[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
Milo froze as those words... staring at the sphere of energy. It was radiant, and his prosthetic seemed to slightly glitch out at the sight of it. Whatever this thing was clearly had power beyond Milo's comprehension. What would his Aspect evolve into? The damn thing was already Supreme.
Milo hesitated, then thought in his mind
'...Yes'
When the Spell spoke again it seemed distorted, as if the very thing in front of it was effecting it as well.
[Are you sure?]
'Yes'
[...So be it]
Milo wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but it sure as shit wasn't what happened next.
Milo watched as the sphere began to slowly vibrate, ramping up with intensity with every passing moment. After a few seconds, the sphere then... well it entered Milo's body. It did not bother with precision or protecting the user. It simply dug right through Milo's chest, and dove deeper than his body. Entering his very soul.
Milo felt two smooth hands grasp him, and that was the last thing he felt before he passed out from the sheer shock and pain of the situation.
When Milo woke up, he found himself in an immense world of pain. The very essence of his being had changed, Milo could feel that he was no longer just a mere man made of flesh. Looking down, the hole that had been created by the sphere was still there, however it was not bleeding. Instead the core seemed to have made Milo's soul its home.
Milo then looked up and scanned the room, hoping for Eva still be in the room. She was gone, not a trace of her or the construct left.
It stung... it really stung Milo
'Why...'
Milo felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes. Was this really all he had amounted to, a zombie looking Sleeper days away from salvation with his lover having abandoned him? Was this his fate?
"Yeah... right. I refuse! Do you hear me?!"
He still had a family to get back home to, a Dreamscape pod to buy, a Dreamscape tournament to win. With a whimper, he managed to heave himself onto his fours, and with a mountain of pain on his back, he began to crawl out the door.
Milo had not even bothered to check what his Aspect had become, he just needed to get out of here. Out of this place, and to reach the Crimson Spire in hopes of finding Nephis so she could heal him.
Milo dived into his Soul Sea, and the first thing he noticed was that the sphere of energy was actually a Soul Core. It was currently residing above the sea of iridescent oil that was within Milo's Soul Sea. It did not have a construct around it like the first one. Milo could tell that would not be the case for long. His own soul was thumping energy, seemingly ready to claim this foreign object for itself.
Milo reached the small gap, pale sunlight reaching through the narrow crack of the ground and the coral cliff that had hid this cave. He then summoned Coil.
Coil wasted no time chewing through the coral and making a gap big enough to fit itself through. Milo grabbed onto the serpent
'Go... go to the Crimson Spire! At all costs!'
Coil did not stop moving, and Milo could not be bothered to defend Coil. He simply held onto the Serpent as best as he could.
He then finally took the time to check his runes.
Aspect: [Machine God]
Aspect Rank: [Divine]
'Oh shit'
Aspect Description : [Carmen knew he would not survive the doom war unless he became something Divine. In a last ditch effort to live, he created the -unknown- and was the first mortal man to reach a level equal to the gods and -unknowns-. Carmen however, knew that he would not be able to survive the assimilation. However, an apostle of a god could, so he left a message for the apostle in hopes of ensuring the -unknown- reached capable hands]
Innate Ability: [Apotheosis Protocol]
Ability Description: [Your soul is the origin of all machines you assimilate. Integrated technology is rewritten into divine constructs, freed from physical limitations and bound to your existence. Such constructs evolve alongside your soul, can be manifested through will alone, and cannot be permanently destroyed unless your soul is damaged]
'Incredible!'
Milo was no longer just a mere example of a future to come, he was the god of that future. A Machine God if you will. He might as well forgo his flesh and made everything except his brain a prosthetic.
He then moved over to check his new Dormant Aspect Ability
Aspect Abilities: [Divine Interface]
Aspect Ability Description [You may interface with any technology through thought alone, bypassing physical access, security, or compatibility]
'So it's just a upgraded version of Soul Network'
He no longer needed to use his soul to power technology. It would just work in his presence, regardless if it was just in a nuclear explosion or within the vicinity of a Category Five gate. He didn't even need to theoretically be near it.
'This is all a bit much'
Milo then looked up from his runes, noticing that Coil was nearly torn apart at several parts. More severely then when they had used him to get here. He wouldn't survive much longer, but the daunting Crimson Spire was in view.
'Just a little longer buddy!'
Coil let out a hiss in response, acknowledging Milo's promise.
Milo then focused on his runes one last time.
Flaw:[Fleshless God]
Flaw Description: [Flesh is no longer your home]
'Well... looks like my words came to bite me in my ass'
Milo looked up. The Crimson Spire was directly in front of him, however, there was no army. Well there was certainly a lot of dead Nightmare Creatures and Sleepers.
Milo walked forward, the sun... the sun itself was damaging his soul.
'Shit!'
It hurt like hell. Milo needed to get away from it. Milo was so distracted by his own pain that he did not notice the Spell's down right robotic voice state
[Your Echo has been destroyed] Coil had died protecting its master to the very end
Milo dashed between small heaps of corpses, using the shadows as cover from the terrible sun. The Crimson Spire would not last much longer, it was bound to collapse by the looks of it. Milo ran into the Crimson Spire.
***
Eva was right at the gateway. She could escape, one of the last ones out of course. However something told her to go to the entrance, her construct had long been destroyed, being sacrificed to lessen the casualties in the siege.
Eva looked down from the high platform, standing in front of the entrance to the Crimson Spire was a face she long thought dead for two days now. It was such a beautiful sight, her lover was back. Milo looked up at her, however he did not unsummon his angular helmet to flash one of his adorable smiles. Instead, he looked at her and drew his blade.
'What?...'
Milo ascended the steps angrily, gaping hole still within his armor. His heart was visible, it was pumping furiously. Despite the wound, Milo was moving with a purpose, he was going right for her. His prosthetic surged forward, removed from his body, and tightly grasped Eva
"Milo! What are you do-"
"Die!"
Milo surged forward, blade poised for her chest, and Eva had to defend herself.
Fate was watching over the Crimson Spire. It was a myriad of countless golden strings, the strings seemed to contort, forming weird shapes. If one was to look from a right angle, they would see a sadistic and sinister smile being formed from the countless golden strings.