DEATH CORE [REBOOTED]

[Sector 10 - 6.PM - 2125 - Roadstop Motel]

Clare peeks outside the curtain, watching the sun slowly turning down, the red color theme of the sky sending chills to the oncoming night like a movie slowly transitioning to the next scenes.

"Hey James, can you finish this burrito for me?" She had already eaten two big warm packs, and she looked at James, watching him eat and drink power fluid for the core, which helps them stay full of energy. 

"Sure" he happily complies, his tail holds the food she gave him, and he devours the whole burrito in one quick motion. 

"All the organic things that went inside you will be assimilated right?"

"Uh-huh. Even the non-organic. all part of sustaining this highly dangerous core" 

"I wonder what happens if a drop of it even affects my body"

"It will" 

they put on the show, the mechanical eyes display the movie on the white blanket hanging, holding by two claws. "Time for movie night"

the movie plays, like a dream in motion of whom is sleeping. Hearing the call not from the one she loves.

[Warning: containment durability dropped - 93% -> 74%]

[required personnel to replace shield's batteries]

the alarm let out a buzz, it's time for them to do the daily task. A worker core and her administrator are ready to do this job once again every night.

"Alright, it's time to do this again. You know the drill 017," the scientist said, placing the clipboard on the table next to the water cell.

"Right away boss" She pushed the card, filled with proton nuclear cells, taking the almost depleted batteries, "I wonder why this one is the only one getting unstable every time"

"they said she's sleeping, but something is keeping her instinct to work all the time..." he looks at the glass, seeing the scratches of something very sharp striking on the glass from the inside.

[changing batteries]

"Hey doctor, do you think Core-404 can destroy the planet?"

"They don't allow us to contain him at this facility, so how can I even calculate the possible chances"

"They said the D-blood can convert anything. I think it is possible about the planet-threat-level"

While the batteries are being changed, there will be a brief system glitch. Everything isn't completely perfect, that's why She studied, more than hundreds of cycles.

Taking this only chance, her blood whirls in the liquid, seeking through the gaps passing through the tiniest cracks, and getting into the fuel cells. 

[inserting batteries] 

the cells are bringing in, it's now or never. Her blood jammed the part of the batteries, and... 

[shield increasing]

"Welp, we're done here, let's go"

"Another well-done job~"

the two figures getting away, she knows she has failed. Even tho it's not over.

[warning containment durability rapidly]

the whole room begins the lockdown, stopping the two from getting outside.

"What the.."

The whole water containment exploded, and the glass sharps shot out like shotgun pellets, breaking the main lights inside the containment area. The whole room now remains with the emergency lights, the noise from the footstep on shattered glass along with the gooey red liquid that has been stained with her blood. Her eyes were only just pitch black, those Red glowing X-shaped burning bright in the darkness, the flickering lights showed a naked body, open with wounds, seeing bones and melting flesh. Slowly healing.

"We have t-" A tendril made from hard metal stabbed the scientist through his skull from behind when he tried to run away.

"AAAAAHH" the core screamed in terror, watching his head get pried open from half, right from the mouth upward. She approached her and stared down at the helpless core. The single claws grew out from her back, using her assimilated bones.

Her face didn't have skin, her teeth were pointy like a predator. Not saying her hand yanked the core head out from the body and pulled out the entire spinal cord. Collected the information about what was going on.

"James..." Taking the core clothes, she eats the scientist's heart, gaining more healing power.

Break out of the room to meet the guard cores holding guns. "this feels familiar..."

"Open fire!" they pulled the triggers, AP shells ejected rapidly from their assault rifles, piercing through the flesh, muscles, and bones. Blood splattering.

With every shot flying through her flesh, the flesh seems to recover almost instantly, open and closed wounds in one nano-second. Her claws vibrate, contact with air, moving back and forth in a super short distance, the metal glow red hot, the sounds of vaporizing water in the air getting more intense. 

"Focus fi-" in a swift moment, their heads sliced into pieces of metal. All 20 guards were dead after 10 seconds into the suppression.

Walking down the hall, trying to find an exit outside, the countermeasures activate when she gets to the next area, filled with cores and turrets, rockets, and lasers fired at her. 

The girl lunged toward their commander a human, her hand had already taken hold of his head, she used her left hand, and fingers, and stabbed into his eyes, nose, and mouth, they held his brain, 

"Kill yourself...."

the commander under her control, "Self destruct code 9846" and all the core's brains fried. She eats his brain and heart, takes a grenade launcher, and destroys the turrets.

Dropped the body that was bigger than her, she continued to wander to find an exit. Using the information she acquired from the brain, she gets to the main control center of this facility. When all the security systems have been shut down, is time for her slaughter. The lights went off, and no one was safe. 

The monster found her prey everywhere, consuming whatever she could grab, even the subjects being contained.

"Why can't I call for support from outside?" a scientist quietly said.

"She might have cut off the contact lines. we just need to find a way out of here"

they quietly move through the corpses, trying not to make too much attention, despite the needed flashlight.

"Hey there's a lift, it will lead to the back hangar, where they store flying vehicles, you with me?"

turning around just to see a horrified face, eating one of their workmates' faces, prying open the chest ribs.

The scientist who wanted to see his family now got his face split open like a log being chopped by a machine.

After making sure this place is ready to be annihilated, she finally gets up to the surface level. The hangar is filled with fighter jets, helicopters, and dropships. Bullets come flying toward her. There are still workers, but she won't let them get out alive because they are working for this organization. She raises the testing weapon and smart bullets from the M9A41 machine gun lock. The girl welded it using only one arm. The system inside the tiny propelled missiles tracked their targets. 

One by one they crumbled down like ragdolls.

His face shows no remorse for them, just a blank face staring with those red-blooded eyes.

The carrier ship started up, and she lifted the vehicle to the sky and into the night sky.

"I hope the flame of hell will burn your flesh from all inside..." With a click of a button, the whole facility disguised as a power station turned into crumble from the super explosion inside the reactor, flame shot up before being sucked by a blackhole deleting everything, with no trace, sounds, or shockwave, a beautiful horror they could imagine.

Looking down from the ship, she watches the destruction she has caused. She speeds up the carrier on her way to find him.

The ship blasted through the clouds, heading to the air-road system. But nothing would be easy, on her way, the backups finally arrived, fighter jets in pursuit. The F-500s send in heat-tracking bullets, capable of shredding 40cm armored titanium. The carrier quickly shot down, but not her. Just before the whole ship was blown to dust, she leaped onto a jet, her hand melted, the bone broke and she jumped back to make a metal claw, jammed into the cockpit to kill the pilot.

She took control of the newly acquired battle beast and, using her mind, dragged it on the hunt. Standing on its body, she let the machine chase the other pursuers. An F-500 approached from behind, firing cluster missiles. 

Spotted a nearby cargo ship, her tendrils shoot out like hooks, dragging the entire giant ship, and crashing into the jet, along with its missiles.

The jet she was standing on crashed into the front attacker, she leaped over in the air, cutting off the pilot's head inside the cockpit.

"I don't have time for you..."

she glided through the sky, hooking onto the final fighter jet, she decided to use this one instead of crashing it. After eating the pilot's heart, she finally has enough energy to bring her face back, not skinless or full of wounds.

The fighter jet goes into stealth mode and goes out of sight.

[the movie ended]

"This was an intense movie," Clare said, placing the noodle cup away "Time to rest, needs to charge up"

"Good night Clare, I'll keep an eye if anything comes" Checking outside the empty road, James quietly ate snacks designed for Core. watching Clare rest on the warm blanket

[Setting on Nightwatch - activate sleep mode]

the night went on with no bad situations happen. Soon the sun has risen in the sky, currently, it's 6:03 AM. While they are still in slumber the sound of a Jet seemingly approaches. Outside, a loud bang along with parts crashing into the ground. A fighter jet blew up creating a shockwave and shaking everything at the motel. The car went off the alarm. James and Clare were startled by the explosion.

"What the hell is that?" she quickly finds her glasses.

"Stay there!" he looks outside, sawing the huge flame from nearby, opposite the motel and on the other side of the road. Breaking the window, he decided to go investigate the crash site.

Snapped his finger, and the claws and tail showed themselves, they cracking knuckles like he did, following his moves. The flame burning the jet fuel is getting bigger as he approaches, his sensor cannot see through the flame, or find anything that is still alive.

Clare from inside the room, watching, saw James turning around, waving his hand saying it was nothing. She smiles, but not for long. A figure jumped out from behind him. Her facial expression changed.

James did a backflip kick right on the head, sending whoever was from behind him crashing into a car parked in the motel.

"Heh, only one? I hope they don't make the same mistake and upgrade their core" Spikes went past by, quick reaction helped him keep the fake skin face. The figure lunged at him, she Stabbed his chest bypassing the metal armored structures. Dug straight right at the main core. 

Jame grabbed her face, a shotgun blast straight through the brain. But the girl still sliced off his head using her claws, they stabbed his eyes and mouth, right through. She grabbed him and threw him back into the room where Clare at.

"James!"

"Still in control, don't worry," he said optimistically after regrowing his head. His eyes flashing in instinct, he's claws flew at them, his tail whipping the claws, not letting them hit Clare. 

The girl charged at him, her hands pointy like a sharp dagger diving right at James's chest. 

"Woah!" Jame stopped her arm, his legs locked her head, the girl with the creepy face didn't give up, her claws stabbed him trying to break free.

"James what do it do?!"

then something snapped, the girl with short white-blond hair who trying to break his core, heard the word "James".

"Just stay there, don-" he stopped.

Her grip was loosened, and her claws slowly reduced into her back. Her face slowly regenerated, and her eyes began to grow back from the dark liquid. James also let go. Clare immediately got behind James.

"You know her?" she whispered

"No..."

the girl in the white shirt, short black dress. Wearing thigh-high socks. Her eyes were wide open, with the small glowing X inside her irises. She hesitantly quiets, "James...?", eyes looking up and down, hands reaching out for his face.

"Ummm. Do I know you?" he gets up and puts on his jacket.

The girl seems disappointed, even though her face shows no emotions. Her annoyed sigh seems to tell them how she feels. 

"Bumper... they really erased your memories, leaving the necessary for the computer to work huh..."

"I'm sorry?"

"I Don't like taking long and circling. I'm your Girlfriend...."

Clare spit the water out when hearing what the girl said, James froze for a good 5 seconds.

"GIRLFRIEND??!!" Clare said in astonishment "You never told me that!"

"C'mon Clare, we aren't even dating. also, I don't even know you"

"My name is Kiries, this is your administrator?"

"Yeah, Clare.Question why do you assume you and I were two birds in one string?"

Kiries took out a small piece of the picture, the paper was old and stained with blood, kept inside her organ for a very long time. Clare almost puked when Kiries casually stabbed herself using only her hand.

"We took this picture before they took us away, using an old camera we found inside a locker... you were beautiful back then"

James carefully holds the photo, using his power to clear away the stained black blood. The picture was clear, the truth was right. Inside the picture, a couple around 14, standing next together, hands holding hands, one girl with black hair, one with a brown messy hair boy, wearing glasses, wearing a white lab subject outfit, smiling with false hopes inside the white cell-like lab rats.

"Is this... Me?" his main processing program glitched, his right eye running codes before returning to the X. "No, impossible" he dropped the picture "I was made from a machine, I am a machine, not a Human, I was created by those scientists!" doubts begins to flood his mind. 

Clare picked up the picture, "It's rare to see a thing from the lost days. James, I think you aren't just normal Core or any type of weapon for war"

"I am...!"

"Then why you didn't kill her yet"

Kiries words shocked Clare and James.

"What did you..."

"How did you know that?" James cut off Clare

"It's a thing I saw... Death Core isn't simply just following orders, there's still a fail hole inside despite how orders are installed into your brain..." Kiries sat down on the bed "I read about that failed hole... well... has to split someone's head open. The failed code will always lead to the core self-thinking for freedom and world destruction. There are currently three success models, but one of our three survived and reached maximum potential. The other two were less dangerous, but they still had the same symptoms. They tried to recode them but failed, the first one designated 103 died from overload, creating a mass explosion infection in the sector"

"Huge explosion..."Clare seems to understand now.

"The second one designated-329 died from field testing, destroyed by a person and an outdated Core model... they all tried to murder their administrator, taking away their brain to gain freedom. But luckily those people have replaced the administrator ID before they could go rampage"

"So, being an administrator for those like him... is a death sentence? James...? Did you"

James hesitated for a moment, "Yes... I tried to kill you... but I didn't, the codex and systems stopped me"

"Or... it is your humane somewhere inside the losing body of yours..." Kiries grabs his hand "I know you didn't kill her because you used to be a human, knowing how to do the right things"

He looks at himself in the shattered glass, his system's frame continues glitching from the unknown inside. "I'm going to pass out... troops are coming"

Kiries gets up and approaches James, her eyes staring at the red sky inside his. Clare flushes at what she is about to do.

"What are you..."

"I'll talk with you about the girl, Clare later, you better not fish with two hands"

She immediately gets into her slaughter form, James looks at Clare like "What just happened" then goes out ready to face the army with Kiries.

"Clare take this" James gave her a small dark cube the size of a Rubix cube, "that thing can transform into anything, just think about that and it will automatically do"

"Thanks, killer Core who tried to kill me"

"Aaah, shush..." 

the two go outside watching the convoy from two sides of the road approaching. 

"I see you drawing a lot of attention while looking for me", he said with a smug voice.

"Breaking out of where holding me and looking for you was already hard..."

"Do you sure about me, and my past?"

"It's a thing that exists, we need to look for it" She pulled his jacket "Can you make me a gun..?"

Jame without a second thought, materializes the D-blood, forming a squad barrel shotgun, loaded with nano-reload round cable with 200 rounds "Drop some bodies then" [combat-mode activated]. the mask switched on with the strong *Cling*

Kiries looks at him with no change of emotion. Letting the army close in, letting them fire their first missiles

the two split to opposite sides, one flying one splitting throats. Tons and tons of gunshots going off like fireworks. Meanwhile, Clare watches the destruction through James's eyes.

Their dance of murder on the ground stage along with shattering blood and steel. 

Jame, crashed down creating a massive shockwave, his claws cutting skulls through the hardest steel as he ran down the row of armored vehicles, taking weapons, he swiftly used them to brutally blow off their guts. Ripped off their head and ate their heart, emptying the magazine of a machine gun upon a poor bastard. Seeing the reinforcement getting close, he yanked off a truckload of explosives and then threw it at the drop ships, 

"Yo shoot that!"

Kiries heard what he said, she killed off the guy she was skinning his face and fired the shotgun, the barrels spun like a minigun with hundreds of buckshot hitting the gas tank. "Boom" The whole sky on her side darkened with falling body parts, she dashed forward, the bullets barrage, not minding the pieces of flesh falling off her body, her claws went out, and they aimed for the soldier's head, each thrust is each head and spines ripped from their body. The mark on her head starts to light up, and firing the shotgun, each shot getting more accurate, upon getting enough Blood, from her hand, tiny and tiny drops of dark liquid scatter the area, and they fly up. 

"I'm tired..." The tiny spheres exploded into hundreds of spikes killing everyone in the blink of a second. One tried to sneak up on her from behind. Claws stabbed the core right in the stomach, she dropped a blood sphere inside from it the result became a statue with spikes piercing through the body.

She gets out of the carnage to meet up with James. Seeing him has already wiped every single living thing holding guns at him. James saw the convoy behind him start melting.

"brutal I like it" Jamescomplimentedt.

Kiries without saying a word, wrapped her arm around his neck, giving him a surprise kiss with the explosion behind her.

Clare: "Holy sh-" She turned off the tablet and got it back into the mark on her hand. "Well better wait for them to finish.