"Mono/Dialogue"

'Inner thoughts'

Narration

Year: 7193.

Location: Imperial Sector Alpha, Alpha Soldius System, Trading World C-I-R 1180.

POV: Narrator

The universe of the early 8th millennium is a hardly peaceful time. Humanity had embarked on the first celestial voyage more than 5000 years ago... but alas the uncharted cornucopias of galaxies filled with bounty poisoned the spirit of camaraderie between them. More damningly is the fact that planets filled with bounty, riches, and luxury once thought to be impossible only cause humanity to further drift away from one another...

Humanity was truly fragmented by the first, and hopefully last, War in Heaven, a calamitous war of the 4th millennium. Hundreds of worlds were shattered, billions or perhaps trillions had died, and unmitigated economic decline and depression plagued humanity in its entirety. The war lasted for 70 years, and the damages caused were more than enough to leave remnants of the war to sue for peace. Salvaging what’s left but letting the hatred fester all the same.

But war is, sadly, always a part of human nature... any cooperation and effort to mend the wounds humanity inflicted upon itself has mostly lost to history, propaganda, deceit, and general ignorance regardless of deliberate method or pure coincidence.

Humanity's worst fear was once again manifested in the worst way possible. The second War in Heaven had finally started... with arguably tens of trillions of projected human casualties...

 

Year 7193, March 19th.

Location: Imperial Sector Alpha, Alpha Solidius System, Trading World C-I-R 1180.

POV: Eleana Castita.

2nd years into the Second War in Heaven.

"Haha! Come here you little rascals!" A man bellows playfully. His old looks betray the energy he manages to show the children. His graying hair looks dazzling even though the dullness showcases the history behind it.

"Wahh! The monster is here! Run!" the children laugh with the same playful enthusiasm. They are not just any kids however, they are a bunch of noisy cute little gremlins who had come with nothing. This is the place for the forgotten, unwanted, and left by the world, he is one of them.

"Hush now! don't run around too much or else Nyx would have to fix you up again!" I chide them to be more careful and mindful of their surroundings. Nyx just flashed me a playful grin. "Oh come on, Ela. They are only doing a little bit of trolling here and there." Goodness, this man... I can only sigh, but can't help a smile forming on my face.

'Well... that's precisely why someone scary looking like him had been readily accepted around here.' I fondly recalled a memory of when he struggled to get close to the children at first, how he was despairing like it was the end of the world at the sight of children making themselves scarce. He was feared because of his stature, and history of being a veteran.

How he had done a lot of things, including knitting a doll for one of the children. Now, they called him Big Bro or Uncle.

"Big Bro! You're going to be a hero right!?" An innocent and good-natured question perhaps, but Nyx's expression froze for a mere moment, imperceptible by the children, but I can see the clear pain marring his expression briefly.

"O-oh yeah! Of course!" A wistful smile graced his scars-riddled visage. All of the children around him become giddy with excitement. They look up to him as their "hero" so to speak. 

Then these little rascals even start hugging him, thus getting him toppled off unto the ground, of which his smile turns as genuine as possible once more. 'If only...' I know a very unpleasant fact, however.

The thing that he desperately buried deep within. Not wanting to show weakness, especially to the children he holds so dearly. There is no bond of blood and yet his love is equal if not exceeding those with one.

After an hour or so, I order the children to do their daily chores and studies. Nothing too hard, but certainly would help them in the future… the very future that has become verily uncertain, what is with the looming war… Nyx knows it better than I do.

They groan and whine to be allowed a little bit more time to play, I only smile sternly. That is enough to get the point across, despite some of them giving me those pouts and disappointed gazes. They scamper to their respective destination but not before hugging both of us one last time and then running with excitable delight.

Seeing the children returning to their respective activities, Nyx turns back immediately and heads to his own room, nothing too fancy because space is precious in this metal and concrete jungle. I follow and walk alongside him quietly.

He says nothing, and neither do I. There is not much more for either of us to share, every attempt would only hurt us with nothing to show for it… But maybe.... just one last attempt...

He then arrives in front of his room and wordlessly heads inside. I patiently wait outside for this broken man who has lost so much but keeps on smiling. The minutes spent when I wait for him feel like ages, my expression is flat and devoid of anything that might be useful to ascertain my own emotion.

After a few more agonizing minutes of waiting in deathly silence as my sole company, there he is with baggage in hand, and an equally flat expression. But he is foolish if he thinks that those trembling hands of his have gone unnoticed. I stare at him, and he does the same. There is only a single sentence I have managed to muster... one last plea for him to just stop.

"Not even me?" My voice is brimming with heavy emotion. Betraying my stone-cold face, I sincerely prayed days and nights for it to be otherwise... but alas...

"... Thank you... tell them I'm off..." The answer is clear now... as much as I hated the fact that mine and his can't co-exist... or how the world moves on with such a cold and uncaring pace... the waning of time won't wait...

"... Good luck, and may fortune be with you, always..." I turn my back on him, only hearing his steps that grow ever so faintly... My tears streaming down my face, it pains me that after all he had done, the only thing I can give him is only a handful of sincere prayers of mine. 'Please... be safe, wherever you're...'

That's the last time I ever see him again... To anyone or anything above, please...

 

POV: Narrator

"Where the hell am I!?" 'I look around confused as all hell and involuntarily shouted seeing there is nothing beneath my body.'

"Am I in hell!? Is this afterlife!? Where the fuck are my legs!?" Nyx is extremely confused because one, he suddenly woke up in a plain utterly blank space. Two, he is floating! Then because of his unnatural disorientation, he does something his calmer self wouldn't ever do during a moment of confusion.

'It might worsen my situation or salvage whatever sanity there was left... ah screw it!' "HELLO!? ANYONE HERE!? AM I DEAD!? IS THIS AFTERLIFE!?" 'I look around once again and see nothing but an expanse of whiteness... this place is hella blank... there is nothing but white here.'

"Huh... if this is indeed the afterlife... it's unexpectedly boring... hah... welp... guess I'm trapped here." He sighed tiredly before being reminded of his men, the comrades he had most likely lost.

"Did they also come here? Or did they not make it? I hope that whatever happened to them, they will find peace eventually." This is... unexpected, to think that the afterlife is so empty... well, at least there is no hell here. I don't think I was a bad person before my unfortunate demise, but at least I can rest easy that there is no hell waiting for me when I kick the bucket. Kinda funny from the theological point of view or something...'

"Welp might as well look aro...und..." 'I can only gawk seeing an unknown panel that seems to be... waiting for me? When did it pop out!? Is this some sort of trap? What in seven layers of hell actually happening!? This thing seems to be beckoning me to come closer… hmm…

Nyx stares hard at the panel. there is only a single button-like space. When he tried to touch the edges of it, his... hand? tentacle? ah well, whatever, goes right through it...

"Welp, might as wel- AGHHHHHHHHHH!" He shouts in clear and pure agony, regretting his nonchalance. 'such a painful feeling in my... soul? No!... ugh!... souls!? What!?'

“AGH... AGGGHHHHHHH!” 'It felt... like... my souls are being... ground to dust... and be rebuilt... over and over... and over again... I... I.... stop.... it... hurts....'

Nyx then saw memories that were alien, mind-numbingly incomprehensible even, and yet felt familiar. First, there is him walking along several antique or classical-era soldiers in tight formations... they fight in those classical formations with shields interlocked and move steadily as a wall of iron and a forest of spears. He can see towns, cities, fortresses and so much more under siege with him being one of many soldiers under a youthful conqueror.

Then the next is... her? He sees himself as a woman who fought alongside other women with 21st-century weaponry they look kinda futuristic too... Not gonna lie he was shocked and impressed when a silver-haired woman, who accompanied his other self, threw a punch which broke the sound barrier... He can also see that his other self is no slouch in CQC and firefight but more on the agile side.

The next after that shows a world so... dead... desert is the only biome seen for kilometers... crumbling buildings.... a dead world... yet he can see people with anachronistic sets of equipment fighting over the leftover from the... nuked wasteland? Then he finally sees himself or herself this time? He has no clue due to the bulky armor his other is wearing while also leading one side... but there is nary of an insignia, symbol, or proof of allegiance... a wild card then?

Before he can see more of this so-called memory, the pain is back...

"... agh... uhg... hrk... arhg..." At this point, Nyx’s mind has stop working and there is only pain and suffering... This doesn't stop him from flipping the bird at the panel and shouting instinctively, that if he dies again, he sure as hell won’t go quietly. "To... who...ever... did this... screw you!" 'I hope you get a good laugh you jerk...’ Everything starts going dark and he swears that has heard something about rebirth before relapsing back into unconsciousness.

 

Rebirth sequence initiated;

Individual: Nyx.

Race: Human, Alter-Human, Homunculus, Wandering Spirit.

Processing Lives Data: ... complete.

Processing Dreams Data: ... complete.

Processing Mental Data: ... complete.

Processing Combat Data: ... complete.

Processing Experience Data: ... complete.

Processing Physical reconstruction: ... error.

Re-processing Physical reconstruction: ... error.

Re-processing Physical reconstruction: ... error.

Re-processing Physical reconstruction: ... error.

Re-processing Physical reconstruction: ... error.

Re-processing Physical reconstruction: ... searching for alternative... alternative found...

Processing Alternative Physical reconstruction: ... complete.

Processing World Destination: ... complete.

Processing Souls Authority Transfer: ... Override accepted.

Processing Souls Authenticity: ... complete.

Soul nexus construction: ... complete.

Souls transfer: ... complete.

Souls Merger: ... complete.

Processing Souls, Minds, and Matters merging: ... Souls, Minds, and Matters merged successfully. Nexus shall be purged.

Individual "Nyx", the primary Nexus of Rebirths bid you its final farewell...

 

Year: Data not Found

Location Data not Found

POV: Nyx

Where am I? Where is this? I can't move... That's the only thing that can be processed by his mind. His eyes wander around to scan his surroundings, as much as it is possible anyway, and found himself trapped inside some sort of chamber. The chamber is filled with some sort of liquid but strangely enough, it doesn't hamper his breathing... how strange... he murmured inside his mind.

He suddenly recalls the state he is in, he feels naked but there is nothing he can do, his body feels like being in a paralytic state. He starts panicking again but manages to shove that aside due to what is beyond the transparent glass...

There appear to be humanoid creatures across the transparent glass... are they human? Are they perhaps something else... one of them suddenly looks his way before looking at him with rapt attention and eyes, they look surprised and... joyously prideful. Why?

"...------..." One of the humanoid gawks openly at him, and Nyx can feel their boundless excitement, clearly, through their eyes. He has no idea what to make of this situation while also wondering about this newest sensation of perceiving emotion like an actual tangible existence, and it doesn't feel all that bad.

"---!?" The one next to them now laid their eyes on him too. Shock is evident in their eyes now too, but also a sense of... want?

"------! ---- -- ----, -----!? ------...." One of them starts to leave the room he is in, perhaps looking for something or someone. Their counterpart stays here and looks at him in amazement, with this nagging feeling that this one is not looking at her just because.

'What language is that? ...sounds like... English? Damn, these waters and sealed environment for muffling the sounds of their conversation... I'm starting to get sleepy again... just where the hell am I?' Nyx’s brain is on overdrive, trying to make sense of this situation he is being entrapped in.

'Perhaps this is just a dream? Heh... yeah guess I'm just dreaming... Oh well, it was nice while it lasted... oh wait, I'm not in pain anymore! Well then... guess I'm back to whatever... that white room was... if that was real anyway...' His consciousness fades just as several humanoids enter his room. A mixture of amazement turns into panic, but that’s not his problem…

 

??? later.

After an inordinate amount of time, Nyx had relapsed back into consciousness. He can see, albeit blurry and feeling awfully sleepy, numerous scientist-looking folks and security personnel around his water tank.

They are moving about with visible haste. Especially an agitated group of scientists who appear to be running and screaming around her frantically. He can sense their desperation... huh? 'What the hell?' He can feel his confusion grow, but manages to recall a similar thing thus he chose to ignore it for now.

He lays his eyes on several stacks of documents and paper. He can also see a pair of heavily armed and armored humanoids who seem to be comparing and deliberating about said stacks.

He scans the other part of this room, he spots 2 humanoids who seem to start getting angry at their counterpart. Their emotions can be felt by him, something that feels quite... nostalgic? Familiar? He doesn't know anymore... His eyes are now back on the pair...

"------! ---- --- ----!?" He sees that one humanoid, with weird protrusions here and there, point a finger at its counterpart.

".... ------, -----..." While the other one can be sensed to exude exasperation and shimmering anger, trying to hold back from blowing up toward their speaking partner.

"-----!? ---! ---- -- ---- -----!" Said the speaking partner seemed to take whatever was said to them poorly. He can see a spike of something in their hand... Is that flame?

"..." He can feel that the one being berated is close to letting their anger run free, he can feel their intensifying... something...

Their arguments keep on heating up, escalating ever more and perhaps starting an actual physical conflict. Nyx can vaguely sense the tense air around this place too, unsure how is that even possible. Everyone suddenly stops what they are doing, however... their eyes are now on him.

One of the scientist-looking humanoids immediately comes up in front of his water tank. He can vaguely see that the humanoid in front of him looks to be a woman. There is a weird protrusion on her head that he can't perfectly figure out.

"....---" The woman then waves her hand at him, and she instinctively reaches out to her. He can sense the eagerness oozing out of the woman, thus he complies by putting his... dainty looking hand? 'Is this my hand? It's still blurry... I could've sworn that my arm wasn't this thin...'

"! ---! --- -- -----!" The woman beaming smile forms and shouts something to her colleagues, and they all start jumping around in joy, while leaving him utterly confused. But before he can process the happening in front of him or his peculiarities, his mind is relapsing back into the darkness.

Then his consciousness was finally put to rest once again time. Unknown to Nyx was that also the last time he would see them ever again. His consciousness finally being put to rest for a long, long time...

 

[END OF CHAPTER]

 

Author's Note:

I finally managed to pull my head out of the gutter (having my thesis done helps immensely) and can finally start editing the previous chapters starting with this one.

Sup, this is me, myself, and I, the author of this Arknights Fan-Fiction. I was always fascinated with the world of Arknights and then one late Wednesday night I thought to myself "I wanna write something." and that's basically it. I absolutely just winging it from that exact moment and as always without a shadow of a doubt: Every right belongs AND is reserved for its respective owners.

This is my first story or whatever the hell it is called, categorized, grouped, or something idk. I have no experience in writing on any media whatsoever. My English is quite shitty but hopefully, it can be comprehensible enough to an extent or something along that line.

I might write several parts in "purple prose" and "Ye olde' butcher'd English" to scr- to entertain the more posh (so to speak) readers while confusing the hell out of others like that certain "memorable" novel which was filled to the brim with purple prose.

In all honestly, just wanna write about spending whatever extra time I have in mind and on hand to actually do anything.

Update will be when I remember that there is, somehow, a story written by me.

Ciao.