Factory Reset: Divine Corruption

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Water Planet

Hannah was strung tight, sitting in one of the seats adorning the bridge. Her little eyes were wide and bright, staring at all the lights flashing, and at the two large protogen on either side of her, communicating with clicks and trills.

Marissa was in one corner of the room, silent and by herself, staring out into the abyss of space. She was the only one, next to Axel anyways, that hated going through the Fold-Stream process. She was more or less hyping herself up to go through it.

Ja'Kle sat in the corner of the room opposite to Marissa, strapped into one of the larger seats. He appeared nervous, more nervous than the last time they had jumped through the Folds. He constantly fiddled with the straps restraining him to the seat.

His breathing was erratic and uneasy, his wings thumping and fluttering against the seat itself. Ja'Kle grimaced, attempting to regain control of them, but it was no use. Like a canine's tail, it had a mind of it's own most of the time.

Mason sat upon his chair in the middle of the room, staring unblinkingly towards the hologram projection before his chair. Everyone was getting to their room, though his heart did falter when five different protogen's rooms didn't light up.

He hadn't taken the proper time to grieve the loss of five lives, he had held it back, but there was little time now. In all honesty, Mason had dealt with enough sorrow and pain these last few days that he didn't want to take the time, less he took up too much time of the other's lives.

He could say with certainty that he did mourn them, and their passing. Even from his chair, by the way that Fallout paced around his room, the ruby protogen was in his own realm, dealing with the fact that he had killed his own teammates.

Mason could only imagine what that felt like. He had lost his lover, but he had only known him for a few weeks, give or take. Fallout had known and befriended all the protogen that he had killed accidentally in his rage. That had to be traumatic.

Mason shook his head, bouncing his ears off of the top of the chair. He had to focus now. After making one last glance at the hologram displaying his protogen, Mason allowed the mental key in his head to enter the system with a short gasp of air. With that, they started to enter into a Fold-Stream.

Space-Time stretched around them as they slipped between the folds. Mason held onto the seat's arms as hard as he could, and his sister, Marissa, and Ja'Kle did the same. They grinned and bore their teeth, their bodies quivering as the ship sank through reality steadily.

Their senses became one sensation; numbness. Darkness invaded their minds, but all four non-protogen were prepared. Hannah had gone through this process a few times, Marissa too many, Mason far too many, and Ja'Kle enough times. They were all prepared for it.

Nebula and Aberration sank lower in their seats, just allowing the waves of non-reality to crash against the shores that were their bodies. Coldness and heat became entropy, became decay in that state, and their minds slowly began to deteriorate.

And then, they appeared above Corentha-5, mentally drained and exhausted, but alive and well. Mason unbuckled his seat, pushing himself off of it wearily. Nebula and Aberration awoke with a stir, both with their visors turned off.

Marissa shivered as she got up, the fuzz around her neck appearing once again. She groaned in frustration as she felt it, instantly rejuvenating her mind with anger. She shook herself as she shot out of the bridge, muzzle twitching upward.

"It's just a little hair..." Ja'Kle commented, coughing up a storm. While Hannah and Mason weren't all that upset by his comment, Nebula and Aberration certainly were. They ferally growled at him, and he backed up in his seat a little.