Chapter Eight - Dire Measures

The last to clamber up peril sharp glass stone, making to the glass rim remains of what a to be the eastern mountains. Humans in big air locked pressured suits, pulled in help by vampires and with high tech machines that act human. Now the data is all they have to why they are here at all.

"I don't know what more scary." A vampire researcher pushing glasses up with looking at data screens, "The radiation levels that out past our sun." claw motion of shrinking the data to pull an area drone scan. Radar mapping the whole new surface, "Or that the trail of disbursed energy having created a secondary salt barrier that further hindering the sinking eastern land mass." He peers 0carefully to the setting sun in the distance.

"Its only temporary. Models in measuring density of mass is shows this will all be sinking. But there is unknown factors that have been protecting the rest of us from going under. Even we as machines can't find any way to explain it all." His assistant holding a sun umbrella for the vampire speaks in turn, "We have found a new unknown machine signal down there."

"Another ship?" A human asked with scanning in a new set of data through to the vampires data screen. Updating new interest points. The vampire peers perplexed of the new data. The human and the machine looking out to what was water not to long ago.

"Whatever it is. The spiders have taken interest. They already have sent someone for it." The machine tilted in looking at something glimmering about the distance. A moving fast vehicle that didn't have authorizations... worse, that technology wasn't even on the data base. But it is claimed by the spiders. Machines have no place to examine it further. The Vampire steps in tracing following the data his looking at by following the this with the mountain. The machine automatically in follow to keep him under shade. The human looked at the data for himself, twisting it about in confusion of whatever the vampire seems to have figured out. But his instinct to live was greater then that vampire. It was like death danced over his great children's grave. He dropped the data pad and just dove himself in a direction that furthest from the bad gut feelings. Scamping and sliding on the sleek surface like a cat on wood flooring. Everyone that was flesh felt it, all of them looking to the lead vampire researcher with wild eyes. The nearest machine assistant shut down. Following others ones. The one holding the umbrella had a glitched interface and the umbrella folded closed, and then used in pose to stake the vampire's heart. Right then, missed as the vampire lowered himself to the floor. Putting the data pad at the floor as he kneels. ear pressed and knocks at the floor. While he was laying prone, he only then noted the chaos dissolved around him. The corpses of humans and vampires. Machines disfigured and mangled, as it sprayed in the very metal dust of the air itself. His assistant was the the most horrific change of them all, there was bone integration among other inorganic unexplainable attachments.

"We are the undying." It wasn't even a speaker of a computer speaking at the vampire, "You shall go tell tales. We are the undying. We are those imprisoned in this mountain. Now... you have freed us. We must satisfy this hunger. Centuries of being starved in our imprisonment." It lowered the limbs and plucked the vampire off the floor. Carried through the mangle army of other ones, "You humanoids have a funny but fitting little words for why." It drops the vampire into a transporter, "Dead tell no tales." The transporter is alive too. Or it gained upgrades that shared the organic and inorganic structuring. The transporter has ribs, letting the vampire been dropped in like it been fed. Leaving the occupant to be sent away in the stomach of the machines that became alive. It partly has the traction of tank treads as it was before but there were terrain made limbs that peeled from the body shell, lifting and climbing down what isn't path or roads at all. Bumbling about like a new born, sliding and skittering the inclines.

"Privileges of being an the savoir to another lost trapped race of things." The larger spider sits on her chest as she was the one driving this magnetic field based floating machine, using the metal underlay of the underground as traction to cut through air. Further proof that this wasn't even a planet at all. Would adapting your corpse and data of what was your mind in nanotechnology consider being alive or free? She was to late to save this ship, and that was set. No matter how soon she could have made this trip, they had been long dead. The things released are just their technology looking to reconstructed or reborn a pure one of the lost race. They have plenty of materials, and the smarts of quantum thinking. They can pull back from this. There others that aren't. There are other ships that are graves, there is no way of bringing them back. But their technology or scrap parts can lift us all. No... she will stay here. She already determined this. It's a miracle she acting and able even now. A lot of debt owned to the spiders whom have taken her as one them. Gifted her their DNA and imprinted their vast knowledge. History of their world and the foundations of their concept of science. Just as the earth humans have a science. Orix have science.

"You!" Removed the goddess but didn't break the bite of the blood phantom. Now his interrupting her driving.

"Will you just piss off? I have places to go and your blocking my sight to drive this complex machine. The stupid goddess is with her lover pope. Go scream at her through him." that knocked the essence of his point right out the phantom. He was all pent of her disappearing in the holy pope's barrier. He been whining at her because she was the personification of his enemy. Now... now she not. It puts a lot of things this instant of him completely into shock. She back handed him for still being in her way, he felt that. That her flesh was able to make contact to his blood mist. Worse was that it left a wound that imprinted even back to his reconstructed body. That the hand print was unenvying mark on his skin. He was cleared out of her driving sight, clouded at her back in moment suspended catatonic spacing. She looked at the machines data information screens and makes adjustments. picking up even faster. She doesn't have time to be slow.

She has to find this artefact. It was the only object of her dream that she will ever claim to own as her own. The very coffin that will lock her safely here on this planets resurfacing. It has survived this thrice before. It is what the spiders used to prolong them in dire times. precursing technology that not even the advance tech of this bike could corrupt. A old system that was left behind without accesses that all these other nanotechnologies foundational on. All her book searching and stealing information around her younger years. It was to be paid off. This coffin was hand in hand with the same dreams that showed this whole planet shed. But its that the place this coffin is at will be submerged in sea water and worse crushed by land slips. Lost to her if she doesn't hurry it up.

The whole bike system cut out, power drained and without stopping. Hurdling into a massive power loss. She sped up knowing it will be depleted and will uses this motion of force to jet herself further more. Right at the fatal contact of friction was starting to slow her as it looses magnetic power. She knew she was in the right place. She stands barely in the torrent of air drag, and as the back end raised. The front nose dived, propelling her in the flick. She lunges through the air, stream lining herself to match the the opening of a torn ground area ahead. For her, coming back here was the true reward for all the suffering in both dreams and her realities of the waking world. The compassed sand stone glimmers in sparkles while the large cavern creak looked like it would have opened into a underground lake system. The truth was the light hides what the soil shift has done to that opening further in. In order to get into where she needs, she need the momentum to not be stopped by the friction if she touches the shrinking cavern sides and could die from splatting herself into the newly place edged cave system wall. There is a small target spot that was unhindered and not blocked by any cavern changes, and she plans to use the force of the hover bike to throw her into and past through her target location.

She preformed this so many a time in her dream. She can't let herself loose in any friction or drag. She needed to break the shielding energy that suspended her destination underground in time suspended animation. Contorted herself tightly to make a small gap. Then shot her foot to add more power behind her projectoroy. She felt her shoulder take impact, and she was slowing in what seems sticky surface static. It was as if the air was akin to tar or static electrical made slim. But given her whole weight behind the momentum force. She was making through. Dropped a soft thud. Impressively, the spider and the blood phantom made it with her. This time. But maybe that isn't a good thing. It doesn't matter. She made it here. She finally here. This place was so very important.

A slow hissing sound of the technology shield sealing itself, a high pitch ringing with the whole inside area turned all sorts of colours. The light had forced the blood phantom of the red devil to retreat out of this spot. The spider too, jumped and flees out of the light zone. But she stayed, she embraced and lets the place do its thing. Even if it meant dying to it, that she felt many a time in her dreams. Nothing she would ever do would make these scanners recognize her. Some many colours flash by, as it if trying convey its angry and displeasure of her being here. She sits right on this spot, looking back from where she entered this cavern. A beam shot that way, in either annoyance or trying to measure what she maybe trying to look at. The more alive this place was, the more measurements it was making of the land conditions outside of here. It scans and studies her closely, the large eye reflecting in the glass lens.

The area glows in turning blues and greens, blacken cord like structure lifted out from the centre of this spot and hold around her. It started as more like a doctor looking at an x-ray, feeling the underlay of muscular structures, vein networking, general skin densities and bone textures. Turned momentarily white of the clear understanding of suffering she been in. Yet there was good news in regards of the cell percentages and growing compacity. She was catalogued of all the detected know and unknown DNA present within. Yet her DNA directly from bone marrow was satisfactory in having compliance of this system integration. Given her pains, clearly the hostile environment out there was unsuitable for a air breather like her. That it reconnected with the main ship mainframe, being startled by the information about the dire problems she must have faced in equal to the beings that were its makers.

She became the beacon of hope to this system. That there could be a why to start and repair the mainframe this machine was a part of once. Long after the creators have long passed, detecting the lack of life and all its known measurements inside the ship itself. She has the basic imprinted knowledge to take over the ships systems. The camouflage to mimic planets has taken to far, now that actual life has began to live and exists here. As do expected with there isn't anyone on the main controls keeping things from happening. There was minor damages like lost fluid dynamical systems and that the sea is the broken water sanitary system.

Going by her open mind and allowance for the system to take record of her memories and knowledges. It can see she was wishing to save the lives that cling here before helping wipe off the surfaces and help the mainframe back to full working. She really is ambitious and the things that become broken were do able by the machine core itself. It just needed authorized DNA intelligence to over see any organic issues. Machines like this system needs the wild cards of living beings for the unpredictable things and manners that needed addressing when in contact with other beings. Machines are self-reliant otherwise even if they have errors that make organic sense but not with itself.

"System integration at 1 percentage. Language crossing at 93 percentage." She heard it in her own head. She looked around for direction of where to look at when interacting with this but eventually she settled at the core area. It has for a while poked probed and sampled. Set her bones back straight and been applying its version of intensive care. Drilled in a metal cage around both thighs, snapped from the church accident and unproperly healed. Her ribs were being reset too and removal foreign bodies such as metal from gun shots and infections under skin. She been picked up and pulled into a capsule where more serious work in a closed air environment. Marks like even her brands from being owned in the slave markets and holy church relic frying nerves. She wide awake and just a drift of thoughts about what this thing is and why go this extent to help her.

"Multiple languages detected..." she heard again, "match making..." She looked forwards of the silhouette of the frustrated blood phantom's pacing about, "Preference matched. Knowledge trade." she was knocked out with watching images and the race of beings before her.

They teach her their language and concepts. There was depth and broadness in diversity. It was as if she was looking at a race of humans in other skin. But their biology and reasons of having adaptions differ made sense. In fact, her interest of them only made the system happier. She wasn't afraid or close minded. That she carried intelligence then feral mind. The ocean barrier of salt vaper was loosing strengths. Another land rumble of the ground quacking. Detected as a disaster heading this way. The system acted quickly in putting itself and her in the best chance to get out of this place. Folding tightly down. That barrier down. It were as if a coffin with spider limbs, it began to climb out of the system in the best route possible. The phantom and spider quick to follow the girl within that monster. She was clearly alive, so tracking her was instinctive. The tunnel system scampers knowing this place all to well, deeper into the ships bypass systems. The blood phantom and spider blindly relying on this coffin.

The transporter carrying the scientist research arrives at the nearest settlement that detected of uninfected. The machine creature spat him out on the guards who were protecting the gate into the human village. It shook off the unpleasant attacks like a dog shaking water off. It configured its shape more and then flies... yes flies away. Humans stand in gasping shock and the scientist is helped.

"I need to send word in methods possible about what has happened." He helped to a spare inn, given an emergency blood cup drink and left alone in there. Given his a vampire, they stood guard of his room until the worse was passed. He stayed locked in there a while, trying to write out the eye witness of all that happened and the data he can recall. The radiation was fraying some details, as he wasn't immune to it but better adapted to stand higher levels then a human. At least in the spectrum of beyond ultraviolet radiation, which was why the trade off of inferred radiation was why they are so sensitive to it. Vampire's science shares into the spectrum beyond human ability. By the weeks pass and the passing of the planet rumbling. It was concluded by many that the petals that were full of the consuming and survivors were raised above the sea level have been attack and the northern petal of the undead were lowered. The eastern petal was once more fully submerged under water again. The eastern mountain although flat at the peak was raised as a natural barrier blocking the sea. It was as high as it was before the peak was vaporized. All contact to whomever was on the northern petal has been totally lost, if there was anyone left.

The tipped glass is constantly being twirled, a fancy vampire glass made for blood serving. The current hand in holding the glass was baring many rings, many vampire blood stones. A show of promise, loyalty and trust to carry a portion of a true vampire's essence. In equal measure, the stones show contorl over such noble vampire class. In this case, the barrier here wears them in showing off his reputation and not out of being trusted or loyal. In the many centuries he has force to be reborn into a lower kin of his own gene lines. The more he look down upon the future generations following after the last. The latest lot in the limelight were a son he had already put the most effort in becoming his next reborn state. But given this son having a holy lover, it had put these plans on pause. But in inspecting the children from them. A great grandfather knowing how to sniff our his blood in all these mixtures of weak half, full blood and hybrids. It would seem the holy part of the partner his latest grandchild has caused hybrid genetic crossing. The result was both a big fall of his greatness but the reward of such cost came in surprising interests. Given he been in this game much longer then anyone else in hunting, pouching and controlling his own genetic pool. He already has several children in blood tanks. Being tested and one has been selected as a valued next vessel, far better then taking his rebel son's body. A good back up body. He still intends on taking his son's body. He also doesn't mind the mistress unholy attachment. He has now sent word to make peace offer to take this rebel son to his power, not only in total control of this newest generation but mess with the brat. Once erasing the son's soul and replacing it with this great man of himself, he will continue being the most powerful master over all vampires. He will truly out shine the vampire's of the home world he was stranded from and be far a better monster then the vampire world commander. Well, a personal internal grudge for why he doesn't bother leaving this fake planet and not returning to the world he was born from originally. He does foresee someday of having to go back among the stars or that someday another pure vampire from that world will come to seek answers. But doubt is posed since they would have never cared about him, a weakling in a world of true blood vampires. Wiping a true blood that will challenge his power has always been top priority. His own children kept in the dark about the truth of being not natives and that his knowledge of a wider universes has always been only kept to himself. He suspects there was plenty of time passing for the reality of this truth to be theorized and worked out. But his noticed that no one else is bother in building star ships in fear of this not being a planet.

"My lord." the frail body has its limits, he is still a powerful phantom in puppeteer of this child. The drinking glass is smashed over the head of the slave whom begged. The illusion of being starving his attention is lost and turned into horror, realization and back to horror of recalling their life in service to this frail zombie of a vampire. But this slave is soon a spray in all directions, made as the example of how powerful he is above them all. And just for rush in being able to trigger fear in weak little worms around him.

A third and four servant pose in wishing to convey some news, willing to sacrifice themselves to even inform their great master the many messages and running of the grand blood name. But even they didn't need to. A device made a horrid blip noise then a long static screeching. It deadened with his waved of command. Just in the sudden changes of the room after that was all he needed to know. Standing up and taking the long stroll. He make it to screen and taps its surface for a long time. All the servants and slaves heads bowed low in waiting for his command. In what seems frustration of jabbing the surface in anger, a message was sent. He had already seen imaging about the eastern mountain and the geological changes. The accesses he was using were now denied access, since the bypass was now vapored into nothing. He had to steal patching into some other networks and that message was directed to the idiot reptiles whom were the origin of the melting weapon. He wasn't having the instant reply he hoped but whom knows they accept the frequency of this messaging coding in the changed IP addressing. But he sent his two cent and is now forced handed to get working on some possibilities. He turns away for not even a moment as the new server had found new signals. A new message shines in being unopened. He shuffled in almost not opening it, assuming it be the dragons reply. He rolled eyes and faced the screen, tapping softly in scrolling through. He blinked several times in being perplex in what this message was meant to be. Back to the top again and soft scrolling back down. All that he does take from it was that it meant sending anything into orbit of this fake planet was a not only a guarantee of being killed impacting the forcefield technology. But this message was received from a network of ships trying to enter orbit, that there was an army fleet of unknown trying to open the shielding to force entry into or on this fake planet. There isn't as much time for leisure's in this realization. There isn't even a doubt that it was time to change bodies now. He will take over his rebels son's body by any means to lower future issues. He can't let himself be weaker then any potential vampire from his home world.

As of right now, with the last three cardinal petals of this world having bathed in blood and change. Place's were becoming unrecognizable to the hand-made map makers in yesteryears. The lack of working technology has stagnated war and life just getting on with things. The once standing metal spires of the western machine lands is being engulfed in lush green and abnormal monsters for this animal kingdom. A new eco system of plants and monsters were eating the enslaved and chemical toxic stew. The western city was manufacturer misconducts after another. The north surrounded in mountain ridge was the snow land of hunters. The north is now entombed grave site, as the quacks has land slide all those mountain soil into the valley. The undead buried underneath it and compressed by the tectonic like under structures. It's fated to be the next petal to wither and be swallowed in raised ocean levels. The south was given stranger treatment as it slopped higher, baking the soil to infertile condition. Harvest was impossible to achieve. The centre petal has became a new settlement, all those hunters driven to take the next best place to rebuild home with the north literally marked as dead land and the south dessert. The forced shake hands of truce in having dealt with so many factors of this world war. No one has the energy to waste on each other anymore. Vampires, shapeshifters and humans in joint truce. All in fear of the feral turned twilight that have became the consuming plague stage 4. The plague is now sentient and has a hive mind, at least everyone thinks this just mutated and happened. Not really scrapping down to the core truths.