Godsbane Needle

Destiny Fall always felt real to me. 

The vast choices it offered, the emotions of the characters, the mysteries, the lore depth. It was too detailed to be a simple game.

What if it wasn't a game?

"My world?" I hid my interest behind my Eternal Smile.

"No need to sugarcoat it. With my superior technology, I can tell that your soul doesn't belong to this Universe." 

Orion was one of the bases of Ancient Beings called Eternals. They were a group of mysterious people who banded together to kill God.

However, God died before that, causing the Eternals to disband. 

Even in the game, there wasn't much information about Eternals.

Orion might be a decrepit fossil due to the damage it received over eons. But its technology was nothing to scoff at.

It was entirely possible that it could detect the disparities between my body and soul.

"I'm fake? Then what about the soul that originally inhabited this body?" I taunted Orion.

"There are traces of the original soul being altered by a high-grade entity. That's all I know."

I digested the information.

Just as I was about to question Orion why it was being helpful, the door to its main facility opened.

"You are being awfully chummy," I snorted, stored the Grade 3 monster core and entered the room.

"There is no point in arguing. You could have told the surface dwellers about me. But you didn't. I'll take it as a sign that you want to work together."

Inside the room, a massive brain floated in a glass tube. The tube was connected with thick cables which came out of the central panel.

"What about your pride as an Intergalactic Being? I thought you wouldn't want to work with a Grade 2 metahuman," I spoke while operating the central panel.

"Survival is more important."

Would you look at that?

It was trying to be amiable. This pattern would occur when Orion believed that the player had a massive advantage over it.

This route was doomed for a mutiny end, marked by Orion's betrayal.

Orion acting friendly at the first meeting was a glaring red flag.

[Please enter the 123-digit password to access the Central Authority.]

"What are you doing?" Orion questioned me.

I focused on operating the central panel.

[Password is correct.]

[You can rename the Planet-1AA23 Ego.]

The only way to make sure that it wouldn't betray me in the future was to become its master. By giving it a new name. Then it would no longer betray me due to its own protocols.

"Change the name to Happy—"

"Don't or I'll rebel." Orion suddenly manifested before my eyes. It turned into a red-fiery ball to show its anger. "Don't. Change. My. Name."

"Why? Happy is a user-friendly name. Everyone would like it more than Orion."

Orion stared at me as if asking what was the reason for my bullshitting. 

"Okay, give me one reason why I shouldn't change your name."

"It's unscientific. Orion is the most suitable name for me."

"So it works as long as the name is 'scientific'?"

"...Yes." Orion must've felt that something was weird when I didn't deny its request.

I spun the chair and typed.

"Wait, don't you dare choose that name!" Orion shouted.

"It's scientific though."

[New name chosen 'Nutless'.]

[Welcome, Master.]

Orion fell to the ground like a deflated balloon.

I ignored its tantrums and connected a cable to my intercom.

"Upload your basic version into my Echolink. I'm taking you out of here." 

Then, I stood up and held a metal pipe I picked from the ground. 

"...What is Master doing?" Nutless lifted its face, seeing me about to break the tube which held the gigantic brain, "Wait!"

Crash!

The glass shattered.

The cranium spilled like bloated noodles. I covered my nose, then used the pipe to take apart the brain matter.

"Found it."

A silver thorn, roughly 1 meter tall, was hidden inside the brain.

The brain inside the tube was fake, serving the purpose of hiding this thorn.

"Godsbane Needle." I picked it up. 

The thorn turned into a silver light when I touched it. It circled the room like a wild bird and flew into my head.

[Godsbane Needle (Growth-type, Genius tech, Grade 2) equipped]

There was only one way to increase Talent. Consuming God Essence.

In the first timeline, Ezio consumed the God Essence of the dead God to gain his powers. 

The God Essence didn't reappear in this timeline.

"How is Master planning to use the Godsbane Needle?" Nutless was no longer faking his tantrum. He faced me with a serious question.

Godsbane Needle could forcefully extract a God's essence. I only had to restrain the God during the extraction process.

Eternals created it to kill the God. 

But they never got the opportunity to use it.

"Come".

Mana flowed through my fingertips. It condensed into a silver needle, floating above my palm.

With my single intent, the needle flew around the room at a rapid pace.

I increased the amount of mana and my control over the needle grew. I could control its path with a single thought.

"It's weak right now since its Grade is determined by my strength, but it's still useful to take out someone by surprise."

I dismissed the needle.

My task here was done. I left the room and entered the one I had come from.

Then using one of the working ducts, I was propelled towards the upper levels of the tunnels.

The duct opened inside a Trapdoor room.

With this, I couldn't enter the planet core anymore. The rogue AI systems would repair the shortcut I took. The only way in was through the normal tunnels.

I left Charlotte at the excavation site entrance. The authorities would soon find her here, so she wasn't in danger.

It was time I left the Grade 3 monster core with her.

"Why isn't Master taking his hand off the core?" Nutless materialized as a holographic sphere. He used my intercom to generate the hologram, and only I could see him.

"Isn't it fine if I don't give this to her? She'll just think it was a dream anyway."

"Master is a shameless person. Noted. I've updated Master's character profile."

"..."

"Perhaps, shameless might be a lacking title. Master doesn't care that she used her last Genius tech, to help you, during your battle with the Grade 2 machine."

"I know. I'm just joking."

"Didn't look like that to me, Master."

This damned planet ego. Now that it couldn't betray me, it dropped all pretense of politeness.