An Odd Feeling [Solo/ Mansion]

Home, That is what we call a place of familiarity. A place without strife. A place where once can relax and be with those they care about. Although this is was all foreign to a bio-android such as Cytos. Cytos didn't know what to really call home at this point. The last place he could call home, the substation in which he was raised and hatched, had self destructed.

Cytos began to ponder to himself, looking down on Lamashtu's body, as she laid there in the dead of night. 'I could absorb her... but I'd just be alone again wouldn't I?' He thought to himself. He never thought he'd experience such negative feelings in his life time, but the waves of negative emotions began to strike him left and right. Then, he began to tilt his head down while his body began to shiver. Afterwards, His face began to heat up, as he could feel himself choke, but the tears that he wanted to shed would not materialize. The reminder, of his cursed existence began to wash over him, as these thoughts began to drive his mind deeper and deeper into darkness.

'Even when I'm made of Earthling DNA, I can't even shed a tear. Maybe, I'm just an abomination, or a monster..?' He then looked over to Lamashtu once more. She was sleeping happily, as the diminutive earthling had her mouth hang open and drool dribbled down her cheek, 'Dr. Carmine, I may not be your greatest creation after all. I can't even experience emotional distress at all like that hybrid, Hasenya.. And all those people. I can not shed a tear for a single one of them.'

Cytos began to slowly creep away from Lamashtu, looking back as if he was having second thoughts about leaving until he turned his head back towards the thicket. He then slowly disappeared beyond the trees without even a single goodbye. 'I'm sorry Lamashtu, I can't stay here I'd probably just end up hurting you in the end.' He then soared off, his destination unclear, as he just aimed for any old direction.

The wind began to run against his carapace, his body was like a shooting star in the dusk, as his mind began to go blank. Suddenly, Cytos had an odd feeling within him, 'Whats that?' His head turned left then turned right, as he noticed he subconsciously shifted directions, while the odd feeling developed into some type of hum.

'Was I always going this way, and whats that noise?' Cytos thought to himself before spotting a building in the middle plains. The building was multiple stories tall, as the architecture was Victorian in nature. A wall was also surrounding the estate, as the gates were shut as a clear signal to bar entry from any intruders. Despite this, that ominous feeling that pecked at the back of his head began to weigh him down and forced him to land on the front porch of the estate. Once his eyes scrolled up he could feel the building towering over him. 'This place feels oddly familiar, but why?' He thought to himself, as the insect didn't hesitate to step closer towards the door. He was not sure whether to open it or break down until suddenly an orb like device began to reveal itself at the head of the door, as a red waves of light began to scroll up and down the insect's form.

The words "Welcome home Doctor Carmine," was originating from the device's speakers, as Cytos eyes almost began to glow in awe. 

'Doctor Carmine, this is his home...? What even led me here...?' Cytos thought to himself, as he turned his head from side to side to see if there was anyone lurking, but with his ki sensing he was confident that no one was around the area. He then began to crawl inside the building. As he surveyed the area, he found himself in the lobby of the house. Two staircases led up stairs towards the second level, as he noticed there were several doors that lined up towards the end of each of the corridors. After a bit more looking around, he noticed several doors ahead of him as well. The aching feeling began to press against the back of his head which forced him to tilt his skull upwards.  Surprisingly, he found himself dragging his body towards the stairs seemingly against his better judgement. 

One of Cytos' claws were about to start to climb one of his steps, as he slightly hesitated. His had a strong will to stay away wherever his body was taking him, but something was overriding his movements. Each step he made felt like it could've been his last, as he hesitantly crawled his way up the stairs onto the upper corridor. His head immediately aimed towards the end of the hall, as his forced movements began to irritate him. 

'Im sorry Doctor Carmine, but I'm going to have to stop myself one way or another!' He attempted to ready an energy based attack as to block his pathway, but nothing appeared, not even a little shine of light. It felt as though his ki channels were blocked for some reason. 'Did father do this!?' He thought to himself, as he felt coerced to displace himself once more.

Cytos eventually pushed himself into the doorway, luckily the door was unlocked, as he felt his body would have destroyed it otherwise. Withing moments of his first glance of the room, the insect then recognized this placed to be like some sort of study. The walls were lined with a series books which were held by long uniform bookshelves while the end of the room housed the trophy of a Tyrannosaurus Rex the hung above the desk. The floor was carpeted in a fine wool, as Cytos began to notice the desk itself was made of a dark wood and was piled with papers. 

'Was this Doctor Carmine's Study?' The insectoid thought to himself, as he began to wander inside. His head started to scan the room a tad more closely just before he noticed one of the teeth of the dinosaur head to be a bit off from the rest. He flew up towards the head to compensate for his height, as his claw pushed back one on the fangs of the creature's massive taxidermized head. Afterwards, a panel began to surface beneath the trophy, as the wall pushed out just before moving to the side to create an opening. The curious beetle then began to land to plant his feat against the hardwood floor. 

He then began to look down newly found entrance to notice the inside held a long corridor that was painted in black. The didn't seem to be any type of illumination making this dark passage seem endless. The bug indecisively shuffled his feet around a bit before finding the courage to travel further down the rabbit hole. The cold metal corridor began to clank against Cytos' claws, as his hard carapace failed to stop any noise between each of his steps. The insect the discovered fairly quickly the deeper he traveled into darkness it became increasingly difficult to see. However, this inability to see was a bit of a familiar feeling in more ways than one. After his body was swallowed by the dusk he found himself hitting a wall, creating a loud THUNK! 

'Id say ouch, but I can't really feel much on the surface. Is this a dead end?' He wondered, until abruptly the floor beneath him gave way. Cytos felt a force that pushed up from beneath him giving him the feeling that he was traveling downwards. 'Wait what!?' Cytos shocked, for one reason or another the insect decided to not fly, as if something told him to keep himself grounded to see where this contraption led him. 

The device itself kept moving further, further and further down beneath the earth itself, as several minutes have passed. Nothing seemed to change at first, as he noticed a series of lights began to flick on one at the time. The illumination started from the end of the room and traveled towards Cytos. Once all the lights shined upon his new found destination he noticed the room itself seemed empty, as the only thing inhabiting the room itself was a projector. The walls were lined with a series of panels that shined a metallic blue. After surveying the area, Cytos began to inch forward towards the projector.   

'Where is this place?' He immediately thought to himself, as he found himself in front of the projector itself not before long and older fellow (seemingly an earthling) with a cyborg eye and a metal hand was being emulated on the projection screen.

"Huh, where am I?" The projection uttered as he twisted his body to survey the room. His eyes then peered down beneath him, as he noticed an enormous beetle stood on the floor. "Ah Cytos, is that you?"

The insect slowly begin to recognize the older gentleman in his data banks, "Wait.. Dr. Carmine?" 

"The one and only. Ah! you have grown quite a bit. You were an egg last time I saw you."

"It's been sometime, but you don't seem like a simulation... Does this mean you are still alive Doctor?" Then there was a sudden pause after Cytos' question. The doctor ran his hand against his rugged beard while he began to tug at it before he let out a frustrated sigh.

"No, I am quite dead. The fact that you are here means that I've been deceased for a whole year now, and that my fail safe has overridden your free will to bring you here." 

"So, that's what was happening... but how are we having a conversation right now?" 

"Ha, you should know as well as I boy! How are you able to sit here and talk to ME?" Cytos paused and began to remember that is mind was created by an highly advanced AI similarly to most bio android. Not only that he wasn't able to speak the human tongue, so how come could he project his voice in such a manor. He then came to realization that doctor duplicated his own mind as an AI in this projection, and this room allowed him to speak his own mind, literally. "Either way, this isn't a time to be dallying around. A reunion can wait till another time. Heh, I always wanted to say that."

"Doctor.." 

"Oh yes! Ahem, I need you to become stronger, In preparation of your current mission; however, I must redirect your current objective. The demons have been attacking this realm over the past year, and many lives have been lost, and the Earthling population is dwindling. I need you to help take Earth back."

"Wait what do you mean. I thought the whole purpose of my existence was to discover life and be free." 

"And you will, but you can't show the world who you are if there is no longer a world to stand on." 

"I guess so-"

"So.. I am going to give you two gifts. First, this!" He exclaimed, as his hand rose into the air, as some of the panels shifted to side. a series of robotic limbs began to descend from above, lowering a pure black chest plate. The armor seemed to be eerily familiar yet foreign all at once. "This is the Katchin Armor I've been working on. It will speed up your training by double then what your current armor has been doing for you and while lasting three times longer, but be careful. This will drain your current power by a significant amount, as a trade off." The arms soon let go of the armor, as the dark armor crashed onto the floor. Cytos seemed quite surprised, as the floor's panels seemed to have given way due to the armor's weight. As he began to approach it, the armor began to morph like instantly slime, as it immediately attached around the insects carapace. "I also changed the Katchin's structure enough to be able to change its shape to match any of your forms."

"Thank you, doctor but.."

"I'm not done yet, boy." He uttered before the image seemingly tosses Cytos a capsule. The insect clumsily tried catching it in it's claws. "This is the capsule for the mansion. It is yours now, I'm entrusting this all to you."

"But.."

"I know its going to be scary son... but I know you must've already made new friends already despite your appearance. It's a crazy world out there you know. However, I don't have much time left, I've set this room to detonate in several minutes, and yes I know before you say it. I know I have a bit of a habit with explosives, Haha!" The old man bursted into a laughter before a single tear began to trail . 

[END TRANSMISSION] Was now sprawled against the projection of where Dr. Carmine used to be. Cytos heart began to drop to see his old creator disappear once more. Although this was not a good time to grieve. 

'I have to get out of here!' Cytos quickly remembered the doctor's last words and booked it towards the platform the brought him down her in the first place. He had no time to wait for the platform itself but instead attempted to soar up towards the top of the elevator, but the katchin armor began to weigh him down. 'Why is this so... heavy!?' The pressure was clearly getting to him, as it felt like it'd take him eons to reach the top. Seconds, then minutes have passed, as the insect noticed a glowing light begin to emanate from the bottom. 

'Is this it? Is it over?' He thought, as he began to shut his eyes trying to escape the cold reality that befell him. Like lightning, something came across his mind just as he thought his time was up. 'Maybe if I brace myself, and pick up some speed, maybe the explosion might send me flying high enough to-.' The explosion was now right at his back and forced him up a lot faster than his body would ever let him. Once he made it up back towards the top floor he then quickly smashed the capsule's button as the entire mansion began to warp. The house itself turned from a hard solid to something more elastic, as the mansion was seemingly able to fit itself inside the tiny object. 

After several quick moments the moment the mansion disappeared, as the insects body continued to fling upwards into the air. His eyes met with the Horizon, as the sun itself began to rise once more, his eyes began to glow from the yellow sun, as he could feel the pressure begin to drop, as his body held itself in place. 

'I think.... I should go back.' His mind was now clear, Cytos finally understanding the doctor's words soon flew back home. His fight speed was cut more than half of his original velocity, but it was more than enough to make it towards the camp before Lamashtu could notice his disappearance. 


 Total WC: 2553


Reward Requested: PL