Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

An entire battalion of drones surrounded the blistering wolves and Vilvintine. The battalion emerged from the dark shadows of the treeline and revealed their metallic nature to the unsuspecting organics. The situation quickly developed into a standoff, Vilvintine was alone against an unknown enemy and a peculiar man leading them.

Vilvintine was on alert, the slightest movements of the drones and One made her jump, anxiety was quick to take over her as the fear of the unknown loom. The drones' bulky structure coupled with the strange weapons they held prompted Vilvintine to be cautious. Unknown wands and clearly unknown magic was in play here, or so she thought.

"Tsk"

Vilvintine was regretting setting off alone as recon, the rest of the Papal Scripture was still a few minutes away and she knew that wasn't enough. The sky began to darken as a storm approached.

"So, you're Vilvintine" One said. The surprised mage was only plunged deeper into confusion. Nobody knew her real name except for the pope and her fellow mages in the Papal Scripture.

"How do you know?" She asked as she was grimacing at One. She held onto her dagger firmly which was releasing a mist of cold air from the frost magic embedded onto the dagger.

"A peculiar woman from a city told us, well not exactly told but.."

"A mage from a city?" Her eyes widened as the thought crossed her mind.

"The spy," One clarified, maintaining his stoic expression.

Vilvintine didn't reply, she just stood still and awaited what was about to happen next. She knew One was trying to confirm information from her, she wasn't falling for his trap.

One was intrigued that Vilvintine caught wind on his intentions so he decided to get deeper into her emotional complex.

"There is one thing, you all have in common. It is strange but the evidence so far seems to be pointing at that specific conclusion"

"Let me phrase this in a way, a simple-minded person like you may understand somewhat"

The storm had finally reached them, drops of rain began to pour as the situation dragged on, Vilvintine was on alert but her attentiveness could only go so far. The rain began to pour heavily, the sounds of water droplets bouncing off the metallic skin of the drones coupled with the torrential downpour of the storm gave out an eerie atmosphere which was reminiscent of a scene in a horror movie.

As the skies darkened further, the eyes of the drones began to show their blueish glow. All around Vilvintine, pairs of blueish light appeared from the drones and from the dark treeline, the lights glowed one by one until she couldn't see the rest anymore. She moved her head from left to right and turned towards her back, she was outnumbered.

This reveal of the hundreds of drones around her struck fear within her heart. The torrential downpour coupled with the odd darkness took a toll on her improved senses. She was using her senses to track each individual that surrounded her but she couldn't track those beyond the treeline until they revealed themselves.

It was taking a damaging toll on her body, even if she was capable of harnessing all the magic from the area, the stress caused by the overworking of her body would eventually kill her.

One raised his two arms sideways as he looked up and closed his eyes. Thunder began to echo and the winds began to gain speed. The blistering wolves were all but turned to stone as the rain completely cooled down their entire bodies. They stood together as statues, coupled in a group with their mouths open tongues dangling from their mouths.

"It had been, a great adventure thus far since we came here, a new gateway towards an unrivaled opportunity given to me solely for my purpose"

"What purpose?" Vilvintine asked.

"What else? for the sake of rebuilding the pure human race"

Vilvintine was of course, confused.

"Of course, you don't know what I'm talking about," One said, pointing his fingers at Vilvintine.

"I come from a very distant world, a world vaguely similar to this but was plagued by a cataclysm even I could not dare to imagine nor remember for that matter. A cataclysm so powerful, so devastating, it wiped us out. Now, I am presented with an opportunity but also a hurdle, a hurdle which I am destined to overcome"

One then reached out his hand towards E1 who then took out a small cylinder containing M1, the cylinder was transparent and allowed the concentrated physical state of magic to glow white. One grabbed the cylinder and showed it to Vilvintine who was slowly succ.u.mbing to the severe fatigue from the strain she was pushing against her body.

"Logic and technology beyond your comprehension and understanding stand before you"

Vilvintine's eyes were becoming blurry but she was still able to see the cylinder.

"Impossible" Vilvintine whispered beneath her dire breathes.

"It's only impossible because you lack the technology to do so. I've gathered information on how 'magic' is such a powerful energy that it can't be contained in a somewhat solid state, but that's where you're all wrong. What do you think would happen if you used magic to contain magic? Not only would the two negate themselves entirely but if one was stronger than the other, it would result in a fantastic spectacle which would obliterate everyone and everything around it"

Vilvintine didn't seem to take any interests, though she reacted towards the cylinder accordingly, she was displaying good resistance against One's attempts of reducing her mental instability.

"Let me jump onto the topic, shall we? now, what do you humans here have in common?"

"Well.."

The torrential downpour continued, the drones were unfazed, standing upright amidst the darkness. Vilvintine was completely drenched, her cloak and leather dress was drenched considerably whilst her skin began to curl up.

Vilvintine didn't understand, she was surrounded. They could take her out anytime or even capture her with such superior numbers and most likely superior 'magic' she wanted things to end quickly but it seemed like One was purposely dragging it out.

"I was born in a windy, wonderful world of trustworthy, truthful technology, a windy, winning world I cannot remember, a wicked, whole world devastated by warm, worried war and determined, dull destruction"

"A warm, worthless world of holy, hungry humans and n.a.k.e.d, new nature, devastated by an unknown, fancy, frightening force which, by dazzling, decorative design had purposely destroyed what was our hateful, honest home"

"This wonderful, windy world, on the other hand, gives me a fuzzy, fresh feeling of hilarious, happy hope, a horrible, huge hope which I have forgotten, a funny, fluffy feeling long, lost to the vile, past"

One's words further confused Vilvintine who understood none of it.

"You're a demon, that's all that matters. A demon I was entrusted to vanquish" Vilvintine finally spoke, One maintained his stoic expression. He then proceeded to clap two times, the sound of which was covered by the torrential downpour.

"Ignorance is bliss" He whispered.

"Your common trait is a chronic ignorance which not only has been embedded deeply into your minds but also limit your advancements in areas you should be prioritizing, except you douse yourselves in magic which you use carelessly and ignorantly. You keep the dumb in power while the intellectuals oppressed. The dumbest of which is your pope"

"What did you say!?" Vilvintine shouted. She clearly heard the insult thrown at her beloved pope whom she looked up to with much respect.

"Your pope, an ignorant fool"

"You dare!" Vilvintine was consumed with rage, coupled by her fatigue and increased drowsiness, she was no longer herself. One had managed to break her facade.

Vilvintine dashed towards one at horrendous speeds, she reached one and tried to stab him in which she thought One couldn't dodge. One easily dodged her attack by taking a small step back, Vilvintine then caught a glimpse of a horrific smile, the likes she had never seen in her life. A smile from someone who wasn't even a vile beast, but seemed to be one. Vilvintine hopped back a few meters, the drones began to march towards her from all sides.

"The Freetan Theocracy is the hurdle, the first hurdle," One announced. Vilvintine was frozen in place, she didn't know what else to do other than to try and escape or fight back and surely get killed. The fact that One merely took a step back to dodge her attack frightened her. He knew exactly when and where she was going to strike, he knew how far she would reach out and how close she'd come.

"Vilvintine!" A shout echoed through the rain. The papal scripture had arrived.

The ten mages were quick to deploy barrier magic around Vilvintine as they descended from the sky. The ten mages landed on their feet and quickly went towards Vilvintine.

"Where did you come from?" Vilvintine asked as she slumped on the wet ground.

"Levitation magic, we opted to surprise them but it seems like normal magic doesn't really affect them"

The group concentrated inside the transparent white barrier. The drones were just a few feet away from them.

"The infamous Papal Scripture" One suddenly appeared directly against the barrier.

"What the.."

"Veoghn, Ghorn, Emma, Thoris, Friya, Quintess and four unknown members of the Papal Scripture, I welcome you to our meeting"

"He knows our names?" Emma asked in confusion.

"He knows my name, he knows our scripture, this person isn't normal" Vilvintine warned

"Nor are his minions, they don't even look human" Ghorn pointed out.

"I think there has been enough chatter, the rest of the party have arrived. It's time for me to overcome the hurdle"

"Shit! we fell into a trap" Thoris said.

"What hurdle?" Friya asked.

"Us, we are the hurdle he wishes to eliminate," Vilvintine answered, finally understanding One's intentions.