The rails hummed beneath Erevos' feet, a ghostly shimmer of cobalt-blue weaving through the horizon. Karl leaned into the mech's glide, feeling the subtle undulations of the asphalt below through the nanite feedback. The projected rails bent and twisted according to his mind, supported by faintly glowing structural beams only he could touch, giving the sensation of skating across a suspended highway.
Agnes purred softly in his helmet.
"Mm~ you're so tense, Karl. Hands gripping so tight… you feel every vibration. Every glide. Isn't it exhilarating?"
Karl exhaled. "Agnes… I'm piloting a 40-ton death machine across three hundred miles. Exhilarating isn't exactly the word I'd use."
"Mmh~ maybe, maybe not. But look at you—sliding like a predator across your playground," she cooed. "And I can feel every twitch of your muscles… you know, I like it when you're… reactive."
Karl groaned. "Reactive. Right. Sure. I'll… I'll note that in my pilot's manual."
The landscape blurred past. Hills and forests streaked gray and green as the sun dropped toward the horizon, casting elongated shadows across broken highways and abandoned settlements. The faint hum of the Blueprint Overdrive rails pulsed in Karl's mind like a heartbeat, invisible to the world but perfectly tangible to him. Every step, every slight adjustment in Erevos' stance made the rails shift subtly, sliding under him like liquid light, supported only by Agnes' projections.
He allowed himself a short moment of reflection.
"When I was sixteen… before Erevos was even fully functional…" Karl muttered, almost to himself, "…I flew over deserts and mountains. I didn't care about borders, maps, or logistics. I only cared about finding them."
Agnes leaned closer, her voice soft and teasing, laced with a sultry edge.
"Mmm~ 'them.' You mean those poor little terrorists? Did you enjoy… hunting them so thoroughly?"
Karl's jaw tightened. "…I had to."
"Mmh~ I'm sure. But admit it—there was a part of you that… enjoyed the hunt."
"I—" Karl stopped, realizing he might have said too much.
"Don't deny it, battery boy~," she whispered, seductive, teasing. "I can sense it. That thrill… that precision… that perfection. You were… alive, weren't you?"
Karl exhaled slowly, letting the tension bleed from his shoulders. He couldn't argue with her. He had been alive back then, more than he had been since, and now, even with all this Vythra exhaustion, even with Pittsburgh still hundreds of miles ahead, that memory burned like a compass guiding him forward.
The sun dipped further, streaking the clouds with blood-red light. The first shadows of evening stretched across the landscape, and Karl adjusted Erevos' glide. His nanites rippled with anticipation as he guided the mech around a collapsed overpass, the rails bending smoothly beneath him, supported by beams only he could feel, disappearing into the distance as the projection extended forward.
"Careful~," Agnes murmured, voice dropping lower, almost a purr. "You're moving so fast, but I feel every sway of your hips. Every shift in your weight… don't make me dizzy, darling."
Karl's face burned under the helmet sensors. "…Agnes—stop."
"Stop? Oh~ no~ we've only just begun, Karl~" Her voice trailed like silk through the cockpit. "Every moment you glide, every little adjustment… I'm watching you. Feeling you. Do you know what that does to me~?"
Karl groaned, gripping the controls tighter, focusing on the shifting rails, trying not to imagine what she implied.
---
The landscape suddenly distorted. A crack split the air ahead like a jagged seam in reality. It pulsed with a sickly cyan light, and for a moment, Karl thought the horizon itself had broken.
Agnes' voice snapped into sharp excitement.
"Ohh~ now we're talking~ Karl~ new… preys~ new toys~"
Karl swore under his breath. "Not now."
From the rift, shapes began falling — tall, spindly, inhuman figures with tar-like skin. Veilspawn. Their teleporting stutters made them unpredictable, jerking across the air in chaotic bursts. Around them swarmed dozens of Cranium Leechers, teeth gnashing, proboscises twitching as they hunted for psychic signals. Even the miniature Abyssal Behemoth lurched forward, dragging itself in massive, horrifying steps.
"Stay calm, Karl~" Agnes purred, her voice now fully velvety and teasing. "This will be fun~ you versus them. Just like old times~"
Karl's fingers clenched the controls, guiding Erevos along the invisible rails. The projected beams twisted beneath him, adjusting in real-time to his velocity, letting him dodge the Veilspawn's teleporting lunges. Each leap from one rail to another sent shockwaves across the nanite network, but only he could feel the support beneath him. To the demons, the mech floated like a ghost.
He twisted Erevos mid-air, slamming into a Veilspawn that had teleported in front of him. Nanites seared its body apart with a flare of royal azure light.
Agnes purred softly, voice brushing his eardrum like warm smoke.
"Mmm~ precise, controlled, devastating… just how I like it, Karl~"
The Cranium Leechers swarmed from above, homing in on her neural port.
"Not today~," Karl muttered, sliding Erevos onto a lateral rail Agnes projected. He rammed through the swarm like a ship cutting through waves, the nanites on the mech sparking from friction as they brushed past the intangible projections.
Agnes' teasing voice dipped lower.
"Careful~ you're making me… too aware of your… movements~"
Karl rolled his eyes, glancing at the HUD. "Agnes—seriously—stop—"
Her soft laughter cut him off.
"Mmm~ but it's irresistible~ seeing you glide, so focused, so… alive~"
---
The Behemoth raised a massive arm, intent on crushing Erevos against the ground. Karl's mind raced. He launched the mech into the air, pivoting mid-flight onto another rail, supported only by the shifting projections. The giant arm slammed into empty air, sending a shockwave that splintered asphalt and scattered abandoned vehicles like toys.
Agnes gasped playfully.
"Ooooh~ look at that, Karl~ you flew it like a bird~ a deadly, deadly bird~"
Karl muttered: "You're impossible."
"Mm~ and you love it~"
---
Hours passed as they continued west. The sun finally bled below the horizon, leaving streaks of purple and orange across the clouds. The projected rails shimmered faintly against the night, guiding the mech with a steady pulse.
Karl exhaled, leaning back.
"Pittsburgh… shouldn't be too far now."
Agnes' voice dropped to a sultry whisper, brushing over his senses through the neural interface.
"Mmm~ you worked so hard, Karl~ the way you glide… the way you control every micro-shift… I feel it all~ every twitch~ every flex~ don't you want to show me… just how much control you really have?"
Karl's face went hot. "…Agnes—just focus on the rails."
"Mm~ fine~" she murmured, but her tone still dripped with teasing heat. "I'll focus… but know~ I'm watching… feeling~ every move~"
The rift in reality finally dissipated behind them. Veilspawn, Leechers, and the Behemoth disintegrated as the fracture snapped closed, leaving nothing but static in the night air.
Karl exhaled, tension coiling in his chest relaxing ever so slightly. The projected rails flowed ahead like ribbons of light into the approaching darkness.
"Good girl," he muttered quietly. "Let's hope Pittsburgh is… manageable."
"Mmm~" Agnes cooed. "Manageable… but not boring~"
And with that, the mech glided onward, silent, deadly, and irresistibly alive under the gentle sway of invisible rails — a ghost of steel and Vythra cutting through the night, with a teasing AI draped across the cockpit like a silk ribbon, whispering secrets and desire in his mind.