War-Maid: Chapter 4 Ascending to Basement Level 6 (Patreon)

Year 4500, May 12

Beneath the Iron Graveyard’s Military Base, -6 floor

The elevator groaned as it crawled upward through the ancient, structural bones of the military base. Around them, the reinforced metallic walls trembled softly, the steady friction of rusted guide rails vibrating straight through the soles of Diego’s boots. Dim amber emergency lights flickered overhead on a jagged loop, casting unstable shadows that stretched and warped across the small enclosure.

Thoom.

A distant, heavy impact resonated from somewhere deep within the lower sectors, causing the entire chassis to shudder violently. Diego flinched, his fingers instantly tightening into a white-knuckled, frantic grip around the black frame of his plasma pistol.

With every passing second, the realization of what he was about to do finally started settling into Diego’s mind, as this wasn’t a game or a movie. Real monsters were waiting for him upstairs. And if he made one mistake, he could die. Diego standing near the corner of the elevator was trying to steady his breathing. Unfortunately it wasn’t working as his hands trembled slightly around the futuristic handgun while his thoughts spiraled from bad to worse the longer the elevator climbed.

‘What if I freeze or miss? What if one of those things bites me?’ His chest tightened. Then another thought hit him even harder. ‘I would have already been dead because I wasn’t paying attention.’ The memory flashed through his mind instantly and his grip on the plasma gun tightened harder. ‘What if I screw up again? What if I get myself killed because I panic like a coward?’

The elevator suddenly felt entirely too small, the air thick and suffocating. His stomach churned with a sudden wave of nausea, and he genuinely felt like he was about to throw up right there on the grated floor.

Beside him, Valerie silently watched his expression. The silver-haired War-Maid quickly noticed his elevated heart rate, the unstable breathing, his muscle tension and the signs of fear. 

Without a moment's hesitation, she shifted her stance. Her sleek, black uniform slid against his jacket as she reached out, her slender, gloved hand sliding firmly into his trembling left one. 

Diego blinked, the sudden sensation breaking his internal panic. Her hand felt incredibly comforting, despite the light, synthetic musculature beneath her skin.

“Master,” She said quietly. Her voice was a low, melodic anchor that instantly dragged him out of the suffocating depths of his own mind. “You do not need to be afraid.”

Diego gave a weak, nervous laugh.“…Easy for you to say.”

“Do you know why? Because I am here.”Valerie murmured, stepping even closer until her shoulder was pressed firmly against his side, offering him her physical strength. “And I will protect you.”

Her words weren't a boast or a hollow promise. The way she said it carried an absolute, spine-chilling certainty, an unyielding truth without a single shred of hesitation or doubt. Because to her, protecting him wasn't an assignment or a chore; it was simply the most fundamental, natural law of existence.

“And if you truly do not wish to engage in combat,” Valerie continued softly, her glowing sapphire eyes locking onto his panicked brown ones, “I can eliminate all hostile threats myself. I will tear them apart before they can look at you. So please… trust me to keep you safe.”

Somehow, hearing those words from her, affected him more than expected. Maybe it was because they were trapped in a metal box seven floors beneath a ruined world. Or maybe it was simply because, despite the incredibly short time he had known her, Valerie’s sincerity felt completely genuine as she truly meant every word.

Diego took a slow, deep breath, the tightness in his chest finally loosening. He then slowly squeezed her hand back, feeling the solid, reassuring reality of her presence. “…I’m really glad you’re here, Valerie.”

The stiff, combat-ready posture of the War-Maid visibly softened. Her shoulders relaxed, and the faint blue circuitry lines weaving along her bodysuit pulsed with a slightly warmer, brighter luminescence.

Diego awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, a sheepish, self-deprecating smile touching his lips. “I know we literally just met a few minutes ago, and the whole situation is completely insane, but…” He looked at her quietly, his voice dropping into something genuine. “…I do trust you.”

For a brief, staggering moment, Valerie completely froze. Deep within her chest, her quantum heart-core skipped a processing cycle as her internal systems exploded with a cascade of notifications. And a delicate, beautiful shade of pink flushed across her cheeks. It took her a full second to find her voice. “…Thank you, Master.” 

Then Diego sighed lightly. “But I still want to help.” This caused Valerie to blink.  “I don’t want to just stand around in a corner while you do everything for me,” Diego said, his jaw tightening slightly. “I’m the human here. I’m supposed to be helping rebuild things, not hiding behind you.” 

But the War-Maid immediately shook her head, a soft, protective frown marring her perfect features. She stepped even closer, virtually pinning his arm against her side. “I do not mind doing everything for you, Master. I do not mind the burden. As long as I remain useful to you, my existence is justified.” 

Diego’s brow furrowed, a sudden wave of discomfort washing over him. “…Don’t say it like that.” 

Valerie tilted her head slightly, her silver hair brushing his shoulder. “Is it… incorrect phrasing?”

“No, the grammar is fine,” Diego said, looking at her with a mixture of pity and concern. “You just make it sound like your only value as a living, thinking being is helping me. Like you don't matter at all.”

Silence fell over the elevator cage.

Valerie genuinely looked confused by the statement, her logic circuits struggling to process the concept of self-worth outside of his utility. For her, the two ideas were mathematically inseparable.

“…Protecting and serving my Master is my greatest purpose,” Valerie said softly, her voice filled with a pure, uncorrupted innocence. “There is no other value.”

Diego opened his mouth to argue, to tell her about individuality, about freedom, but the words died in his throat. He stopped because the scariest, most overwhelming part of the situation was that she truly, deeply believed it. 

But before the heavy weight of that realization could completely derail his train of thought, Valerie’s expression softened. She calmly added, “If you desire, I can teach the Master how to utilize your weapon.” 

Diego immediately brightened slightly, grateful for the lifeline out of the awkward emotional conversational corner he’d backed himself into. “…Actually, yeah.” He lifted the plasma pistol awkwardly, peering down the unlit sights. “Can you teach me how to use this thing without accidentally blowing my own hand off?”

“Of course.”

Valerie gently released his hand before fluidly stepping around to position herself behind him. Diego immediately stiffened, his spine turning to solid stone as she closed the distance. ‘Very close. Oh no, she’s close. She’s incredibly close.’

The silver-haired War-Maid paid his internal panic no mind as she reached around him, her sleek, gloved hands guiding his around the grip of the weapon. “Relax your shoulders, Master,” Her soft, melodic voice murmured right beside his ear. Her breath tickled his neck, and Diego’s heart immediately started malfunctioning all over again, the nanomachines in his blood practically throwing their hands up in despair.

“This stance improves stability,” Valerie instructed gently, her hands sliding down to reposition his wrists and elbows with careful, military precision.

As she corrected his posture, the natural, real-feeling warmth of her body pressed lightly against his back to demonstrate the proper shooting form. Diego’s brain struggled heroically to maintain a shred of focus. ‘Focus on the gun. Do NOT focus on the beautiful android girl holding you. Do not think about the fact that she is pressing against you with her big boobs!’

“Keep both hands firm,” Valerie instructed calmly, entirely oblivious to the mental war raging inside her operator. She guided his fingers properly along the heavy weapon frame, settling his index finger just outside the guard. “The plasma recoil is minimal compared to archaic ballistic weapons, but inexperienced operators often overestimate the thermal discharge.”

Diego nodded quickly. “R-right.”

“Target acquisition should prioritize the head or upper torso for maximum neural disruption,” Valerie continued. Suddenly, the weapon’s integrated blue targeting system flickered to life, projecting a crisp, holographic reticle onto Diego's field of vision. “When firing, exhale slowly.”

Diego carefully mimicked her instructions, drawing in a breath and letting it out in a controlled stream. “…Like this?”

“Yes.” Her voice carried unmistakable, radiant approval. “Master learns quickly.”

Diego looked slightly proud of himself, a small smirk breaking through his nerves. “…Really?”

“Yes.” The compliment hit him significantly harder than expected, especially coming from someone who could apparently slice through armored plating. Valerie then carefully helped him point the weapon toward the reinforced elevator wall. “After that, just visualize the shot path before firing.”

Diego adjusted his footing slightly, feeling the posture click into place. “…Okay… Thanks, Valerie.”

The War-Maid looked genuinely happy hearing her name spoken normally by him, her sapphire eyes shimmering. “You are welcome, Master.”

But then—DING.

The elevator suddenly shuddered to a halt, and instantly, the fragile comfort of the moment vanished beneath a suffocating wave of tension. The amber lights flashed once and died, leaving them in the dim glow of their suits. The elevator doors then slowly opened with a heavy, metallic groan.

Showing the darkness waited outside.

A long, cavernous corridor stretched before them, illuminated only by the rhythmic, sickly pulse of distant red emergency lights. Sheets of rust peeled from portions of the bulkheads, and old, dried blood stains painted the floor in black, jagged smears. Sparks occasionally burst from damaged ceiling wires, sizzling as they hit the flooded floorboards.

Somewhere far in the distance, a low, guttural growl echoed faintly through the hallway, a wet, scraping sound that set Diego's teeth on edge.

Diego immediately felt cold. Then, the smell hit him. It was a thick, stagnant stench full of rot and decay. His grip tightened around the plasma pistol until his knuckles turned white. “…Oh Dios,” He whispered.

Valerie instantly stepped slightly in front of him, her movements shifting to that of an apex predator in a fraction of a millisecond. Her glowing blue eyes narrowed as her tactical combat systems quietly activated beneath her calm expression. “Various hostile presences detected,” She intoned, her voice losing its softness, replaced by a chilling, deadpan clarity.

Far down the corridor, illuminated by the rhythmic blink of a red emergency light, something moved within the darkness. It was a silhouette, slow, dragging, and utterly unnatural. Then another appeared behind it, their tattered lab coats stained with black fluid.

Diego swallowed nervously, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He raised the plasma pistol, the blue reticle snapping onto the nearest shadow. 

The flickering red emergency lights barely illuminated the ruined military hallway as the two carefully moved forward. Old warning posters hung torn across the walls while abandoned equipment and overturned stretchers littered the floor.

Then, the shadows ahead broke.

A lumbering silhouette stumbled out from a blind corner, causing Diego’s breath to hitch violently in his throat. What stepped into the sickly red emergency light was no longer human. Its flesh was a mottled, sloughing grey, hanging loosely from patches of exposed muscle and blackened bone. One arm dangled at an impossible, broken angle from its socket, swinging like a pendulum while milky, cataract-covered eyes locked directly onto Diego.

The creature’s jaw unhinged, unleashing a dry, starving screech that echoed off the metal bulkheads. “GRAAAAAHHH—!”

Diego physically recoiled, his boots skidding backward on the floor as the hallway suddenly came alive with motion. One after another, tattered shapes emerged from the dark. Some wore the rotted remnants of military uniforms; others wore civilian rags with lab coats. Many were so far gone to decay they were practically skeletons held together by dried tendons.

One dragged its lower half across the floor using only its cracked fingernails, leaving a dark smear on the metal. Another’s lower jaw hung completely detached, swinging uselessly while a thick, tar-like black fluid dripped endlessly from its throat. Every single milky eye in that corridor fixed directly at Diego.

With an agonizing, collective groan, the horde began shuffling forward. They weren't running, but they moved with a relentless, jerky momentum that made the scene infinitely creepier.

Valerie reacted before Diego’s brain could even register the threat. Her sapphire eyes sharpened into lethal, glowing rings.

“TARGETS IDENTIFIED.”

In one fluid, blindingly fast motion, the silver-haired War-Maid drew her plasma pistol, stepping perfectly between Diego and the oncoming horde. “Remain behind me, Master.”

Then, she squeezed the trigger.

PEW—PEW—PEW—!

The dark corridor exploded in a succession of brilliant, blinding blue flashes.

The first zombie’s head instantly detonated in a spray of vaporized bone and burning tissue, its body collapsing like a house of cards. Without a microsecond of hesitation, Valerie’s wrist flicked; a second bolt tore cleanly through another walker’s eye socket, melting its brain stem. A third shot vaporized the skull of an undead before its front foot could even touch the ground.

Every single shot was a masterclass in efficiency, no wasted movement, no hesitation, zero recoil lapse.

Diego could only stare in absolute, jaw-dropped shock from behind her shoulder. ‘She's amazing,’ he thought, his awe momentarily fighting through his terror. ‘She literally doesn't miss...’

Valerie advanced with a terrifying, rhythmic calmness, her plasma pistol barking in perfect sync with her steady footsteps.

PEW—PEW—PEW—!

Another undead collapsed, then another, and another. The hallway flashed a strobing, neon blue with every discharge, and the thick stench of scorched, rotting flesh immediately flooded the air, making Diego’s eyes water.

Unfortunately, the gunfire seemed to act as a beacon as more shapes began spilling out from the tattered shadows of the side rooms.

Diego’s panic roared back to life. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap—!” Suddenly, a tattered zombie lunged directly at him from a nearby maintenance alcove. Instinct took over as Diego thrust his pistol forward, screaming, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

PEW—!

His hands shook so violently the shot completely missed, blasting a smoking crater into the wall behind the creature and sending a shower of orange sparks everywhere. The zombie didn't even flinch, its rotting hands reaching out to grab his jacket. Diego began to pull the trigger wildly, backing away in a blind frenzy. 

PEW—PEW—PEW—!

His second shot blasted off the thing's left arm at the elbow. His third hit it dead center in the stomach, blowing a glowing hole through its torso. His final shot tore completely through its knee, causing the creature to collapse hard onto the metal floor.

But it didn't stop. The undead thing immediately began dragging itself toward his boots, its remaining fingers clawing desperately at the grated ground while its ruined mouth snapped hungrily at the air. “GRAAAHHHH—!”

Diego’s face drained of all color, his back hitting a wall. “WHY IS IT STILL MOVING?! I BLEW A HOLE IN IT!”

A black-gloved arm extended over his shoulder, and a single, precise shot rang out. 

PEW—!

The crawling zombie’s head exploded into ash, and its body finally went entirely still.

“Cranial destruction is the only recommended metric for total termination,” Valerie stated calmly, her eyes never leaving the rest of the approaching horde as she kept firing.

Diego stared at the smoking corpse at his feet, his chest heaving. “This is so deeply horrifying.” Before he could catch his breath, yet another undead soldier stumbled out from the shadows on his left, its jaw snapping frantically.

This time, Diego forced his mind to lock into the posture Valerie had taught him in the elevator. He raised the plasma pistol with trembling but determined hands, focusing on the blue reticle overlaying his vision. He squeezed the trigger.

PEW—!

The superheated bolt struck the zombie square in the shoulder. Chunks of burning, blackened flesh sloughed off its body, but the creature barely registered the trauma, its legs continuing to carry it forward.

“Oh, come on!” Diego yelled, backing away quickly while continuing to fire nervously.

PEW—PEW—!

One shot severed its remaining arm. Another punched a massive gap through its ribs, exposing a dead, withered spine. Still, the soldier stumbled closer, its rotten fingers twitching as it reached for his throat.

Diego’s heart pounded violently against his ribs, the sound deafening in his ears. ‘Head! Focus on the gun! Aim for the head!’

He planted his boots firmly, exactly as Valerie had demonstrated. He took a sharp breath, stabilized his wrists, and aimed right between the creature's milky eyes.

PEW—!

The plasma bolt struck directly through the center of the zombie’s forehead. The creature froze instantly, the light in its dead eyes completely vanishing before it crashed face-first onto the deck.

Diego blinked, staring at the smoking remains. The silence of that specific kill echoed in his mind. “…I did it. I actually hit it.”

Valerie seamlessly glanced back over her shoulder, her pistol barking twice to drop two more walkers behind her without her even looking at them. A brilliant, radiant smile broke through her cold combat demeanor. “Congratulations, Master,” she said, her voice brimming with unmistakable, genuine pride in his accomplishment. Which weirdly made Diego feel a whole lot better.

Unfortunately, Floor -6 was nowhere near clear yet.

More undead slowly emerged from the distant, intersecting hallways, drawn to the sharp, snapping thunder of the plasma gunfire. The sheer variety of their wet, hollow groans echoing through the floor made Diego’s skin crawl. The ancient base felt less like a military facility and more like a massive, subterranean graveyard that had suddenly been shaken awake.

But Diego didn’t back down this time. He kept his feet planted, his knuckles white around the grip of his pistol. His shooting was visibly improving. The panic that had threatened to choke him in the elevator was finally transforming into a sharp, survival-driven focus.

PEW—!

His first deliberate shot struck an advancing walker dead center in the neck, severing the spine and dropping it instantly.

PEW—!

He pivoted slightly, exhaling just like Valerie taught him, and sent a superheated bolt directly through the milky eye of a mutated technician.

PEW—!

A third shot blasted apart the upper skull of a scraping runner. His breathing remained shaky, his chest heaving with adrenaline, but he was finally holding his ground.

Beside him, Valerie’s tactical processors calculated the shifting variables. The number of walkers was increasing, and a dense cluster of them had managed to close the distance into the intermediate threshold. Deciding to forgo the clinical distance of the plasma pistol, she attached the firearm to her hip and summoned Sun-Slayer.

The dark corridor instantly exploded in a blinding halo of neon-blue electricity.

Then Valerie moved. 

To Diego, she became nothing more than a silver phantom gliding effortlessly through the shadows. Her absolute proficiency with the blade was both breathtaking—and terrifying. She spun, ducked, and glided through the horde, a single swipe of her thermodynamic blade cleanly bisecting everything in its path with a violent, sizzling hiss. Every movement was a piece of lethal choreography, a beautiful dance of death designed to keep the monsters completely away from her operator. Even in the apex of her kinetic slaughter, her sapphire eyes continuously flickered backward, monitoring Diego's exact coordinates between attacks.

Suddenly, a massive, rusted door to a side corridor gave way. A decaying soldier stumbled out from the dark, lunging straight toward Diego’s blind spot with its teeth snapping.

Valerie reacted instantly. Bypassing the laws of friction, she blurred backward, her left hand snapping onto Diego’s shoulder. With effortless power, she pulled him backward, tucking his spine securely against her chest while her right hand brought Sun-Slayer around in a devastating, horizontal arc.

VROOOM—!

The blade sheared through the creature's neck. The headless zombie collapsed hard against the floor, only inches away from Diego's boots, its severed skull melting into ash before it even hit the deck.

Diego’s heart nearly exploded out of his ribs. He was completely pinned against her soft, warm frame, the smell of ozone, scorched meat, and her unique scent filling his senses.

Valerie calmly looked down at him, her face completely unbothered by the violence. “…Are you injured, Master?”

Diego stared up at her wide-eyed, his voice a squeak. “…I think my soul is.”

Valerie blinked slowly, her optical sensors whirring as she searched her database. “…Unclear diagnosis. Please specify physiological coordinates.”

Despite the grotesque horror surrounding them, Diego let out a manic, nervous laugh. He had to. If he didn’t laugh right now, he was pretty sure he would completely lose his mind.

Glancing back down the corridor, Valerie noted the remaining wave of zombies pressed into a tight bottleneck, trying to crawl over the smoking remains of their fallen counterparts. Deciding it was time to put an end to the engagement, her demeanor shifted back to absolute, chilling utility.

"Stay behind me, Master," She commanded softly.

She gently nudged Diego into the safety of the alcove behind her and dropped into a low, aggressive iaido stance. The blue electricity crackling along Sun-Slayer flared into a blinding, continuous hum, the air around the blade warping from the intense heat.

Then, she vanished completely.

Valerie moved in a blur of motion so hyper-accelerated that the human eye couldn't track it. A split second later, she materialized twenty feet down the hallway in a kneeling, dynamic pose, smoothly unsummoning her katana back into its digital sheath.

Behind her, the entire corridor seemed to fracture. In a horrifyingly grotesque display of supreme combat efficiency, every single undead creature in her path was cleanly cut in two. Before the severed halves could even hit the grated floor, the extreme thermodynamic heat of the blade caught up to them. The rotting flesh ignited, instantly burning the remaining horde away into a cloud of drifting, silent ash.

The violent crackle of electricity faded, leaving the dark, blood-stained hallway completely silent once more.

The flickering emergency lights painted the ruined corridor in rhythmic, dim red flashes while black ash from the vaporized corpses drifted slowly through the air like a macabre snowfall. Melted plasma marks scarred the reinforced steel walls, glowing with a faint residual heat, and the thick, suffocating smell of scorched flesh still lingered heavily throughout the 6th floor.

Diego stood frozen in a shooting stance, his plasma pistol still raised and trembling. Sweat rolled down the side of his face, his chest heaving as the adrenaline continued to surge violently through his veins. He didn't dare lower his guard.

“…Is it over?” He whispered, his voice barely cutting through the heavy silence.

Valerie’s head snapped side to side, instantly scanning the smoking hallway. Her glowing blue eyes brightened slightly, shifting into a rapid-refresh diagnostic mode as her internal systems processed the environment.

SCANNING…

LIFE SIGNS: NEGATIVE.

HOSTILE PRESENCE: UNCONFIRMED.

THERMAL DETECTION ACTIVE.

The silver-haired War-Maid continued to monitor every intersecting corridor around them with careful, calculating precision. “No immediate threats detected, Master.”

Diego let out a long, shaky breath and visibly relaxed a fraction. “…Immediate threats?”

Valerie nodded calmly, her sapphire gaze cutting through the shadows. “The floor remains structurally unstable and severe sensor interference exists throughout multiple sectors.” Which basically meant that there still might be horrible things hiding nearby.

Diego's shoulders slumped, his tension returning in a flash. “…Cool. Awesome. Love that for us.”

Valerie ignored the sarcasm, continuing her meticulous sweep of the surrounding corridors. From a statistical standpoint, most of the infected on this specific level appeared to be destroyed. The remaining thermal signatures flickering on her HUD were either entirely inactive, buried deep beneath collapsed structural debris, or simply too faint to classify accurately without physical investigation.

Still, she remained on absolute alert. Her primary directive was a hardcoded law: Protect Master. Nothing else in the universe mattered more. Even now, in the relative quiet, her sub-routines were continuously tracking every minute hallway movement, filtering micro-sound vibrations, analyzing chemical air quality, and mapping potential attack vectors. Any threat foolish enough to approach Diego would be terminated instantly.

Meanwhile, Diego slowly turned toward her. As the immediate shock wore off, his terrified expression suddenly shattered, replaced by a look of sheer, unadulterated excitement. Valerie blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in his vitals, and before she could react, Diego stepped toward her, gesturing wildly with his free hand.

“That was AMAZING!” Diego practically shouted, his eyes sparkling like a kid on Christmas. “The thing you did earlier with the sword?! You just went—WHOOSH—and then the whole hallway just exploded!” He mimicked a dramatic, hyper-fast slashing motion in the air, nearly dropping his pistol in the process. “That was insane! It looked like something straight out of a high-budget anime!”

Valerie stared at him in utter silence for a long moment, her processing units momentarily stalling at the unexpected praise. Then, very subtly, she puffed up. Her posture straightened into a proud line, her shoulders squaring and her chest lifting with an unmistakable wave of profound satisfaction.

“…Thank you, Master,” She said. The blue circuitry lines weaving across her bodysuit flared, glowing a little warmer and brighter in response to her internal mood matrix.

Diego laughed lightly, the last remnants of his panic melting away. “No, seriously, that was incredible. You're like some kind of futuristic, hyper-lethal cyber samurai.”

Valerie’s expression softened faintly at the comparison. “I am highly pleased that my combat capabilities met Master’s expectations.”

Diego immediately shook his head, a grin breaking through the dirt on his face. “Met expectations? Valerie, you didn't just meet them, you practically owned that entire fight.”

Valerie calmly tilted her head, her silver hair catching the red emergency light. “Protecting Master is the bare minimum expected of my unit designation.”

Diego rubbed his forehead, a tired, amused sigh escaping him. “…You really say the most terrifyingly intense things in the calmest voice possible, don't you?”

Valerie looked slightly confused again, her optical rings whirring softly. “…Was the statement logically incorrect?”

“No, it’s just—” But Diego waved it off, a little overwhelmed by her casual devotion. After calming his racing heart, he finally took a proper look around the ruined, smoking floor. The oppressive silence now felt a little lighter, less chaotic than before.

“…So, what now?” Diego asked, pointing a thumb back toward the elevator behind them. “Do we head back downstairs where it’s safe?” He then glanced toward the pitch-black hallways stretching deeper into the bowels of Floor -6. “Or do we keep exploring?”

The thought alone made his stomach twist. There were dozens of sealed titanium doors around them—storage vaults, medical wings, maintenance sections, and potentially more secret laboratories like the time chamber. Any single one of them could still house more infected. Or worse.

Valerie answered immediately, her voice steady. “Either option is entirely acceptable. I will execute whichever path Master dictates.”

Diego looked at her, his survival instincts kicking in. “How much energy did you actually use back there?”

Valerie’s eyes flickered briefly as her internal diagnostics overlay appeared on her retinas. “Current power reserves remain at ninety-one percent.”

Diego blinked, staring at her. “…Seriously? After all that?”

“The majority of my energy consumption originated from Sun-Slayer’s deployment,” Valerie explained, a tiny spark of blue electricity crackling harmlessly across her fingertips to demonstrate. “Standard firearm combat produces minimal drain.”

Diego ran the math in his head. If she could operate at ninety-one percent after clearing a whole hallway, she could probably stay active for days without the sword. Still, after a long moment of contemplation, he let out a heavy sigh and lowered his pistol to his side.

“…We should probably keep exploring,” Diego decided, his jaw tightening with a newfound spark of resolve.

Valerie nodded instantly. “Understood.”

“If there are more of those things hiding around this floor, it’s better to clear them out now while we have the momentum, rather than letting them surprise us later when we’re trying to rebuild the floor.”

“A tactically sound conclusion, Master.”

The two turned away from the elevator and began walking carefully through the ruined military corridors, their boots crunching on broken glass and ash.

This time, however, Diego hesitated for a fraction of a second before reaching out. His fingers brushed against hers, and then, with a nervous swallow, he firmly grabbed Valerie’s hand.

The War-Maid visibly paused in her tracks, freezing in genuine surprise. Her glowing blue eyes slowly shifted downward, focusing intently on their intertwined fingers.

“…Master?” She murmured, her voice tilting upward in a rare display of vulnerability.

Diego’s face instantly flashed a roaring, high-octane crimson, and he looked everywhere but at her. “I-It’s not weird! Don't make it weird!”

Valerie waited in perfect, expectant silence, her hand remaining entirely still in his grip.

Diego rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, his social anxieties screaming at him. “It’s just… ya know…” He gestured vaguely toward the creepy, pitch-black hallways with his pistol hand. “I really don’t want us to get separated in the dark. And besides, G.O.D. explicitly said that physical contact helps recharge your battery and we might need your strength later.”

The moment his hand remained pressed firmly against hers, Valerie’s internal command line went absolutely wild, text scrolling across her vision at a frantic pace.

NOTIFICATION: BIO-SYNC LINK ESTABLISHED

ENERGY TRANSFER ACTIVE

EMOTIONAL SATISFACTION INCREASING.

The War-Maid quietly shifted her weight, sliding a fraction closer until her shoulder brushed his jacket, and gently, deliberately tightened her slender fingers around his hand.

“…Understood,” She whispered. Her voice had lost every shred of its clinical, robotic edge, sounding incredibly soft, warm, and deeply human. 

Diego tried very hard to look straight ahead, desperately trying not to notice the radiating wave of pure, unadulterated contentment pouring off the girl beside him. 

Unfortunately, because she was practically glued to his arm, he noticed it immediately. ‘Man, she really likes physical contact, huh…’ He thought, his own heart fluttering in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with fear.

Valerie, meanwhile, had internally reached a completely different, mathematically sound conclusion.

TACTICAL LOG: MASTER INITIATED CONTACT.

AFFECTIONATE BEHAVIOR: CONFIRMED.

SYNC COMPATIBILITY: EXCELLENT // UNMATCHED.

A tiny, beautiful smile tugged at the corners of her lips, brightening her face as the pair continued their slow, careful march into the deep, waiting darkness of the dead world.

Done. Tell me what you think and if I made any mistakes. What do you think should happen next?