Cold, Hard Truth

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The Valparaiso Denizen leading Koudo through the back alleys of the City of Ruin would poke his head out of the end of the alleyway that was right before the high metal gates of what looked like a factory. The walls were reinforced several times and too high for any normal or weak person to jump or fly to. It looked like a metallic fortress, much different from the rest of the city, though the buildings of Valhalla did match its semblance in a lesser form.

(Think 'Iron Town' from 'Princess Mononoke.')

The mysterious Valparaiso Denizen, of haggard appearance and tattered breath, but of keen perception and memory of longevity would lift his hand up out of the shadows of the back alley and out into the light of the streets, pointing directly at the metal fortress. "There," he said, not diverting attention from the gate, "... That's the place what changed this land. Where them robots are coming from." It almost sounded painful for him to even speak of it, or perhaps to look upon it, with all the memories that flooded before it was erected and all the changes that were forced after it was established. It was a lot to have on the pallet for one as old as this one. He couldn't help but feel like the life was being sucked out of him just by being near the place. "... I can't help ya get in, though," he warned, raising his hands up. "... That place ain't nothin I'm trying to get mixed up with after all I done seen." Clearly, he knew much more than perhaps many of the Valparaiso Denizens, especially the ones that remained or stuck around. More than any common thug or heathen running around.

The sound of 'The Siren' blared again, and there was a flash of red that poured over all of the Central City of Valparaiso. Down every line of every building that was red, everything was scanned, and the Target was identified.


The collapsed building that was only debris all off in the distance was pinpointed as the main 'Object' and had priority over anything that was going on in the streets or in the alleys, which were also completely scanned when the red light flashed and a new blueprint was captures of the entire layout of the city. The Mechanica were bid accordingly.

The first wave of 'Collectors' hovered from out of the 'Mechanica Wall' and would all, in single file, turn and hover toward where the debris was located. Some would not hover toward the debris. Each of the doors that opened up all along the fullness of the surface of the wall would all close simultaneously, in and on time, because of how they were all timed the exact same 'Period.'

The man and his gang that were walking minded their own business and left the area whilst the Mechanica went to collect the debris in order for it to be repurposed and fashioned into something else, as it seemed the Mechanica were merely awaiting the remnants of the old city to do.

Chita could keep all the bragging rights and showboating for herself, this time around, Koudo was just trying to pinpoint the exact time that it would be okay for them to move. A pink mist wafted gently out of the handle of the ornate katana on his hip and surrounded his head. He breathed in, inhaling the sweet sensation of Odea's calming energies and exhaling them as he achieved a level of focus so honed that sparks of electricity flared out of his eyes. They were dim, giving off no visible light, but that wasn't the main purpose. Yes, the sapphire blue lightning the streamed from his similar colored irises signified he'd entered with he liked to call, The Zone(Name Pending): A level of extreme focus so significantly refined it allowed for Koudo to act on the electrical impulses of his brain immediately. It could only be broken willingly, or by an extremely traumatic event, such as serious injury or death.

His pupils darted from left to right, alternated between up and down, and singled in, as well as pointed out, every uniquely integral part of his observation. He was able to pinpoint the exact amount of time between when the robots were released from the fortress all the way down to the millisecond, as well as the amount of time it took between their deployment and the closing of the shutters that released them. He identified the amount of time it took them to reach their task, and exactly when, and where, Chita vanished.

It took him on time at all to appear at her side, crouched low to the ground with a hand on Odea and a couple fingers of his other hand touched delicately to the ground beneath them, as he stared intently at the wall without words. Unfortunately for Chita, this level of focus neither allowed for small talk, nor the ability to explain to her exactly what this state of being Koudo had achieved was and what he was planning to do. So she would have to be able to react on the purest form of instinct that she could muster since Koudo planned to zip right through one of the opening, as soon as the robots were finished with their task and returned to their home, at his physically honed speed.

The next wave of Mechanica would mobilize from within the walls, overseeing the safe passage of the Collectors as they traveled to and from their designated destination point. There were many compartments that were like both drawers and windows lined up similarly to how the doors were on the lower surface f the Mechanica Wall, only spread out among the upper surface instead of trailing along the lower surface. Many units poked their heads out and all watched the streets and the Collectors move uniformly to the 'Target.'


The Collectors gathered up the debris all at once, with each of them picking up one piece all at the exact time, which was the equivalent of the entire building being picked up all at once. When each of them had simultaneously picked up the minor debris and deteriorated it, the larger chunks would be picked up as a unit and carried off in segments all at once, which only took a matter of minutes or tens of minutes between transition. The entire area, which now was an empty lot, was picked clean; spotless, as if it had been freshly paved. They made their way back to the Mechanica wall relatively swiftly, collectively and orderly.

Koudo's eyes narrowed as he squinted at the wall. He never looked at the robots as they did their job, because he only needed to see the wall. The intricate ticks and whirls of the walls opening and closing mechanisms were like music to his ears. It wasn't often when he got to experience someone else's handiwork, even if it did look terribly outdated and not en vogue. He supposed, though, that machinery that wasn't ridiculous advanced and en vogue, persay, was actually quite the en vogue thing nowadays.

As the robots rolled past his peripheral vision, chugging along like assembly line workers after being doled out a task, for the very last time, carrying the very last largest piece of debris, Koudo's body tensed, indicating that he was able to move, and then he was gone. There was no gaudy flash nor craters in his wake. There were no leaves or gusts of wind. The only indication that he gave Chita that he moved for an opening just above the ground, nearly as big as window only slightly agape, was that his body tensed for a millisecond and he vanished.

He moved at top speed, minus the usual theatrics, twisting just so to slip his larger body through the swiftly closing opening. He hoped that Chita was able to sense the small tell that he'd given her as the streams of lightning coursing from the corners of his eyes started to vanish.

When the Collectors returned to their respective doorways with larger pieces of debris, larger doors that had smaller doors on them would open up to allow them inside, looking something like elevator doors, but also like castle gates. They, too, were blended into the smooth surface of the walls and all seemed to be part of the same hollow interior, which allowed all of the doors, and doors on top of doors, to function properly whilst all being the same actual wall.

Once inside of the wall, which was actually very thick, and wasn't just a simple passage through, Koudo and Tifaret would be inside what looked like a technologically advanced watch tower room that spanned a great distance; large enough for the Collectors with even the largest chunks of debris to be able to store them inside of the wall, itself, before ever exiting out of the wall. The floor was metallic and the walls of the interior of the wall were littered with lights and devices of many sorts. As long as the entire wall was is how long the length of the interior of it stretched, and the same was for the width to the doorways on the other side. The doors on the other side were visible, like walking across a long room, but the length of the wall in either direction was seemingly infinitely long.


The Collectors passed through the doors to the other side relatively immediately after passing through the first set of doors, without stopping in between to wait. They would be out in the field on the other side of the wall, where they would leave the debris.

He landed lightly, more daintily than his size would suggest that he should; A hand to the ground and the other grasp firmly to Odea as to not lose her and the euphoric feelings of tranquility that her mere presence washed over him. This, above all the other benefits, was why he had grown to love her as a partner despite her sharp tongue, and her delicate nature with his daughter was why he'd began develop more... amorous feelings for her as a woman. Those thoughts were never so apparent that she could read them when they were connected though.

For now, they weren't on his mind at all, neither was whether Chita had made it inside or not. He knew that she had and that meant it was time for the second phase. Problem was, as Koudo came down from his Zone, and resumed a more normalized level of cognitive function, for him at the very least, he rose to his feet and looked around, a small bit puzzled.

"Okay... larger than I expected..." he dared admit to Chita in a hushed tone, just in case there were more security measures and not to disturb the robots that were toiling away inside of the wall. Now that they were inside the wall, it was time to find a way outside to the interior of the stronghold. Koudo figured that their best course was the head across the room and to the other side, in the hopes of finding a way. If they waited around, it was possible that there would be some form of robot that would be passing to the interior that they could follow after.

As soon as the Collectors were all retrieved, along with the remains of the fallen building, the gates upon the Mechanica Wall would seal tightly and remain shut, with the people up high poking their heads out of the walls and windows all drawing back inside and starting to descend from their respective elevated paths leading back down to the ground level, where the doors to the interior were located. Just the same as with the doors that led outside, the doors inside leading into the interior would open up in random places in variable sizes all along the inside of the Mechanica Wall for each of the machines. Once the first wave passed through, right behind them, the second wave, which were those that were up above and coming down, would assemble on the lower level, prepared to enter the interior after it was clear that the first wave had done so completely.

Our Time Is Up. Odea announced with the slam of her book closing. The Tether tightened and Koudo felt the inevitable pull of it's corrective measures. There was no fighting it. The Tether always activated on time, if Koudo, or anyone that knew of the technique, wasn't in close enough proximity to deactivate it.

Koudo nodded his head, both to Odea and Chita. I figured as much, I could feel it when I achieved Zone. It really burnedup the rest of the time I had. He only responded to Odea, verbally, crouching a small amount to prepare for the rip. He felt pained to leave this unfinished though, and really didn't have the nerve to do so. He couldn't stay, it was just a fact, but he had the means to formulate a surrogate.

"Move now!" Koudo said to Chita before a figure burst from out of his body and made the inhuman dash for the window that was right before his eyes. I was trying to find a place to put him anyway, I think he'll like it here better than being fused with me. Koudo thought, watching as the legitimate clone he had fused with very early in his career divided away from him and rushed to continue the mission with Chita. He had already internalized the power that he needed from him, so there was no need for them to remain fused. It had always been Wei that was interested in Chita anyway, Koudo liked his women with a little more meat.


Koudo, and the ornate katana that was Odea, were ripped in the other direction and collapsed into themselves and vanished from this universe to be returned to Vescrutia. If Chita could divide her attention as well as Koudo could divide his being, she'd see Koudo raising two fingers to his forehead and giving her, and Wei, a salute while he was returned home.

Tifa, who was still rather closely synchronized with Koudo, even among his split and departure, would trail him with her eyes all the way to his two-fingered salute before feeling them pulled away from each other. She could feel that he was connected to something beyond the Veritas and figured it was Vescrutia. Why he kept returning, or, maintaining an attachment was beyond her, but she figured it was more for his family than anything. She didn't have time to respond to it, though, and merely internalized everything, which caused her eyes to glow brighter.

In the next instant, she was turning to line her sight up with the clone that was released, and would immediately flash into a burst of light that would appear beside the new figure; Wei. When Tifa neared him, she would, like with Koudo, hear a certain pop like that of a bubble and begin to feel his energy synchronizing with hers as if they were resonating with each other unconsciously. The two of them made it through the window of opportunity that was right after the machines had entered and exited the wall and out into the interior of the Factorial Village before they were noticed.

Still, even though they'd gotten outside, they needed to get by without being detected or drawing attention to themselves. Though Tifa knew next to nothing about this new figure, except that he'd been split from Koudo, she still knew that it had some sort of semblance to him, and would probably not be too consciously diverse from him where they couldn't continue speaking on at least the matters they were already actively engaged in. "... We can't stay out in the open," was the first thing that she said, since the other things that went on were too quick for her to really react to, given her own limitations. "We're going to need some sort of cover." Whilst she was still nearby Wei, Tifa would raise up her hands and her fiery hair would burst, the streaming ponytail lighting up and causing an invisible barrier, which it was connected to and streaming into, to be erected around them. It was a void which looked exactly like the surrounding terrain; like someone had a one-way mirror and was looking through it.

(Think 'The Invisible Woman' from 'Fantastic 4.')

"I can keep us hidden," she mentioned, with her eyes glowing, "But I'm not really sure how to use my new powers. This is a different kind of Void than the one I used to use." Tifa's original Void, which was of Darkness, had become a Void of Light, and Light wasn't exactly Tifa's forte, since she spent most of her time using the Dark Void and living with someone whose every single intention was darkness. It was new to her, but felt similar to how the original Void she had was used. "Don't waste my time." It was limited to an unknown, since Tifa was utilizing an unknown ability that she didn't really know if she had full control over, or if there was anything presently that could bypass or even negate the ability, which was always an option, no matter what it seemed nor how powerful she was. That much, she learned the hard way, and never forgot when it was beaten into her head.

The same Mechanica that had departed from the field, which was now a wide open area that looked something like a town square and pastureland, with many small houses and random large buildings littered about the interior of the wall, would have already spread out among all of these structures and gone off to do their bidding.

Behind them, the next wave of Mechanica, which resembled small dolls of sorts, would come from out of the Mechanica Wall and begin walking around the field as if it were their home. They would wander about both mindlessly and carelessly, seeming to have no other duties. The frolic of the Mechanica, which looked like dolls, was concentrated in front of what looked like a shoddy old orphanage named 'Broken Homes.' The dolls did not seem at all disparaged, but had now filled the 'Field.'

The first thing Wei did was rip the skin tight tunic his other self left him in off and disintegrate it into particles that he absorbed into his hand and used to replenish his chakra. He wasn't really a fan of his other half's fashion choices as off late, but the bottoms and belt of the outfit were great. It was just the top that he didn't like.

Wei nonchalantly looked over his shoulder at Chita with a small smirk, "Looks like you already got cover, covered already." He quipped before turning back around to watch the little robot animals scurry off to their homes. As interested as he was in finding out what little furry robos did when they were alone, in the safety of their homes, he was more interested in finding out where those Dukes had gone. If they'd submitted to whatever was in charge of the purging of the fun citizens of Valparaiso, then it was a chance they knew where to find the head honcho so that Wei could discover what was going on.

Unfortunately, there was a nagging ping in his ear and the familiar glint of a chakra signature assaulting his eyes from the 'Broken Homes' building most of the animals seemed to be obsessively frolicking in front of. "Look at that," He whispered, pointing towards the bots, "Like their worshippin' that building or somethin'. Think there could be some clues in there? There's also some dudes that were scurryin' about before we got in. One of em slipped in real easy like since he had a bud inside already." He willingly chose not to mention that the folks may have been from a gang that he recognized from before this mechanical city was dropped here.

"I'm improvising," Tifa said pretty much blatantly and outright, trying to keep the two of them from being noticed. Since they were still in the area and she was only keeping them invisible, the others could still pass through the field and detect them in some way. Having to cognitively be careful of these things to prevent erasing them both on the spot was also important. "Just work with me." The equivalent of focus Koudo had to do before was what Tifa was doing now in order to keep the actual Void around them contained and restrained. It was actually a bit more difficult than it appeared to be. "I've never done this before." The most that Tifa ever really used her Void for was to just erase things as a giant blot.

Because she had more attentiveness on maintaining the isolated area, she could listen a bit more carefully to this new version of Koudo without speaking too much or getting lost in thought, with all of her attention on something else entirely that he, too, was focusing very hard on. "Why don't we follow him?" It seemed like the most interesting route, as opposed to looking around for extra things. "You think we should walk? Using a lot of energy in a low energy environment might be bad for the both of us, and make us stand out among things that don't have a lot." It didn't seem like the machines were really that disturbed once they were on this side of the wall. They looked happy and free and in no way terrified nor uneasy. Pretty much completely vulnerable, but still flooding the area. "I'll keep up the cover. Whenever you move, I'll just appear where you are and cover you." Since he had the speed, and Tifa could spontaneously appear where he was, it seemed like it was better than trying to hold up two of these barriers around them.

The dolls thought that they heard something foreign. When something outside of their systematic society got their attention in any way, the shock of the foreign object or force terrified them to some degree, because of their sheltered nature. Whatever unknown it was, if it didn't assimilate with their society, their first instinct was to either run or to attack, which is what they did. The frightened dolls all scurried away and holed up in the buildings, leaving no one outside in the now wide open and blank field. Anything that was not systematically aware of the procedures of the dolls would be found outcast and be judged from within the systematic boundaries that were set for them, which were the buildings that were nearby.


Only outsiders and outcasts remained outside.

Whatever she was doing was working, so Wei figured she was doing an okay job at cloaking them. What she wasn't doing an okay job of was being specific with what she was trying to say, and that really didn't bode well for them. If he couldn't understand her, then he wasn't really sure how they were going to function effectively as a group.

It really didn't seem like he had time to figure out what she was trying to say either because all of the dolls, weirdly, scurried into any and all of the buildings that were around all at the same time. It was odd, for sure, and Wei couldn't puzzle out if it was just something that they do, or if whatever Chita was doing wasn't actually doing any good at all. "Yeah, we gotta get in one of these buildings." It seemed the logical course after all. It would get them out of the direct open and, depending on the building they chose, it could give them time to regroup, recuperate, and figure out the next appropriate course of action.

So Wei took a step, sending a undetectable pulse of a minuscule amount of chakra through the ground to act as a radar. It pinged, for him, where all of the robots had flooded, which he could keep a track of mentally, and allowed for him to make the rational decisions based on where they were. There was a building, about 3 doors down from where the 'Broken Homes' place was, that was completely voided of residents. And...

He was there, inside, making sure to take the most stealthy route to the location, almost teleporting there really. Once Chita gave the idea that she could just appear where ever he went, he completely disregarded her as a liability, when it came to movement.

The Mechanica did not move. All of those that were inside of the houses would chatter and make noises of variable communicative extension. They were talking to each other about something, and the noise of it could be heard only as whispers going throughout the land, all like the discordant humming of flies. Nothing happened out in the Field, but a lot was going on inside of the Houses.

Once Wei got in the building, and could confirm Chita made it as well, he was already pressed against a wall by a window to get a peripheral view of outside, while he looked at Chita. Actually peeking out of the window wasn't a good idea, especially if they weren't cloaked, and he didn't want to waste the chakra to turn invisible himself. It'd just be a waste.

He stroked his bearded chin, mulling over what Chita was saying and she was right. He could continue to try and set off chakra radar to get a sense of where the robots were, but there was always a chance that there wouldn't be any buildings they could infiltrate without relying on Chita's experimental power. Seeing as she wasn't very confident in it either, he didn't think it'd be a good idea to push her to rely on it.

After a couple seconds, he snapped his fingers, "That's... actually a brilliant idea. Give up." It was so brilliant that he was kind of ashamed that he hadn't thought of it himself.

"Think about it. I've already kinda figured that whatever it going on here has to have something to do with your whacked out family. Since you're here, if we rose the flag and came out, I think the machines would be less likely to attack you." Seeing as she was also a member of the family as well. Hell, there could be some sort of protocol that ultimately prevented the robots from harming members of the Tensei clan unless they were directly instructed to do so by someone higher up. In fact, now that he was thinking about it in that sense, they probably could have stayed on the street as well and gained amicable access to the interior.

He nodded his head, "We pop out, you say your Crystal Heart thing dropped ya off, and we probably get a first class ticket to a chat with the Head Honcho. Given your folks penchant for the theatrical, they'd probably just mindless drone about what's going on, without us even asking." Then he looked at Chita, with a look at practically begged her to truthfully consider the idea.

Wei knew she'd think it was a good idea, even if the thought of giving up was sour to her. He wasn't fond of it either, but he knew when it granted a tactical advantage. This was one such scenario. After all, both of them were deep within enemy lines. The only positive that they had was that Chita could be considered a princess of that enemy.

He stood the stretched. All the crouching and sneaking around wasn't doing any positives to his back, that was for sure. "Yep." Wei replied, waving a hand over his chest, right shoulder and arm. He figured that it'd be better if this succeeded, it would be better to speak with a top of some kind on. So he fashioned a kimono like top that covered his chest, right shoulder and arm, but his left shoulder, arm and it's tattoos remained exposed. That was the best that he was going to do.

The Mechanica in the area did not recognize this person at all, though they were familiar with the name Tensei. After that, there was much chatter, and the sound of what seemed like data being read on a computer aloud. Finally, the noise stopped and someone would come out into the front of the Broken Homes Orphanage and say, "What's the PASSWORD?"

Wei exited the building, after Chita began her declarations, and before the disembodied voice of whatever asked for a password. He stood his ground in front of the doorway of the building they had come out of, and looked at Chita with a shrug of his shoulders to greet her if she looked to him for some kind of guidance.

Nothing they had encountered at all had laid any kind of groundwork for any sort of last minute password generation. Wei wasn't even going to attempt it, and chose to bet everything on Chita and whatever the fuck her connection was to her weird ass family. As far as he knew, they were all supposed to be connected or something, right?

The ball was literally in her court, as it always had been, this entire time.

Out of the Broken Homes Orphanage came a person that was clad head to toe in yellow garb and hidden behind a large yellow shield so the image could not be seen, and was standing in the entrance to the orphanage. This man, a Yellow Rook, was the envoy of the dolls at the time, and was sent out on their behalf.


"Take it easy. We don't want any trouble," the Yellow Rook would say. "I don't know who you are or how you got in here, but I'm the one looking after this house right now." He peeked from the other side of his shield cautiously. "Nothing is out of the ordinary here. Move it along! Things are fine."