Project Void Buffer was the largest negative modifier ever applied to the trash planet since its conception.
Ester didn't know if there were even worse things that happened to the Trash planet since history wasn't exactly his strong suit, but to his knowledge, the calamity left behind by Project Void Buffer was one that had no equal.
Holes torn in the ozone layer would allow the heat to escape the trash planet, lowering the overall ambient temperature to brand new lows found only during the ice age.
When the planets core shifts due to an outside force, the crust surrounding that core is inevitably effected, tearing apart as it formed brand new mountains and valleys.
As a planet is shoved out of its natural orbit away from its home star, the axis of a planets poles inevitably shift, inevitably affecting the magnetic fields coating the trash planet.
Each one of these calamities would be remembered by people for generations to come if they happened by themselves, but Project Void Buffer had the capacity to tie all of these calamities together and gift them to the Trash Planet in one big parcel of Fuck you.
And as two grey haired inhabitants of the planet receiving this big parcel of Fuck You, they were in the midst of experiencing all of these negative effects.
The sound of the Driller was prominent as it clumsily bumbled forwards on dented wheels and misshapen treads, the clatter of metal, steam and electricity entering two people's ears
"D-d-damn it Eva! Drive a b-bit s-safer!" Ester yelled through chattering teeth, his body frozen with a mixture of tension from the Driller desperately trying to send him flying and a deep penetrating cold.
[I'm. Trying!]
Hurriedly wrestling with the controls pulling against her will, the lights in the Driller flickered on and off sporadically as she tried to prevent the vehicle from ending the both of their lives at the bottom of a valley.
Hurriedly jolting them away from the chasm as large as Ash town was deep, Eva let out a hissed sigh of relief as control was returned to her hands.
Swiftly locking the vehicle down before the off chance of it going rogue could kill them both, Eva slumped into her spinny chair.
[Damn it all Ester, why can't we have a Puretech system for driving?] Eva cursed, rubbing her sweaty palms against her pants. [I can drive from anywhere there is a screen thanks to the Aethertech system in the big beast, but that's no good when the planet can drive it to.]
"F-first off" Ester abruptly raised a finger as he shivered. "Don't you dare c-call the Driller a big beast when that's my nick."
Eva let out a choked hiss of laughter.
He raised another finger whilst ignoring his significant others amusement. "S-second off, to replace the Aethertech driving system for a Puretech one will take time, m-mostly because its difficult to replace all the wiring without affecting any of the other systems in the Driller but it'll take time n-nonetheless."
Ester eyed Eva as she glanced back at the screens. "Time that me and you both know only have an unidentified but finite amount of before we meet the Void."
Eva motioned to speak before Ester interrupted her with another raised finger.
"T-third, if you f-force me to replace it, I'm p-pretty sure I'll die of the c-cold wind blowing in from the Project destroying the ozone l-layer."
Ester raised a fourth finger, suppressing a shiver as he began to speak with a hint of finality in his voice.
"F-fourth, if you wait just a bit l-longer, I'll finish with my modified f-faraday's c-cage and we'll be p-peachy keen."
[Can I say two things?]
"G-go"
[What is a peach?]
"I d-dunno, picked the saying up from s-somewhere, next q-question."
[How soon can you finish the Faraday's cage for the entire Driller?]
Ester calculated a rough range in his mind. "Roughly... t-three to five hours?"
[Bzzz...] A buzz escaped Eva's mouth as she raised her hand in bewilderment, her eyes twitching with swift realization. [Aje a a sf wgt kbf wefdm ask]
Hearing the distorted garble come out of her mouth, Ester bitterly smiled. "E-either your speaker is broken a-again, or the shifting magnetic fields is doing something to it."
Eva let out a garble from her speaker that he could only describe as frustration.
---
During the forced reprieve caused by the planet trying to kill them by taking control of the wheel, Ester was in the midst of observing the ADP unit in his hands again.
It wasn't in the best condition mayhaps because he forcefully ripped it out of the tables underside without properly removing it, but it was intact enough for him to use again.
Not that he could.
As the direct but better cousin of the EMP, unlike the Electromagnetic Pulses that are only able to target electronics, frying and destroy them several times, the Aetherdynamic pulses are incredibly indiscriminate in what it affects.
And when Ester said indiscriminate in what they affect, he meant it as even the ADP as the source itself isn't safe from its own powers, making it a single use consumable.
Of course, just because the ADP has become inert doesn't mean that it's impossible to rearm it and fire the pulse again.
'But not right now.'
Ester tightened his grip around the ADP's shell, the metal slightly indenting inwards as he recalled their last moments in Ash town.
When the ADP fired its Aether effecting pulse, Ester and Eva who were trying to silence the man who revealed that he knew their identities as the Gravesmith's kids were both forced to kiss the ground as the pulse robbed their body of any ability to move.
Remembering the sensation of his arms and legs turning into useless reeds unable to do but wave in the breeze all the while his mind was still as active as ever, it was a horrifying sensation.
He was somehow able to get his right arm to move after a desperate struggle, but all that achieved was cutting the hem of Daniel's shirt.
All Daniel needed to do to kill him was just step to his left side and place his heel onto his neck, slowly pressing his weight down onto it, a mounting pressure that would build more and more, a mounting pressure that would eventually push away its resistance with a snap.
'Fuck.'
It was a horrifying memory to look back to, to imagine all the ways he could've died back in Ash town, unable to do anything.
'Like back then.'
Flashes of a gun going off echoed at the forefront of his mind as he stared, helpless to do anything.
Unable to do anything
Incapable to do anything
Powerless to do anything
Weak
Useless
Incompetent
Helpless, IncapablePowerlessWeakUselessIncompetentInept-
Something soft hugged him.
'?'
Being pulled away from the memories by the soft sensation, Ester raised his head upwards to see what it was only to be greeted with a feminine gaze of stormy grey eyes and familiar grey hair.
Eva.
The dark well of emotions building up in his chest melted away like a curse in front of fire as he took in and let out several deep breaths, forcefully calming his rapidly rising heart rate.
Releasing the ADP unit in his hand, he replaced it with Eva's hands wrapped around his neck, giving it a firm squeeze as she tapped away at his chest, worry evident in her fingertips.
Because at the end of the day, despite all of their murderous banter and dirty jokes, they were all that they had left in this planet rife with trash and muck.
"I'm... fine now Eva" Feeling just a bit lighter, Eva gave a doubtful gaze his way before disappearing into the Engine compartment.
Ester took in another deep breath.
If he finished modifying Faraday's cage, he wouldn't fall into those dark thoughts again.
And luckily, the modification of a Faraday's cage into somethingg that's able to resist the effects of the planet's piles spinning around on everything but its head coincided with his holy duty (Self Proclaimed) of creating something that could resist the effects of an Aetherdynamic pulse
The desire to call his task holy might've been a bit much, but holiness always involved good, and if good didn't involve saving lives then what was good?
Amusing himself in his mind as he slowly got back into the swing of things, he clicked the butt of the Glyph Scribe.
---
Jay stared blankly at the sight in front of him, the sound of his heart competing with the roar of the crackling glass screaming within the purple tornado.
As the leader of a small underground village with its population nearing the third digit, the past day was chaotic.
First, an earthquake struck moments after all of the seismic sensors had been triggered.
Thankfully, all of the people had the sense of mind to get to somewhere safe when the alarms began to blare, so although they were all trapped underground, at least no one to his knowledge had died.
Second, because Earthquakes didn't usually shake the entire planet at a constant rate for a full twelve hours, Jay wanted to find out if the cause was somewhere on the surface.
But because the way up to the surface was blocked off by a cave in, Jay was forced to rely on an old crummy radio to contact his best friend and the village's best scavenger, Z.
Third, while he was on the radio, his best friend Z began to cry about the sky being caught on fire, his voice tinged with pain from having his face melted into his mask, causing Jay to recall how he was a recovering addict of Blasphemy.
That was until he cried out for his Mommy and fell silent, something Jay knew wasn't Z coming onto the line, mimicking him before possibly breaking the radio.
And fourth?
Well the fourth was the thing right in front of him.
It was... something that attempted to be a female human.
A tall, freakishly so human woman complete with two arms, two legs, two breasts, one torso and one head.
Jay had seen many wanderers of all splices and mods, but he could attest to the fact in his entire life, none looked as terrifying as she did.
Even naked as it was, Jay could feel no sexual desire towards it as it moved forwards step by step.
Two legs walked, bending at different sections of the leg from each other, often bending at different points than they first did when Jay spotted her.
Two arms moved, five linear growths twitched in each arm, sporadically exposing greyish bone as the wire like flesh joined into a hand with five fingers at the end of the arm.
One torso swayed, something resembling a ground torpedo lodged within the liquid flesh, the surface of the lake briefly revealing the ends of a metal weapon.
And finally, its face, an empty bowl of swirling black mist that consumed everything it touched.
Corrupted.
Jay fell to his knees as the Corrupted neared him, the purple tornado swirling above head swirling around loudly as the remaining momentum kept it going.
The sound of crackling glass entered his ears as he recalled something as it neared him, its arm splitting into six parts.
'History wasn't written by the winners, it was written by all those who are left.'
Jay felt his mind wander as his flesh melted under the Corrupted's touch.
'If the Corrupted had her way.'
Who would be left?
---
DAYS UNTIL THE CORRUPTED OF C-POINT REACHES THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE [???]
+++
TWO CHAPTERS AT THE COST OF MY SANITY
TREEEEEEEEEE
[Rewrite]
[In hindsight, I probably should've planned this better.]