« A true meeting, a decisive encounter, is something that resembles destiny. »
Old Lou, member of the faculty at Oximore.
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Seis was violently ejected with surprising force and landed on an ebony floor with a chilling coldness. He found himself in a dark hangar, where the walls and floor were of an obscure black. The shelves, perfectly aligned, were filled with boxes and mysterious objects. The place was bathed in a glow from mana lamps hanging from the ceiling. However, no windows indicated the time of day. The brown boxes filling the warehouse were adorned with symbols and letters. Seis wandered silently, without feeling the slightest excitement. Not far from him stood an imposing double-leaf metal door, which seemed to be the only way out of this unknown place.
Seis continued his path with discretion. He eventually entered a chaotic locker room, where lockers were left open, and clothes lay scattered on the floor as if they had been thrown there in a hurry. He tried to gather clues from this puzzling scene, but the uniforms bore neither explanation nor labels. The coldness of the room sent a shiver down his spine, and he began searching for a uniform in his size. His body had grown considerably since his last adventure, and it wasn't without difficulty that he found a black jacket that fit him.
He resumed his journey through the dark corridors, approaching the production lines that stretched out before him. Gigantic robotic arms, illuminated by a sinister violet glow emanating from their conduits, performed a macabre dance. They cut, handled, and assembled pieces of metal to form human-sized armor. When Seis caught sight of this strange scene, he hurriedly hid behind one of the machines, his heart pounding. He closed his eyes, focusing to sense any trace of Qi from other living beings. He detected nothing, not a single hint of human presence.
With caution, he emerged from his hiding place and approached the strange metal armor. They seemed almost organic, with their humanoid skeletons reinforced by countless wires and cables extending like veins throughout their structure. Seis observed closely, searching for a clue, a detail that might reveal the hidden truth.
One detail piqued his curiosity. He decided to pull one of the armors off its production line. A metallic crack echoed in the workshop, and the system immediately detected the error, halting abruptly. The robotic arms suspended their macabre ballet, plunging the place into a heavy silence. The metal armor now exposed a mysterious accessory attached to its belt. A metallic object, adorned with a screen and red crystals protected by a translucent membrane, captivated Seis' attention. He instantly recognized this complex artifact as an SCM, a Mana Control System. However, this model seemed far more advanced than those he had handled in the past, suggesting an unprecedented level of technological refinement.
Grabbing the metal belt, Seis fastened it around his waist with silent determination. He opened the SCM, immediately feeling his connection with mana establish itself. A cascade of glowing letters appeared on the screen, capturing his attention. Suddenly, the SCM broke the silence with a monotonous, inhuman voice, like a soul trapped within a machine.
- "Hello, User. Please configure your name."
Seis, alert and filled with curiosity, questioned the metallic voice emanating from the SCM.
- "Who's speaking?" he asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
The response was as monotonous and inhuman as before.
- "I am your Mana Control System. The voice interface allows for quicker configuration."
Seis mentally acknowledged, realizing that this artificial being now resided within the SCM, and he agreed to proceed.
YOU ARE READING
Seis : the Ruins of the Wind
Science FictionA young bastard lives in the poor and desolate kingdoms of the North of planet Albion. He has almost nothing, but a twist of fate sends him to prison for a crime he did not commit. He then decides to choose the path of vengeance against his enemies...
