Chapter 84 : The new Ned

[Author note : I'm back, guys ! And with me, the regular(-ish) flow of three chapters a week. If you want to read more, are interested in supporting me, visit my Patréon page (e instead of é). Search for Cathbel on the website. And now... Enjoy !]

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« What a mess ! » Ned commented before sighing deeply.

His prided workshop, his hideout and base of operation was in shambles. His equipment was damaged or even broken, his armors, gone… Even his body was nowhere to be found. Thanks to Winston's wits and quick work, the phylactery containing Ned's consciousness had been mounted on a drone which was now taking stocks of his losses.

For now, it would have to do. At least, he could direct his children's efforts towards the most important areas. Chief among them was, obviously, to finish his temporary body. Normally, it would have been one of his children, yet another character from the Overwatch franchise…

« How's Lucio doing ? » He asked.

« Are you referring to him or his body ? » Winston tried to clarify.

« I know his code isn't finished yet… I'm talking of his body. »

« It should be serviceable in a couple of hours… »

« Two hours, huh ? » The robotic voice on the drone parroted.

It was the moment his parents chose to barge into the room. After a quick assessment, Sarah and Ed started to enquire :

« Where's Ned, Winston ? » His mother asked, panic in her voice.

The drone and Winston exchanged a glance, but the father, now a tech spirit stayed silent. He wasn't sure how to broach the subject of his… How to call it ? His lacking of a body ? The fact that he wasn't exactly human anymore ? Or that, strictly speaking, he might not even be Ned Stark at all… So, yeah. Needless to say, Ned was chickening out at the moment.

Doubly so now that he understood that his own inventions and his brilliant mind were the cause for his current situation. The Metal, also known as the Rithm, was an elemental manifestation of technology and AIs… It was magical in essence, and born of the progress humanity had made in these areas. Much like the Green was a product of the flora, and the Red of the fauna.

Ned had known of these forces, of course. However, this knowledge was the first thing that had been locked by the Rithm from his mind. After all, if he recalled about it at an inopportune time, he might have found a way to avoid being brainwashed and controlled… The N.O.W.H.E.R.E. situation and the Teen Titans had also been locked later on, simply to help him focus on his work. Otherwise, he would have tried to help the teens in their gruesome fight against Harvest and the Culling.

In fact, he was pretty sure his emotions had all gradually been numbed or lacked away. And distrusts towards his children had also been instilled in him. This raised a question, though… Why were the tech spirits seemingly immune to the Metal ? Were they actually immune ?

This sudden interrogation forced him to speak, making him momentarily forget about his parents in the room… Or rather, Ned's parents. He still wasn't sure where he stood at the moment, or how they would feel about him now.

« Winston… How come the Rithm never tried to take over any of you, do you know ? »

« That's… » Ed reacted, hearing the speech pattern and voice, even if heavily deformed, of his son coming from the drone. He glanced at Winston, silently asking him… Winston nodded and Ed, as well as a moment later, Sarah, understood.

« Ned ? Is that really you ? »

Again, Ned sighed. If he could have, he would have probably looked down in shame while scratching his head. Instead, he bobbed the drone, up and down. He was still a little confused how easy commanding this new envelope had been for him. Guess the phylactery his son had created had quite the processing power…

« Yeah, mom. It's me. »

The mounted camera caught the tears forming in her eyes, and the quivering of her lips before she hid them behind her hands. His father, although similarly distraught, only looked grimly at him, before looking around the room.

« What happened here ? »

In order to downplay the situation, Ned opted for bluntness and levity :

« I got taken over by a nefarious elemental force and tried to take Winston and Sombra's heads off ! And then, like any decent end game boss, when I lost I changed into my second form ! » The only answer Ned got was silence. He knew his approach had failed, so he soldiered on more seriously : « At least, Sombra managed to scan my brain and upload it to their phylactery thingie ! Quite a marvel, by the way, guys ! »

« You already said that ! » Sombra pointed out. « Still suffering from dementia, old man ? »

The girl was pulling his leg. He chuckled, but then, seeing how his parents weren't amused, he focused his attention on them :

« Sorry to worry you both… It's not something I was expecting when I started working on technomancy, to be honest… Elemental forces aren't supposed to act directly in the world unless magic is involved. I didn't account for the fact that technology and AIs had their own Elemental representative… »

Edmond Stark frowned :

« Are you saying that… This Elemental force used your Technomancy to take over your body ? » Winston and Sombra nodded, while Ned bobbed up and down again. Ed continued to formulate his thoughts : « What about the rest of us, then ? »

« Huh ? » Ned instantly reacted, before processing what his father was saying quickly. « Oh ! You mean the M-phones and other stuff I made ? No worries ! I don't think they're developed enough to be used as bridges between the Rithm and the human population. The armors, on the other hand, all have Legilimency capabilities, even as limited as they are. That's what It used to slowly build its influence over me… »

Sarah choked :

« It's… my fault ? »

« What the hell are you saying, mom ? Of course, it's not your fault ! Even if you didn't help me, I would have found a way to implement this function in the armors. What's the use behind an advanced and enchanted suit of armor if I can't activate its functions easily ? In combat, that would have spelled my end, more than once ! »

« Where is Ned, then ? I mean, your body… » Ed, then asked.

« Unknown, at the moment. » Winston replied. « Like Ned said earlier, I think his body has been almost completely taken over by now. He could be anywhere… » Winston then turned toward the drone : « And to answer your earlier question… We were all aware of something, some unseen force at play, trying to control us or at least contact us. We didn't know what it was so we ignored it. We didn't think humans had anything to worry about this since we attributed it mostly to our own unique existences. »

« So you're saying that I still need to be wary about it myself… »

« Now that you're a tech spirit, you are hard-coded into the phylactery, much like you coded us before we gained sentience, it's not easy for the Rithm to change it since it would need your and our consent. But since we know it's not us or you… » Sombra explained.

« So you're saying that, unlike when I had a body, it'll be easier for me to tell when it's trying to influence me ? »

« Indeed ! » Winston agreed as he adjusted his glasses with his finger.

As Drone-Ned pondered his children's words, he turned to his parents. He wanted to cheer them up, reassure them… The problem was that, unfortunately, he wasn't sure what to say. Or even how to proceed. Having a body was only the first step in order for him to get a semblance of control over his surroundings again. As he was now, dependent on his children and other people… He felt pretty awful. It was a new feeling, one that he didn't particularly enjoy.

Maybe not exactly new… He thought to himself. After all, he had fallen ill in his childhood, the flu and other disease like any normal person. Even if he was a squib and thus, slightly more sturdy than no-majs, he was still able to get sick. During those times, his family had helped take care of him, at least until he got better.

Now, however, he didn't even have a body… His situation was infinitely worse. Yet, for some reason, he didn't feel hopeless !

« Don't worry, mom, dad ! We'll get my body… Ned back to you guys ! I think I have a pretty good idea what the Metal wants with me… Him. »

His mother interrupted him suddenly.

« We've thought about it, when Winston and Mel talked to us about their desperate plan. Even if you were both in front of us, we'd still consider you both as our son. You and he, are both Ned. It doesn't matter who has the body. It's your personality, feelings and ideas that makes you, you. In that regard, you're more Ned that he was in the last few days… »

If he could have, Ned would have teared up hearing those words. Although he wasn't exactly questioning the reason for his existence or even the fact that he existed, it was good to hear his parents acknowledging him. The fact that they considered the both of them as Ned… He'd think about that later.

« Alright, then… Thanks ! »