Twi-Blight: Ch 3, Pand-Demon, Pt 4

Twi-Blight; Chapter 3: Pand-Demon Part 4

Needless to say, the slimes momentarily froze in fear before backing away slowly. "I won the battle, but the war still rages," Rhapsody thought before facing Khellou through a bot and saying: "I demand you tell me all you know about those creatures and their relation with you." -"You ain't my boss, you glorified rusty ape!" Khellou defiantly yelled; Rhapsody promptly electrified him by stabbing him across the sphere with a special reddish energy blade. "Your current position says otherwise, the A.I. coldly replied. Must I repeat my question?" After recovering from the shock, Khellou grumbled and said angrily: "Fine, you made your point ("you degenerate piece of scrap," he mumbled). A couple of weeks ago, I was taking a stroll in a nearby field - the Plumbers had freed and brought me back here 3 or so days before. So while I walked around, I head a huge noise nearby closing in on me; at first, I did the smart thing attempting a tactical retreat, but eventually realized I was only delaying the inevitable. So I stood my ground and got ready to kill whatever was coming at me. Surprisingly, it was a troop of slimes similar to the ones I spawned when fused with a demon to kick your buddies' asses," he added snickering. "Keeping my guard up, I asked one what they wanted and were. It said they were familiars of "Khellou Brady" - Yeah, I'm famous, deal with it - who ventured for 3 days from across the globe to serve me. I still didn't know how these guys came to be, or why they worshiped me - not that I blame them, but I couldn't care less. I had an invincible army able to turn folks into my slaves, as they told me and demonstrated." Khellou chuckled maniacally, then resumed: "I was gonna take over Earth, AND get revenge on the Plumbers and your pathetic buddies. So I sent some minions on a global rampage while the rest invaded Geenz's home - that egghead's always a huge threat," he added in sadistic glee. "But instead, he went to spread the disease all over space thanks to that blue freak Pearl! Maybe I'm now Master of the Galaxy!"

As Khellou told his side of the story, he was unknowingly being subjected to a lie detector test by Rhapsody, using the robot's sensors and software on the other side of the globe. "What sort of control do you have on the slimes other than absolute loyalty?" Rhapsody then asked. The man look annoyed and replied: "Nothing, just like your creator's brains! HAHA!" The A.I. didn't mind the insults, being solely focused on the data's validity, which seemed all positive. "Khellou might be right about the entire galaxy succumbing, the A.I. thought. As we speak, the disease could be spreading out of control." He stayed in place motionless, as if suffering of a blue screen. "Yo, Gundam reject, Khellou said annoyed, got any more "demands," or I can leave?" - "Humorism would fit you a lot better than super-villainy," the A.I. snarked, then commanded another bot to deploy a megaphone device. -"SLIMES, LISTEN CLOSELY, Rhapsody's voice resonated across the block. You're probably already informed that your leader is now our hostage. Follow my orders to the letter, and he leaves alive and unharmed. Disobey, and he pays the price." Their master's safety being their No. 1 priority, the slimes had no choice but cooperate with Rhapsody, who told them to excavate a hole into Earth's crust at specific coordinates. In a matter of minutes, slimes flocked from every direction to dig at the spot (barehanded or using construction machinery) while Khellou stayed put under the bots' vigilant bionic eyes. In about an hour, the slimes had dug a huge vertical shaft into the earth, at which point Rhapsody ordered them to stop before going himself down the hole alongside a team of bots with digging equipment.

Upon landing over the shaft's bottom, the team wasted no time removing the remaining inches of minerals between them and their goal: the Source Crystal / Infinity Toonite. In about 5 minutes, the bots stumbled down the cave housing the paranormal crystal, an enormous chunk of glass-like rock radiating a purplish aura. FLASHBACK: after Khellou's interrogation, the A.I. considered the Source Crystal to be the only object with enough power to purge the universe entirely of the plague, ensuring not a single shred of it survived to restart the tragedy. The problem however lied in "convincing" the rock to act that way, as it seemed either fickle or ignorant of the state of things, not to mention it seemed necessary one of its current "chosen" harmonized with to have it perform any action. Despite the current chosen being either dead, slimified or imprisoned, Rhapsody saw no choice but to try it himself. He started working on replicating the harmonizing gauntlet his creator once made to harness the crystal's power, but this was harder than the rest: despite having access to Imad's blueprints, some required materials (rare Toonite minerals & goods Imad originally stole from aliens) weren't part of the secret base's inventory, so Rhapsody had to make do with what's at hand to jury-rig a inferior copy, which was single-use, user-unfriendly and had bad synchronization levels. He'd already considered the possibility of no gauntlet working for a robot, but was desperate enough to try anyway. END OF FLASHBACK: In the Bermuda Triangle base, Rhapsody (as the central computer's A.I.) gave a new bot the gauntlet & teleported it to the Crystal's location (basing the coordinates on the signal being emit by the robot team there). Taking full control over one drone, Rhapsody put the gauntlet on, cleared his bionic mind and then grabbed the giant crystal before turning the device on.

Imagine sight being forced unto a blind person, or sound unto a deaf one: this was somewhat the case as Rhapsody's electronic brain was bombarded with multiple stimuli it was unable to properly process; at the same time, all existing systems housing his digital consciousness started going haywire. "What's... that?" The A.I. struggled to merely think as his sensors picked up a formless world of rainbow lights. "I feel... Pain?" -"Who treads there!?" A deafening voice echoed in Rhapsody's system, who struggled to identify the source in vain. He replied: "Rhapsody... artificial intelligence... Imad Hars created." - "An automaton, the voice replied. Makes sense, you being neither a child of mine, nor an otherworldly threat." The robot barely managed to make out an indescribable mass continuously alternating between pitch-black and blinding white. "Are you... some sort of deity?" -"I'm a god, a devil and everything in between; I'm this universe's Source and core." Rhapsody could hardly process the entity's words, his systems outside starting to emanate sparks. Not wasting any time, he uttered: "All Galaxy... maybe more... infected." -"I'm already aware," the Source replied nonchalantly. Rhapsody was shocked, both figuratively and literally. "So why... do nothing?" He asked. -"Why should I? The Source answered. What my spawns do to themselves doesn't concern me. I only intervene if my own essence is threatened by otherworldly forces." Rhapsody felt burning with anger, alongside his overheating circuitry. "MONSTER! Some nerve... calling them... your kids!" -"This world's organics ARE my spawn, the Source retorted, regardless how I treat them or don't." -"Your three... chosen might be... peril," Rhapsody insisted, now in agony. "Won't you... repay their help... killing demon?" -"Irrational, the Source coldly stated. I no longer need them. And should a new threat arise, I can always choose three more organics. In other words, I can allow the current three's death."

Alongside indescribable sensations, the A.I. felt helplessness, and revulsion towards the uncaring entity. As literal sparks in his system grew brighter, an idea sparked in his mind. "But you didn't..." He muttered, confusing the Source. Feeling his consciousness fading, he explained: "During demon crisis... you chose to save Imad... despite you no longer benefiting..." The source stayed quiet, letting the A.I. resume: "I also have reasons... believe... you saved chosen ones... alternate timeline... while paralyzing the planet." (Out of curiosity, Rhapsody, Jazzuffa and Imad had been formulating some hypothesis about the true cause behind the planet-wide blackout in the bad future; a power surge from the Source Crystal seemed like a plausible idea) The Source sighed and said in a distorted voice: (actually Rhapsody's sound sensors breaking) "You Earthlings and your morals are contagious. Still, saving one human requires a lot less energy than curing everyone." -"Says maker... entire universe... infinite energy..." Rhapsody worded, barely still conscious. -"So be it; I concede your arguments" the Source admit, releasing from the crystallized core an expanding energy wave which engulfed all of existence and purified every atom infected by Bacterium's DNA, returning every infected victim back to their original self, or corpse. Unfortunately, some of the infected got cured while in an atmosphere (or in space) inhospitable for their original bodies, dying shortly upon reverting to their true selves. Also, by the time Rhapsody finished his conversation with the Source inside its paranormal realm, every existing piece of circuitry embed with his cybernetic sapience was deteriorated beyond repair.