Dodge: Serial 108

WOLFGANG tries to escape the mine, only to face an entirely new threat: the automata.

Serial 108: Automatic Death

August 11th, 38 S.D.     19:50        Mandal Range, Angali

    Before anyone else could engage in battle, Virel took the initiative herself. Suddenly, her hands were aglow in an illustrious, silver light. Raising both over her head, the young serialist gathered her power quickly. In an instant, she slammed her fists to the ground, unleashing a wide kinetic series. At once, ice spread out around them, swiftly racing and lining along the pit. Everything except for a small circle containing WOLFGANG was frozen under thick, glacial sheets. Even bits of the rain turned to hail as a result of her serialization. The guards stood immobilized, entombed. As Virel pulled herself up, her legs visibly began to shake.

    “Nice job,” Jun said, looking about.

    “Thanks,” she replied, smiling despite her heavy breath.

    “Excellent as ever, Virel, but I will chastise you for pushing yourself too much on a single maneuver.”

    “But you said not to hold back,” Virel protested. “And besides, I am alright.”

    “Sa, I did say not to hold back, but you must always keep the amount of seras you use in mind. Do not expend yourself too greatly.”

    “Sa.”

    Virel, unlike the rest of them did not use a servai. Whereas Losha, Denze, Faima, and Jun used raw seras to wield constructs resembling swords, Virel remained a separate case. While she had demonstrated much skill in forming a servai, she preferred not to have one. Instead, the girl relied on casting series alone. Her aptitude for it rivaled any one of Losha’s other students and even challenged the Wolf on some levels. Due to her dependency on series, however, her attacks were more expensive in terms of the seras she depleted. If Virel were not careful, she’d soon exhaust herself.

    “That seems to have put a stop on those... whatever they are,” Denze noted. “But for how long?”

    Hart stared at the ice in open wonder, mystified by its scale. Just who were these people who’d rescued her? Their seratic presence was nearly overwhelming, and they controlled their power with such ease... She didn’t hear the question posed to her, lost in thought.

    “Sorry?” Hart said.

    “I asked,” Denze repeated, “what are they?”

    “Automata,” Hart answered, pulling back her glasses before they fell off.

    “Automata?” Losha echoed curiously, holding Hart upright as she started to slip.

    “Ah, sorry, I suppose I am still somewhat lame... Sa, automata. Think of them of automated dolls, inanimate workers, ones without will, ones I should be able to control.”

    “They look nothing like dolls kids play with...” Denze frowned as he eyed one close by.

    “By ‘doll’, I merely mean they are modeled after people,” Hart explained. “I needed something to help me and protect me while I performed my research. After all, I do find myself in many dangerous situations, and it always helps to have a hand or two around. What better form could they take then that? It can do everything a regular human can and more.”

    “Why the bones though?” Jun asked.

    “The automata needed a design that was proven and reliable. Why create my own system when we have one that works already? The human skeletal structure is built for a wide range of possible conditions and situations, from locomotion, to combat, to using tools, to a host of other actions. It was the perfect fit.”

    “And you can control them?” Losha asked, narrowing her gaze slightly. “You can command them to move, even though they are just serastone?”

    “Sa. You see, there is serastone in my body,” Hart said touching her chest. “Well, it is not ‘stone’ anymore. I consumed serastone after it was ground down to powder. It never left my body. I have learned to release the seras stored inside me. Serastone affects other serastone, so with a bit of effort, I can make the automata move accordingly, like puppets if you will...”

    Powdered serastone? Losha figured that if Hart had no consistent seras frequency, it must have been caused by the stone in her body. Serastone leeched away the soul’s energy if it entered one’s being, soaking it as a sponge would. If it was permanently grabbing someone’s seras, their frequency would seem to disappear. The frequency was only detectable because small amounts of seras radiated away from the soul and body. Serastone would absorb that all, however.

    “Damn,” Hart cursed. “I guess that is why my legs will not work. Serastone affects serastone. Whatever that artifact did messed me up as well as the automata.”

    “Sa, turning those guards into psycho-killers seems real messed up to me...” Denze said off to the side.

    “Alright, we have talked enough. We leave, now. Hart, I would very much like to ask you what you have been up to and just what exactly you desire chasing serastone. Even so, that can all wait when we get you to Sventa.”

    “Sventa?” Hart asked, confusedly. “What do you mean? Are you abducting me?”

    “We are saving your life.”

    “I-I have my research to attend to! I have months of study invested in this region. I cannot simply abandon Angali like this!”

    “This is not up for discussion. You are coming with us,” Losha said firmly.

    “Wait a moment...” Hart whispered, furrowing her brow as she put the clues together. “Crap, you... you would not be her, would you? Shrieks, are you who I think you are? The Wolf of Sventa?”

    “If I am, we have a problem. This is a sneaking mission; no one is supposed to see me. I am sure you understand what that means, sa? No witnesses. Now that you and I are acquainted, I will tell you how this can play out. The first is for you to cooperate with us. The other...”

    Hart looked up at Losha as the color drained from her face. She looked like she wanted to say something, but her words failed her.

    “There is no other, actually,” Losha continued. “I do not kill people. You go with us, and that is the end of the matter.”

    Suddenly, the artifact began to glow again. Its veins lit up once more, and another ring projected out into the pit. Under the ice, it moaned, albeit a bit mutely.

    “What is happening?” Faima asked Hart. “What the hell is that thing doing now?”

    “I do not know,” Hart admitted. “It is releasing seras like before, but I have no idea why or for what purpose. Gah!” Her body slackened almost completely. “Shrieks, it must be getting to me. I cannot move at all.”

    “That is our cue to get out,” Losha ordered, dispersing her servai with a short gesture. The rest nodded at her as they prepared to make their exit. The Wolf grabbed Hart and heaved her over her back, across her shoulders, carrying the scientist like a soldier would a wounded comrade. With the woman secured, Losha took a powerful speed-step and launched herself out of the pit. Sailing behind her, WOLFGANG followed.

    “Shrieks!” Hart breathed as they landed on the upper level. “That was... we just... flew!”

    “Not quite, but you get used to the feeling.”

    As Losha stood up, she looked around at the silent mine. The Angali were scattered everywhere, their mangled corpses posing in death. Pools of muddy water mixed freely with red streams. Not a single one had survived the assault. Most suffered cranial gunshot wounds, leaving pink puss dripping here and there. Others had been sliced or run through. The second type of victims were fewer, however, their injuries were more severe, typically amputation. It was a total massacre; even the work horses had been executed.

    “What on the Continent...” Hart said as her eyes rolled past the dead. “This does not make sense... Why did it happen like this?”

    “Move out,” Losha commanded, seemingly unaffected by the bloodshed. Denze merely frowned while Faima ignored the scene altogether. Virel closed her eyes for a moment as she swallowed hard, and Jun shook his head.

    “Do not let it get to you,” their master urged them all as she jogged towards the exit. “Once we get outside, we speed-step straight for the horses. We will bury this pace as soon as we are a full kilometer out. We sink it where no one can ever find it again.”

    They were just about to reach the gates of the mine when seras began pumping out of the pit. White light burned in the hole like a flare, turning night to day for a few passing instants. Even with their backs against the source, Losha and the rest winced. As it died down, a great crunching noise came from below, and the ice Virel had summoned shattered shortly thereafter. Before any of them realized it, several black figures rushed upon them, jumping towards them rapidly. In a single moment, one of the escaped automata smashed into the ground before Losha, bending at the knees as it aimed its sword at her. The Wolf, however, reacted immediately.

    She only had one arm to spare while holding Hart, but she only needed as much. Sprinting just a few steps forward, she grabbed the automata by the wrist, locking its weapon in her grip. A brief yet targeted kinetic series from Losha sliced through the guard’s shoulder, severing it completely. She threw away the dismembered arm and wrung her fist around the automata’s neck. Despite its armor, she grappled it single-handedly. It snatched at her with its remaining limb, but at that time it was too late. With another kinetic series, Losha ravaged the guard, tearing it to shreds from the inside as raw force exploded outward. Its very image ripped apart before her eyes, blown away to pieces. Even the automata’s ‘bones’ were destroyed outright. One was down, but fourteen were left to fight. Again, WOLFGANG found themselves surrounded by enemies.

    “Remember, serastone absorbs seras and repels servai. It is not immune to physical or kinetic attacks. Use your swords to defend. Use your series to destroy.” Losha instructed. As she finished, the automata bore down on them. Faima and Denze were beset by five of them at once, ambushed from above as the guards pounced atop the serialists. Instinctively, both had already generated thin force-fields of kinetic energy around themselves, shielding them from harm. The automata’s blades hit the invisible barriers but were instantly blocked. Denze and Faima wasted little time in countering their foes.

    Faima stepped up to the nearest and grabbed it by the helmet. Concentrating massive amounts of kinetic energy downwards, she crushed the guard on the spot with a well of gravity. Without stopping, she turned and punched straight through another, lodging her forearm in its ribcage. Since her body was protected by a layer of energy stronger than any metal, she could break through objects with ease and without pain. Faima lifted the guard up in the air then slammed her opponent into the ground. The impact shuddered the area as the helpless automata crumpled in a heap. She was quite fond of using kinetic series on her body to accelerate her own attacks, in effect allowing her to reach superhuman levels of strength.

    Denze managed the other three. Waving his hand over all of them, he shot short bolts of electricity into each. The lightning coursed across the automata, but at first they seemed utterly unaffected. A second later, however, as if compelled by an unseen agent, they suddenly found themselves unable to move. Denze knew serastone reacted to electricity; the Henron had used batteries to power their dreaded serasword. On a guess, he’d suspected it might also interfere with the stone’s normal operation. The effect appeared only temporary, however, as the automata strained to come back to life. Quickly, he cast another series, lifting all three into the air by several meters. Throwing his arm to the side, Denze flung them away, splintering them against a distant crane.

    Virel and Jun handled a set of six themselves. Although this was her first experience in battle, the young Sofos applied herself with skill beyond her age. A trio quickly separated her from everyone else, trapping her with their drawn weapons. As they approached Virel, she vanished, leaving only a blur where she once stood. Ripping off to the side, she escaped. With a buzz, she reappeared, casting a series over her assailants. As she conducted both hands, pulling light around her fingers, dust started to rise from the automata. As if their bodies smoldered, wispy trails of smoke wafted from the guards.

    In fact, she was actually disintegrating them bit by bit, demolishing them into fine particles. By the time the guards had turned around, they were wasting into nothing. Their armor began to rot, revealing their skeletal serastone. Like a grinder, her kinetic series reduced them continuously. Eventually two of the automata were but piles of sand. The last one had a chance to retaliate, but it was far too gone as well. It lunged at her, thrusting the end of its blade at Virel, yet it never came towards the serialist. The automata turned into mist, dropping to the ground in a puff. It had opened its jaw as if crying for war, however, an instant later, the guard perished.

    Jun, on the other hand confronted his enemies head on. When they boxed him in, he swung his servai at a pair. Although serastone and servai fought against one another, producing a brilliant flash in the process, ultimately they rejected one another. Jun found himself pushed back from the rebound, but the automata were knocked to their feet. One of the guard’s who’d avoided Jun’s initial attack sneaked behind him before throwing itself wildly at the boy. Despite having the element of surprise, the guard failed to pierce the force-field wrapped around Jun.

    Aware that the automata had gotten to his blindspot, Jun corrected his mistake by grabbing and hurling the guard over his shoulder, chucking it on top of the others he’d dispatched. Just as the previous two began to rise, this third one toppled onto their lot, pinning each to the floor. Wasting no moment at all, he closed his fist as crimson light engulfed it. Jun drew his hand close as the glow intensified, then pushed it outward at his foes as he opened his palm. A plume of fire erupted, searing and scorching the automata. Taken by the blaze, they soon began to morph and melt in the heat. Their armor turned to slag, liquifying over their bones, boiling them in metal. They were little more than steaming sludge after a while. The only remnant was the skull and hand of one automata that stuck out, seemingly trying to grab at Jun even after it ceased functioning.

    “Dust to dust,” Jun said, looking over at Virel. “And ashes to ashes...”

    Only three more guards faced them, however, Losha took them down without much trouble.

    “Enough of this. We have no time to deal with delays.” She swept her arm quickly to the side, unleashing a powerful kinetic series. At once, blue light surrounded her opponents, halting their movements instantly. Then, altogether, each detonated as overwhelming pressure built up within. Bursting in an azure blast, the automata transformed into nothing more than fragments. As soon as one could blink, they had been eliminated.

    “That was the last of them,” Denze said as his servai disappeared. The rest dismissed their weapons as well.

    “Not as tough as I thought,” Faima remarked.

    “Shrieks,” Hart said yet again. “So this is what the legendary Wolf is capable of. Perhaps I need to make the automata stronger...” she laughed.

    “You should know that legends are fickle things. They change with time,” Losha said. “Whatever you heard about me was probably exaggeration or half-truth at best.”

    Hart was about to disagree and note that Losha was far stronger than the stories made her out to be. The scientist never had a chance to speak, however. Light emanated from the pit once more as seras surged below. The artifact groaned greater and louder than it ever had before. The ground and air trembled as their ears were deafened by its cry. Then, a ring shot up above them, large and thick, parallel with the earth. It expanded fast, traveling some two kilometers into the distance. Even at that range, it was so big as to be clearly visible in the sky. Again, foreign symbols appeared within the ring of light, readable despite how far they were. They must have been impossibly giant in their font, Losha thought. These characters rotated clockwise, displaying a repeating message of some sort. As the artifact quieted, Hart fell into a sort of panic.

    “What was that? What just happened? I cannot see it.” Her position, straddled over Losha’s shoulder, indeed offered a poor viewing angle.

    “It was just another sign for us to leave,” Losha said as they started moving.

    “No, no! Stop! This is serious. Put me down so I can see it!”

    “This is no time for research,” Faima growled. WOLFGANG departed the mine through the gate but Hart continued her protests.

    “You have to stop! If that thing says what I believe it says, we have a serious problem!” Upon hearing this, the serialists braked hard.

    “Make it quick, Hart,” Losha urged. She put her down and raised her up. The Gandian scientist was still too weak to move on her own.

    “Prop my head up, please. Thanks.” It was all she could do to shift her glasses into place, but nevertheless she focused her gaze at the ring.

    “Can you read that script?” Denze asked.

    “Somewhat, to a reasonable extent... Let me see. Auto... ‘automatic’, ‘triggered’, no, no ‘activated’... Hmm. ‘Final mechanism’? That is not right either. Oh, sa, sa, that should be... well, s**t.”

    “What is it?” Losha asked. “What does it say?”

    “Something to the effect of ‘self-destruct mode activated’.”

    “Heh, no kidding,” Denze said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

    “Are you certain?!” Losha demanded.

    “More or less,” Hart replied. “You can feel it too, sa? That artifact is releasing absurd amounts of seras from the pit. And it does not appear to be stopping any time soon. If it continues, it might well reach critical mass. I do not know exactly what it would look like when that happens, but I do not want to find out.”

    “So, wait, is it going to explode?” Jun asked.

    “Hart, answer the questions while we move,” Losha said, scooping her up. Via speed-steps, they ran towards the forest, heading for their horses.

    “I have no idea,” Hart shouted against the wind as they dashed. “Consider the size and quality of the artifact’s serastone. It has enough stored energy to vaporize the whole Mandal Range if it converted all of its seras into another form, like heat. Sa, we are talking an effective blast range of 50 miles or so, by my quick calculations. Sorry, I mean, that comes out to 80 and half kilometers, approximately.”

    “F**k!” Faima spat. “We are dead then! We cannot travel that fast in several minutes. Even if we had an hour, that would still push our serialization to the limit!”

    They came into a clearing where they had tethered their horses. Ever faithful, the creatures stood there waiting, calm even as the danger grew. Losha unceremoniously dumped Hart on Izel’s back and quickly mounted her stead.

    “Oof!” Hart grumbled, but largely ignored the roughness. “I do not think we will have to go that far, actually. Call it a hunch, but I suspect the blast will only extend to the edge of that ring. Consider that the force of the self-destruct sequence would be much more potent if concentrated and contained in a limited area. It also resembles some of the myths I have investigated, the so-called ‘Dying Light’ of the giants.”

    Losha hurriedly tied Hart to Izel and herself. With a quick kick, she commanded her horse to rear up. Neighing and boxing his hooves, he turned around, planting his feet on the ground.

    “For all of sakes, Simona Hart, let us pray you are right.”

Author's Note

15 years ago, Losha Holvate Sventa fought to bring peace between Sventa and Henron. Though calm has been established between these two major clans, the larger situation has not been resolved. Time has passed, but the Central Plains are still a violent place, seething with anger and hatred. All it takes is a simple scratch, and everything will come rushing to the top. From the shadows, one underground group aims to do just that using the strength of serialization. Now an abandoned hero, Losha must once more rise to save these lands from the destructive power of the art. Yet as the actions of her past confront the Wolf, can she find the will to stand against the one behind it all, her very own son?

The next installment comes February 3rd, 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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* Every serialist's raw seras produces a certain color when serializing. What color comes about is dependent on the sould itself. Briefly Losha's is blue, Denze's is green (this is somewhat retconned...), Virel's is silver (a rarity among serialists actually), and Faima's is pink (not mentioned yet, however). A few others: Einer -> orange, Laven -> purple, Master Eltin -> green, Nabel Viska (aka King) -> red. Mesel and Jun -> also red. Duke -> yellow. Serastone produces pure white light. Some have inferred that is because the seras stored inside is not associated with any specific soul.

* Simona Hart's body has bits of serastone (in the form of powder) mixed all throughout her organs. True to many radioactive materials, once inside the body, serastone becomes exceedingly difficult to remove. Serastone absorbs her seras, thus blocking her seras frequency from being detected by serialists like Losha. Serastone does have its own frequency (the rate seras leaks from stone itself), except serastone generally has extremely low frequencies (Losha had a hard time detecting it herself in Serial 65 when Sansat showed her a sample) so that is why Hart's "frequency" appeared erratic. While the serastone would effectively prevent Hart from being able to serialize like Losha, she's found a way to control the serastone to much the same effect (similar to what Koter did in Serials 88-89.

* The automata are a new type of enemy, "bone soldiers" that can be controlled via serastone (since they are serastone). Although Hart made them after humans, she also modeled them after the "giants" she studied, which, as she believes, were made from serastone as well. They have the potential to be fierce warriors, since they could theoretically unleash the power of their serastone to match even serialists. Here, these early versions are rather weak. But who's to say they won't appear again in the future?

* Right now, a lot of unknowns surround the artifact, its origins, and why it's all of sudden going to blow up. Was it Hart's fault, did she activate something unwittingly? Or is there another reason behind the scenes? We'll find out later in this arc, and reveal more about the true nature of the world of Dodge.

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Any feedback is welcome. Just writing because I like it. Always wanted to make a weekly series, so I'm doing it.