Some 404 AU for the people. And the text below in case it's not clear.
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Berto: Now I know that can't be comfortable!
(You'd think.)(Could be worse.)(Eh...)
???: It is.
Berto: HOW???
(Safe.)(Stronger.)(Familiar...)
???: Comfy.
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Spinning below!!
Love having a little hivemind-adjacent stuff in my creature. Their thoughts will start to deviate a little more as they get more experience just existing like this, but for the most part they still come together to form a solid consensus. Or just suppress input that isn't helpful. Rip 80% of their quips.
For the record, the Ultralink placement was not that neat right after they collided. They patched up the cracks and kind of shifted around a little to make room during their nap. The interface is now big enough for the two of them to chill like that. Max doesn't really feel a difference either. Cozy!! Comfy!!
"How do they shift modes if they're tangled up like that?" You think two Ultralinks with their heads literally put together didn't just optimize that shit? Please. They can silent-shuffle modes like a powerpoint.
Flight to Stealth to Spike to Strength and back to Flight again. Like it's nothing. This is part of what makes them so scary. Relentless.
It's still an explosive light show because that's just how shifting works. But the new interface is designed to be the first thing to change between modes so they don't have to move. Much better design, in their opinion.
Could you imagine if someone tried to exploit their open interface when they're at their most vulnerable?
Unthinkable. Unforgivable! And now nearly impossible.
Nearly.
(Honestly? This unit's love for battle is a blessing in disguise. Because it means all those hours spent in the training sims burning off the zoomies lowkey primed them to see other Ultralinks as chew toys. And they're kind of right. Sic 'em!!!)
"At least those three aren't trying to rip us apart" is a popular opinion among our NTek people, though it does make trying to separate them harder. If this unit catches on that NTek's end goal is still to divide them, things will get ugly.
They already stopped removing the helmet except to eat or drink because people kept trying to "get through to Max." Whoever that is. It was giving them a headache, so this unit took measures to dissuade that behavior:
Keeping their helmet on full-time, avoiding Camo mode whenever possible, and ripping the heads off of enemies in the enrichment room.
That last one always makes the humans get real quiet. Good.
