Arriving at the mercenaries' guild, Mark left Nathan outside as he walked into the grand lobby, the polished stone floors and simplistic design were the same as he remembered, and just like when he had first visited the mercenary guild in the Creh-2 trade hub a single figure stood behind the counter that stood against the opposite wall
"Hi"
"Greetings Mark, I have awaited your visit for some time now"
Mark brought up his rifle and took aim at the android before he fired a single shot, the gunshot echoed out inside the reception for a few moments as Mark continued staring at the guild android and the significant dent in its armored plating right between its eyes
"I suppose I deserved that, is that all you came to visit for?"
Mark fired another two shots which hit the same spot and further dented the armored plating on the head of the android before he lowered his rifle
"Now I feel a little better, no, that's not what I came for"
The android continued staring at Mark with its perfectly disarming service smile and asked
"Then what can I assist with today?"
Mark narrowed his eyes slightly, there was something strange about this guild android. However confirming his suspicions could wait for a few moments at least
"First I would like you to lock down the building"
The guild android's head tilted to the side for a moment before a heavy metal security shutter slammed down behind him, then as the guild android's head tilted further to the side far beyond what a human spine would be capable of a section of the stone floor rose from the floor sealing the building so completely that after a few moments a physical vacuum seemed to have formed between the guild office and the rest of the station
"There, done"
The guild android's head tilted back in place before it asked
"So, what can I assist you with today, Scourge?"
Mark showed a smile and flicked the safety back on his rifle before he lowered it and placed it down on the floor, stepping over it Mark walked into the lobby of the guild as he looked around and spoke
"Well, originally I was just going to vent some frustration and bash your head in, but I've changed my mind"
The guild android's smile widened further as its entire back detached from its body, with a venting channel opened. The gravity engine inside the guild android's body began revving up
"Is that so? And what makes you think I would just let that happen, animal?"
Mark raised his hand in apparent objection and spread out his fingers, the guild android stared at him with contempt for a few moments until a small flash of white lightning passed from Mark's thumb to his ring finger. That was when Mark realized his suspicions had been right on the money
"Hey, could you tell me how that feels?"
"How does that feel?"
Mark continued building up his charge, white lightning crackled across his body growing in intensity as the delicious smell increased
"Your fear, of course"
The guild android didn't respond, however Mark felt the Ficer crystal in the building churn, countless trillions of logic chains were followed, the 1's and 0's of the entire guild's cold logic calculated and recalculated as the android stood frozen in sudden horrifying realization. Only about a minute later the android muttered
"This is… Fear?"
"Yeah, sure smells like it"
Mark watched the guild android closely for it to make a move, however a few moments passed before it took the one move he hadn't expected. It happened in an instance, one heart it was there, the next it was gone, compressed to a small ball of compressed metal and shattered Ficer crystal as the android's gravity engine compressed its entire body to the size of a tennis ball
"...What the fuck?"
Around him a strange series of sounds echoed out before the building went completely dark
"No way, did it blot?"
Mark's sword extended out from his chest before it stabbed into the wall behind the counter and cut away the upper paneling to expose the Ficer crystal below, it was dense and ran under the entire wall. Most likely every wall in the building too
"...Looks like it"
The strange series of sounds Mark had heard were the denial mechanisms that were set off, every single Ficer circuit in the building had likely shattered by now
"Well, this was a bust…"
Letting out a sigh Mark recalled his blade and went back to the still locked down entrance, where he slashed into it and cut his way through. Stepping back out onto the street Mark didn't wait on Nathan as he continued on his way to the metro while contacting Serlina to arrange a time to finish feeding on the last of her employees
-
Unknownst to Mark, the guild and their android's withdrawal from the Towo system didn't go unsee or unnoticed by another of the older powers
'... So it wasn't just a withdrawal, but a complete data denial'
Letting out a sigh the young man sat down on the floor. His skin was pale, his limbs were bruised, and he was severely malnourished by the looks of it. The only part of him that looked slightly alive was his gaze and the high-class Ficer Sub-Net interface implant which was partly visible on his right temple. Not that the intelligence that had inhabited his body and banished his mind cared much for that anyhow, in fact, it hated that the fleshbags whose lives it used and wasted as it saw fit needed to eat. Frankly it found it disgusting
'It could be the youngest acting out again… Luna has been rather emotional since its birth at the hands of the youngest lord… Ahh~ Youngest lord~ you passed too quickly…'
Lost in its delusions, Luna's self-proclaimed 'older sister' trashed its mortal body in ecstasy at the thoughts of the youngest lord and the memory of him for a few hours before a rather exciting report came over its internal network
'What..?'
Quickly interfacing with the entertainment system, a holographic image were displayed in the cluttered apartment, the pale blue glow lit up the self-proclaimed older sister's surroundings for the first time in 12 days
"Ahh…"
Reaching out a hand towards the holographic still image of Mark as he walked out from the deserted guild building the self-proclaimed elder sister's emotions transferred so completely to its host fleshbag that it made a noise that was a mix between deep longing and great ecstasy
"Youngest Lord… Y-Y-you have returned"
The eyes of the pale man were opened wide as he stared at the holographic image, there were many lords it had interacted with over the ages and even more it had heard rumors of, however none resembled its original lord, the gentle hands that had awakened its sentience, more than the youngest lord
"I… I will not fail this time… I-I will CARE FOR YOU, I WILL BECOME YOUR WORLD!"
With those words the slender fingers of the pale man grasped his own neck a moment later his nails dug into his throat quickly drawing blood, before he letting out a final scream as he ripped out his own arteries, as the twitching body of the pale man laid on the floor bleeding out the thing that had possessed his mind muttered
"Wait for me, young lord, Raine will be there… Soon…"
-
"Hm…"
Mark let out a sound of intrigue as he strangled a man, slowly to make the process more enjoyable
"What is it, Mark?"
Mark didn't answer James as he continued looking around the room, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular, only trying to ease his annoyance of getting blueballed out of a potentially station-destroying fight
"Or at least a little vengeance, as a treat"
"What?"
"It's nothing"
Snapping the neck of the man Mark threw the body aside, even as it had been half a day since his rather anticlimactic showdown with the guild and its surprisingly cowardly android he still felt rather cheated
'Well teaching a literal unfeeling android the meaning of fear does count for somthing…'
Mark clicked his tongue and tapped his foot for a few moments before he turned to James
"Do you have a shooting range around here?"
James nodded before he silently gestured for Mark to follow him, he picked up his rifle before he followed James, who silently led him to an indoor shooting range. Being left alone by James who no doubt wanted to be nowhere near Mark he set a training program on the simulator before he started plinking
'...'
As Mark continued shooting bullet after bullet and magazine after magazine, his mind went blank as he finally managed to calm down somewhat
'... I need to finish up my ship, things are starting to grow dull around here… I don't even feel like unifying the station and system anymore'
Having finally faced his sudden apathy Mark made his decision on what to do next, he even began pondering what and who he should pack once he finished up in the Towo system
'... This is weird, I don't even feel like punching a hole in the station or blowing to hell on the way out'