[Can't Opt Out]

Arc F1.7 | Chapter 33: A Friend You Can’t Be Rid Of

The first thing Levi became aware of, after his head stopped trying to explode, was his Censor screaming at him about how stupid he was in a cascade of information he couldn’t understand but knew, based on vibes alone, was a general disapproval and hated of his entire being. In theory, Censors didn’t have personalities of their own unless one was programmed into it. In theory, those personalities weren’t real and could be overwritten as needed. In theory, Censors could reprimand their owners, but they didn’t really have on them.In practice, Levi knew his Censor hated him. It didn’t really bother him, but it was interesting, to be hated by a thing that existed for him alone. Personally, he thought it resented that, out of all the people it could have been installed into, it had been him. Emilia thought him insane. Halen thought him insane. Such things weren’t possible—Censors, after all, prioritized their owner’s safety and wellbeing above all else. So, it hate its owner—such things wouldn’t be good for their mental health, surely?

Yet, none of them could deny that his Censor didn’t seem to like him much. Both Halen and Emilia had tried reinstalling the CS and giving him different hacks over the years. Still, it seemed to hold a low-grade hatred for him, not something too obvious, but there nonetheless. That insidious energy of a who wouldn’t save you a seat at lunch, who would to invite you to events, who would make snide comments and then laugh and say . It didn’t really bother him—couldn’t bother him, with his black knot—and maybe that was why it could hate him? It wasn’t obviously detrimental to his mental health to have an AI who hated him living within his mind, so, what did it matter to said AI? It wasn’t prioritizing his well-being, after all.

When he’d had his Censor upgraded, it had been done clean, as though his previous Censor had been damaged and nothing could be transferred from it during the upgrade process. No one have wanted to transfer a single shred of his previous Censor’s knowledge or records into his new one—there had been this big plan to his old records, in an attempt to keep his old Censor from his new one with its hatred. No one had expected his new Censor to immediately hate him, and yet, it had, and all that planning had been for naught.

It was odd, was all, and as more of his mind and senses came back to him, Levi was left with the awareness that it hated him—had hated him from the moment it was installed, despite him having done nothing to it. Now, its hatred was a bit justified. That initial hatred, so immediate and unflinching on his Censor’s part, would always be an oddity, though.

The second thing Levi became aware of was Gëon holding him to his chest, softly calling his name. Third, his sight returned, kneeling beside the kid the aether had led them to and telling him it was okay—that they wouldn’t hurt him. The kid was still out of it, Levi thought. He was also pretty sure Gëon had extended that core-version of junk skills around them, seeking to keep the kid from attacking them. Bold of the kid, if he attacked them.

The fourth thing his brain focused on was all the notifications and messages. There were so many—far more than was usual, when only a few group relays would receive messages while he was offaether for far less time than all that had been.

Amongst the various notifications, Levi had been added to a handful of group relays—more offshoots of their original group, by the looks of it, as well as one connected to Miles and Malcolm, someone having apparently fessed up while he was gone. He’d also been added to some documents summarizing what had happened. There was a tab for his own report, and his Censor dutifully began to fill it in while also making the executive decision to allow the download of several skills and functions that had been flagged for him, as well as a recon-skill-like sequential-skill-use suggested by… Emilia? Emilia who looked dead but wasn’t dead and was communicating with a xphern?

he asked, blinking wildly as messages stacked on top of messages. Old ones. New ones. Random updates. Updates to him and Samina—who was apparently back in the cave system still, offaether and looking for a kidnapped Lux? Well, fuck. That was—

Behind him, Gëon was in the midst of asking why he wanted to know if his xphern was working. Levi wasn’t listening, his heart rate skyrocketing as the recording of Baylor accidentally pushing Darrian into the city played over his mind. Had Baylor not immediately plunged after his friend—and actually managed to land them safely—Levi would have killed him.

Torn him to shreds.

Did Baylor think he himself was terrifying?

It would be nothing compared to the torment Levi would layer over him, if he was the cause of Darrian being hurt.

Levi told these things to Baylor as he shook himself, noting the way Gëon’s energy was gently brushing over him. It was sad, he thought, that the man’s energy couldn’t press inside him anymore. Interesting that he knew that, as well—knew that his Censor was back and would throw a tantrum if energy touched his meridians? Also, it was interesting that Coral was able to use her abilities on Censor owners but this man wasn’t—or, at least, not quite in the same way? Maybe it was a practice issue? Or because Coral had a Censor herself? It wasn’t like her abilities didn’t work on core users, but she had practiced a bit with various Free Coloniers over the years.

In response to his threats, Baylor sent along a collection of videos of himself and Darrian. Apparently, Baylor had decided they were friends, Darrian accepting the friendship with ease. They were cute together. Levi wanted to bury himself in their little snuggle puddles… but perhaps only after the Lüshanian teenager seen in quite a few of the clips was clean? She looked rather disgusting, and glancing through the theories that she’d been living in the sewers and was coated in shit and piss…

Yeah, perhaps he wouldn’t join any snuggle puddles with the girl until she was clean.

In front of him, the kid suddenly seemed to realize what was happening, his previously limp and blinking body bolting straight and scrambling backwards—or trying to; as the space he had been tucked into was rather small, he didn’t go far. He was tiny, with little muscle on him and so dirty that Levi couldn’t even guess at what colour any of him was, other than some shade of brown. Those eyes were beautiful, though—the sort of eyes the freaks in Mitine Dyn might buy, allegedly.

the kid began to ask, his eyes skimming over all of them, confused and fearful and this, at least, Levi was good at.

Kids, he’d always thought, were easy. They were also easily kidnapped, and it wasn’t uncommon for the clones to be left tracking him down after he’d swiped up some of their younger members, intent to take them on a playdate.

he cheered, letting himself fall to the kid’s level. The shadow kid was squatting as well, but as much as they must have been about the same age as this kid—although, with how tiny and clearly affected by a harsh life they both were, Levi would have guessed them each anywhere between eight and fifteen, maybe older if they were low-devs.

Gëon said, which Levi knew was good information but didn’t exactly help with getting the kid to calm down.

Over his vision, more and more notifications popped up—mostly people asking if he was okay and telling him he was an idiot. Nothing new, and nothing that needed his immediate attention. So, those could be brushed aside until later. One of the other notifications was about one of those functions that had just been downloaded being installed—something from Emilia, before she’d been taken offaether. Apparently, she was thinking the oil that had taken her offaether was the same shit that had taken Olivier de la Rue offaether as well?

Yet another thing to ask Gëon about—those items were adding up, and he’d never actually bothered to tell the older man why he wanted to know if his xphern was down. Aethernet-blocking oil. The xphern transmission network being largely down. A million other things that he wasn’t going to bother putting on the list just yet—he’d have to read through everything properly once the kid wasn’t at risk of bolting or trying to attack them with his abilities. What had Gëon and called this kid? Ominous.

Levi asked, giving the kid one of his less deranged smiles. His eyes tilted, his mouth pulled into a lovely line of mirth. he asked, thinking back to what Gëon had suggested: that this kid had activated his abilities in order to get away from Fräthk’s people.

Nodding, the kid muttered that someone named had been watching them. In the background, Gëon muttered that he’d been worried Hwris was wandering about; then, suddenly, the energy he had been using to make sure the kid didn’t use his abilities on them released and expanded, searching. Apparently, the kid wasn’t at risk of attacking them? That was fast.

The boy’s eyes skimmed over Gëon, Levi glancing back to find the man had turned away, and while he looked relaxed, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants—and fuck did the man have a nice ass—it was easy to tell he was on edge. Was the kid really no longer at risk of attacking them? Or, perhaps this Hwris person was dangerous? Considering the blast of power this kid had put out, that was impressive.

Levi turned back to the kid only to be left dizzy as the function Emilia had created finally finished loading up—a process which seemed to be combined with having to download all the maps everyone had been making, overlaying them until they made something that resembled Falmíer, but with a thousand roads missing and several sections layered over with the implication that they might not be correct. Those one seemed to be from the group still above them, mapping out what they could see of the city so those of them within it could at least have a vague idea of how the roads and buildings were laid out.

Information about the locations of the various governmental departments—that had to go on the list of things to ask Gëon as well. Halen’s group had managed to make it into one of the buildings hanging around the spire—and what a dramatic recording that one was—but if Gëon had any knowledge of the place…

Setting his Censor to start mapping as they went as well, Levi sent out a burst of a recon skill. Everyone tensed and he was left awkwardly explaining that he just wanted to figure out where he was, more or less, and match it up with the map his friends had been making of the city. he laughed, muttering that he should have realized they’d be able to feel the skill activate.

the kid asked, letting his arms and legs relax a little—they’d pulled in even tighter when Levi let his skill go.

Levi agreed, muttering that even the weaker of Gëon’s people would at least be able to feel the recon skill being used this close.

the kid asked, his eyes huge as he stared up at the man, who had taken to turning about, his abilities spreading around them.

Gëon looked back at the boy, his gaze suggesting that he thought the kid impressive for being able to tell that much before he told that even the weaker of his subordinates had to go through a basic training of sorts, in order to make sure they weren’t complete imbeciles.

At that, the kid’s lips twitched, his mouth opening to say something as he further relaxed, when Levi’s recon skill finally managed to figure out where he was, based on a rather recognizable museum a few streets away.

he squeaked, cutting off whatever the kid was going to say.