because i'm cool i'm going to try adding music references into the chapter titles. 50 bitcoin if you can name the song this one's title is from.
V1 receives its marked essay by Friday. Only partial credit. Red pen underlining half of the text. It scans the corrections quickly. Mostly pointing out the flaws in its arguments, imperfect reasoning, points it had never even considered.
It pockets the essay. From beside it, someone splutters.
Gabriel’s own work has suffered the same fate, with only a few of the original words peeking out from between the corrections. The piece of paper is crumpled in his hands, as if he’d been holding it in a clenched fist. As the rest of the students start filing out of the lecture hall, feathered wings flapping, he says—
‘You have not been proven right, so it seems.’
The bravado in his voice is undercut by the tremble that barely hides within it. V1 flutters its wings and signs, ‘Does that bother you?’
‘No—What are you insinuating?’
Nothing, but it is fun to watch him get all rattled like this.
‘I’ll just have to get it right next time,’ it signs.
‘You—! Does this subject not command your respect?’
‘Not any more than Accounting.’ It gets up. ‘Which I have to get to now. Goodbye.’
‘You get back here RIGHT NOW!’
‘Church parking lot. After lunch,’ it signs at him, making its motions as lazy as possible. It is out of the door right as his halo turns a blinding gold.
If Mirage were here maybe she’d see something in him; the way he approaches failure, his sense of superiority to compensate for something. But V1 has only ever solved its problems one way and one way only; it is built for war, after all.
Hell, it was itching for a good fight, and an archangel it had never fought before. Maybe it’d beat some self-actualisation into him. That had worked for V2, after all.
Lost in thought, it trips over a Sentry’s outstretched foot. V1 runs for it as the machine beeps indignantly at it, charging up a shot as retaliation.
It rounds the corner just as the beam goes off, missing it by a hair.
~~~
Gabriel is already waiting for it when it arrives. V1 slows down to a jog to calm its whirring fans. Internal temperature 70 degrees Celsius—too high. Too much going on inside its processor.
Just the way it likes it.
But for now it turns its attention to the archangel. Gabriel’s wings and halo are still burnished that bright gold, armour stained red with… blood? Or maybe the manifestation of his rage. Oh, he is pissed.
V1 folds its wings close to its back.
‘Straight to the point. I am a machine built for war,’ it says. ‘Violence is a language I speak well.’
‘And I am God’s Will,’ Gabriel growls. A spear of light manifests in his right hand. ‘Let’s settle this.’
V1 lowers itself close to the ground, animal-like. With a flap of his wings, Gabriel leaps into the air, hovering.
The sunset complements his rage well.
They pounce.
V1 has not been allowed to bring its firearms with it, but no matter. It dodges Gabriel’s thrown spear, then slides under a ring of spinning blades. The angel’s attacks are relentless, but V1 has a few tricks up its sleeve.
Pulling a coin out of its wings, it throws it into the air, barely avoiding a greatsword of pure light. V1 tracks the coin, waiting for an opportunity—
Gabriel pauses for a moment. ‘Scared, machine?’
It lunges forward, catches the coin in its Feedbacker, and punches it as hard as it can.
It ricochets straight into Gabriel’s face with a ‘plink!’ Gabriel yelps and staggers backwards, the sheer strength of the hit forcing him to the ground. V1 is on him in a moment, weighing down his legs with its own, pinning him down by the wrists. Gabriel yells, struggles for a while, calling it an ‘insignificant fuck’ and a ‘crime against God.’ Will he just shut up? It releases one of his wrists and wraps its fingers around his throat, squeezing lightly to communicate the threat.
Gabriel stutters and goes silent.
Well, that was unexpected.
His wings are back to their normal sky blue, though with a tinge of gold creeping up his primary feathers. V1 keeps its hand there for a while to feel his pulse suddenly speed up, the unevenness of his breathing. Has his skin always felt this hot to the touch?
V1 looks down. Despite the armour, his waist is exposed. Wouldn’t that be impractical, having something so vital on display? It releases his throat and goes for his waist, wanting to know how the gold lines feel under its touch…
Gabriel comes to his senses. With a kick and a flap of his wings he throws V1 off. The machine skids a fair distance on the tarmac, letting out a high electronic whine. Gabriel gets to his feet, still breathing heavily. He brings his wings forward and stares at the gold highlights in something that looks remarkably like horror.
‘I demand a rematch,’ he says, a hint of hysteria in his voice.
V1 leaps to its feet. ‘I’d win.’
‘Did you really think that was my full strength?’
‘Like you can reach it in your current state,’ it signs. Oh, this is getting interesting. ‘You seem bothered.’
Gabriel forces himself to take a deep breath.
‘Fine,’ he says. ‘FINE! Tomorrow.’
‘Next week,’ V1 says. ‘I have all these assignments.’
‘Backing out?’ he taunts, even as he folds his wings, a beautiful fusion of blue-and-gold, into nothingness.
‘Next week,’ it signs, already beginning to walk away. He bristles but does not follow it. ‘And don’t forget rehearsal on Wednesday.’
It signs a heart in his direction. He makes a noise like a dying cow, then goes silent. V1 blows him a kiss for good measure before running away at top speed, leaving him with… whatever it has just awakened.
updates have a good chance of slowing down. i am back at my job because i love money and i have a side project now. no guarantee i'll finish either this project or that one but i can try. either way i get practice in music production and stuff.
contemplating making tracks for each of these chapters but it's honestly a lot. still have a lot to learn