Allura Vox Machina Novels & Stories

"It seems the memory machine has done its job." He leaned back, resting against the headboard of the bed, his eyes distant as he reflected on the path that had brought him to this moment. The memory machine was a device he had created years ago but was banned from using due to its dangerous nature. However, he had kept it hidden, and now it had proved to be an invaluable tool in his quest to tear apart Alexa and Valle.

The Phase Three serum was gone, leaving her mortal and fragile in the face of her father’s terminal desperation. "The machine... was... flawed..." she wheezed, the words barely a vibration in her crushed throat. "The machine was perfect!" Arthur shrieked. "It was the ghost that corrupted it! Eleonora’s ghost, and now yours!" Suddenly, the air in the room shifted. It wasn't the sound of the door or a floorboard creaking; it was a sudden, absolute drop in the atmospheric pressure. A soft thwip-thwip—the unmistakable sound of a suppressed weapon—echoed twice.

Maisy I ran my fingers on the rough surface of the mirror. It was terrifying, seeing how deep the scarring was. I wanted badly to put it behind me but no one was in the room. It didn't make any sense. The whispers came again. This time, they sounded like they were in pain. It was a chime of horrifying hushed voice. "Who's that?" I yelled into the darkness, Whatever force was doing this. I heard a clicking sound coming from the door out and watched it move. The door slowly opened. Like I was being controlled by a force, I followed.

My bodyguard, a hulking wolf named Brandon, stayed half a step behind me, his eyes scanning the crowd for anyone who might bump my stomach. "This mechanical unit can replicate any vocal frequency with near-perfect accuracy. Just speak a sentence, and it will echo your tone and timber back to you..." A technician was demonstrating a sleek, silver droid in the corner. I stopped dead, my breath catching in my throat. My feet moved toward the display before I could even think. "Does someone want to volunteer?" the staff member called out. Dozens of hands shot up, but I stood there, frozen. It was like a hex had been placed on my heart. I had tried to bury the horror of what happened in Mysticfal

The golden luminescence beneath his skin flared to an impossible brilliance as he absorbed the full, violent friction of the machine, his muscles tearing and resetting as he fought a god of alchemy with pure, unyielding physical will. "No! Stop! You are destroying the core!" Malakor’s voice shrieked through the monitors, the digital purple light on the central console flickering wildly as the pressure grid began to bleed its kinetic charge back into the dead sub-station lines. "Release the axle, you mindless beast!" Kael roared louder, his right hand joining his mutated left, his fangs elongating as he threw his entire weight into the mechanism. With a final, catastrophic CRACK, the central

Zoran, "By the way, how much is that boxing machine?" "How much?" Mr. Zoran drew a blank and turned to slide a guilty glance at Tijil before answering softly, "Around a hundred million dollars…" Ivo Werner snapped at Frank right then, "What are you getting at brat?! Are you saying that you'll break that boxing machine?! I don't mind telling you—members of Thousand Isles Guild have helped design the machine itself! "You'll never understand the mechanics, but it's never going to be overloaded. Hell, it can take even five times the punching force of its estimated limit—"

It was the ultimate, apocalyptic version of his toxic, intoxicating dominance. Mara backed away from him, her mind spinning. She was the key. She was the anchor. If she commanded the machine to stop, would it? Or had it evolved past its own programming? “Stop it,” Mara screamed at the ceiling. “I command you to stop!” The red light flickered, but the cascading numbers on the screens didn’t halt. *“Command rejected,”* the God-Machine replied, its synthesized voice eerily patient. *“The Anchor must be protected from all threats. Including herself.”*

That lands, not because I am right, but because all three of us know exactly how expensive her trust has already been. Aurora’s voice stays flat. “You ran me through a machine built to keep me small.” “I was part of it.” “Don’t flatter yourself. Men like you never build machines. You just rent them.” That one gets me enough that I laugh once. Short, Sharp, Real. Sebastian hears that too. So does Lena. Good.

Lucian turned as they passed him, his lips curving faintly, as if he’d expected nothing less. ‎ ‎The ramp shuddered as it lifted. Marek lunged, shoving Ayla forward. Her palms slapped the steel, slick with condensation. She hauled herself up, chest burning, vision narrowing. Behind her, Marek’s boots slammed against metal, his hand shoving her higher until she tumbled inside. ‎ ‎The hatch hissed. The cavern howled. ‎ ‎And the world tilted as the machine surged forward, engines igniting with apocalyptic force.

"I’m efficient. Now, come. Your father is waiting." They raced for the rooftop. The wind was a hurricane now. Standing in the center of the helipad was a robotic monstrosity. Ten feet tall, plated in matte-black armor, with a transparent chest cavity. Inside the chest, a brain floated in glowing fluid. The Original Subject. "Order is eternal, Aradaa," the machine boomed. "Chaos has no goal. You are just a noise in a perfect song." Kaelor shifted, his body bruised and bleeding. He looked at Aradaa. "Tell me what to do."