Chapter Text
Scattered shards of brittle blue plastic crunched under a golden boot. The angel approached wordlessly, twins swords gripped in sharp gauntlets. The machine had been thrown across the hard snow-pack, to where it now lay at his foot and Gabriel watched it twitch in mournful silence. V1 craned its neck to meet his gaze through a cracked optic, its backlight flickered as it struggled to maintain its visual cortex module from crashing.
It had lost.
An almost epic defeat at the hands of the former Judge of Hell, and it watched him warily as he loomed over. V1 could almost see straight through the fading light of his halo – his wings probably sharing the same translucency from where they were tucked neatly behind his back. It wasn’t sure if it could handle his gloating if that was what he was waiting for. It much preferred if the band-aid could simply be ripped off, but by the way his swords hung limp in his grasp, it wasn’t sure what was running through the angels mind.
In fact, V1 wasn’t sure it had ever seen Gabriel so calm. Or so quiet. It made its processors spin painfully as countless simulations ran estimations of what the next few seconds could hold, preparing itself for hundreds of different outcomes for its fate – most of them ended with a complete system failure.
Gabriel knew this victory offered no solace. The Council was dead. Heaven in chaos. Not that he had any desire to return in the first place. This is where he belonged. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to complete his task now that he was face to face with what he feared the most. Once the machine perished, he would be alone to await his fate. The fear that gripped him of his own demise...could the machine be experiencing the same? From the subtle tremor in his hand, he wasn’t sure if he could deliver the final blow. There was no redemption to be had anymore.
“Tell me, Machine,”
Gabriel took a knee in front of the wreckage that remained of its body, plunging Justice and Splendor into the frozen ground to either side. He couldn’t quite look the machine in the eye as he mulled over what he wanted to say. Gabriel had been holding onto the question from the very moment the Father’s Light was rent from his body. The desire to ask struck him almost as violently as his initial horror when searing pain seemed like it would never subsist. He wanted to know he wasn’t alone in his newly recognized mortality. Perhaps its what stopped Justice from penetrating deep into the machines core now that it lay at his mercy.
He raised his head to meet the gaze of the machine. The flickering amber was entrancing, like a fire desperately trying to stay aflame
“Are you afraid to die?”
Not even the wind could carry his words. The question sank like lead as the world seemed to stagnate around the two of them.
V1 had no way to answer Gabriel’s question. It had no way to tell him it was fucking terrified. It had no ability to scream to the very heavens it didn’t want to die. God. It didn’t want to die.
A strangled tone escaped it instead. If only Gabriel could see its forlorn attempts to rid itself of its own mortal terror. The screams and cries piling up its interface took valuable processing power, but it lessened the panic that ate away at its psyche.
Its internal wails were interrupted by a terminal notice. As V1 quickly scanned its logs, the notice had in fact been repeating, ignored by its own hysteria.
>CRITICAL FUEL SHORTAGE: SEEK FUEL IMMEDIATELY
By the fifth repetition, it couldn’t stop its hand from reaching out. A series of hard-coded executables launched to attempt to fix its shortage. It watched the angel flinch as the Feedbacker traced the gap in the golden vambrace. Blood oozed from a lucky rico-shot that had yet to close from their duel. V1 noted Gabriel did not attempt to pull away.
Mechanical fingers smeared crimson over the armour, trying its best to absorb all it could but V1 knew it would not be enough. It forcefully ended a task ordering its fingers to dig into the wound before the command could reach its fingertips. It cursed its own programming – how it wanted to drink every last drop, even if it spelt its own demise. The wired requirement to survive above all else wrestling with its own accidental mortal delusions. The result was always depicted by a constant tug of war across its interface.
Gabriel shuffled closer, despite his gut telling him to keep away. He watched as the machines arm relaxed, its straining shoulder motor quieted to a low hum. The vambrace sunk into the snow as Gabriel quickly untied its binding to allow the machine better access. Hours ago the wound would have healed within seconds, but now, the dull pain lingered, his skin remaining flayed and wet with blood. The razor sharp winds that blew unceasingly across this layer never used to affect him either. Now, the chill slowly seeped into his bones. There was no doubt about it. He could feel the flame within him dying and there was nothing he could do. The angel had never felt such bitter cold.
V1 whined softly, tightening its hold onto Gabriel’s arm. The bullet hole oozed another trickle of blood over its fingers – the specialized plating lapping up whatever it could. Its system repair was using fuel faster than Gabriel’s sole wound could provide.
It didn’t have the strength to hold on as Gabriel gently pulled his arm away, mumbling something that V1 couldn’t quite process. In an anemic haze, it watched Gabriel begin to doff the armour binding his forearms. The swirling gold accents much like the ones painted along his abs and back extended down his arm, glittering just as beautifully as his armour. V1 reached out once more, fingers grasping at the cold air between them. It needed fuel but it also wanted to touch.
Gabriel paused for a moment. He cocked his head to the side as he studied it curiously.
“You require fuel, correct? Where would be...the best place?” Perhaps it was their failing audials, but it seemed to catch a slight hesitation in Gabriel’s words. Almost as if he couldn’t believe he was asking how to best help it recover. V1 could hardly understand his motivations itself, but it was not about to refuse this lifeline.
Click
The hiss, and puff of air that immediately condensed into fog as the frigid air met the humidity of its chest cavity alerted Gabriel downwards. Its chest-piece had begun to shift. A hidden seem separated down its sternum, the pectoral panels clicked upwards and slid to the side. The angel was taken aback by what he saw hiding within.
He knew the machine bled, though, he had always assumed it was just excess fuel. That notion imploded in on itself as he stared down at the viscera before him. A heart, cradled in a matrix of thick wires amongst a bed of sharp metallic circuitry. It was glazed in red, spindly veins dilating and contracting over the slick muscle with every pump. Fuel lines fit snugly into the meaty valves, the plastic fittings clashing starkly with the soft flesh. The rest of the surrounding circuitry was protected by a thin, transparent silicone membrane stained in the very same shade. He was no stranger to gore, but the dichotomy made his stomach twist. What was real and what wasn’t? It was a mosaic of life bestowed by the Father and the machinations of Man. Despite its heresy, it was fascinating.
The muscle pounded with alarming speed, pushing measly amounts of fuel through the faux vascular web. Gabriel became hyper aware of the pool of now frozen blood beneath the two of them, most of it once flowing through the machine. He could feel his own pulse quicken in response. Another weak beep broke him from his thoughts.
Oh, right.
The cool plastic of the machines hips tickled his thighs as he moved closer to straddle it. He pulled Splendor from her rest.
The intimacy of the moment was suffocating, pushing his own conscious out of the overwhelm to become a passive bystander. He watched the blade press into his palm and slid across the calloused skin, watching as his own blood pooled from the slice. Gabriel held his shaking hand over the viscera, letting the fuel pour freely over the cavity. The drops that pattered against the frantic muscle made it quiver as the frigid cold exhumed any warmth on the way down.
V1 brought its hand to Gabriel’s wrist, pausing for a moment to see if the angel would pull away before guiding his hand towards its anatomy. It registered the slight resistance as his fingers neared closer, but ultimately relented. Placing his hand over the frantic organ reminded him of a frightened animal, unable to decide between fight or flight. Or perhaps too weak for either. His mouth had gone dry as he watched his bleeding palm rest against the soft tissue. Despite this cut offering much more than the pitiful wound on his arm, the blood that pushed through the fuel lines was pathetic.
V1 shuttered its optic. Its terminal interface was a mess of errors and warning notifications of which systems were offline or partially operational. It couldn’t even communicate with its weapon storage drive, though, it doubted it would have much use for it now. It would have to prioritize essential functioning first.
>FUEL GAUGE: 54.3%
>54.5%
>54.4%
>54.5%
>54.3%
Something was wrong. Gabriel was still bleeding. Why wasn’t its gauge increasing?
>CRITICAL FUEL SHORTAGE: VASCULAR LEAK DETECTED
>REMAIN AT FUEL SOURCE DURING VASCULAR SYSTEMS SCAN
Oh.
>SCAN COMPLETE
>CRITICAL FUEL SHORTAGE: AORTIC CONTAINMENT ERROR
>REMAIN AT FUEL SOURCE
>VASCULAR REPAIR NEXUS OFFLINE
>TERMINAL DAMAGE IRREPARABLE
>REMAIN AT FUEL SOURCE
>REMAIN AT FUEL SOURCE
>REMAIN AT FUEL SOURCE
Of course.
It would’ve laughed if it could.
V1 exited the interface. The angel was now all it could see.
It wanted more of him. It wanted to feel full.
Gabriel’s posture had fallen. He was looking down at its heart deep in thought, studying it closely. It just didn’t make any sense. Cautiously, he turned the organ to the side, careful not to disturb any connection lines.
There was his answer.
A hole in its back plate, cleaved apart by the slash of one of his blades. It had penetrated through the protective panel that its heart rested upon. Justice had partially severed a segment of the aorta, before the fitted line connection. The flaps of flesh had been cauterized by the last remnants of his holy light before whatever self-repair could stitch the wound closed like he had seen the machine do so many times before. It explained the concerning amount of dark red snow beneath them as his blood pumped directly from the line.
Gabriel had done this. He had foolishly assumed the machine would have won this battle. Had assumed the machine would be here when the Light had finally extinguished or been the one to end him prematurely. Gabriel had not even considered that the machine may perish before him. That it would die with or without his blood.
“Machine, I,” he stuttered, caressing the trembling organ with his thumb, “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the burnt flesh and the way his blood spilled from it with every pump. Whose heart would stop beating first? Cautiously, he cupped its heart with his other hand, placing his bleeding palm over the cauterized flesh like it was made of glass.
Without a word, he raised it from its confines. Its heart shivered now removed from the warm clutches of its home. Gabriel slipped a finger under the lip of his helm and V1 watched as the edge of the helmet moved up Gabriel’s jaw, but its view was ultimately blocked by the red mass in his hands. V1 shuddered as a puff of hot air tickled the sensitive lining.
A shock raced down V1s fuel lines as Gabriel pressed a kiss onto its flesh. Then another. And another. Soft, butterfly kisses dotted delicate muscle as Gabriel bled into flayed line, every breath a silent apology.
“You are my greatest adversary, Machine,” he whispered, “and you, creation of Man, emptied Hell of anything that bled.” Another kiss pressed to the seem of the burnt flesh and bleeding palm, “you are the reason I have fallen. You are the reason I am here. The reason why I fight.” Gabriel cradled it in his hands, protecting it from the frigid breeze.
“Tell me why,” he lowered his hands, his helmet sliding back over his mouth, “Tell me why I feel this way.” It was less of a question and more of a plea as he looked down at the heart beating in his hands. Held safely in his grasp, its steadiness returned, beating in time with his own.
A series of smaller clicks emanated from the machines abdomen. Gabriel watched as the matte plastic plating began to withdraw, folding together like a deck of cards as the plating pulled to the sides. Gabriel followed the fuel lines extending from the heart in his hands back down to the machine.
If the human heart built into its chest made Gabriel’s stomach twist, the bed of exposed crimson took his breath away. Loops of intestines were carefully arranged, stretching from either side of its abdomen. Resting just above the twines of tract sat its liver, though it seemed to lack any discernible stomach – the ligaments that would once connect to such organ being replaced by the fragile web of fuel lines connecting throughout its body. Any empty space was taken up by processors and circuit boards protected by the same slick membrane around the mechanics neighbouring its heart.
As he returned the heart to its proper place, he felt the humid heat radiating off its gore making it hard to pull away.
Gabriel kept one hand over the damaged flesh, as his other traced over V1s internals. A finger glided over the harsh edges of the metallic processors before pressing into the spongy masses of anatomy. He listened to the way V1s fans hitched when he crossed the boundary between mechanics and organics as he smeared his blood across the slick tissues.
The motor of the Knuckleblaster revved to life. It caught his wrist, droning a beep as its clawed digits slid down to his palm to trace another slice, mirroring the one pressed against its aorta. It wanted more.
Gabriel paused, before a small chuckle left him, “Of all things, you’re asking for my permission?”
The low tone of the machine went straight to his core. The look in its optic was indescribable. Half-lidded and gazing up at him as he held its very life in his hands. Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath as a claw dug into the padding of his hand, tearing through his skin with much less grace than that of Splendor. He let the machine guide him south of its heart, towards the bloody partition between its intestinal tract and liver. Hegrazed the silky smooth tissue of the oddly shaped mass, the organ shuddering in response to his cold touch. The heat spread through him, sending comfortable shivers up his arm and down his back as his wrist was guided deeper within.
V1 pressed his hand in until only his wrist was visible from amongst the viscera. He felt something equally organic towards what had to be the back plate of the machine, something that fit perfectly in his palm. Encouraged by V1s own tightening grip, he closed his fingers around the organ. A kidney.
The feeling of blood being sapped from twin wounds pressed against the machines kidney and heart made Gabriel shudder. He still could not decipher if they were truly real or a masterly replication of human anatomy, even touching them directly like this. If they were real, he was uncertain he wanted to know how they got there and why. And from whom.
Thoughts danced across his mind. He couldn’t tear his sights from it all. The slowly undulating masses, each responding to every single stimuli. The faintest twitch of his finger against its kidney, or how its heart attempted to match Gabriel’s own. He didn’t even need to feel his own pulse to know his heart was about to beat out of his chest – he sensed it through V1s. Of course it would be right before his own death he could finally feel close to someone, even if that someone was a something.
His hands felt warm and protected in the soft envelope of gore, a stark contrast to the rest of his body that was utterly exposed and numbed by the tundra winds. If he closed his eyes and focused hard enough, he could imagine himself encased in the same softness. His skin liquid smooth and slick from his own blood that was coursing through the artificial veins of the machine. In this dream, Gabriel could move unhindered, his body removed from the suffocating confines of his armour that offered no protection from what would come next. Maybe it would hurt less if he just gave in.
Something hot and heavy pooled deep within his stomach, anchoring him, keeping him grounded on-top of the blue war-machine. Gabriel palmed its kidney ever so gently. Its heart quivered, and the snake of intestines contracted at the touch but it did not seem to wince.
“Can you feel this, Machine? Does it hurt?”
V1s shutters slid open, gazing up at the angel. Gabriel palpated it once more, hearing the purr emanating from its fans. The truth was, V1 had disabled its central pain pathways before it had even stepped foot into Treachery. It knew it would be facing Gabriel for a final match, the angel calling out to it like he had all those times before. It usually kept the pathways online even in fights it knew would hurt, but it wanted all extraneous processing power to be diverted to key combat systems. That left warnings of sustained fatal damage to the duty of its terminal interface which it, of course, ignored.
Despite the lack of pain stimuli, it could still feel Gabriel’s fingers slowly massage its innards. His thumb would occasionally brush against the back of its liver, or tickle the fuel line matrix extending from its heart. V1 didn’t know what to call the sensation, but it didn’t want him to stop especially as divine blood was fuelling it right from the source. It held onto his wrists tighter.
Gabriel wished he could wrap himself inside. The steam that rose off the bloody expanse beckoned him closer, to rid himself of the terrible chill that had gripped him. His Light protected him and with every second that ticked by, more of it faded, leaving him empty and desolate. He feared one strong gust of wind would be all it took for him to crumble to ash if it wasn’t for the grasp he had on the machine. The promise of warmth deep within its recesses made him feel all tingly. That very urge to climb in, to escape this feeling, strengthened as a hand glided up his thigh. It rested on his belt, rubbing circles over the exposed hip bone, a quiet intent communicated with every pass.
The gesture made him go rigid as the ache within him grew. Gabriel caught its gaze, but it wasn’t looking at him. No, it was looking lower. The angel followed the machines point of focus to his own crotch. A quite obvious tent had formed in his skirt. The sight alone made his eyes widen and face flush with embarrassment, desperately trying to back off of the machine. V1s hand stayed firm on his hip and wrists, holding him in place despite his fidgeting. How long had the machine known? How long had it been staring, just waiting for him to notice?
“Machine, I,” Gabriel fumbled over his words as he let go, tugging against the mechanical hands gripping him, “I’m sorry, this is incredibly, I can’t begin to-” His body was on fire, and his loins ached, yearning for any sort of friction. A sharp pain coursed up his arm from where the thumb of the Knuckleblaster dug into his flesh. The machine titled its head questioningly. The green-plated hand of the Whiplash brushed over its own gore, digging into the pool of guts and pulling back with a sickening squelch as strands of slick red stretched across the separated loops of tract.
An opening. Just for him.
Gabriel swallowed. The sight made his dick throb.
“Surely, you can’t be serious,” and how desperately he wanted the machine to be serious, against all better judgement. The droning beep of the machine in reply further fuelled the burn between his legs. V1 tilted its chin. And so it was serious.
His hip had been released, a stray finger moving to tease the edge of Gabriel’s skirt as it waited for him to proceed.
Gabriel chewed on his lip, tasting the metallic remnants of V1. Of himself. There was no doubt that the only fuel V1 had in its system was solely his.
V1 eyed his trepidation, despite his obvious physical yearning. In his panic, Gabriel had removed his hand from the leak causing its fuel gauge to slowly tick down once more. It wanted the angel closer, as close as he could be. It wanted to feel him. It wanted to feed. Maybe it could quell the dread leaking from it, pooling beneath and staining the snow. It saw the slash through its aorta before Gabriel had covered it. It knew what was coming and if it could prolong the inevitable even if it meant suffering, it would. To feel full one last time.
C-L-O-S-E-R
The pointed tip of the Knuckleblaster’s forefinger traced the letters slowly across Gabriel’s stomach. It took a particular delight in seeing the muscles ripple from the sensation, the tent in Gabriel’s skirt rising.
Gabriel loosed a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. To indulge in something so debauch. But, who was he kidding? He had nothing left to lose. No one was watching him now. The only thing that was promised was the feeling of safety within. The promise he wouldn’t be alone.
From the point it had been pressing into his abs, the Knuckleblaster dragged up Gabriel’s cuirass, clawed fingers rounding the side of the silver plate. V1s optic remained trained on Gabriel who sat still atop it, watching it with the same intensity as V1 searched for the straps fastening the armour to his body. With three clean slashes, V1 guided the heavy plate off of him and tossing it into the snow with a soft thud.
The machine traced the lines of golden scars that marred his body. Some looked more purposeful than others. Some wounds V1 pointedly noticed had yet to heal from their battle. Even the bullet wound on his arm still trickled trace amounts of blood down into its chest. It looks like they were both doomed to bleed out.
A small noise escaped the angel as he attempted to reposition, accidentally grinding over the machines pelvic plate. The sound punching into its rewards centres, its heart beating loud enough that even it could hear each rhythmic thump. Gabriel pulled his hands from the warm cavity, and pressed his sliced palms onto the cold snow-pack, leaning over the machine fully. Helm and optic mere inches apart. Without breaking the held gaze between them, V1 pulled Gabriel’s skirt back – tucking the edge into the golden belt.
“Are you sure?” Gabriel’s voice was just above a hushed whisper. V1 squeezed his forearm, the Whiplash sneaking around his waist to the small of his back. Chilly metallic fingers pressed his hips forward until the tip of his dick placed a feather light kiss to the silken lining of its small intestine. Beads of pre-cum smeared across the organ, mixing with the slick crimson coating.
This was the moment of no return. V1 was looking at him intently. In waiting. The wet hot air tickled his stomach, and his dick begged for the warmth presented to it. It felt like he was almost lost in the haze himself. To be close. Closer.
The sound that left him as he pushed in was absolutely guttural. If it was not for the fact that Gabriel knew him and the machine were the only inhabitants of this godforsaken layer – of Hell itself, he could have believed the moan to have belonged to someone else entirely. He was being hugged by soft, warm slick in all directions. He couldn’t have truly appreciated the feeling through his calloused hands alone. He continued to slide through the mess of viscera until his tip brushed against something round and smooth as he bottomed out.
Its kidney.
As Gabriel pressed into the small organ, V1s fans kicked up and tightened its hold on the angel. It quickly force closed its terminal warnings, focusing its attention purely on the weight currently pressed into its guts. The sensation mimicked the feeling of a full tank. If possible, it could’ve lived in that moment for the rest of its life. The machine whined as Gabriel began to withdraw. He couldn’t bring himself to fully leave its warm embrace, the head still buried in its entrails before pushing in once more. The sounds of wet squelching as its entrails rearranged themselves around Gabriel’s cock was almost overpowered by the small mewls and whimpers leaving the angel, creating a delicious soundscape registering through V1s audials. With only its vital systems functioning, it had power to spare – diverting to both its audials and sensory stimuli to take in every thrust.
>FUEL GAUGE WARNING: 31.4%
>FUEL BELOW 1/3 CAPACITY: BEGIN TO SEEK FUEL SOURCE
Or not.
V1 moved the Knuckleblaster back over Gabriel’s chest, teasing the onyx skin with a pointed claw that made him shudder through his thrusts. It drew the claw down, starting from just between his collarbones, down over his stomach. Hard enough to catch the angels attention but yet to break skin. It repeated the motion.
Gabriel nodded breathlessly. “Yes,” he breathed, pushing back in with fervour. The machine purred.
“A-ah, f-fuck,” he whined, his voice pitching up an octave as white-hot bolts of pain erupted across his chest. The Knuckleblaster dragged down his skin, unzipping the fuel from its hold within him and allowing it to spill forth over the bloody cavity. The pain shot straight to his dick as he hilted within the gore, thrusting shallowly back into the small organ, the burn mixing with pinpricks of pleasure. He was on fire and it felt so good.
The machines pulled Gabriel close, forcing him onto his elbows propped up on either side of its head. Hot fuel flushed through its systems. The cold air was forced out as their chests pressed together, their bodies creating a seal. V1 tangled its legs in his to keep him pressed against it, to continue to feel him coursing through its plastic veins.
Heart beats skipped in tandem as Gabriel held the machine tight in his arms, hands reaching around its back and bezel hoping his palms still bled to give the machine every last drop. His helm nuzzled next to its neck, listening to the sound of its stuttering fans and purring processors.
Gabriel clenched his eyes shut to focus on the feeling of V1 around him. It was almost too much to bare as he plunged in and out. He couldn’t even feel the cold nipping at his exposed flesh as he pressed against V1 even closer, slick blood painting his stomach and chest. V1s plating had heat up considerably in his embrace, its fans whirring loudly. God, he didn’t want this to be over this fast. A consistent pressure had been building in his loins, like water brimming to the top of a glass and despite desperate attempts to push it down, it did not relent. He squeezed the back of V1s optic. He was being burned alive.
V1s head slotted against Gabriel’s shoulder. His wings had fully extended, arcing over them like a shield to protect them in this moment. Once brilliant and bright enough to light up the darkness of Gluttony, they had since faded to a dull, bleak blue. Fragments of fading feathers slipped from their hold. They fell lazily to the ground where they disintegrated into prisms of light. It reminded V1 of a gentle snow. It wanted to reach out to feel, but it feared its touch would shatter them in an instant. It opted to bring its hand to the base of Gabriel’s neck and squeeze.
Its attention was broken by the sound a hitched breath – a hiccup, as Gabriel choked on a sob. His breathing was ragged, gulping gasps of air in between incomprehensible whispers.
“M-machine,” Gabriel’s voice cracked, his thrusts becoming erratic, “I don’t want this to end.” The machine whirred in response. “I don’t want this to end.” His words trailed off into a moan as his pace quickened. “Machine, please,” Gabriel whimpered, “Please....please,”
Please say your heart will out beat mine.
Please say you’ll stay.
Please say you won’t leave me alone.
Tears streamed down his cheeks. The drops froze as soon as they hit the ground. Thoughts thrashed in a violent storm of pleas and desperation, terror and dread. He feared if loosed his hold on the machine, it would leave him in this place to face the end alone. The pleasure of their heat, their closeness, was temporary. A reminder that this would never happen again, it couldn’t. What irony he had found himself in.
Gabriel cried out as release washed over him. His hips twitched as four mechanical hands rocked him through his climax deep within it. V1 could feel the fire spread within, painting it from the inside. It wasn’t sure if it was something that could be absorbed but it felt properly satiated as it coated its guts, mixing with the flow of Gabriel’s blood.
Fullness. Warmth. V1 found it a little funny. Things it normally shouldn’t have been able to feel, but yearned for anyway. And to finally achieve.
A gust of wind blew over them and it watched as handfuls of feathers danced into the distance.
***
At some point they had turned to lie on their sides, the machine cradled in the angels arms. Gabriel mentioned it may help slow the leak. They were still pressed together, though, the weight inside its cavity had been removed, and Gabriel’s bleeding had slowed considerably.
V1 had no idea how long they had been lying there, if any time had truly passed at all or it had been a lifetime. It had disabled its internal clock, followed by many other non-essential systems to prolong whatever was left. Its vision had gone dark soon after, only the analogue numbers of its fuel gauge in the corner of its terminal remained. It chose to listen to the soft breathing of the angel in its embrace instead. It had decided its audio processing would be the last to be terminated.
From over the shoulder of the machine, Gabriel took turns staring at the unchanging expanse of Treachery, clenching his eyes closed whenever his vision started to blur. He could feel the Light leaving him now. The fire was nothing more than dying coals in his core.
His wings had disintegrated some time ago, leaving them exposed to the numbing winds – the very same that had carved the feathers from his back. He had unblinkingly watched each shard of light flit into nothing until he knew there was none left. If he had the strength to pull away from the machine to reach for his halo, he was sure he would find that it too was gone. All that was left was the two of them. Even if its optic was void of life, he knew the machine was alive for as long as he could feel the faint thrum against his chest.
He had one last question.
“Are you scared, Machine?”
Gabriel knew he would hear nothing back. He closed his eyes just to focus on the slow pulse of its heart.
V1 gave his hand a weak squeeze. Its fuel gauge dropped by another 0.6%.
>I DON’T WANT TO DIE
“Because, I am terrified.”