Alma 142 Purging the Infection

He had expected the bottom to have been metal-like in nature, given how she had described the mechanism that ran the Heavenly Barrier. For it to have been some kind of advanced machine construct of tremendous size.

W-What in the hell is... THIS?! Where have I ended up this time?!

It was alive..... the surface, that is. This was no machine entity as Reed had been told. At the very least, not the kind he had been expected. Reed was genuinely horrified. In fact, he almost couldn't even believe what he was seeing. Not because he was relying on his mind's eye, but because of the implications that it'd cause were too frightening to contemplate.

When Reed saw five peaks — strange, oddly-shaped mountains — in the distance and the peculiar terrain under his feet, it all came together for him. The pulsating, repetitive thrum, and warmth under him were oddly comforting, as if he'd experienced it before somewhere else...

T-this isn't a... machine. Oh, GOD. Is this... Is this a HAND?! T-There's no way... right?!

Reed tried his damndest to come with another conclusion, but he couldn't. Not with those five mountains in the distance begging the question. The more he observed, the more obvious it became. He saw the terrain for what it was; deep fault lines and cracks in the ground were wrinkles on the palm of an unknown hand. The warmth and pulse in the ground were assuredly from the blood underneath the surface.

H-Heh, of course, of course...! What more could you have expected from the Ancient Mulians, Reed?! An actual machine, like a normal person?

You've already seen what they're capable of, so why is this any... different? ...Right? 

Still, he couldn't help but feel unnerved by the idea that something like this existed beneath the continent. That this was where Anima originated from on Mulia. It was something beyond his capacity for understanding.

But still... if this is just a hand, then how big is the entire body? This hand alone was large enough that I actually mistook it for a landmass in the beginning.

This is so beyond my paygrade... Well, everything about this is out of my league, but then again, that's the usual case for me...

Reed gazed around as he tried to make sense of where he was supposed to go and noticed strange markings across the surface. Darkened lines of decay and rot beneath the palm that looked absolutely disgusting.

Some of the dark lines had burst open, exhuming fresh miasma out into the open as it floated upwards like smog...

He'd found the source of the miasma that had been troubling him for the longest; it was the hand itself. And it made sense, given everything that she had told Reed before he departed.

She had told him that it was an infection. When had the world infection ever been used to refer to the deterioration and poisoning of the world? Was that not referred to as pollution?

The time he'd ever heard the word 'infection' was when it was concerning a living thing. People and animals got sick and had developed infections, not goddamned continents.

Reed wanted to cry. Had he been sent to play a doctor or a mechanic? Was it a machine or a living thing? He no longer cared anymore and pushed the thought aside.

She had explained to him that he'd find a 'node' to rest the machine, but he had not been given a specific description. He thought that'd it was going to be a problematic issue, but quickly figured out what she had meant by a reset node.

It'd just been behind him the entire time. He'd been so focused on the giant fingers in the distance that he had completely forgotten about the other half of the palm.

When Reed turned around, he finally understood why she had said that "it'll be very easy to find."

Holy shit, she wasn't lying...

An immense spike lay behind Reed taller than the 'mountains' themselves. An enormous, metallic spike loomed over him as it pierced into the storm above.

He suddenly felt like a massive idiot. How had he missed something this large? The damn thing was more than a thousand meters tall and somehow he had not even noticed its existence until he turned around.

Reed chuckled bitterly in self-derision.

This is probably what she was referring to as a machine. I mean, what else could even remotely explain it better than this?!

How could I have been so blin—

Goddamnit... Sometimes I really do feel like an irredeemable idiot. Thank god Lu'um isn't here to watch me piece this shit out...

He hurriedly made his way toward the monolithic construct in the distance and touched it as he had been thankfully instructed to do. That was the extent of Reed's interaction with the highly advanced machine, thanks in part to the ingenious planning of the original creator.

It required no external support, for it had been built with everything it needed to perform precise diagnostics and repairs on itself. Not because the original creator wanted to create a machine with multiple fail-safes to ensure that the machine would last as long as possible.

No, the creator simply didn't like other people messing with his creations, so he made sure that'd they wouldn't need maintenance in the first place.

The massive spike suddenly shone and the surface began to tremble in response, as if to signal something ominous.

A cold, lifeless voice said, "Registered signature detected. ERROR. Unable to establish a link with the Central Core. Last known date of connection — Era of Ruin, year 5426. Seventh Lunar Spring, Month of the Hummingbird, 18th day."

Reed knew that date, the 18th. The day of the Twilight War fell on the 18th. It had not made contact with the others since then.

"A diagnostic check is required. Please wait... Vital signs are critical. Corrupted pathways detected. Irregular cardiac rhythm detected. Abnormal temperature detected.

MANDATORY RESET REQUIRED. OVERRIDING PROTOCOL 26F-SUNDOWN/TWILIGHT/

WARNING. RESET IMMINENT. WARNING. RESET IMMINENT. WARNING. RESET IMMINENT."

Oh, shit. I'm pretty sure this is where I go, r-right? ...You know what, I'm jus—

Suddenly the ground beneath Reed's feet started to glow. For as far as he could see, all manner of dramatic changes were starting to happen.

Most concerning of them all though, was the fact... that the hand started twitching.

The five mountains were moving, much to Reed's horror, and they were not looking very hospitable. Enormous swells of Anima rippled on top of the giant fingertips, each one a gargantuan tsunami of superheated Anima.

No, no, no, no...! I am NOT sticking around for that shit! Aaaahhhh!

Reed immediately channeled all the Anima he could muster and shot upward like a rocket upward. As far as he was concerned, his job was over; whatever was happening now was none of his damn business. He already did what had been asked him. It was time to leave. Now.

The sky above had completely cleared by the time Reed had begun to escape, likely because of the glowing tower of light. Not that he cared, though. The only thing on Reed's mind was getting the hell out of the fissure as fast as possible.

He immediately healed his eyes and restored his sight in order to get a clearer view of what was happening, since his mind's eye was no longer cutting for him. The instant his vision returned, Reed felt a sudden rush of fear.

Everything had completely cleared up. Everything. There was nothing to worry about on the way up; that was worried him the most.

Where had it gone? The ambient Anima had suddenly become ordered, as if it was being controlled by something...

Reed stared down at the glowing spike and felt his instincts screaming at him to run as fast as he could. He could literally feel the Anima around him starting to descend toward the machine below in unimaginable quantities.

It was going purge everything clean and Reed did NOT want to be around when that happened.

He no longer cared about predicting future-paths, but he only foresaw a single ending for him if he was not fast enough: Death.

A single red-hot streak of madness barrelled through the fissure as it tried to outrace its impending demise. It was a mad racer desperately trying to cling on to life and hope.

Around the halfway point, things started to change for the worse. The fissure itself, as ridiculous as it sounded, began to tremble and groan in protest.

Reed knew what was happening but still couldn't believe it. She was actually doing... and pulling it off. The fissure was beginning to close.

The colossal crevice was being forced shut by Lu'um. He knew what that meant.

He was running out of time. Lu'um would not have started unless she absolutely needed to in order to give him as much time as possible to escape.

Reed wasn't going to make it, not at his current speed. He needed something more.

But he didn't know what... Time was running out. He needed to find it fast, or else...

Chapter end