Would her father approve of this course of action? No, likely not, but he was from another age. The rules had changed a hundred times since then. If the result to his vision was the same, she didn’t think it mattered. Everyone knows what desperate times call for.
Into the horizon she went, on the hunt for the next part of the master plan. With a quick look back, she saw the distant smoke now pouring out of HOME as if every inch of it was burning.
Somewhere on the burning deck in the distance were Aryu, Nixon, and her son, Sho. When this was all over, she hoped each would understand her and her reasoning better. For now, although it pained her to think about, at least one of them wanted her head on a pike.
Aryu would be tossed into the pit of confusion that would lead to the bitter ending she began working towards long ago. She hoped to meet him again.
“Good luck, Aryu,” she said as she gave a wave of salute to the distant ship. Then, she turned back and was gone.
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PoweR
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HonoR
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HumoR
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HorroR
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POWER
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Eleotherios Duo watched it all while waiting for orders that never came. The loss of HOME was not in any plan that it had been made aware of. The development it was witnessing unfold in the distance was a new one. Now, as the waiting continued, its processors kicked in and the exciting opportunity at last arrived. E2-0901 began deducing its own plans for its next step.
It knew it was different. It was stronger, faster, smarter, and simply better in every aspect of the things it did. It had no idea why it was created and it didn’t care. It was the pinnacle of what man can achieve. A walking, talking embodiment of the perfect harmony between technology and what was referred to by his creator as ‘The Power’, a quantum manipulation of basic scientific elements.
Something about this Power allowed humans to exceed the standard boundaries of their genetic makeup. It allowed them to transform one form of matter into others.
Izuku had slaved for decades to master the techniques needed to construct Eleotherios Duo. The research he’d done to build the artificial brain of it took years on its own, let alone the time it took to attempt the near-impossible task of forming its indestructible outer shell. Now even the most powerful of the Embracers would have more than their hands full simply trying to scratch it. Not that it would even allow anything to ever get that close.
This was the longest it had ever gone without a command, and it had to assume something in the plan had gone wrong. The first inklings of its own chosen course of action began to pass through its synthetic brain.
Soon it was off, flying to the location it had deduced was the most likely place to find either its compatriots or its targets.
After the proper speed was reached, the RAMjets kicked in and E2-0901 was ripping through the air ten times faster than any bullet could be fired. It would only be a matter of minutes for the thing to reach its destination, a trip that would take the average person weeks by land.
It followed the river up the great valley. It had strict orders to keep its existence a secret. It was the last weapon, the final obstacle in the path of the enemy. That was the way it had to stay for now.
This was also why it was heading to where it was. There would be no end to the places it could hide in plain sight, day or night. There, it would wait for its orders or possibly carry out its master plan.
Then what? What purpose would it serve if Izuku was successful in conquering the world, or at least this large part of it? Something to question while in seclusion.
It saw the collection of buildings and structures below and it slowed to a crawl, RAMjets powering down and switching to its standard solid-fuel thrusters. It landed on the roof of a run-down building in the shadow of the massive spire at the center of this city, assessing its surroundings and enjoying everything it saw. It took to the shadows and began its waiting game. It had time now to document and plan, so that was exactly what it would do, preparing for the call it hoped would come.
HONOR
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By the time the group that had traveled out of the Paieleh River Valley reached the city of Bankoor, the specter known as Eleotherios Duo had been waiting for some time for something, anything, to happen, but as of their arrival, nothing had, so its waiting game continued in secret. There
