Thunder and Webs C127 [Gold]

Another civil conversation... this time, between those who have clashed, and are destined to clash again.

Chapter 127: Another Civil Conversation

February 19th

Ripley

Things already got awkward, Diana — or Lilian’s — body was still pressed close to me in this stuffy crowd as she dragged me, and each shift of her body felt like a stroke of flame on my skin despite my nullified Implant. Her nails tightened around my forearm, nearly squeezing the metal out of shape as she growled. “You’re going to tell me everything, Donovick.”

“Guess I’m not on a first name basis, anymore, huh-” My failed attempt at a joke resulted in a sharp yanking, but people naturally paved way for her, several others cheering me on as a ‘lucky one tonight’ or others with jealous sneers. Strangely, most of the jealousy came from women.

She pushed me out into the open, where her eyes frantically sought for someone else and seconds later I felt a large hand press on my shoulder as Dryder came to vision. “Well, lookie here. Who invited you, Donny?”

“Twilight.” I answered, allowing the woman to manifest in my vision as she turned to Diana who was still holding my hand. I felt a sharp zap leave my steel and bridge into her skin, and she looked surprised as she registered Twilight.

“Why?”

“He told you why, Diana! Your dad and the Mayor gave him a visit.” Twilight folded her arms. “He’s not here for anything malicious, just hear him out and… by the way… I left you a message!”

Diana’s crimson eyes trailed somewhere and she palmed her head. “Okay, my bad… was drinking a little.”

“Oh, no.” Twilight put her hands on her hips. “You were fucking grinding on my ex! You were drinking a lot!”

“I was not-” she hissed, “-where’s Anthony?”

“With his aunt.” Dryder commented.

“Oh…” I raised my head and turned over my shoulder. “How’s the Lieutenant… or well, former Lieutenant doing? And uh, how’s it going between you and her, Dryder?”

“We don’t talk much, but… it’s been nice having her around.” He admitted. “Thanks, by the way, for waking Antho-”

“Not now, Dryder.” Diana hissed, or was it Lilian? I had no idea which was worse, Alter-Ego or Soul Trigger. “Anthony’s coming down… you… stay here and…”

She paused as she looked at my face.

———

Lilian Rose

Soul Resonance reacted strongly now that I was aware of Ripley and the alcohol was fading from my body, waves of complex emotions drifted from his mind like a tangible current. I felt like I was swimming in a tumultuous torrent of ambition, grief, shame, a hatred that was directed inwards, pain, some level of pride and also… relief.

Ripley was relieved to see me, and that quickly bubbled into small pockets of joy, which were quickly crushed under a fist of shame. Shame's grip was further wrapped under chains of grief. So much grief.

I glanced away. everything was so messy in both mine and his thoughts that I decided to just get ahead of them. “I’m sorry about your mother, Ripley. My sincerest condolences... she was a good woman. How have you been doing?”

“Honestly, a lot of bad and good. I’m taking it as it comes.” He spoke honestly, searching for my gaze. “I was a bit… lost for a while. Actually, I've been lost for a long time, but recently, things have given me direction. I met someone and… well… they looked up to me.  I want to give her a reason for that.”

Ambition was strong now, but so was shame. A lot of shame. “This person, you hurt them?”

“How’d you know?” He asked.

“I just do.” I didn’t meet his gaze.

“I did… they used…” He stayed silent, looking down. “The things I want to talk about, Lilian, they’re better spoken in private and… not to you.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“You’re a bit snappy, Lilian.” He shrugged. “And… you know, bite necks and stuff. Just want to talk to your… brighter half. Or third?”

“I need Anthony with me, to make sure you’re being honest.” I said.

“Do you?” Ripley raised to me, a sad glance falling to my crimson right hand and the left eye that was faintly metallic in its scarlet shine. “I’m not lying, not anymore. I’m sorry… for everything.”

I grappled with my thoughts, before conceding. “Fine. Let him go, Dryder.”

Dryder let him go, and I found Andressa serving some drinks… but her eyes were firmly painted on us. A lot of people were looking at us. I pulled him to the side, nodding at Andressa who approached with a sultry smile.

“Look at this, my two favorite snacks. Do I finally get to see your eyes under my hair tonight?” She looked at Ripley, who gulped and shook his head. “Oh, a shame… but tell me, what do you need?”

“A private room.” I nudged to the hallway.

“Oh, and I’m not invited?” She pouted, “you know I’ll be good, always for you, Bloodthorn.”

“It’s not for that.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “We need to talk somewhere private.”

She nodded, but rolled her eyes as she led the two of us down the hallway and took the appearance of the Crimson Heart in a flash of illusory crimson. I’d learned by now that she only appeared to those whom she wanted to be seen by. But Ripley, strangely, didn’t seem to react.

“Oh, how curious, his mind appears to be muted to Warp Energy.” She tapped her chin.

“Ripley…” I turned to him. “What do you see on Andressa?”

“Barely any clothing.” He bluntly said, to which the Crimson Heart chuckled.

“Interesting, very interesting… Lilian, touch him.” The Heart directed.

“Touch…” I was beyond this, but did as told. He looked at me in confusion as my hand gripped his shoulder.

“Resonate with him, reawaken his Implant, burn away that which is nullifying him.” She clarified.

———

Ripley

All of a sudden, the structure of the club changed. I knew it seemed different from its usual form, the red was more muted and there were far more doors and hallways than usual, but I’d assumed it to be the result of the Heart’s illusions. But as Diana’s Energy touched my Implant, I realized it was a case of the opposite. I was seeing the true shape of the Hellfire Club. A massive warehouse and industrial complex with too many branching paths for a typical club.

The illusions here merely masked the true face, and for a moment, I’d seen the truth.

The Heart appeared where Andressa once was, and I felt my Features come back online as the Nul-Serum was quickly made ineffective by Diana. Still… the second she stopped touching me, I felt the Serum working to once more eat away at the Warp Energy Diana had filled me with.

But for this moment, I burned to speak what was on my mind. The Heart, however, glanced at me with curiosity. “So, Emizren is back? She hasn’t yet made herself known.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that. We cut ties.” I made sure to stare pointedly at Diana.

“Ah, and have you made any progress on our project?” The Crimson Heart stood by a door, but didn’t seem keen on opening it unless I answered on the status of what Shardware I’d designed for Heart Seeker. I reached into my pocket, pulling out a cube and tossing it to her.

A crimson flare caught it, and just as quickly concealed it.

Diana, this time, stared at me pointedly but kept her screaming inside her head for now.

Before entering the room, however, my eye caught Anthony Grazhe strolling down and his gaze matched mine. I wasn’t sure what to say, but he ended up speaking first.

“Huh, you know, I’ll give you my thanks for waking me up…” Then he leaned closer. “But if you do anything to hurt her again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Strangely, his words had no effect on me, but I could feel the venom in their pitch. “I’m not here as my worser half. I’m here… to hopefully have some good come out of things. But, hey, I- I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry… for rejecting you the last time. For not helping Diana, I… I wish I made this decision sooner.”

He looked surprised by my words, before casting a glance at Diana who huffed. “Its fine, his powers seem to be dampened any way.”

She opened the door and dragged me inside, and the air stiffened with tension as neither of us said anything for a few quiet moments. Shuffling my feet, I was about to sit down, but she was still standing with her arms folded, so I adjusted to stand back up, and she chuckled.

“Something funny?”

“No. Just… you really did come to Little Requiem with your Implant not working. Twilight told me about the Nul-Serum.” She said.

“And I’m assuming Archangel let you know about it in the first place, should have figured the timing was suspicious.” I responded. “But… I have a lot of shit I want to get off my chest.”

“Leave it,” she looked away.

“Please, Diana.”

Saying her name out loud made her breath hitch, and I saw a flash of lightning tear out the stone-gray of her cheek as blood burst out to reveal her normal pale skin underneath.

“What?” I looked at the wound, she gave a dry chuckle.

“Just one of the many perks I received from fighting your ass, correction, from beating your ass.”

I technically had won up until she self-destructed her Implant.

Her eyes narrowed. “Whatever you thought, I don’t like it.”

“So your Soul Resonance works on me, but the Crimson Heart’s illusions don’t?”

She scoffed. “Must be some weird product of our Implants… but even then, I don’t feel anything from you unless I’m... aware of you. When you approached me from behind, I didn’t feel shit.”

Silence brewed between us again, until she relented. “Fine, you want to talk to Diana?”

Electricity wrapped around her body, and I gulped as I saw flesh burst off her form like it had been a cocoon over pale skin. It molted off her, leaving bloody swelts of flesh and skin dripping down her clothes until I saw her — and what I’d done to her. Her right arm was some strange blend of blood and silver-like steel, almost flowing in shape with what I had to assume was Dianium, while her left eye was a metallic orb. Seeing her, truly seeing her, made me understand just how bad I’d fucked up.

Diana

“Got what you asked for, and now you can’t say anything?” I barked, not liking this uncomfortable presence that wrapped around us both. Uncomfortable, because it made me feel his pain — the origin of which was my pain. “You said my dad and the-”

He approached and hugged me, his steel arms wrapping around my bloodsoaked clothes .

I was stunned, entirely unsure what to do, an alarm of panic went out in my head as I remembered that this was the same man who’d impaled, amputated and maimed me. But then I heard his voice.

“Fuck, I hurt you… and it was all for…” it broke into a weak shudder, “I should have been honest with you from the start. I should have trusted you more. What I did… to save my mother, it didn’t even work out. And you’re the one who suffered for it. I’m sorry. There’s a lot of fucked up things I did that day… and I don’t fault you if you don’t forgive me.”

“I don’t.” I said stiffly in his arms. “You made things… really difficult.”

He pulled away slowly, and I felt some hope evaporate from him. But there was still a lingering cloud of it trying to rain on me, and a part of me wanted to embrace that, but at the same time… it could just as easily be used to drown me in his ambition.

I took a step back from his arms, folding my own. “Tell me about my father and the Mayor.”

“They both visited me, offered me deals to work with them. The Mayor: for SynTec, and your dad: for the government. It’s all a bit complicated, but the long story of it is… they want to control how Dreadwire is used, they want my tech and my… expertise, I guess.”

I laughed at the idea of it, considering what I was going through? “Don’t.”

“I know, shitty deals, if I’m being honest. But… if I don’t take them, SynTec will probably come after me and Elsa.”

That… could never happen. If they aggravated him or The Dogwhistler, they had no reason to remain peaceful anymore. “I’ll see what I can do to prevent that.”

“Are you sure your word will mean anything?” He said, and the truth was…

“I can’t give any guarantees, but maybe…” Maybe a part of him deserved that, but was that my spite or my justice speaking? “I’ll talk to my dad… maybe put you in witness protection.”

Ripley frowned. “I don’t to stay hidden, though. I… look, Diana, I’ll admit I haven’t been Dreadwire for good reasons… but… maybe I can.”

I clenched my fists as he continued. “Recently, I… decided to right some wrongs. I’ve killed people, sometimes in aggravation, sometimes in self-defense. Not always for the right reason. The first time I used Data Mimicry, my mind was… affected by the Implant I used, and it led me into a confrontation with a drug dealer who… I killed. It left her teenage daughter orphaned and…”

Shame washed over me as he forced the words out of his throat. “She was sex trafficked. Tossed from one shithole to another until she landed in a den of snakes. Worst thing, this place uses Personality Editors, ones I’ve traced to have once belonged to the Snake Fangs and… likely originated from my design.”

“So you want to destroy it?” My stomach felt uneasy. “Let the police handle-”

“I saw men in uniform using that place.” He scoffed. “And who knows how many others there are. Snake Fangs are basically under the control of Skeleton, and he’s now on the government’s payroll… you really think its going to be that easy to shut down an operation like this?”

“Well, if you’re asking for permission to be Dreadwire again. You’re not getting it.” I said firmly. I did not want him getting back into this mess. “Thank you, for bringing this to my attention, but you’re on a thin line, Donovick. I can see you’re trying to do better, I acknowledge that, but I’m not giving you the go-ahead into this… vigilante crusade. It’s unlawful and-“

“Unlawful?” He rolled his eyes, and agitation frothed into his voice. “Diana, you’re in Little Requiem. You’re working with the Crimson Heart. You’re many things, but don’t be a hypocrite.”

“Fine!” My jaw clenched. “I’m not exactly working within the boundaries of the law, either, but don’t forget about Starlight! You promised her-”

“And I’m trying to do good by that promise!”

“You’re trying to be Dreadwire again! I know you, Donovick, I’ve seen what kind of person you are in your memories. And it’s not just you! You begin getting back into the underworld and your girlfriend follows next? What guarantee do I have-”

“She has a collar on her neck ready to explode her if she steps out of line, I have the remote. Missy is the other remote.”

Sarcasm burned in my throat. “Oh, wow, that makes me feel so much better? The woman who helped assassinate a Mayor, and the man who lied to me for months is promising me that should his mind-manipulating cyber-nuke girlfriend step out of line then you’ll have the balls to stop her!”

I took a deep breath. “Want me to trust you? You’ll hand that remote to me.”

“I’m not doing that.” He shook his head firmly.

“Well, Ripley — you’re not being Dreadwire again. Simple as that… stick to what you’re doing. The clinic is a good start…” I lowered my voice, despite my disdain, empathy leaked through. “I can tell you’re trying to do a good thing. But lately, I’ve learned even bad people will do good things if it gets them to the right place.”

Hurt flashed across his face, his gaze shaking off mine as he whispered. “So is that it? You think I’m a bad person?”

“Ripley, it’s not…” I seethed, more for myself. “You’re trying to change, I’m aware of that. I’m not so blind as to discount what you’re doing, trying to do. But please, don’t dig yourself deeper than you have to.”

“People look up to me, you know that?” He chuckled, as mad tears dripped down his eyes. “They look up to Dreadwire! That girl whose mother I killed has a tattoo of my mask on her arm! And you know what? Maybe I… maybe I want to be like you, a little bit? Someone who brings hope to people.”

“Ripley… the people you bring hope to are those exact people who seek… less than justifiable causes.”

“They’re people who’ve been failed by the system. The one you’re a part of!” He pointed his finger at me.

“And that’s why I have my Foundation running, to get those people out of those situations!”

“Oh, that same Foundation taking veterans from the streets and arming them to fight again?” He gritted. “The one clearly being molded as a front for state surveillance?”

“It’s not that simple! I’ve had to make compromises!”

“Then compromise with me!” He grabbed my arm, I yanked it away.

“I am!” I shouted, my breath shuddering as I felt his desperation. “It’s only been two months Ripley. That’s not enough time for you to have proven yourself as… the man you want to be. Give it some more time, give it… there will be a day when I probably will need you, but you’re the one who said I was useless without you, remember? So forgive me for trying to be self-sufficient, for trying to fight for change within the system, I can’t just magic away all this bullshit around us, but I’m trying to change things… just like you are.”

He took a deep breath. I could see thoughts and words dying on his face. In the end, he smiled and rubbed his eyes and nodded. “You know what… fine. You’re right about a lot of stuff, it’s like I said… I should been honest with you. I should have put my trust in you. So I’m going to do that, right now.”

That took me by surprise. I fought back the pain to try and speak from a place of wisdom, but maybe some emotions gathered into my words as well. “As difficult as it is for me, I’m doing the same for you.”

He swallowed, and I saw him take a step away, ready to leave. I held onto his arm, shaking my head. “I want to know how you’re really doing.”

“Like shit.” He said, standing still. "Like I'm... shattered and only held by glue."

I walked over and sat down on a couch. I wasn't sure why, but I pat the seat next to me. “I really am sorry about your mother, Ripley. A part of me understands why you did it all, even if I can’t bring myself to forgive it.”

He hesitated, but took the seat. I didn’t fight his emotions this time, instead I sought to understand what was really going on with him. Maybe a part of me hoped things would go back to the way they were just as much as he did, but it wasn’t that simple. Circumstances had changed, the eyes on us were bigger, the potential threat was larger, and if Dreadwire got involved… everything could ignite into something I couldn’t control.

But regardless, I couldn’t so easily forget the intentions behind him. Ripley wasn’t inherently bad… and honestly, maybe Elsa wasn’t as well, but the line of morality, law and ethics was thin. When could we stop judging people by their past, and when could we accept that they had changed into a better person, one worthy of forgiveness?

I didn’t know the answer to that, but for the first time since Soul Killer had been made public, I felt like I had someone to talk to. I don’t know why it had to be Ripley of all people, but he was that person. “I don’t know if you want to talk about it, but… how was your mother, towards the end?”

“Happy. She was hopeful, and… looking forward to working again.” He smiled, but I didn’t feel any despair or regret from him, grief and longing — sure — but his emotions were genuine. “She was proud of me. And… I guess I’ve been looking for ways to be that person she wanted me to be.”

“That’s good… what about… you and Elsa?” I asked, his gaze shifted.

“Complicated. Daylight and Midnight came back and they’re… a lot, right now. My head has barely been mine since I got this Implant, even before it, but… that medication I’m taking, it’s to stop Psyche from controlling me. It’s all heavier, but it’s real. The Personality Editor is inactive right now.”

My eyes widened. “That’s a big step.”

“Thank you.” He whispered.

“And Starlight?”

“Hm, she’s the same as ever… just, quieter. More thoughtful. I can tell she wants to be there for me, and I want to be there for her as well, but… we both decided that its best to refrain from Synching up. We need each other, but we also need more than that. Some... alone time.”

“I guess that’s pretty healthy.” I hesitated as my hand lifted, but I decided to just go for it and let my fingers rest on his arm as I whispered. “I know things have been… shitty, but you seem to have things going about in a way that… I probably could have never managed.”

His fingers traced down my forearm to my silver-colored digits, a thin zap of static flowed between the two of us and intensified the resonance between us.

As much as I wanted to deny it, to hate him, I couldn’t bring myself to do so once I could feel his emotions. They say ignorance as bliss, well… understanding might be a curse then.

But understanding was a step forward.

“Ripley… I want to understand what happened to us.”

“Yeah, you definitely should not be in my head like this.” He smiled. “You’ve been through a lot as well, haven’t you? That… Soul Trigger when we fought, it took a toll on your Implant, I’m assuming?”

“I’m…” Did I want to reveal my weakness to him? “My electrical mutations, they… they’re unstable unless I trigger them emotionally. Being Lilian Rose is easier right now, her thoughts are simpler. As Diana, as Silvereye, everything’s so much more complicated and I just don’t know what to do. Soul Killer, I wanted them to be known, but now that they are… its like they’ve been propped up as some sort of political tool instead of an actual threat.”

“Yeah, lots of controversy I’ve seen online. How’re you dealing with it?”

“I know that not everyone will… understand how big of an issue they are, but its frustrating. I can’t deny that. I don’t know who I have to be and when to be what, I feel like I’m being pulled in all directions and… am getting close to tearing.”

“Oh,” he rubbed his Neuroframe. “I, uh, might have a solution for that.”

“Huh?”

“Well, not exactly me. Rather, that thing where I gave the Crimson Heart a Datacube? It was schematics to create Shardware for Heart Seeker and Hexblood to well, emulate your powers. Currently working on a dynamic Personality Matrix to imitate your behavior-”

“You’re making a clone of me? Using… Princesses of Muramasa.” Oh, fuck that!

“Wait, before you… say anything. I’ve looked at her… their minds. They’re puppets, they don’t have a personality or anything, Hexblood has been brain dead for years while Heart Seeker’s mind is nothing but code. What I’m working on is… a chance for them to be reborn in a sense. It’ll be slow, but… I made a deal with the Heart and Queen to ensure they aren’t exploited. The Personality Matrices will trace what little individuality remains, build a foundation on it that will allow self-expression of a natural personality that’s… theirs. They’ll be able to become their own person… eventually, I hope.”

Everything he said was true, but still… “Ripley, you were already on a thin line. Working with a puppeteer doesn’t exactly…”

I chewed on my thoughts. “You did this to help me? No other fucking reason?”

“I did.” He nodded. “And to help them. To fix what The Bladefather had done to them, what Soul Killer did to them. They’re victims. And believe me, Elsa’s working herself through the wringer to create an exact setting of parameters based on her understanding of Personas to give them the free will to discover who they are.”

“But, wait, you said the whole point of this was to make… what, a clone of me?”

“No!” He raised his hands into the air. “To create someone who can just imitate you very well… it wasn’t my idea, by the way. It was Crimson Heart’s. But I’ll be honest, she offered me a… piece of The Bladefather’s corpse.”

“Oh.” I mouthed, feeling anxious considering my own consumption. “And what will you intend to do with that, Donovick?”

“Back to my last name?” He rolled his eyes. “Likely, something to do with my nanites. Although, I can’t deny I’m partially interested in that Muramasa blade of his. My grandfather apparently stole some as well, might want to catch up on that.”

I stayed silent, already feeling like Ripley was in too deep. But he was being honest, he wasn’t hiding anything, not at this moment. “Better you, than Skeleton, I guess…”

“Oh, they told me Skeleton bought some samples already.” He shrugged.

I groaned. “These bitches.”

“I know, right? No matter where we go, people play both sides.” He sighed longingly into the air. “I’m… glad I could talk to you, Diana. By the way… uh, curiosity’s gotten to me, but… did you look into The Founder Gene?”

“I did.” I pursed my lips.

“Which one?”

There was no hiding it. “Mazhyr. My… she’s my grandmother, apparently my mother is NeoCore Herald Sapphire.”

“No fucking way.” His mouth opened wide. “I was willing to bet you were cousins with Missy. But Mazhyr? Damn, you’re the granddaughter of The Founder of The Free Cities? Of the woman who invented Neuroframes? Mutagenic extraction? Modern Warpcode theory? Where’d all that go from you-?”

I smacked him in the arm, he didn’t wince but just kept that dumb smile. I glanced away. “Jackass. I don’t know what it all means, but… how did you learn about the Founder Gene?”

“I inherited it as well.” He said simply.

“You do? Which…”

“Neither,” he shook his head, “apparently, being the child of a hybrid means you have the permission to go ahead to Tier V. Before you ask, it was my mom’s mother. Euriel Temez. Apparently… her and my grandfather were Tier IV and wanted to try for a kid and took drastic measures before… well, she died giving birth to my mother.”

“So, great…” I felt that unease again, but it didn’t come from him. The unease was all from my heart, “two people with the Founder Gene are given Gold Implants touched by the Shard of Change. Both of us, wielding the capacity to go to Tier V. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“And now… even we’ve hybridized.” Ripley said, “I definitely have a Deviant Mutation of some sort, something affecting my body’s ability to bond with Shardware… my nanites are a lot more… weird nowadays.”

“Weird, how?”

“I mean, my blood’s entirely black now, for one.” He shrugged. “I call it Neolymph.”

“And my mind’s conducting Warpcode…” I sighed. “A touch from me gives Twilight free access to any other Shardware. But it’s more than that… lately I’ve been feeling more… affected by the thoughts of others.”

He stayed silent, but I decided to raise the question.

“Starlight could figure it out, right? Bridge our Implants, let us… read one another?”

“Theoretically.” He nodded. “Do you… want me to call her over? She’d be happy to see you again.”

I pondered, but I decided it was about time I understood what was wrong with me. “Go ahead.”

He took a deep breath, “Gonna need some Energy.”

I offered my hand, and he took it. Slowly, his own Energy came to manifest as mine jumpstarted his Implant once more. Now that I was touching him, I could feel the changes to his body.

It wasn’t all that different from Captain Ishram Krishav. They both used nanites, and Ripley technically had Dual Adapter qualities now, but there was a notable difference. The Captain’s nanites felt contained. Sturdy and capable of turning his liquid-body as sharp as a blade. Whereas… Ripley’s nanites felt… hungry, like they could devour anything.

Through our contact, a pink zap flowed between us and in seconds I saw a pink fairy glitch into being around me. Starlight smiled at me, her eyes glistening as she bolted to hug my neck.

“I missed you.”

“I… I missed you too, Star.”

“My mother’s said a lot of good about you… I’m happy. You feel different now, like… I’m coursing in your… heart?”

“Twilight never explained it that way.” I smiled with mirth.

“Does this mean you and Dad are…?” She had a hopeful smile.

I shook my head. “No, Star. We’re not working together, he can’t be Dreadwire again. But… for now, I’ve heard about how you both are doing. I told him that he’s on the right track, but to leave certain things… to me. Okay?”

“Oh…” A dissapointed frown fell on her, but she quickly lifted it up in a cheery smile. But I could feel the truth of how she felt, it was more pronounced than even Ripley’s emotions. Amaterasu had felt like nothing except those rare moments where it seemed like she truly took interest, Twilight was a blend who never felt too strongly in any which direction.

But Starlight? Her emotions shined and pulsed through me, but they weren’t overbearing even despite the sadness I could feel.

“Star,” Ripley began, “we… want to understand what happened to us, could you Synchronize us?”

She nodded at him, moving to where Ripley’s fingers met my palm as she sat in between both of us. “I’ve been practicing a lot with mom and Seraphim before… well, before Maiden got angry with you. Sera still sends me messages sometimes, we play games online. Uh, but… I think I can make this synchronization a little more stable. And uh, design some UI to help you guys figure this out on your own!”

“Thank you.” I whispered.

She smiled, before I felt something weird happen to me. For a second, it was like my consciousness faded… or more precisely expanded past my own mind as lightning that was a faint pink color coursed between the two of us and reached into his blood. The steel-like limb of my right forearm pulsed, drawing forth from his fingertip a growing tendril of black liquid with speckled gold.

As they touched, my mind shuddered as something reached into it, and Ripley’s body flinched as I felt my heart beat as though it was pumping his blood — because it was definitely mutated. No, it was more than just his blood.

The very essence of his Warp Energy had changed. That was the nature of a Deviant Mutation. His blood was something else. He hadn’t developed one mutation… but two.

Analyzing Mutations…

• Soul Graft… [Deviant]

• Biotechnosymbiosis… [Alteration/Cognition]

“Your Unique Feature…” He whispered. “It’s called Synapse. And it has two Protocols… Overtrigger… and Shardware Assimilation.”

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Writing this entire scene was one of my highlights of the arc. I love putting in a rhythm of push and pull to the characters' feelings, tell me what you think of how I did?