A Dance With Death | Blade and Acheron HSR Fanfiction

6 - Histories

Thirty system days before Firefly entered the Land of Dreams, Penacony.

Laying in a pseudo-medical setup by Silver Wolf, Firefly endlessly squirmed with increasing intensity as the Entropy Loss continued to worsen and spread through her body. "S-silver Wolf... I-I can't stay out of SAM any longer."

The clicking and clacking of Silver Wolf's keyboard created a melody amidst the Firefly's torment. As nonchalant as she was on the outside, she was panicking and trying her best to–illegally–get Firefly's psyche into the Penacony dreamscape. Her eyes darted from her terminal consoles on one monitor, her code in another, and to Firefly behind her setup.

Her panic was not ignored by Firefly, who desperately grasped onto the SAM Badge clipped to her waist, ready to defy Silver Wolf's instructions if it meant getting back into the suit that undoes and alleviates Entropy Loss' damage.

Silver Wolf's chewing intensifies, the bubblegum grinding into dust before saliva reforms it once again into a blowing bubble. The keyboard tapping intensified, and with it Firefly's suffering did too. The bubble popped, a machine-like clink, and a robotic panting accompanied by the crashing of equipment all around.

Firefly got in the suit, unable to endure the pain nor the feeling of death grasping her whole. Silver Wolf sighed in relief, though stared at her own reflection through the monitor with disappointment.

"Sorry..." SAM's threatening voice filter yet clearly apologtetic tone rang out, with the suit now barely fitting on the bed where Firefly was once laying on. All receptors, cables, and monitoring equipment that were on her now scattered and broken on the floor. Silver Wolf got to checking her code, Penacony's dreamscape codebase and database, and the security over the IPC-maintained intergalactic network, all to review where she went wrong. "I was close, you know." She said with her usual stoic tone, trying to instill confidence and downplay her failures. Silver Wolf was the best, she had to be, she couldn't have failed...

SAM got off the bed and walked over behind Silver Wolf, watching as she frantically tried to find alternative ways to get Firefly into the dreamscape. Neither of them would speak of it, but both of them knew of Silver Wolf's struggle at this task.

"I can't do any more tests for a while." SAM spoke up after a long bout of silence. Even through the mecha's robotic filter, her heartbreak was evident. Silver Wolf's typing didn't slow down, however, and instead gave her a sigh. "I don't think we'll need to. I've had a way for weeks since the script went out. I just didn't want you to go through that process."

Stellaron Hunters. Terrorists to many, saviors to some. Regardless of how they're perceived by the rest of the galaxy, they were just followers of an Aeon and doing THEIR bidding. But behind closed doors, they were just a family amongst themselves.

Firefly appreciated the gesture and smiled under the mask. "Is it going to hurt? I can take it, Silver Wolf. I appreciate the concern, but fulfilling our task is more important than my comfort while doing it."

Silver Wolf gave a rare smile and nodded. "Are you sure? I'm the best of the best. I just, well, maybe I just need more time to punch through the dreamscape. You have thirty days, more than enough time for me to punch through it. Probably... No... Definitely."

She'd told Firefly of the other method before, and so she knew what cable to take and plug it into SAM's port herself. Looking back at Silver Wolf, she nodded and took a deep breath. "I won't mind. Besides, if I get in early, that's more time spent as myself. ELS won't be able to take me in the dreamscape... I'd like to savor that while I can..."

"I'll be punching your psyche through the entire force of the intergalactic network. Are you sure you don't want me to punch a hole through instead of using you as a battering ram?"