[Forum Thread: "MMM – Anything And Everything We Know"] Page #5973 Thread Start Date: Month 4, Day 12, PFC 935 Current Page Date: Month 8, Day 15, PFC 943

[HexaBladeX90]: So uh, not tryna stir shit, but has anyone heard anything about MMM in the last like… year and a half? Their site's still dead, socials are nuked, last archive update was almost two years ago. Starting to think they're actually just gone. Anyone got something?

[RecoilReaper]: @HexaBladeX90 Bro. If MMM even farted near a digital terminal, this entire fucking forum would implode; and not just this one. Don't you think if there was anything, we'd already be neck-deep in ten thousand posts dissecting it pixel by pixel? No. Nobody knows shit. Still MIA. Still nothing. Not gonna change either.

[BioCharger]: @HexaBladeX90 Let the dead rest, man. MMM was a ghost the moment that "Tidal Core" build dropped. No notes. No patch follow-up. No fucking goodbye. Just poof. Either they got picked up by corp dev teams or burned out like everyone else with talent in this goddamn scene.

[CreepingModem]: I'm new, sorry if this is the wrong spot, but who exactly was MMM? I don't exactly have time to read 6k fucking pages. Who or what even was MMM? Only been playing Archion a couple months, so I'm completely out of the loop on this.

[NanoFish32]: @CreepingModem TLDR? Sure, here goes: MMM was THE build-maker. Not "one of the top." THE. Like, galaxy-shaking, balance-breaking, dev-team-responding level of builds. You know "Stormborn Spec"? "Riftdrift Swapper"? "Dustfire Trickster"? That was all them.

[Cr1tFetish]: @CreepingModem @NanoFish32 Nah. I respect the legacy but MMM was kinda overrated tbh. Good builds, yeah. But y'all act like they were the Emperor-incarnate or some shit. The meta was always gonna shift—MMM just rode the wave better than most; all there's to it. Stop dick-riding the dead so hard.

[DirgeBox]: Dude, disrespectfully: Cope harder ********, @Cr1tFetish, you're on fucking Glitter you fucking ********** [Moderator Warning: Watch your language, @DirgeBox. User muted for 30 minutes, Reason: Offensive Language.] MMM didn't ride the wave. MMM was the wave. There's a reason people still compare every new build maker to them even years later. They dropped like 80+ builds, and except the first 10-15, almost every single one defined an era.

[Brainracked]: Speaking of—does anyone actually know anything about MMM? Like, real info? Not rumors. I remember some people saying they were like 15 or 16 during the height of their run, what's with that?

[Autoweld42]: Closest thing to facts I've seen was the rundown on Page 3,874: – Estimated age during peak activity: 15-18 – Supposedly female, but they never really interacted with anyone, so proof is missing – Known builds: 87 (not counting variants) – First known post: Archived on an old 933 forum buildlist – Disappearance: Somewhere start-of-941 – No confirmed IRL identity, 0 confirmed IRL appearances at tournaments – Several builds got direct patch nerfs after launch – Last build was "Tidal Core"

[GlitchFeast]: Also hold the fuck up—"15-18 during their peak"? That makes no Emperor-damned sense. You're telling me MMM started dropping top-tier meta builds at what, age 5? No fucking way that's true. Check your math, dude. Like what kind of mutant drops meta-breaking tech before finishing primary school?

[GravitonPunch]: @Autoweld42 Double digits doesn't sound impressive when you put it like that, but remember that every single one was basically THE build of its meta, except maybe the earliest dozen or two. MMM was quality over quantity, for real.

[PulseHawk]: Learn to read @GlitchFeast Not five. @Autoweld42 specifically said "during their peak." First posts in PFC933, vanished in PFC941. That's an 8-year window. So they could've started around 7-10 on the low-end, would be around 17-20 or so by now, if they're even alive. Still insane, but at least a bit more plausible.

[QuietStorm]: @Autoweld42 What kind of Emperor-forsaken fanfic horseshit is this? A girl, aged 17-20, is supposed to be the legendary build maker? Y'all high on Glitter in here or something, just making up fantasies to jerk to at night? "Uhhh yaaaa gamer girl, give me the build and then come join me in bed, baybee!" Next you're gonna tell me she's also super pretty and exotic in some way, huh?

[C0rruptionByte]: @Pulsehawk @Glitchfest @Autoweld42 I heard the first dozen builds weren't solo anyway. Some of the earlier ones were collabs. I think the other guy was "dRelic" or something? He went corporate after that and wiped all his stuff.

[SandDagger7]: @Pulsehawk @Glitchfest @Autoweld42 @C0rruptionByte Nah, you're mixing names. It was "Keystone-Kai." That dude dropped off even earlier, but I remember they co-authored "Phantom Array Splitter" together. Last known build tag had both their sigs.

[WraithNull]: @Pulsehawk @Glitchfest @Autoweld42 @C0rruptionByte @SandDagger7 All of you are wrong. MMM only ever worked with one other creator, ever. Name was "EchoLimn." He was the prodigy before MMM blew up. Everyone thought he ghosted, but I always believed he mentored MMM before peacing out. You can see it in the decision trees, the tactical structuring… it's too similar.

[SandDagger7]: @Pulsehawk @Glitchfest @Autoweld42 @C0rruptionByte @WraithNull Source? Anything?

[WraithNull]: Just patterns, instincts. I've studied those builds more than most of you have played Archion for. If you know, you know.

[BioCharger] By the Emperor's golden udder-soaked undercloth, here we go again with the conspiracy shit. Can't go five pages without someone dragging ghost mentors and thought-ghosts into it.

[CreepingModem]: So basically… they were a legend, possibly started as a kid, might be a hot babe at prime age but also might be some bunker dweller on a Frontier-World for all anyone knows, might've been mentored, nobody knows where they went, and everyone's still fighting over what they meant. Oh and they might also just be dead. Got it.

Damn. Archion community really is built different, huh…?

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Ten minutes after Corvus had helped her to the bed, Thea heard a soft knock on the door again.

"Come in," she called, her voice back to something close to normal.

Not quite strong yet, but clear, at least.

She still felt like her whole body had been wrung out and left to dry, but the aching grief wasn't consuming her anymore. It was just there now—sharp and heavy—but bearable.

The small metal plate still clutched in her hand helped. It grounded her.

Corvus stepped inside, giving a subtle nod to someone just out of sight as he entered and quietly shut the door behind him.

'Probably Kara,' Thea thought, the familiar guilt crawling in again. 'She did say she'd wait nearby… I should thank her—again.'

It felt like she'd done that a dozen times already, and it still wasn't enough.

She wasn't used to this kind of reliance, this kind of closeness.

Needing people. Trusting them. Letting herself be seen like this.

Every time it happened, she couldn't help but feel like she was tipping some invisible scale too far in her direction.

'I need to find a way to be there for her too,' she thought, jaw tightening. 'I can't just keep dumping my shit on her, relying on her over and over again without giving anything back and calling it friendship.'

Her thoughts scattered as Corvus walked over, pulling something from the small duffle bag he'd been carrying.

It was the whole reason he'd left earlier.

An old-looking, metal lockbox.

It looked like something from another era—gunmetal gray, slightly scuffed on the corners, with a simple mechanical latch on the front.

No digital pad, no biometrics.

Just a keyhole and a short handle on top.

"I managed to convince the Sovereign to pick one up and send it over," Corvus explained, holding it out for her. "Alpha Squad perks."

He gave her a small smile, but before she could protest, his tone turned firm.

"Don't even try to argue the cost. It's going under the Squad Fund. I'm getting one for everyone eventually. You're not going to be the only person in this team who loses someone. And having a place like this? It matters."

He gave a small shrug. "It's something a lot of Marines do. Has been for centuries. My parents still have theirs. My grandfather carried his with him till he couldn't anymore. You keep pieces of them—names, tags, bits and pieces. So you don't forget. And so you've got somewhere to put it when it all gets a bit too heavy."

Thea opened her mouth, paused, then shut it again.

She really couldn't argue with that.

When she accepted the box from him, she nearly fumbled it—it was heavier than she'd expected. Not massive, maybe a bit over 35cm wide and long, less than 15cm tall, but it had real weight to it.

'Barely big enough for the Icicle,' her mind offered, but she dismissed the thought instantly.

Instead, she placed it gently down again, turned the key with a satisfying metallic click, and opened it.

'So much empty space inside. Too much. And yet… not nearly enough.'

Thea stared at it in silence, feeling the dread settle low in her stomach.

Someday, this box would be full. Maybe not this year. Maybe not next.

But if she stayed in this war long enough… it would fill.

They always did.

Her Old Man had several boxes just like it. All filled to the brim.

Carefully, she reached into her palm and lifted the small, scratched plate she'd carved earlier.

"Z-A-C-H." Uneven. Jagged. But undeniably hers.

She placed it inside almost reverently.

But when she reached for the lid, her hand paused.

Her mouth moved before she could stop it.

"Thank you, Zach," she whispered. "For showing up when it mattered. For giving a damn. For helping me figure things out… And I'm sorry."

She closed the box, twisting the key slowly until it clicked again.

Then, she crossed the room to her wardrobe and pulled open the lowest drawer.

Her old pullover from Lumiosia lay folded neatly inside, next to the tournament controller she'd brought with her. The only two things she had carried from her old life into this one.

She placed the lockbox beside the controller.

For a long moment, she just stood there—hand resting on the cool metal lid, eyes closed, letting the silence settle around her like a heavy blanket.

Then, slowly, she reached for the controller.

Her fingers curled around it like they'd never forgotten the shape—years of muscle memory came flooding back the instant she touched it. Even after everything that had happened, even after Integration, the grip felt natural; familiar.

"You're not the only one anymore… Wish neither of you were gone," she whispered.

She knew Corvus was still in the room, probably close enough to hear her but strangely enough, for once, that vulnerability didn't bother her overly much.

Turning the controller over, she carefully popped off the modified plastic-aluminum cover at the back, revealing the worn-down metal plate screwed into the chassis.

The lettering—once easily legible, if scrappy and horribly scratched from her attempts at scratching the name—was now barely legible, faded by time and use.

Her fingertips brushed over the etched letters, following every scratched groove with care.

'It's stupid how much affection I have for a dumb name like that,' she thought, her throat tightening. 'I wish you'd told me who you really were outside Archion… even just once. At least you stopped swapping them all the time for me...'

A pained, bittersweet smile flickered across her lips.

She clicked the cover back into place—carefully, reverently.

She had made it long ago to shield the plate, once she realized how fast the name was fading.

She could've re-scratched it, sharpened the letters, made them clear again.

But that would've made it… different.

'It wouldn't mean the same thing anymore, would it?'

And now, with a second plate—Zach's plate—resting quietly in her lockbox, she knew that the thought would return again. And again. And again.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But just like her Old Man had told her, "The fading doesn't matter. The memory does."

She placed the controller gently beside the box and closed the wardrobe with care.

Then, standing in front of it, she finally took a breath—deep and unshaking.

It didn't magically fix anything. She didn't expect it to. But something uncoiled in her chest.

Something raw and clawing finally settled, even if just for now.

"Zach. NotADuck… I'll remember you both. And whoever comes after. I won't die. And I won't let you be forgotten," she murmured, touching the wardrobe door one last time.

She turned away, stepping toward the door where Corvus waited, standing at a polite distance, hands behind his back. He clearly pretended not to have heard a thing.

"Thank you, Corvus," she said as she approached. "For… well, everything. I'm sorry for—"

"Don't even start with that shit," Corvus cut her off with a raised brow and a firm tone. "You're part of my squad. Helping you when you're hurting is the bare minimum as a Squad Leader. And more than that…" He softened slightly. "I consider you a friend, Thea. And that's what friends do. We show up when needed."

Thea blinked. She hadn't expected that.

Especially not Corvus swearing, that was a new one.

But even more importantly, that last part had surprised her quite a lot.

'Corvus… considers me his friend? Since when…?!'

"I… I… Thank you," she stammered, forcing down a half dozen apologies and 'sorry's that were trying to worm their way out of her throat.

Feeling like if she missed this chance, she'd have to wait a long time for another, she quickly added, "Ehh… I'd like to be your friend, also."

Corvus blinked a few times at that, until he simply smiled and nodded, "I'd like that. Yeah."

He lingered for a moment longer, watching Thea carefully. "So… You doing alright now? Or, well… as alright as can be?"

She offered a faint smile and a short nod. "Yeah. I am. Thanks to you—and Kara. I'll be okay now. You've done more than enough."

He gave her one last glance, a final check to see if she meant it.

Then, satisfied, he gave a short nod and turned toward the door.

As he opened it, Thea's voice stopped him.

"Hey—can you send Kara back in?"

She didn't need to wait long.

Karania had clearly been standing just outside, arms crossed, foot tapping in impatience.

She slipped inside before the door had even fully closed behind Corvus.

"You alright now?" she asked.

"I'm better," Thea said, motioning her inside fully. "Thanks to you. Again."

Karania tilted her head slightly, as if inspecting her. "Good. I was worried."

Thea hated how much she felt like she owed her at this point.

Every time something went sideways, it was Kara picking up the pieces without hesitation.

And what did she ever give back, really?

'I've got to figure out how to balance this soon… somehow.'

"I am going to run a few checks," Karania continued, already pulling out her datapad again. "Just to make sure that hypoxia didn't fry your brain more than usual. You can either try and resist me, at which point you will suffer slightly more hypoxia before getting tested, or you can let me do my thing."

Thea didn't exactly feel like getting jabbed with whatever relaxant Karania had prepared for situations like this—or getting choked out, if her warning was anything to go by.

So, she simply groaned and rolled her eyes, but didn't resist…

Twenty minutes and several eye-rolls later, Thea finally got the all-clear.

"So," she said, tucking the pad away and giving Thea a once-over. "What now? Going to lie down? Get some rest?"

Thea paused, considering it for a heartbeat.

Then she stood up, stretched her back, and cracked her knuckles.

"I think… I think I need to shoot some people."

Karania raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Not real ones," Thea clarified quickly. "I just—look, I could really use something to take my mind off all this. Get some frustration out. And, I mean—lucky thing that something just opened up, like, an hour ago, huh?"

Karania rolled her eyes so hard, her entire head moved. "Of course your first thought would be the damn Digital Missions."

Thea smirked, shrugging. "I never said I wasn't predictable."

But Kara simply shrugged and added, "Well… I won't lie. I've been curious about them too. If you're going to be stupid about it, I might as well be stupid with you. Or, at least, at the same time as you, considering that we can't go in together."

"Now that is the kind of medical analysis I can get behind," Thea grinned.

"That's… That's not a medical—Ah, whatever…" Karania tried, but the soul of the argument left her before she could even really get into it.

"Come on then, you lunatic," Kara sighed, already heading for the door. "Let's go head up to the DMD then and "shoot some people" to make you happy."

Thea simply grinned at that as she followed Karania out of the room, and two of them headed towards the DMD on Deck L-24…

Arriving at the Digital Mission Deck, Thea and Karania stepped through the bulkhead doors alongside a cluster of Recruits they'd run into on the way.

The moment they entered, it was obvious—the deck was packed to the brim.

Thea's eyes swept the room, quickly estimating at least three hundred Recruits already crowding around the dozen Recruit-class terminals near the entrance. The Private-ranked stations, she remembered from the lecture earlier, were further in—neatly sectioned off with brighter terminal pillars and quieter lines.

"Wow," she muttered, taking it all in. "It's really full, huh?"

"No kidding…" Karania replied, before giving Thea a light nudge forward and casually placing a hand on her shoulder, gently steering her like a living battering ram for social interactions.

"Wait—what are you—?!" Thea started to ask, but Karania was already moving them both forward with purpose, guiding her directly into the shoulder of another Recruit.

The bump wasn't rough, but it was enough to get the guy to turn around with a scowl—only to flinch hard the second his eyes met Thea's. He blinked twice, mouth halfway open, then wordlessly stepped aside and disappeared into the crowd like a ghost.

It took Thea half a second to register what just happened.

'No fucking way… She's using me as a fear aura tank…!'

Sure enough, the further they pressed into the crowd, the more heads turned—and the more people scrambled to get out of their way. Recruits moved like parting water, recognizing Thea with wide, sometimes legitimately panicked-looking, eyes and practically dragging their squadmates aside in the process.

The ripple effect was immediate.

A push here, a shift there, and suddenly they were advancing through the mess with barely a struggle.

She shot Karania a deadpan look. "I can't believe you're weaponizing me like this?!"

Karania didn't even blink. "Technically, it was your Old Man that did. I didn't teach you to be this way, must've been him. And also: Worked, didn't it?"

Thea's mouth hung agape for a moment, before she had to whip around again as she lightly bumped into another Recruit's back, the earlier experience repeating itself once again.

"Unbelievable…" She muttered, but couldn't help but be similarly amused and horrified at what Karania was putting her through.

"That's her!" someone hissed nearby, somewhere to the left—too fast for Thea to catch who it was.

"Oh shit, fucking Alpha Squad coming through…!" a second voice muttered as the group ahead split like a school of fish, heads down and avoiding eye contact.

The absolute worst part of all this? It was working… and flawlessly at that.

More voices called out from the crowd as Thea and Karania continued their effortless push forward.

"Yo, isn't that the scary sniper chick from the Awards Ceremony?"

"Move, idiot! Do you want to end up on her fucking bad side?!"

"I swear I just looked at her eyes and I thought I died, what the fuck?! Get out of my way, I gotta get the fuck out of here—!"

"Dude, that's her. Don't look—just don't look, man!"

Most of the crowd didn't even wait to recognize Karania.

The moment Thea's face was visible, people turned aside, stepped back, or flat-out backed into other squads in their rush to make space. Every single person who made eye contact with her flinched, looked away, or suddenly found something very interesting to do with their datapad—except for one.

That one person, a short, sharp-eyed girl near the edge of the commotion, didn't flinch.

She met Thea's eyes for a full second. No challenge, no fear—just a calm, curious stare.

And then she was gone, swallowed by the sea of shifting Recruits before Thea could even get a proper look at her. She had been so surprised to not be met with the usual flinch, that she had completely blacked out on trying to clock her.

But there wasn't time to dwell on it.

Because, somehow, they had made it to the terminals.

In record time.

The sea of bodies behind them closed back in almost seamlessly, as if the parting never happened, while Thea and Karania stepped up to a terminal that had just miraculously opened.

A moment ago, a full group of Recruits had been huddled around it, but now?

Completely clear.

Either they'd overheard the ruckus or had simply recognized the name Alpha Squad being thrown around and made the executive decision to vacate.

Karania strolled up to it like she owned the place, flashing the most insufferable, self-satisfied grin Thea had ever seen on her.

It wasn't just a grin—it was a declaration.

"Are you fucking proud of yourself?" Thea muttered under her breath, annoyed, as she stepped up beside her.

"Immensely," Karania whispered back, practically vibrating from smugness.

Thea groaned softly and pinched the bridge of her nose.

She felt… utterly humiliated.

That part was undeniably true.

Being the center of that much attention was something she would never be comfortable with.

But yet… Somehow, this time, it hadn't felt… bad?

It didn't make any sense.

Her cheeks were flushed, her pulse a little too quick, but there had been something weirdly fun about being dragged so far out of her comfort zone like that.

'Damn it… I don't know how you do this to me, Kara.'

Even more than that, though—she couldn't argue with the result.

They were exactly where she wanted to be, faster than she ever thought possible.

And after everything she'd been through in the last hour? That was something she could appreciate more than comfort.

Pushing all of that aside for now, Thea decided to simply get going with what she came for, and opened the terminal's interface—ignoring the loud chatter behind her that was very much audible, even without her high levels of Perception.

She was greeted by a selection of three different Digital Missions, all listed as Grade 0:

[Helix Prime Assault] (Grade 0) Type: Assault Duration: 8h Respawns: 0 Completion Reward: 130 System Credits Condition: Rainy Special Condition: None Short-Briefing: Assault an entrenched Stellar Republic position on the Helix Prime ridgeline. Expect strong resistance, heavy artillery, and terrain penalties due to mud and limited visibility.

[Tauron-6 Defense] (Grade 0) Type: Hold The Line Duration: 6h 45m Respawns: 0 Completion Reward: 115 System Credits Condition: Nighttime Special Condition: None Short-Briefing: Defend a Forward Operating Base under siege from Stellar Republic forces until reinforcements arrive. Limited ammo supply and wave-based enemy behavior expected.

[Dagon's Field] (Grade 0) Type: Point Assault Duration: 7h 30m Respawns: 1 Completion Reward: 150 System Credits Condition: Snowy Special Condition: Infiltrator Short-Briefing: Push deep into enemy lines and capture two strategic points on the northern slope. Stealth is advised, but open combat is likely unavoidable. Expect mixed terrain and low visibility.

'Huh… Neat. It's just like in Sundawn; you get a mini-mission brief, parameters, special modifiers and everything…! That's so cool!' Thea thought, grinning to herself as her eyes skimmed across the terminal.

The whole interface just felt right—simple, clean, and intuitive, like she was back home at the arcade again. Except this time, it wasn't a game.

But damn if it didn't feel like one right now.

Her gaze locked on the red Infiltrator tag next to the [Dagon's Field] mission.

Curiosity piqued, she tapped it, just as she would have in Sundawn. A new window popped up immediately with the modifier details—just like she remembered from her gaming days.

'Terra, you sneaky, sneaky bastards… Just how long have you been prepping all of us for this kind of stuff…?'

[Special Modifier: Infiltrator] One or multiple members of your platoon for this mission will be hostile infiltrators, aiming to sabotage as many objectives and eliminate as many members of your platoon as possible. Finding, identifying, and neutralizing the infiltrators will award additional System Credits upon successful Completion of the Mission.

"You seeing this whole Infiltrator thing?" Thea asked without looking up, tilting her screen slightly toward Karania, who was just a step to her left, poking around her own mission list.

"Infiltrator? No idea what that is—hang on, let me see." Kara leaned in, eyes scanning the modifier readout. "Huh… I don't even have that one. The only modifier I've got says Faultline. Something about high seismic instability, sinkholes, and a warning that explosive weapons might trigger environmental collapses."

Thea raised an eyebrow. "So it's randomized then… We're not even getting the same missions at all."

"Guess that's what the Professor meant when he said they were solo runs. Makes sense if no two people get the same options, right?" Kara said, already eyeing her own screen again. "I think I'll try this Faultline thing. It sounds chaotic—and it's been a while since I've had to handle cave-in or tremor-related injuries. Could be fun."

She looked back up at Thea with a crooked smile. "You know what? I get it now. I'm starting to see why you were so excited about this whole Digital Mission thing."

Thea smirked. "Told ya it would be awesome."

She scrolled back through her own list and tapped on [Tauron-6 Defense].

'Started with a Hold The Line back in the Cube Trial… Might as well do the same here with the DMs. I'll try the Infiltrator stuff later—right now, I just want to shoot some people and work off some of today's business…'

"Alright," Thea said aloud, standing up straight, finger hovering over the confirmation prompt. "I'm going in. Catch you in seven-ish hours?"

"Sounds good," Karania replied, already locking in her own selection. "Mine's a little shorter, so I'll probably be in the lounge when you're out. Just shoot me a ping."

Thea gave her a quick thumbs-up, then pressed the confirm button.

[Mission Selected: Tauron-6 Defense (Grade 0)] You will be transported to the staging area momentarily… Loading UHF Marine profile… Assessment Award Medals detected.

A new prompt suddenly appeared, flickering softly in her field of vision.

Do you want to display your highest available Medal as part of your issued armour set? (It will be built into the suit, just above the heart, as if it had been properly integrated by an Armoursmith.) Y / N

She paused, finger just centimeters from the display.

'Huh… It's like the tournament awards back then… That's so cool.' A quiet smile tugged at her lips. 'I guess Major Quinn did say these were actual medals, forged from the real materials they represented. So I guess it makes sense they could be built into your suit like that…'

Her thoughts wandered for a moment. 'Still have to figure out what the fuck Crysium even is… and what it actually does. Might be better to wait until I know if the material has any weird side effects—or effects in general—before I use it for something. But since this is just a Digital Mission...'

She made her decision.

Her finger shifted and tapped the prompt.

There was a soft chime from the terminal—and then, in an instant, everything around her went dark…

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