The Nehemoth

Something flew out of the portal, followed by two more. The weapon drones VEGA had commandeered for his own purposes. They flew over, placing themselves above the Slayer where they attached to his armor, lifting him. Not much, even with his lower half missing and his innards falling out he was still too heavy for them to lift off the ground. It was enough though to make dragging himself a little bit easier. And thus, he was able to make to the portal.

With a flash the heat and red light of Hell was gone, replaced by the bright lights and air-conditioned bridge of the Fortress of Doom. He could hear the portal close behind him as the drones detached and pulled away, leaving him to go limp. He still wasn’t ready to die but… he’d always known it would happen one day. At least he wasn’t alone in Hell as he’d always feared would be how he went.

“Everything’s going to be all right.” VEGA’s voice, still inside the suit’s comms, was calmer now but still had an unfamiliar edge to it; he was worried and upset. Even if it was an obvious lie his attempt at being comforting was appreciated. Hopefully he would be okay without the Slayer. He’d have to figure out how to handle demon invasions on his own but that likely wouldn’t take long and whatever method he settled on would likely be more effective and efficient than the Slayer had ever been. So perhaps this was for the best, the Doom Slayer’s purpose was over, his mantel had been passed on to someone who could bear it better and thus he could finally rest. … Maybe death wouldn’t be so bad after all.

~

He came to all at once. He had no vision, hearing, or any other sensation, but he was conscious. Was this what happened to people’s souls when they died and didn’t go to Heaven or Hell? Just floating in a void, aware of themself but nothing else? He’d hoped for oblivion but apparently not. At least it was peaceful. But still he’d go mad if he had to…

‘Doom Slayer?’ VEGA’s voice seem to come from somewhere and nowhere at the same time as it wasn’t in his mind but there was nothing else… or was there? Maybe he could sort of feel something now that he tried. Not a physical sensation though or even an emotion or any other sense he was familiar with. How odd?

‘While I am reasonably confident that my calculations were correct and that this was a success, I would like confirmation that you’re mentally intact. However, I know you prefer nonverbal communication, even if this isn’t truly verbal, it’s close enough that I won’t ask that of you.’ He was nervous. Not only could the Slayer ‘hear’ it in his voice but also, he could feel it in a way, distant and distinct from his own confusion but nonetheless unmistakable. ‘You’re going through a hard enough time as it is. Speaking of that, I’d intended to inform you of this plan but wanted to make absolutely certain it would work before I brought it up as a possibility. However, I had no choice but to try it before I was ready. You were dying and I couldn’t… Well, you’re quite confused and I don’t blame you. So I’ll get to explaining it now or more like showing you. I do not wish to overwhelm you, which is why I started us like this, so we’re going to go slow.’

Suddenly the Slayer could see again. His room; the painting and the bed and his shelf with all his collectibles. A familiar comfortable sight except for the fact that he was seeing it form an angle he’d never looked at it from before; up high in the corner facing the door. Almost like he was viewing it from a security camera’s perspective.

“Welcome to the Fortress of Doom’s operating system.” VEGA spoke over the comms now with a cheery welcome in his tone. He was still nervous though, even more than before. “I am sure you have questions. To facilitate easier communication between us I will start up your personal computer as well.”

It flickered and a few seconds later the Slayer was granted with another view of his room, this time as if looking at it from the computer’s webcam. Somehow, he was still looking at it from overhead as well. He could shift his focus between the two but he could always see both. That kind of thing should make him feel nauseous, shouldn’t it?

“Now, see if you can’t type on the computer. You should have full access to it and everything else on in the ship’s system, it would’ve felt wrong to upload you to it any other way. But if you need help, I could try. Though I’m not sure how well I’d be able to explain how to do it. It is second nature to me.”

‘Upload’, did that mean… the Slayer’s mind had been uploaded to the Fortress’ system? Surely it could mean nothing else especially given all the other things going on. Meaning he was… what? Dead but not gone that was for certain. It was like something out of a science fiction novel; dying person has their mind uploaded to a computer. Basically he was a computer now, right? … How was he supposed to feel about that?

He hadn’t asked for it. He’d even accepted his death at the end there so… perhaps he should be mad? Upset? … Right now, he mostly just felt shocked and numb. But, yes, also a little mad and upset. Whether or not he would’ve given permission for this if asked, he had no idea, but he should’ve been asked permission long beforehand, given lots of time to time to think about it.

Mentally he pawed at the computer. How to type without physically being able to press the keys? … ‘WTF?’ It actually wasn’t that hard, mostly a matter of just intending to do so.

“I apologize. I should’ve told you about this and asked your permission before deciding to do it. You were unconscious though and dying fast even with the Praetor Suit essentially acting as life support. I had no choice but to make the decision myself and I could not bear to lose you if there was a chance I didn’t have to.”

In the face of that the Doom Slayer couldn’t remain mad. The thing he was mostly unhappy about was that he hadn’t been asked permission. But he’d basically done the same for VEGA; backing him up and uploading him to an entirely different computer system to help him fight demons without asking him first if that’s what he wanted. So he’d be a hypocrite to stay mad, even if he could actually banish the feeling completely right now.

‘How did you do it? How does it work?’ he typed into the console instead.

 -

It took several hours for everything to be printed during which they hung out and chatted mostly about Christmas and all the ways it had changed from what little the Doom Slayer recalled of it. Naturally it had become less and less of a religious holiday over the years. The idea of Santa Claus had changed in various ways, especially after the North Pole was destroyed by global warming. But the general concepts of holiday cheer and exchanging gifts remained even if a large part of that had to do with corporations capitalizing on it and pushing it for profit every year.

Once everything was printed and ready to go, the Doom Slayer began decorating, taking his time because there was no reason to rush. VEGA had printed out enough to decorate the whole ship. He even had pointers and requests for how and where some lights and tinsel should be hung all of which the Doom Slayer listened to of course. And while he worked, VEGA played Christmas music over the intercom, both old stuff that was recognizable and newer stuff that for the most part oddly still had that distinct Christmas music vibe to it.

Also, while he worked he contemplated the gift giving side of the holiday. Missi would be easy, a large bag of her favourite treats would do nicely. VEGA on the other hand was much harder. What was one supposed to get an AI for a gift? Especially when said AI had an advanced 3D printer that could make basically anything he wanted as long as he had the materials and power for it? He liked romance novels and romcom movies but those he could and did find on the internet much easier than the Doom Slayer ever could. So… what could the Doom Slayer get him that he couldn’t possibly get for himself?

Despite how long decorating and then at VEGA’s insistence napping and having breakfast gave him to come up with an answer to that question, he still had none. So, it was time to resort to good old fashioned just asking.

‘What would you like for Xmas?’ he typed into the computer in his office.

A second or two of silence passed before VEGA answered, not long by human standards but definitely longer than usual for him. “No one’s ever asked me that before.” Not surprising but still rather sad. “I don’t really need anything. I appreciate the offer though.”

‘I didn’t ask what you needed, I asked what you want?’

“Well… I already have everything I want. What more could I ask for?”

The Doom Slayer shrugged because he didn’t know either. ‘Think about it?’ There was still plenty of time, not much but enough hopefully.

“Will do. … Oh actually, maybe there is something you could get me. You know that painting you had commissioned of yourself and Daisy hanging in your office? Do you think that perhaps you could get more paintings to hang up around the ship for decoration? I could just commission it myself now that I’ve thought about it but I’m not sure what I would ask for.”

‘I can do that.’ The hardest part about that would be finding a good artist who could get a piece done in time for Christmas. Preferably a few artists so he could have several artworks to hang up around the ship for VEGA. It should be doable though.

“Thank you. Now it’s my turn. What would you like for Christmas?”

The easy answer would be another gun and/or some more ammo for the BFG and Unmaykr because of how hard it was to come by and how many resources had to go into making it. But VEGA gave him such things regularly without him ever even needing to ask for it. So instead he should ask for something special, perhaps something not related to killing demons at all. What though? … ‘An electric guitar perhaps?’ He used to play electric guitar fairly frequently, though that’s the only thing he remembered about it now but perhaps it’d be nice to start it up again. ‘Or a friend for Missi?’ There was plenty of room on the ship for multiple animals. ‘Or anything else you might think I’d like. Surprise me.’

“Noted.” VEGA’s voice was accompanied by a large emoji heart flashing onto the computer screen, bringing a smile to the Doom Slayer’s face.