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Fury came on heavenly wings; the Powers descended into the deepest depths of Hell to find Gabriel at any cost. They would find the wretched machine that had led him astray and they would reduce it to a pile of bloody scrap.
There it was, the hateful thing that had corrupted him or driven him mad or whatever horrible tricks it had up its wings. Its lens whirred and focused on them, tilting its head in a pointless mimic of curiosity as the Powers spawned in a pillar of light. There were three of them and one of it, but they would not let themselves get cocky. If it could even touch Gabriel it was mightier than it initially seemed.
“Halt!” Manadel cried. “Where is Gabriel and what have you done to him?”
V1 merely raised its revolver, a charged shot crackling with energy from the muzzle but not yet released. It looked interested, but didn’t do anything beyond that. It hadn’t even entered a battle stance!
Lehahiah spoke next, bristling with fury. “You cannot escape justice, and you cannot escape the children of Gabriel!”
That got a reaction out of the machine. Its lens opened fully, giving the impression of wide eyes. The charged shot fizzled out as it went deadly still. Was such a crude thing unable to understand the concept of others caring so much about someone it felled that they would come seeking vengeance? Steam was expelled from vents on its body as the head rapidly swung back and forth to each of them. A synthetic voice blared from V1, harsh and screeching. “[I GOT GABRIEL PREGNANT???]”
Lies. An attempt at shaking their resolve, one which most certainly did not affect them, and they definitely didn’t drop their glaive and scramble to pick it back up. “Wh-“
V1 looked truly distressed by its conclusion, body language like that of a cornered animal. The machine had literally been bouncing off of the walls before, and it redirected that energy to cycling rapidly through its weapons, as if the right gun could solve this issue. It could, but it seemed to be so confused the overwhelming need for violence that normally dominated its code was shoved to the side. “[I AM NOT SUITABLE TO BE A PARENT. I WAS NOT EVEN MADE AWARE THAT I WAS A PARENT.]”
“You aren’t our parent!” Chauakiah spat. “Merely implying such a thing is blasphemy!”
“[THAT IS WHAT THE HUMAN YOUTH USED TO SAY WHEN THEY WERE UPSET TOO.]” V1 sounded quite pleased that it remembered that. Technically it shouldn’t be using such vital processing power on talking, but the idea that it might’ve had offspring was so shocking it had no choice but to speak. Fuck! What was even the right thing to do here? If they really were it and Gabriel’s children, it would be wrong to slaughter them for fuel, right? He would be upset if V1 did that. It was pretty sure that was the case. Hmm… what else did human parents do to solve problems like this? Ah! V1 swapped to its Marksman Revolver and fired three coins, resisting the urge to follow it up with a shot.“[BEHOLD. CHILD SUPPORT. BE GOOD FOR YOUR FATHER AND EAT YOUR VEGETABLES.]”
God, it was nailing this parenting shit! With that settled, V1 got out of there as fast as it could. It needed to slaughter dozens of hoards of demons right now to deal with these strange and complicated feelings, as well as replenish its blood supply after it had expended so much.
The Powers remained frozen, one of them holding V1’s parting gift in an open palm. Perhaps that was how the machine defeated Gabriel: it was so confusing he suffered a mental break and killed the council.
“…Does this count as defeating it?”
“Obviously not, idiot!”