'System detects a lack of oxygen in the area, sealing off suit and engaging emergency oxygen supply.'
Awoken to the mechanical voice of the assistant system, Fel opened his eyes to the sight of... darkness.
'Alert, unit energy supply at 8%.'
'Alert, oxygen supply will last for 3 hours.'
'Alert, large pressure detected, origin unknown. Aler-'
'SHUT THE FUCK UP!'
Somehow, this worked.
Fel was clueless of what was happening. He wasn't able to do anything anyway. So, Fel continued to float through dark, empty space, until, he heard a crack.
'System? What's happening?'
'Pilot ordered this system to 'shut the fuck up' and so this system complied although this system was in the middle of dispensing important information'
'And so what, was that 'important information''
'That the power armour could only resist the external pressure in this space for half an hour. Ten minutes have already passed.'
'If it was so impor-' A massive crunching noise interrupted his outburst. Now, Fel was in deep shit.
'Everything's okay, deep breaths, 1, 2, 1, 2. Wait a second, that's not right.' Under the threat of inevitable doom, Fel was panicking. If he could at least do something, he wouldn't be so flustered.
'System recommends that pilot continues with the exercise, it is very suitable for the current situation.'
'Reminder, increases breathing pace and emotions such as rage and annoyance will increase oxygen consumption.'
Fel felt like the system was getting back at him but it was just him. Just as his thoughts were coming under his control, a deep groaning noise seeped from the power armour. However, Fel couldn't do anything. He was a fish in a barrel.
In the next moment, one of the air vents folded, giving the outside pressure full access to his soft, human, body. As the system sent out warnings, Fel scrunched his eyes closed, preparing for the flattening of his being. His fears were, yet again, founded.
A great hand wrapped and around him ready to squeeze him dry but in his most dire moment, the previously inert runes and lines on his body lit up as if they were about to fight against this pressure. Contrary to Fel's expectations, however, the mysterious markings did no such thing, instead of welcoming the pressure in. Thus began Fel's hour of hell.
The markings somehow redirected the intense pressure that pressed into his body, preventing it from scrunching him into a ball. However, it still didn't stop the extreme pressure from squeezing blood out of every pore in his body. Blood wasn't the only thing that oozed out of his body. Along with the blood came a thick, black liquid. The stuff was far denser than blood and was like crude, blunt syringes as it oozed from his body.
There was however, a hint of hope. As increasing amounts of black liquid poured out of every possible hole in his body, the pressure acting on him got less and less although, unfortunately, the same could not be said for the pain. Eventually, however, the last drop of black liquid was forced out and at that moment, everything changed.
Although Fel's eyes were bloodshot and his mind was teetering on the brink of insanity, he could feel a change. A deep, fundamental change. Wheezing out a sentence, Fel ordered the system to open a small window on the faceplate, allowing for him to look out of the suit with a naked eye. Though the suit was still being crushed into a pulp, Fel wasn't able to feel anything and before him was a breathtaking sight. A sea of light.
There were millions, perhaps even trillions of tiny points of blue light, packed so tightly together that they formed a massive sea of light. But Fel could feel in his bones that that wasn't the end, there was something beyond, something even greater but for now, that was beyond him. As he wished that he could see it up close, thousands of points of light rushed towards him, teeming about him in joy. There were so many of them that instead of breathing in oxygen, he instead inhaled a large amount of these points of light.
This reminded Fel of something. It reminded him of the diagrams in the mysterious book. Although he failed in his last attempt, this time, he believed that such a thing wouldn't happen.
Fel closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, inhaling swathes of the points of light into his body. As they entered his body, he concentrated them into the centre of his chest and when he could breathe in no more he, at a snail's pace, exhaled. The points of light spiralled out, just like the blue arrows in the diagram, becoming smaller and smaller as they reached the surface of his body, dissipating into space and they exited, having no more energy spare to support their form. When he emptied his lungs, he breathed in another batch of 'light.' Rinse and repeat. The exercise, unlike his pathetic attempt at it before, was fulfilling, pleasant, almost addicting. Fel descended into a trance, paying no attention to the river of time.
Unbeknownst to him, the four painted lines on his face opened, revealing golden eyes that emitted rays of golden light. The circles around his shoulders seemed to stretch out, as if they had been squashed into a 2d plane all along, forming half transparent golden arms. You would be forgiven for mistaking Fel with an armoured Hindu god if you saw him from a distance.
Five hours later, long past the point that his oxygen supply had run out, metaphorical chains fell from Fel's body. The golden eyes and arms on his body exploded into rays of golden light, looking like a golden sun from the distance but before Fel noticed this change, the space around Fel distorted, and a strong force dragged Fel from the sea of light. His time was up. He was wrenched away from the sea of light, through the fabric of time and space and dumped into a cold, stone hall.
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