While Girl and Alfaic plunged through the chute at the speed of sound, the rotting creature soon followed in their wake, crumbling the disc's interior structure by gliding down with its massive blades jabbing through the non-propellor side. Girl maintained a proper steady form as she dove through the tunnel. The intricate system of propellers and energy generators discharging from all sides indicated that it was increasingly dangerous to land on any side nor go hiding, for the beast could sense their presence from anywhere they hid.
Girl turned her back to free fall while facing the rotten beast. The blood-curdling beast did not harm in frightening her in any manner; she still maintained a neutral expression as she wrapped her hand around the blade's handle.
A radiant golden energy discharged from the blade, enveloping and destroying her raven feather attire and replacing it with shimmering jet black, ivory white, and pure golden futuristic armor that covered Girl from neck to toe. Individual intricate machines within the blade's designs sheltered Girl's skin with a sleek chromium alloy that could withstand the rising temperatures and velocity that they traveled within. The armor's lightweight alloy provided enough flexibility for Girl to move freely as if she was traveling without a single burden on her shoulders.
"Like it or not, we're changing this up!" The blade's voice was heard through Girl's armor, near her heart. The sentient blade dipped itself behind Girl's back, transforming into a liquid-type of gel that passed through her. The blade reappeared at the bottom of her two feet, transforming into two jet-propelled hover boots that could be controlled by Girl's sentience as well. "Now, get us the hell out of here!"
Girl spun back as the boots made her propel through her through the chute at even faster speeds. At first, controlling the boots caused her to sway across from a certain straight path, but with enough practice, Girl became accustomed to it in a matter of a few seconds. The beast, whose eyes were already dead set on the two, reared its jaw back and lunged forward for a quick bite to devour them whole.
Without needing to retaliate, Girl's body expunged itself from her back, revealing multiple sharp blades from the blade's features to brush back the monster. A single bite injured the rotten creature's mouth, rearing it back as it whimpered with its wings out. The monster held back to recover while Girl and the blade continued propelling forward.
A slab of debris struck Girl on the back of her shoulder as the tunnel caved in. Girl launched herself down toward the electrifying generator floors as the blade attempted to adapt to the change in a nanosecond. She glided across the electric propellers attempting to balance herself by shifting her legs back and forth as they continued moving at hyper-velocity.
A distant explosion from the far side of the tunnel led the two toward an escape path away from the action. Girl and the blade leaped down into the hole, finding themselves in the opening of a transportation factory with old canisters of liquid nitrogen surrounding them. Girl rushed toward the back of the factory as the tunnel's debris collapsed through the hole to seal it. She cartwheeled once more and landed directly on her feet.
"You're crazy," The blade stated in a panicked state. "Absolutely crazy. I told you to leave me there, and what did you do? You didn't listen!"
Girl paused to look at herself; she stared at her chest, where the blade's voice originated from. She then looked at her wrists covered in alloy armor, followed by the rest of her lower body. "Blade. What is this?" She asked, examining the intricate design.
"Stop calling me that," It annoyingly retorted. "Just address me as Alfaic, please."
"Blade is easier."
"Damn it, fine."
Girl took another glance at her left wrist, revealing two hovering golden halo rings circulating the circumference of her arm. She tapped on them and rotated her arm around, realizing that the rings could spin and move in unison. "What is this?" Girl asked.
"Stop it," Alfaic requested. "I can feel that."
"Okay." Girl said. She cocked her wrist to the side to allow them to fall toward the ground. Alfaic prevented them from doing so.
"What are you doing!?" Alfaic shouted.
Girl lifted her left hand into the air, and the halo-designed sensors followed through. She swept her left hand in the air to drag them behind her back. She closed her eyes and tied her hair into a long side-swept ponytail before letting the two glowing halo-shaped sensors tie it into place. Her hair fell back against her hips as she opened her orchid-gleaming eyes. The patch on her left armor encased in Alfaic's alloy armor opened up, revealing her tattoo of LYNBG52 etched on.
"You're just dying to make me upset, aren't you?" Alfaic's voice rang loud and clear through Girl's armor. "I offer you a way to survive, and you use my sensors as a hair tie?"
"Silence." Girl said.
"What?!" Alfaic retorted aggressively. "That's it. No more sass, Girl. I want answers. Who the hell are you and why did you take me out of there? I never asked for any of this!"
"I need you," Girl said. "I must kill the Lords of METIS."
"I don't even know what that means, damn it!"
A roar in the distance stopped her tracks. She turned around with Alfaic as the rotten beast returned to seek revenge, crashing down to the transportation factory with deep arousal for Girl's blood. As it approached the two, the rotten beast's head split apart in two, revealing a massive lump of worm-like tentacles controlling the beast from within that sprouted and flailed rapidly. The miniature parasites screeched as its flesh and skin tore off, no longer resembling a majestic lion, but an encapsulation of someone's worst nightmares.
"Damn it!" Alfaic cried in utter disgust. "Get me away from-"
Girl stopped Alfaic in its tracks, gripping its handle tightly to unleash its electrifying capabilities. The golden aura circulating Alfaic's blade and her armor began to glow immensely. She prepared a combat stance that had her right leg slipping back with her left knee slightly bent. Her posture was perfect; almost robotic-like for how flawless and beautiful she appeared. Even Alfaic admired her gracefulness and majestic stance, refusing to say anything she prepared herself.
Multiple parasitic tendrils launched forward to grapple onto Girl, but she counterattacked with ease. With a single swift slice, Girl completed a full 360 rotation in the air as she sliced the mass off gracefully. Alfaic was not controlling her movements; it only provided her with the tools to slay the beast. The beast cried out in anger as it retracted the torn-apart parasites, watching it flail until death on the ground.
Girl landed on the ground, doing a complete split and disregarding the beast's intimidation. The beast retaliated by attempting to grab Girl, but she swept through the floors once again one step ahead, reappearing behind the rotten beast to slice off its entire left paw. The sword attached to the paw detached itself as well, leaving it open to be used.
"Blade!" Girl shouted, reaching for her halo-shaped sensors behind her ponytailed hair. She tossed them at the beast's fallen blade, leaving Alfaic to attach itself to it.
"How did you know I could..." Alfaic's voice cut off as Girl rushed toward the wounded beast. She leaped into the air and plunged Alfaic into the beast's brain, lodging it inside to electrify it from within. She then recalled Alfaic's sensors to launch the giant blade toward the inside of the beast's opened parasitic weak point, piercing through to create an entire rain of blood swarming down upon them.
Girl managed to slay the beast in a fiery sea of blood, but before she could escape, the beast's remaining paw swiped down on her body with its predatory claws. The impact sent Girl flying toward the ground as she collided with one of the liquid nitrogen canisters. The impact exploded a canister, firing a spray of it toward Girl's left arm to freeze it entirely. The beast collapsed on the ground as it screamed its last cries, dead upon the parasite's destruction.
"Whoa," Alfaic spoke, surprised at the result of her talented combat prowess. "Wait, but your arm. What are you going to-"
Girl did not hesitate once more. She tore off her left arm completely and tossed it on the ground, watching it shatter into multiple pieces of bitter icy flesh. Alfaic shouted in complete and utter disgust, leaving an emotionless Girl to close her eyes as an unknown congealed gray liquid spouted out of her arm to substitute blood.
"Hey, what are you-" Alfaic asked.
In the blink of an eye, Girl regenerated her entire left arm like a sprout becoming a full-fledged tree. Even the tattooed patch of LYNBG52 returned as well to supplement her torn arm. Alfaic regenerated its golden armor over her left arm, revealing the tattoo through the opened patch. Girl opened her eyes and kneeled to inspect it.
"What... are you?" Alfaic stated. "You just tore off your whole arm. That's just terrifying."
"What is terrifying?" Girl asked.
"You just tore off your entire left arm. Didn't you feel scared?"
"I did not feel anything. What does it mean to be scared?"
"Scared?" Alfaic asked. "Don't you know what it means to be afraid?"
"What does it mean to be afraid?" Girl asked, rotating her left arm.
"It means exactly that! I don't know, not wanting to do something because you think something bad will happen? I mean, normal people don't tear off their arms like that and walk it off. Humans... humans don't tear off their arms. If they did, they would die."
"What does it mean to be human?" Girl asked, looking down at her chest.
"Stop asking questions," Alfaic said. "Or I might go insane from all of this."
Girl recalled the halo-shaped sensors and placed them back on her hair as a tie. She then stroked the back of the sensors and her hair to stun Alfaic with even more tickles to distract him. "No. You will answer me now. What does it mean to be human?" She asked.
"Stop doing that!" Alfaic cried. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you just one thing, and we can save the rest for later."
Girl looked down at her sensors and listened to Alfaic.
"Being human means... you feel something rather than nothing. You can become happy, sad, angry, jealous, or a million other emotions. And it's a natural feeling. And the feeling is when you have a certain idea in your head or your heart that makes you who you are today. But nobody wants to be sad or angry. People want to be happy." Alfaic explained.
"Happy," Girl said. "I may have heard of this word before. But I have never experienced it before."
"It's not that complicated. Haven't you felt good about anything?"
"No," Girl replied. "I have not."
"Well..." Alfaic experimented. "So be it, then."
Girl blinked her eyes, unsure of what to think. She looked at her arm and questioned herself for a brief moment. Her orchid eyes traced off into the distance, where the jammed door began to open on its own after the shattered lever began to work its circuitry from the backup generators underneath the disc.
"What now, Lyn?" Alfaic asked.
Girl grasped Alfaic's pure self, the blade that seized her victory from the rotten monstrosity. She looked at it and examined its details, pondering in thought. "What did you call me?" She asked.
"Noticed?" Alfaic chuckled. "I'm tired of referring you as Girl. I made it up from the tattoo on your arm. What do you think?"
Girl closed her eyes and searched for a single ounce of emotion in her body that responded to it. But before she could do so, the same female that she made a carbon copy of reappeared in her mind; the white vista where her gleaming exterior smiled back upon her memories exerted a small ounce of a feeling she was introduced as happiness. The smile of the unknown female in her mind made Girl want to copy it as well.
"I can see you like it." Alfaic said.
Before she had known it, Girl lightly smiled at her new nickname. "Lyn, then." She reintroduced herself.
"So... you really are capable of feeling something," Alfaic said. "I guess that's a good start."
"Hmm." Lyn said, standing up and placing Alfaic on the back holster of her slim armor. Her face retracted into her usual neutral expression. "Maybe."
Lyn stepped out of the gigantic door and found herself at the very bottom of the disc's pathway. She found herself staring toward the lush green skyscraper in the distance before shutting her eyes.