takeo's memories that yelled at her to move, to dive to the right.
She reacted in time, a wind tearing past and Huian had enough time to scramble back to her feet to see Joyce turning around again where Huian had just been standing.
How-? How was she so fast?
Except the answer was she'd modified herself, Takeo's memories giving Huian the information.
But it wasn't that.
Joyce had wanted Kang-dae, not just for his knowledge. But for his strength as well. She'd consumed modified humans as well.
And Joyce was now standing between Huian and the door.
Not that she would be fast enough to reach it before Joyce reached her.
Fuck.
* * *
Fuck! M-21 wanted to speed down the corridor to find Huian, but he couldn't, not when there were so many corridors, so many different paths she could have taken.
Shit, why the hell had she ran? There hadn't been any guards in that direction.
This was his fault. If Huian was captured, hurt or killed, it was his fucking fault for being so fucking overconfident of his abilities.
Nakida hadn't been in contact either and that had to mean-
[
What the hell was that?
* * *
[
[
[
How could he not understand them? Their messages were short and clear.
[
…Binary? They checked the messages they had sent. The messages were not in binary; the messages were-
Hm.
The underlying message was in binary but had not been translated into text. It should have.
They traced the message back to themselves, reading the messages they had send to Kang-dae.
The messages had been binary.
Why had they sent the message in binary?
[
[
Why…?
They tried again, making sure to message him with characters instead.
[
[
What had happened? They had stopped the guards from attacking Kang-dae and Huian. They had shut down the AI.
Before that was…a vague blank.
They knew something had happened there, that was how they knew Kang-dae and Huian and had to help them, but other than that…
It was wrong.
They should know what had happened there. They had access to the entirety of the system; why could they only know what had happened a few minutes earlier?
But they knew what had happened earlier, what had happened the day before, the month before.
That wasn't what was important.
What was important was what had happened to them. What had happened to Nakida.
Nakida. The name Kang-dae was calling them. Their name.
They weren't the system.
They were Nakida.
And they had to collect themselves from where they had scattered themselves inside the system.
They had some of their sense of self back, no longer following the ever present tick of the clock and they disentangled themselves from the whole, trying to find the other parts of them.
They landed back onto one of the many pathways inside the system, no longer part of it. Nakida was still floating above the pathway, their form more cloud-like than human, and they collected themselves, focusing on a human shape. There weren't any guards to worry about catching them, and any steps to set them further apart from the system was what they needed to do.
Bit by bit, they flexed non-existent fingers, had hair that brushed their cheek. It was Tao's short straight hair. They were also wearing Tao's suit, but a thought made it flicker, changing to their physical body's appearance before they changed it back to Tao's. Good. They had control over that.
The question was whether all of them had made it out of the system or if there was still part of them there.
Nakida opened up the connection to the communicator with a wave of their hand. [Thanks.]
Kang-dae studied their face. [
[
…Kang-dae's stricken expression told them everything.
* * *
Huian didn't have enough time to swear, her body straining as she deflected blow after blow.
"Never mind," Joyce said, slashing down at her again, claws elongating as they reached Huian. "Your knowledge will be useful once I get it."
She blocked with the form Dark Spear had formed in her hand, a two-headed spear that flickered at the edges. She'd also been lucky with every single step so far. It had been Takeo's knowledge about Dark Spear that meant she could use it in that form, his familiarity with how to use it helping her to stay out of Joyce's way. She was faster and stronger than she knew she was, Dark Spear's awakening enhancing her body.
It didn't mean shit when Joyce was still faster and stronger than her, only testing her responses while Huian tried to stay alive, her body nicked and bruised in so many different places where Joyce had gotten through her defences.
Only defending wasn't doing her any good, but Joyce wasn't giving her enough space to atta-
"Gghshi-!"
Huian let out a choked out scream at the hot burning sensation in her stomach, Joyce standing right in front of her as she heard her blood splatter against the floor.
It had to be Joyce's fist buried inside her and Huian's spear dissipated as she lost her control over it, lost her concentration as the pain snatched all of her attention away from it.
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 1,867
Total word count: 39,160
Status: Work in progress
Something was wrong. Nakida had sent them that message but hadn't gotten back to them since. Had they been caught by the guards?
The thrum Huian could feel was almost like a heartbeat now, a taunt. She gritted her teeth, quickening her step. So close. She was so close to Joyce now.
"Huian."
She huffed, turning around. Kang-dae's lips were pursed, his eyebrows drawn in. "I kn-" His gaze flashed away from her and he straightened. "Get behind me."
Huian couldn't hear anything but she did it, going a few steps behind him.
"More than that."
She nodded, backing up some more, giving him space. It left her in between a junction, and she looked down one of the corridors, feeling Joyce was in that direction.
If she went around the corner, whoever was coming wouldn't see her. And then she could get Joyce.
Kang-dae could handle the people by himself through wit or strength, Takeo's memories showed her that, and Nakida could direct him to where she was afterwards. Or she could help them once it was done.
This was just something she had to do.
Nakida turned and ran, hearing voices get further away, following the pulse of the other Dark Spear.
Nakida wasn't going to make it to their body. With every decisecond that ticked by, it became less of a possibility and more certain as the AI closed in on them.
Humans had limits on how fast they could move, imposed limits on themselves on how fast they thought they should or could move.
AIs didn't have that. AIs didn't have doubts or could get distracted or stumble.
Except they could, if another program tried to run using the same resources the AI was.
And Nakida was desperate, trying to think of any idea that they could use. The last times, they'd left the system and sent out the information they'd been able to gather from under the AI's attention. They hadn't been found by an AI before.
They didn't want to be caught either.
There was no time left. There was still far too much distance between them and their body.
Nakida could think of one thing they could try; it could mean they would never reach their body again, but it was better than their consciousness being deleted by the AI. A slim chance was better than none.
If Nakida could have taken a breath, they would have, but instead they let their hold on their consciousness go, flinging out their sense of self outwards.
A moment of dizziness.
Tumbling.
And then Nakida was so much bigger, their entire self stretched out over the entire system.
No, they were the system. All the data was theirs to take however they wanted and the AI that had seemed so threatening a millisecond ago was only one small part of them that they could control.
It took one thought to switch the AI off, though it was not a threat anymore. They switched off the alert as there was no longer a threat. The threat had been taken care of.
Once the guards had received the message, they picked out the feeds to find their two companions.
Huian was in a different area than she'd been kept; it was the training areas for the modified humans, where they were tested or used as sparring rooms.
Not that one… Or that one… Dark Spear's anger beat at the back of her mind, driving her forward until she found the area where she walked past the other Dark Spear's pulse.
That one.
This room didn't need a code and she walked in, already feeling Dark Spear start to curl down to her fingers. Not yet. There was still a limit to how much she could control, how much pain Dark Spear caused. She didn't know how to throw or create lances yet. Though with Takeo's memories filling her in…
Joyce was on the other side of the room, her back turned to her. The ground was littered with small puddles of Dark Spear, not looking like Joyce was controlling them.
What had she been doing? Trying to transfer it over like with the rat? Stretching Dark Spear out of her body until it couldn't support itself anymore?
Joyce turned around, looked at her, and then at the still open door behind her. "Hm, I would have thought M-21 was with you."
Huian froze, clenching her hands. "That's who you wanted to see." No her.
"Of course." Joyce lifted a hand, sweeping her hair back, pressing her fingers to her temple. "The amount of knowledge I could get from him, his strength, he would be far more worthwhile than you; someone like you, I have easy access to. Well," she corrected, pressing her fingers harder, "I already have."
With the way Joyce was rubbing her temples…
Joyce lips twitched up, seeing Huian's expression. "They weren't very happy about it either. I'm sure you know the feeling."
Huian did; she knew the headache all the memories caused, and Joyce probably had consumed more than two, just judging by how much of the Dark Spear she'd wasted around her.
Joyce's form blurred and it was Takeo's memories that yelled at her to move, to dive to the right.
She reacted in time, a wind tearing past and Huian had enough time to scramble back to her feet to see Joyce turning around again where Huian had just been standing.
How-? How was she so fast?
Except the answer was she'd modified herself, Takeo's memories giving Huian the information.
But it wasn't that.
Joyce had wanted Kang-dae, not just for his knowledge. But for his strength as well. She'd consumed modified humans as well.
And Joyce was now standing between Huian and the door.
Not that she would be fast enough to reach it before Joyce reached her.
Fuck.
Fuck! M-21 wanted to speed down the corridor to find Huian, but he couldn't, not when there were so many corridors, so many different paths she could have taken.
Shit, why the hell had she ran? There hadn't been any guards in that direction.
This was his fault. If Huian was captured, hurt or killed, it was his fucking fault for being so fucking overconfident of his abilities.
Nakida hadn't been in contact either and that had to mean-
[
01001011 01100001 01101110 01100111 00101101 01100100 01100001 01100101 00101110]What the hell was that?
[
Nakida?] Kang-dae's face was twisted, frowning, his eyes reading their message over and over again. [
Yes? Where is Huian?] Did they have to search for her?[
I can't understand you.] Kang-dae's voice was going soft. He had stopped moving. [ What are you trying to say?]How could he not understand them? Their messages were short and clear.
[
It's all in binary; I can't read that easily.]…Binary? They checked the messages they had sent. The messages were not in binary; the messages were-
Hm.
The underlying message was in binary but had not been translated into text. It should have.
They traced the message back to themselves, reading the messages they had send to Kang-dae.
The messages had been binary.
Why had they sent the message in binary?
[
Nakida?][
I am still-] They stopped, seeing their message pop up as they input it in. It was still in binary. Their message should not be sending mid-message either. Why…?
They tried again, making sure to message him with characters instead.
[
I am still here.][
Thank fuck,] Kang-dae said, his shoulder slumping. [What happened?]What had happened? They had stopped the guards from attacking Kang-dae and Huian. They had shut down the AI.
Before that was…a vague blank.
They knew something had happened there, that was how they knew Kang-dae and Huian and had to help them, but other than that…
It was wrong.
They should know what had happened there. They had access to the entirety of the system; why could they only know what had happened a few minutes earlier?
But they knew what had happened earlier, what had happened the day before, the month before.
That wasn't what was important.
What was important was what had happened to them. What had happened to Nakida.
Nakida. The name Kang-dae was calling them. Their name.
They weren't the system.
They were Nakida.
And they had to collect themselves from where they had scattered themselves inside the system.
They had some of their sense of self back, no longer following the ever present tick of the clock and they disentangled themselves from the whole, trying to find the other parts of them.
They landed back onto one of the many pathways inside the system, no longer part of it. Nakida was still floating above the pathway, their form more cloud-like than human, and they collected themselves, focusing on a human shape. There weren't any guards to worry about catching them, and any steps to set them further apart from the system was what they needed to do.
Bit by bit, they flexed non-existent fingers, had hair that brushed their cheek. It was Tao's short straight hair. They were also wearing Tao's suit, but a thought made it flicker, changing to their physical body's appearance before they changed it back to Tao's. Good. They had control over that.
The question was whether all of them had made it out of the system or if there was still part of them there.
Nakida opened up the connection to the communicator with a wave of their hand. [
Kang-dae studied their face. [
You didn't answer my question.][
Long story.] Sort of. They didn't have the time right now. [Where's Huian?]…Kang-dae's stricken expression told them everything.
Huian didn't have enough time to swear, her body straining as she deflected blow after blow.
"Never mind," Joyce said, slashing down at her again, claws elongating as they reached Huian. "Your knowledge will be useful once I get it."
She blocked with the form Dark Spear had formed in her hand, a two-headed spear that flickered at the edges. She'd also been lucky with every single step so far. It had been Takeo's knowledge about Dark Spear that meant she could use it in that form, his familiarity with how to use it helping her to stay out of Joyce's way. She was faster and stronger than she knew she was, Dark Spear's awakening enhancing her body.
It didn't mean shit when Joyce was still faster and stronger than her, only testing her responses while Huian tried to stay alive, her body nicked and bruised in so many different places where Joyce had gotten through her defences.
Only defending wasn't doing her any good, but Joyce wasn't giving her enough space to atta-
"Gghshi-!"
Huian let out a choked out scream at the hot burning sensation in her stomach, Joyce standing right in front of her as she heard her blood splatter against the floor.
It had to be Joyce's fist buried inside her and Huian's spear dissipated as she lost her control over it, lost her concentration as the pain snatched all of her attention away from it.