{"sf1_id":913286,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 25","author":"Baumarius","words":1549,"posted_at":"2015-09-22T01:11:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913286-victernus-chapter-25","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/913286","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=913286\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"            Namara stepped into the undercity and\ntook a deep breath. It was dead silent and extremely dark, though still light\nenough for him to see with his wolf eyes. The ground was littered with brown\nstones and stalagmites. Gigantic metal beams came down from the platform above,\nproviding support for the main city. These things separated, however, and a\nsmooth path led down into the darkness. He took it, a little bit anxious to\nfind what was waiting for him on the other end.\n            It wasn't until five minutes after\nhe started walking that he found a room that spread out for hundreds of feet.\nIts walls turned at an angle, making it appear to be hexagonal, and they rose all\nthe way up to the city above. The only entrance was a small doorway on the left\nportion of the wall facing him. As he walked towards it, he heard a monotonous\nhumming. It loudened with every step he took on the dry ground.\n            When he reached the door, it slid\nopen for him. He walked into a dim corridor that led to a larger room. The\nwalls were made of metal panels with grooves in between each one. The corners\nof the corridor were missing, having been replaced with panels turned at\nforty-five degrees. The area was spacious and fairly straightforward - there were\nno other rooms along the way. At the end of the corridor, he could make out the\nrailing of a balcony. There was a yellow, pulsating glow within the room. He\nfelt drawn to it, as if someone were there calling him.\n            Namara walked down the corridor in\nquiet anticipation. The glow brightened and the humming grew louder as he drew\ncloser. When he reached the room, he lifted his hands up in awe and then set\nthem down on the railing. Stairs rose upwards along the walls of an enormous,\ncircular room. On the floor below were a series of empty chairs that had\nspecial helmets. Floating in the center was ball of light that glowed brightly.\nThin yellow bands circled around it, flowing in a smooth, random pattern.\nSomething felt strangely hypnotizing about it. Assuming it to be the power\nsource, he wanted to find out exactly what\nit was made of before turning it off, in the case that it might become\nunstable.\n            He scanned the room for some kind of\ncomputer terminal and saw a small station on the next level. After jogging\nlightly up the curved stairs, he stopped at the station and summoned the screen\nto appear in the air. It flickered on and showed all kinds of information,\nincluding the progress of the operation related to the swirling mass and\nguidelines regarding its use and its charging.\n            Namara read the text, looked away,\nand then read it again. No, this can't be\nright... He tried digging through more files about the operation, but they\nall confirmed the same thing. Holding his hand to his chest, he breathed in\nshakily and stared into the pulsing ball, feeling responsible for what New\nSelania had become. He whispered, \"I'm sorry...\"\n            A voice emerged from the balcony\nbelow, \"Isn't it just brilliant?\"\n            Namara felt like he wanted his eyes\nto roll back into his head and disintegrate. He growled, \"I destroyed my\nresearch for this very reason!\"\n            Lynn's heavy footsteps trudged up\nthe stairs. \"Oh, you didn't get all of it. I managed to snag some while you\nworked so diligently on it. And look\nat what it has become! It is the greatest form of efficiency created to this very\nday.\"\n            Not wanting to fall victim to his\nmind-games, Namara stepped up the next set of stairs. He shouted, \"You used my\nresearch to enslave your own people? Anyone who dissents or doesn't fit well\nenough in your 'perfect society'... You do realize that they are conscious in\nthere, do you not?!\"\n            Lynn nodded, continuing his ascent towards\nNamara, \"It's necessary to keep the core running. Otherwise, it would never support\na city such as this.\"\n            He kept his eyes trained on the\nstairway - he only had one more balcony until he ran out of space. Trying to\nbuy time to prepare, he ran up to the very last one and said, \"You will pay for\nthe lives you took, Lynn.\"\n            Lynn shook his head and activated\nhis device. \"Only you, Namara, will be the one to pay for all of this... Or\nrather, you will die, and I will take your body as my own.\"\n            Namara watched as he rose up the\nsecond-to-last flight of stairs. He narrowed his eyes. \"This is all about\njealousy, isn't it? Yes... That's the whole reason you funded my project. You thought\nthat with a mind like mine, you could conquer the world... and now, with a body\nlike mine, you'd be unstoppable.\"\n            He agreed, \"I couldn't have said it\nbetter myself. I'm glad you finally realized it, now that your mind is about to\nmelt away into little tiny animal pieces.\"\n             Seeing how close Lynn was, Namara sunk himself\ninto a near-wordless state and then backed up against the railing of the\ntopmost platform. He ground his feet against the floor as if he was trying to\nmove further backwards. While he did this, he looked down at the floor in a\nnervous fit. \"No...n...no... please... d...don't...\"\n            Lynn laughed and put himself right\nin front of Namara, grinning evilly. \"You're mine now, puppy!\"\n            Namara lowered his ears and whined,\ntrying not to make eye contact. While he did this, Lynn turned and walked a few\nfeet away. \"Come on, pup - it's time to strap you into the big machine\ndownstairs!\"\n            He followed briefly before stopping\nin his tracks and barking loudly at Lynn. He tensed his left arm up as much as\nhe could, and when Lynn turned around to ask what the problem was, he swung it\nin an arc and smashed his implant against Lynn's head.\n            Dr. Lynn immediately fell limp on\nthe ground. His heartbeat still pulsed madly, but he was knocked unconscious.\nNamara got down and fished through his pockets until he found the device that\nwas forcing him into a feral state of mind. It was a small tablet that had a\npurple metal extension fitted to the back. He tapped the screen on and then hit\nthe big button, turning it off. When his words came back, he snapped the tablet\nin half with his hands. \"Only you\nwill pay, Lynn!\"\n            Namara stood up and faced the sphere\nof light that held the hopes and fears of countless individuals. Each\nconsciousness had been converted into a stream of light, and now the ball was\nnearly bursting. Despite the remorse for ever having created the technology\nthat allowed for this to happen, he knew what he had to do. He grasped the edge\nof the railing in front of him and then shouted his mind straight into the\ncenter of the mass.\n            His mind was instantly filled with\nchaos. Hundreds of thousands of thoughts filtered past him. Many were looping\nwhat may have been their final thoughts, which were mostly hopeless ones. The\nweight Namara experienced became heavier and heavier the longer he stayed. But,\nhe eventually filtered many of the thoughts out and put them off to the side in\nhis awareness. He did this until he felt himself standing in a yellow expanse,\nlooking over the carnage. And then, he spoke.\nSelanians!\nListen to me!\nThe voices broke out of their loops and silenced.\nPlease, listen!\nI am the reason you have been forever awake in this void. I do not know of any\nwords that can make up for what I have done, but... please. His voice changed from woefulness into calm\ncertainty. Take this. I will give you the\npeace you seek. He bowed his head and splayed his arms out as if he\ngranting them access to his mind. While he did so, he brought his Koanthanatus\nto his awareness and made it known among them. He spoke slowly and elegantly, This is Koanthanatus. Hold it quickly, and\ndon't let go! I cannot hold it long, but you can!\nThe voices joined together in an excited roar. The\nyellow mass moved towards Namara slowly and then enveloped his body. As more\nand more of them aligned with his own mind, he spoke slowly again, but with\nfinality.\nYour peace is\ncomplete.\nThe pulsing mass of consciousness collapsed in on\nNamara until the room became pitch black. A dark-blue marking surfaced on\nthe right side of his face and glowed faintly. He brought his hand to it, and\nwhen he touched it, he could hear them living on within it. He smiled bitterly\nto himself. Finally, they can rest...\n Glancing down\nat the balconies below, he saw the screen that he had accessed earlier flicker\nout into oblivion. The power was going out. Reminding himself of where he was,\nhe left Lynn for dead and climbed down the stairs carefully. With a new resolve\nabout him, he went back out of the core room and headed for the tunnels. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913216-victernus-chapter-24.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913487-victernus-chapter-26.json"}