Soul's Requiem: B1 - 10. Rassi Presence (Patreon)

Author's Note: Wrong Chapter xD

1:  Clover Emberfield

Soul's Requiem Index

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“Where has She gone?! The Void…it separated us? Heh-hehe. I’ve failed Her.” - Castro, The False Jester, The Lost Diaries, Vol. XV.

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Leading the company back through the hallways, Clover didn’t find too many mannequins; on the other hand, the transevil appeared to be multiplying, and a new type of shadowy creature was making their presence known.

The transevil were like four-legged spiders, housing massive void-like cores that pulled in anything they could overpower. Over a meter tall, they were able to kill and ingest humans without much difficulty; the SPU seemed to place a high value on labeling the various creatures, but personally, she couldn’t tell what enemies were Class-0 or Class-1—they were all weak.

This facility’s security had weapons that could damage them, but it took a fair bit of their laser-powered ammunition, which seemed to require some kind of liquid to take the creatures down; she saw signs of the dead along their path—human, transevil, and the mannequins—it was a free for all.

She briskly set the pace, passing the forced-open doors while Jeff supported Lily. The Viper Blade easily cleared a way for them, and Clover’s mind moved to the more pressing prey she was sensing within the underground research base.

The unnatural scent rose out of the vents from time to time—the same odor that the kidnapper from Steel Box Bastion had—yet far more pungent. She couldn’t be sure, but there seemed to be several different enemies inside the facility.

Her slitted snake-like eyes wandered between the diced transevil and mannequins she passively disposed of.

Security should have been able to handle these types of transevil. Although, those two mannequins that ping-ponged off the walls would have been tricky from what I’ve seen so far... Were those Class-1 elites? They were certainly faster than these transevil and more like the wolves from earlier.

Judging by their passage through the vents, none of the areas on the 3rd floor appeared to have any connection to the deadly fiends now running around; based on the dying AI from earlier, the origin point was the 15th level.

The transevil and these mannequins are using the ventilation system to find prey. They could escape the facility, but it seems they’re only concerned about killing the closest targets, which means so long as there are lives to be taken inside, they won’t spread.

Destroying another few spider-like transevil, Clover noted the discarded and ripped clothing, all stained with blood.

Strange, I was told transevil couldn’t incorporate humans to evolve like they can with inanimate objects and other animals, but these mannequins are something different... What are they, and how are they made? Apparently, Castro—a rassi—used them, but no one called them rassi, and they don’t share the same energy as transevil at all.

As much as she enjoyed the bite-sized samples she was flavoring from these small fries, Clover was looking ahead to the actual meal below; the radial flow of energy told her something big was likely on the 15th level.

Fearful conversations took place behind her as the others followed the path she carved; Clover didn’t particularly care about any of them. All she wanted was to get Lily to safety, discover the truth below, and satisfy her hunger.

Making it back to the main hallway, she saw Melissa in the lobby far ahead of them, projecting a radiant shield around dozens of people she was protecting. Over thirty of the spider-like transevil pounded on the outside yet instantly changed directions upon sensing the large body of targets making their way through the corridor.

Melissa’s tight expression brightened upon seeing the Viper Blade dispatch the transevil around them. “Clover, thank Rosa, you found Lily! Uh,” her expression faltered as the woman’s view settled on the brown-haired girl, “what...are you wearing?”

A few of the escorted men and women started to cry as Melissa came into view.

“We’re saved!”

“Can we leave?”

The blonde’s dress had been forced back into place with safety pins, and the employees she was protecting seemed to be unsure if they should feel safe or were just delaying their eventual execution. 

Lily forced a smile while following Melissa’s gaze to the suit under her black dress. “It is kind of tight, umm... yeah, I don’t know, I just woke up like this, so your guess is as good as mine.”

Putting a hand on her hip, Clover glared at the throng. “They were doing some kind of experiment on her; do you mind discovering what they were going to do to her while I clean out the rest of this place, Melissa?”

Melissa hissed, brushing back her hair while staring past her. “Is there any way we can get these people out? The SPU is setting up above us, but it will take a while to get a perimeter in place and the right personnel in to search the place.”

Clover sighed, lifting her right hand to rub her forehead. “You’re too caring, Melissa.”

Lily snickered. “Don’t you care too, Clover?”

She tilted her head to give her operator a side-long look. “Barely at all. Still, I care for you and Melissa, which means you drag me into other’s problems.”

A sad smile moved Melissa’s cheeks. “I can beg if you like! Some of these people are just victims.”

Serpent irises rolling, Clover slowly shook her head. “No one’s innocent,” she mumbled but flicked her sword to the elevator door, sending the Viper Blade to cut an angled shape into the structure. “I’ll open a way for Lily... They can use it after her.”

“Thanks, Clover,” Lily whispered, awkwardly closing the distance to hug her. “I don’t know what happened—I was so confused, and things were happening so fast—the next moment, you were there, rescuing me... No one but my brother’s done that. Thank you.”

Clover put a hand against the girl’s back, shaking her head with a long puff of air before giving her a light push to get a move on. “Honestly, be more careful of the drinks you take. Now…”

She broke away, motioning for Melissa and her to follow before kicking in the ripped metal; it fell in to stop against the stairs. “I cut this so you can use it as a platform to get to the emergency ladder; help me position it, Melissa.”

Melissa promptly hopped forward with a bright smile. “Nice! I didn’t even think of that solution.”

Jeff cleared his throat and pushed his way through the gathering throng, eager to escape. “Clover, if we can get to the armory, my men can help you…”

“Not needed,” Clover promptly stated. “If you want to help, defend Lily.”

Lily took a deep breath, rubbed her eyes, and brushed back her wet black hair. “I’m going to go up and get a new device to help you!”

“So dedicated!” Melissa chimed.

Clover frowned while helping Melissa adjust the big steel piece to fit against the stairs. “Why? You need to rest.”

Lily’s eyebrows set, and her own hands found her hips. “I’m your operator! I have to be ready to give as much help as I can. When the SPU gets here, we’ll patch into the security system, and I’ll offer whatever support I can.”

Clover was silent for several seconds, causing Lily’s fingers to tighten against her side in concern she’d be rejected. “Hmm...fine, but I expect you to get sleep after this is done.”

Melissa grinned. “Oh, nice compromise! I approve. Lily, you need to keep those looks; you’re too young to let all the stress leave marks on that pretty face!”

Lily sighed, glancing back at the group of nervous people silently listening; Clover didn’t know why she’d be concerned—most of them would likely be killed for treason in any case—it wasn’t her problem.

“Ahem... I can do that, I guess,” Lily mumbled. “I actually feel terrific, though.”

“Mhm,” Clover looked her up and down with a critical eye. “They pumped you full of something... I want answers to that,” she said, vision shifting to Melissa.

The woman swiftly nodded. “You and I both! Okay, I’ll go up first to check things out... Wait—”

Clover smiled, stepped onto the platform, and jumped; she used the sides of the shaft and ladder to make it back to the first level.

Using her force to keep afloat for a moment, she used Gelid Adder to send the sinister snake forward; the elevator door they’d phased through froze. Darting forward in midair, Clover used her energy-driven momentum to spin and kick the rapidly freezing metal, causing it to explode outward.

Passing through the radial shower of metal and concrete fragments, Clover skipped to a stop. A few SPU soldiers quickly ran into the room, the upper half of their helmets covering their eyes.

One reported to HQ the second he noticed her. “Gamma Team—Clover Emberfield located on-site—shaft below identified—Room 125. Over.”

The man next to him stepped forward to talk to her. “What’s the situation?”

Clover was happy to find someone that was taking some form of quick action. “A group below with Melissa. Transevil and strange mannequins…”

She paused as a beep sounded in her ear. “Communication connection enabled: General Laurence,” said a smooth female voice.

“Clover, Melissa sent us an urgent request for military action at this site. What’s the situation?”

The man’s gruff voice made her smirk; he seemed to have recovered a little bit since the last time she’d spoken to him.

“General Laurence,” she said, causing Gamma Unit to glance at one another, “in short, Lily was kidnapped by an operator candidate of the SPU and turned over to an unsanctioned Marcov project. Melissa and I pursued.”

Laurence was silent, listening intently to everything she had to say before asking for further clarification, which she appreciated; it was nice dealing with people that wouldn’t interrupt every two seconds.

“I sensed transevil being taken to this facility in the same vehicle Lily was transported with and discovered the Marcov Corporation has been illegally gathering the creatures with Castro’s old mannequins. They’ve built a significant facility below Hollow Veil’s manufacturing district and have been sniping talent from the SBB to man it.

“An attempt was made to kill Melissa and me upon entering the inner building; not five minutes after, a breach occurred, and their AI system seemed to have been hacked by another party, neutralizing its defensive protocols.

“3rd floor security helped me find Lily, and I escorted whoever I could back through the level to meet up with Melissa, who was holding the elevator. Castro’s mannequins have come to life again, fighting the transevil and humans—it’s a bloodbath—I doubt they will leave the facility until exhausting the potential prey. I’m returning below to handle the major outbreak on the 15th level, and that’s the situation.”

The commander released a short rumble over the earpiece. “Understood. We’ll lose contact with you once you descend until we can patch into their network. I’ll receive further information from Lily and Melissa and leave you to do what you do best. Rosa be with you.”

Clover smirked, noting the somber atmosphere of Gamma Unit as they heard her report. “I like you more each time we talk, General.”

She turned to Gamma Unit. “Get something to help people cross the gap.”

They saluted her as if she were an officer. “Ma’am!”

A silent chuckle shook her chest as Clover stepped back through the shattered doorway and hopped to the 2nd floor to meet Melissa, helping the others climb the ladder with Lily ahead of the pack.

“I gave General Laurence the synopsis of our journey; he’s preparing accordingly. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Using any jutting surface she could, Clover promptly dropped down the shaft to make it to the second-to-bottom floor; Lily’s voice carried down to her from above. “Be careful, Clover!”

Careful? Hot air shot through Clover’s nose as she leaped to the elevator; it showed signs of damage but hadn’t been fully breached. I always gauge my opponents…

Her eyes narrowed, mind fixating on the barrier in front of her, and the hunger clawing within her heart increasing its rhythm, demanding satiation as she momentarily hovered over the space; there was something to be cautious of on this floor.

“Hmm.”

Fitting her hands into the tiny fissures inside the door, Clover fed strength to her muscles, bending the metal with effort as she forced the way open. The sound of twisting steel and stressed gears put a smile on her full lips, yet only an empty hallway met her.

The lights were off while blood, guts, and various sickening scents met her nose, but she didn’t turn away; she was definitely no longer the young woman she was before the Void.

Proceeding inside, Clover’s sharp, slitted eyes wandered; not a sound met her ears in the dead atmosphere—it was too quiet—and taking a deep breath, she hummed.

A mass of red liquid painted the metal walls, some of the splattered blood was starting to coagulate and the strong decaying smell of corpses hung in the air; she scanned the mass of bodies gathered near the exit, seemingly slaughtered in the death box, yet the timeline of what she was deciphering made her pause.

Mannequins did this work... Likely the Class-1s I fought, judging by the clean cuts and scent. Transevil rummaged through the remains afterward... Odd…

Her heels clicked against the cracked tile floor while examining the damage. These people have been dead for over six hours, yet the AI didn’t initiate the breach protocol until they started moving through the vents; it doesn’t add up. What’s happening?

She paused at a branch in the corridor, allowing access to three areas. The left and center path drew her gaze; a powerful and pungent odor lingered in the air, moving further down the left hallway. Like a beast stalking her prey, Clover’s glowing irises followed its trail of destruction—nothing made sense.

The corpses of several dozen men and women showed vastly different styles of execution—one was a brute and the other a sculptor of flesh—yet she could only sense one entity until something else made her come to a full stop.

A human... A female scientist?

Her wide eyes drifted to a woman without a head to her right; it had the same markers as the impossibly clean and precise deathblows as the others she’d passed, yet the missing head was new; the more troubling detail was her scent continued after this execution, even though—in order of time and her previous destination—she should have been dead.

Turning to look back the way she’d come, Clover licked her lips. Fascinating. There are two creatures here...something that can take the form of a human so perfectly that even these new senses I have can’t tell the difference—one a butcher and the other an expert assassin.

The left side of the hallway only showed the wet entrails and splattered remains of people turned into pulp; it wasn’t like the attacks of the transevil, who ate their victims. To the right were corpses that were mostly intact, showing slit throats, hearts punctured without wounds, and sliced tendons to prevent escape.

With the new information in mind, Clover backtracked a bit to stop and separate the various scents lingering in the stomach-turning space; the walls were splattered with carnage, and not a single transevil was slain by the two.

Rassi are supposed to be intelligent and have a purpose; if these puppets were controlled by Castro and he was killed by a Class-5 spirit master, then someone affiliated with Castro might have come to Hollow Veil to finish what plan or order he’d been sent here to perform.

A rumble shook her throat as she found the scent she’d been looking for. It took on the form of a man before swapping to the woman’s appearance further down the hall. No wonder it didn’t have any opposition when infiltrating this area; it just walked through the front without fear of discovery.

Clover’s forehead furrowed as she found the man this Castro-like creature used—his head was completely unharmed—in fact, his heart had exploded within his chest without any indication of how.

What kind of rassi is this? He doesn’t need the head, after all... Was it needed for something else—memories?

Dismissing the mystery until further info came to light, Clover continued to prowl their lingering trail. The puppets had broken out of their containment zones and joined the mysterious pair of rassi, coming down upon the facility’s security and personnel in an unstoppable wave.

Yet, the transevil’s presence only arrived moments before Melissa and she arrived; the rassi had begun their assault on Marcov’s secret base, even while she was contained at SBB—it was close timing—the pair could have been in town before she even exited the Great Void.

How would they know about this facility when the SPU didn’t... Was this Castro’s initial objective?

Trying to understand their motive was another part of analyzing her food; transevil were fairly simple—kill, consume, duplicate, repeat—on the other hand, rassi seemed to be far more interesting; there was a purpose to this methodical attack.

They wanted something here and used the transevil as cover, yet why show the mannequins then? Ah, fear... Cause panic, which can then lead to rash decisions and possibly draw in Isngneal by fleeing citizens. It’s to shift the blame and focus.

A dark smirk creased her eyes as she sensed something new upon passing a large, open doorway that took up the entire hallway, floor to ceiling. It was empty, revealing a high-tier caging system where a Class-2 transevil had been kept inside some kind of restraints.

The rassi opened the cage, triggering the AI’s panic... They knew we were here; did they cut the elevator cord?

Her vision followed the carnage further around the next bend as Lily’s voice entered her ear. “Clover! We weren’t able to patch into their communication network, so we’re using a spirit user from the ESP Unit to project the technical waves; they’re not the strongest, so I might get cut off every so often.”

“Hmm... I have no idea what the ESP Unit is or projecting the technical waves means, but I’m glad you’re doing well.”

She tracked every new person the chameleon rassi took; it seemed to be searching for something particular because it changed scents and faces fairly often.

“How is the clean-up?” Lily asked in a bright tone. “The SPU is about to send in their assault team with Melissa’s Unit to start clearing things out floor by floor since you’ve got the bottom.”

“There’s no one left here; the transevil made their way to the upper floors. Watch out for a Class-2 that was released…” Clover let her words trail off as she discovered a new branching hallway that had been forced through.

Lily responded with a groan, practically hissing, “Class-2?! I’ll relay the information. Even Melissa’s group can get bodied by a Class-2 in a closed-in space; they’ll need to have a retreat plan.”

“Nevermind... There’s a secret tunnel on the 15th level. I believe it leads outside the town by how long it is; I can’t even see the exit. The Class-2 ran in that direction.”

“Thank Rosa! Wait, why do that instead of going after the people higher up?”

“No one was alive on the 15th level when it was released; I think it feared the rassi that were still here,” she whispered, feeling out the lingering scents within the area. “Something unusual is happening here…”

“Transevil...fear? Huh. I didn’t think they feared anything.”

Clover had Lily patch her through to Melissa and the general to explain what she’d discovered while trailing after the rassi; a few lingering weak transevil jumped out of the vents, likely returning upon sensing her.

Absently taking care of the fodder, Clover continued to communicate with General Laurence and Melissa as Lily remained in stunned silence as they spoke.

“A rassi that can perfectly imitate a human?” Laurence growled. “It must be connected to Castro and the Gallant Cadre... Do you know their objective?”

“Not yet... I’d like to kill them myself, but it’s looking more and more like they are already gone.” Her lips became a line as she stopped in front of a door as thick as the Class-2 transevil containment room. “Do you have access to the base schematics, Lily?”

“Mmh,” she paused, trying to remain strong after listening to the gore that filled the 15th floor. “Not really. We have some of the top floor stuff, but every level is under different encryption, and the tech crew is having trouble with it.”

“I see... I suppose you can’t open anything then?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow at the reinforced steel; it would take a concentrated effort for her to open.

“Mmh... Unfortunately, we aren’t even close to gaining administrator access to that floor yet... If you find the Central Control Hub, it’ll be perfect, though! You can help patch us in.”

Clover’s left eye creased. “I apologize, Lily, but I am not the most tech-savvy with your new technology; it would be a waste of my time.”

Lily forced a laugh. “Noted. I’ll make sure to give you a networked device we can update through the air that’s plug and play to make it easy for you.”

“If I ever need it... Wait…” Her heart quickened as she took a few more steps away from the sealed doorway. “They haven’t left this room.”

“Careful!” Lily hissed. “Rassi aren’t like transevil.”

“I’ve taken note of it,” Clover grinned, hopping forward while phasing through the doors, requiring two jumps.

Her eyebrows rose upon getting her first look at the heart of the facility; burnt silicon and destroyed machinery were strewn across the area—along with blood and guts everywhere—but the one thing she expected wasn’t present; the room was without life.

“Clover—Clover, are you there—are the rassi inside?”

Melissa’s concerned voice jumped in. “Should we come support you?”

“No,” Clover muttered, forehead furrowing upon taking a few more deep breaths, “they’re gone... Where did they go?”

She power walked in patterns to get a full scope of the area, but it was as if they’d just vanished into thin air—teleported.

Teeth locking, she cursed. “They just vanished... They were in the room for two hours, destroyed the AI, and... Huh. All I can say is it’s like they teleported out.”

General Laurence’s voice deepened. “Unusual. We’ll look into it; computers are challenging to get rid of data. We’ll extract what we can... You’re saying the facility no longer poses a risk to SPU personnel?”

Frustrated she couldn’t satisfy her hunger, Clover’s hand tightened around her sword. “Not so far as I can tell... I’ll go after the Class-2 transevil.”

“Clover,” Laurence’s tone was slow and careful, “It would help if you could stay inside the town in case they show up again. You are the most powerful person in the area that can respond to another threat... Please, give us time to conduct a thorough search.”

She wanted to deny the request and rush after anything to take her frustration out; these rassi had escaped her hunt, and her fangs ached to sink into her enemies. At the same time, she couldn’t deny Laurence’s logic. Her senses had let her down—she’d lost their trail—and with this rassi’s ability, Lily could be in danger at any moment.

Rassi are intelligent...which means guiding me away from the town could be their objective by sending the Class-2 into a panic, and going after their only threat while dealing with the person that acts as my information network would be a key objective... Lily could be in danger if I leave.

Feeling as if her hands were tied, Clover decided to swap directions; another mystery awaited her, the strange scent of the SPU-wannabe operator that kidnapped Lily and the experiments done on her.

“I...understand your reasoning, General Laurence... I will comply, for now. Lily, do you have the information on why you were taken?”

“Thank you, Clover,” Laurence breathed out a tense sigh.

Lily sounded just as relieved, likely more concerned about Clover’s own safety than her own; Clover doubted the girl ever took her own well-being into consideration, but then again, Melissa was that on stimulants.

“The scientists are being questioned now.”

“Where? I’m on my way.”

Clover’s hunger and agitation shifted targets. If I can’t get these rassi, then I’ll go after another piece of meat within my grasp.

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