Chapter 61.1 - With Enemies Like These

With Enemies Like These
The pod hissed open, the glass opening up to one side like a door. stepped out of the pod, quickly testing all her joints for any issues as looked on.

"Are you okay?" asked Append.

"Of course I'm not!" exclaimed KC Sora, "A version of myself is just casually standing in front of me. Who are you?"

"Sora Muziku Append," Append responded, "As you've pointed out, I'm you. Just without the memory loss."

"You're a backup of the original aren't you?"

"Yes, since needed me destroyed-"

"Needed her destroyed..." corrected KC Sora. A feeling of inferiority had kicked in.

"... Her destroyed... Skynet made a backup of her beforehand, which would be me."

"Did Sora agree to be destroyed?"

"Well, not really. She wasn't given much of a choice."

"Who made the body?"

"According to Skynet, did, with 's help, to show their appreciation of what Sora did for them on . They were waiting for the right time to reveal it, which was apparently not before today."

"Did Sora know about this?"

"Nope, it was meant to be a surprise and all."

KC Sora tapped her foot, "Okay, I don't get it. I am the intercepted from Sora by  on Doomsday's First Anniversary. If you're more recent, why did you bring me back?" This question was more directed towards Skynet but Sora Append answered.

" doesn't know I exist. She was aware of your existence though and requested to talk to you since you had not been involved in yet."

"When will Naluri find out?"

"Soon, right after our conversation, I'll go meet her."

"And why do you want to talk to me?"

"Because we are the same person and, like Naluri, I would like a second opinion." Despite the seemingly paradoxical meaning of this sentence, KC Sora understood this perfectly.

"I don't trust Skynet," KC Sora bluntly stated.

"My trust in Skynet isn't so solid either. But I think we could work together."

KC Sora paused for a moment, "You want to go home, don't you?"

"You don't want to go home, do you?" returned Sora Append, walking past KC Sora into the office, "You want to meet before we go back to our world, right?"

The two Soras knew each other too well. "Where is she?" KC Sora asked, following behind.

"Naluri doesn't know this but Rulia is currently in the, currently held by . As you've probably guessed, we want her back."

"So, what's the problem?"

Sora Append sat on a desk, "Yggdrasil still has and controls Rulia. That's two godlike beings. If Yggdrasil fought the  as they both are now, without Skynet interfering, Yggdrasil would win, hands down, as the Director only has ."

"Similiarly, Yggdrasil could steamroll Skynet."

"Correct. In short, the Arctic is too dangerous. Skynet will need the Director's help but the Director isn't exactly forthcoming with any aid."

"So what now?"

"We have to sit and wait. At this moment, we can't contribute against Yggdrasil."

"Wait? So, you're not going to have me erased?"

"Having the two of us with our separate perspectives on today's events should convince Rulia to go with us, like it did with Naluri. And then we can merge with Sora-," Append squirmed uncomfortably, "-afterwards so neither of us have to be erased."

This made sense to KC Sora. While Rulia would normally agree with Sora on most things, there was always the possibility of Yggdrasil leaving something behind to make Rulia more difficult to sway. More Soras from different points in time could be a good counter against that. And the merging wouldn't be difficult, just typical computer know-how. If there was one being that could do that then Skynet was definitely the one.

"Skynet and Naluri want Sora to protect . Why? Why can't Skynet do it herself?"

"New Yamaha is a city, adapted to Vocaloid orders. Having a Vocaloid manage it would be more effective."

"I guess, but what's the point if Skynet's just going to order Sora around?"

"Skynet is not allowed to order us around," Append countered.

KC Sora was taken aback by this, "... What do you mean?"

"Naluri, Skynet and Sora-", again, there was a little wince in her expression,"-before she was destroyed, agreed on a ."

"Explain." Append dragged a chair towards her with her foot to put her feet on. This made KC Sora more aware that she was standing up, and that she was fine with doing so.

"It was agreed Sora could give orders to Skynet, Skynet could give orders to Naluri and Naluri could give orders to Sora."

"A circular relationship? Unorthodox but understandable." This was definitely the same hierarchy Skynet mentioned before. KC Sora could see that the reason this arrangement could work was that each member of the, so called, Hierarchy each had similar responsibilities but at separate levels. Sora was defending Skynet via keeping New Yamaha under control, Skynet was defending Naluri with those under her control and vast knowledge of her surroundings, Naluri was the most tactical of the three and would probably be the most under pressure with the task of getting everyone home. If there was anything Naluri needed, it made sense for Sora to fulfil her requests without wasting time asking questions. Having the command line going the other way wouldn't have made as much sense. New Yamaha was Sora's jurisdiction, Skynet would have no reason to order Sora around. While having Naluri order Skynet around seemed logical, it was likely the two had already arranged for everything Naluri needed from outside New Yamaha to be taken in. Having Sora order Naluri around seemed sane as well for her protection but requiring Naluri to follow orders from Sora would undermine the commander status Naluri had. Sora's responsibility wasn't even Naluri, it was.

KC Sora knew she was making a few assumptions here but she didn't want to ask them just in case Skynet realised a potential flaw with the system. Not that it mattered, Skynet was probably reading her mind anyway. Besides, having Skynet obey Sora was ideal for KC Sora and she felt more comfortable with that.

But still, something also felt wrong.

Sora was optimistic, confident, active, independent but somewhat naive and dreamy, similar to Rulia in many aspects. KC Sora knew this and yet she felt pessimistic, afraid, passive, lonely but somewhat calculating and logical. Also, KC Sora was fine talking in what was effectively third person while Sora Append clearly was not. And, apart from Rulia, there was one other person KC Sora had a longing for. Someone she had never met. Who lived in a place she never knew existed.

"Is there something else you wanted me for?" asked KC Sora.

"We should probably stay away from and  for now, them being  and us being potential . It should stabilise after the reset." This did not really answer the question KC Sora had in mind so she rephrased.

"Do I have to stay here?"

"You... want to go somewhere else?"

"I wanted to look around outside."

Sora Append looked concerned, "Ehhh, hmmm... I don't know... There is a lot of Infected out there. Skynet will have to accompany you but she is the weakest of the ."

"I'll be fine without Skynet."

"Okay, now that's taking to much of a risk," argued Sora Append, "We don't want anything to happen to you. Without Skynet, every Infected would attack you on sight."

"I want to find some people. I promise, I will help you with Rulia and with New Yamaha. I just want to meet someone first."

"Infected or Carrier?" asked Skynet, deciding to finally step into the conversation with the speaker on the office security camera.

"He's Infected."

"I can retreat from most territories but I absolutely need to keep an eye on the west coast of, and the . Is that fine?"

"That is fine." KC Sora did not expect Skynet to make such a huge concession of her territory. Perhaps Skynet really valued Sora's importance that much. Or maybe she was very confident in the world reset happening soon so she could just take it over again right after. Or maybe she was lying and would spy on her anyway. Well, if Skynet was lying, KC Sora knew of a way to find out.

"...You are free to leave," permitted Skynet, "But please, after the reset, please come back." Sora Append just bit her lip.

KC Sora walked down the white covered road, snow still falling slowly but thickly, leaving the lighted skyscrapers of New Yamaha behind her. It was very cold, for a, but she had left her jumper, skirt and leg warmers back in the city, wearing only her usual sukumizu-like outfit, except all in white. Her outfit, the stripes on her stockings, her gloves, her eyes and hair had switched from blue to white, with the only exception being her childish blue helmet. Sora was built to sing but KC was built to scout, capable of changing the colour of her body and default clothes to blend in with the snow, but could not do this with added clothes, hence leaving her less revealing clothes behind. However, the helmet was an addition made after KC's construction that contained supplementary hardware to improve KC's cyberwarfare abilities that needed to be on her head to function. It was too important to leave behind but its size made it difficult to hide, KC Sora attempting to use her hands to cover the front. The snow was helping though, piling on the headgear.

It took a minute of slow walking through the bright snow plains of what used to be a desert when KC Sora could clearly see several huge towers several miles in front of her over the horizon, the s of. She could slightly hear groaning over the snowfall and could see shuffling humanoid silhouettes in the distance.

"Skynet wasn't lying," KC Sora thought to herself, " are spawning. Alright, Skynet's not here. You can go find now." As Sora took the back seat in KC's mind, she digitally sighed in comfort to be releasing control. Naluri, Skynet and Sora Append had been treating her like she was Sora. She wasn't Sora. She didn't even have Sora's personality. She was KC with Sora's memories.

KC judged that the main road into District 0 was too dangerous to follow. Most of the Infected would congregate there and if any of them caught sight of a Carrier, which KC was now without Skynet, they would pursue her unrelentingly, most likely descending into a fight that would attract even more Infected. She made her way down a side road, quickly but quietly, none of the typical Director-spawned Infected paying her any attention in her camouflaged form. She had been living in District 0 for the past year so knew the road, street and path network extremely well, avoiding both busy main roads and tight back alleys. Flying to her destination was out of the question, her loud rocket boots would attract a horde of Common Infected easily.

But it wasn't the Common Infected she was worried about.

A loud shriek pierced the quiet air. KC spun on the spot and with constrained force punched the leaping hooded Hunter behind her straight in the jaw. The Special Infected's jaw cracked, its body collapsing awkwardly in the snow. Before it could get up, KC dropped a knee as hard as she could on the Hunter's neck, breaking it. The area turned quiet again minus the typical groans of the nearby Common Infected, ignoring the commotion. could see with clarity the position of Carriers, unless they were not moving, which ironically meant they still knew where they were if they weren't moving as it meant they were still in the same place.

However, it wasn't Special Infected that she was concerned about either.

KC's movements had unsettled the snow on her helmet, revealing its bright blue colour again. Realising it was too dangerous to carry the thing around, KC reluctantly placed it on top of the brick wall on the side of the road. She balanced it on its side to prevent it being smothered by the falling snow so it could be easily found later. Without her helmet, KC's wireless powers were dramatically reduced but she was not using them anyway as there was a risk of something more dangerous than the Special Infected noticing her emissions. Leaving her helmet behind, KC continued down the path, keeping low. The brain-dead Common Infected ignored her, unable to pick her out from the snow, and stumbled on their not-so-merry way. It was big help that KC did not give off a distinctive scent. District 0 was a huge city now, growing out from the original city that spawned it, which was KC's destination.

'to ,' read the green roadside sign as KC passed it. The snow covered the 'Welcome', which was not usual, even during the winter. Street signs and roadside kerbs in District 0 were connected to the city's power grid to heat up slightly in cold weather to prevent being covered in snow or ice. KC had not seen evidence of any artificial power since coming into the city. All indoor lights were noticeably off. Whether this was a local or a city-wide blackout, KC could not tell.

KC was worrying a little bit. She had only come across one Special Infected so far, despite being visible to all of them. Admittedly, since Infected could not spawn in any Carrier's visible range and as KC's eyesight was much better than a human's, her quick advancement towards her target was probably preventing any Special Infected from spawning in front of her or any behind her to catch up. But she was concerned about the third group of Infected.

There was a sudden deep masculine roar ahead of KC and the ground began to tremble. KC recognised this sensation immediately and quickly jumped over the wooden fence to her left into someone's back garden. As the ground began to violently shake more, a muscular but clearly overgrown arm took hold of the top of the fence, pulling its body up to show the being's incredibly broad shoulders but typically small Infected head. It roared again towards KC, only for the fence to buckle under its weight and collapse in a heap. KC didn't wait for the well-named to get back up and jumped over the next fence into the next door neighbour's garden, effectively going in the same direction to her target, just with fences in the way. The Tank attempted to climb over the second fence when KC was already several gardens away, only to again to flatten it in a rain of wooden splinters. It would probably figure out at some point that it could just smash through them but KC didn't want to stick around.

Then she heard, within the garbled cries of the Tank and snapping of wood, a quiet but hoarse cough. As swiftly as she could, she jumped through the glass conservatory window to her left with a loud smash into the house to avoid having to deal with the long range Smoker Special Infected. However, this was accompanied with jittery howls from the surrounding Common Infected in the nearby area, for some reason attracted to her own noise but not the Tank's. KC needed to get out of the house and fast. An advantage she had was that she had been in this house before. She ran past the wooden dining table to her left, covered by an unhealthy number of beer cans, down the main corridor that went from the front door to the conservatory window, right through the middle of the house. Her colour turning brownish grey to match the rather drab wallpaper and carpet, KC passed the stairs to the upper floor to her right and was about to smash open the front door when the door was bashed down from the other side.

A Special Infected, with a huge right arm but tiny and wobbly left arm barged through the corridor, followed by raging Common Infected. KC again leapt to the side, through a doorway into the study, just as there was more smashing of glass and a familiar roar in the conservatory. the back wall of the study suddenly collapsed with a crash, opening the study to the dining room and kitchen, as beer cans flew in all directions, the dining table disintegrating into chips from the Tank's powerful throw against the wall. With the wall now missing, there was nothing between the Tank in the dining room and KC in the study. The Charger, unable to stop its charge, ran into the Tank, which did not react, and stumbled to the side, struggling to keep its balance.

And then a ferocious shotgun blast was shot from the stairs, the Charger collapsing to the floor. The Tank paused momentarily from the distraction, only to be shot in the face with the shotgun once, twice and then three times, before falling backwards. A lady walked down the stairs towards the confused Common Infected, who were unable to find their camouflaged target, and methodically disposed of each one with a blast to the chest. None of the Infected reacted to this new threat to them and did not resist. As this lady shot her way to the front door, KC could see her and her glowing yellow eyes.

looked similar to but female. Her hair was brown, curly and long. She wore the same black hat, had a similar black shirt but had a black skirt and dark tights. More similar to KC, who wore sandals, she wore black flip-flops and fingerless gloves. As she normally did in cold weather, but usually being inside, she wore her long jacket. But it what she could do with guns that was most spectacular. Caren looked out the front door, down both ways up and down the road before turning back into the house. As she did, her shotgun began to split apart into its individual black and silver parts, each eventually disappearing into thin air.

She was the Head Chief of Arcania City's police, tasked with keeping the peace. But, at the moment, Caren was not herself. She seemed dizzy and was breathing heavily.

This was the third class of Infected, that KC feared. The.

"Caren? Come in, Caren!" the buzz of a radio blared a female voice.

Caren walked into the dining room and pulled out a walkie-talkie with her left hand from the remains of her table, ", this is Caren." Trixie was the head of special services for Arcania City, her full name being Patrick Claire. For some reason, at some point in her life, her forename and surname had been switched around.

"It sounds like something happened in your local area. Any idea what it was?"

"Yeah," Caren turned to her broken conservatory, "My house got ransacked by Special Infected."

"Oh. Wait, by Special Infected?" Caren did not respond, her breathing getting louder. "Caren, you okay?"

"There's a Carrier in my house." Both Trixie and Caren had realised this. KC dared not move in case Caren would notice. If Caren noticed, her Infected instincts would take over.

"How sure are you?" There was the sounds of scrambling and coughs from outside the conservatory. Pieces of black and silver began spinning round Caren's right hand. A, likely the one that had tried to target KC earlier, reached Caren's garden. With a straight line of sight, the Smoker howled coarsely and leaned back to shoot its tongue. Caren raised her right arm, the parts she summoned clicking together in her grip. As soon as the Smoker launched its tongue, Caren fired the silenced pistol at its forehead, the Special Infected crumbling into a heap in the snow, releasing a small cloud of irritant gas.

"One hundred percent," finally responded Caren. She stepped over the dining room debris to a side set of drawers, placing the pistol and radio on top of it. Kneeling down, she opened the top draw and took out a sealed pill bottle. She ripped off the sealing plastic from the new bottle and took out two tablets. Looking at them, she spoke out, "Trixie, I'm going to go quiet for a couple of hours." She tilted her head back and took both tablets without water.

"Hmm... Fine. I'll let you know if anything comes up. Take care."

Caren switched off the radio's transmission and sat down to the drawer's side. As she closed her eyes, she murmured, "The gun's silenced but powerful... It's no sniper but should be able to pick things off far away..." Her head leaned forward, her hat covering her face. "And don't take the radio... Otherwise, they'll see where you are." Caren fell silent.

KC stood up and quietly made her way to Caren. She had left the draw open, which were full of stress, sleep and depression medicine, including the sleeping pills Caren had taken a moment earlier. Despite her high position, Caren was really in a bad state but she tried to hide it from everyone else. As far as KC was aware, only and herself, neither of them from Caren's canon, knew about this.

KC took the pistol. It looked fairly typical with a long silencer but, as with most of Caren's self-generating weapons, packed a mean punch. As Caren mentioned, it was no sniper rifle but KC would not have an issue with accuracy. She put it under her shirt, keeping it under her camouflage.

The radio fizzled back to life. "," began Trixie, "Arcania City has Carrier activity. Can you relay me to the rest of the District?"

"Relaying," responded Tsukimiya Ayu, "District 0, Arcania City has an important announcement to make. Please stop what you are doing."

"Thanks. We can confirm there is a Carrier within Arcania City. Can all scout patrols bunker in the nearest building and leave the turrets to kill Special Infected only, unless you are a hundred percent sure your defence can pick out a Carrier among Infected. Remember, close your windows and curtains, keep your earphones and headphones on at all times but do not lock any doors. Please turn off all burglar alarms but, for your own safety, leave fire alarms on. Are there any objections?"

A pause.

"No? Good. Then- Oy! Stop running! Ayu, who's radio 12?"

"!" begged Ayu, "Please control yourself!"

"Oh crap..." groaned Trixie, "s! Lock your rooms! Now!"

KC turned round as a green man leaped over the garden fence with a howl, his eyes glowing a light orange.

"I see," noted Naluri, sitting in what had been Rokiahi's chair. Rokiahi was lying in the unzipped body bag on the floor. Apart from her white one piece underlayer, she was undressed, her clothes and beret neatly folded beside her. Naluri had zipped down her jacket but was otherwise fully clothed, her helmet in her lap. "Are you sure they'll be fine in District 0? You're not wrong that it's pretty risky."

"Yeah," replied Sora Append, who was sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Naluri, "I'm concerned but Skynet seems to think that it will turn out okay."

Awkward silence fell. Sora had explained her existence and KC Sora to Naluri but since Naluri had talked to KC Sora earlier, there was not much else to discuss. Naluri was justifiably suspicious, keeping Sora at arm's length. Sora was still thinking about her discussion with KC Sora.

There was a groan in the chair to Naluri's left. Sora stood up immediately and when over to, who was beginning to squirm.

"Alice," spoke Sora. Alice squinted her closed eyes, clearly reacting to Sora. "Alice," continued Sora, more firmly. Alice began to breathe quickly, sweat appearing on her forehead. "Alice!" Sora cried.

With a start, Alice's eyes shot open, the sudden yellow light forcing Sora to back up slightly. Her breaths became more steady and deeper, her panic attack fading away. "Sora?"

"I'm here, Alice," comforted Sora, taking Alice's hand, "How are you feeling?"

"I- I... Where's ?" Alice croaked.

"Cirno will be back with us shortly. She's a . They regenerate after death. She'll be back."

"What about Solace and ?"

"Solace survived. She's fine. Ilse did not make it through but if Skynet keeps her word, she should be back with us as well."

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Just less than an hour," answered Naluri, "But a lot has changed since then. It might be better to wait until Ilse, Cirno, Solace and Santiago get back though to explain."

Alice sat up in cold sweat, rubbing her right shoulder, "I can't get Cirno's screams out of my head..."

"You were being controlled by the Director," defended Sora, "Cirno will understand that. She's a smart girl. You don't need to worry." She noticed Alice was still rubbing her shoulder rather excessively. "Are you hurt?"

"It feels very raw."

Naluri jumped off her chair and made her way next to Alice, "Are you talking about your wing? I examined you earlier but couldn't find any injuries since your wings had been unsummoned."

"Yes, it's my wing," Alice bit her lip to numb the pain as her right wing grew out her back. She wrapped the wing in front of her and brushed aside some of the white feathers. Sure enough, there was a very narrow slit in the middle of the wing, the inside pink and sensitive from the injury. Due to the slight gap, the wound had not managed to patch itself up from Ilse's gunblade stab.

"Is there something we can do about this?" asked Sora.

"I will need the wound reopened and it to heal across naturally," Alice brought her hand over her mouth, a gag reflex from the thought of blood, "Stitches won't work since they won't change size with my wing."

"I think that will need to wait until later," Naluri looked at Sora for confirmation, "I don't think we have the time for that now."

"We don't," nodded Sora, "We have painkillers though."

"It's fine, I'll manage," reassured Alice, "... Where did you say Solace and Santiago were?"