Chapitre 124: Chapter 40: The Clock
Sadie attempted to charge forward once again, and yet despite his mind moving way faster than what his body can achieve, Torelamri is still much faster, and a rocket sent him flying backwards until he crashed onto the ground. In this fight, he is like a baby getting pushed around by the adults in the room.
He needed to figure a way out of the predicament, and yet Torelamri doesn't appear to be the least bit fatigued from using his artifacts, while Sadie is starting to get mentally tired of getting shoved around, despite not being able to be hurt, it is simply too frustrating. He tried reducing the radius of his shield, or increasing it as fast as he can in order to take Torelamri by surprise, and he is still always in control and moved out of the his every attack.
And seriously, how the hell is the rocket launcher hitting him so easily? Sadie has never actually trained to dodge rocket launchers or anything, but earlier in the fight, he was still able to react just in time according to the orientation of the launcher and Torelamri's movements. So if that's the case, why is he getting hit?
Wait...Sadie suddenly realized something, if Torelamri is moving at super speeds, that would not affect the speed of the rocket, meaning the speed of the rocket is still as fast as it was at the start of the fight, which is a speed that Sadie can evade if reacted on time. However, as he just got knocked backwards once more, there is no way Sadie could have dodged any of the shots that landed over the past however minutes.
So instead of Torelamri moving at super speeds...is Sadie moving super slow? The first rule of artifact combat is not to assume any power to be impossible, and the artifacts that can manipulate time must exist. If Torelamri is only going to affect a localized region of time at one time, like slowing that everything in that region, then that also explained the lack of effort shown by him. Maintaining a tiny region is almost like using Lock Down so lock down an area of space, it takes a certain amount of concentration, but nothing as strenuous as affecting a large amount of area like what Sir Deva tend to do.
That makes sense, and now thinking back at it...Sadie was standing where Torelamri was standing, as they almost exchanged positions when Sadie charged at him earlier in the fight, so it could even be that the region of space Torelamri can control the time with is localized to where he has been. This makes close quarter combat more difficult, but at least Sadie can move out of the region here.
Knowing what he had to do, Sadie reduced the shield to only just cover his body as he sprinted as hard as he can back away from Torelamri.
'He understood what's going on...' Torelamri thought to himself, 'he is smart.' But he has had plenty of time to formulate the next phases of his attack. With all of Sadie's strength, all he did was to escape the bubble of space that Torelamri had slowed down the time for, and that looked like a cinematic slow motion to Torelamri. In terms of time from his perspective, the past few minutes have been casual reloading, aiming and firing at Sadie's shield time and time again, pushing him around like a big baby. However, things are about to change.
Regarding what kind of area he could affect, it is exactly as Sadie guessed that he could primarily affect the area around him. which is why he lured Sadie into the Zone of Slow to begin with. However, what he haven't shown is his Zone of Fast side at all.
The final trap was set up when Torelamri went around to place the signal jammers, and now Sadie has just escaped from it. What is likely going to happen is that he is going to behave like a bull in a china shop, completely unable to control his body in regions with accelerated flow of time, though the entire zone isn't homogeneous, meaning that layers of Zones of Fast and Zones of Slow has been intertwined all together in an attempt to create a maximum amount of chaos and confusion.
In gaming terms, this is Torelamri's ultimate move, and one area that can trap even the strongest beings. He calls this the Deadzone, a play on the word deadline which is a line he has been treading since the start of his career.
And that's all Torelamri has to do. He would just have to buy enough time for the both Ol and Cellica to get out of here before he uses his Zone of Fast to get out of here as well. He took care of the soldiers by utilizing the time speed difference in Zone of Fast and Zone of Slow to deliver extremely powerful melee attacks on his way in the moment he sensed something might be going on. Then, he did indeed use some of his fire power, which is what the explosion earlier was about.
'I have figured out the truth!' Sadie said, pointing his finger at Torelamri, 'You had me, but that will happen no longer!' He moved his body freely and feeling its normal speed as he looked at Torelamri's movements and compared the two. They are now a lot more similar, if not faster for Sadie due to this previous enhancements. This is where he turns everything around!
He had his eyes locked on Torelamri carefully still, and walked forward. His leg felt a ripping sensation as the pain caused him to pull back drastically, which shifted his balance slightly. Fabrics were torn off as deep scratches that even tore off some of the thin layers of protection that came from the enhancements and left some scars on his legs. And all of that is from moving a leg.
What the hell is going on? Sadie thought, his shields are still up, and yet for some reason, his body is directly affected by the time...Time... Making sure Sadie is back in the safe zone where the intensity of the slower is much lower than before, but the invisible traps are not present. Tearing out a strip of his belt, he gave it a gentle toss towards where his legs were. In normal time flow conditions, the gravity will just make the belt move in the shape of a simple pendulum, and with the belt having no lateral resistance for any strange phenomena, it would be the perfect way to visualize exactly what is going on.
As the belt entered in the space, he felt a like tug of the belt from the end, and the sound of ripping came from it as it formed into a zig zag shape with regions of the belt being thinned out due to the shear force from time flowing at different speeds while the rest looking normal.
There is no way he can make it out of here. Sadie instantly knew, He had always kept his shields up, and yet the influence of time passes through it without a single hint of resistance. You can't overcome another artifact, but you can work around it.
Sadie Allen has lost this battle, and both combatants knew it. Torelamri packed away his items at normal speeds before waving a hand towards Sadie.
'Wait! What is your name?'
'Why it matter?'
'I...I just want to know.' Sadie said, his head dropped down. His curiosity and his drive to pursue his version of truth has pushed in the directions that he never thought he would go down to, and all of the enhancements in the world still couldn't cover the humiliating defeat to the Rockie in front of him.
'You... different. Try to change.' Torelamri picked up the container and turned to face him.
'I...am not of myself. I below to Absolute Being, this is a path I have chosen...' Those words came out of his mouth, and the feelings he had saying it felt as true as everything he has ever believed in. The instinctual statement is a part of who he is, and he doesn't challenge it in the slightest.
So mind control... Torelamri suspected from the immediate response after the slightest questioning from the others. Is this what the Absolute Being is doing now, mind controlling and training artifact users like weapons? Is this what they will do to Elmyra too...
'Tell me what they do to Elmyra.' Torelamri still had a semblence of hope, as Ol and Cellica sent him a text saying they have safely boarded a private shuttle and is going to the entertainment district right now.
'I can't.' Sadie replied before he had a chance to think, 'no betrayal.'
'Oh.' Torelamri half nodded, fully expecting that the exposition he needed isn't going to come from Sadie Allen here,, 'It was fun using my power, Shield.'
'And who might you be?'
'Call me the Clock.' Torelamri gave him a smirk before he moved away at super speed, disappearing behind a garden.
Sadie hung the belt he was holding up in a boots and waited for the Deadzone to dissipate, but from the look of it, this stationery trap my last a while...and the signal jammers that are placed right outside of his reach, is still going to do their work. He looked down at this personal interface to check how long has past, and it had only been ten minutes.
Soon, the local police is going to show up, and his soldiers will be found and arrested, but that's no big issue for them. Perhaps by then, the Deadzone would have dissipated, and Sadie will get out of here before the police can even get close to him. They will be torn apart the moment they stepped near.
As the sirens screamed and squadrons of policemen and surpression droids arrived in a shuttle, beams of light were pointed towards the piles of unconscious Absolute Being soldiers and Sadie who's sitting and staring at his belt, still in the Zig Zag shape.
'You! What the hell have you been doing?' The policeman's voice came through the speaker of the droid before the droid halted it's movement five meters away, 'reports of gun fire, surrender yourself immediately and do not resist!'
What? They knew? Sadie looked at him with surprise and wondered why they are stopping so far away from him.
'Be careful...there is a writing on the ground saying he will attack anyone if they get near five meters...' The voice of a few policemen came across, and finally one decided to order a droid forward. The droid was ripped apart the moment it stepped into the Deadzone with componenets flying everywhere and sparks lighting up the space.
'DAMN!' One policemen yelled, 'what is this?'
Another droid was pushed forward, and it was shredded in a similar fashion by layers of Zone of Fast and Zone of Slow, and the police learned their lesson. That damn Rockie's trap has now evolved to the point of using the local police against him, and despite all that, he still cannot make a move.
'This guy is dangerous! Let's surround him first and deal with him until he is out.' Signalling for the droids to surround Sadie Allen and preparing some sleeping gas to fire, Sadie knew that he may not be able to get out of this one quickly. However, he isn't out of options. He can also use the police to his advantage.
'I want to surrender, but I can't control my power...' Sadie forced an emotional and torn voice as he slammed into his head, 'you see those pyramid machines all around me? They are what's causing my power to go out of control!'
'Those jammers?' The policeman at the back looked at each other all confused, and one finally decided to remove and turn off all of the jammers. The communications function from his personal interface hopped online immediately, and he sent a quick request for extraction towards Lady Lily.
'What did you do!' That movement immediately cause all of the police around to be alert, and as yet another poor droid got annihilated, the police realized that they just got tricked. Having no more reservations regarding Sadie's treatment, they released the sleeping gas, which can easily diffuse across the membrane implants that most people have which allowed them to breath in atmospheres of terraformed planets.
Those will not do anything to him, however, as both his Shield and his enhancements should be able to handle it, he will feel a little sluggish as the nanotechnology enhancements work to clear away the chemical though. And as he sat on the ground pondering what he could done in the last fight, he wondered if Lady Lily and Sir Deva could have won in that fight.
Lady Lily would have shattered the floor in order to visualize the Deadzone, and Sir Deva would fight with his projectile based artifact. So is this really just a bad match up for him, or is the Clock simply outclassing him in every regards... There is nothing more he could have done, and Sadie had to swallow the bitter pill, pressing a button on his personal interface, he sent a message of emergency extraction towards Lady Lily.
Torelamri had kept his pace with his Zone of Fast all the way until he reached the shuttle station. Then, he also made sure that there is no one that looked remotely like they are related to Absolute Being around. The station is barren, with automatic shuttle flights running mechanically, which is exactly what he wanted to happen.
'Are you two safe?' Finally alone in the shuttle, Torelamri opened up the bearer's secure communications channel and asked.
'Yes, what about you?' Ol said.
'Had to use my ultimate move. But he out.' Torelamri said as he sat the container right in front of him, 'but you are right. They are next level, move fast and strong. I match him good.'
'Yeah, sorry about that, Torelamri.' Ol said with a disappointed tone, obvious being disappointed at himself over what has happened, 'We couldn't do anything about him.'
'Nobody's fault.' Torelamri said, shrugging, 'but they are making a move, so if we are really thinking of getting the enhancements, then we have to do it now.'
'As soon as we get back.' Cellica said, 'No objections here.'
'Good.'
As the group has gathered in a secure location found by Rydel and Valerie in the entertainment district, AKA a private garden that they booked out, an update from Zel is shared between the group. Despite them having secured channels, nothing is more secure than a group of people with all electronics shut off talking to each other around a piece of paper.
'The second orbital ring, the manufacturing level. Somehow, it appeared Absolute Being has a sort of compound there, and that is where they have taken Elmyra.' Ol said, showing Zel's message to them, 'the reasoning remains perculiar. Why there?'
'There must be a specific reason, and set up for it.' Rydel said, 'when they caught Zel, they just went away as quickly as they can. They need something right here, and that's why they can't leave.'
'Agreed.' Cellica said, looking at Rydel firmly, 'the orbital rings can provide an ridiculous amount of energy from the shear area of energy collection systems all around, and that's especially true for the manufacturing wing.
'Like the high energy stabilizer stunt they tried to pull way back...' Rydel murmured, 'are they going to do something similar with Elmyra? Study her?'
'Or use her.' Valerie said, and everyone turned their attention to her, 'she is the one with the most raw power here out of all of us.'
'How though?'
'They brainwashed the shield.' Torelamri said.
'And they did brainwash Dolon too, but no reason to do it here.' Cellica said, 'they are thinking of doing something else here, and that's why they are taking her there. There may be a sort of set up that can't be easily moved anywhere else.'
'And if we know anything about Absolute Being, it's they are trying to do what the artifacts do with conventional tech.' Rydel said, nodding his head, 'sounds like we are sieging the manufacturing complex?'
'I will get a warrant.' Cellica said, 'it should be easy since there is a clear location, and a clear purpose. I can talk to a few people. You guys can get ready to fight, and the moment the warrant is transferred, you can then move in.'
'Who's going?' Torelamri asked, and all of the people looked around the room.
All of the bearers sitting in the circle looked at each other, as they knew that if they failed this mission, then not only will Elmyra be lost to them, they will also be captured, and that will only put the bearers as a whole more at risk. However, it is clear what they will have to do.
They need to bring their strongest forces over there to meet the challenges of Absolute Being, while making sure whoever that remained behind will not get ambushed too.
'We will go.' Valerie placed a hand on Rydel's arm and said, 'Torelamri, you need to stay back and defend Ol and Cellica.'
'Enough?' Torelamri questions.
'We will watch out for Zel. Worst case scenario, we are all individually strong enough to fight our way out.'
Then, they all looked to Ol and waited for his call. Nodding hard in acknowledgement, he warned Rydel specifically, 'Rydel, you are two artifact in one. Be careful out there.'
'I will also handle the shuttle for you two.' Cellica said, 'so it is decided, I will get back to Zel now.'
Meanwhile, in the same entertainment district in another secluded dark corner, Vindy hid herself in the shadow and tried to breath and stop her shaking. She thought that knowing Hong Fu's plans will calm her down, and all that she had to do is to follow the instructions. However, she is trapped, and she doesn't know what to do now.
The plan B of her plan is to try to find the group of artifacts that is actively fighting against Absolute Being, however, they have concealed themselves so well that there is no way for her to tell which ones are actually artifact users for the crowd that have been around. Plus, she is doing her best not to look suspicious too.
'Damn it damn it damn it!' She slammed her fist into her leg and screamed into her fur, 'what should I do...where would those people be?'
If one of their friends are taken, will they go seek her down?
So does that mean in order to find the group that will maybe help her, she will need to go where they might go, which is where Lady Lily has gone?
That's insane.
That's stupid.
But there is no other way, plus Hong Fu is also there.
Shit, that means she will have to get in touch with Lady Lily, and there is no knowing if she will bother replying now anyway.
But there is no other options for her. With heavy hearts, the desparate Rocky tried to contact Lady Lily.
'Can I come join you guys now?' Vindy asked, 'I have changed my...mind, can you send someone to pick me up?'
'O...k, I will send someone to bring you to the building.'
'No, I meant to where you took Hong Fu.' Vindy said, her heart pounding so loud in her chest, 'I want to know, what you are really doing.'
'...So be it. Welcome to Absolute Being.'
Then, the communications channel is shut, and Vindy nervously awaited for her fate. The probability of that stupid plan by Hong Fu working is nearly zero, and yet he sounded so confident! It's almost like his artifact is the manipulation of luck or something. Vindy cursed underneath her breath, and tried to stand up with the broken music box in her hand.
Then, she looked at the hole in the box, and left it in the shadow.
From this day onwards, she will no longer be the Vindy she thought she was.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone