(Remaster) The Ship of the Tempest

Earth Cries

It hadn't been long since they agreed to shake on it, and to no one's surprise, Z73 was constantly on edge thanks to being so close to Adapter all the time. Adapter looked unfazed the entire time, seemingly not caring about the glares she received from her mortal enemy as they traveled.

"You know, you can always talk instead of staring."

"...I'd rather go over this shitshow in my head. I'm still wrapping my mind around how all this...apocalyptic shit happened in less than a day."

"Hey, Siren tech works quick, but we didn't want this at this point, so I'm here to stop it."

"And why do you want to stop it then?"

"Because..."

Adapter went silent, letting the words trail off as she shook her head. "You don't need to know, classified and all."

"Of course..."

They continued on, both still on land as Z73 didn't use any other cube to get around with right now. Adapter stuck to her side, her arms crossed so she didn't appear threatening to her shaky ally.

The two looked around the world, seeing the strange white silk, the stuff that came from the Gazers, covering much of the floor and buildings. Z73 sneered at the sight, her lip curling back as the silk seemed to strangle all life out of the world.

"How could she even consider doing this...?"

"When delusions of grandeur and whispers of a mind manipulation device mix, it makes horror." Adapter sighed as she followed Z73's gaze, where she also locked onto what she was seeing.

There was a large gathering of small cocoons, all of them barely bigger than the two of them. They shared eye contact, silently agreeing to check it out and put aside their aggressions for the time being.

Z73 got closer to one, Adapter right behind her as she reached up to poke the cocoon. It was soft and fluffy, as she expected it to be, so she pushed further in and soon broke surface, then tracing her finger down to reveal whatever was inside.

The cocoon's silk peeled away, and inside was...a mummified Human corpse. Z73 recoiled, same as Adapter, as they saw what looked to be a Human stripped of all the water content in their body.

No blood, no water, no plasma...nothing but dry skin stuck to bones, empty sockets where eyes use to be, and lips non-existent to show the cracking teeth of what looked to be someone dead for months, but in reality, was dead for less than a day.

Z73 looked to the other cocoons, dread filling her as she realized just how many of these piles she's spotted around, in single groups or clusters, that all contained a dead Human. Just how high was the death count from this single day's act?

"Jesus fucking Christ..."

Z73 felt a hand go on her shoulder, Adapter stepping past her and staring off towards the cocoon pile with a narrowed eye. "73...you know how our fights have always been personal?"

"...What's that have to do with any of this?"

"I was getting there." She waved towards the exposed corpse. "I only have one target in my sights, and extra casualties are something I hate to have, even with the cubes I've collected."

Z73 scoffed. "So what? You telling me you have morals?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, and on my moral compass, Humans are a thing I don't even dare to fight, because there isn't a purpose...but all this death and destruction from a Kansen, not a Siren..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the tightening of her hand on Z73's shoulder told her all she needed to know. A quiet chuckle left Z73's lips, catching Adapter's attention.