B.R.T. 13.01 - Flame & Ember Sky-Byte says: Bright spark, glowing fire, Ardent light and warm desire! But what burns...burns up. *** The demons had gathered in a writhing, tangled mass, a cloud of tentacles, flabby wings and hagfish maws. Onward they rushed. Food was here, they would feed... Tsugaru saw them coming, the vile things, the filthy things! She could still feel the touch of those glutinous strands, creeping and slimy on her armor that was not... She saw them coming. They were in her way. One forward, one back, then fire! KABLAAM! Bracing struts creaked, twin fiery bolts streaked. Demons boiled and exploded in a shower of ash and burned tentacles. A path opened up... Heat flooded Tsugaru's body, banishing the slimy chill. It felt good, really good. Then she heard them again... "You," said the voice, coming from nowhere. "Good, it went on, cold and thin. "Damn right, I'm good! Now get the hell-" "Your...data." "Data?" That didn't make sense... "Multiple...datasets..." No! It couldn't know her secret... "...fragmented..." "No!" They were not, he was not! He was safe, she had kept- "...fragmented..." "Shut up! Shut up! Shut the hell up!" ... "...fragmented," continued Skipjack, staring at the floor. Tsugaru was quiet now. The convulsions had subsided, leaving her spattered with fluid from overpressured lines. A monitor pinged softly, registering a stable 57.3 kHz oscillation from the stricken mechanoid's CSC system. "The seizure..." Skipjack went on, trying hard to launch a detailed explanation of data storage and power surges, but it fizzled on the pad... "What did that scrapper do to her, Lord Fallen?" He said it loud. Kanamu heard, and said nothing. The Fallen was grave, looking down at Tsugaru. Sensor cables and coolant hoses sprawled over the small, inert form, the slithering tentacles of a well-intentioned hydra... He looked up at Skipjack, thought a moment. Grief led to blame, blame to conflict, conflict to grief...how often that had played out, under the sun! One had to break it somewhere... "Kanamu ran a common test. I do not think it triggered this." Yes, that was probably the best way... Skipjack did not look up. "Will she live, Lord Fallen?" "For now, Skipjack, she is alive..." Then there was silence again, broken only by the monitor, and a faint hiss from the stricken mechanoid's gas-exchange tube. ***