ODYSSEY (Punishing: Gray Raven X Arknights X OC Characters)

Vol. 4/ Chapter 2: Psycho

"How many minutes til they're surrounded?" Alpha queries.

"Four. They're modelled after real life data collected from-"

Alpha interjects. "Hai, hai. I'm on it."

“Wait! It's a platoon sized force! Do something about the way you approach them.” Closure screamed at her from the other end of the line. Alpha grimaced and pulled the transreciever out of her ear for a good 5 seconds before plugging it back in.

“I'll do it my own way.”

Closure just clicked her tongue.
“And what if you lose?”

Alpha glanced at Sakura, the blade of he sword reflecting her own face right back at her.

“...”

“...”

“...nah, I'd win.”

And with that, she mutes the transreciever for a while before sprinting into an alleyway. Though they are just data on a simulation, Alpha knows she needs to cull the enemy before they reach the babel mercenaries. It was starting to get boring on her part, so much so that she wants to put an end to it quickly.

Skidding to a halt, the area she's in widens into a huge open space filled with wrecked cars and crumbling houses. In the distance, distinct sounds of a battle can be heard. She starts to walk, listening to whatever surround sound she could make out. Whoever designed this simulation made her feel queasy for some reason.

"It feels too... familiar." Alpha muttered to herself, remembering the old days in Babylonia. It was something she wanted to forget, but it still lingers in her mind.

Jogging towards a destroyed park, she trekked a small elevated mound. About 500 meters or less, she could see intense fighting; A group of moderately armed combatants were fending off waves of attackers from all side.

'So those must be the mercenaries, for a data in a simulation, they fight pretty decent.' Alpha thought.

When she charged towards the attackers, Alpha unsheathed her sword in one quick move, cleaving through the crowd of armored Sarkaz. Their attention was diverted from the Babel mercenaries and into the newcomer. A Sarkaz captain yelled an order, and a squad of swordsmen rushed her.

She spun around once, slicing in a circular motion to cut any heads that are within range of Sakura's blade. A wet, sickening splat of blood followed suit, coating the vast, pockmarked dirt like paint.

The heel of her boot embeds itself into an enemy's forehead, the skull breaking from the immense force she exerted. She chops off a man's legs, leaving him to crawl and die, becoming food for her evaluation. She continues her rampage, killing off anyone that looked like an enemy.

The steel plates of their armor, the fabric of their clothes, the sinew of their flesh and muscles...and the joy, sadness and pain they might've been simulated to feel, was reduced to nothing but clogs of data.

She continues wreaking havoc in the enemy lines for a good 3 minutes, massacring any moving targets that are wearing a mishmash of protection. It was a wonder that no Babel mercenaries were caught in Alpha's death dance.

In the end, only Alpha stood alive once the simulation ended. She watched as her surroundings turned into dust, everything being sucked in as relevant data for her evaluation. Even the blood, as she glanced in her sword and hands, went away.

*Step*

*Step*

*Step*

Closure stood in front of her with an agape expression. She just marveled at what she just saw.