(Tenno - Verdanix 22nd, 3062)
[Since I've caught up with adipgtsmd story's start, months and sometimes specific days will be named, mainly to help me with remembering the timeline].
Sitting on a comfortable black leather office chair, in front of an equally black metal desk, below which sat a beast of a machine.
The entire set up was placed right next to the foundry and fridge, the drinks easily accessible.
A month or so after leaving the bunker for less than an hour had passed.
And life while it hadn't necessarily changed, it has definitely evolved.
Namely, with the Exalted Blade completed, and it being the only weapon Excalibur himself had in his set of abilities, I have finally started working on the frame himself.
The entire structure has been completed for a while, and the technology too, kind of.
All that remained was sorting out the mixing system of the diluted void energy and such.
I had figured out how to dilute it in the first place a week back, it being quite a mess.
The solution had been quite simple, although not quite making sense.
Rather than using only one energy, I had just resorted to mixing everything I had in different ratios, until it finally worked.
For now, I'm calling the mix "bullshit energy" since it fits quite well.
The progress is slow, but I'm not complaining.
I have already gotten the legs, stomach and arms down.
All that remained was the chest, which was taking a while due to sheer size.
As well as the head, which would take a while just because of all the sensors and whatnot.
Twirling a pencil that is both digital and physical, I hummed.
I was going to first go for Volt, or something of the sort.
Just for the speed.
But then I decided I would just redo my history of warframes.
And since I had chosen Excalibur as my first warframe, I had decided to start with him.
Then it would be Volt followed by Nekros and then Rhino and then Titania and so on.
Wasn't entirely sure about Nekros, cause I then would be the literal devil of this universe, but oh well.
Also I don't think anyone is even worth reviving, all my enemies and allies powers quite… meaningless.
Alas, why not?
Hell, I might go onto other planets after clearing this one after all, I might face some worthy foes there.
Or perhaps, someone powerful would arrive and try to stop me.
Either way, Nekros would be useful, if not soon, then later.
Volt is self explanatory, especially with a full speed build I might be able to achieve later down the line.
Same for Titania, just… better.
She's faster, does more damage, and can shrink.
Which is precisely why I fear starting to work on her.
Namely, she has two weapons. Which can also shrink.
And herself.
I cant even begin to comprehend how the fuck she even works, but ill figure it out soon enough, i'm sure.
After all, I have plenty of time.
Besides that, school has started up once more.
So I have started receiving assignments once more.
Which are as easy as ever.
Heard from Uzi that some of the class have died, a bunch are traumatized, and one had completely changed character because of his memory box being damaged.
She also informed me she would jump him after class because she believes her bullies are waiting to do something big.
And okay, I'll be honest. I did not try to stop her.
Because honestly? The kid might deserve it, and if not, Uzi wouldn't strike an innocent.
At the time, I was more focused on how apparently, after I was gone for good, and the kid's now being far more traumatized, the bullying had turned up again.
And while Uzi didn't state it, I knew very well why she didn't tell me.
It hurt a little, but I couldn't fault her for it.
Ive been warned that I don't got many fuck ups left before there would be drastic actions.
So you know, that might include jail time, or maybe just getting kicked out the bunker.
And honestly, I much prefer the second option.
Especially since, after completing Excalibur, I would start making my base.
And that, of course, would be outside the bunker.
Because frankly, once I start experimenting with quantum, chemicals, nuclear and all that jazz, I'd need space, a lot of it.
Also, I would like to explore this world.
Perhaps I would build myself a new orbiter, my own personal spaceship.
Or perhaps I would do it the old fashioned way and just walk.
Who knows, I certainly don't.
A beeping in my head signified someone is at the door and a few seconds later, a bang loud enough for me to wince could be heard.
Oh. Oh she was definitely mad.
A simple press of a button that was underneath the desk made the front door of my hab open.
I didn't bother standing up, she would first go into the kitchen to grab a drink anyways.
Bringing the pencil back to the invisible blueprint, I began sketching off to the side.
The torso wasn't quite problematic in itself, even the size.
What was stumping me was the new part I would need to install.
Which I could only describe as a core.
It would draw in void energy, dilute it with a lot of random bullshit. And then send it through the entire system.
The door opened, and Uzi walked in.
I didn't bother to even talk, just changing my face into a large "hi."
She snorted, but I could see that something is on her mind.
And I'm pretty sure I know what it is.
She jumped on my bed softly, leaning against the wall while staring into absolutely nothing.
She sipped the grape flavored drink almost on instinct, as if she's on autopilot.
I didn't say anything, there was nothing for me to say.
She made it clear that she didn't want me to intervene on anything like this anymore.
Which again, stung. But again, I understand that.
A minute passed, then five, then ten, then thirty.
And once I was sure she just came here because she either didn't want to go home, or my hab being closer than hers, I turned my attention back to the blueprint and my sketch of a core.
It looked like a simple rectangle with round corners, surrounded by a thick tube which would contain the bullshit mix of energy, and in the middle a comparably small circle that would contain void energy.
The circle would open up, connect with the tube, then start flowing backwards, giving it time to mix.
Which frankly, needed to be done in a second.
Considering anything more than this would be literally impossible.
So it would need to be fast, and almost constant.
Thankfully I didn't need to worry about damage overtime or anything like that, since nothing but orikin alloys would be present, since there was nothing to program.
Well, other than the opening of the sphere and connection to the tube.
But that shouldn't be a problem if I just put it outside of the mechanism.
Lotus damn it all, this shit is more annoying than the classes I had to take.
I stood up, grabbed the leather jacket off the chair and threw it on quickly.
Uzi didn't even seem to notice, she was probably working on something.
Sighing heavily, and praying to Lotus herself, I grabbed the soma, attaching it to my back beneath the baggy jacket.
Without any words, I departed from my home.
I needed to move, not necessarily fight, but I'd rather be prepared than not.
If more than one of the disassemblers attacked me, I would need the range.
A full hour later, I stood outside the bunker, and just remained there. Right outside the door.
Luckily it was bright out, so I was let out without much trouble.
And I had an hour once again.
An hour to explore, to relax, take in the view of the frozen landscape.
It was refreshing, cathartic.
A smile grew on both my faces, and I began my slow trek in the opposite direction I first went in.
Exploring the already seen parts is no fun after all.
*
Meanwhile, in Tenno's room, Uzi suddenly realized she was alone.
Gazing around, and shouting a few times, proved that Tenno was nowhere near.
She huffed, her annoyance clear as glass.
Picking up the cup and sipping on the straw, she was greeted only by air.
Huffing once more, she jumped off the bed and walked to the fridge that was now accompanied by a desk.
Opening it, she was gobsmacked by the amount of drinks.
It was as if she stared at the cafeteria's menu itself.
And everything is organized too!
The slight agitation was replaced by a small amount of mischievousnes, as she decided to grab one of the lime drinks her friend oh so rarely drank.
She wasn't dumb, she knew he liked them, and deliberately saved them for occasions.
And it so happened, that Uzi felt this day is a special occasion.
Besides, what would be the harm? There are still four left.
Which now that she thought about it, was strange.
Shouldn't there be the most of them if he likes them so much?
Shrugging and since she already opened the drink, not really caring.
She closed the fridge and walked back to the bed. Unknowing of just what havoc she had brought upon the bunker.
*
Well this is quite the predicament.
Looking left and right, straight and back.
I saw nothing but white. Literally.
Well shit. It'll take a while for me to track back my steps, and I got twenty minutes left.
Luckily, im a robot now, so that isn't too difficult.
The time frame is.
Stretching my limbs for my biological body's sake, using just a tiny amount of void energy to augment this body's capabilities, I dashed off.
The wind blew at my black hair and I was sure something fell into my mouth while I was screaming in joy.
Lotus, it feels good to run. More than it had any reason to.
Slamming into a pile of chemicals pretending to be snow, I easily exited the other side, now covered with the stuff.
But that not matter, nothing in my path mattered.
All I could think about was my days in the plains of eidalon, using volt to run across the entire area in minutes, or if I was busy, seconds.
The feeling is something I could never place into words.
It was as if you discovered yourself, while traveling at your fastest.
Yes. That sounds right. Discovery of oneself.
Or in my case, rediscovery.
Letting out a laugh like no other, I barreled right through the first building that appeared in my path.
The already broken glass shattered further.
Concrete groaned and exploded into so much bits and dust.
And the second floor and roof collapsed onto the first.
Dust and chemicals rose into the air, but I was already gone, rushing down the street like a drone possessed.
Slipping on a metal plate covered with ice, I let out a bark of amusement, as my momentum continued to carry me forward, even if my feet were off the ground for a while.
Extending my arm to the right, I grabbed onto a poll, planning to swing around it.
Instead, I tore it in half, my momentum barely slowing, myself starting to spin.
Which only caused more laughter.
I had forgotten that everything around here was weaker, due to age. And not to mention, not designed for super natural beings like myself.
Finally, after thirty seconds of flight, I slammed into the ground feet first.
It buckled, as everything here did.
Before I could sink into the ground, I jumped up, the already weakened concrete road shattering.
Latching onto an edge of a rooftop, thankful that I didn't just go through it.
I climbed up, quickly.
And there it was, a block away, the bunker.
Breathing heavily to slow my heart, I sighed wistfully.
How I had longed for this.
The first time I left, I wanted to just experience this new world.
But now, I would enjoy it. Everytime I left. Anyway I wish to.
And if someone didn't like that? They are welcome to stop me.
Chuckling, I jumped off the rooftop, absent-mindenly checking if the soma was still attached to me, which thankfully it was.
I landed with barely a sound.
It is fun to be destructive, but I'd rather not do it so close to the bunker.
Checking the reminder I had set, I realized that I still had ten minutes remaining.
Damn, I must've not even been that far then.
Whistling a jonty little tune, I approached the bunker door without a slightest worry.
I would prefer to stay out a little longer, but I needed to play being the good responsible kid.
So then of course, there wouldn't be any problems when I would want to leave more often… with trailers.
I sure hope they won't check them.
Hm, maybe I should go with an empty one first? Saying I would like to collect things I find interesting?
Then, they wouldn't check it a second time.
In which the foundry would be placed. And probably a lot of materials.
Nodding and making a reminder for it, I slammed my fist against the door heavily, three times.
A few minutes later, the door rose with a slight amount of groaning and a lot of hissing.
Ah, home sweet home.
A few minutes later I was walking through the maze that is the bunker, my focus back onto Excalibur.
A line there, a dot right next to it, outline the diluting core, seal it in a hundred barely visible to the naked eye orikin seals, wrap a tube around it, each layer having its own seals, design the sphere in the middle, add as many seals as possible.
I should probably mention that the tube itself is merely one centimeter in width.
And the sphere containing void energy is only a 3rd of that.
So this truly doesn't force me to move preexisting designs, because frankly, there is more than enough space to work with.
So it's really compact, which is good.
And at this rate ill complete the blueprint in a week.
If I knew how to move the energies.
Yeah, I haven't quite figured that out yet.
At first I assumed I could use a diagonal design for it to flow naturally, but that would require it to go through basically the entire torso.
And well, if someone and I do mean if, would get through the shields and have something powerful enough to puncture the frame, it would no doubt hit the system.
Which would honestly probably annihilate me and the entire city in a chain reaction.
Big no no.
So now I plan to either use a piston of sorts, to move the energy into the void energy, then pull it back all together.
It would need to be precisely calculated, so the infusion isn't too quick.
As well as it being quick enough to be effective.
A yawn escaped me, and I absentmindedly noted that sleep had been rough these past few days.
Which isn't normal, which makes sense in a way.
Because why would normality apply to an individual that doesn't belong here?
Still, it's slightly concerning.
I already moved my six hours of sleep mode to seven, thinking that that's the problem.
Sadly, nothing has changed as of now.
I'd give it a week, and then I would move it up to eight, and start researching.
For now, I just wanted to get back my first warframe.
Then I would rest, maybe get a more productive hobby than just sit and watch whatever looked interesting.
Although the animes I've watched definitely gave me a few funky move ideas I could do.
And while not entirely efficient, it would definitely be fun to try out.
The door unlocked and I entered while stifling another yawn under a palm.
Lotus, it is weird to only have four fingers.
I don't know what about it is so strange.
It may be the fact that I've had five for so long now, no matter what frame I wielded.
Or it may be the fact that any of the tasks hadn't grown slower because of it.
It felt as if after all these centuries, I was being told that a fifth finger is a waste of space and resources.
Walking into the bedroom, my vision slightly darkened and blurry.
I didn't notice the gremlin behind the door.
But I sure as hell felt the hand that smacked the back of my head.
I spun in an instant, hand already raising towards the throat of the walking corpse as I knew it.
And the drone would of indeed been a pile of scrap, if I hadn't noticed the hollow purple optics before my hand made contact.
Shifting my weight, I managed to avoid hitting her with slight difficulty, my hand slamming into and through the wall.
Lotus damnit it all!
Extracting my hand slowly, all the while staring into the optics of Uzi, I glared at her,
"Are you insane?"
She gulped nervously, staring at the hand, before quickly growing angry,
"You're the insane one!"
I raised a brow, she was kidding right?
"Im not the one sneaking up on drones."
"And I'm not the one aiming to kill!"
I snorted, stepping away from her,
"What did you want anyway?"
She huffed, muttering quietly to herself and straightening her dark hoodie.
"Nothing, just stayed around to tell you I'll be coming here less often."
She spoke quickly, as if racing against nerves she didn't literally possess.
Weird, she's rarely this nervous.
The ovals representing my eyes narrowed into thin slits, scanning her.
She isn't injured, nor afraid. Just nervous.
Which might as well scream something is wrong.
Alas, I'm not her father(sure as hell would be a better one than Khan though), so I won't ask questions she clearly doesn't want to answer.
Waving a hand dismissively, I walked to my fridge and opened it, my eyes scanning the shelves while deciding what flavour did I wish to experience after such an exciting day.
Hm, yes. Today truly is something special, worth the divine flavour of lime!
My hand reached to it subconsciously, only to freeze. As I noticed a clearly missing cup.
Slowly turning my entire body, towards the only possible culprit, I stared down the drone.
"You did not."
A nervous cough and a hand scratching at the back of her head told me everything I needed to know.
I grabbed a cup without taking my eyes off the gremlin, then started sipping on it slowly.
Causing Uzi's expression to grow even more weary.
"You're not mad right? If you are, I'll buy you back I promise!"
She started off slow, before quickly ramping up as my expression didn't even twitch.
Before long, she was just sitting on my bed, back against the wall and knees pressed against her chest.
She looked like a scared animal, like a rabbit.
I'm not even sure why she's actually afraid, I'd never do anything to her after all.
Unless she went absolutely insane and started killing innocents of course.
No, I'm staring at her, because I'm not actually looking at anything.
I'm just deep in thought, thinking of how and what to raid for my precious drinks.
A few minutes like this passed, before my attention returned to the material plane, myself only motioning with my head to the door.
Which caused Uzi to bolt like a drone possessed, not even closing the doors behind her as she rushed out.
Not before stopping in the kitchen to grab another drink though.
Sighing heavily, then letting out a chuckle, I slowly went out around my home, closing the doors before jumping into my amazing bed.
Finishing the drink and adding a few things to the frame's blueprint, I entered sleep mode.
***
Lotus, I feel absolutely fucking divine!
Stretching widely and wildly, clenching my hands into tight fists, and just moving in general.
I felt as if I was finally back in my body, after so long of being in a stranger's.
Because, finally, I was in a warframe.
Excalibur to be precise.
The frame, while smaller than a lot of the frames, still was easily taller than my fridge, the horn protruding from the forehead just a dozen or two centimeters below the ceiling.
The frame itself is sleek in design, clearly made for athleticism. While minimalistic due to him being one of the first if not the first of the warframes, he still looks smooth, with a white and gray bodysuit, a few bright blue light dots on his torso. All together he's an agile and aerodynamic killing machine, made specifically for melee combat.
And Lotus dammit I will make sure this universe fears this appearance just as much as my original one does.
Retrieving the Exalted Blade from under my bed, I felt the connection as soon as my fingers brushed against the handle.
Even while both were changed, the connection was there, pulsing as if being alive.
And oh how good it felt, euphoric even.
Grabbing hold of the blade fully, my palms, and then the handle started giving off a white-ish glow, the weakened energy having changed colour.
The energy traveled through me, into the hilt, and then the blade.
It immediately lighting up, forcing my dark room into visibility.
Even the pressure, even if weaker, was there. Simply cause of the much larger quantity of energy.
I swung the blade swiftly, leaving a perfect arc of white energy in the air, like an afterimage.
And just like them, the trail slowly dispersed from start to finish.
No, the energy wasn't just for show.
Other than it signifying the energy I'm losing from just infusing the blade, it also is semi physical, or full on physical if given enough energy.
Which I can use to block bullets and other such projectiles.
Blades would probably pierce through, but that's much harder to calculate.
The glow dimmed, and then vanished. Leaving only the black and white blade.
Twirling the blade and then slashing it to the side, reminiscing of how I threw off the blood that usually coats it, I smoothly placed it against my back, attaching it.
Kneeling down, I placed my hands in front of me on the ground, equal to my shoulders in width.
Then, I effortlessly jumped up, standing on my hands.
And then, limit testing began.
Hopefully, no one visited me, since it would be quite a long process.
Including an hour of push ups, squats, kicks with each leg, punches with each hand, and swings with each hand. Each.
That's 8 hours to anyone wondering.
And yes, it has to be done straight, without pause.
This is exactly why im doing this at night time, less chance of anyone(The gremlin), of barging in and either seeing me in this body, or forcing me to stop and feed the frame back into the foundry.
My eyes wandered across the room, slowly growing bored with the repetitive action.
Which quickly stopped, as I stared at the worker drone body I had inhabited for months now.
It felt weird, but not new.
After all, I'm used to seeing all my bodies I have inhabited through the centuries from a 3rd perspective.
Still, I would probably keep it, upgrade it too.
Even after leaving the bunker.
It would definitely make me much less threatening to other worker drones after all.
So, as I do with any useful asset, I will treasure it.
And perhaps, after a few decades, it would be a tie to this world if I ever left.
***
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