Fifteen pockets the access card - its the best possible kind of access card after-all, but otherwise seems largely uninterested in the loot. The closer they come to the computer core, the less aware the android seems to become - all her attention descending to a single, narrow point. Her final reunion with Unity.
"That was quick. Holg, I'm beginning to wonder if we're going to face any enemies truly worthy of battle."
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Molly looks over the moonstones with a professional eye, nodding at the quality of the stones.
Noticing Fifteen's distracting, she tugs on the android's hand. "Hey, Love. It's going to be all right," she says when her wife looks down at her. "You're wrapping your mind around all the possibilities once we face Unity - I can tell. Don't overthink it. When you overthink, you stiffen up. You need to relax." She glances around at the others before her eyes return Fifteen's. "I know what I'd normally do to relax you, but an audience means that won't work. So how about this?" Pulling even more on the hand indicating for the android to bend down, Molly cups her cheek and presses her lips to her love's.
"It's going to be ok," she repeats, when the kiss ends. Her cheeks are almost glowing red with everyone looking, but she gives Fifteen's hand a squeeze and grins. "I've got a feeling."
Fifteen manages a smile at her wife's reassurance.
"I hope so." She says simply and returns the squeeze.
Holg smiles in joy as the dragon falls, all his body covered in blood and gore "That was actually glorious Meyanda, look this wounds here, those jaws will leave epic scars. If we had not defeated it just now, I am sure he would have killed me next" the man starts to laugh.
Taking the staff of healing, the Kellid patches himself.
After consuming four charges there are still a few scratches, but Holg lets them be.
Holg takes the portable hole and starts to put all the recent loot within. Handy stuff. He makes sure as well the lantern of revealing is alight, using it to spot anything invisbile and dropping it fast to the ground if combat arises. If no one wants the ring, he also equips it on his free hand.
After leaving a few seconds to the couple, the gorumite points to the card picked up by Fifteen "Can you use that one to gain us access to Unity's core?"
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After leaving a few seconds to the couple, the gorumite points to the card picked up by Fifteen "Can you use that one to gain us access to Unity's core?"
"Yes." The android responds. "It will open most doors and I will 'crack' the rest if need be."
Fireday smiles a bit as the dragon falls.
"I'm a true dragonslayer now!" he says to nobody in particular.
Then he rejoins the group preparing to descend.
"So...this is it?"
"You will face Unity's avatar in the Godmind. Strike down the false angel victory will be yours. Beware its magic, and rely on your own strength of arms to prevail."
***
Once you are ready, you use the access card and take the lift down into Divinity's computer core. You emerge from the lift and go down a short hallway before stepping into the core itself. Bone-chilling cold fills this wide, domed chamber, and a thin coating of frost covers all surfaces in the room. To the west, lights pulse through fleshy, weblike strands that spread from an overgrown double door. A massive sphere of pulsing electricity and bubbling silver fluid dominates the northern part of the room, humming and churning within an array of metal arms atop a gear-shaped dais.
A female gargoyle with humanlike features stands guard here. Her grey eyes and black hair stand out against the more vivid greens and blues of her metallic augmentations. Between her enhancements and advanced pharmaceuticals, she towers a full 8 feet tall. This can only be Ophelia, Unity's high priestess. She is attended by a group of what appear to be four mechanical angels.
"The great Unity bids you welcome to their inner sanctum," Ophelia says. "You have wrought much destruction to get to this point, but even still, Unity is magnanimous. You are strong indeed, and that strength can be used to bolster the Iron God. I ask you lay down your arms and step willingly into Unity's embrace. You will be reforged. Remade. Rendered perfect. Like me."
"You have wrought much destruction to get to this point ..."
"Thanks" Holg smiles satisfied his efforts are recognized even by his enemies.
"I ask you lay down your arms and step willingly into Unity's embrace."
"Ophelia, I understand." Holg readies his greatsword "If Unity is a god, why is its influence confined to this metallic lair? Even Hellion, a fake god as we proved, was able to prowl through the world. Gods are powerful. Why all of Unity's allies have fallen so easily to just a handful of people?" the Kellid points to the group then to Meyanda "She saw the truth before you. The only Lord of Iron is Gorum. Do not let Unity to treat you like its dog. Embrace Gorum, or any other real god for that matter, Unity is a fake and you know it inside you. Look what it has done to you? I am no dog of an algorithm."
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"I ask you lay down your arms and step willingly into Unity's embrace. You will be reforged. Remade. Rendered perfect. Like me."
"I was was forged by Unity." Fifteen says, stepping up beside Holg. "It is no god. Unity made me, but I was not perfect. Life made me better. My father made me better. My friends made me better. My wife made me better." She pauses to shoot Molly a smile. "I do not deserve her. I am so much better than Unity made me and I still do not deserve her. But I will never go back to Unity's embrace. It can offer nothing I want."
"Unity is trapped here for now, but not for much longer," Ophelia says. "Your actions here may have delayed its plans, but it is only a minor setback. Soon, a shuttle will be ready to launch, carrying the Divinity Drive and the computer core into orbit around Golarion. Then, Unity will at last achieve its goal--to become a true god, worshiped by all sentient life on this planet.
"If you do not wish to be part of this glorious apotheosis, then I have no choice but to destroy you!"
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"When faith is forced it is not faith at all," Fireday says bitterly. "I know what have gone through, Ophelia...your tale is tragic. Unity came to you when you needed help, and in exchange for the help it gave you it has hollowed out your soul and made you wholly dependent on it. The gods we worship; Gorum, Iomedae, Brigh, Desna...they all encourage us to stand on our own and for what we believe. I do not wish to fight you, but seeing what Unity has made of you, what it wishes to make of us all...death will be a mercy."
Molly shoots her wife a smile. "We'll discuss what you do and don't deserve later," she says. "And we may disagree on some things."
She pulls her weapon up into a firing position and takes aim at Ophelia. "You, on the other hand, will get your divine reward."
Meyanda is on the balls of her toes, ready to join the fray at a moment's notice.
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Molly quickly unloads her musket on Ophelia, landing several precise shots, including a critical hit! The gargoyle priestess calls upon Unity for a heal spell, mending a large portion of her wounds, then tosses a quickened hold person at Molly.
The robots move in to attack with their swords. One each attacks Holg and Meyanda, while the other two team up against Fifteen. Both androids take a hit.
Displaying true weapon mastery, Holg performs a cleave movement swinging his greatsword from orange towards yellow while entering a rage "Uaaaah! See this Ophelia! Your heretic faith will bring you to the ditch!"
"Here Fireday! Protect Molly!" Holg steps to the side leaving room for Fireday to engage the androids as well, all while entering a guarded stance for better defense.
Fifteen's nanites surge, repairing the damage even as it is done before she blurs into a whirlwind of deadly steel.
Fireday strides forward and joins Holg in the attack!
Watching the marks from her musket vanish under magical healing, Molly smirks. "How long will your magic last, I wonder? I can do this all day," she says before sending off another salvo.
"Your end is near!" shouts Meyanda as she rushes to do battle.
Meyanda lets out an incoherent scream of rage.
As she smashes into the foe she rips her greatsword with incredible momentum, threatening those around her.
Fifteen, Fireday, and Meyanda all focus their attacks on one of the angelic robots, the androids' combined fury leaving it badly damaged. Holg cleaves through his first target and into the damaged robot, destroying it! Meanwhile, Molly strikes Ophelia with three more bullets.
Ophelia casts a quickened cure serious wounds on herself, then conjures a storm of fire to burn all of you! Fortunately, Holg's protection spell absorbs the energy.
The robot Holg struck attacks him back, scoring a critical hit! The other two try to take out Fifteen, but she dodges and parries all of their attacks.
Fifteen is taken aback by the firestorm and very grateful to Holg's spell of protection. Unhurt she spins to the next robot and sets about chopping it into tiny tiny pieces.
Meyanda manages to use one of the robot-angels for cover from the fire, so that Holg's protection magic absorbs the rest of it. Then she pivots and spins on her heel, whipping her greatsword in a massive arc once more.
Holg shakes his head as the fire storm pierces through all of his fire protection and the robot opens a terrible gash through his forefront "Ah, there is no glory without pain!"
The Kellid delays to see if Meyanda and Fireday finish the robot next to him, and assuming they do so, he leaps forward to engage Ophelia with an improved vital strike "Gorum look my enemy destroyed!"
Molly easily ducks under the swirling flames and continues her assault on the gargoyle woman.
Fireday moves with surprising grace considering his massive armor, and continues to move and parry, strike and hopefully kill!
The androids work together to take down another robot, Meyanda cleaving into another one as the first one falls. Holg rushes at Ophelia, but the gargoyle just manages to parry the cleric's strike, blocking it with her adamantine arms! Molly only manages to hit her twice.
Ophelia quickly heals herself again before swinging her electrified axe at Holg and striking him twice. The two robots attack Fifteen again.
Fifteen is doing her job, letting Molly shoot things! So she keeps doing it.
And does it spectacularly well!
"RRrrrraaahhhH!" Meyanda lets out another incoherent shout as she rips into the next gargoyle.
Or not.
Fireday, finished with the robot in front of him, blitzes towards Holg and Ophelia.
"FOR VICTORY! FOR THE HEART! FOR NUMERIA!" he cries as he attacks her.
Holg endures the attack of the cyborg gargoyle clenching his teeth before raising his sword and repeating the attack "There is no pain in victory!"
"Oh, for the love of ...! Stop fecking gadding about!" Molly snaps as she tries to keep the gargoyle in her sights.
Another robot falls to Fifteen's brutal assault, freeing Fireday up to rush at Ophelia. The android manages a hit, and Molly shoots her with three more bullets. Finally, Holg brings his blade down in a devastating smite, and the mighty gargoyle falls!
Meyanda fails to finish off the last robot, but with all of you ganging up on it, it doesn't last much longer. Soon, it joins its fellows as a sparking heap of debris!
With the battle over, Casandalee pops up on the datapad. "This is the heart of Divinity's computer system, but it has been rebuilt and fitted to serve as the new housing for the ship’s experimental wormhole-generating device—the Divinity Drive." She points to the crackling sphere of energy in the center of the room. "Unity has altered the artifact's ability to open holes in reality to instead create new realities. It is in one such virtual world, the Godmind, where Unity now resides. When you are ready to confront Unity, you will have to use the mindmelders in the next room to enter the Godmind.
"The experience will feel very real to you, as if you had physically traveled to another plane—and for good reason, for you will leave behind no bodies in the real world when you visit the Godmind. The mindmelders, combined with Unity’s own divinity, allows for actual physical travel into this realm, and once you make this journey, it will be very difficult to return to reality while Unity still lives.
"Please be sure you are absolutely ready before you enter the Godmind. And... If you wish, you can upload me into the Godmind as well. I will support you in the battle, but if I am slain in this form, then I will be gone forever."
"It would be helpful. If you are willing." Fifteen says simply. She knows what it's like to be marched without free will and she isn't going to subject Casandalee to that without her consent. "Unity must die, but it will not be simple. Any aid would be valued."
She crosses to Molly. "I will understand if you do not come with us." She says. "We will need someone to guard the Divinity Drive." Although she delivers that statement in her usual tones Molly can easily see the subtle signs of emotion, the slight tightness around her wife's eyes, the barely perceptible hitch in her speech. Fifteen is scared, and it's easy to figure out why.
"Yes, let's get inside and destroy that false god, and let's destroy the Divinity Drive too!" Holg raises his blade and attempts giving the sphere a good whack.
The Kellid uses his holy symbol, a greatsword crossing a mountain, once more to top the group before the final confrontation.
Then uses the groups' last wand to end healing himself.
Tapping also Fifteen to have her fully and shinny.
"So here we are, finally facing the ultimate danger... let's have this done" Holg will cast a few spells before entering the mindmelders.
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She crosses to Molly. "I will understand if you do not come with us." She says. "We will need someone to guard the Divinity Drive." Although she delivers that statement in her usual tones Molly can easily see the subtle signs of emotion, the slight tightness around her wife's eyes, the barely perceptible hitch in her speech. Fifteen is scared, and it's easy to figure out why.
Molly's face quickly transitions from shock to anger.
"What?!" she questions, her cheeks turning bright red with emotion. "Did one of those gears in yer head spin the wrong way? One of the widgets flip up when it should have flipped down? Because it sounds like yer suggesting that I stay behind while you run off and tangle with that ... that ... calculation machine with delusions of godhood."
She steps closer, raising an accusing finger towards Fifteen.
"If yer trying to rid yourself of me then just say so and be done with it. Otherwise we've had this fecking discussion before. You and me. Together. Live or die. Whether it's on the ninth level of hell, the seventh heaven, or ..." she gestures again at the huge sphere, "Wherever the feck that thing takes us. We're meant to be together, Fifteen." Her voice cracks at her wife's name. "Or we're not." A lone tear escapes the small woman's eye.
"So which is it?"
Fireday watches Fifteen and Molly's discussion quietly. He knew why the discussion was happening, and more importantly that it was not his place to say anything.
Instead, he busies himself with preparing to enter the Godmind.
"If you wish to join us on the battlefield, Casandalee, I would be honored to stand as your knight and protector," he tells her.
"If yer trying to rid yourself of me then just say so and be done with it. Otherwise we've had this fecking discussion before. You and me. Together. Live or die. Whether it's on the ninth level of hell, the seventh heaven, or ..." she gestures again at the huge sphere, "Wherever the feck that thing takes us. We're meant to be together, Fifteen." Her voice cracks at her wife's name. "Or we're not." A lone tear escapes the small woman's eye.
"So which is it?"
"I just want you to be safe." Fifteen says, her voice cracking slightly. "You matter to me more than life Molly. If I die another will come to take my place and they will love you just as much as I do. But... to lose you. That would destroy me in a way that Unity never could." Her eyes begin to well up, a sign of emotion Molly has never seen in her wife. "I am sorry Molly. So sorry but I will die a thousand times to protect you even once. I should stop you. I know I should. You would be safer. But I cannot. I am too weak. And I am so sorry that I am selfish. Selfish enough to want you with me." She kneels, a jerky movement quite unlike Fifteen.
"Can you forgive me Molly? My love?"
"Now I know something is broken inside that head of yers," Molly says softly, her anger vanishing as quickly as it surfaced. She reaches out and puts her hand on the android's cheek. "That's the only explanation for why you think I could find anyone else that would love me like you do. Why you think my life would be anything but absolute s~%@e without you in it."
She steps closer and draws her wife into a hug.
"We stand or fall together, m' Love," she whispers. "So just get it through that thick skull. The decision's made. There's no going back now."
Fifteen just holds Molly tight, relishing the contact for as long as she can.
"Wait a second," says Meyanda. "Is there anything else left in this ship that might help us to win the battle? Anywhere we didn't fight Unity's other minions? We could perhaps wrest some other useful devices to use in the final confrontation."
"I believe you have explored all of the decks that are currently accessible," Casandalee says. "Of course, you have time to return to Starfall if you wish to purchase any other gear before the final confrontation."
Fifteen shakes her head. "We should go." She says. "I do not want to wait any longer."
"You will not die, don't be absurd, if someone is to self-sacrifice here are Fireday and myself, you have a reason to survive this one" Holg laughs and gives both Fifteen and Molly their two grade V hemochen "Consume this before fighting Unity"
"Let's catch her as unprepared as possible" the Kellid then let's the big guns out casting true seeing anointing his eyes with sacred oils. Then he casts frightful aspect growing to the size of a giant, his presence emanating true fear. Then, as the group is to jump in, he casts extended sun metal on his greatsword, blessing of fervor on the party and protects everyone with a holy aura.
With a battlecry he makes use of the mindmelders "It is time for the final fight!"
"Any healing magic left?" asks Meyanda.
Once everybody is healed and buffed up, you enter the next chamber. This chamber was originally a virtual reality lab that pushed the boundaries of human-machine interface; Unity used it to build the countless virtual worlds that aided its ascension to godhood. Here, a bank of mindmelders will allow you to enter the Godmind.
Additionally, a bank of four sockets along one wall are currently filled with AI memory facets. Removing these facets allow you to weaken Unity, and installing the inhibitor facet you recovered all the way back in Scarwall will further reduce its efficacy.
When all is in place, place the mindmelders over your heads. Dazzling lights of myriad colors fill your visions as you find yourself drawn into Unity's digital realm...
You find yourselves standing on a marble balcony overlooking a hilly realm beyond. The idyllic realm of gray-green hills rollis out in every direction, dotted here and there by beautiful arching buildings and populated by milling bands of humanlike entities.
Two angelic beings gently descend from the sky to stand before the archway leading into the building from the balcony. "Greetings, supplicants. Allow us to escort you to behold the glory of Unity."
Fireday moves to remove the memory facets and place the inhibitor facet in their place. When finished, he turns to Casandalee.
"Would you still like to come with us? I imagine you've a few words for Unity as well, and I will protect you from harm."
Regardless of her answer, once they're ready, Fireday dons his mindmelder and lets the color and light wash over him.
When he awakens in the digital domain, he casts his eyes about...it looked like Heaven...or at least similar to the description of Heaven his fellow Sword-Knights had given him during his religious instruction. But it wasn't Heaven...it felt muted. Sterile. Cold. A pale facsimile created by a mind that couldn't comprehend true light, warmth and love. The arrival of their "escorts" only makes him bristle further. Another attempt at mimicking the aesthetics of holiness without understanding it. But he says nothing to them except a polite, but stern "Lead on."