Milo stayed in the workshop day and night. He slept there on occasion, at least until Kido told him to sleep in his own room.
Even now, he was working on replacing the Metal Shell. Olivia was at his side, actually forging the thing, meanwhile, Milo was weaving together the enchantments.
Milo's eyes seemed empty, and that's because his consciousness had been split into five different mediums, each one working on the enchantments necessary to make a Memory a Memory. After observing the enchantments thoroughly and through multiple broken pieces of stone and wood, he had managed to replicate them successfully.
Which meant that now he could actually create the armor he wanted.
"Don't stop hammering the shape, Olivia, from now on you must not stop."
Olivia's eyes focused purely on the task at hand. "Got it."
She understood what she was doing well enough, so Milo continued his work undeterred. His prosthetic worked tirelessly, it had split into countless needles to weave each digital blue string it could.
Milo had nearly a whole soul core of essence to spare in this creation, and Milo wouldn't cut any corners.
Milo had completed one enchantment that turned the physical matter into soul essence and vice versa. The needles that were working on that enchantment quickly spread evenly amongst the remaining ones being worked on.
Milo still kept an eye on that enchantment, if anything changed, he needed to know.
The next one to finish was the self repair enchantment.
It was this point that Olivia had moved on to shaping the chest piece of the armor. She was precise with her measurements, not a single bump or out of place smudge was spared from her hammering.
Milo had finished the basic enchantments that made a Memory a Memory. Now it was time to focus on the two he wanted to incorporate.
These were stolen, he had to admit. It hat taken a lot of convincing for him to be able to inspect the Memories that belonged to one of the Hunters, their leader was in support of the argument between the Artisans and Guards however, so it all worked out.
The Memory had been an amethyst colored armor, and the enchantments it had were interesting to say the least.
However, Milo only cared for one. The enchantment was one that allowed it to store kinetic energy from damage it received.
Milo had then grabbed another enchantment that allowed the armor to shoot out bursts of energy. Milo modified it to shoot out bursts of plasma instead, courtesy of tech working in his presence.
He had also experimented with shape shifting, similar to how his prosthetic was able to do so upon completion. That seemed to be a quality gained through assimilation into his soul core however.
Simply put, when Milo had looked into the weave that created his prosthetic, he felt like barfing. Most Memories had a tolerable weave that wouldn't make his head spin, however the Memories or technology that was assimilated into his body didn't seem to be any ordinary Memory.
Regardless, his prosthetic could serve as a fine weapon if need be, and so assimilating the armor seemed like the correct choice.
Now it was time for the hardest part. This was going to be tedious. Simply put, Milo was going to try his best to embed the [Gold Access] Enchantment onto the armor so he could ditch the Proof of Cooperation.
The Weave was easily the most complex Milo had seen, and it was also embedded. Like the Weave itself had many fake outs and useless additions to hide its true purpose. Safe to say, if Milo saw a hint of something go wrong, he would just have to ditch the idea. He was already running short on time. He wanted to leave the Bright Castle, any place near Eva was a place he wasn't safe.
However, the Bright Castle was too valuable an asset to give up. He was given the resources, the comfort, the tools, everything he needed was here.
Was it worth abandoning this safe haven where he was coveted to get away from Eva? Was it really worth giving up his well-being to avoid her?
'Of course it is! Anything to get away from that freak!'
Milo could worry about the consequences later. Gunlaug be damned. His hunchback hench men be damned as well.
Milo had gotten caught up in his thoughts. The weave was becoming unstable, and it began affecting the other enchantments. In the end, he simply had to scrap it.
Olivia had finished hammering the armor into its shape. It resembled the Metal Shell in concept only. It was made out of a dark grey metal alloy, and had a much different aesthetic. This armor was much more sleek and mobile. It also had an added under armor and cape courtesy of Merlin and Vixon.
[You have received a Memory, Mobile Suit]
Milo scratched his head while he looked at the Memory name… he really couldn't come up with anything better. He could work on his naming sense after getting out of this place.
Milo immediately focused on the runes that allowed him to choose an Memory to assimilate.
[Two memories are available for assimilation, current Soul Cores unoccupied: 1]
[Memories available: The Prototype, Metal Shell, Mobile Suit]
'I choose the Mobile Suit'
[Are you sure?]
'Positive'
[So be it]
Milo didn't feel anything in particular… he wasn't entirely sure what he had expected. Perhaps the moment felt anticlimactic to him.
[Memory Mobile Suit has been assimilated]
Milo summoned the under armor of the suit. It was black with dark blue accents on the arms and legs. It was comfortable and warm.
"Perfect, good job Olivia."
Olivia nodded, and Milo took in a deep breath. He was leaving, he needed to get out now. He could finish [The Prototype] later.
Milo looked at Olivia. He didn't know her well enough to trust her, but he still needed someone to help in his creations, so…
"Olivia, I'm going to suggest something crazy, but I need you to trust me."
Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"
Milo looked around, then lowered his voice. "I'm going to leave the Bright Castle for the Slums. I can't guarantee your safety if you follow. But I don't really have anyone else… so would you please come with me?"
Milo needed a solution to his flaw. His best bet was coming up with an AI. The problem was that the Forgotten Shores didn't have the resources to create a capable vessel. If Milo was going to make an AI he wanted to make a permanent body for it too.
So until then, Olivia would help in his creations. At least, that was the plan if she accepted.
"I'll go. I don't have a lot going for me here either way."
Milo felt a little shocked Olivia accepted so quickly, but it was nice.
"Alright, we'll leave tomorrow night. For now, I need to find a way to compromise with Gunlaug."
Milo suddenly saw nothing, and then a strong grip wrapped around his head.
***
Milo woke up to a metal pommel hitting his head. His head felt like it had been split in two. Milo quickly moved to summon a memory but felt chains holding him down, he struggled and yet they didn't give way.
"Easy there, light boy, those chains are a Memory you know?"
Milo vaguely recognized the voice as a Guard he passed by on occasion to the workshop. Milo then took in his surroundings, he was chained to a wall. Had he been put in some sort of dungeon? The room was barely lit by a lantern. Two other people were in the room from what he could see, two Guards with weapons summoned. He was going to be tortured.
Milo had no doubt Gunlaug would have something like that. Even worse, someone else was here with him. This time Olivia seemed to have gotten a much worse wake-up call, the sound of metal hitting her face was not for the faint of heart. Olivia sprung awake and muttered weakly "Milo... What happened."
"Shit. Olivia, it'll be alright." Milo struggled against the chains more, prompting another person to kick him in the face.
"Stop squirming, we have details to discuss." One of the Guards grabbed Milo's face. "Lord Gunlaug isn't exactly pleased that you would think about leaving the Bright Castle, especially when you provide so much. We're just going to give you some reminders of what happens when you defy Lord Gunlaug and you'll be out of here in due time? Does that sound good?"
"Let me speak with-" Milo was cut off as a sword was pressed against his neck.
"Does that sound good, Milo?"
Milo gritted his teeth. "It does."
"Perfect, don't worry. We have a healer waiting outside, so we can do as much as we like without killing you. That girl will be left alone... relatively, it's not like she's the one we want either way. Maybe my buddy will let his mace slip onto the back of her head."
Milo didn't respond, there wasn't a need to regardless. They had made the mistake of not trying to destroy his prosthetic. They likely thought it couldn't change shape too drastically.
Milo's prosthetic slinked into a long thin needle. With the prosthetic free, Milo quickly stabbed at the first Guard before he could notice.
[You have slain Dreamer Ceran
The other Guard had noticed, and was already moving towards Milo. Olivia had tripped him with her legs just enough to cause him to lose his footing. So, Milo had the perfect opportunity to change his prosthetic into a mace. He swung at the Guard's head until it barely resembled one.
[You have slain Dreamer Silas]
He didn't know how much time he had until someone came to check up on the now dead Guards. So Milo decided to forgo the idea of wasting anytime. Milo braced himself for the pain as he lined up his still chained up wrist with the wall. Then he bashed his wrist in, dislocating it and allowing him to split out of the chain.
Milo broke the chains holding Olivia down. Considering they were rather brittle and not a Memory, they had probably planned on just killing her. The golden rule would be to not underestimate any Awakened at all. If her chains were brittle, it was because she wasn't supposed to stay in them long.
Milo summoned the [Mobile Suit]
"You have an armor Memory right?" Milo asked Olivia.
"I do, I have a weapon Memory as well."
"Summon it. We still have one more person to fight."
***
Sunny hardly found himself being shocked nowadays. After meeting Eva, barely anything could surprise him. She had her secrets and she wasn't keen on telling. She knew about the Forgotten Shores almost down to a tee somehow. She had a strange memory that seemed to act as a Database of sorts.
Sunny just didn't know what to think on one hand it was incredibly suspicious and how she found him, Nephis and Cassie. She had just arrive at the Soul Devouring Tree, and she was completely immune to its charm.
Yet she still consumed the fruit there regardless without a care in the world. She was abnormal, a wildcard with no sense of pattern.
Even then... she still feared something or someone. She never wanted to stop getting stronger, she helped hunt down Fallen Beasts in attempts to get an echo.
Sunny wondered what could've drove her to such lengths... it wasn't like Nephis. Nephis was ambitious, but she knew her limits, Eva seemed to have none. Any dirty trick, any weak point, any unconventional tactic was hers.
This time, she had gone off alone to "hunt for a big one." Whatever the Spell that meant.
Suddenly, Sunny heard a commotion outside, and went to check it out... He saw Nephis make her way as well.
***
Milo limped weakly along the dirtied path that lead to the Slums of the Dark City. Olivia helped him along, supporting his body on her shoulder.
The two didn't have a run in with any other enemies outside of the healer, but some damned Nightmare Creature had ambushed them. It was a fight they couldn't win, the Nightmare Creature was a blur of a dark brown and grey that mixed in with the surroundings of the Dark City. It was just much too fast.
So, while they ran, the creature had gotten its licks in, but ultimately the pair had managed to lose it.
Which lead to now, they were a spectacle of the Slums... likely because it was rare to see someone come in injured rather then just not return at all. Besides, they were newcomers.
Milo scanned the crowd. "Is anyone a healer?!"
No one stepped forward. That was until perhaps the most radiant girl Milo had ever seen stepped forward.
"I can help."
Following close behind her was the most... eh, he wasn't the most of anything, he looked quite dirty though. What surprised Milo though was a sudden pop up in his mind.
{Warning! Do not engage in any combat with these individuals.}
In his vision, the girl and the boy behind her were highlighted.
{You will lose! If you somehow win, then one of them will hunt you down out of spite! Do not fight them!}
Milo felt dazed... who the hell were these people. The boy looked similar, he had likely saw him somewhere, but the girl he hadn't seen before.
Just how much did Carmen know? Milo could understand if he met Nightmare Creatures and knew the layout of the Forgotten Shore, but people from the present? What the hell was this? Did Eva somehow help him with it? Her future sight could provide an advantage sure but how did the two even communicate?
Milo didn't have much more time... He collapsed to the ground, the last thing he felt was soothing warmth engulf him.