Chapter 17: The Puppeteer’s Hand
Ryan stared at the spot where the shadowy figure had flickered out of existence. A "Dark Echo Node," his Interface had called the pulsating, evil-looking crystal. And a puppeteer.
This whole situation had just upgraded from "very dangerous monster fight" to "very dangerous monster fight with a creepy ghost-thing pulling the strings." Fantastic.
He was really racking up the Frequent Fright Miles today.
He quickly used his Lore Scanner function, the one powered by the Corrupted Data Fragment from the Precursor Tablet on the Dark Echo Node.
If he was going to survive this, he needed to know what he was up against.
Scanning Target: Dark Echo Node [Corrupted Precursor Artifact]
Type: Precursor Control Device – Corrupted
Function: Emanating A Subtle But Potent ’Subjugation Field.’ Currently Amplifying Aggression And Coordinating The Actions Of Nearby Dark Echo-Infused Entities.
Source Of Corruption / External Control Link: Unknown Entity [Shadowy, Intermittently Manifesting].
Weakness: Direct Physical Trauma to Crystalline Structure. Essentially, Hit It Hard.
System Note: So, it’s a mind-control rock being used by a spooky ghost. Smash the rock, maybe the ghost gets mad and leaves? Or maybe it just gets really mad. Worth a shot, probably!