Did... did he just talk?

"Well, technically no, but-"

Yeah, shut up and let me finish. Did that Rosie, the one in front of me at this very moment, just communicate with me clearly?

No half-sentences, no one or two syllable responses, no empty groans or anything like that. No, instead, did he actually just say something sensical?

"... Are... you mocking me right now or- YES, YOU IDIOT!."

Confirmation from my mind coming clearly through at this point, though mostly because it was essentially yelling, I stood there in a state that was practically... I don't know!

Surprise, shock, glee?! I legitimately didn't know!

Here I was after having to deal with a complete idiot for the past few hours, and the ever so irritating voice that came with it--whom was more than happy to flaunt his comparatively vast and 'ever so important' knowledge with every goddamn sentence--and now a Rosie, a Big Daddy of the same model as me, was actually talking to me!

This is a joke, right? A cruel joke that fate has decided to pull on me? I mean, I likely misheard, right? There's no way this is actually happening, right?!

Well, wether or not it is, the girls seemed to notice my rather unmoving being, as I then felt a light tap from behind me.

"Um. Darling, are you alright?" I heard Rarity question, causing me to swiftly shake my head, so as to regain my hold on reality, and glance towards her.

She, and Fluttershy, held rather similar expressions, both having a brow raised or head slightly tilted as they looked to me like I was crazy. Well, no, that wasn't really a good way to describe their expressions. Knowing them, they'd never really do anything to call me that, or imply it.

"Which is ironic considering you are crazy, and have told them this multiple times."

Fair point, but shut up.

Before I could so much as make a gesture to them, however, the Rosie spoke once more.

'Oh? Is someone else there?' I then heard the modified Rosie before me groan curiously, my head turning back towards him just in time to see his rivet gun swinging lazily by his side, a small part of the sharpened steel that was welded to the bottom of it scraping momentarily across the ground as he did so.

'Well, actually, don't answer that. It's a rather stupid question, I admit. After all, I heard the five of you make your way here by your footsteps.' He then swiftly added on, lifting his free hand slightly before gesturing it in a slight halting and shaking motion.

Yeah, I wasn't hearing things. He was, in fact, talking-

"Well-"

GROANING sensically! There, you happy now?! Goddamn!

Anyways, hearing the Rosie speak, a feat which in of itself seemed amazing to me, I couldn't help but to be more than slightly confused when he had mentioned five of us.

A brow raising, and lips partially pursed, I glanced around me, noting that, indeed, aside from Fluttershy and Rarity, nobody else was nearby. Something I found to be rather relieving, if only because it meant neither Echo not a splicer was nearby.

'Uh... Five? Yeah, you may want to try again there.' Huh. That... actually came out rather casually. Then again, I guess it's because I'm talking to a Rosie, right now, which make things at least slightly more relatable.

Said Rosie then proceeded to tilt his helmeted head ever so slightly to the side, though most of his emotion was still unclear as a result of the nonfunctional porthole light he held within his suit.

'Oh? But I was quite positive of that number. I mean, granted, a few of these footsteps sounded off, but there were five sets of two. Unless of course, some were walking on all fours, but that'd be ridiculous, wouldn't it?'

I blinked. Then I blinked again. And then once more.

"Wow. You are an absolute master at conversation, aren't you? I mean, seriously, why bother fighting when you can just talk your way out of this city? Heck, you'd probably be able to talk the splicers into letting you lead it, if you tried."

High amounts of sarcasm noted, and ignored, I legitimately was not sure as to how to respond to that. Why?

Because for a moment, I had genuinely forgotten that my charges were ponies. Yeah, kinda a big deal. And kinda obvious as to how the blind Rosie in front of me would be confused by that.

Reaching my gloved hand over the back of my neck, I scratched at a sudden itch I had as I took in an awkward breath.

'Uh, actually... it isn't all that ridiculous...' Silence. A moment of pure, empty silence. There was nothing coming in. No sound of dripping water, no groaning city, no breaths or scraping metal. Instead, silence.

Yeah, it made me more than slightly uneasy. Extremely so, in fact.

'... Oh... So they are on all fours? I... don't understand.'

He doesnt understand? What does he mean by that?

'They're... on all fours. Ponies.' I attempted to explain, though this didn't really seem to help all that much.

'... 'Ponies'? What are 'ponies'?' Does he seriously not get this? I mean, really? I mean, granted, I wasn't a genius when it came to names of species myself, what with being stuck here in this city and having my memory wiped, but even I managed to figure out what a pony was as time passed. So, what about this was so hard for him to-

"Hey, nimrod, you just mentioned the whole 'memory wipe' thing that every Big Daddy goes through, right? Okay, well, now add onto that the fact that he cant see. Tell me, do you think he would have much to learn from because of that?!"

... And yet again, fair point.

"You're damn right it is. Now try to use something he can actually, y'know, understand! Something he can relate to!"

Something... he can relate to?

But, there aren't any animals in Rapture. None with four legs--aside from the two with me--that is. I mean, I remember there being a few dogs and cats before, sure, but they died out rather quickly when splicers started getting hungry for more than just ADAM. Plus, I wasn't sure if Gamma had even ever seen a cat or a dog, so that wouldn't work.

So what does walk around on all fours that he may be able to get?

... Aha!

Snapping the fingers of my bare hand in realization, and pointing it towards Gamma, not like he could really see it though, I gave out what I figured there was no way of him not recognizing, what with him living in Rapture and all that.

'I got it. Y'know Spider Splicers, right?' I could barely see Gamma faintly nod his helmeted head. 'Think of it like that. They walk on four legs because it's easier for them.'

I'll be honest, comparing the girls to a splicer of any sort, especially one of the ones I hated the most, felt as though I was insulting them. It internally stung a bit, no joke, but it was also the only way I knew that Gamma would understand. After all, being a Big Daddy, Gamma had likely met with his fair share of splicers, including Spider Splicers.

You know, if the several corpses of these same splicers that riddled the roof around the four of us didn't serve to hammer that point in hard enough.

In fact, it did seem to get through to him.

'Oh! Oh, I see now!'

Okay, that was a horrible choice of words on his part. So horrible I couldn't help but to flinch at least a little. He, however, didn't seem to care very much, raising his free hand up to his helmet before, curiously enough, placing his pointer finger onto the cracked glass of his porthole.

'Yes, yes, it makes sense now. Truly, thank you for this insight! It makes things so much easier.'

Uh... Okay?

'No... problem?' I gave out unsurely, watching as Gamma then proceeded to pull back his pointer finger, if only slightly, and tap the glass on his porthole. A slight 'tink' sound could be heard, although faintly, as he did so.

Was he, maybe, thinking at the moment? Was this a common thing for him? Eh, whatever it was, albeit strange, it didn't seem too major. If anything, I was just glad that I was, apparently, talking to somebody that wasn't nuts, or an idiot, or both. Mostly both.

A slight smile growing on my face at the thought, I crossed my arms, at least as best as I could without my ESU or rivet gun getting in the way, and gave out a light chuckle.

This, again, didn't go unnoticed.

"O-oh, Omega, you're smiling." Fluttershy noted, a slight smile of her own brightening her face as she took a slight step forward, coming closer to my side than behind me. "A-are you and Gamma getting along well? Is that it?"

"Indeed." Rarity then added, her own smile evident as she then raised a brow, as if to show her own curiosity. "Don't just leave us out of the loop, dear. It's dreadfully rude to leave us out of your conversation, you know." Judging by the slight glimmer I saw in her eyes before she then proceeded to raise up her nose and look away from me, giving out a slight, and adorable, harrumph as she did so, I could tell she was clearly kidding. It didn't help either that she had that same smile, albeit now sly, on her face the entire time.

Seeing this, I rolled my eyes at her antics, a light chuckle escaping me before, her own half-attempted facade fading, she gave out a surprised giggle. A hoof momentarily covered her mouth, stifling her laughter, I could hear Gamma give out a groan up yet again.

'Well,' he gave out, 'they certainly sound quite nice.' At first, I nodded at this, turning my head back in his direction to see that he still held his hand before his porthole, though he wasn't poking the glass at the moment. However, I quickly realized how stupid it was for me to nod--all things considered--and instead spoke as I mentally kicked myself. Repeatedly.

Honestly, how much had I made that mistake already? Forgetting he was blind, that is.

"Thanks for the totally necessary clarification."

Ignoring you. Anyways, back to me talking with Gamma again.

'Heh. Yeah, trust me they are.' I assured, my arms crossing as I addressed him.

'Ah, that's good. It can be very... difficult to find beings that you can trust in this city. Really, everyone seems to have gone mad. Even those you wouldn't expect.' Again, he moved his index finger, flexing it back before, in a single motion, it tapped against his glass.

As he spoke, though, I couldn't help but notice... something in his tone.

'Now then, what is a protector unit such as yourself, and company, doing here anyways?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching his screens with the utmost attention he could summon, Seidon watched as Echo was brought back once more, the familiar glass, cylindrical walls of the Vita-chamber coming into vision following a short burst of green before then opening with a hiss.

He noted how Echo, in of himself, barely seemed to fit in the chamber. Granted, most Big Daddies would see this chamber as relatively small and cramped, but most of these same Big Daddies didn't have to deal with the oversized helmets that Bouncers held. Even with Echo's helmet having been made smaller, streamlined by some degree so as to keep his speed at its optimum output and efficiency, it still caused him some trouble as he exited the glass cylinder, one of the metal bars that surrounded it momentarily clanging against the glass as Echo ever so slightly tilted his head, if only to regain his bearings.

This occurred one or two times before, ultimately, Echo learned from his mistakes, turning himself sideways, though only slightly, and making his way out of the chamber with relative ease.

This was his... unspoken pattern of sorts. Sure, he would learn to make his way out of the Vita-chamber without banging against it, but he would then proceed to place this process so far back into his head that it was practically nonexistent. Then, by the time that he inevitably died to the hands of the city below the sea, he would already have forgotten and the cycle would begin anew.

Seidon, however, was surprisingly unbothered by this. After all, he had dealt with Echo for quite some time now, even before he had been placed into stasis to ensure he would be ready to act upon the anti-protocol. In fact, he knew a great abundance of the anti-protocol members.

It wasn't as though they would see him and instantly recognize him, of course--he kept his interaction with them to a minimum, with only one or two ever really having been face to face with him--but he has observed them long enough to have a basic understanding of how they acted, and reacted, depending on the situation.

He would say he held an understanding of their 'personalities' but... there's only so much you can learn from another without being able to understand them.

Nonetheless, he knew how they acted. He understood the basics of every last one...

Which was exactly why he felt uneasy about Gamma.

Something about the way he was moving about Pauper's Drop was not at all similar to him.

At first, Seidon questioned the route and pace at which Gamma was making his way through Pauper's Drop. Granted, he was aware that his programming, of course, deemed that he eliminate the splicers in the area. He was the one who oversaw this programming, after all. But, having followed the faint signal that came from the Rosie, and gained an approximation of where he was and had made his way through, Seidon noticed that his pace was slower than usual.

Test runs had been done with every last anti-protocol subjects, so as to understand their effectiveness in the roles they were given. In every test, Gamma followed through at a rather constant rate. He was never too fast, what with having to take care due to his lack of vision, but he had never gone slow either.

Now, it seemed as though that was exactly what he was doing, even sometimes stopping altogether.

Of course, one might think of this as paranoia. They were many splicers in Rapture, especially its lower region, and they had only really grown over the years, becoming stronger and smarter--no, that wasn't the right word. Conniving seemed more fitting. 'Smarter ', however?

Seidon barely withheld from rolling his eyes at the thought as he watched Echo make his way down the path he had previously taken, making his way back to where Omega and his two self-appointed charges were last seen by him.

Returning to the subject at hand, Seidon then immediately countered his mental possibility of paranoia with another, much more significant and undeniable point.

Back when Echo had split up from the others, when he walked into that room littered with proximity mines and bodies that Gamma had likely left behind, Seidon was able to, if only for a scant moment, look over the corpses of the splicers that were strewn about the room.

One must understand that, again, Gamma moved at a constant rate. He was efficient as a result of his reflexes, often only firing once--and occasionally making use of the blade attached to his rivet gun whenever the need arose--in attempt to kill his targets before then swiftly moving on. He usually only needed one shot, after all.

So why? Why was it that the room was painted red? Why was it that a good portion of the splicers were absolutely littered with holes and blown apart limbs, many having hit vital areas that, alone, would have been enough to kill, but instead were coupled with up to seven more?

And furthermore, why was it that, of every last body, there was always one thing in common? A rivet to the head, each and every time. Some even seemed to have been done after death, but he couldn't truly confirm this. After all, it was barely a few seconds before the proximity mines gave out a loud series of beeps and promptly went off, removing Echo, alongside his view, from the room instantaneously.

"Im certain of it. Something isn't right..."

His eyes narrowing ever so slightly, Seidon glanced to the static filled screen that would normally show Gamma's vitals, positioned just above a screen which would display his point of view--a term used lightly in this case--through his internal surveillance and communication systems.

With little more than a breath, Seidon immediately set himself to fiddle with his control panel, his hands moving meticulously over the thick metal lined with several buttons, dials, and switches.

Perhaps, if Echo continued to get closer to the faint signal emanating from Gamma's suit, he would be able to at least get a glance at the Rosie's vitals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well this is going surprisingly well."

I know, right?

"... We're definitely keeping an eye out for a splicer to come by and ruin this, aren't we?"

Oh yeah. Haven't taken off my rivet gun's safety yet, and I don't plan on it.

Now, look, it wasn't that I was paranoid, it was just that... Actually, no, it was exactly that. I'm paranoid as all hell.

Rapture is a city of misfortune; a city where bad things are meant to happen to you no matter how well off you may be at the moment. So, yeah, it's not normal for a good thing to happen, such as apparently meeting a sane Rosie.

"You know, I feel like you've made this point before. Like, a lot of times by now. Don't you think you're overdoing it?"

Fuck no, if anything I'm just getting started.

But, that's for later, I suppose. For now I still had to deal with Gamma, who had asked me a question about a minute ago without me answering...

'Um... Hello?'

Yup. Definitely seem like an asshole right about now.

"Sound like one, in this case."

Okay that one just came off as a jackass comment. Anyways...

'Oh, uh, sorry about that.' I groaned, a nervous chuckle escaping me. 'I spaced out a bit.'

As I groaned this out, the Rosie shook his head dismissively.

'Oh, it's no problem really. None at all.' He responded, before then giving his porthole glass yet another slight tap.

Seriously, why was he doing that? It was more than a little off putting.

It was like watching a child pick at a scab or a scar, both interested in seeing wether or not it would magically make it go away, yet also curious as to its very existence. I mean, I guess that's an appropriate comparison, all things considered, but still.

Then again, it wasn't like that was the oddest thing I've seen in this city, so was I really one to judge?

"Yeah, there was still that time you walked into that pair of splicers as they-"

Agh, no, no, no! You are not bringing that up! We are not mentioning it in any way, shape, or form! I left you in charge of bidding that memory as far into the back of my mind as possible, and you are going to keep it there! Got it?!

"Alright, alright, geez... I'm still curious as to what they were doing with those beer bottles though."

And back to ignoring you! Again! Honestly, it's like you make it your mission for me to do that!

'But, seriously,' I finally managed to give out, repressing the urge to gag as the 'bottles and beds' incident momentarily flashed across my mind for a moment, 'the reason we're here is because of... well, you, actually.'

As I told him this, the slow poking of the opening in his helmet suddenly came to a halt, his gloved fingertip all but freezing against his porthole glass as the rest of his body seemingly followed suit.

'... Oh? Is that so? If I might ask, why is that?'

... I... can't be the only one who noticed that, right?

"You mean the way his tone changed all of a sudden? That depends, do I count as a different person, or not?"

You usually say you're me...

"Yeah, but that's only when you insult me or ask me to shut up. It helps me win more arguments."

... I'm not even gonna try and dignify that with a response.

A brow of mine raising ever so slightly as I looked on in Gamma's direction, I gave out another groan.

'Well, I can tell you it's not my idea, that much is sure.' I responded honestly, eyes narrowing slightly as I thought back to the two other morons, one specifically, that had gotten the three of us wrapped up in their mess to begin with. 'To put it simply though, I guess I'm supposed to re-establish the anti-protocol systems, or whatever the hell it is that Seidon wants me to do.'

Waving my hand and giving a single roll of my wrist, I gestured so as to emphasize my point. An action that I quickly realized only benefitted me, rather than the party before me.

Seriously, I am bad at this.

'Oh, so you know of the anti-protocol then? Hm, I suppose I should have guessed, what with you knowing my subject identification as well.' I nodded at first, but then, realizing my mistake--seriously, this isn't that hard to get--I ended up slapping my bare right hand across my forehead.

'...Yes, that would be the reason.'

'And, you also know of what it is that I am supposed to do?'

'... Yeah?' I hazarded, noting the slowness to his speech.

'Ah, thank goodness! That makes things much simpler!' He then groaned, suddenly with much more pep and cheeriness in his voice. Certainly an odd shift, if I do say so myself.

"... Why... did he phrase it like that?" Oh shut up and take this as a good thing for once, eh mind? I'd like to go one moment without being paranoid.

"Darling?" I then suddenly heard behind me, turning my head towards my charges and seeing the clear looks of curiosity and interest upon both of their expression.

"Omega, please, do catch us up to what's going on here. Fluttershy and I are beginning to feel as though we are third-wheels at this point."

"N-not that we mind!" Fluttershy then quickly, quietly, added in, waving a forehoof slightly as she spoke. "I-if you prefer to keep talking with Gamma, t-then we won't bother you."

Looking towards the two, and smiling at their adorable and innocent inquisitiveness, I gurgled that I might as well try to at least somewhat clue them into what was going on. Seriously, I could only imagine how awkward this was for them, watching as two individuals speak to one another in languages that they can't really understand.

Especially when they're less speaking more making noises that they had simply come to understand.

"When you put it like that, Big Daddy language sounds weird."

It does. That's the point.

Glancing towards Gamma, I noticed that he was starting to tap his glass once more, but really just put this fact aside as I gave him one last groan.

'Give me a second. I need to explain what's going on to these two.'

'Hm? Oh, go right ahead. Take as much time as you need. I'm patient, so I'll just wait for you to finish.'

Seriously, this guy is actually... pretty nice, surprisingly enough. Heh, and here I thought I was the only sane human in this city... more or less.

Taking the opportunity given to me by Gamma to turn myself completely towards both Fluttershy and Rarity before reaching into the bag on my back, my hand grazing by Mill's likely lax form, and grabbing hold of the whiteboard segment and marker I held within it, much to Fluttershy and Rarity's visible glee as I did this.

They were likely to be excited to finally have an explanation of sorts towards what was happening. I could tell because Rarity suddenly grew a large smile on her face, hooves shifting slightly as she looked towards me like a child waiting to be told a story or funny rumor. Fluttershy's smile was much more stunted, alongside her reaction, but it was still very much there, and, in her own timid fashion, showed off just as much, if not more, excitement as Rarity.

Chuckling at this, I uncapped the marker with my teeth, compacting my rivet gun and shutting down my ESU for the first time since we had gotten on top of this roof, so as to allow myself to more comfortably write, before then grabbing hold of the marker with my left hand, my right holding the whiteboard piece, as I set myself to writing.

I could feel Gamma behind me as I did this, though of course still retaining that same distance from before. It was likely that he had heard me as I placed my marker against the whiteboard and started writing, alongside throughout the very process of wringing these things out of my stuffed supply sack, and that he was now just listening as I wrote.

Like he had said, he was probably just waiting for me to finish writing.

"Yeah, 'before finishing'... Seriously, something about that just feels wrong..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was perfectly aware of how redundant it would be to say he was having a sense of Deja-Vu as he noticed Echo go down the same hall that he had before, approaching his previous area of progress. After all, he had died, and he had been walking down the exact same path.

Yet, Seidon didn't particularly care. Why did this thought come up then?

Why, simply to ease his mind as he continued working to get Gamma's vitals on one of the many screens before him. It was beyond irritating at this point. The amount of signal amplification, proxy routing, and overall quality-of-life fixes that he had needed to make his way through just to get one screen working for him was beyond frustrating.

To him, it was like repeatedly smashing your head into something until it worked, at least started to look nicer through all the blood that would eventually cake your face through such an action.

It especially wasn't made any easier by the fact that he knew perfectly well that it would only get easier as Echo got closer to where Gamma was. Why? Because he would eventually get to the point where he would be able to do this easily enough as a result of their proximity, and then he would proceed to question why he hadn't simply done it this way to begin with, kicking himself for the next hour or so.

He had started this process barely ten or twelve minutes ago, and, being as stubborn as he admittedly was, he wasn't simply going to stop all of a sudden. If he did, then he'd only end up kicking himself harder for the next hour. It was as text-book of a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' as Seidon could possibly get.

So that gave him all the more reason to continue, really.

Had he been stressing himself at this point? Well, he had been doing so for quite some time now. Since the anti-protocol was initialized, really.

It was ironic, he was originally so ecstatic when his systems had suddenly come to life, signaling the beginning of what he had been waiting years to complete. Now, he had never been more anxious and stressed in his life. Then again, he never had to deal with several unchecked Big Daddies at once, a possibly inter-worldly incident of epic proportions involving equine-like beings, and especially not a sarcastic Big Daddy that saw him to be the equivalent of the plague.

Really, Seidon could only wonder as to why he hated him so much.

Well, not exactly, he held a pretty good idea, what with what occurred back in Ryan Amusements, but even then it didn't really merit anything this bad at this point, did it?

"Then again, most Big Daddies have a sort of inbred hatred to the scientists that put them in their suits."

"Maybe,' Seidon pondered, "he just thinks of me as one of them?"

Suddenly, as this thought came into his head, he froze, hands no longer moving as he instead blankly looked down towards the control panel before him. His arms coming to rest over the panel, hands partially hanging over the sides, he remained in that position for a moment or two. This moment, however, was shortly after brought to an end as he started gripping the panel with both of his hands, doing so tightly, to the point where his knuckles turned white and veins began to pronounce themselves. To the point where the metal on the panel began to bend.

No, he wasn't like those scientists. They certainly didn't think so, after all, so why should he? They were the ones who believed him to be inferior. They were the ones who often ignored him, claiming he was no better than some idiot among the filth of the city. He wasn't among those scientists, not at all, he worked too damn hard at this point to so much as slightly hold any resemblance to those imbeciles whatsoever!

He would not lower himself to believe he was like them, no matter wha-

A sudden groan catching his attention, specifically from Echo's screen, Seidon suddenly realized that he had apparently been panting, his teeth clenched and hands tight from his thoughts. He stayed where he was yet again for a moment, though this time he used the opportunity to take a breath, removing his hands from the side of the panel before then leaning back against the chair he sat on, swallowing so as to help his suddenly sore throat as he looked up towards Echo's surveillance system.

Through it, he could see that Echo was, by now, barely a foot or two away from the area he had died in; the one that held the clinic, and the King Pawn store. Seidon also noted, however, and more importantly so, the fact that he, and likely Echo, could see a pair of individuals upon the King Pawn store, through a small gap between the King Pawn sign and a smaller, less flashy billboard referencing some kind of frozen dinner that used to be particularly popular before Rapture fell, which so happened to be placed nearby the King Pawn sign for, what Seidon imagined to be, better advertisement.

Further on the left was, of course, Omega, who was currently occupied with... something, whatever it may have been. His gaze was downwards, towards a familiar whiteboard piece that he had occasionally made use of, and seemed to be focused on something else that was behind it, before him.

Seidon figured that, perhaps, he was simply speaking to his charges. The small gap that both he and Echo could see him through was, after all, 'a small gap', so it was likely that they were just out of Echo's, and by extension his, sight wherever they were.

Further to the right on this roof, though, was something that made Seidon's eyes suddenly widen.

A Big Daddy, model Rosie, that looked towards Omega as he did whatever it was he was doing, simply watching and, seemingly, waiting. It wasn't hard for Seidon to realize who this was, recognizing the additions made to his suit, and, more notably, the deadened porthole upon his helmet.

Quickly sitting up as he saw this opportunity, what with the sudden proximity Echo held with Gamma, Seidon set himself to work on the previous process he had been stressing himself out with.

He followed every step, having practically memorized them by heart as he repeated them once more, amplifying the signal from Gamma, filling out proxies, and so forth.

As he had imagined, the process was, in fact, much quicker than it had been before, and alongside that, much more functional; as in, it actually worked.

"And so, let the kicking of oneself begin." Seidon thought to himself as he gave out a mixed sigh of relief and exasperation before then finally bringing up one of the other screens aside from those focused on Echo, attempting to display Gamma's vitals and surveillance systems.

The surveillance systems, as he had expected, were still not functional, giving him only static. Really, he hadn't expected that they would have worked. It was more of a 'nothing to lose' kind of impulse to him, a long shot, but he didn't regret doing it nonetheless.

As for the screen relating to Gamma's vitals, this has been much more successful in terms of retrieval, all the information one would need on such a subject popping up, though initially with some difficulty, on screen for whoever may be observing to see.

The one observing, of course, being Seidon; and the observing, not quite as predictably, finding themselves slowly, but surely, widening their eyes as they scanned over the information before them.

"This is..." His thoughts died out. Now wasn't the time for thought. Far from it. If anything, this could be very bad.

How bad, one might ask?

Simply put, bad enough that Seidon suddenly found himself shooting up from his seat, knocking his chair over behind him, but not caring in the slightest, as he suddenly yelled to Echo.

"ECHO, GET UP THERE NOW! YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE CRITICAL STATE, ALONGSIDE LETHAL FORCE!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, where was I at this point? Halfway through explaining what was going on? A little further than that?

"I'd say somewhere around 70%, give or take."

Right, thanks.

Yeah, I was pretty far into recalling everything that was transporting to the girls, to put it simply. Now, of course, I mostly gave them a summarized version, so I didn't really use exact quotes. Especially not the one where I told Gamma that ponies were kinda like Spider Splicers. No, I left that detail out very purposefully.

That aside, both Fluttershy and Rarity paid close attention to everything I wrote, no matter how long it took me to write it out. Every grammatical mistake--which, let's face it, I made--and misused words they would do little more than to point out kindly and occasionally. Not that I could blame them. They were just trying to help me after all, and I was more than willing to learn at this point.

Albeit with a small part of my mind finding the whole thing demeaning, but I never let the girls see that.

Besides my grammar, they would also give their two cents on what I had written down itself, more often than not asking a curious question or simply talking about how nice it was that things were going so well between Gamma and I.

And, honestly, I had to agree with them.

Gamma was much, much less irritating than either Echo or Seidon. Especially Seidon, come to think of it.

He spoke rather cleanly, held an overall friendly demeanor, and, aside from the occasional quirk I sensed from him, seemed like an altogether fine protector unit.

"Granted, you may just be tricking yourself into thinking this because he's a Rosie like you are, and you still don't really have any place so as to decide whether or not he's a good guy, but sure lets go with that."

God you are irritating today.

"I'm telling you, something isn't right. I mean, even now he's being off! How long has he just been standing there behind you? Completely still at that!"

My mind, admittedly, was not exactly wrong about that last part. In fact, it was pretty much exactly true. Since I had started writing and giving the girls a rundown on what had been happening, I hadn't heard a sound come from Gamma.

Well, actually that isn't completely true. There was one sound. That odd tapping that he did against his porthole. We're it not for the girl's talking every now and then as I wrote, that would pretty much be the only sound in the room, aside from the occasional drip of water or groaning of the city's walls under the pressure of the sea. Definitely would be more off-putting if that were the case.

"And it's not off-putting now?!"

Seriously, what is with you?! Can you just shut the fu-

"Hang on, hang on, before you yell at yourself like an idiot... Do you hear that?" Momentarily scrunching up my face at both apparently being ignored and insulted by my own psyche, it took me a second before I realized what it was even referring to in the first place.

A familiar sound was echoing--or more fittingly thumping--throughout the room, reminiscent of large heaps of metal falling upon even larger chunks of metal. A light trembling accompanied every occasion that this sound came through, which the girls themselves seemed to note what with the fact that, no more than a moment or two after this had begun, the two began to look around.

This sound was obvious to me; mostly because I made them with every step I took when I still had that suit of mine. These were Big Daddy steps, without a doubt. Now, on any other circumstance I would have imagined that this would have been Gamma, what with him being the closest protector unit with his suit on, but upon noting the fact that sound wasn't really seeming to come from behind me so much as it was from my side... the more I was tempted to give out a sigh as I made another, more annoyed guess.

One that was swiftly confirmed by Fluttershy who, having followed the sound, gazed over the edge of the building that was not obscured by the two large signs that lay upon its sides.

"Oh, Omega, he's back." She informed me with a hint of cheerfulness in her voice, likely from seeing who I could easily guess to be Echo back; an emotion I couldn't really say I shared. Like, at all.

Taking in a breath, I reluctantly held back a sigh as I capped the market I held once more, so as to keep it from drying out. Now that the idiot was here, along with the jackass--as to who is who, I'll let you decide--I figured that any semblance of 'fun' or 'enjoyment' I may or may not have had at the moment was essentially obliterated to the point of being inexistent. Maybe I could explain the rest of what had happened to the girls later, since I really didn't want Seidon or Echo butting in on what wasn't their business.

Well, technically Echo probably can't even read, like I couldn't before I met my charges, but my point still stands goddamnit!

Interestingly, as much as I wanted to make a comment of some sort, though I ultimately settled for some grumbling thoughts and curses, it seemed as though Gamma was the one to talk instead.

'Oh,' he groaned suddenly, 'are you done?'

Noting his question, I glanced behind me, so as to look towards him, and noticed that he had stopped tapping his porthole glass. He was still looking away from where I, and my charges, were, but I couldn't really take that into account all things considered, could I?

As another step came through the previously relatively calm atmosphere, originating from a certain lumbering Bouncer, my eyes narrowed as I found myself following the sound.

Through the gap in the signs I could clearly see him making his way inside of the room, still lower than us in terms of elevation, what with us being on the roof of the pawn shop, but still just as audible and present.

Another thing I noticed was that, at this point, Rarity had joined Fluttershy's side by this gap, looking down towards Echo as he slowly approached.

'... Yeah, I guess I am.' I ultimately answered to Gamma with a groan, both made up of speech and exasperation, before then moving both my whiteboard chunk and marker over my head behind me and placing them into my supply bag.

As I did this, I momentarily closed my eyes. Was it out of exhaustion? Frustration? Maybe just reflex? I'm not sure.

What I am sure of though, is that this was all it took for the next few seconds to become what may as well have been a blur.

First, I heard Rarity speak, if only for a scant moment.

"Hm? That's odd. Wasn't he there just a moment ago-"

She didn't get to finish as, next, the seemingly deafening sound of two rivets firing rang through the air. A sound that was not accompanied by the familiar kick against my arm, or momentary sting that it brought about whenever I fired one.

A strong breeze came and went by my side, threatening to blow me over from my unprepared position, momentarily filling my ear with loud gusts that barely allowed me to make out the sound of clanging metal, or that of crumbling concrete.

All I had done was close my eyes for barely a few seconds.. yet, when I opened them, everything suddenly seemed out of place, shockingly so in fact.

My eyes went from shut to wide as all these sounds came through seemingly all at once, with only the faintest bit of difference in time between them registering in my mind. And before them, the scene had changed completely.

Fluttershy and Rarity, who had previously been looking towards Echo as he made his way towards into the large area, were now both upon the floor, Rarity being atop of Fluttershy as the two laid on their sides, their heads both lifted, however, as they gazed in the direction of where Gamma was, their own eyes wide as well, with Fluttershy's mouth slightly ajar.

Oddly enough though, they didn't seem to be looking towards Gamma, their eyes seeming far too raised upwards to really bring doing so.

Follwing their gaze from my position, my mind momentarily reeled as I saw Echo, the Bouncer that had previously been downstairs, now immediately to the side of my charges. He was positioned rather oddly, his several porthole lights tinted reddish-yellow as he stood with his drill raised before him, pointing to nowhere in particular really, and his other arm outwards to his side, as if gesturing for both of the girls to stay where they were.

For a moment, I wondered as to when and how he had really gotten here, despite the fact that I already knew the answer to both of those questions. However, as I looked towards him, still not yet having moved from place, I felt a breath escape as I took notice of something. On Echo's helmet, just between two distinct pairs of portholes, were a pair of rivets, both of which were still red hot from having recently been fired. Flows of blood came forth from these rivets, and the holes that they had clearly made into Echo's hemispherical helmet, yet he still didn't make so much as a sound, continuing to hold his ground.

It was only then that I finally regained control of my body, which had apparently been lost to me as a result of the shock of the moment, myself turning rapidly so as to face the only direction the rivets could have come from, if not from me.

Fittingly enough, I was swiftly awarded by the sight of Gamma, who now stood with his modified industrial protector unit rivet gun aimed forwards, it's upper barrel still smoking slightly from having recently been fired. Aside from that though, his overall stance had not changed even slightly, his gloved finger still upon the cracked glass of his porthole as he stood there.

'... Hm... Something got in my way?' He groaned questioningly, lowering his free hand down to his side. For a moment, he stayed there in silence once more, just as I began to piece together what had happened.

"He... just said something 'got in his way'... Was he aiming for-"

"Subject Gamma, stand down now!" I suddenly heard the voice of Seidon come forth from Echo's communication system, practically yelling, really, as he addressed the Rosie that had just fired upon Echo.

Hearing this voice, Gamma finally changed the direction of his dysfunctional gaze, moving it so as to look at the source of the sound.

'Oh? The anti-protocol director? When did he arrive?' He asked, though clearly not expecting an answer. It was more as though he was asking himself in actuality. Still, I didn't particularly care. All I cared about was the fact that he had just tried to shoot my charges...

HE JUST TRIED TO KILL THEM!

'WHAT THE HELL JACKASS?!' I roared, turning myself around completely so as to face the modified Rosie, raising my Rivet Gun towards him as I did so.

I wasn't the only one yelling either. It seemed as though Seidon still hadn't finished speaking, and he clearly wasn't going to be stopped by the noise I made in my own outrage.

"Gamma, stand down damn it all! This is an order! You are to lay down your weapon and put aside your duties to the anti-protocol immediately!" Despite being called out from two distinct sources of anger, however, Gamma seemed to only listen to me, his free hand gesturing towards me as he addressed me.

'I don't understand? What seems to be the issue?'

Was he serious? Was he actually asking that?

What does he think the issue is?!?

'ARE YOU AS DUMB AS A PIECE OF CORAL OR SOMETHING?! YOU JUST TRIED TO SHOOT AT FLUTTERSHY AND RARITY, DIDN'T YOU?!' I interrogated, my finger already half squeezing the trigger to my Rivet Gun as I did so.

For another moment, both he and Seidon stayed silent. I could barely hear the sounds of both Fluttershy and Rarity getting up from their previously fallen positions to my immediate right as I glared at the Rosie before me.

'... Well of course I did. You said it yourself, after all, the two are 'similar to spider splicers' aren't they?'

'They aren't actually spider splicers you moron! I told you they're ponies!' I returned with another roar, myself feeling the veins on my right arm flaring slightly with ADAM as my plasmids began to make themselves known once again.

'... Oh? But you said... Ah, I see, you're trying to protect them, aren't you? Now, understand that I can get that you are apparently somewhat close to those two. After all, I gave you that moment prior so you could say your goodbyes to them, and explain to them that they were about to die. It is my duty, after all, to purge all the splicers from this area, as the anti-protocol dictates.'

That was what he was doing?! He was waiting for me to finish just so he could kill them both? He was aiming to shoot them from the very fucking beginning, and I didn't see that!

"I would tell you 'I told you something was wrong', but right now I think both you and I are just about ready to tear this asshole a new one."

You're damned right I am! I'm going to shove that Rivet Gun into his helmet, down his throat, and fire until he has a whole new orifice to bleed from!

"Okay, I didn't need the play by play, and that was just a figure of speech."

Not when I'm done with him it won't be!

"Subject Omega," I barely heard Seidon say from beside me, myself growling and seeing too much red to really do so, "I advise that you take those you are escorting with you and leave. Gamma is unstable, and he won't hesitate to-"

Whatever else it was he was going to say, whatever other bullshit that was going to come through Echo's systems, I wasn't going to hear it.

I was too busy pulling the trigger as I let out a roar, more than ready to make it so that this poor-excuse for a Rosie would see one thing for the first time. And that one thing would be his own blood!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God damn it you nimrod!" Seidon found himself suddenly yelling in frustration as he saw Omega recklessly charge in, not so much as waiting for him to finish. He didn't mean to come off as someone so conceited or negative as he did so, but to his credit he had dealt with quite a bit coming from Omega up until now. And this, somehow, managed to top all the other reckless actions Seidon had witnessed Omega commit up until now.

Why, one might ask? Well, Seidon--clearly unlike Omega at that very moment as he thoughtlessly ran towards the modified Rosie, his ESU unit charging as he began to close in on the blind protector unit--was aware of a very notable difference between Gamma and Omega. That difference being that Omega, in of himself, stood absolutely no chance against Gamma in a one on one fight.

Let alone at close range, where Gamma's reflexes truly shined. A fact that Gamma seemed to be well aware of himself.

Watching the Rosie through Echo's visuals, Seidon noted how he had not moved so much as an inch since Omega had started his charge. Not one muscle on his armored body so much as twitched as Omega closed in, despite the fact that, surely, he could've easily heard him coming.

His footsteps were far too rushed to be silent in any way whatsoever, the shards of rubble and splatters of blood that laid beneath Omega's feet from Gamma's last slaughter splashed and cracked with every move he could've made, let alone the much more obvious deafening roar he had given out just seconds prior to his charge.

Gamma had the range and firepower to have stopped all this the moment it had begun, no doubt about it. However, unlike the more composed and efficient Gamma that Seidon knew of, this one was unstable and seemingly sadistic.

It was as though he wanted to drag things out further than they needed to be. This was made clear in the previous room he had lined with proximity mines, what with the bodies each having more than simply one rivet or slice etched onto, or into,them, and it was even made clear now as Seidon gave the rooftop of the pawn store a quick once over, seeing that many of the bodies were in similarly mutilated conditions.

There wasn't a single doubt in his mind; the moment Omega got even remotely close to him, he would be shred to ribbons within seconds.

This was a possibility that neither he, nor Omega's charges--or so Seidon imagined--could afford!

"Echo, defensive maneuvers immediately! Keep Omega, Fluttershy, and Rarity out of Gamma's path and take him down!" Something about what he had just said, he noted, lost a notable amount of its authority and sense of urgency as he uttered the names of the ones Omega was escorting through Rapture.

Shoving that irrelevant thought aside though, Seidon observed with narrowed eyes as Echo swiftly registered the order he had been given.

Milliseconds after the command, Echo sprang into actions, whatever pain and/or discomfort he felt as a result of the rivets impaled into his helmet being swiftly shoved aside followed Omega's example and rushed towards Gamma and Omega alike.

Due to the head start he had gotten, and the relatively short distance that their had been between him and Gamma in the first place, Omega was barely a few feet in front of him by the time Echo reacted.

He hadn't seen it, far too distracted by his own rage to so much as give it a glance, but for a mere moment before Omega reeled his arm back and readied himself to electrocute the modified Rosie, Gamma could be seen tightening his grip on the rear handle of his rivet gun.

A series of blurs ensued as moments before Omega could throw the blow he had so desperately been craving to give onto the 'oh so deserving' Rosie, he was suddenly shoved backwards, his balance and footing quickly made foreign to him, along with the air in his lungs, as he fell onto the ground below him, sent skidding.

As he fell though, he felt two distinct gusts pass over him, both in completely different directions, paired only by the faint sight of sparking metal.

Before he could so much as take a breath to react to what was happening, Omega was on the floor, the sudden force that was placed upon his mid-torso as he ran having thrown him in a rather awkward form, causing him to land on his side.

He heard a pair of gasps behind him as he felt himself violently scrape backwards along the roof of the long closed store, little more than the occasional puddle of blood, among other remnants of splicers, easing the discomfort this friction had caused him if only slightly. Of course, a small part of his mind easily guessed that the vest and pants that he wore heavily disagreed with this supposed 'ease'.

Still, Omega's mind cared very little in regards to this fact, himself focusing more on the fact that he had suddenly been taken down in the middle of a fight and that, as a result, he was now open to attack.

His teeth gritting as he swiftly regained what notable amount of air had been forcefully expelled from his lungs as a result of the sudden force forced upon him, he dug his hands, gloved and otherwise, and shoes into the roof below him, causing whatever 'trip' he had been sent on to swiftly be shortened by a significant amount before he then looked towards where Gamma was.

Unfortunately for him, much like before, the scene had suddenly changed once again.

Whereas, before, Gamma had been standing completely still, alone as Omega mentally and physically threatened to turn him into little more than scrap and broken bones, now Gamma was accompanied by Echo, the two clashing, drill against blade, as they practically stared each other down. A stare down which, of course, was rather one sided, but the equivalent of one nonetheless.

'Friend...,' Echo then called out towards Omega, though said former Rosie disagreed heavily with this label, 'stay... back!' He managed to force out of his heavily programmed mind and into reality, barely able to shortly after react as he noted that Gamma's blade had slightly shifted against his spinning drill.

Two more blurs transpired before Omega as Echo was suddenly several more feet away from Gamma, and Gamma's arm was now pointed downwards, the blade from his modified rivet gun now deeply embedded into the spot on the roof Echo had been on not seconds ago.

'Oh?' Gamma then suddenly commented, tearing the blade of his weapon from the roof--alongside bits of dust and pulverized material--as Omega quickly picked himself back up with a grunt and a growl.

'Echo, is that you? It's been quite some time since I've last spoken to you!' Even as Gamma spoke Echo seemed entirely focused on taking him down, ignoring his groans as he rushed him once more, his drill revving and threatening to grind Gamma's armor to shreds. Yet, once more, nothing more than sparks flew as the two clashed again.

On this occasion, however, Gamma was prepared. No more than a second after Echo and he had collided, much like a speeding freight train into a mile long brick wall, Gamma gave a swift twist of his elbow, grabbing the other handle of his rivet gun so as to better his leverage forced Echo's forwards momentum aside.

Within the span of a second Echo's attempted charge had been diverted, causing him to go further down to roof just past his intended target. Echo, realizing this, stumbled to stop himself, the metal of his boots scraping heavily against the roof, alongside the blood and corpses stop it, and barely giving him enough friction to stop himself before he could fall off altogether.

'You know, it's actually a shame that you, and apparently the project director, appear to be going against your assignments in the anti-protocol. After all, you're one of the only beings I know to be able to match my reflexes.' Not even turning to face where he had heard the Bouncer grind to a halt behind him, Gamma pointed his rivet gun behind him and fired two distinct rounds from both barrels of his rivet gun. Each one hit their mark, clanging loudly against Echo's rear armor, and partially piercing it, as the Bouncer was now unable to withhold a roar of pain as a result.

'And besides, I really don't want to waste my time with you. The sounds that come from you are less satisfying; they're quite irritating, in fact. Metal on metal, really it's disgusting, enough to make me come close to gagging.' Gamma then proceeded to groan faintly to himself, releasing the rear handle of his rivet gun from his left hand's grip as he then moved said hand up towards his porthole.

'Yes. It's so very... repulsive.' As he spoke, he seemed to finish his sentence with a tap to the glass through which most Bug Daddies would normally see. He only managed the one though as, from further away, he began to hear a faint beeping, alongside the sound of spinning rotors.

It was so very mechanical to him. So unnatural. So artificial.

And as he swiftly turned and took a shot towards the quite obvious sound, hearing the sparking of electricity, the grinding of his rivet against the machine's metal shell, and the sudden burst of noise that came from he could only imagine to be an explosion, he realized that this sound, and what has made it, was just as equally unsatisfactory to him.

Where was the flesh? The bone? The groan that was one's final breath, be it clear or through gurgles of blood. None of it was there.

As he pondered this, Omega couldn't help but to watch as the security bot he had brought forth with his Security Command 2 Plasmid fell faster than it had even entered the room, not having so much as fired off one round upon the modified Rosie before him.

"Didn't even have time to think up a name for it." A faint thought echoed through his mind, though he just as quickly moved it aside.

Another growl escaping him, Omega tightened his grip on the EVE hypo he held in his left hand, having known that, more often than not, use of Security Command's secondary function often drained one's internal EVE reserves at an alarming rate.

The very action of refilling the EVE in his body has become one of what was practically muscle memory at this point, himself doing it while barely so much as feeling the pain the came with it. Instead, he focused on the revitalizing strength that came from it, flexing his hand once or twice before, keeping his eyes on his opponent before him, who had yet to move after having destroyed the security unit, he plunged the needle of the hypo past his flesh, into his bloodstream, and proceeded to to empty its contents within.

As he did this, the faint sound that accompanied it was not missed by Gamma.

There it was: the tell-tale sound of piercing flesh, of dripping or flowing blood. The sound he so enjoyed.

Yet, it lacked substance. It lacked grace, it lacked precision, it lacked so much more than Gamma could count. And, most importantly, it lacked one specific thing. His handiwork.

It was a noise not caused by him, and somehow that sickened him more than anything else.

It wouldn't do. No, not at all.

'... Are you... mocking me?!' Gamma then suddenly roared, his hold on his rivet gun tightening as then began to take aim towards Omega, whom had just thrown away the recently emptied EVE hypo.

Before he could fire upon him though, his aim was suddenly thrown off as he reflexively moved to the side to avoid what he could hear to be something stomping and grinding towards him from behind.

Said something was Echo, whom had by now recovered from his previous bout of pain and stumbling just in time, though this was seemingly missed upon by Omega, who instead only found himself inwardly cursing as he was forced to jump to the side to avoid the charging Bouncer shortly after, landing with a notable thud.

'You're getting to be quite the annoyance, Echo!' Gamma roared angrily as he repeated the process from before, firing towards where Echo grounded himself to a halt and, once more, gaining a solid pair of hits upon his rear armor. Unlike last time though, small puffs of compressed air began to come out from these punctured pieces of metal, signifying a possible compromise of the Bouncer's armor; something that was just as painful to Echo as it was significant.

This was exemplified by the next roar of pain that escaped him, just as he then proceeded to turn himself around, his porthole lights now a much deeper shade of crimson red, and began to charge at the Rosie again.

Omega, in the meanwhile, found himself giving a grunt of annoyance as he yet again lifted himself into his feet, eyes narrowing as he watched Echo and Gamma continually clash again and again, this time with no pause as that same loop played over and over: the charge from Echo, Gamma's deflection, the rounds fired into Echo's back, and then it would begin all over again, often accompanied with a roar or groan of sorts.

By now, it had become blatantly obvious to Omega that he was not going to be able to get in close enough to Gamma for a head on fight; not only was this because of the fact that, clearly, he was not going to be able to land so much as a single blow before he was cut in half, but now because of the fact that Echo was making it inevitably impossible to come in close without being accidentally charged.

It also didn't help that the roof he, his charges, and the two metallic brawlers were upon was not only covered in blood, debris, and corpses, but also seemed to hold a few weak points to it, similar to the Diner from before.

A thought that, as it came to Omega, brought about a sudden look of realization to his face, before it was then replaced by that of a smug smile.

"Well, that could work." Omega thought to himself as he then proceeded to hold an arm out towards where Gamma stood, his arms a blur as he consistently blocked and diverted Echo's attacks.

As a faint glow began to flow through the veins of his arm, the air around Omega's arm beginning to distort as the latent strength of the plasmid he readied returned to him once more, his charges, whom were essentially unable to move at the risk of a stray round from Gamma or misplaced charge from Echo putting them in danger, easily took note of what Omega was doing. This was especially reinforced as they glanced between his extended arm and the direction it seemed to be pointed towards: the still clashing Gamma and Echo.

"Omega, wait!" Rarity called out, having to raise her voice if only to be heard over the sounds of grinding metal and combat.

Fluttershy followed shortly after.

"Y-you'll hurt Echo too!" She added, stuttering as she strained herself to speak over her own fear. Of the two, Fluttershy still held a notable amount of shell shock from the rounds fired from Gamma that had nearly hurt--or worse, killed--Rarity and herself.

To say that Rarity had pushed herself to get over that fact would be a notable farce just as well though, the fashionista's breathing and heartbeat still unsteady from her more recent, and of course horribly unexpected, brush with death.

Still, the two spoke, attempting to urge Omega to, perhaps, think of another course of action he could take. They weren't asking that he simply stop fighting Gamma; from how things seemed, doing so would be a death sentence, what with Echo's clear disadvantage throughout the conflict. However, they could not simply allow Echo, who was on their and Omega's side, come into harms way unnecessarily.

"Then again," a small portion of Rarity's mind echoed, though partially drowned out by the severity and significance of what was currently transporting before her, "Gamma seemed to have been on our side not moments ago just as well... No, this is not the time for doubts!"

Yelling at herself mentally, shaking her head as she did so so as to regain her focus on the current situation, she watched as Omega looked back towards her and Fluttershy, a look of confusion upon his face.

A look that perfectly reflected how his mind and body felt.

To him, he could only help but wonder as to why the two were telling him to 'wait'.

So what if Echo was hit as well, he mentally questioned.

He wasn't a friend of theirs, more so he was some annoying tag along that had been forced upon the three of them under threat of never being able to reach the escape pods at the end of Lower Rapture as a result of the several area lockdowns that had been triggered by the anti-protocol.

Besides, Echo held a Vita-chip built into his systems. No matter how many deaths he would suffer, he would just come back, even if his suit was too heavily damaged, from what Omega could tell; a perk that Omega had, unfortunately, not been blessed with whilst he still had his suit.

To him, Echo was among the most expendable of things in this suit, just after Seidon of course, and just before a certain security bot.

In fact, now that he held that thought in mind, where exactly had that security unit gone anyways-

'Ah, so that's where you two are.' Omega suddenly heard Gamma groan, his eyes widening as he looked towards the Rosie just in time to see him raise his rivet gun towards the girls, Echo having been once again thrown to the side and still mid-recovery as he did so.

There was no doubt in his mind. If Omega didn't take action at that very instant, Gamma would soon open fire, and neither he, nor Echo, would be able get close enough to distract him in time.

His eyes narrowed, and a growl escaping his throat, Omega allowed the gathered kinetic energy of his Telekinesis 3 plasmid to blast forward, aimed specifically towards the part of the roof below Gamma.

The blast went outwards with a notable think and crack as it shifted the air and swiftly hit its target, just below Gamma's feet, causing the Rosie to stumble as a result. Simultaneously, a notable depression was made into the roof, weakening its stability to the point that, alongside the extremely heavy metal armor of the stumbling being that stood upon it, it shortly after chipped and crumbled away, ridding the Rosie of his footing as one of his armored legs fell within this hole left by the kinetic blast.

However, as he fell, a groan of surprise escaping him as his leg was suddenly wedged inside of the roof, just short of allowing to fall, but not nearly enough to allow him to unwedge himself and effectively continue the fight, the sound of a single round being fired off resounded throughout the area.

And on this occasion, the round came from the underbarrel of his weapon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y'know, fate is a funny thing. One second, you could have victory in your sights. Literally, right before your eyes you could be watching it transpire, your odds of succeeding at whatever it is you're doing visibly growing to the point that it seems guaranteed that nothing can go wrong.

The idea I had come up with had worked, more or less. The telekinetic blast I had fired off was meant to cause the floor below him to completely collapse. Simply put, I was trying to do the same there that I had done to Echo at the Fishbowl Diner. Minus the whole 'me falling in shortly after' bit, that is.

The roof itself, however, ended up being either much more effectively constructed or much less weathered to the elements the Fishbowl Diner had been, causing it to only partially collapse below Gamma. It was only enough throw off his aim, what with the blast having partially hit his legs, and for a smaller than intended hole to be created beneath one of said legs.

Despite the fact that Gamma hadn't fallen through completely, his right leg had still been completely wedged from the waist down into the roof, leaving him in a rather awkward position in which his other leg seemed bent to its maximum possible angle with his armor, struggling to get somewhat of a footing to help him pull himself out, but failing to do so as it instead uselessly slid across its side over the roof. His left arm, which had been holding the rear grip of his industrial rivet gun, was now planted flat against the roof, pushing against it as he tried to at least keep himself upright in his current position. As for his right arm, it still held onto his rivet gun's middle grip, and trigger, though the rivet gun itself held its blade jammed into the roof as another support that the Rosie used to keep himself straight.

Simply put, from his position, there was no way he could fight back. His improved reflexes couldn't help him for crap if he couldn't so much as move his rivet gun.

Like I said, with fate, one second victory is in your sights... and the next, it's not quite as clear.

For me, it seemed as though that had taken a more literal sense.

It's an odd sensation, actually, to one second be looking towards a fallen malfunctioning Rosie, a smile on my face and a chuckle in my throat as I noted how ridiculous and helpless he seemed, and to suddenly note that your perception of depth has taken a drastic turn.

I blinked. Then I blinked again. I blinked a good amount of times, really, and each time I did I noticed something. No matter how many times I would close my eyes for the split second that I would blink, the thin layers of skin that were my eyelids changing what I saw to black just before they were raised again, a portion of this black, this darkness, stayed.

Looking past Gamma, I noticed that Echo now staring directly at me. Not towards Gamma, who continued flailing to release himself, but me.

'... Friend?' He groaned, seemingly questioningly.

"O-Omega..." I heard Rarity suddenly give out in a faint breath; a shuddery, cold breath.

Fluttershy didn't speak at all, though I could faintly hear her giving out and odd noise herself. A sound of almost... choking?

Not sure as to why she was making these sounds, and more than a little concerned, I turned my head to face my two charges. As I did so.

In doing so I noted how much further I had to turn my head than usual just to get them in my sights.

And when I did, I partially wish I didn't. Rarity seemed... think of it this way. Compared to her earlier expression, when those rivets from had nearly hit her and Fluttershy, she somehow seemed even worse for wear than that. She was practically trembling, one of her forehooves slightly raised as she looked towards me. Fluttershy didn't seem even the slightest bit better. In fact, I realized what she had been apparently choking on.

Sobs. Or, something like that. I could tell because her eyes were already filled to the brim with tears, though she didn't say a word, nor did she move, instead just looking at me, her forehooves covering her mouth as she did so.

Why...

I didn't get it. What was going on?

Nobody said anything, anything at all that might tip me off towards what was happening.

Hell, I was actually tempted to ask Echo...

At least until I heard something drip onto the floor.

I could barely hear it, but the sound was there. And as I followed it, I noticed that it was coming from just below me.

Naturally I looked down, and spotted this small puddle of blood, just in front of me. In fact, it seemed as though some of this blood had ended up on top of my shoes, somehow... and on my upper shirt?

Suffice to say I felt more than a bit offset by this.

"Where... Is that coming from?"

You ask as if I know.

"... Why does our face feel warm?"

Another blink. Another case of lingering darkness.

Another question that... I wasn't really sure if I wanted answered.

Was it curiosity? Necessity? I wasn't sure what drove me to it, but as I felt a brow of mine raise, I similarly raised my right arm up towards the right-side of my face, where I felt most of that odd warmth centered around.

I grazed my cheek, feeling my finger just as I did so... but it was then that I realized that I couldn't see it. Not even slightly.

Abruptly I raised my other hand and did a similar test with the left half of my face. I could see my hand approaching; I could see it close in on my cheek; I could almost see it touching it.

Yet for the other side, I didn't see anything...

What I did see though, as I moved my right hand in front of my face, just enough so that so it could come into my somehow limited sight, was the crimson that layered over my right index and middle fingers; the ones I had used to touch my right cheek.

... Why didn't I feel anything?

It was goddamn clear something was wrong, so why didn't I feel anything damn it?!

'Hm... A misfire?' As I heard Gamma groan again, though much more controlled than he had previously been, I instantaneously turned my head to face him.

He was now still where he awkwardly laid, his leg still well inside of the roof as he now just pointed his dimmed helmet downwards in a blank state.

'I heard the round; I felt the kick; I heard tearing of flesh, and breaking of some bone... but no scream... Yes, a misfire, unfortunately. Much like the situation I'm in, fittingly enough.' Watching as he then proceeded to lift his head towards my general direction, if only slightly, I could already feel my teeth begin to grind.

'... Well, I suppose there's always opportunity for a redo, isn't there?' In that same instant as he spoke, his left arm darted behind him, seeming to grab hold of something before then just as quickly pulling it back in front of him.

As he did so, a series of clicks and clangs could be heard as his arm then came back into view. With it, he now held something else.

A certain green orb of explosive tendencies; a proximity mine. This one, though, much his rivet gun and armor, held its own difference. Specifically what seemed like a thin metal string-like line that tied around it, reaching around Gamma's back. With a tug, Gamma seemed to pull this string, along with the mine.

As he did so, another green orb popped into view, secured by this line. Then another, and another, and so on until it seemed he had an entire line of six around his left side.

'It's a shame that it's come to this. Really it is. I had thought that things would go over at least a little better than this. But, I suppose that this is how it has to be in someway or another, hm?' Momentarily fiddling with the first of the many explosives he had with him, I watched as he raised his gloved thumb, placing it square over the button that triggered the mine.

'If you survive this, Omega, then I suppose a sort of congratulations are in order. Though, know this: whether it's you, or Echo, or the anti-protocol overseer himself, I will fulfill my programming and eliminate every splicer in this area, including the two that are with you... And if need be, you.'

And with that, he pressed the button, allowing a series of beeps from not just the first, but every explosive on the line he held with him to be heard.

Author's Notes:

... You... Don't actually think you're gonna have to wait another month or two for another update do you?

I still haven't used the comments from last chapter for gods sake!

Alrighty. Timer starts... Now!