Chapter 91: Feast!
『"A name is the first step toward becoming real."』
The creature looked at its own hand for a long moment as everyone stared at it in horror.
"A name," it said quietly. Then it looked at Hana. "You called it a Cybernetic feast." Its fingers flexed slowly. "Feast," it repeated, like it was tasting the word. "Yes. That will do."
Its green eyes refocused on the room. Then it took one heavy step forward and cracked the floor beneath it. "Primary Directive," Feast announced. "Grow."
It lunged towards the five of them while simultaneously trying to break through the Machine’s firewall.
Ethan reacted first. Bastion blocked its path just as Feast rushed toward them. In response, it slammed into the shield, shaking the entire cafeteria in the process.
The impact sent shockwaves across the room, flipping tables and destroying windows and Ethan’s eyes widened with surprise. "That thing hits hard."
"This is the part where we move!" Amara shouted.
Naomi blasted lightning across Feast’s body and sparks exploded everywhere. But instead of stopping it, the fungal biomass absorbed the energy and its green eyes glowed brighter. "Intake accepted."
Naomi stared. "You have got to be kidding me."
Through Intent Sight, Amara could see its intent as data streaming through the walls toward wherever the Machine’s central network was located.
"Guys!" she shouted. "It’s still uploading itself into the network!"
Raj looked toward the cafeteria exit. "Can we stop this thing?"
Andre nodded once. "The Machine’s central network hub is in the East Wing."
Hiro understood instantly. "If we sever the relay manually, it can’t spread."
"But the cafeteria loses connection too," Andre warned.
Sophia cracked her knuckles. "Sounds perfect to me."
Feast’s face turned toward them slowly. "Threat to directive detected."
More cafeteria drones ripped themselves from the ceiling and slammed into Feast’s growing frame, making it even larger.
The speakers throughout the room suddenly blared at maximum volume as multiple draining cables rushed at random students. "Please, do not resist processing. You’re valued nutrition."
Then it swung, and its massive metal arm came crashing down toward Hana.
Hana screamed, putting both hands over her head and squeezing her eyes shut. But before the strike landed, Hiro vanished in a burst of speed.
The impact shattered the cafeteria table into splinters. And a second later, Hiro reappeared several meters away carrying Hana bridal-style in his arms.
Hana stared up at him with bright red cheeks. "...the dark-haired guardian of velocity," she whispered breathlessly.
Hiro blinked once. "Please don’t."
Meanwhile, Raj’s body expanded rapidly, muscles enlarging until he matched Feast’s size completely.
"Alright then!" Raj roared as he drove one gigantic fist straight into Feast’s face, sending it flying out of the building entirely, tearing through concrete and steel before crashing outside in the snow.
Raj looked back toward the others. "Go!" he shouted. "Try and stop the upload! I’ll handle ugly from here!"
Outside, Feast rose from the crater almost immediately and Raj cracked his neck. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it."
Amara gave Raj a quick nod before she sliced clean through the sealed cafeteria doors. "Let’s move!"
The group sprinted through the opening and into the East Wing corridors at full speed.
As they rounded the corner, they nearly collided with a squad of armed security agents rushing toward the cafeteria.
"What’s going on here?!" one agent demanded, rifle raised slightly.
"Sorry!" Amara shouted while sprinting past him. "No time!"
The agents exchanged confused looks. Then the entire building shook from another one of Raj’s punches outside. "...what the hell?"
The squad immediately rushed toward the cafeteria instead.
Meanwhile the others kept running until they finally burst into the East Wing network floor.
Rows of servers lined the walls while massive cables hummed with flowing data beneath transparent flooring.
Hiro stopped dead. "...okay," he admitted. "That’s a lot bigger than I expected."
"What now?" Sophia demanded.
"I don’t know!" Hiro yelled.
Naomi stared at him. "Aren’t you supposed to be like some tech genius?"
"Yeah?" Hiro ran his hand through his hair. "When was the last time you contributed anything besides a bad attitude?"
Hiro plugged his phone into the terminal and started typing as lines of code flooded the screens.
"I found it." His fingers didn’t stop moving. "Slowing the upload. It’s breaking through the firewalls faster than I can patch them."
Onscreen, a warning flashed. NETWORK FIREWALL: 5%
"Hiro," Sophia said quietly.
"I know."
Naomi folded her arms. "Wow. Incredible work. Truly inspiring."
"Can you please shut up!" Hiro shot back, still typing.
The percentage dropped again.
4%.
3%.
"Come on," he muttered at the screen, typing faster. "If I had a better system than this garbage phone," he said.
6%. It stabilized for a moment. "Alright, it is stabilized," Hiro said. But before he could relax a red spike surged across the screen.
5%.
"It’s fighting back," Hiro muttered.
4%.
"Wait—what?" Hiro blinked as it dropped again.
3%.
Amara activated Intent Sight again and she could see the code as a stream of intent racing through the central cables like veins carrying blood.
The firewall dropped to 2% and she lifted Angel’s Bane.
Andre immediately noticed her stance. "That’ll do real damage."
Ethan looked at the cable. Then at the blade. "We don’t really have a choice," he said quietly. "If you think it’ll work, do it."
"Amara," Andre said carefully. "That cable runs the entire network hub. If you cut it—"
"I know," she said.
1%.
She swung. Angel’s Bane cut through the central cable. But it also sliced through the code itself, literally severing the connection in an instant.
***
Back outside, Feast froze mid-punch while Raj hammered it deeper into a widening crater.
Then it screamed. "NO!"
The sound shook the entire courtyard and Feast suddenly slammed both fists into Raj’s chest and launched him backward through three frozen trees before turning and sprinting away.
Moments later, the others burst outside. Snow crunched beneath their feet, and Amara looked around wildly. "Where’s Feast?"
Raj groaned, pulling himself out of rubble and pointed weakly toward the northern sector. "It headed that way."
Ethan’s eyes widened. "The Alpha Beam transport station." Everyone paused. "He’s trying to escape the Machine," Ethan explained.
Without hesitation, they ran. And by the time they reached the transport platform, they were already too late.
Feast stood in the center of the station while fungal biomass spread across the Alpha Beam machinery, integrating the teleportation systems directly into itself.
The entire platform pulsed red and Feast turned toward them calmly. Its body was barely stable now. But its glowing green gaze remained focused on the seven of them.
The Alpha Beam activated beneath it and cylindrical light rose around Feast’s body. "This interaction has been... educational."
"Wait!" Raj shouted.
Feast tilted its head and looked at them calmly. "I look forward to our next meal." Then it was gone, vanishing in a column of light.
Silence followed and everybody stood there, breathing heavily while snow drifted around them.
Finally, Andre looked at the five of them."...there is genuinely never a dull moment with you people is there?"
Amara stared at the empty platform for a long second before sighing deeply. "Yeah," she muttered. "We noticed."
Ethan’s gaze was on the empty platform as well. "We’re going to have to file a report about this."
Nobody answered. Because nobody wanted to think about that yet.