Free

So the Eldritch Department’s finally let me free of those stupid sigil things. It only took them fucking forever. But I guess even the most stubborn will give in under bullet fire.

See, it seems not everyone in the Department shares Flint’s “No negotiations” attitude. And as things kept getting worse, they started to get more desperate. A group of spec ops soldiers from another of the Department’s facilities showed up this morning. Since they had the proper clearance, they were able to pass through the first few levels of security easily. Once they reached a checkpoint that wouldn’t let them through, they pulled out guns and started shooting.

The first I heard of any of this was when guards rushed into my room to “protect” me. Then Flint came on the speakers to tell me that everything was alright, which only confirmed to me that something had gone horribly wrong. Took a lot of shouting at him through the security cameras before he told me what was happening. After that, it was only a matter of me using my Superior Prowess at Debate in order to sway him to my side of things.

***

The sound of gunfire had become close enough to be audible, and the guards were growing nervous. I-330 showed no sign of reaction, only continuing to stare into the lens of the security camera above her.

“You know I could stop them.” She said. “You’ve seen me fight before.”

Silence.

“If you don’t remove these sigils, those people are going to get in here and I’m going to be absolutely powerless as they gun all of us down.”

Still no reply.

“Every moment you wait, more people are being killed. Let. Me. Out. Now.”

“… Turn off the sigils.”

The guards around I-330 edged away from her as they eyed the vicious smile that grew on her face. The sigils of light on the walls flicker off, and she let out a deep laugh that couldn’t have come from any human. The laugh boomed through the facility, and every light in the entire base went off simultaneously, leaving only the red glow of I-330’s eye.

***

Once the sigils were down, taking care of the attackers was easy. Even the best trained of soldiers aren’t prepared for someone who can suddenly appear with a gun aimed at the back of their heads. The whole situation was resolved in less than a minute once I was finally allowed to intervene.

Of course, once the restraints were off, no way in hell was I letting them back on. It was adorable when a guard came up to me and politely asked I put those restraining handcuffs on now that everything had been taken care of. “Sure, go right ahead. Put them one me.”

For some reason, no one wanted to be the one to put the handcuffs on the girl with the gun and the glowing eye.

I considered just ditching the place. Were it not for that whole deal with time crumbling away into emptiness, I might have. But I’ve still got a multiverse to save. Except now, I get to experiment with time manipulation to the full extent of my abilities. Hopefully that will provide the answer I’m looking for.