A Bio-Weapon's Rhapsody

Chapter 285: Vulcanus.exe is not bullying anyone

Ale could see the projection of Vulcanus on the VR environment and... nothing else."Vulcanus?" Ale asked unsure if she would get the answer she wanted, she wasn't really sure which one would answer her call after all, the man? The machine?

The one who answered would change very much how she would go about this after all.

Vulcanus said raising one of his mechanical arms and showing the emblem of the eagle with four wings,

Ale was... well, confused, and it may have shown on her face.

As Vulcanus asked yet again about what she was doing right now.

Wasn't he able to see her data stream? Her geo position? The address from which she was calling? The data servers she was using to bounce her call?

There was way enough data encrypted into her call to find out what she was doing and where she was.

"Amm... Do you know where I am right now?" Ale asked pointing around herself.

Vulcanus stated,

Well, that very much confirmed it then, didn't it?

This was the man and not the machine, there was no way Alexanders' lapdog didn't know more.

"Yeah... My... family arranged a way for me to return momentarily back to the city so I could explain in person what happened." Ale said pointing at her plane with her finger, "I was calling because of that."

Vulcanus monologued for a few seconds before shaking his head,

That... was not what Ale had expected, she honestly had thought that she would need to call upon Vulcanus.exe to get the consecions, it was good to know that her boss at least wasn't a piece of trash. Ale had hoped it would be the case, so this was a good outcome for her.

"About that... I am..." Ale turned to her dashboard to see if there was a way to tell.

Thankfully Main Core seemed to guess her intentions and a timer showed itself with a guestimated time of arrival... That was shifting when Ale thought about where she could land. Which would make it interesting to say the least.

"Can I land this in the base?" Ale asked, and sure enough, the timer shifted, showing an approximate time of landing in case she went to the Haephestus' Forge base.

Vulcanus asked as he narrowed his eyes at Ale.

"It isn't a fighter jet, this is a Virtual environment, the actual thing is more of a glider with a jet engine stuck at the back." Ale said quickly willing the schematics that showed the form of her Hatchling One to manifest behind her, "See? A drop pod with wings and a jet ion engine at the back that was modified slightly."

Vulcanus studied those for a few seconds, and Ale could see the phantom of Vulcanus.exe at the back for a second, more so since Vulcanus's eyes shone with red light for the briefest of moments.

Vulcanus hadn't finished speaking when a data packet was sent her way.

[Data packet received...]

[Downloading data...]

[Scanning...]

[Encrypted data found.]

[Using cyphers...]

[Categorizing data...]

The data packet included a landing bay and a flight path that would require almost millimetric precision; this would be hard.

"Thank you," Ale said saluting at the video feed of Vulcanus.

Vulcanus said shaking his head,

"Thank you?" Ale asked back confused. "What did I do?"

Vulcanus said plainly,

That was... worrying.

Vulcanus continued,

At this point Vulcanus had uploaded a post-action report that detailed how Ale had fought a losing battle and barely managed to distract the enemy. It was filled with lies, very fancy lies with very fancy images that showed such events.

None of which was how it happened, it didn't showcase how Ale had used her Anti-Material rifle, nor the extent of her powers. It also didn't show what she used to open the path into that fake facility.

Vulcanus said and then he bowed his head to her,

What?

Vulcanus continued on and on with his pitch.

"Wait!" Ale said raising both hands flustered, "Stop! Alto! Pare! 止まれ! 멈춰! "

Vulcanus carried on after stopping,

" STOP TALKING FOR A GODDAMNED SECOND YOU TOASTER!" Ale couldn't help but scream her grievances. That made Vulcanus stop speaking as he tilted his head sideways towards Ale, " *sigh* I swear to god... why are all the people with some inkling towards technology I know like this..."

Ale felt the need to complain about this state of things, after all.

"Let's start from the beginning, what do you know about what happened there after I was... After we were defeated." Ale started small.

"Do you know the identity of my Brother in this case?" Ale went ahead and moved along the conversation, she knew as a fact that Vulcanus.exe knew Alexanders, but did the normal one? He should know, Ale was kinda sure she did, but with the shenanigans that ensued all around, it was hard to tell how much allowance Vulcanus.exe had given his other half.

Vulcanus answered easily enough.

"Correct." Ale nodded back, "And about the state or nature of the wounds we received?"]

Vulcanus answered back, he did sent a data file, it included her vital signs... Or well, Alexandra's vital signs,

Ale got a new data file which included the mobilization and planning for Vulcanus to attend scene. Ale helpfully didn't mention that the time stamps in this didn't make sense unless one already knew the outcome of it... Or most of the information from the field point of view.

Which only four people would know. Herself as the one at the scene, Beatrice Starcroft and whoever the two little pieces of shit that had made her go into that goddamned cursed place.

Also, Melissandra Singh, but she was indisposed.

Vulcanus finished with a picture of Alexanders on his Delivery Guy persona leaving with the pod in question.

And... Gabriel Light, [The Fallen Angel]. He was there? Then... did he know?

Ale doubted it was Vulcanus the one to move into that place, she would believe more if it was Vulcanus.exe. He was the one that was bound to the Saintsworths after all.

"Well, the reason I required treatment had to do with the Core Power of Melissandra Singh," Ale sighed, "Her power was more dangerous than what we gave her credit for."

Vulcanus said as his eyes narrowed,

Of course that woman would be the one in charge of that, leave the one biased to tamper with the psyche of everyone involved, that WAS NOT GOING TO BACKFIRE AT ALL.

"Something like that," Ale said shaking her head, "Here..."

Ale then sent a censored data packet with the data about how her body reacted to the [Death Mana] that had clung to her.

Vulcanus said tilting his head once again to the side,

The heck?

That was... the usual file format that Ale, Alexa and Alexanders passed around, so it wasn't readable to most people? Or was his awareness censoring the data?

"In a nutshell, her power was able to affect the physical makeup of my body. Making it degrade at a fast speed and putting my health at risk." Ale said shuddering, "That hurt like hell by the way, I do not recommend."

Vulcanus said as his eyes seemed to go over a thousand calculations in a second, or perhaps he was thinking something rude about Ale's intelligence, one could not be sure.

And it was at that moment that Vulcanus's face turned off. Ale had guessed it would happen at some point, but honestly, it was kind of weird to see.

The voice of Vulcanus.exe came from the speakers, no longer was coming from the video feed,

The what now? The goddamned what now? Did it? No, it only included the... photo of the body turning into ash... Right... Dang it.

"Even after what preparations we made, it is possible that I will be assaulted by the [Death Mana] when I land, so if that happens Vulcanus needs to know as a possibility, if not it will be awkward to explain." Ale said with a shrug, "If Alexanders didn't want me to leak this kind of data he would have said, or perhaps tell you about it. Did he tell you anything?"

Vulcanus.exe said shaking his head,

"That is not necessary." Ale interrupted before this machine did something like that, "I'd rather he react as normally as possible. Unless you can guarantee the other high-ranking members of Haephestus' Forge will follow suit to your... machinations."

Ale almost giggled at the last bit, almost.

Vulcanus.exe spoke, that bit surprised Ale, she doubted anyone would know,

"... Right..." Ale said, should she... even ask Gabriel Light? More to think about later, "Anyway. Leave Vulcanus as is, if needed you can intervene in case Alexa's safety is in danger. But if not leave him be."

Vulcanus.exe answered and then the figure on the video feed bowed to her,

"Vulcanus already said he would get my friends ready for when I get there." Ale turned her attention to the timer on her dashboard, "Which will be in around eight minutes, will this really work?"

Ale brought the flight plans forward, "This thing asks me to crash in the middle of the base's roof." There was a margin of error of like half a meter or so.

Vulcanus.exe then showed a live feed of what looked more like a launch pad than a landing one,

Sure enough, Ale could see a few extra Lieutenant-style Mask minions around.

Vulcanus.exe brought then the blueprints of the hatchling one, or well, the original pod.

Ale of course knew that, but who in his right mind would want to crash at this speed?!?!?!?

Ale was not, unless it was the only option, in which case she would bite the bullet, but this was not the only option! She wanted a landing zone dang it! A normal one!

"...Fine." Ale in the end accepted her defeat, she would trust in Vulcanus and Vulcanus.exe... Since it was that or landing in a normal airport, and honestly, she didn't want to deal with that, since the pod wasn't hers, so she'd better give it to Vulcanus.exe to deal with. If something happened to it, then it would be his fault!

Yes.

"I'll see you soon then, also..." Ale was about to cut the connection when she felt the sting of something at the back of her mind, "... Don't bully my boss too much."

Vulcanus.exe said as she felt his presence disappear and the light on the video feed return,

The what?

"You are the boss." Ale said unsure about that, Vulcanus would... negotiate with Vulcanus.exe? That... was bound to be something hilarious to see. "See you when I see you."

Ale waited a few seconds and when no new transmission came she cut the connection. Her flight path then was redirected to the flight control traffic tower and she let out a sigh she didn't knew was there.

Soon, soon she would be back and then she would put to the test how good of a work had Alexanders made. Yay......