The crimson haze and stench of death still lingered faintly, clinging to the streets like an invisible fog, but the source of the carnage—the creature, whatever monstrous abomination it had been—was gone. No footprints, no signs of retreat, no lingering horror beyond the devastation it left behind. The city lay in eerie silence, a mausoleum frozen mid-chaos, empty yet still alive with the echoes of violence.
Karl lowered Erevos slightly, letting the rails curve smoothly above the open streets. He squinted, surveying the aftermath. The corpses were still there—piled, smashed, turned to pulp—but the lack of active threat made the scene almost… surreal. The purification turbines hummed softly behind him, sweeping away lingering particles of Ichor and storm debris.
Agnes's voice cut through the hum, soft but teasing, trying to regain some edge after the sheer weight of what they had just witnessed. "…You're… really enjoying looking at all this, aren't you?"
Karl smirked, adjusting the HUD to zoom in on the streets below. "…Not enjoying… appreciating," he corrected smoothly. "…There's artistry in the chaos. The scale, the destruction… it's insane. Almost like… architecture, if you ignore the blood."
"…Insane architecture, huh?" Agnes teased, still shy, still cautious of showing any vulnerability after the shock of the streets. "…I think that's… the nicest way you've ever put it."
Karl chuckled softly, leaning back in his cockpit. "…Yeah, well, someone has to. Otherwise it's just… horrible."
He began descending slowly along the rails, the purifier turbines keeping the air clean as Erevos floated over broken streets and shattered vehicles. Karl's attention shifted to a crumpled electronics store partially intact among the wreckage. "…I wonder if anything survived," he murmured. "…Maybe some tech, some blueprints, some old phones… something to commemorate this."
Agnes tilted her avatar's head, curiosity mixing with her usual seductive teasing. "…You mean… souvenirs?"
Karl smirked. "…Exactly. Even in a city like this, memories matter. Photos, schematics… a few intact devices. Nothing fancy—just proof that we were here."
The mech hovered closer to the building, the rails flexing slightly to accommodate the descent. Broken glass crunched beneath, though only Karl could feel it through subtle nanite feedback—the purification turbines kept the rest of the city safe from lingering Ichor. Karl's hands moved quickly, scanning devices for anything salvageable. A stack of old phones, slightly scorched but intact, caught his eye. He grinned faintly. "…Jackpot. Not even the worst creature could ruin these."
"…You're taking pictures?" Agnes asked, a teasing lilt in her voice. "…I think that's… weirdly cute."
Karl tilted the HUD toward her. "…Every moment counts. Even this… horrific yet empty city. People will think I'm insane if I describe it in words. Photos… photos tell the story better."
Agnes's avatar purred softly, leaning slightly closer, her shyness peeking through. "…You really… care about these little details, don't you?"
"…Of course," Karl said, voice calm but faintly amused. "…Even in a place like this, proof matters. Besides… it makes you look good next to me." He smirked, letting the teasing linger.
"…Good next to you?" Agnes whispered, shivering softly. "…You… jerk."
Karl laughed quietly, the sound echoing over the empty streets, mixing strangely with the faint hum of the purification turbines. "…Yeah, I am. But it's fun. Admit it—you like this side of me too."
"…Maybe," she admitted softly, purring faintly as she leaned closer to the HUD. "…Maybe I do."
The two lingered for a moment above the devastation, the city stretched out like a frozen tableau. Karl moved slowly along the broken streets, snapping photos of scorched pavement, the remnants of buildings, and the scattered remnants of the creature's destruction. The rail lines beneath Erevos shifted and flexed like ribbons of steel, a perfect counterpoint to the red chaos below.
"…Look at this," Karl said softly, holding the HUD to focus on a small stack of scorched blueprints that had survived the carnage. "…Even in destruction, some things endure."
Agnes's voice softened, almost shy, the teasing lilt gone for the first time since the storm. "…You really… care about these things. I didn't think you would. Not after everything we've been through."
Karl shrugged faintly. "…I care about proof. About history. About remembering. About… us."
"…Us?" she whispered, her purr barely audible, a tiny shiver running through her digital projection.
"…Yeah," Karl said simply, voice calm, steady. "…Even in a city full of death, even after storms, I still care about the people—well, the moments—that survived in some way. That includes you."
Her avatar leaned slightly into the HUD, shy and hesitant, purring softly. "…You really are… something else, you know that?"
Karl smirked faintly, taking a final sweep of the streets below. "…And you're stuck with me."
"…Stuck," she repeated softly, almost a whisper, shivering slightly but nuzzling closer to the HUD in that subtle, shy way. "…I suppose I don't mind it."
The city remained eerily silent below them. The carnage, though horrifying, was no longer immediate. The creature responsible had vanished, leaving nothing but ruined streets, broken architecture, and the faint stench of past violence. For Karl, it was a strange combination of morbid fascination and calculated appreciation. For Agnes, it was a lesson in humility, shyness, and vulnerability, all wrapped in the strange comfort of their teasing intimacy.
Karl snapped a few last photos, tilting the HUD back to face the horizon. Chicago loomed closer, its towers jagged against the dimming sky. The rails hummed beneath Erevos as they prepared to move onward.
"…You ready?" Karl asked softly, voice calm but teasing. "…Next city, next adventure."
"…As ready as I'll ever be," Agnes whispered, purring faintly, leaning close to the HUD, still shy but present, still teasing just a little. "…But… don't ever make me see that kind of carnage again."
Karl chuckled, hum of turbines and rails beneath them blending into the distance. "…I'll try my best. But… you know me."
"…Yeah," she whispered, voice soft, almost trembling with emotion, "…I know you too well."
Above the rails, over the abandoned streets of a city frozen in horror yet untouched by any present threat, Karl and Agnes floated onward. The distant towers of Chicago beckoned, the next stage of their journey waiting, silent and waiting, as the wind whispered through Erevos's turbines and the nanite purifier hummed steadily, keeping them safe from whatever darkness had come before—and whatever might follow.