A Tale of Two Cities

"Don't hurt her, let Thiera go." Zell said, stepping between Vera and Lilith.

{Well, there's that whole traitor bit for starters. It's quite confusing to hear someone be declared a traitor when you had no idea the person existed.}

*She finds him floating unconscious in the water.*
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{He is one of Vera's Generals. Formarly my General. We were supposed to have defected from Paradigm-1 together, but apparently, it was all a setup.}
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<I 'ave no intention of 'urting 'er. We will need 'er zoon. However, I cannot let you 'ave that data, either.>

T"As if I'd ever help you."

<You don't have a choice. Unless you are okay with Barbatos destroying Paradigm City & everything in it.>

~5 minutes.~

<Cancel ze download & remove ze disc, immediately!>

*Thiera shakes her head at Zell.*

{Interesting. And Vera's some kind of big shot in Paradigm, right?}

*She grabs him by the collar and pulls him up to the surface.*

Zell tried to stall, "Who is Barbatos, and what does Thiera have to do with any of this?"

{She is the new President, you fool!}
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*He is not breathing & the closest land is at least 100 feet away.*
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*The floor starts rumbling.*

Vera<Out of the way, fools!>

*They scurry out of the room just in time to avoid the head of Basilisk crashing through the floor. In the confusion, Thiera elbows the guard holding her in the groin, then tosses him over her shoulder & rolls back into the room, closing the door behind her. Basilisk opens its mouth & uses its laser to weld the door shut.*

T"You did pretty good back there."

Zell smiled, "Thanks, I was just trying to help." She said, "Are you alright, they didn't hurt you did they?"

{I don't moniter current events unless they're barging in my frontdoor. Like almost everytime I encounter you.}

{You're about to get a piece of that door permanently installed in your body.}
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T"Not really, no."

{Download Complete!}

T"Oh God, tell me she didn't have you put her memory circuits in that thing!"

{I don't know how to feel about your threats. I feel like I should be worried, yet I also kind of like them.}

"Yes, her arm wasn't working, so she figured this would be a better way. Why, what is wrong?"

T"It's incredibly dangerous. She can be attacked by firewalls, counter-viruses...she must have known that."

*Thiera slumps on the floor, clutching her head.*

T"It's my fault. I emphasized the importance of getting this information. I drove her to this. If anything happens to her...."

*The disc drive pops open, Lilith's memory circuits just sitting in there seemingly innocuously.*
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{How disgusting. Well, Gevurah leaving us when he's winning can mean only one thing: Paradigm-1 is about to be attacked by a Megadeus. One more powerful than anything seen so far.}

{It is quite unsavory. I will speak to my doctor about it when possible. And do you have any intention of letting this other Megadeus raze the city? Afterall isn't that what you seek to do?}

*She looks around in panic, tears swinging at the corner of her eyes, and then starts pressing on her watch desperately trying to make the Adramelech respond.*

Zell widened her eyes, "Can't you just... fix her like all those other times?"

*It jumps out of the ocean, getting stuck in shallower water & flopping around like a dead fish. The waves are only pushing her further out to sea.*
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{No. But the Megadeus will be left to its own devices. It will make no difference in the end.}
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T"Not if her memory files are corrupted. That technology is too advanced, it can't be backed up or reproduced, no one has ever done it in 40 years. If Lilith's mind is damaged, it's permanent. And if the damage is too extensive...."

{Okay then. Can I go home now?}

[Assuming I still have one.]

*She holds on to her brother and tries to swim towards the Megadeus at all costs.*

Zell didn't know what to do, "Well, check to see if she is alright." She said, panicked.

T"For that, we'd have to put the disc back in...I'd probably drop it."

*Thiera was shaking all over.*
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*She eventually reaches its heel.*
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{Very well.}

*Gelu Chalybs begins to make its way back to the hangar.*

Zell, being a painter, had incredibly steady hands. "I... will do it then." She said, taking the disk and putting it back in Lilith.

OOC: Giggity.

*The disc slides in & Lilith opens her eyes.*

L"The data on the cloning procedure makes up a small portion of what I had found, though I did partially download the case files, located on another section of the database. Apparently, the 'original Zell' was homeless. It stands to reason that, lacking her memory, she was unable to locate her studio or buy art supplies. She died broken & disillusioned, a starving artist. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Zell felt a bit crushed by the knowledge, "Well... I guess I'm... I'm sorry, I can't be witty right now." She said, taking a seat, and thinking about someone with her face, no, her, dying on a street corner somewhere.