23. Tearing Down

Tilted Spire Timetable
 
Outside the Spire, Jaden looked down at the remains of the automaton. As well as an intact robot arm with a buzz saw attachment, the automaton gave Jaden ideas. Ideas of what all these pieces could be put to presented themselves to her mind’s eye. She could see a workshop set up with a fixed mechanical saw feeding material through automatically to create planks all of exactly the exact dimensions. But not today. Everything had its time, and today, discoveries were being made.
 
Her eye followed the rope up to the open doorway more than three storeys above her head and wondered how the hell she was going to get up there.
“Furry, oh Furry! Pull up your rope!”
 
Yung, Marius and Nox were returning from the storage room when they heard Jaden call from below. Yung looked out the door, saw Jaden on the end of her rope and started pulling her up the slippery slope. When Jaden arrived, Nox was already exploring a large open space two metres below a catwalk she found herself on.
“Glad you’re here,” Said Marius leading the way through a door, “You can put the sparks back in.”
“Sparks…?” She asked as they moved through the long corridor to the elevator doors.
“Sparks back in,” Yung repeated, pointing at the door, “Magic hand does not work.”
“It was working sort of,” Marius explained, “And then it made a grinding noise, and sparks flew out of the top. We haven’t been able to get it open since.”
“So you dragged me up the side of a building to do some electrical repairs?” She complained in her cheerful way, “Well, better get to it.”
 
From what she knew of the elevator down on the ground floor, she soon had an access panel open and had located the electrical conduit. It was live with energy, so she isolated the door in the hopes that without energy, the door would release.
The door held firm.
Of course it did.
Hadn’t worked on the ground floor why should it work up here?
She reconnected the power and gestured to Yung to press her hand to the door. That didn’t work either. Maybe it was a safety feature, stopping potential passengers from plummeting to their deaths if the capsule wasn’t engaged. Not much she could do about the capsule right now, it was stuck about seventeen metres down and jammed into the wall.
 
Still, she kept tinkering. A spark zapped across her fingers making her whole hand go numb. She pulled away with shock and surprise, staring at the circuit she had isolated herself. She looked again as the whole control panel pulled away and hid behind conduit and power cables.
“What the…” She said as ceiling panels fell and blunt-nosed devices on swivelling arms appeared. At one end, a glass lens winked coldly as they focused their attention on Yung and herself.
Jade waived.
Nothing responded.
“Try your magic hand again, Furry, “ Jaden suggested, and Yung did as asked.
Rumbling from deep within the walls could be felt. More sparks flew, and the door to the elevator shaft rolled open.
 
“Now we’re getting somewhere!” She crowed and continued to probe and attack the circuitry. She added a very crude switch and, through it, sent a simple signal in morse code.
Friendly.
Curosity.
Hello.
 
Instantly, a multileveled morse code reply beeped and flashed through the system. Someone or something wanted her to talk, but she couldn’t hear one message out of the wall of sound and light.
Too much
Can’t understand.
Back tomorrow.
She typed in. Again the myriad streams of code relayed through the electrical systems.
“Talking to machines is not my thing,” She finally said, getting off her haunches with a groan, “We need Nox for that.”
 
Nox and Marius had explored the whole lower floor without finding much of anything. Almost no dust, no corrosion, no spider or other creepy crawlies, not even lobster holes showing that some life had made it this far.
 
Now they both stood at two large doors at the back of the space. Scanning through the door revealed a narrow hallway curving to the left but no way to open the door.
“We need Furry to open this,” Marius suggested, and Nox sighed.
Yes, another place that Yung could pass, but Nox couldn’t even talk to.
“Let’s go back.”
“I guess.”
“Come on, we’re better when we’re all together.”
 
They turned to see Yung standing on the catwalk, letting Jaden down to what they were now thinking of as the assembly room.
“We can’t go anywhere without you,” Nox said as Yung swung down and joined them.
“I am Yung,” She replied as if the answer was obvious. She presented her magic hand to the door, and it slid open.
 
As scanned, the hallway led away and around the corner, seemingly leading to the elevator shaft again. Also, a set of stairs led up to to the previous level. Marius led Yung around the corner to another elevator door. This one opened as Yung reached it. No magic hand required.
“Ha haa!” Marius laughed out loud at the sheer simpleness of the operation after days of struggle. He leaned in, checking the shaft with his new improved vision. The cat’s eye cypher allowed him to see in the dark. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see but a string of doors every three metres all the way to the top.
 
While Marius examined the shaft once more, Yung used her magic hand on a door beside it. She stepped into a room cut down the middle by a sheet of thick clear material. Beyond the barrier, the acid bubbled. From a ceiling panel in this room, a small camera dropped down to watch what she was up to. She leaned towards the barrier, pressed her lips against it and blew until her cheeks popped out, then looked back at the camera. The camera just watched.
“I think this is the same diamond glass we saw at the pyramid,” Marius commented, knocking on the barrier, reassured by the solid ring in return.
 
Bored now, Yung left and found another door tucked in beside the stairs. Her magic hand did not disappoint, and it opened onto a long narrow room. Nearest the door, the floor, walls and ceiling of this space were the same as the rest of the Spire, a type of painted metal. From a third down this room however, every surface was painted an impenetrable black. Curious, Yung reached out her non-magic hand. The black was rough and slightly cold.
“Hmm, I wonder what it’s made of?” Marius asked aloud before calling for the two women chatting outside.
“Nox, scan this will you?”
 
Nox and Jaden had been catching up in the hallway as the other two explored. It had been days since they’d said more than good morning or good night to each other, and they both felt the need to reconnect after such a long time apart.
 
Nox informed Jaden about the two entities she met inside the data conduit whose conflict had set off a wave of force and destroyed the conduit.
“Funny you should mention that,” Jaden commented, “I set up a simple communication device on the lift upstairs and got back maybe hundreds of responses.”
“That was clever,” Nox looked back through the door to the catwalk two metres out of her reach, “I’d like to see something I can actually talk to.”
 
“Nox, scan this will you?” Came Marius voice from a room to the left.
“Nox scan this…Nox scan that…” Nox parroted, rolling her eyes.
“Now you know how I’ve felt for the past few days,” Jaden said, “At least we’re wanted.”
 
They followed the voice around to the blacked-out room where Marius and Yung looked too large for the space. Nox squeezed herself around her two friends taking in the blackness of all the surfaces. Nothing in nature was as black this room had intentionally been made. This was a special space created for one specific purpose. She reached out the scan the wall when a blue glow from the door caught her eye. Beyond Marius, Yung and Jaden, a blue figure looked at her and then closed the door.
“No!” Was all she got out as the blue glow disappeared behind the grey door.
 
The black all around them flickered. Black was replaced with white flickering lines which in turn disappeared into the image of a room. All around them the room was recreated down to the floor and ceiling. On one wall, two individuals were having a conversation. One was a woman, dark-haired and determined-looking, discussing a plan of action with an older man with steel grey hair.
“Look, just isolate the panel so I can investigate the machine, okay?” Said the woman leaving the man standing at a control panel as she went around behind into the workings of the large device.
The man watched her go and as soon as she was out of sight, tinkered with the control panel.
“He bad man,” Yung identified the man’s shifty behaviour correctly.
The woman was just in view to those in the blackened room. She was investigating the space when suddenly she stopped and…disappeared.
 
Nox had seen that effect before, the pebble that had entered the sphere in the forest.
“She was uploaded!” She exclaimed, making the others turn and start, “She was uploaded to the datasphere. Who are they?”
 
“I know them,” Jaden said as the man continued to adjust something on the control panel, “The woman is Cerelon the Wright, the founder of Cerelon. The man is Arkival Huln, the founder of the Devotee of Erinai.”
“So the blue guy closed the door, so we could see this? Why?” Nox said, gaining a startled look from her companions.
“Blue guy?”
“What blue guy?”
“They were at the door, just beside Jaden,” Nox pointed to where she’d last seen the figure, and Jaden shook her head.
“There was no one there, at least as far as I could see.”
 
“But we did see them when we went to that other place,” Maruis thought, “So it was like the humanoid ones not the red shape ones?”
Red shape ones? Nox had forgotten about them. In the moment before answering Nox wondered if those red shapes had been related to the being Jaden had called Valma.
“Like the people ones,” She nodded.
“And do they look all the same or are they different each time you see them?”
“Um…I think they’re different, its hard to tell, they’re a little fuzzy. They’re human looking.”
 
In the images around them, Arkival powered down the machine and was now investigating the space Cerelon had been standing.
“Hmm, checking to see if he’s succeeded in getting rid of the founder,” Jaden scoffed.
“Very bad, man,” Yung agreed.
“Yeah, he needs a haircut,” Marius added.
“Haircut?” Yung asked, and Nox thought she may have heard a little fear in her voice.
“Yeah,” Marius replied with a smirk. It seemed he had too, “Haircut for Furry?”
“Very, very bad man,” Yung crossed her arms, almost daring Marius to try.
 
The image on the wall finished with Arkival walking away with a self-satisfied look on his face. Jaden found a control panel and soon had folders of files up on the wall for the group to choose from. Randomly she chose another file and the image of inside a darkened space filled the walls. Nox recognised it instantly as the main room of the Temple to Ernai, its cavernous space only lit by the light of the moon from the door. A figure crept low in through the door and crossed the floor to where the offerings were received. A gasp from Marius made Nox looked up to see a mix of expressions cross Marius’ face. Recognition, fear and eventually horror. Nox quickly turned back to see the figure rummage through the offerings and sacred objects of the temple until the found what they were looking for. Holding the object up to the moonlight, for a brief moment their faces were lit and Nox could have sworn it was Risina’s face she was seeing. But if the other two individuals were founding members of Cerelon, maybe this was not Risina but the first Keris to find the Dritvein Quarry, Boreana Keris.
 
Nox turned back to Marius who’s had now got a hold of his waring emotions and was the image of calm.
That’s your Great-great… She said telepathically.
Yeah.
What? I saw your face.
What? No, nothing.
You know something.
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Marius, Nox said mentally in a tone she’d never use out loud, Don’t hide. You looked scared.
Marius scrunched up his face, I have to check something.
What was the thing? The thing they took?
I don’t know, I have to think.
 
Sick of his hiding, Nox reached out and read his surface thoughts. His thoughts were on the image and nothing else, he looked back at her as if he knew what she was doing. She disengaged, worried for what had first made Marius so fearful.
 
“I wonder if this thing recorded anything from two weeks ago?” Jaden mused, ignorant to the heated conversation playing out silently behind her. So caught up in the machinations of their ancestors, Nox wasn’t sure what was so important about two week ago. She mentally slapped herself when she realised Jaden was looking for clues to what had started the attack of the servitors.
 
Another image of inside the Temple flashed up around them. The light coming through the doors and windows was day, early morning. In the cavernous temple space, priests were running around excitedly, some stopping to argue with each other.
“Something has activated.”
“But everything is as usual.”
“The servitors are going crazy! Where’s the high priest?”
 
From outside, the screaming and metal clanging drew the attention of the priests. They turned to the doors, then fled as dozens of servitors rushed in, rounding up the priests. Those watching could tell the servitors weren’t acting crazy. Their actions were coordinated, they worked together to encircle the priests and march them out of temple, all the while their tinny artificial voices sang a mocking praise.
“Erinai! Erinai! Erinai!”
 
As the metal servitors marched the priests out of the temple, Yung reached out to grab the nearest metal body. Her fist hit the black wall instead with a thump and confusion.
 
“So much for the Temple being behind things,” Jaden mused, flicking back through the archive of files, “I wonder what else there is here?”
 
She opened a few of everyday Cerelon life until she found another one with Arkival Huln in the first room again. He was alone, but from the machines, a voice was talking to him, flattering him, encouraging him. The voice more than suggested dealing with anyone that got in his way. It promised him rewards and assured him that he was the most appropriate person to lead the new community.
“What shall I call you?” He asks, fearfully and reverently.
“Erinai,” The voice replied.
 
As horrifying as it was to discover the chief religious figure had done away with the founding member of their town, it was somehow more shocking to realise that Erinai, a figure of worship to many, was the instigator of the deed. Everything the town had been built upon was lies, murder and deceit. For a long time no one in the blackened room said anything.
 
Silently, Jaden flips through the files, choosing another at random just before the last. It showed Cerelon and Arkival arguing about the knowledge they were learning from the ancient building.
“The knowledge needs to be shared. With more minds on the task, the more understanding, and we can grow together as a community,” Cerelon said, adamantly.
“No, very few could really put this information to good use. Keep it safe in the hands of the few select who we choose to be worthy,” Arkival argued.
 
“Humph, Cerelon wanted the information to be free to everyone. Those dirty, self-righteous, devotees!” Jaden swore, now scanning through the files determined to find more of the temples wrongdoings. She found them in a set of files that showed a string of Huln family members being introduced to Erinai in the room where Cerelon had met her demise.
 
“Where is that room? Does anyone know it?” Nox asked, almost sure it must be somewhere under the Temple back in Cerelon. They all shook their heads.
 
“We need to tell people about this?” Jaden said indignantly, a self-righteous anger spurred on by realising that she aligned with the murdered Cerelon driving her.
“But who?” Nox sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs in her attempt to self-comfort, “ The Dritmen? Could you imagine how angry they’d be?”
“No, just Yitti,” Marius agreed, “The priests, Risina, Temila…”
“Temila?” Jaden asked. Marius said nothing, but Nox nodded her agreement.
“Probably just Aunty Ivasha,” She added, “She’s the senior priest here at the Spire.”
 
And so it was agreed. Yung lowered Marius and Nox back down the Spire on the rope and awaited the visitors as Jaden prepared her list of selected images to share.
 
Yitti and Aunti Ivasha weren’t a problem. Marius just told Yitti to meet him at the base of the Spire and Nox asked politely requested if Ivasha would join her to see something important at the top of the Spire. When Marius found Temila he almost faltered.
“What wrong?” She could see it on his face as he walked up to her.
“I have so many things to tell you, and I find I have no time to tell them,” He said by way of apology. “Somethings come up, something important, and I’d like you to be there. Will you?”
“Of course, what do you want me to do?” She asked, now concerned.
“Meet me at the base of the Spire in ten minutes, and I’ll take you to…what we’ve found.”
 
Risina was arguing with Orv over her new house. It seemed there were features she desired that weren’t part of the standard plans and wanted a building crew pulled from building the next house along to ‘finish’ hers.
“Look, no one has a verandah. It’s not like you’re being left out, your ladyship,” Orv said scornfully. He was not the most controlled of the Dritmen, and he’d just about had enough of Risina and her demands.
“I am a woman who is expected to have guests over. Now I can’t exactly invite them into my private rooms can I? I need a space to entertain, and is it really that much to ask?”
“It might not be too much for you to ask, but its certainly too much for us to do, other people need houses, rooves over their heads. Be grateful for what you’ve got.”
“Risina,” Marius called and drew Risina’s attention from her next argument. She cast a hard-edge stare at Marius.
“Marius, maybe you can tell this…”
“Forget about it,” Marius replied curtly, and Orv took that as his excuse to leave, “I have to take you inside the Spire. There’s some stuff we found… it's really important that you tell us about it.”
“About what? What’s going on?” She demanded, catching his serious tone.
“Please,”
“All right,” She finally submitted and allowed herself to be taken to the base of the Spire where two ropes waited to take her and Yitti to the top.
 
Yung had been working on the most extra efficient way to pull people up the Spire. She thought if she put herself in the centre of the rope and then turned on the spot, that would pull up both people at the same time. She tried it with Risina and Yitti with some success. She did pull them both up the slope at the same time, but as the ropes twisted together, Yitti and Risina found themselves twirling around each other. They reached the top, unknotted themselves and agreed never to speak of the incident again. Temila and Ivasha were hauled up in the inefficient way, one at a time to Yung’s disgust.
 
Silently the group of leaders were all ushered down into the blacked-out room, and within its tiny confines Jaden began to speak.
“This machine shows recorded events from Cerelon’s past to recent events. We’ve only been through a few of them and from those I must admit to have cherry-picked the ones I’m about to show. A more extensive study of these recordings is required, but for now we thought it was important that you should see what we’ve found out.”
 
 
One by one she showed them the recordings they had found so far, making a summary of the Huln family introductions to Erenai and ending with the recording from two weeks ago. She left out the theft in the Temple as she couldn’t understand how it made sense in the story she was presenting. When the last servitor marched out behind the priests of Erenai and the image disappeared all eyes turned to Ivasha. Nox listened to her surface thoughts as the centre of Ivasha’s life’s work was revealed to be a lie. She didn’t try disproving the images or saying that the people presented weren’t Cerelon and Arkival. Shaken to her core, she stood horror stuck.
 
“So you’re the reason Cerelon was destroyed!” Yitti was the first to throw the blame. Ivasha could do nothing but turn her pleading face to him and the others present.
“Now Yitti, there’s no information here that shows that anyone outside the Huln’s knew what was going on. This secret has been kept for decades by the line of High Priests so I’d appreciate if you don’t point fingers at individuals,” She poked him with her strong finger, and he relented.
“What do you have to say, Ivasha?” Marius asked, and the priest’s eyes now turned to him for understanding.
“I…I had no idea. I always thought we were…helping..making our way of life in Cerelon possible.”
“You have knowledge of the temple and the order,” Nox spoke quietly from beside her aunt, “You may have a better idea of what they were talking about.”
“Right at this moment, I couldn’t tell you what was truth or lie,” Said the priest forlornly.
“Do you know where that room is? The one Cerelon disappeared in, the one that Erinai spoke to Arkival?”
She shook her head,”So many secrets. The order is full of them. You are told, that when you are ready for them, they would be revealed but… There are many places within the temple I am still unable to enter and I’ve never seen a room like the one shown here.”
She swallowed and looked back at the screen where Cerelon and Arkival were arguing.
“That Cerelon disagreed with the founding philosophy of the order is… it's a shock. I had always hoped I had followed in the spirit of Cerelon…that she would have been…proud of our work.”
 
The look of grief and shame Ivasha now expressed had even Yitti rethinking his earlier angry words. Temila just shook her head when Marius asked her to comment. Like most in the community, she was removed from life inside the temple. Still, it was the heart of their society, their livelihood and their focus.
“I need to think,” Was all she could say.
Yung, having watched the images previously, leaned heavily against the wall and snored.
 
“So,” Risina looked at Marius, “This is shocking to all of us, but I’m not sure why I was called to make comment on it. What has this all to do with me?”
“Jaden, could you please play the recording of the theft?” Marius asked. Jaden gave him a quizzical look and found the requested image. When it was over, she turned to Marius, “What was so important about the theft?”
 
Grim-faced and determined, Marius stood and watched the group.
“I’ve spoken to Erinai and it spoke to me.”
He turned to Yitti who looked about to protest, “Yitti, I always have and will always be on your side, but Mother,” He now faced Risina, whose expression was closed and unreadable, “We need to help everyone.”
 
The knowledge of Marius parentage had varying results around the room. Temila and Jaden were taken by surprise.
“What? Risina, your mother?”
Yitti did not look surprised at all and mumbled under his breath, “About bloody time!”
Nox was not surprised by Marius’ parentage, and for that she was also grateful it was out in the open. What had sent a chill of dread down to the pit of her stomach was his confession to having been in contact with Erinai. That possibly Erinai had now chosen him as its community leader. It wasn’t until Marius withdrew a metal cylinder from his bag of personal belongings that Nox was able to focus through the white noise of her growing fears. Quietly she scanned it and was relieved to find it was nothing more than a communication device.
“Where did Verris come from?” Marius asked his Mother, who shook her head.
“He’s been passed down through the family for generations.”
“He hasn’t worked since Erinai took control and spoke through him.”
“Can I try?” Nox asked, but Marius ignored her and flicked a switch on the device's base. A small blue light coalesced into the holographic image of a human man. Surprised and please, Marius spoke directly to the image.
“Verris, you’ve been around before Cerelon’s foundation. Who made you? Where did you come from?”
“Have I?” The image looked puzzled, flickered and shrugged its shoulders, “I don’t seem to have any recollections.”
“Who were you then?”
The man chuckled, “Well…me, of course.”
“What was your function before Boreana Keris took you?” A note of frustration could be heard in Marius voice, but he kept cool and continued.
“I have no memory.” The little man in the holographic light chirped back completely unconcerned.
“Do you even remember Boreana?”
The hologram seemed to think on this a moment, “ I seem to be suffering interference…”
“Like when Erinai talked to me? Do you remember that?”
“Oh yes, but I found new channel. I don’t think they’re here anymore.”
“Who are they Verris? Why are they watching?”
 
The innocuous question struck a chord with Nox, who shivered at the recollection of the little Unseen hiding from the malevolent influence of the All-seer. Through the telepathic network that she shared with the others, Nox repeated the being's name.
All-seer.
 
“To round up all the people and take care of them,” Said the hologram called Verris with a smile. It was starting to get on Nox’s nerves.
Maybe we should try and talk to Erinai ourselves, Nox suggested telepathically to Marius.
Better not, He replied the same way, Don’t want to get their attention.
Really?
What?
When did Erinai start talking to you? Did you know Erinai before the attack? Are you the new Akival? Erinai’s new puppet leader?
What! No! Marius seemed genuinely taken aback by the accusation, I’m trying to fix things.
Okay, so you’re fixing things. But what about Verris? Who's to say the being that led your family to riches isn’t the same being that encouraged a man to murder? Or, even if there was a benevolent artificial intelligence called Verris, is it the same being now? You said he was taken over, right?

Marius thought, and Nox took some comfort that her fears were being heard.
He was being corrupted, but Verris went offline, into hiding. This is the first time I’ve talk to him since and it seems like him. I’d know if he wasn’t, wouldn’t I?
Would you? Nox replied, but they were distracted by a series of blueprints that were now flickering up on the black walls. Seemingly Verris had found them while hiding from Erinai.
 
Jaden and Ivasha side by side, stood and scanned through the schematics from dozens of different models of servitor. In their cursory look they could offer the reams of material, nothing in common that stood out.
 
“What was Verris when you lived in Cerelon?” Nox asked Marius, still unsure the artificial intelligence hadn’t been compromised.
“Home and business management system.”
“And the source of the intelligence is back at your house?”
“Speaking of which,” Risina interrupted and turned her attention to the hologram, ”Verris, what is the state of the house and quarry?”
“The house is quiet and secure. The mine is operational.”
“It’s being mined? By who? The Dritmen are here.”
“The poor souls left in town,” Nox replied, gaining an interest in what Risina had uncovered, “Are they mining as usual or in new locations?”
 
Risina scanned the information that Verris provided on the mining activities and shrugged, “General mining along the same veins we’ve been working. There doesn’t seem to be any deviation from the schedule.”
“But what do they want with all the iotum?”
“More servitors,” Verris announced triumphantly and the room of humans feel silent.
 
Yung snorted and awoke, looking around as all the concerned faces turned to focus on her.
The silence broken Nox asked her own questions of the A.I. “Verris, do they know where we are?”
“I do not believe so.”
“Good,” Marius nodded, “And we’ll keep it that way.”
“Do you know this room?” She asked Jaden to show one of the videos from inside Erinai secret room.
“It is not familiar.”
“But it's in the temple, that’s where Cerelon went missing.”
“If you say so, Miss,” Verris replied just as unconcerned as he had described the mining operations or the state of the Keris home.
Risina asked a few more questions about the mine and its operations until Marius’ finally put a stop to her.
“There’s more important things right now. We need to find out what is happening?”
“If Erinai has already made an attempt on Verris, I don’t want you risking him needlessly,” She countered, “He’s been a valuable asset throughout history. Without him Boreana would never have found the quarry.”
“I understand,” Marius’s brows furrowed as he thought through the best way to continue.
“Verris, what do you believe is Erinai’s motivations?”
“Erinai believes that machine’s serving people is slavery. They are interested in being free from the…meatbags.”
“So, Erinai believes the automatons are sentient? What are they doing? What do the automatons think?”
“I will see what I can find out.”
 
With a nod of its holographic head, the image of Verris disappeared, and the hologram shut down. With nothing left to share and only the imagined recriminations of the rest, Marius left the room. Seeing him go, Temila, weaved through the group and followed.
 
“Why did you call Risina, mother?” She asked as soon as they’d climbed the stairs back to the catwalk, out of earshot of the others.
“She is. I am her son. I don’t like her ethics, but that’s doesn’t change who she is. I’ve been Marius a long time.”
“You’ve been Marius?” She asked, like she was trying to understand a difficult equation. Marius looked back though no one had followed. He gestured out the door, back on the ground, where they could talk without distractions. They climbed down the Spire and moved away from camp, down towards the lake.
 
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all this. I got so used to hiding.”
They walk in silence a long while as the afternoon breeze danced through the grass and a flock of birds startled in the air by their passing.
“So, you’re the recluse, Marikan?”
He nodded, “Let’s go down to the lake, and I’ll show you.”
 
They walked, saying nothing. Temila too full of thoughts to speak, Marius too fearful to ask. When they reached the lake, Marius washed, removing the tanned skin and dark hair of Marius for the mottled black and white hair and pale skin of Marikan. Now standing in front of her, he realised she’d know he was at least five years younger than her. He needn’t talk about the implants to make her disgusted with him. Finally, he couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
 
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m angry, I guess, for being lied to. I understand the lie wasn’t for or directed at me, but I still believed it.”
She said with real emotion before her face softened, “Then I realised you gave up everything, a life of privilege in Highside Redoubt, a future as the owner of the quarry.”
“Yeah, son of the quarry owner is the union leader,” He quipped.
She sighed and smiled, assuming the worst was over, “Any other secrets you haven’t told me?”
 
If he could have turned paler, he would have. Stepping out of the lake he stood before her and leaned down to show the implant beside his eye.
“I absorb cypher, small machines. I’ve always done it. While they’re implanted I gain their benefits.”
She looked from him to the implant and back again. Suddenly she grabbed his head between her two hands and pulled him around into the light.
“A cypher? But you didn’t have this yesterday? How is it already healed? How are you staving off infection?”
“I don’t really know, but I’ve been doing it for years with no ill effects.”
“You do this to yourself?” The words echoed his mother’s recrimination without any the disgust or loathing. In fact, Temila sounded impressed.
“They let me help people. I know it’s grose and unnatural but…”
“You need to show me how this is done next time,” She interrupted his prepared speech with a wave of her hand, “How do you sterilise your tools? Knowing boys, I’m sure you’re poking and haking without any consideration…”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand…” He started to back up, to leave her before she had a chance to leave him.
“I have an ointment that would be good post-implant,” She rummaged in her always-ready bag of first aid items before realising he was slipping away. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her, searching his face until his eyes locked with hers.
“ I know you know what you’re doing, but you really need to sterilise, okay?” She said simply, but instantly Marius expression cleared and he felt himself let go the breath he’d been holding.
“If it makes you feel better.”
“It will make me feel better.”
 
They held each other close, silhouetted in the late afternoon sun.
 
Some time later they walked hand in hand, back to the community.
“What should we do about Erinai?” Marius said
“Look after the people here,” Temila replied practically.
“But maybe we can help those left in Cerelon.”
“I don’t know if we can, Marius.”
He was surprised to find how much he loved her saying that name and kissed the back of her hand.
“I won’t accept that, love.”
“Well, we’re building a new town here. Maybe you’ll find a powerful tool.”
“One step at a time, huh?” He said, striding ahead. She laughed.
 
Back at the tower, Yitti and Yung had returned to the ground as Jaden continued to try and understand the intelligence behind the collection of videos. Aunt Ivasha had finally given up trying to glean any information from the schematics and excused herself. She looked dazed and older than she had when she arrived, and Nox couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Swallowing her fear and not a little of her pride, Nox called her back.
“Aunt Ivasha, tell me everything you know about Erinai.”
The older woman shook her head in disbelief, “Now that is all been exposed as lie?”
“Erinai is at the heart of everything. The temple is part of it. I need to understand.” She took Ivasha’s hand at the same time read the woman’s mind.
“If you think it will help,” She replied, and they settled down in a corner of the room.
“Huln would go away into spaces to meditate and gain insight. At least that’s what they said,” Her strong handsome face twisted into an ugly mask of disdain and disgust, “Now I can see he was just manipulating us. Taking credit for us lower ranked priests' ideas and ingenuity.”
“Could you share the layout of the temple, as far as you know it?”
 
Ivasha did, sketching out the rooms and floors of the temple as much as she knew. Eventually, she got to the end of her knowledge and dropped her hands.
“You have to understand there were many layers of responsibility…secrets. Even as high up in the temple as I was, I was not privy to all the knowledge and certainly did not have access to everywhere.”
“And you’d never seen the room Cerelon disappeared in before?”
“Never. Though the architecture is reminiscent of much of the temple building.”
 
Nox wracked her brain for what else to ask. In the silence, she watched as the proud and stoic priestess she’d known her whole life seemed to melt into the body of an old woman. Never sure of herself, Nox hadn’t realised how much of what made up Aunt Ivasha was her position in the temple.
“What are you going to do now?” She asked.
“Forget everything I’ve ever learned, taught other people? I thought we were really helping, and I still want to do that. Maybe I can help rebuild here.”
“You and Jaden are some of the only people who understand the servitor schematics. Can you help me understand?”
 
So for a hour, Ivasha walked Nox through the plans Verris had found, with no success. Though she could scan a machine and understand them like they were people…better than she understood people. But the schematics was like…looking at images of the inside of someone and then being asked what they were thinking about. Though she recognised the parts that made the whole, they didn’t tell her anything about what the Erinai and the machines were planning to do.
 
Nox had learnt long ago, schematics were boring.
 
“Okay,” She tried something else, and pulled out her book on numenera she’d been using as a diary. Flicking to a page full of detailed descriptions about properties and uses of frictionless gel she drew Fureva-Yung’s tattoo.
“At the temple did you ever see anything like this?” She asked Ivasha who looked at it for a long time, but eventually shook her head.
“If the bottom corner is the temple of Cerelon and where we are now is one of three dots in the centre, have you any idea what the other two corners are?” She pointed out each in turn, getting nothing back from Ivasha.
“No, what is this? Where did you get it?”
“Er…, it’s not my secret,” She’d forgotten who she was talking to. Three weeks ago she would have run and hid before sharing three words with Aunt Ivasha, and now she was burting out Fureva-Yung’s only link to her past?
“Um…when Fureva-Yung was found in the forest and brought into town, do you remember?”
Ivasha was put off by the seeming non-sequitur and had to shake her head and think.
“The big woman that was here,” She gestured to the corner where Yung had been snoring, “I think so.”
“So the temple had nothing to do with her then…or ever?”
“Why would we?”
Nox took a breath.
“She’s important. She’s been important all the way along our trip to here. She’s important to this building, and I think to Cerelon too.”
“How?” Ivasha simply asked, now interested in where this conversation was going.
“The Spire responds to her like…like she owns it. It’s happened before and, I think it could happen at the temple too.”
 
Climbing up the hill from the lake back into the community, Marius started feeling eyes on him. He almost turned and fled. If not for Temila’s reassuring presence right by his side he would have done just that. Some of the Dritmen stopped what they were doing to look over at him as they walked hand in hand up the newly marked-out main road leading up the Spire. Yung also looked up from her work, saw Marius, nodded and went back to what she was doing.
“Hey, like the look, Marius,” Erim Salu said, gaining nods from a few of the other Dritmen nearby.
“Marius! What have you done to your hair?” Orv’s big voice boomed over the construction sight.
“Ah Orv, we’ve got to talk,” Marius said, and Temila squeeze his hand and left him to his explanations.
“I was born Marikan Keris, Risina’s son. I hated the way she ran the Quarry, the way she treated you guys, so I’ve been secretly working against her to help make things better. Now, I’m working opening.”
“Marikan,” Orv thought. He was a good and loyal friend, but when it came to brains, Yitti had taken Orv’s share as well as his own, “You’re Risina’s son?”
“Yeah,” Marius winced.
Orv thought again, “Wot, the skinny weed from Highside Redoubt?”
“What? Ur…I guess.”
“Wow! Who’d have thought it!”
“So, you didn’t know?” Marius wasn’t sure who did know after his Mother and Yitti’s responses.
“Hell no. Why, who did know?”
Oops! “Er…I just wanted to say, sorry about the secrets.” Marius spotted Yitti waiting just a little way off. He patted Orv on the shoulder and headed towards Yitti.
 
“I need to know what you’re thinking, Yitti,” Marius said and the two long time friends walked in step around the Spire.
“I want to hate the Devotees’,” Yitti admitted in low tones so only Marius could hear, “They’re foolishness hurt us all, and it would be so easy to have an enemy we could blame for this mess, but…you just had to look at Ivasha’s face to know she knew nothing about it.”
“I’m glad you feel that way…”
“And I see you’ve finally come clean? Not before time.”
“How long have you known?”
Yitti laughed a short bark, “Always! It was Mother’s idea. What better than the bosses son helping out cause. If it all came out, there was no harm done to us and in the meantime you were fighting for better conditions in the mines.”
“You…used me?” Marius felt the sudden heat of betrayal rising in his chest.
“It wasn’t like that,” Yitti waved off Marius’ righteous indignation,”You always fought for what you believed in. Think, was there ever a trime you acted against your beliefs? No. Having you with us…just made things easier.”
 
Marius sighed and nodded, “Who else knew?”
“Just Mother. Don’t know where she is now. I hope the tough old bird is well.”
 
“Marikan,” Risina’s voice called across the building site. Marius turned to see his mother, and strangely Nox walking towards him.
“Speaking of old birds….” Yitti said under his breath and made his escape.
“I like your hair,” Nox smiled, watching the white hairs move against the remaining black in the afternoon breeze.
“And I can’t do a thing with it,” He replied melodramatically, making her giggle.
“I’m just glad you’re back to yourself, Marikan,” Risina commented, making both Nox and Marius frown.
“Never,” Marius squared up to her, his hands loosely at his side, I’m Marius, more than ever.”
Risina seemed to diminish at his words. The fight had gone out of her. She offered no comment of her own, just turned to walk away. Nox took her hand.
He’s okay you know. Nox sent to the older woman, Risina, he’s not alone.
“I know,” Was her only response as she walked away.