Chapter 20: A Dark Omen

The path continues forward, winding and flowing organically.

Divi glances towards her right side. Diana was keeping pace with the creation machine, as the three of them were walking at a brisk pace. The end of this path lies near; another strange door made out of data is approaching them. The servant smiles, eager to see what lies on the other side of this entryway.

“Ohhoho, where will this take us to, my lord? A place of grandeur? Ruins? Under the sea? I wonder, I wonder!”

“And I thought I was the one most excited when it came to exploration. Have you been harboring a secret pastime I am not aware about, my servant?” A coy smile emerges underneath those brilliant brown eyes.

“Perhaaapppss. I got a little inspiration from someone, hmm hmm, someone I know, really welllll! Besides, don’t lie. You are quite the interesting lady, my creator. Remember how Ms. Anne and those city goers treated you when we were temporarily staying? They cherished every single second they could talk to you. Every moment was a new precious memory for them.” The thought did remain in the Builder’s mind. The feelings of love and appreciation for their ruler, frankly, they treated the goddess more like an older friend or sibling, rather than a distant divine being.

This fresh memory brings a smile on her face.

These people. These and all the others, in every realm.

They would be following in the footsteps of the six gods and grow. The Divine Hammer believed this with all of her heart.

She had to take care of them, nurture them, protect them until they could fend for themselves.

This android had a suspicious look, which was probably held by Star breaker and the bubbly underling. That the War Goddess had not fully lied but not fully told the truth either.

It was almost as if that mighty warrior was putting on an act. An honest act but also a slightly dishonest one. Danger was the most likely outcome.

No matter that knight’s motives, it did not matter. The future was built by the young, not the old, after all. Time to ponder such matters would be for later. The Door is now upon them. Diana kicks it open with no hesitation. The three leap off, falling a couple feet in the air. And land on solid ground.

They are on yet another desert planet. The two were unsure what planet they landed on, but it was one with a breathable atmosphere, at least. The architect of creation sits on one knee, taking a sample of dirt from the ground. Diana walks over and some strange tools come out of her left hand.

Atmospheric and mineral analysis tools.

By identifying the sample elements in the soil and air, it would be easy to decipher their unknown whereabouts. The cheery woman begins scanning the dirt, which was held by her mighty lord. The Builder looks around with that dark blue visor, scanning for lifeforms. Strangely, there seems to be none around them. The only thing in front of them is an ominous-looking place. A sleek, white facility that has large black doors, which is about fifty meters away from where they landed. It is difficult to ascertain the size of the structure but it is as tall as a ten story building and as wide as about two or three city blocks.

Instead of being a mere facility it was more of a base. Or perhaps, contained something more sinister inside. Various thoughts raced through the divine android’s mind as she pondered this strange view in front of her. What was it? How did it come to be? And who built this place? In those forty thousand or so years of her life, the six gods had never come across such a structure such as this one.

And that thought worried both Diana and the Creation Goddess.

What the hell is going on?

“Diana. I have an indescribably terrible feeling about this place. I cannot explain why though.” For once, Diana is not super duper cheery. It seems the woman is feeling the same thing. That chaotic energy emanated from within, drawing them towards whatever the heck was in there.

“Mmm mmm mm. We will have to be careful. Also, I do not detect the Earth Goddess’s energy anyway near this facility? I don’t think that War Goddess was lying, but I don't think that woman was being entirely truthful either. That mighty warrior. Clearly, something is going on we are unsure about. Well, at least us two.” They both turn and stare towards the silent sister.

“What? Did you expect me to spoil the beans?”

“Would have helped if you did but, knowing you, there has to be some deeper reason, my sister. Well, as you insist. Let us walk inside and investigate further.” Despite their intuition screaming at them to stay away, their minds needed answers to these questions, no, the dilemma that was unfolding rapidly before them.

The three walked forward briskly, reaching the magic steel doors.

Or that's what the baffled goddess thought they were, at first. The metal was similar to the material of her armor but was more sophisticated and had details etched in them. The goddess pushes the right door open easily, quickly revealing an interesting sight.

A security system of some kind. A video feed monitoring some interior room of this facility, this place. On the feed, some kind of large tube with a being inside of it. Vaguely reminded Diana of star breaker or the Underrealm Goddess. Diana walks forward, gazing at this video. The Divine Hammer walks around the large room more cautiously, noticing large footprints left behind.

“Diana! Other people have been here before us. But who? And why? God damn it, this is getting both more interesting and worrisome at the same time.” The architect of creation kneels on one knee, staring at this large footprint left by some unknown figure. She snaps her fingers, getting Diana’s attention. The servant's eyes begin to glow and scan the entire room with xray beams that shoot out of her eyes. An advanced scanning device, one of many tools she possessed.

Diana was not merely a servant for housekeeping or cooking, often, that old immortal machine was vital to surveillance, reconnaissance, and information gathering. A necessary comrade that the gods relied on. It is not like you can do everything alone. Together, even gods work better and more efficiently.

One god doing every single little job seemed so unrealistic to the Builder. It was just ridiculous. As if one person can literally do everything on their own.

A delusion she sometimes heard from random people that visited those very, very illegal churches. Churches that these two gods generally just pretended to not notice. Let them have their delusions, it was not their job to force people to change their beliefs. Their job was protecting them, guiding them, giving them the proper resources and help they needed, not to indoctrinate them.

If the “church” became malignant, then, they would dismantle it quickly. Such toxic things did not deserve to exist. Freedom works both ways, after all, the creator machine thinks as she walks around, getting a better look at this system. In the large room, five pedestals stood, each with some kind of area to insert your hand in. This was making her more suspicious by the second. Why go through all the effort to not only make the place, but build a slightly cumbersome system?

“Diana. Tell me, who was here before us? What energy residue did you pick up in this room?” That bubbly servant only lets out a small smile, also still somewhat troubled by this place.

“I detected three. An unknown figure, the Goddess of the Underrealm. And the last energy signature is exactly like the one coming from that room that we see on the monitor. I suspect something or someone is being contained there.” As if to confirm their suspicions, a large red orb appears quickly.

The voice seemed strange. Machine-like but still human.

“Ohohoho! Welcome, welcome.” The words put both of them on high alert, backing away slightly. Star breaker remained unphased.

The Proctor unit was delighted; they had arrived early! A celebration would be had but first, the star warriors needed to greet her properly. The red orb forms into a red humanoid form, projecting the machine's chaos energy at them, which naturally unsettles them further. As expected. The voice continues onward merrily.

“Well, maybe you should open those-” The fake demon lord gets cut off by an incensed voice.

“Well, maybe. You should tell us who you are! Whatever the hell you are supposed to be, anyway. Who was talking to you earlier, you, you!” Words fail the woman as signs of frustration appear on that beautiful face. And frankly, this was a fair reaction. Only so much even a goddess can put up with before getting angry.

The happy goddess chuckles. “Open these damn seals and I will give you some answers. Unless you think you can get everything for free? Divine hammer!”

“How do you know-”

“Oh I know much, much more than you can even imagine. Was that enough motivation? Or do you need more stimulus, oh brilliant goddess? The one who painstakingly built that drone system that covers the entirety of the lower star realms. Honestly, somewhat impressive. Faster than.” She intentionally trails off, not wanting to say too much.

Yet.

The replica of the true demon lord was also bound by certain limitations in actions and knowledge they could share. Besides, these questions that they wanted answered weren’t really the ones they should be asking.

But why bother telling them that?

They are intelligent. They will figure it out sooner or later.

“Here. I will throw a bone. I am the fake demon lord. I bet that War goddess sent you three here, not telling you a thing, right? Typical behavior. That woman is more of a demon than I could ever be, really.” These words perk up the interest of all three. Diana seems puzzled. The mother of the heavens narrows those sharp eyes of hers. So, the hunch became true.

That War Goddess did not merely send them here to find their missing companion.

That bastard was planning something far more sinister. And now, she thinks about Divine Flash and Nameless, those two were most likely involved too.

Her TecCommunicator buzzes, thought distinctly. Seems there is significant interference in this room due to the magic systems present. Making it malfunction

“I will be back in a moment, Diana. Seems like this facility is somewhat interfering with the dimensional waveforms in the Teccommunicator. Which is another question in itself, but for later. Give me a couple minutes.” The woman waves dismissively, leaving Diana to stare down the figure who is merely chuckling at the sight.

A few more minutes were nothing. Nothing compared to the one hundred thousand years the Proctor unit had suffered, trapped by the previous warrior candidates. It would only be a little longer, the ancient chaos machine thought to herself.

Divi walks back outside of the facility, answering the call. The device is set to audio mode.

“Ms. Hammer?! Are you alright?"

“For now. How about you two? We just went inside of the facility; it seems like the connection was weaker inside. It shouldn't be. This device was designed to work anywhere. The more we continue investigating this place, the more dangerous it seems. But.” Nameless takes over, responding back.

“We rushed into the tower. A little while after you entered, I suddenly had like a premonition? I felt like you would be in danger and attacked? I know it is strange but that is why I told sis to just chase after ya’ll. Seems we were too late, ugh. I would tell you to not go back to that place but I am sure you will.”

“Oh, what makes you think that Ms. Nam?”

“You have quite the stubborn streak like me. Remember what you told sis when you walked in! “

“Fair enough, I will concede. Perhaps I need to work on that part of me. But regardless, we need to finish investigating these ruins. I will update you two when I can. Where are you two?” The Builder taps her foot, worried about these youths.

“We are fine! We found a new friend. Calls herself the ‘Magician’? I’ll tell ya later! But now we are holed up back in Lunace. Gonna find a place to stay in the city for a while.”

“Be careful. Danger lurks there as well.”

“We’ll be fine! Be careful.” Unsure but unable to do anything else, the elder motherly goddess merely nods her head in agreement. After saying farewell, for now, the goddess shuts off the device, placing it back on the side of that old, crusty purple armor.

The woman walks back inside, back to the strange sight of that projection. Diana is still on guard, while that stoic Star God merely is leaning on the side of the wall. Waiting for something, it seemed. Not just waiting for her sister but almost as if that bastard was anticipating something awful that was about to happen.

What on earth was going on? They needed answers. And there was only one way to get some.

“Alright. We are going to open up the door. And no, Diana, I will not hear your complaints. Not for now, at least.” Diana says nothing and follows along.

Star Breaker walks towards one of the pedestals and places her hand on it, making it sink. One of the locks on the huge door in front of them unlocks. Four more to go.

“About time. We need to go in there, the sooner, the better.”

“As if you have the right to order either of us around, my sister. Just open the damn locks quickly, I still have not forgiven you fully yet.” A shade of red rises in that older sister goddess, anger rising. But the machine remains silent.

All of that energy needs to be saved, no, retained. A great battle will start soon, one all three of them will be forced into.

The older sister walks over towards the furthest pedestal, quickly unlocking the second lock.

Starting from the left, three other locks are opened. They watch the machines whirl. And in a span of a few minutes, the first powerful seal left by their processors had been unlocked.

The massive door, with all the locks broken, slowly but surely opens, revealing the interior.

The start of their struggle.

And the dawn of their hope.