Diagnosis

An odd feeling fills the golem's chest, as if its heart was racing. It didn't understand why, as it no longer had a heart that could beat, and its core definitely shouldn't be pulsing, as far as it could tell. It kept half its cognition focused on watching its core while the other half walked with a swift pace through the gates and began bee-lining towards the wizard's tower.

'𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺?'

Its senses slowly became more frazzled as it tried to piece together what was happening, yet there was a sound calming it. Kaida's footsteps? It was well aware she was following it back to Krave's in the wizard's tower, and despite her over-active nature, her steps were uniform like a metronome.

'𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘒𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴.'

Omni thinks to itself, pushing down the unease and distracting itself by watching the civilians going about their business. A group of rough-looking folk wearing armor take notice of the golem, but quickly give a wide berth upon seeing Krave's medal. It notices they are wearing similar things, though the design is clearly different.

'𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.'

The golem sighs, it knows it shouldn't be so flustered, slowly chewing through the strange sensory overload rising up.

"Are you alright?" Kaida's voice cuts through the muddled thoughts, concern apparent.

"I..." The immediate answer from its last life nearly comes out, but it stops itself. "I don't know." It states flatly. It checks its status, but other than confirming it has gone from Canine? back to Golem+, nothing had changed, relieving some of its worries.

Kaida hums to herself, eyeing the golem up and down from behind, but shrugging it off. She knew Krave well enough to leave the strange golem's problems to him.

The walk to the tower was otherwise uneventful, and soon enough Krave comes into view, pacing back and forth in front of the building. Once he notices Omni he is quick to rush over.

"Omni! Are you okay? I know you're sturdy, but that letter was worrying! Couldn't you have worded it better?" The old demon shouts, though he quickly changes his tune as he notices Kaida following behind. "... Your name was mentioned but it really is you."

Kaida grins mischievously. "What, did the old man miss me~?" She teases.

Krave scowls. "Just get inside." He huffs, making sure both are in before shutting the door and shuffling to his desk. "So? I can't imagine you came here first just for a visit?"

The golem sits on the couch, pointing at Kaida. "Deal with her wounds first, my problem is not one I need spread around." It states coldly.

Kaida pouts but before she can retort the old demon waves his hand, "💣︎✌︎✡︎ ✌︎ 👌︎☹︎☜︎💧︎💧︎✋︎☠︎☝︎📪︎ ☞︎✌︎☹︎☹︎ 🕆︎🏱︎⚐︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎☜︎📬︎" He chants, causing a green pulse just like the elder goblin displayed, though much more powerful. Kaida's wounds were minor, but still close up near instantly. Even her clothes mend and become clean.

Krave sighs. "You know, your sister stopped by to ask me to cast a scrying spell to find you earlier since you weren't back when scheduled." The old demon complains to Kaida. "And don't worry Omni, while Kaida is eccentric, she has tight lips. I believe you're also acquainted with her sister, Vale."

"... That makes sense now that I think of it, they're both overbearing." Omni nods, realizing that other than their subspecies being different, they act mostly the same.

Kaida pouts again. "You knew my little sister? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't make the connection and it's been a while since I've talked to Vale. I... Can't remember if I've even talked to them after being so rudely deactivated." Omni ponders on it for a bit. "But if that's the case then I guess it wouldn't hurt to have you here." The golem shifts the metal ribcage, ores, and stone out of the way, bringing its core to the surface. The fist-sized marble had dimmed a little, but was still, opulent with the Sacred Silver branching nucleus and flickering stars suspended in the Lapis Crystal. Kaida practically squeals seeing it, but a glare from Krave settles her down.

A large crack runs down the core, and now exposed to open air, Omni notices a slight black sludge lining the crack. "As you can see, my core has been damaged again. The problem being I took no hits, this happened on its own. My senses seem to have slightly warped since the incident, and I've begun to realize my memories are becoming jumbled. The biggest thing is that under my status, my soul is listed as a material for my core, however the text is becoming smudged and a letter has even gone missing." Omni doesn't hide any of its symptoms from Krave, a sign of trust it hadn't given anyone for a very long time.

The old demon strokes his beard as he listens. "Mmm... Something is obviously up with your soul. What were the circumstances when your core cracked?"

Kaida, realizing things are rather serious, keeps her mouth shut.

"It was sometime between realizing the goblin nest had taken prisoners and checking my status after dispatching them all." It explains.

Kaida taps the bottom of her fist to her palm. "When you saw the state of the worse-off prisoners, you had quite the killing intent coming off of you, and even your stone frame was cracking and mending. Maybe that had something to do with it?" She suggests.

Omni tilts its head. "Killing intent? You mean my emotions?"

Krave has a look of recognition. "Valentina reported the same thing happening in that incident with the alleyway thugs. Energy manipulation is something that functions through either force of will, or careful calculations. Your absurd energy capacity could be running amok whenever your emotions go out of control."

The golem takes a moment to digest that information. "So... My own core is the problem? Right... After that incident, my energy had suddenly leaped from 1050 to 1500 after the goblin incident, but now the number 1500 is also smudged..." Omni feels a chill up its metal spine, if things keep going as they are... What will happen?

Both Krave and Kaida sputter at the number. "... I knew your growth was explosive, but this..." Krave slumps in his chair. "And we can't even run tests on your core thanks to its properties... This is quite the conundrum."

"Properties? What kind of properties?" Kaida asks.

"Well, Omni's golem core somehow evades all kinds of detection other than observation with the naked eye. And to add to that, contact with any kind of magical tool causes that tool to be absorbed into the core." Krave explains with a defeatist tone.

"That's... Rather ridiculous, isn't it?" Kaida asks, looking at the exposed core in a new light. "Maybe... The Myth Monolith could analyze it?"

Omni shakes its head. "And what if I end up absorbing the Myth Monolith? Wouldn't that be bad for the city?"

"... Absorb... The Myth Monolith?" Krave repeats, his eyes bulging as the gears in his head turn. "That might be the only recourse, you gained the abilities of the tools you absorbed, right? The Myth Monoliths have always been the subject of scholarly migraines, we know they show a better status window, but that's it."

Kaida laughs, listening to Krave, but then she looks back to Omni, then back to Krave. "... You're seriously considering this? Do you have any idea how much value is in one of those things?" She asks, a little bewildered.

"Do you?" Krave retorts, causing her to shrink back.

"Well... No. All I know is every capital has one." She says meekly.

"That is correct. Hmm... We'll have to go meet the cub to get approval for this." Krave sighs, clearly not happy at the idea of talking to that woman.

"By cub, you're talking about the Queen again?" Omni asks. It stops itself for a moment and thinks, it has to act properly in the face of royalty for its cover story of being from Phycaster to remain solid, already running different scenarios through its head.

Krave nods. "I'll call up a few people to smooth things over during the audience. That sprout Saric, Vale, the adventurers who can vouch for you, that nun, and... You too Kaida." He says, staring at her.

"Wh- Me too? I mean sure, I feel obligated cause Omni saved my bacon, but this feels like an issue that's way too big for me, right? And I'm not even that much of a big shot, my words won't mean much of anything to that woman." She complains.

The golem begins shifting its core back in place and closing itself up physically, and begins to open itself up emotionally. "Kaida, my survival hinges on figuring out what is wrong with my core, and my soul. Any and all help is appreciated. In the past, I turned down help too many times, and I ended up regretting it. I'll answer your questions and participate in whatever shenanigans you want. Please, help me." Says the golem, genuine feeling resonating out from it.