Chapter 20: Strings of the Puppet Master

They were searching building by building looking for supplies for their survival.

But then Rachel came across something different — she found a skeleton that had an advanced-looking VR helmet on it and she became curious.

Rachel reached out to pick up the VR helmet, but then she heard Eldon yell.

“Stop! Do not get close to that!” His shout caught Rachel’s and Liz’s attention as he continued, “Rachel, back away from it.”

Then Eldon continued, “If you see any VR helmets like this, always be cautious and destroy them the moment you see them. Now Rachel, crush it with your sword.”

Rachel took the cursed blade into her hand, activated the trigger to be careful, and swung down.

The cursed energy beam sliced it in two, but the moment the attack hit, all the wires and cables attached to the VR helmet moved and flailed like vines before collapsing to the ground.

Then the voice responded in Rachel’s helmet:

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Expelling parts.... complete...

Assimilation canceled.

Eldon nodded. “Good. If you see any VR helmets like that, destroy them on sight. They are very sneaky and will play dead, then the moment you look away, they’ll pounce on you. So it’s best to destroy them when you see them.”

Liz then spoke with curiosity, “So why are those VR helmets so dangerous?”

Eldon explained, “If they get ahold of you, they will destroy your mind and control your body like a puppet. So trust my warning — destroy them on sight. Now let’s get back to searching before it gets too late.”

Rachel was having a conversation with ZeroOne as they searched, while getting odd glances from Eldon and Liz every once in a while.

“ZeroOne, what happened with that assimilation?”

ZeroOne replied, “The parts were too old and worn down by time and the harsh environment. I’m surprised that VR helmet could even move.”

“Were you able to find out what it would have given us if it succeeded?”

ZeroOne continued, “No, not without it assimilating. It’s impossible. We’ll just have to find more and hopefully one in better shape.”

They eventually reached an apartment on the second floor when Rachel came across a storage trunk. She looked around the room — the walls and floor were stained with old, dried blood, and two skeletons lay on the ground, bones crushed.

Rachel approached the trunk and opened it, finding nothing but bones. She had a bad feeling and tried to move away, but the storage trunk suddenly leapt forward with a mouth full of teeth.

Rachel twisted out of the way, but it managed to clamp onto her arm, biting down hard on her pauldron. Its sharp teeth started to dig in, but met strong resistance from the cursed armor.

Rachel tried to shake it off, but it wouldn’t let go.

Then the whispers came again: “If only you had fed me, you would be strong enough to deal with this problem. But now look at you — you’re moments away from losing your arm.”

Rachel ignored the whispers and yelled out for help.

Liz and Eldon came running into the room to see a mecha mimic clamped down on Rachel’s arm.

Liz immediately shoved the crowbar between its jaws, trying to pry open its mouth so it would let go of Rachel’s arm, but it would not release.

Eldon then approached and slammed his hammer into its glowing red eye — ting... ting... ting... Then at last the eye cracked and burst as the mecha mimic reeled back, letting up on Rachel’s arm just enough that Liz was able to get her free.

Then they had the mecha mimic cornered as it charged toward Eldon, who moved out of the way, and it fled.

But Rachel was angered. Between the sneaky mecha mimic and the whispers that had been bugging her relentlessly, she exploded with rage and became reckless.

Ignoring her wounded arm, she rushed out of the room after the mecha mimic. She saw it break through the sliding glass door and leap from the balcony to escape, but Rachel was right behind it.

As she jumped, she shot her energy hook, jamming it into the mecha mimic’s hinge in its back. She gripped the energy hook with her hand and yanked down hard, slamming it into the ground.

Then she whipped it from left to right like a lash, thrashing the mecha mimic around until the right hinge broke loose and the mecha mimic was freed.

Rachel then deactivated the hook and approached the mecha mimic as it lay on the ground, cracked, dented, and battered.

But then something happened that Rachel didn’t expect.

The moment she closed the distance, the mecha mimic opened its mouth wide and a metal arm punched out. It hit Rachel hard, sending her flying into a building across the street, crashing through a concrete wall.

The mecha mimic’s arm pulled itself out of its mouth — first one arm, then two, then the upper body, followed by the legs. The top lid of the mecha mimic’s head rested on top of its now robotic body, its lower half attached to the back. Then it started to approach Rachel.

The mecha mimic entered the hole in the wall and stepped forward, looking for Rachel, but it couldn’t find her.

But then the energy hook shot out and hit the wall past the mecha mimic. Rachel launched herself full force into the mecha mimic, slamming both of them into the wall and leaving spiderweb cracks across the concrete.

She activated her mecha claw and slashed at the mimic, tearing into its chest and arm. It grabbed her tight and threw her across the room.

She bounced across the floor, but before even getting up, she fired the energy hook again, sinking it into the mimic’s chest where she had already torn it open, and launched herself back at it. But as she closed in, the mecha mimic’s torso twisted unnaturally to the side, and Rachel smashed into the wall, opening more spiderweb cracks.

The mimic then kicked her hard, sending her tumbling back.

Rachel dug her mecha claws into the ground to stop herself, then rose and charged again in her relentless fury.

She cocked her clawed hand back for another strike, and the mimic mirrored her, raising its hand to punch.

As she entered range, the mimic put full force into its punch — but that was what Rachel had been waiting for.

She threw her punch early, activating the energy hook into the mimic’s chest, pulling herself forward with extreme force, bypassing its attack and driving her mecha claw straight into its chest.

Then the mecha mimic sparked and twitched, but then it stopped, using the last of its power. Its eyes began blinking rapidly, then it slammed the back of its hand into the cracked wall, opening a large hole. Its red eye went dark.

Then Rachel heard it again:

Assimilation found. Mimics storage… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

After that announcement chimed in, Rachel was ready to ask ZeroOne about it when she felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder — again and again — as something shot out from the crumbling wall.

One of those VR helmets had come for her. She slashed at its wires with the mecha claws, severing them, then raised her arm to deliver the finishing blow.

But more cables and wires shot out, slithering into the torn parts of her armor and any gap they could find.

She felt them slithering under her skin. She slashed and slashed at the wires, but then a massive swarm of VR helmets leapt toward her, trying to bind and take her over as they continued to penetrate her body.

All Rachel could do was slash away at them, desperate to destroy them as fast as possible before her energy ran out. All she could hear was

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation failed.

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Slash

She went into a frenzy until all the VR helmets were destroyed, their shattered remains laid out around her.

Rachel hunched over in pain, looking like a puppet with its strings cut, as hundreds of cables and wires jutted from every hole and opening they had forced their way into.

She started to cough up blood, exhausted.

Eldon and Liz finally caught up and saw the aftermath, their eyes falling on the field of broken VR helmets.

Then the whispers came once again: “Now’s your chance. You are severely injured — if you kill them, I can heal you and the armor.”

Rachel replied in a tired voice, “Shut the hell up and go away. I’m too tired to deal with you.”

The whispers disappeared.

Eldon and Liz rushed over.

“Are you okay?” Eldon asked worriedly.

“I’m fine… for now,” Rachel answered.

Liz spoke, “You cannot remove the cables. If you do, you’ll die of blood loss.”

Rachel nodded. “I know. I’ll deal with this when we get back to the safehouse.”

Eldon frowned. “Where did all of these VR helmets come from?”

Rachel pointed into the hole in the wall.

Eldon approached and took a peek inside.

The room was littered with dead bodies of military personnel.

Eldon spoke, “This looks promising. It appears to be a military outpost from when the war was raging.

It seems those VR helmets must have wiped them all out. We should be able to find all the ammo, food, and water we need. Come on, Liz, help me gather the supplies.”

Rachel sat down right where she was, not wanting to move.

Liz and Eldon looked around — this place was actually pretty good.

Eldon glanced at the various crates. “I don’t think she’ll make it back. It may be best to secure this outpost for the night, then return tomorrow to pick up the rest of the supplies.”

Liz eyed a military vehicle with a mounted gun and responded, “Yes, this outpost seems to have been sealed.

I’m thinking the VR helmets got in, and then the military sealed them in, knowing the outpost was lost, to prevent further damage to their soldiers. Let’s get Rachel in here, then seal this hole. There are plenty of big vehicles in here to block it.”

Eldon nodded. “Sounds good, but let’s first make sure there are no other openings.”

So Eldon and Liz searched. When no other openings were found, they went to Rachel inside and would then seal off the hole, giving them a safe place for the night.

Rachel, while sitting there, heard the voice again:

Parts too degraded to proceed with assimilation....

Expelling parts.... Expelling canceled...

Enough adequate parts from different VR deep dive helmets.

Expelling unneeded parts.... Expelling complete...

Restarting assimilation process...

Assimilation found. Deep dive connection… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

ZeroOne spoke, “I just finished analyzing it. Want to hear the details on the mimic’s storage and the deep dive connection?”

Rachel spoke tiredly, “No, not now. Remind me when I feel better — I’m about to be in a lot of pain.”

ZeroOne chimed in, “Understood. I will go silent now. Rest well.”

Then ZeroOne went silent as Rachel watched Eldon and Liz approach.