Tears For Nomad

Dreams, oh sweet dreams. Aren't they oh so wonderful?

The more dreams I peek into the more I realize that all these goals, ambitions, fantasies and wishes...

They all boil down to one single beautiful indescribable feeling that all of us have.

Love! Oh such sweet love, such ambitious love, such wonderful love!

Tell me... How many more of your dreams will it take for me to fully embrace your love, dear?

⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙

Weak flickering light shone on the Fallen towering above Mauve, embracing her 'warmth' as it called it. Though its body was deformed and only slightly resembled a humanoid figure, it still looked human enough to Mauve to understand that it might not mean any harm.

Its eyes shining a hollow light that is neither dead or alive, moreso seeming lost and directionless, solemly staring at Mauves synthetic mechanical eyes. 

"Uhh... Uhm... What's your name?" Mauve hesitated asking, wanting to break the silence.

"Do not... remember..." its raspy voice struggling to reply, yet alone remember anything about itself "Employee... number... 77477"

"77477? You were an employee here?"

"I... remember... 77477...and don't... remember... myself..." the ominous creature crept closer to her, observing her skin, hair and eyes as close as it could with its deformed and silky hands.

"You... need to... see... there is more... warmth... like you...". Its uncanny hands let go of her and took Mauves ahold of hand, gently guiding her towards the shuttle, its silky body moving along the ground like a squid.

"More warmth?"

"Yes... more..."

Though she was still confused on what that "warmth" was, she still went along with it and followed 77477 to the entrance of the shuttle. The doors struggled to open as the Fallen easily slipped through it, Mauve having to push the doors open to get through.

With what little the flickering lights had to show, the interior was rusty and clearly showed its age and clearly set into Mauves mind  just how long it must have been since it was last properly used.

"Does the shuttle still work?"

"...No..."

"Oh... Then how do we mov- Whoa!" 

 

Without any hesitation 77477 had spread its silky body around the entire shuttle and haphazardly pushed it along the rails. All as it was standing still, attentively looking at Mauve. Though it wasn't as smooth as it 77477 was trying to push it, it was still moving along at a comfortable pace making its way further to the top of the tower.

 

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for joiningthe Future Express. We wish you a very pleasant trip." after a whole minute of nothing being said to each other 77477 broke the silence, imitating a train attendant it kept staring at Mauve with an indifferent expression.

"It is pleasant!"

"Thank... you..."

Though it's awkward and the circumstances didn't feel quite right, Mauve noticed that despite the indifference in the creatures expressions, it still attempted to give her a pleasant trip just as an employee would have.

"So you don't know your actual name anymore?"

"No..."

"Hmm..." Mauve looks closer at 77477, a deformed rotten mutation, a shadow of its former self, not even having a proper name to call itself.

"I'll call you Sevy! Is that okay?" she smiles at it, satisfied with the name she had come up with. Though the creature only looks at her with a slightly confused. "Sevy...Why...?" Its head tilts a little, not fully understanding why it should have another name than its assigned Employee number.

"Having a name is nicer than a bunch of numbers isn't it? So you being called 77477, I took the seven... and came up with Sevy!"

"Sevy..." it looks at her, showing a slightly delighted expression which seemed to be a new feeling for it.

"My actual name is A14189, but my sisters and friends call me Mauve! I also have a friend called Armada #888 but me and his friend call him Biboo! So maybe just how you're 77477, I could call you Sevy!" she proudly explained to it, making the creature feel slightly more validated.

"I see...I'll be... Sevy..." 

With an artificial smile stretching across its face it attempted to express how delighted it was being given a name. Though immediately after that smile faded away once they arrived to their destination and it returned to pretending to be a train attendant.

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Future Express, we are now arriving at the Creation Station. Let yourself be delighted at the technological marvels created by the masterminds at AzSynth Dynamics. Enjoy your time at the Creation Station." 

It perfectly recited the announcement down to the tone of a regular human, having seemingly heard it more than enough to fully ingrain it into its mind. It was the only human thing it could express anymore.

"We're already here?"

"Yes... We're here...." the ride slowly came to a halt infront and stopped at a reinforced gate that was already beyond any repair. Once Mauve had gotten off her seat she realized something. "Wait! Isn't this where I was manufactured too?" but Sevy had shut her down instantly with a "...No...ACSQ.... is from the moon...."

 

As they went past the gate a chaotic scenery emerged. Shattered glass, flickering lights and a very long hall filled to the brim with metal scraps and random android parts laying around the likes of eyes, arms, legs and processing units. It was a depressing sight that kept letting down Mauve with each room she entered. Trying to keep her optimism she kneeled down and picked up what seemed to be a little can with thin little legs and arms attached to it.

"Awww, who's this little guy?" immediately a little motor was to be heard within. "Whoa!" it came to live and clumsily fell off her hands before plunging onto the floor with a little thud. But a little fall like that wouldn't stop the tiny can as it turned towards Sevy and marched on. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot it proudly trotted towards the creature.

"Did you make this little guy? He's cute!"

"Yes... I made them..."

"Them?"

"Yes..."

Immediately after, beneath heaps of other scraps, many more tiny machines with little arms and legs start hopping towards Mauve and Sevy. Some made of cans, random mechanical parts or office supplies such as staplers. It felt as though they threw a parade to honor their maker, all following them side-by-side towards the other end of the hall.

As they've gotten further and further, the size of these machines increased too to the point of now Printers being able to march along too. The depressing atmosphere Mauve felt before had vanished and had turned lively. 

"They're amazing! They seem so happy to see you!" Mauve praised the creature, to which it didn't respond though it had a satisfied expression.

As they've gotten closer to the end of the hall Mauve began to feel a large presence beyond the hall.

 

CLANG... CLANG... CLANG... CLANG...

The ground starts to rumble as they get closer and closer. The scraps now being as tall as Mauve at that point everyone approached a giant piece of machinery that had been made entirely out of random pieces of metal and scraps.

CLANG... CLANG... CLANG... CLANG...

It kept banging against a huge reinforced wall, as though it was desperately trying to get to the other side of it. Though it was  showing a massive dent, it didn't seem to be breaking down anytime soon. The massive presence grew stronger and stronger.

"There is warmth...beyond..."

The giant machine, almost as big as Biboo, reaches towards Mauve, allowing her to sit on its hand. As soon as she stepped on it the hand brought her up against the dent twice as big as her. The presence now being as familiar as it had always been as soon as she put her palm against it.

 

[ ETHERYTE DETECTED ]

 

"It's in there! There's an Etheryte!"

"I think... you can reach into the warmth... I never could... I want to know....why...youre so warm..." 

Finally understanding what Sevy meant by 'warmth' Mauve gets closer to the wall to soak in its presence.

"I'll help you! I've been looking for Etherytes myself too!" 

 

The large machine slowly set Mauve back on the floor and continued banging the wall as it always has been. 

"I can... diagnose... your warmth..." Sevy said as she lead Mauve towards a desk filled to the brim with electronic devices. Next to a monitor there was a perfectly intact halo-shaped device that Mauve instantly recognized.

"Isn't that the NeuroDive!? I wanna try it!" unexpected excitement suddenly came into Mauve upon having seen the device. She rushed to the table and looked at it in awe. "Yes...please take...a seat..." it gestures for Mauve to take a seat on a large reclined chair.

"I will... diagnose... you...please put it on..."

"Okay!" without hesitation she had put the NeuroDive on her head, a pinging noise validating the connection to the computer.

"Diagnose...start..." with a button pressed a light tingling sensation went over Mauves body with an interface popping up within her field of view.

 

//AzOS Neuro-Diagnosis-Client version 5.12.5

Copyright (C) 542-62, AzSynth Dynamics, Inc.

[Model]#A14189 = Connected!

[ Running WW Check ]

[ #A14189WWCPU] 50% UTILIZATION // W-CORE1:ACTIVE//  W-CORE2: ACTIVE// W-CORE3: ACTIVE W-CORE4: ACTIVE/ W-CORE5;  NOREAD/ W-CORE6: NOREAD / W-CORE7: NOREAD/ W-CORE8: NOREAD

[ Running Drive Check ]

[ #A14189MEM ] 3 PARTITIONS/ PAT1: 35%/ PAT2: 25% PAT3: 50%

"This...is unusual..." Sevy took a closer took at the monitor, suspicious of something.

"What is?"

"Several... partitions... half of your W-Cores...gone...I cannot open partition..."

"What?! What do you mean gone!?" concerned for her own wellbeing Mauve began to worry about the diagnosis. According to her self-diagnosis everything was okay after all.

[ Running Extremity Check ]

[ #A14189EXT ] A14189HEA, A14189FRA, A14189RA, 77FC70LA, A14189LL, 77FC70RL, A14189LE, 77FC70RE 100%

"Someone...modified...you...your body parts...arent't...-"

[ Running Battery Check ]

[#A14189BAT] 925% Capacity / 6485H+ Runtime

"That is... your warmth...it's there..." it said as it moved the mouse towards a button labelled as 'Battery Details'.

"925%!? Is that...okay?- AHHHHHHHHHHHH" 

Suddenly Mauve let out a painful scream as a sudden sharp pain coursed throughout her entire body. As though the suppressed amount of Ether had been finally freed and attempting to free itself by crawling through her fragile artificial skin. A stunning glow emanated from Mauves chest as she struggled and gasped for air that she never needed to breathe. The glow, anchored to her desperately attempting to tear her skin apart. 

Anyone around her would start to panic and call for help but Sevy simply stared in awe. Hypnotized by the long awaited glow of the Etheryte she sought for so long. Approaching Mauve the creature slowly creeps its hand above her chest where the glow is the most prominent.

"It is... so warm...so warm.... so warm..."

Entirely blocking out the noise of her screams the creature basked in the glorious light, warmth in its truest form. Getting even closer to Mauve the vile creatures hands softly disintegrate underneath the glow. There was no pain to be felt for it, it was the exact feeling it was hoping to feel once it had gotten to the Etheryte. Release⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙Her screams getting louder and louder as she begged⁙⁙⁙"WHERE IS SHE PLEASE LET ME SEE HER AGAIN PLEASE I DIDNT KNOW I DIDNT KNOW YOU HAVE⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙TAKEN HER⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙FROMME"⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙Sevy wasn't listening⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙

It was dark... I couldn't tell where I am, what had happened or what time it is. This place made it hard for me to differentiate right from left, top from bottom, near from far. It was neither cold or warm, it was just... empty.

"Ann?"

Huh? A sudden voice came from nowhere, I couldn't tell where. Ann?

"Ann!!! Where are you!" suddenly a girl ran by and vanished as quickly as she came. "Is someone there?" I asked, but I couldn't see anyone.

No matter what I was doing my body stood still, I couldn't walk, turn or do anything at all.

"You're not Annaisha." the voice appeared from behind me, a soothing yet menacing presence was behind me and I couldn't turn back to look at her. "I-I can help you find h-her! What's your name?"

"Really!? You'll help me?" the girl walked infront of me, revealing herself. Her white hair and bright skin shining within the dark void and her long white dress all fading into each other as just one white being. Her face just being that of a young girl... but it was her eyes...bright golden eyes with endless golden tears falling into the void.

"Why are you crying? Is everything all right?"

"I miss Annaisha. Where is she? Have you seen her? Please let me see her!"

"We can look for her togeth-"

The girls hands had suddenly dug into my skin, tearing it apart and browsing through my intestines. I was screaming and trying to move away but my body wouldn't respond and my screams were silenced by the void. Not being able to find whoever she was looking for she kept going deeper and deeper into my body, blood gushing out and internal organs falling into the void. Every little touch, pull and tear hurts... it hurts so much.

"Hmmm, she's not here! Annaisha! Where are you!"

Why was there blood? Why did it hurt so much? I'm trying to scream but I just couldn't why won't this girl stop? 

Throwing away all my internal organs, muscle tissue and nervous system she had hollowed out everything in me. She stopped.

"Aww...She's not here! Well, you said you would help me, right? Then we can just look together!" She said as she took a step through my stomach and had put her legs inside mine, as though she was putting on a costume. "There's so much room in you! Thank you so much!" her voice echoing within my skin as she had fully gotten inside, her head inside my head, her eyes looking through mine. Her entire presence inside of me.

"Let's look for Annaisha together!"

My skin pulling itself back as though she was pulling up a zipper from within me, the blood and organs having already faded away.

As though none of this had ever happened.⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙⁙

Gnawing on Worm Crabs as her large tail sways the sand beneath the shadow of her guardian, Lillim was thoroughly enjoying Mauves share of her long awaited meal of the day. 

"I wonder what's taking Mauve so long? The food is going to get cold!" she said not having realized it's already been the last piece. Humming to herself she stared at the large mysterious structure that Mauve had entered. Biboo, as she liked to call the machine of war, stood still and silent to conserve as much energy as possible for its predictably short remaining lifespan.

"I'm gonna draw the butterflies Mauve showed me!" Lillim crawled into Biboos open chest, filled to the brim with all kinds of toys, blankets and items such as random pebbles she happened to like and pulled out pieces of paper and stubs of crayons. "I'm gonna make lots! Just like Mauve did!"

She's put the paper against Biboos interior and began drawing little butterfly shaped doodles trying to fill as many as she could on that piece of paper. Once she was done she started to bite into the paper, thoroughly cutting the butterflies out into neat little shapes and folded them in half. "Look! It's a butterfly! They're so cute!!-"

BOOM

A large explosion was to be heard from the tower. Golden light emanating from it at a short burst, causing a large piece of the tower to fall and crash into the ground. The shockwave itself had sent the sand into the sky, rapidly causing a massive wave of sand into all directions. 

"BIBBOO BIBBOO BIBBOO"

Without any hesitation Biboo pulled Lillim into itself and closed the chest, protecting her from any outside influence. 

"It came from where Mauve is!"

Instead of staying still and simply waiting the wave out the machine had begun marching towards it, its new goal being the tower. It was the sheer amount of Ether radiating from it that caught its attention. A new viable source of energy. An opportunity to extend its lifespan. A chance to protect Lillim for just longer.

A risk it was willing to take.