Does anyone know how to make your Google dark theme hard to write when I'm getting flashbang hard?
Short chapter in a food coma again
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The containment equipment surrounding the platform overloaded while the transmat corridor collapsed completely. Two Councillors fell backward when their equipment exploded into showers of harmless golden sparks, and another simply stared at the future Engineer as he had just discovered several deeply unfortunate facts about his career choices.
The younger Engineer stared too. Then her eyebrows slowly climbed." I become a War General?"
Her System answered immediately.
[Apparently.]
"Of Gallifreyan children? Who would be insane enough to put their children in my hands… even I don't trust myself "
[Apparently, and their Time Lord being sane is not for them]
"And I'm working for Omega? The mad titan who wanted to kill all Time Lords"
[Evidence suggests affirmative.]
The younger Engineer considered everything she had learned during the last thirty seconds.
Future her had become some type of higher multidimensional entity, well higher than a normal time lord, apparently served Omega, hated Rassilon with enough intensity to shout at him across an entire battlefield, possessed a title connected to Gallifreyan soldiers, and somehow had Cybermen using Gallifreyan technology.
There was also still the elf problem. She mentally rubbed her forehead.
"Future me needs to start keeping a diary."
Rassilon's projection remained active.
"You invoke Omega's name as though he remains worthy of worship."
Future Engineer's expression changed again.
That anger sharpened.
"Be very careful."
"You have forgotten what he became."
"No. I remember what you became. You called Omega the mad titan; well, that's better than you being a mad clown."
Several members of the High Council visibly reacted. Future Engineer stepped forward.
"You built Gallifrey upon the work of people whose names you conveniently buried beneath yours. You turned history into scripture whenever it benefited you, then called everyone traitors whenever they remembered the parts you edited out."
Rassilon looked down at her.
"I created the foundations upon which your civilization stands."
Future Engineer smiled without humor. "And somehow you still managed to become the crack in every foundation you touched."
The younger Engineer blinked. "Okay, stealing that."
[Temporal plagiarism remains philosophically questionable.]
"Future me already said it. Technically I'm reclaiming my own property."
The memory shifted again.
Future Engineer immediately turned away from Rassilon.
Whatever argument remained between them became secondary the moment the Cyber-Nexus began moving.
Massive sections of the city opened.
Weapons emerged from beneath buildings.
Thousands of Cybermen received a synchronized command.
The younger Engineer felt the network signal move through the memory.
Future Engineer felt it too. Her rage returned immediately. She looked toward the Cyber forces gathering around the Nexus.
"No." Her upgraded Omni-Tool unfolded around her arm.
Several rings rotated outward while dimensional structures appeared between them. The High Council started shouting.
One Councillor stepped forward. "Engineer, disengage immediately. The Lord President has ordered your return."
Future Engineer didn't even look at him. "Tell Rassilon to come collect me himself."
The Cyber-Nexus transmitted another command.
[ENGINEER DESIGNATION: PRIMARY THREAT.]
Thousands of Cyber heads turned toward her.
Future Engineer smiled. That expression contained nothing pleasant. "Good."
The younger Engineer watched her future self spread both arms while an impossible number of holographic interfaces opened around her.
"Now you finally understand the situation."
Cyber weapons charged throughout the city. Future Engineer's eyes rotated with violet light.
Her voice became quieter. "You took children."
The younger Engineer stopped joking.
Future Engineer stared across the Cyber army. "You converted refugee ships."
Several Cyber units began advancing.
"You tore people apart because your pathetic little ideology couldn't tolerate anything being different from you."
The upgraded Omni-Tool connected with something beneath the city.
The Cyber-Nexus reacted immediately.
[NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTED.]
Future Engineer's expression became furious. She knew exactly what she wanted to do."You touched Gallifreyan children while I was responsible for getting them out."
The younger Engineer felt something unpleasant settle in her stomach. Now the title made more sense. War General of Gallifreyan children.
A responsibility. Then the System identified the program.
[Unknown protocol architecture detected.]
[Probable designation located.]
[ENGINEER PROTOCOL.] The younger Engineer stared. There it was. Time what this protocol does
The thing the machine in the UNIT relay had traveled centuries backward through time to find.
Future Engineer initiated another stage.
[Protocol propagation increasing.]
The Cyber-Nexus responded.
[Containment failed.] Another warning appeared.
[Temporal network exposure detected.]
Younger Engineer froze. Concern. Then disbelief.
"No." The protocol had entered the temporal network.
It wasn't staying on Kastoria anymore. Future Engineer started shutting down connections. The Engineer Protocol jumped into another era. Then another.
Cyber-derived architecture began responding across multiple points in history.
The High Council started shouting behind her. Rassilon's projection changed. "STOP! You're going to contaminate the timelines."
Future Engineer ignored him. Her hands moved rapidly through the interface. The younger Engineer understood.
The Engineer Protocol wasn't just spreading through space. It was spreading through time.
Past Cyber systems could receive it from future ones. Future systems could transmit modified versions backward. There was no longer a single infection chain. Cause and effect were feeding each other.
Future Engineer whispered something the younger version couldn't hear. Then the massive Cybernetic entity appeared through the smoke. The same creature currently fighting UNIT.
Its armor was cleaner inside the memory, and Gallifreyan symbols glowed beneath several plates.
The younger Engineer felt the memory becoming unstable. Several images overlapped.
Rassilon ordering the High Council to restrain her again. Future Engineer destroying the restraints. Cyber worlds shutting down.
Artificial civilizations reporting unexplained failures. Gallifreyan systems beginning to detect fragments of Engineer Protocol code.
The enormous machine standing beside her. Omega's symbol appearing inside the upgraded Omni-Tool. Then Future Engineer looked forward.
Straight toward the younger Engineer. The younger Engineer stopped breathing for several seconds with an " oh shit " face
That wasn't possible. This is just a memory; she shouldn't know she was there unless she got a really good memory and remembered this eon in the future. Future Engineer's clock violet eyes narrowed. Her expression softened slightly. Not much.Just enough. "You're far too early."
The younger Engineer stared back. "What?"
Future Engineer tilted her head as though listening to someone standing on the other side of a wall. "You shouldn't be seeing this yet." The connection collapsed. Reality slammed back into the younger Engineer so violently that her vision blurred.