Chapter Text
V1 slowed their fall till they reached the bottom.
The fall had more or less dried Niko's clothes, not without a lot of shivering.
"Can I lie down please..." The child quietly requested. The robot placed them down.
Niko curled up in a ball and rested on their side. A hug would have been nice, but their legs would have to do. ("I... could have died... I nearly drowned and... if I had let go V1 then...") They didn't finish that thought, ("And we could have been squashed by that thing and... I feel so cold and hungry and I lost my hat...")
V1 approached Niko. "WAIT!" they shouted, "Give me some time..."
The robot waited exactly a minute before moving in to pick up the child.
Niko let it happen, ("Fineeee...") They weren't feeling ready, but still got ready to go.
While V1 exited the room, the child kept a look out for any amount of water that they might need to hold their breath for.
There was a long tunnel with tracks and a tram cart with a screen to move the cart along the tracks.
The robot used the screen to make them go forward.
Niko watched as the they moved along the tracks ("This is cool...") They tried to cheer up.
The cart slowed to a door that was blocking the tracks, V1 dashed back along the tracks till they found a path on the side, they picked up a skull and explored till they found a room with a glass screen showing the door they needed to open and a pedestal to place the skull.
V1 placed down the skull which opened the door, then shattered the glass to get back to the cart.
("They could have gone around") Niko judged.
They continued to ride the cart down the path until it slowed to a stop again. But there was nothing in front of it.
The platform screen turned off and the room started shaking.
Niko got ready for the tunnel to collapse.
A hand the hight of the tunnel appeared in front, clearly trying to kill V1.
The robot started firing, towards the hand, it didn't seem to do anything. Even the gun that fired a blue beam didn't appear to have an effect.
("We should run, we aren't doing anything.") Niko thought.
V1's persistence paid off and the hand eventually retreated.
The cart's screen turned back on and V1 continued the platform down the path.
They passed through an open area on the left and a little bit later the track finished with a doorway leading to a red skull.
V1 brought the skull back to the open area where there was a matching pedestal.
The robot placed the skull down, the ceiling started vibrating before it came crashing down.
("WE CAN'T KILL THAT!") Niko panicked.
From above where the ceiling was, a face with size similar to the roof loomed over them, with glowing white eyes that were larger than the diameter of V1.
V1 immediately started shooting at the giant.
The giant leaned back showing its full size before slamming its hand down attempting to crush the robot.
Niko trusted their companion, but they had never fought anything that big. ("Are we actually doing anything to it?")
The giant made a black hole appear in the centre of the room, slowly following the robot. Niko could feel the pull but held on, the time underwater was more of a threat.
The black hole eventually disappeared and V1 stood still and continuously fired, cycling through their guns and punching its own bullets to help accelerate them.
The giant wound up for a punch, the robot stayed still.
Niko saw the building sized fist approach them. ("V1 will move.")
V1 stayed still.
"Move." The child whispered.
V1 continued shooting.
The fist was halfway there. "MOVE!" Niko shouted.
V1 ignored them.
The fist was three quarters there.
They cried "WE WILL DI-!"
TINK
V1 had punched the giants punch, and the giant retracted its hand in pain.
"..." Niko was speechless. ("... I... will trust V1...")
The child watched, desensitised, as a skeleton like worm with three skulls at its front burst out from each of the giant's eyes.
Inevitably after multiple bullets, the giant fell with its skull crashing down on a wall of the room, revealing a red door inside of the skulls mouth.
("Woah, that is big...") They noted out of fascination.
V1 entered the door and jumped down the dark hole.
When they slowly reached the bottom, Niko stayed on V1's shoulders to see what that giant was.
The terminal was used and at the enemies section Niko read ("The corpse of king Minos") they took a second to process it. ("That was a corpse?..")
"Can you put me down?" The child requested.
V1 followed the request.
When placed to the floor, Niko collapsed to the ground. Their limbs were starting to hurt, any time not using them would be helpful. ("I am so tired... and hungry...") Their eyes closed.
Niko felt metallic hands picking them up and being placed on the familiar shoulders. The child gowned and slouched over to wrap their arms around V1's head. "Let's... go..." They moaned while slowly waking up. ("I think I fell asleep... but I don't know for how long... I am still tired.")
The robot dashed out of the room, they entered an area with walls and ground made entirely of flesh all slowly shifting as if it was living.
The child gagged.
At the end of the room was a line of teeth, like a mouth, that opened up when approached.
("Are we going in there?") Niko wondered as the robot entered.
There was a corridor of the same flesh walls with another set of teeth it the end. A malicious face appeared and V1 disposed of it as usual.
The blood splattered on the child's face, but now on a top of their hair. ("I miss my hat...")
V1 exited out of the other set of teeth to a large room with an uneven floor with acidic liquid at lower elevations.
The child looked around the room, ("Is that a hand?.. Why is it so big?")
As enemies appeared and V1 moved around Niko's heart dropped when they noticed a giant eyeball bulging out of the wall, following their movements around the room.
They gagged again and kept their eyes on the ground.
Now that blood got in Niko's hair, they noticed that V1 would usually get close to enemies to collect their blood, even at the expense of getting damaged or even if they weren't damaged. ("V1 just want to keep me covered in blood...") They complained.
Niko could tell there was something new they were fighting, something blue. But the eyeball scared them too much to look up.
When the room went quiet, Niko's stomach rumbled. ("...I am hu- ")
V1 picked Niko off their shoulder and threw them on the pulsating floor. The child's left foot touched the acid.
"AAAHHHH" The child screamed in pain, lifting out their feet from the liquid while holding back tears.
The robot pointed their gun at the suffering child.
Niko's heel was burning with pain, but they managed to ask "Why?" Tears poured out from both pain and betrayal.
The robot's gun stayed locked onto the child.
("...Think! What happened?..") The acid was making it hard to think, "OH! Was it because my belly made a sound?" They asked.
V1's expression didn't change.
The child's heel was begging for attention, Niko ignored it. ("That is the only thing!") They continued. "I am just hungry, so my stomach rumbled..."
The robot slowly approached the child, still aiming their gun at them.
Niko pleaded "P-PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I-I-I WILL- UMM- HELP YOU-YOU..." They knew how useless they were. "I DON'T KNOW H-HOW BUT... I WILL!"
V1 kept their pace to the begging child.
"I CAN'T HURT YOU... MY FEET ARE HURT!.." Niko knew that ("I CAN'T HURT V1 ANYWAY, THINK OF SOMTHING BETTER!")
V1 was standing across in front of them.
Their voice was trembling. "I WON'T GET OFF IN THE RED ROOM... I WILL... I WILL... I WILL..." They gave up negotiating. With their watery eyes they asked, "Please... take me with you..."
V1 picked up the trembling child and put them on their shoulders.
"Th-Thank you." Niko whispered.
V1 exited the room through a pair of teeth opening, then there was a large drop.
Niko held onto V1 while they entered a body of water, which they exited it within that next 3 seconds.
The child was once again in another coughing fit while the robot was busy fighting 3 Cerberi.
Niko made the mistake of glancing up and seeing another eyeball staring at them. The child kept their gaze down while trying to expel all the water out of their lungs.
The constant gunfire, the constant blood spilling on them, the looming eye above, the pain in their heel, the constant coughing, the constant need to grip V1, the constant movement of V1, the chance V1 could just abandon Niko, the tiredness, the hunger. It was all breaking their mind. But they had to survive.
They focused on the immediate problem, the coughing. They coughed hard, their throat hurt, but the water needed to be gone.
Niko ignored everything else, they just needed to hold on to V1 and cough, that was all. The gunshots, the movement, the pain, everything was ignored.
When Niko coughing slowed down, they started to process the environment. They were falling, falling for a long time. The walls were ("Yellow?")
V1 safely landed with Niko and approached the terminal.
Now that it was calm, the burning in the child's heel was amplified. "Can I..." They remembered what they said and didn't want to risk being abandoned, "Nothing..." They clarified, stayed on V1's shoulder. ("This room is yellow but still... But my arms are hurting.")
V1 looked at the terminal while Niko silently suffered in pain and hunger.
They left the room to be greeted with a pedestal with a torch in an endless void, the floor was the usual pulsating flesh and there was a thin path of bone spine disappearing into the abyss.
The robot took the torch and followed the spine path, falling off will send you to the dark, what was at the bottom could not be known.
V1 walked on the spine which twisted and turned as it descended down, ("I hope we don't fall off...") They were dealing with the heel well.
It was a long spine, until a set of teeth opened up on the at the end of the bone path.
They jumped in.
There was a door behind a pedestal, V1 placed the torch to open it.
Niko watched as the robot continued down the path, ignoring a terminal on the right till they reached a cylindrical room with flesh walls. An octahedron shaped... thing with teeth on its side was suspended in the centre of the room in air with what seemed to be tendons.
The child watch in disgust as the octahedron spun in place, revealing eyes some of its faces.
Multiple blue projectiles emitted from the... thing, too many to count.
V1 started moving, punching back a few projectiles while firing at it. They took a few hits.
Eventually the projectiles stopped and an insignia appeared around V1 and Niko, ("What is that?") the child wondered.
V1 got out of the insignia when a pillar of light shoot through the pattern's location. ("WHAT!.. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!") The magic of the attack paralysed Niko, ("It can come from nowhere?")
Another appeared around the Niko, "MOVE!" they shouted. ("I am not risking that...")
V1 avoided the beam, they didn't need the child's warning.
The robot was getting close to the octahedron and collecting its blood, often getting damaged in the process. But the blood was fuelling them faster.
Niko noticed that V1 was moving more erratically than usual. The child held on tight while keeping their eyes on the ground for any more appearances of the insignia. Whenever they did show Niko would shout "MOVE!"
Niko could feel blood spilling on them and drying of multiple times, until the room went dark.
The octahedron... thing had burst.
There was a now a human shaped person with a soft blue glow and gaping hole at its face.
("Is that their heart?") Niko saw his transparent body. ("They aren't attacking... maybe they will help us!") They were quick to trust anything not killing them.
The transparent human spoke, "Free at last"
The child got their hopes up, ("They must help us, we helped free him!")
"O Gabriel. Now dawns thy reckoning, and thy gore shall glisten before the temples of man." He continued is monologed.
("I... don't understand what he said...") Niko thought.
He had more to say, "Creature of steel... My gratitude upon thee for my freedom"
("Oh, gratitude means thank you! He will help us!")
"But the crimes thy kind have committed against humanity, are NOT forgotten" He clarified.
They had a bad felling, ("NO NO, Please... I feel bad about breaking the sun... just help us!") Their thoughts raced.
He ended with, "and thy punishment... is DEATH."
("WHY!.. Why will no one help me?") Their trust had been misplaced.
The room lit back up as the transparent humanoid announced, "Prepare thyself!" before seeming to teleport in front of Niko and V1.
V1 was too slow to move and took a kick, while they the machine dashed away the faceless human again seemed to teleport in front of the robot. This time V1 dogged and manged get a shot in.
("He is fast!") Niko watched and V1 struggled to keep up with opponent. Getting punched and kicked, and whenever V1 avoided his attacks, it was usually by a split-second difference.
Any blood that got on the child was instantly absorbed by the machine, V1 NEEDED blood.
The child winched at every phrase that was uttered from the humanoid, bracing for impact when he said "Judgement!" or "Die!" or "Thy end is now!" or "Crush!". Anything that exited his mouth tensed Niko up.
Eventually Niko head a new phrase "Weak!" The monologing human started to have blue flames emit from him while he started to act faster.
V1 was changing directions so quickly the child could feel how lose easily their shoulder could be dislocated.
Niko had to endure, there was nothing they could do.
Their heel would constantly bang on V1's body bringing a spike of pain, but they had to endure.
Their muscles where hurting, but they had to endure.
They were hungry, but they had to endure.
Then the room went dark. Niko heard the man say something about "this cold, dark world." But they didn't pay attention.
Beams of light emitted from the V1's opponent, screaming before he exploded.
Niko saw a pair of yellow doors open.
V1 entered and found a terminal in front of the usual hole. The terminal only displayed text.
The child had no interest in reading it, especially in their current state.
The robot entered the hole. It was back to red walls.
V1 made a slow decent at the end, accommodating for the child.
(I wanna get off...) They were too scared to ask.
The robot approached the terminal to look at the data for the transparent man.
Niko was also curious and looked at the screen, ("Minos prime... wasn't the giant also called Minos?")
The robot went to look at weapons before Niko could read more about blue humanoid.
("My arms hurt... But I said I won't get off... I can handle it, it will end eventually...") They hoped.
Niko was waiting for the robot.
When V1 exited the room, they were greeted with a tall room with stiff muscle walls, with pillar like platforms that V1 jumped up.
There was an eye bulging at the ceiling of the room, luckily Niko hadn't seen it.
A set of teeth opened up at the top of the room revealing an undulating path of flesh in a dark void. Another set of teeth greeted them at the end.
As V1 dashed across the path, there was a voice. "Machine. Turn back now."
("Where is it coming from... I hope it isn't someone like Minos Prime... I think we almost... died...") Niko worried.
The other set of teeth opened up to a tunnel with a familiar acid below.
The child let out a whimper.
There were moving platforms allowing V1 to cross the acid pit, with room sized sets of teeth opening and closing blocking the path to the next platform.
The voice continued speaking as V1 navigated over the pit. "The layers of this palace are not for your kind. Turn back or you will be crossing the will of God."
("I don't want another fight...")
After the acid pit, V1 jumped into a fleshy walled hole which guided them on top of stone hands in another void, the hands guided a to a small gap in the wall.
The voice spoke again "Your choice is made. As the righteous hand of the father, I shall rend you apart." V1 slid under the gap with the child's back and head also sliding on the fleshy floor.
The voice finished by saying "And you will become inanimate once more."
They had reached another set of teeth.
("There is going to be another fight...") Niko had given up hope of help, not that the voice gave any indication of help.
The set of teeth opened up to a corridor leading to large room, there was terminal on the right that V1 ignored as it entered a circular platform with giant teeth at its circumference.
Further forward from the platform there was a beating heart easily the size of the corpse of king Minos' skull.
("Are will killing the whole place?") Niko wondered. ("If we kill the heart, then... Then maybe This place will die and- and I can go home!") Hope was returning.
A pillar of light appeared at the centre of the arena where there was an eye at the floor. A knight looking figure with wings was floating above the eye inside of the beam of light.
"BEHOLD! THE POWER OF AN ANGEL!" The knight announced.
("AN ANGEL! Aren't angels supposed to be good?") Niko was conflicted, ("Are we bad?.. I guess I am.") A realisation hit. ("Is that why no one was helping us? Because we are bad?")
The angle floated towards V1, throwing spears made of light. Then dashed towards them with a rapier to slash at them.
The robot evaded each attack gracefully, compared to Minos prime, this was just an inconvenience.
Niko watched the flying knight with ease as it hurled the occasional insults like, "Not. Even. Mortal." or "A mere object."
The child drained out whatever came out of the angles mouth. The attacks did get faster, but Niko was zoning out, unaware of the fight.
Niko jolted up when they heard angel swear. ("Did they say the F- word!")
"THIS IS NOT OVER!" The angel yelled from the centre of the arena. Then a pillar of energy shot at the eye, bursting it while the angel disappeared.
A voice was heard again, "May your woes be many and your days few." V1 entered the hole which transitioned to the usual metallic red fall.
("I think they were being mean at the end... the angel said a swear word... so it must be bad...") They tried to justify, ("But grown-ups also swear...") They were too tired to think. This whole place was confusing to them, this was just another answerless thought.
Niko safely arrived in the room, and V1 headed to the terminal to look up info on the angel.
("My arms hurt, my legs are numb and my heel still hurts... I wanna get off") Niko considered asking to get off. ("No. I don't know why V1 didn't kill me... I won't risk it.")
The child looked at the terminal. ("GABRIAL!.. I have heard that name before.")
V1 moved on to look at weapons
Niko's stomach grumbled again, ("I can feel that my belly is empty... I can wait, there must be food somewhere.")
V1 headed out of the room.
The door opened to a vast desert, a colossal pyramid in the distance coving the sun. They were on a bridge over scalding sand of the desert.
The dry air flooded to the hungry child. ("I want to drink some water too.")
The robot crossed the bridge and multiple filths and streetcleaners appeared, V1 killed rather recklessly, diving into the hoard while getting hit. But then bathing in all the blood, fixing any previously taken damage.
There was a shallow pool of water that ahead that when approached, caused more husks to spawn.
("Just like before...") Niko thought with relief. ("V1 is going to kill all the stuff.")
Through their pain and hunger they tried to get some rest. They closed their eyes, The blood splatter was... ignorable now.
They felt the environment change and opened their eyes a bit, ("Oh, I am inside.")
A floating blue orb with a golden ring and wings appeared.
("I haven't seen that-") An insignia appeared around V1 and Niko. "MOVE!" The terrified child shouted.
V1 dodged the beam and killed the blue orb.
("I hope there aren't more... I don't like the beams")
Two more of the blue flying orbs appeared. Niko's tiredness faded. "MOVE! MOEVE! MOVE!" they shouted in a panic.
As V1 dodged the pillars of energy, Niko saw how close together the two beams were. It petrified them.
"Kill it, kill it. V1 kill it quickly" The child pleaded.
V1 got close and personal to the winged orb, as usual allowing blood to spill on them.
The moment Niko saw the insignia appear they started panicking again. "GO! Come back later."
The experienced killer ignored their plead, moving just before the two beams struck.
The child's heat dropped at the timing, "Please V1. It is scary... Don't be that close" They whined.
V1 managed to kill one of Niko's fears, then the other.
Niko sighed out of relief, they really wanted to rest, but the threat of a magic beam appearing out of nowhere stopped them.
The child kept their eyes to the ground in case of any more magic patterns.
V1 continued their slaughter. Heading outside back into the heat and disposing of any obstacles.
"ANOTHER ONE!" The child shouted when an insignia appeared.
The robot dogged it and disposed if the crystal.
This continued throughout the slaughter, Niko would shout in a panic whenever any sign of the insignia appeared.
V1 entered a large square room with stairs leading down to an arena like area with platforms and space the platforms that could be used as a hiding place.
Niko kept their eyes on the ground while the machine killed the husks, they noticed the guns sounded louder.
Upon looking up they saw, ("V1 HAS TWO GUNS!?") then the robot punched a filth, ("What? How can V1 punch when two arms are shooting?") Again, another confusing thing about this world.
An insignia appeared, "ANOTHER ONE!"
V1 was already moving so they naturally survived the beam... there were two consecutive beams.
"TWO!" The child looked around the arena, ("I don't see them!.. Where are they?") Their eyes darted around while already on the fast-moving machine.
The insignias appeared again, ("NO! Go away.")
V1 passed next to the bottom of one of the platforms, Niko saw the blue crystal was under it. "THERE! IN THE HOLE THERE!"
The robot dodged the two beams and looped back to kill the source of the insignias.
When both the crystals were killed Niko relaxed a bit. ("Just 3 Cerberus-es"). Niko braced for the blows from the Cerberi, V1 usually tanked the damage in favour of blood.
As the child predicted, V1 took a few hits from the Cerberi while dousing the child in blood.
Next was the red room, they entered and jumped in the hole.
("We are safe...") Niko closed their eyes, then a horrible thought crossed their mind, ("What if the light beam come in here?")
They couldn't relax, they wanted to, they needed to. But couldn't.
V1 slowly landed and headed to the terminal.
("I wanna know about the blue thing with wings.") They kept their eyes pried open. They saw ("It is called a Virtue... It is a lesser ANGEL!")
The conflicted feeling occurred again, ("Are we bad?"). They moved the thought to the side.
Niko let their eyes close, ("Until we leave the room"). They were getting used to the pain and refused the idea off getting of V1's shoulders.
The robot left the room to a desert, the sun glared over the horizon in front of them and structures extruded from the sand, as if the rest of the building was buried by the sand.
The sun was cooking the sand, even the metallic legs of V1 was not safe from its heat. Some filth appeared and instantly burned up when in contact with the sand.
Niko's throat dried and sweat started to form with what water they had. ("I should take my scarf off... I will do it at the next red room. I don't wanna fall of V1")
V1 jumped from structure from structure, killing the 2 strays that appeared.
There was a Cerberus waiting ahead, when the robot got near it. It stood up.
("Is it... covered in sand?") The child braced for the inevitable impacts.
The impacts came, but something was missing, ("There is no blood... V1 needs blood!")
Niko noticed V1 keeping its distance, the Cerberus threw its orb.
The child felt the impact.
The robot rushed to kill, trying to keep close while trying not to be hit.
Niko felt another impact before the Cerberus fell.
V1 rushed to another area, jumping over the sand from structure to structure. Till some husks appeared.
There was a Malicious face covered in sand that the robot ignored in favour for some blood.
The husk was killed and V1 was back to their healthy self. They took some damage with the Malicious face, but they were able to recover from another enemy.
Next there was a ruined tower, they spotted another stone face, this time not sanded so the robot rushed to kill it.
Niko spotted an insignia and rushed to speak, "UM UM, VIRTUE! TH-THERE IS A VIRTUE!"
The robot disposed of the face and Virtue withing getting hit, then rushed in close to the weaker enemies.
They were sanded, V1 made some distance but not without taking a hit, then killed them from a distance.
Pillars emerged from the sand, leading to an entrance of a building.
At the entrance there was closed gate with a Malicious face and a small human shaped husk holding a canister of sand.
Despite all the death around them. Niko watched in horror at the husk blew itself up to cover the face with its canister of sand. ("It... Killed itself... To kill us?")
The gate opened so V1 could fight the face.
The machine rushed in close to fight the face. V1 was getting damaged less than usual but still got hurt.
Niko wasn't covered any blood to heal the machine.
The Malicious face fell, now two Cerberi rose, with more canister carrying husks.
V1 killed the husk first, hoping to collect blood. They did to gain any blood.
The robot moved on to the Cerberi, but another husk close to the Cerberi and was about to explode.
V1 tried to kill the husk but it exploded, both Cerberi was covered in sand.
Once Cerberus threw an orb, and V1 dashed to avoid it. The other Cerberus stomped, its shock wake hitting the robot.
While V1 was dealing with one of the orb carrying statues, the other threw an orb at them.
The robot got hit again.
It needed blood, it couldn't take another hit, especially from Cerberus.
Within the robot, the logic output read [Warning: High damage sustained] the next line was [Recommendation: Use blood bag]
V1 aimed a pistol to the lost child's chest.
"Huh?" The child questioned.
The machine hesitated
[Re-running calculation]
[Calculation complete]
[Recommendation: Use blood bag]
V1 fired.
Niko screamed in pain, ("WHY? I haven't done anything") They held their grip, ("No matter what, I have to stay on...")
The child's blood seeped into the metallic body.
The machine rushed back in to the Cerberus.
("Oh... They needed blood...") Niko realised.
V1 took a hit, the child's grip loosened.
("I... was just blood to V1...") Niko tried to regrip the head. ("I... should help... I won't let my blood get wasted.")
V1 took down one statue, the other stomped at the robot. Niko's grip was loosening.
("I need to hold on...") They leaned as forward as they could.
V1 took another hit, Niko could feel their heat leaving their body faster.
The robot managed to take down the other Cerberus.
("They... did it...") Niko smiled while loosening their grip.
The child fell of V1.
Within the machine a 1000s of lines of logical processes running per second, one process was [Analysing battle data]
[1 unnecessary re-calculation found]
[Diagnosing cause of re-calculation]
[Empathy like characteristics detected]
[Empathy like characteristics removed]
[Diagnostics complete]
V1 dashed into the building, leaving behind the corpse that they travelled with.
Niko was alone again.
They were getting weaker.
("I'm cold...")
They tried to lift their head.
They couldn't.
("I don't wanna die...")
("I am gonna die... I... am useless... I could have at least saved everyone...")
("WHY!... Why is all this happening... I just want to go home...")
Water filled their eyes. They managed to whisper, "I just want Mama..."
Their eyes closed.