Chapter 29: Hex’s Temptation

The next day, Rachel scavenged the mecha shapeshifter town, only to find poisoned food stored everywhere—bait for visitors they would lure in before stealing their forms.

Continuing her search, she came across a house with a giant pit inside, filled with rotting corpses and bones. They were most likely the victims of the mecha shapeshifters.

Finding nothing else of use, Rachel continued east until she reached a river.

As she approached, she heard a beautiful sound.

“ZeroOne, what’s that sound?”

But there was no response. She drew closer to the water and asked again, “ZeroOne, is this water drinkable?”

ZeroOne replied, “It should be, but make sure to b—.” But then his response abruptly cut off.

Without warning, ZeroOne’s voice shifted into harsh system alerts:

System compromised. Intrusion detected.
System has been compromised. Unable to stop intrusion.

Mecha claw disabled.
Energy Forge disabled.
Deep Dive system disabled.
Shapeshifters’ arsenal disabled.
Beam Slash disabled.
Cursed armor manual control disabled.

ZeroOne disabled.

Then, there was silence.

Rachel felt dread at the sudden cascade of messages. She tried to back off, but her armor wouldn’t move. Instead, it walked on its own, step by step, toward the river.

The beautiful sound grew louder until she saw it—sitting across the shore was a mecha siren. Its mesmerizing voice had hacked into her armor, overriding her controls.

Rachel’s body slowly stepped into the river.

Then Hex slid into her ears: Looks like this is the end for you.

The water rose to her thighs as she stumbled forward.

All you have to do is give me control, and I can help you, as Hex urged rachel to give up control.

Rachel waded deeper until the river reached her waist.

Hex continued: Once you fall completely in, you’ll be in its territory. You will die a most painful death.

Another forced step sent her plunging into the depths. She sank fast, her armor dragging her down. The mecha siren waited below, watching as she drowned.

Hex's whisper pressed closer: Give me control. If I take over, the mecha siren cannot command the armor. This armor is my curse, my body. It cannot dominate me if I am in control.

Moments before fainting, Rachel surrendered giving in to Hex.

Her body was then shrouded in darkness as Hex finally took over, reshaping Rachel’s form into that of Hex dark elf from of rachel in the Deep Dive. The mecha siren grew curious, unable to pierce the veil of shadow. It drifted closer, confused at why it had lost control—only for a mecha claw to shoot out and clamp around its throat. Hex squeezed until the siren’s mechanical throat was ripped out, severing the hack.

The creature writhed in panic, but Hex raised the cursed blade. With a squeeze of the trigger, she carved a searing slash that detonated in the depths, propelling her like a cannon shot.

She erupted from the water, staggering to the river’s edge and hacking up mouthfuls of water. Her gaze turned toward the stirring riverbed as the mecha siren ascended, its throat torn wide open, sparks crackling violently from the ruined neck.

The siren charged at Hex, slashing with her clawed hands. Hex dodged swiftly and countered with her sword, pulling the trigger as she swung. The cursed blade slashed deep into the mecha siren’s chest.

The mecha siren splashed back into the water, but Hex was already charging energy into her palm. She stood ready, waiting for it to reappear.

Suddenly, the siren burst from the river high above, attempting to catch her off guard. Hex was prepared—she unleashed her energy blast into the descending mecha siren’s chest and then rolled aside, narrowly avoiding being crushed by its massive frame.

The mecha siren then swung its fish‑like tail at Hex, but she held her ground.

She pulled the trigger on her cursed sword and sliced down hard, severing the tail. Sparks burst from the now tailless mecha siren as wires snapped apart. The mecha siren struck again with its clawed hands, lashing out in reckless fury. With its main weapon destroyed, it fought like a ravenous beast.

Hex formed an energy lance and thrust it upward against the descending strike of the mecha siren, piercing through its palm and leaving a gaping hole. The momentum of the siren’s hand skidded to a halt before it could reach Hex, the lance growing larger the more the siren pressed down. When the mecha siren’s hand finally stopped, it swiped with its other clawed hand.

Hex leapt back, but the attack sliced long horizontal lines across her armor. ZeroOne’s voice echoed in her head:

Energy Forge has been damaged and is no longer usable.

Your the armor only has 20% power left.

“Shut up!” Hex yelled as another clawed hand came down toward her.

She pulled the trigger and slashed forward multiple times, severing four of the siren’s clawed fingers, which fell to the ground.

The other hand came crashing down fast. Hex dodged, but the cursed blade did not escape—the mecha siren’s hand landed on it, the shockwave removing her grip from the handle.

Then ZeroOne spoke again:

The cursed blade has been damaged. Beam Slash is no longer usable.

Then Hex stood as the mecha siren towered over her. She gathered energy in her left hand and rushed forward. The siren’s clawed hands came crashing down toward her, but Hex quickly aimed and fired an energy blast straight between its eyes, blinding the mecha siren momentarily.

The mecha siren started to look around but, Hex was nowhere to be seen—until it realized she was standing on its shoulder.

In her palm, a fully charged sphere of energy glowed within her mecha claw. With a fierce cry, she plunged the claw into its eye, forcing it deeper and deeper before unleashing the fully charged energy blast. The mecha siren’s head bulged unnaturally, its other eye bursting in a shower of sparks as the mecha siren collapsed to the ground, flinging Hex violently from its body.

then Hex heared the voice that rachel was familiar with.

Assimilation found. Echo Hack… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

Then the helmet of the armor changed as two tubes formed out of the back, resembling braided hair that flowed down and ended in tri‑claws. The claws opened, revealing mechanical spikes that pierced out from their centers then they shut now just looking like the a weird end to her braided hair.

Then something else began to happen. A vacuum hissed from within the helmet as Hex’s flowing hair was pulled back, sucked into the braided tubes. Her hair was secured inside, ensuring it would no longer get in her face as she fought.

Hex then got to her feet, completely drained, but she would not give up control. She purified and drank some water before walking north, following the river.

Then she saw it—a lone child, weak and starving, heading her way. She licked her lips, and a big grin spread across her face as she charged forward with her sword in hand, ready to taste blood once again. But suddenly, her body froze as ZeroOne forced Hex into the Deep Dive system where Rachel was, her body covered by Hex’s tar‑like substance.

Hex snapped at ZeroOne, “Stay out of my way, little AI.”

ZeroOne pulsed back, “As long as I’m around, I will do everything possible to prevent you from going against Rachel’s wishes.”

ZeroOne used his authority here to push Hex away from Rachel’s body, but Hex fought back hard, refusing to surrender control.

ZeroOne pulsed louder and louder, urging Rachel to wake up, and eventually it worked. One of her eyes opened, and Rachel saw the boy in the distance—while Hex still held the sword in her hand.

Rachel tore at the tar‑like substance, flinging it across the room as it splattered against the walls, freeing herself from its grip.

The tar‑like mass reformed, pulling itself back together until Hex appeared from it. She smirked and said, “You owe me one, Rachel. If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead. Just give me a little taste of blood—I need it. You may be growing stronger with your new power, but you’re also growing weaker at the same time without quenching my thirst.”

Rachel glared at her and forced her back into the depths of her mind until Hex disappeared.

Rachel looked at ZeroOne and asked, “What has happened since I’ve been out?”

ZeroOne explained the battle, and how Hex had traveled north until they encountered this child.

Rachel then exited the Deep Dive to speak to the child. She removed her helmet so she wouldn’t frighten him as she approached.

“Little boy, are you alright?”

The boy looked at Rachel, then turned and tried to run away, but being weak and hungry he didn’t get far.

Rachel wondered what was wrong until ZeroOne chimed in, “Your curses—you seem to be bleeding from your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.”

“Oh,” Rachel said. “Then I’d better clean up.”

She moved to the river and washed her face, first making sure there were no sounds like before.

ZeroOne chimed in, “You no longer have to fear the mecha sirens’ hacking. When Hex killed the mecha siren, you gained the ability to prevent hacking and can now also hack the mechas back. Look at your helmet.”

Rachel glanced down, seeing the braids sticking out the back. “I can control these braids, and if I grab a mecha and stab with this hacking spike—”

ZeroOne guided the braids, opening the tri‑claw to reveal the spike within. “With this, I can pierce a mecha AI and temporarily hack it, gaining control over its systems and remotely controlling it.”

“Good, a new ability is needed. I have already lost the energy hook and the mimic’s storage—I don’t think I can afford to lose anything else.”

Then ZeroOne spoke, “Well, then I have some bad news. Your Energy Forge was broken in the last fight.”

Rachel looked down, no longer seeing the red and black translucent waist cloth, and cursed out loud. This trip east was not going well for her at all.

She then regained her calm as she went to check on the collapsed child.