[Chapter #1.1.3 - Impactful Enigma]

As Tykal and Johnny arrived at the bridge, the Captain was already waiting for them, a tablet in hand, seemingly reviewing notes. Once he noticed them approaching the bridge, he turned to them with a smile.


The Captain greeted you in his usual polite voice. "Matty is also joining us via her remote link so we should get right to business as we walk towards where we keep the ASSW detained." He said, gesturing for you to follow him as he led you back away from the bridge. As you walked, he'd explain the situation.

"The data we've collected on the ASSW has proven quite scarce. For one, the ASSW has been refusing to cooperate and has had several violent outbursts as our scientists tried examining their body. As such, we have been sorely unable to locate their Module nor identify their Plug. What little we have gathered implies that the ASSW is no longer part of the collective. Additionally, we have identified a single marking at their right shoulder. It was this symbol." The Captain hands you the tablet upon which the greek letter ζ, or Zeta, has been photographed. "ζ - 41, we have been unable to decipher the meaning behind this apparent serial number and model. Our databases provide no models titled 'zeta', so even its build remains a mystery to us, especially with what we've seen from them." He stops talking for a moment. "Tearing holes into Anti-Space or summoning Shadows isn't something just anyone can do. It is a fearsome power that, I presume, had they been at full power when facing you, you wouldn't be standing here today. So from what we know, they must be a new model of weapon created by the Hivemind, one unlike anything the world has ever seen before. Oh, and we've decided to dub the ASSW as Zeta for now."

You walk down the corridors and take a couple of lifts down before arriving at what looks to be a slightly run down and beat down storage area. There are doors to smaller storage compartments lining the walls and the Captain takes you towards one of them. He knocks on the door and immediately, a loud thud resounds through the storage area, taking you by surprise, as something heavy and metallic is smashed against the other side of the door the Captain just knocked on. "GO AWAY! I'M NOT GOING TO THAT HAG, YOU'RE ALL JUST IDIOTIC STUPID MERCENARY LIARS AND YOU GOT LUCKY THAT YOU'RE EVEN STANDING AFTER FACING ME!" The familiar voice, soft and pitched perfectly so that it didn't quite sound either masculine or feminine drifts from behind the door as well. The Captain chuckles and shrugs at you. "Now now, Zeta, we're just friends here." He says and you can hear footsteps as if someone's standing up and skittering to the other side of the room. "Oh shit it's that silver haired dude." Zeta says, sounding worried. The Captain smiles and pushes the door open. Behind the door, at the other side of the room, stands the green haired ASSW, looking like a scared animal, but ready to lash out if necessary. Their right arm looked like a mess and unusable, but it was still tied behind their back with the left arm. Next to the door laid a metal chair that Zeta had obviously thrown at the door.


"Hah, misunderstandings, like I believe you. Look, you've even brought that ASSW with you again! Are you a representative of the hivemind at this ship!?" Zeta said, staring daggers at Johnny.

Tykal was not too happy that the murderous ASSW was still on the ship. As the current biggest threat to his well-being Tykal prioritized it as something to keep an eye on. Tykal had got changed after his surgery with some linen that were folded in his living quarters. He didn't question where it came from or how they knew his measurements Tykal was just happy to not be wearing smelly soiled clothes. Tykal wore a module on his right arm armed with his new Stolas Plug. He was happy to see the Captain greeting him. After their conversation on the bridge Tykal felt a little better about his conflicted emotions. Tykal nodded greeting the Captain back. "Hello Matty."

As they were detailed on the ASSW Tykal crossed his arms. He still carried a foul taste in his mouth for that ASSW. The last attack caused him to remember the pain more than anything. That feeling brought on a dark storm of anger begging for vengeance inside of him. "You're telling me you didn't restrain that thing?" he said after hearing the ASSW had been violent. Tykal took the tablet and looked at the strange emblem. Tykal looked concerned when the Captain mentioned controlling shadows was abnormal and that they wouldn't be here if this Z-41 was at full strength. The following line about the Hivemind struck a cord with Tykal. He had heard it a few times now. "So what is this Hivemind anyways? Given the name I have a rough idea but we're not from this timeline so please. Indulge us."

Tykal heard the metallic thud causing him to jump back some, his knives reflexively forming in his fingers. When he heard the screaming the knives disappeared and Tykal sighed, "I told you earlier, we're not your enemies." Tykal looked to the Johnny then the Captain, "Perhaps we should fill it in on our situation. " Tykal looked back to Zeta, "Let's be rational. If we wanted you dead, we had the opportunity. If our goal to hand you over to this 'Hivemind' thing, would it not make more sense to restrain you completely. Besides thanks to you, this ship isn't moving anywhere for the time being." Tykal stated facts in a much more civil way than he did Drop Bear. Intimidation wasn't the tactic to use here. Besides even restrained Tykal wasn't sure they had a real chance in combat.

Well, that wasn't reassuring to hear about Zeta. The Green haired robot still has access to Proteus which isn't good Johnny is going to have to try his hardest not to mention it to Zeta then otherwise he might pull some crazy shit. "Understood let's see if we can talk some sense into him/her whatever pronoun we call Zeta." Johnny then greeted Matty before entering the room.

After they walked into the room Johnny noticed how freaked out Zeta was in the sight of the Captian "Interesting." Johnny then noticed how badly damaged Zeta's arm was, while normally seeing broken machinery didn't bother Johnny before for some reason he felt bad for Zeta."Sorry about you're arm Zeta I didn't realize I bit that hard into you. Fuck I did a number to you." Johnny continued to listen more to the conversation where he interjected on Zeta's and Matty's comments about Johnny's Pre-world. "Yeah I am not a true ASSW rather I am actually a cyborg as hard as that might be for you to believe. I bleed red just like Tykal and the Captain." Johnny then continued on for a little bit."Since I am not from this Post World as I am going to call it, I am unfamiliar with ASSWs, in fact, I thought you were a human when my group first saw you. So if it makes you feel better anything you say might potentially educate me about this strange new universe I find myself in. Like this Hivemind I keep hearing about. I tried asking about it multiple times but no one seems to bother telling me about it. So you could imagine how annoying that is for me as someone who is trying to learn what the hell is actually going on." Johnny was not expecting Zeta to believe anything he just said, in fact, Johnny fully suspects Zeta to go on a tangent about how Johnny is lying and how he is an agent of this hivemind he keeps hearing people talk about. Johnny was also worried he might've insulted the crew.

Johnny then went on to explain to Zeta about the two ASSW his group fought earlier "While my group was making their way through to the engine room we had to make a detour to get tools for the ship's engineer Eli, and right before we got to the tools we encounter two ASSWs one with Red Hair and One with a blue cape with an Incubus plug. We defeated them and I took the Incubus plug from the Blue Cape robot." Johnny had something of a serious look on his face as he remembered that fight seeing that man die at their hands filled him with disgust. But through recounting the events Johnny had an idea to gain Zeta's trust. "Captian do we still have those two bodies by any chance? or have we reduce them to scrap metal?" Johnny was hoping the Captian knew what Johnny was trying to pull here. He wants to present evidence of their destruction to Zeta as chances are s/he might recognize these particular ASSW. Johnny would ask questions about this Hag Zeta keeps mentioning but he thinks it would be better if Zeta has a chance to process what the Guitar Cyborg just said to him.

"Before I forget. My name is Jonathan Dyson but you can call me Johnny. Sorry I don't usually forget to say my name before going off on a tangent." Johnny doubted any of this would get Zeta to trust him more but Johnny figured it would be better, to be honest to the distressed ASSW as Johnny would gain nothing from lying to Zeta, what's there to actually hide. Maybe some embarrassing stuff from his childhood that information is going to the grave with Johnny.

Johnny then noticed the Spaghetti Matty was eating "Damn it now I am hungry."

"H-hello guys." Eli waved from the monitor as well. The camera shifted to his face for a moment, revealing his defeated expression, before shifting to Matty again.

"As you can see, there's no reason to restrain Zeta." The Captain smiled at Tykal, gesturing towards how Zeta was steering away from him. "I had to... intervene a couple of hours ago when they injured one of our researchers. They shouldn't be making any more trouble while I'm around."

"The silver haired dude is crazy, you're all crazy for following him!" Zeta protested, struggling with their tied hands.

The Captain continued addressing Tykal and Johnny's concerns. "The hivemind is exactly what it sounds like-an incredibly large number of ASSWs like the ones you've fought, connected via their minds. All of them function independently, but also dependently, always aware of all the others in their collective unconsciousness. The hivemind has one intent and that is to assimilate as many of the other races before destroying the rest. Where they step, only desolate land remains. Oh and Johnny, we kept the two ASSWs." He explained.

"..." Zeta looked away at the mention of the hivemind and first focused on Tykal. They frowned before smirking mockingly. "Yeah like, of course you didn't want me dead if the hag wanted you to bring me to her. And the ship being immobile? The hivemind could just come and pick me up, couldn't it? They have plenty of ships themselves." Zeta said, tapping their foot. "You can't fool me..."

The Captain brought the monitor closer to Zeta so that Matty could speak to them more directly. Zeta only glanced in the direction of the screen, but they furrowed their brow at the sight of Matty, looking wary at this ASSW. "Yes I disconnected. Easy for me to do, but dunno how someone like you managed it. I also don't recognize your model either. Strange." They commented before turning towards the screen in disgust as Matty began slurping. They looked away at the sight of the spaghetti whirlpool being sucked in by the robot. Eli's awkward apologetic laugh could be heard through the slurping. "S-sorry, sorry, apologies!"

However, what Matty said had made Zeta direct their attention to Johnny. "Not from this world? Hmm..." They said, looking down in thought. They then focused on Johnny as their eyes whirred and rotated like lens.


They closed their eyes and shuffled their head, looking away. "Sure, I believe that you aren't part of the hivemind. Maybe. I don't see how the hivemind could connect to such outdated hardware anyways. And no need to bring those two scraps to me, I knew they were following me and they wouldn't have stopped now until they got a hold of me unless they were interrupted." A moment of silence passed.

Tykal put his finger to his chin, "If this Hivemind linked with Zeta before, then it's highly likely it's aware of our existence and location and our Personas." Tykal looked at Zeta and sighed, "I'm a human from the past, do you truthfully believe deceiving you grants me any form of an advantage in this situation. If the goal is to either assimilate or destroy us, why would I help them?" Tykal took a step forward at the ASSW, "Apparently I'm a fan of making allies with Demons and I'm trying to be your ally as well. If this Hivemind is the problem then would it not make sense to join forces against a common enemy rather than be at odds?"

Tykal looked over at the Captain who seemed to be making the ASSW uneasy. He thought of several scenarios all ended badly but the one with the highest chance of success seemed to be catching everyone off guard for an honest answer. "Alright, why is Zeta so afraid of you so much? You two know each other?"

Well since Zeta was starting to become a lot calmer and since Matty opened with a good question. "Speaking of Proteus, the first thing I want to ask is this, we noticed there is a serial number on you're right shoulder that reads Zeta 41, is the Proteus plug unique to you? or do we have to worry about 40 ASSW's like you that are also packing a Proteus plug each? Because that's a scary thought a bunch of killer robots who can control shadows, I am assuming that's a Proteus ability how is it able to do that?" Johnny was actually really concerned about Proteus as it gave the whole group trouble when fighting a weaker Zeta. Johnny was dreading to think what a more competent android could do with a Proteus plug.

Johnny turned over to Tykal for a minute and just stared at him while he questioned the captain. Johnny had a facial expression that if it could be translated into words it would probably be Really?, Johnny had half the mind to remind Tykal of what the Captain said about Zeta attacking the researchers, but he figured he better let this play out so he could continue to question Zeta. Johnny's heart monitor changed from a wavey line to a green question mark as he asked Zeta another question. "Pardon me Zeta but you keep mentioning a hag? I am guessing she is a hivemind leader of sorts? Could you explain to us who this hag is?" Johnny dreaded the idea of more hivemind units coming to attack the S.S Philemon. Johnny's eyes widen when he realized a horrid possibility, the two ASSWs that were fought earlier and Zeta might have tracking devices. "Uh Captain has the two ASSWs been searched for any form of tracking device? or has that technology been lost since Pre-World?" Johnny was worried maybe carrying the dead bodies of ASSWs with super-advance technology was probably a bad idea now that he thinking about it. It would make sense to keep track of your robot soldiers so you can come to pick them up and dust them off so they can fight again. Johnny felt stupid for not realizing this could be a threat.... unless tracking technology has been lost in the past 3000 years, it was unlikely but it would make sense for a robot hivemind to have something like that.

Johnny was trying to keep a cool face he didn't want to look like a drip in front of everyone. Johnny decides to take a small break so Zeta could answer the questions Johnny presented to them. "Sorry if its a lot of questions but I do really need all the information I can get on this hivemind. They sound terrifying." Johnny would hope Zeta cooperated with everyone currently present in the room and talk more about the hivemind. Johnny still has a bunch of questions though, but the others should get a chance to speak first. Johnny was brimming with cautious curiosity and hunger thanks to Matty and Eli.

Zeta glared at Tykal. "No, you idiot. Once you're cut off from the hivemind they aren't linked with you anymore in any way. It's extremely tough and risky to do that, though. Like cutting off a part of yourself." They said, deadpanning the boy gloating about making friends with Demons. "I have no proof that you are a relic too like that artifact of an ASSW." They added.

"Tykal, I merely had to intervene between Zeta when he tried to slice our researchers to pieces. This is my first time meeting Zeta as well." He glanced at Zeta, who lowered their gaze before sticking their tongue out at the Captain. "My my, what crass behavior." He smirked.

Zeta turned to Matty. "Look, I have no idea what your model is, which just means you were likely never a part of the hivemind to begin with. I reckon you understand that, had you ever been part of it, simply by existing I too would be aware of you and your model." Zeta explained, seeing the ASSW down. They still stared daggers at the golden armed robot though. Their gaze narrowed when she began commenting on Proteus and, especially, the 'wonky module'. "Pssh, maybe I was just going easy on you. You can scan me all you want, Proteus is still encrypted against such trickery!" The ASSW smirked cockily. "And I'm not telling you anything about why I was being chased." They shook their head, looking away. Their brow furrowed and the edges of their lips sank in annoyance as Johnny continued the stupid questioning charade.

Tykal sighed, "I would've assumed AI would possess high enough intellect to refrain from such brash behavior." Tykal shook his head, "Also you missed the point." Tykal crossed his arms, "If those two ASSW were part of the Hivemind and boarded this ship looking for you, and the Hivemind has updates on your location then wouldn't it make sense to check the last known location. We're at danger here if we sit idly." Tykal looked to the Captain who surely should've came to a similar conclusion.

Tykal nodded in agreement with Matty as she spoke. Hel sneered some subconsciously at Zeta as he spoke, "Whether or not you choose to believe me being from a separate timeline is up to you. I'm only stating what I know. Personally I don't care what they do with you or your Proteus plug. From where I stand you're most likely to blame for us being here." Tykal sighed trying to gain some composure. He had fought the urge to mercilessly melt Zeta into liquid and scraps after their battle but was able to stave off his ill-intent thanks to his allies and sheer force of will. "I didn't ask to come here, I didn't want to fight, and I certainly don't wish to stay here and watch a machine with the mind of a child throw a temper tantrum." Tykal added giving Zeta a look of disapproval. "If you won't help us then you're simply a burden and a huge risk to the safety of the entire ship and everyone in it. If you won't see reason then I agree with Matty, it'd be wise to jettison it and leave it on its way."

Johnny was getting pissed off with the fucking nerve of Zeta. "Now listen here you little shit. This artifact was able to kick your ass. If you' were holding back with the intention of killing us then aren't you a fucking moron." Johnny started to stare daggers at Zeta just as s/he was doing so before. "You should be more advance than me for fuck sake you are 3000 years more advance then I am, but me a cyborg that wasn't even designed for combat still kicked your broken ass. You were overconfident and your arm is broken as a result." Johnny was hoping this point would sink into Zeta's clearly broken head.

Johnny also nodded with Matty and Tykal and said "I would've elected to tear Proteus from Zeta's grasp as that is a brilliant idea on Zeta's part. But we can just dump him in the cold expanses of space if that what you guys want to do." Johnny then had a small grin on his face. "I could also sing Nickelback to him. No one can handle listening to Nickelback. but that's just a suggestion." its a small idea, Johnny was hoping to get more information from Zeta but would go with whatever the group thinks is the best course of action. He just wanted to throw his 2 cents in. "I agree with Tykal we should probably search those two ASSWs to see if they have tracking devices. I would assume the hivemind would be competent enough to have some form of tracking. But then again they made Zeta so I am not setting the bar high just yet." Johnny figured that was enough insulting Zeta, for now, Johnny was beginning to worry he ran his mouth too much, but he figured he got his point across.

The Captain turned to the party to address the question that was left lingering before this entire shouting contest began. "Yes, those two can probably be tracked by the hivemind, but, honestly, it's already too late to do much about it." The Captain calmly explained before placing a hand over his eyes, his smile fading for a moment. "My oversight in the heat of the moment. We should have burned their bodies while we were still outside of space." He muttered, more to himself. "Consider this, we're immobile. Those two ASSWs have been marking their location from the start, meaning that, as soon as we had emerged from Anti-Space, the hivemind would've known our location. We cannot move and even if we destroyed them now or threw them out into space they could still track the mark back to this point." He sighed, shaking his head. "We do have some time to find a solution before they arrive here. Our shadowy guest had already seen to that." He added.

Zeta, meanwhile, looked absolutely flabbergasted. "NO, you wouldn't!" They said to Matty, they frown growing into a more worried expression. As everyone else joined Matty in her endeavor, Zeta would only grow more and more shocked and, frankly, scared. "You people are mad, all of you! Throw me out, you're all insane idiots! I crashed into the worst possible ship!"

"Now now, everyone, let's be calm. I never mentioned any of the scientist had been gravely injured." The Captain said and Zeta jumped to that excitedly. "Yeah, I never wanted to kill them! Like, I did nothing to them, just didn't want them to touch me all over... How would you guys feel if someone tried to strip you naked???" They said in a pleading tone. They seemed genuinely concerned about being thrown out despite their earlier words.

"It is true we don't gain much from keeping Zeta as things stand and, by handing him out to the hivemind, we might indeed gain some form of leverage with them in the future, but, the problem is, Zeta doesn't seem to want us to hand him over." The Captain said, looking you all over. "We don't know what the hivemind is planning to do with a weapon..." Zeta looked down at the mention of this word. "...like him. Handing Zeta over might prove problematic depending on the hivemind's plans."

Tykal smirked confidently seeing that they were in agreement on the decision to get rid of Zeta. Zeta's reaction and look of fear were the exact signs Tykal was waiting for. This was leverage, leverage that if used correctly could make everything go in favor of their side. Tykal looked at Zeta with the same creepily polite yet murderous grin he used on the drop bear. "That's 4 to 1 on throwing you into space. And still you haven't so much as apologized for damaging the ship, forcing combat with us, and what I can only assume is disrupt the fabric of the timeline and force me and everyone else onto a fantastic sci-fi adventure." Tykal added some venomous sarcasm in his voice at the word fantastic. "Now then, I'll state the facts again. If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead. If we wanted to trade you off to some Hivemind who clearly is a conflict of interest for us humans as a whole, you'd be unable to move so much as a finger, and now, if you continue to be brash and combative to the people YOU crashed into and YOU decided to go all homicidal killer robot on, we're going to throw you into space and let YOU figure it out." Tykal took a step back standing now between the Captain and Johnny he sighed, "If...." he paused for a moment as if he were conflicted about what he was saying and clearly showing signs of reluctance. Of course, this was an act. Tykal didn't like Zeta and he truly did blame Zeta for this whole mess. He also viewed Johnny as having soul and if Johnny had one than as much as he didn't like it that meant Zeta did as well and he couldn't damn a living soul even if they were an enemy. "If you were to assist us and let us examine both you and your plug. Behaved like a civilized individual. I don't see a reason jettison you. In fact, since you've already put a mark on the ship and we'll likely have to fight this Hive in the future, we could use your power. In return, we'd protect you as well until at the very least we can get you to a planet where you can continue your escape." Tykal threw out an offer. Given Zeta's behavior he'd likely decline or throw out some stipulations but with this at least they had an edge on diplomacy. Zeta seemed to need them for the moment and that necessity could create an ally. Tykal also wanted to know more about this Hivemind. The Captain was vague about many things and this world was too extraordinary for Tykal to rely on the knowledge he had alone. Perhaps Zeta had info that could be useful to getting him back home whether Zeta knew he had the knowledge or not.

QaS:
Tykal continues the interrogation

Johnny was visibly worried about that the hivemind might be after everyone on board the S.S Philemon. Johnny was afraid, he was feeling a fair chunk of dread, enough to cause the line on his heart monitor to start picking up in speed, it would be enough for someone to notice if they paid attention to it. "That ain't groovy at all." Johnny took a deep breath in order to calm asses the situation.

In stark contrast to how he acted a few minutes ago, Johnny calmed down and sighed a little as tried to address Zeta in a more calm but still agitated tone "Like Tykal said we wouldn't be dealing with this whole fiasco if it wasn't for you, innocent people were killed because of what happened. The ASSWs we had to deal with, slaughtered people who were just living their daily lives, I am sorry if we are acting a little hysterical for your taste Zeta, but you have to understand you royally fucked everyone on this ship by crashing into it. And chances are the Hivemind are now hunting us down like a pack of wolves. I think everyone else on board can agree with me when I say we don't want the Hivemind chasing us." Johnny's worried expression turned into a more serious expression "Zeta do you have a tracking device in you as well? Seeing as you were a hivemind ASSW, it would stand to reason, you might be chipped with a tracking device. If you were I hope you can turn it off otherwise it doesn't matter how much you run away from the Hivemind they are just going to keep sending more and more drones after you if they know your location." The cyborg wanted to take extra care to make sure the hivemind has absolutely no way of tracking down the ship. The idea of being a sitting duck did not sit well with Johnny.

Johnny would hear Tykal asking Zeta to cooperate with the crew and let them examine them and Proteus. Johnny would normally be ok with that idea but with what Zeta said, not wanting to strip naked, that made the Guitar cyborg felt uneasy but the real cherry on top was the tone Tykal was using, it was justified considering the absolute hell they been through hours ago with Anti-Space leaking in and nearly dying a few times. Regardless of how well justified Tykal's attitude was Johnny couldn't help but feel disgusted with it, while his face was able to hide it, his left hand looked like it was twitching a little. Johnny then listened to the Capitan a little more as he was explaining the pros and cons of keeping Zeta. Johnny knew one thing for sure "We're not going to give Zeta back to the hivemind. that just cruel and probably makes the Hivemind way more dangerous." Johnny could only hope Zeta will start to cooperate more as they do have a common enemy, it would just be ashamed if they continued arguing. "We can help you Zeta but we do need you to start cooperating with us and tell us the information we want to know." Johnny was hoping the group can pry some answers out of the Engima but wasn't holding his breath on it, Johnny was hoping that the fear of being jettisoned might cause Zeta to be a little more agreeable.