Punishing : Gray Raven (Official)

Chapter 3 : Faust (Interlude)

Another rusting sound came from the other end of the corridor. She instinctively stands up. Alert to the crisis at hand. She holds on to the door for support and looks behind her.

A maroon light pulses in the darkness.
The enemies gather and pack the corridor tightly, their eyes on the geometric core shard in her arms.
Perhaps death in battle here will be a form of deliverance after all. The thought flashed through her mind, but is suppressed by another

(Task Force Captain : "I'm sorry we couldn't get you out, but... Selena the shard you're carrying may be a critical key and you must get it back to babylonia, no matter what the cost... ")

And what of it? Babylonia has abandoned them. There's nowhere to go back to anymore.

(Task Force Captain: "You must get it back to Babylonia, no matter what the cost...)

-you must get it back to Babylonia, no matter what it cost...

-i must... Get it back to Babylonia, no matter what the cost...

She is repeating what she hears in her M.I.N.D... partly trying to convince herself

-I must get it back to Babylonia no matter what the cost.

An enemy pounces on her and at that very moment with one hand, she slams her weapon into the floor hard. And with the other. Opens the airlock
The vacuum of space instantly sucks everything on the entire corridor out.
Selena holds onto her weapon's handle for dear life to avoid being sucked out into space with the enemies.
She is stuck in the exit, and a large number of mechanoids slam into her before being swept away. She can only grit her teeth in pain. Selena looks in the direction they have been sucked in, and sure enough, there is nothing outside. There is no spaceship to meet them, only stars that seem permanently sewn into the backdrop if the cosmos.
They are so far away, and so they are everlasting.

Selena turns away and once all enemies in the corridor has been sucked out, she closes the airlock great difficulty

Selena : "I must... Find a way... To check if there are any survivors.

She drags her weary injured body back the way she came.
Selena did not expect that he would still be alive.
To think he can still be alive in this state. His limbs are all gone except for his left hand, half of his head and the components within it are missing as well. It is surprising that the broken speech module is still able to operate at a minimal level. When the Archeological Team left, he was not damaged to his extent. A fierce battle must have occured here after that.

Task Force Captain: "Who... Are...? "

It seems his sound reception module is still functioning. Even under such circumstances, it is able to pick up her footsteps.

Selena walks to his side and gently kneels beside him,. With her hand, she gently holds his broken palm

Task Force Captain : "Is it...? "

Selena : "It's me"

She chokes back a sob, answering him gently and confidently.

Task Force Captain: "Oh, it's... It's you... From the Archeological Team.. Se... Selena... Was it? "

His voice sounds like it comes from a rusted windpipe, intermittent and with a quality similar to a steel wire scratching against an iron plate.

Task Force Captain : "Why... Did you... Come back?
Did backup... Come? "

-No they didn't. Babylonia abandoned us. We've been betrayed. -

For a second, she cannot control the tears flooding her eyes and so she tilts her head upward so that they would not fall. It is strange indeed. Why is it that even though they have already given up their human bodies, they still have to keep their M.I.N.D stable by simulating exclusively human physiological systems? Why is it that even though they've become Constructs, they are still unable to leave their human weakness behind?