A Bio-Weapon's Rhapsody

Chapter 328: Alexanders… go away

As it was, apparently no one in the cafeteria actually spoke about it on the open, not even the minions that had dragged [Eleanore] away to get her wounds nursed. They spoke about it at length on the local network, then everything got deleted in a single go and no one uploaded it again.A message got send through their masks about bullying and speaking to the people in an understanding way, the usual bullshit about everyone is at the same level and no one is special, of course, if Ale had done that to someone else, chances were that the response wouldn't have been that thorough, but that was besides the point.

"It seems they are not going to issue a reprimand." [Golem] said lowering his phone, he had been calling around to other Team Captains to check on what had happened, "One of the team captains was there and after you left most of the minions there left the cafeteria."

Like rats abandoning a ship… talk about cowards, but then again, they had somehow survived in a super villain organization, so perhaps that was a needed skill to have? To know when to ball and when to get the hell out of there.

"So, [Elder] said nothing?" Ale asked, trying to not sound too worried about it.

For his part, [Golem] just turned to stare at her and say a single phrase, "He told me to get a message to you." And nothing else, he just stopped for dramatic effect after that.

Ale almost tried to cover her ears, she did not want to hear it, after all, [Elder] had just hoped to get her to collaborate, so she doubted he would go too over the top with his scolding, but then again. He was someone that Ale didn't want to disappoint, just like how she didn't want to disappoint Big sister or even [Golem].

"He says that Eleanore will no longer seek you out. He has assigned some minions on a permanent rotation to ensure she leaves you alone." [Golem] said with a sigh, "He is thankful that you didn't kill her. Would you have killed her?"

Ale didn't answer immediately of course, she stoped to think about it, would she have killed her?

"Probably no." Ale answered after thinking seriously about it, "I don't like the woman, but if she were to die because of me in such an obvious way I would be in trouble. Wouldn't I?"

Ale didn't kill her not because she feared the consequences, even if she was implying that, but more because there was no need for her to do it, she would not squirt out of doing the deed if it ever came to it. But she would do it because she wanted to do it, not because the woman went out of her way to taunt her or annoy her in public under a misunderstanding that she would be safe just because she was surrounded by witness.

Besides, she still wanted to stay in a good standing (Good enough) with the other minions and with Haephestus' Forge in general if possible.

"Billy didn't say." [Golem] said shaking his head, "He isn't sure about what Vulcanus would say or react. I didn't clarify it yet that you know and interact with both instances of Vulcanus, but we will need to speak to him about it."

"I know." Ale said sighing, "I do want to tell them, but the thing is… [Vulcanus.exe] is not… He is not hostile against the rest of us, but he will dispose of anything and anyone that gets on the way of what he wants to achieve. I want to see if we can separate them first before that becomes a thing, so for now… I would rather we keep the status quo."

"Are you sure that is the best way forward?" [Golem] asked next, he was not denying Ale of her plan, but it seemed more like he wanted some assurance.

"Yes." Ale said nodding, "You'll have to trust me on this, as someone who speaks with both of them. Vulcanus the normal one is probably as [Elder] remembers him, but the dot exe version holds no emotional attachments, he is truly a machine."

"So as long as they don't have a need to deal with the charade, he will keep it." Big Sister said from the side nodding, "I don't know if I should feel reassured or not, how bad would it be if we blow the lid? Would teleporting him to orbit solve the issue?"

Ale stopped to think about it.

"I don't think he would turn hostile if you out him," Ale said shaking her head, she didn't got that impression, "But Vulcanus will be probably lost and out of our reach, and while he would probably keep the organization… Chances are [Elder] and [Gabriel Light] would not be part of it going forward, I don't know if the other Lieutenants would remain, since I have not interacted that much with them."

That was the thing, Ale only knew for a fact that [Eleanore], [Gabriel Light] and [Elder] were close to Vulcanus, she didn't know if the other Lieutenants were like that, she knew that [Eleanore] and [Gabriel Light] had apparently been part of the same cohort, and that [Elder] had been part of those who rescued them, or something of the like.

But the other Lieutenants? They didn't look to be on the same age group, had they been part of the same facility? Or had they been raised later?

Had they been raised by Vulcanus? Or had they joined for something else, like Ale had done. She had too many questions to which she had no answers.

"Well, that is worrying." Big Sister said at the answer, "So one way travel to orbit it is."

"I don't think that would work." Ale said shaking her head, "Again, it may be a good way to deal with a normal Vulcanus. But his other half is basically a machine, the body is meaningless to them, he can just make a new one or take over another one."

Ale spoke from experience after all, "This isn't even the original body I was created with," Ale said extending her arms to the sides, "And I am not a Machine Core, there is no reason why he couldn't do that."

And even if he didn't know that he was able to do that, Alexanders would probably tell him, "And Vulcanus.exe knows it, so sending the body you are seeing to orbit would only work to turn him hostile. I would rather you didn't." Ale said pleading with her eyes, she did not want to become hostile to Vulcanus if possible after all.

"Fine." Big Sister said snapping her fingers and teleporting her luggage to the middle of the room, "Then do we need to leave? Billy said that he wouldn't find trouble with you, and now we know that Eleanore will not find trouble with you, who did he stuck her with anyway? Did they told you?"

[Golem] turned to his phone and sighed, it was still impressive to see a piece of stone sigh, more so since he had no actual lungs to sigh with.

"Team Watchdog." [Golem] answered pulling out a photo of a group of seven minions, all wearing a variation of the White Mask, most of them with the representation of a wolf or a hound, rather than a dog. Which made their name somewhat confusing.

"At least he has some humor to it," Big Sister said smirking, "Still, that makes one wonder, what was their actual job before this? They are one of the senior teams right?"

"Correct." [Golem] nodded, "Their job is usually bodyguard and safeguard of critical assets, one of their members is a friend, so I asked him about this job."

"What did they say?" Ale asked intrigued, "Are they prepared to deal with me in case I want to take her head off or something?"

"They are authorized to neutralize Eleanore if she shows any inkling of wanting to make contact with you." [Golem]'s answer was not what she expected, granted, [Elder] had already said that he would ensure that [Eleanore] didn't contact her, but she guessed he would just scold her again. Not this.

"Oof." Big Sister said from the side, a single word, but it truly encompassed how Alexa felt, "I thought they would try to get a Core Power canceler."

"Those exist?" Ale asked surprised, "No wait, of course they would, the world being as unjust as it is with random Core Power coming out from the woodwork, of course someone would try and wish for a way to neutralize them…"

Ale had answered her own question herself, not that she would even attempt to block or neutralize core powers like that, there were more efficient ways to do it, most of what she had seen could be boiled down to using Mana to affect reality, so if one could get a way to interfere with that process… Then she could probably get a way to block said effects.

Besides, she knew this worked already, there was that device in the office of Mr Hamilton that worked as a way to block Core Powers after all, not that she thought that one would even work in high tier Core Powers, at the very least she didn't think it would work on her right now.

"Precisely, there are a few popular and famous one." Big Sister said nodding, "Like there is this guy that cosplay as a frog doctor and calls himself Heavenly Canceler. They say he can neutralize and block any hostile Core Power, so long said powers come from a human source… Whatever that means."

A frog doctor? Who even comes with something like that? What, did he go around wearing an oversized frog head or something?

"There is also Re-Wire." [Golem] pointed from the side, "While his expertise isn't in the neutralization of hostile Core Powers he has some degree of success when dealing with such cases."

"Ah yeah… That guy, he is a sham." Big Sister grumbled from the side, "He doesn't purge hostile Core Powers, more like he just realigns your mind to fit better with your body. Then expels anything that isn't part of that, as a side effect if some hostile Core Power is stuck to you then that gets expelled."

"That sounds…" Ale started only to stop midway, had he attempted to do that to her? She didn't feel anything of the such, he did help Alexa's teacher though, "Like a very specific way to use his power, wasn't he a Healer?"

"He is, but like I said. He is a sham of a Core Power neutralizer and more of a sham as a healer. He does heal people, but it's more like a side effect." [Big Sister] grumbled again, "But enough of that, so they aren't trying to get Eleanore out of the shackles that Ale put her in, is that the important bit of this."

"They will not go out of their way to do so." [Golem] answered, "From what my friend told me, they want Eleanore power to settle, and the delimitation of whatever restriction put on her to solidify more, then they will see if it is viable to lift it."

"Before anything else." Ale said raising her hand, "It is not my power the one binding her, but her own."

"… I told them as much, but they wanted me to check." [Golem] said nodding at Ale, "They probably want to release her, could you do that?"

"… Yes." Ale said lifting her hand and trying to materialize the chain, but it only materialized faintly, very faintly at that, "It would not be pretty, and honestly, I don't want to."

"Even if Billy or Vulcanus asked?" Big Sister said from the side.

"…If [Elder] truly asked it for my sake, then I would think about it." Ale said sighing, "I would need to check a few things first, and ask Alexa about it. But if it was about me, I would rip out her Core before lifting the restraints."

"…Wouldn't that kill her?" [Golem] asked confused, "I don't think that would be worth removing those chains."

"Ah right, the thing about how our Cores are tied to our life." Big Sister nodded at that mention, "That sucks."

"I could probably do it without killing her." Ale said not entirely sure about it, "I think that I could do it within a 60%-70% chance of success."

They probably died because their Consciousness Stream was tied to the Core, and when the core was ripped out, their Consciousness Stream was ripped out. Ale just needed to ensure the Consciousness Stream remained within the body. And since she was already trying to move a living one to another body, well, that would be a good way to practice, wonder if [Eleanore] would be up for it.

"…But then again, that would be more of a help to her than a punishment, so it would give me a bad taste." Ale said shuddering, "Imagine, helping that bitch."

"Help? Taking away her powers?" Big Sister said confused, "Wouldn't that be… Oh….Right…"

"Can you do that?" [Golem] asked, "Take away their Core Powers and keep them alive."

"I haven't done it, and I will not try it with anyone I care." Ale answered shaking her head, "The theory is solid and like I said, this isn't even my original body. So I have done it to myself a few times, Alexa a few extra and Alexandra… She showed us a way forward in this field before… Before she left."

Alexandra had proved that it was possible to create a new body and move fully there, even though she was a Consciousness Strand instead of a Stream.

"I will try a few thing before committing, but not here." Ale said shaking her head, "That is part of why I was thinking of leaving sooner rather than later."

"Then, do we give a call to your brother? To Dr Miriam?" Big Sister said snapping her fingers and teleporting Alexa's luggage, that is to say, a single messenger backpack. "Have you done your luggage Ed?"

"Everything I need is with me." [Golem] answered pointing at his chair of rocks, those moved to the sides showing his wallet and a small book, "My room doesn't have many things, since furniture isn't something I need and sleep… well, a rock does not sleep."

That… That was not good.

"Then… Main Core, can you check the availability for the plane?" Ale said turning to the big TV screen on the room, of course she didn't need to look at that thing to get her message across, but even so, it was what she did.

[Acknowledged.]

[Sending query…]

[Query sent.]

[Receiving answer.]

[Checking data integrity.]

[Data Integrity confirmed.]

[The plane crew is in a thirty minute call. You may depart as soon as you wish for.]

[A notice was found embedded, displaying video file.]

"[Heya sis!]" The image of Alexanders smirking at her and taking a sip from a mug that read 'The Dragon Calamity is a hoax', "[So… You should have already found out, but Miriam Eversoul was delayed for a very important reason, that is to say, you would have been shot out before making it to dry land.]"

Ale… had not known that, she had thought that Alexanders was just being an asshole like always.

"[The thing with that woman is, she is too damn innocent and thinks humanity is intrinsically good… Unless we are talking about me that is, she is fully convinced I am this cartoonish super Villain. Wonder why?]" Alexanders turned to the side as if to speak with someone, his lips moved but no sound came out of them, "[Anyway, that isn't the point. I'll explain what that's about if you want later, for now… The plane will not take off if Miriam Eversoul is aboard, and she will find out as soon as you confirm your departure. So yeah, don't bother sending the schedule to her.]"

And with a final wave, Alexanders image disappeared from the TV.

[End of message.]

[Do you wish me to set up the departure? There are several services available for transport.]

"Ah, can you tell me what airport is the plane parked at?" Big Sister asked from the side before Ale answered.

[Airport is at the coordinates 39.998°N, -82.892°W.]

"Thank you." [Big Sister] then closed her eyes and focused, Ale felt the mana of Big Sister spread far and wide, so far that she was unable to even perceive it fully once it left the building, "And I got a lock in, it is indeed the Airport I thought it was, so I can teleport us when you are ready."

"I am ready from my side, I just need to send a few messages and that's all." [Golem] said extending his hand towards the rock chair, getting those pieces to cling to his body once more as he grew another extra meter in height. "What about you Rhapsody?"

His voice also turned once more the deep gravely voice that Alexa had seen the first day, compared to the more normal voice that he had when he was not wearing the extra rock pieces.

"Then let's go I guess…" Ale said sighing, "I'll send a message to Miriam Eversoul when we are departing later then…"

Ale would get Alexanders to explain this later, but for now, it was time to return to Aquila. This had been shorter and larger than she expected.